OUR HISTORY Born of rugged pioneer stock, half brothers, Ed Kappelman (1873-1954) and Herman Willer (1884-1977) moved from Warren & Franklin counties to west of Waverly, MO. They moved with a wagon & 2 mules.
In the true spirit of the river bluff, they decided to plant an orchard. They bought a 30 acre piece of virgin timber and immediately began to dynamite the timber, clearing the land for orchard. Most of the apples were sold right out of the orchard.
The orchard was then known as KAPPELMAN & WILLER-OLD BACHELOR'S ORCHARD. In 1931 Highway 24 was built cutting their orchard in half. They like other fruit growers up and down the road, put up small fruit stands to sell their fruit.
In 1955, the orchard was sold to their niece and husband, Ben (1923-1983) & Helen Schreiman. They had a 3 year old daughter, Judy. Ben doubled the size of the orchard with the addition of a peach orchard. He prided himself in choosing many peach varieties that ripened from mid June to mid September. Like the uncles, he planted every tree by hand and then replanted the orchards several times in the next 30 years.
In 1983, Judy and husband Jim moved from St. Louis to join the business. They now concentrate on the small "mom & pop" old fashioned roadside market that has been reopened every season all of this years since the uncles first opened it. Visited by many people, every year, some were the same folks who had come to buy fruit with a team of wagon two generations earlier. 80 YEARS
