Homecoming this year will be September 26 against the New Heights Christian Academy Cougars at 7:00 p.m. Coronation will take place during halftime. Parade will be at 2:30 and anyone wanting to join the parade should line up in the school parking lot at 2:00 p.m.
The 2025 EMH Community Block Party will be 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Saturday, September 27, 2025 at Ellett Memorial Hospital in AC. The Block Party will have little something for everyone. Reduced-price lab draws will be available from 8:00-11:00 a.m. Booths will be set up with health information on available services and resources. Come shop the vendors! It’s never too early to start your Christmas Shopping and they have small business vendors on-site selling a wide range of products. There will also be several activities for the kids to enjoy: bounce house, petting zoo, face painting, kid’s games, fire truck and ambulance. EMH will also be providing free snow cones, popcorn, and cotton candy. The St. Clair Co Sheriff’s Department will have K-9 demos. Bring the whole family for a fun day at the EMH Community Block Party! Check the EMH Community Block Party Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=emh%20community%20block%20party for more information.
The A.C. Fall City Wide Garage Sale dates are set for October 3-4. Permits are $5 and can be purchased at City Hall through Tuesday, September 30. Permits to set up in the City Park are $25 for the pole shelter, $15 for the stage, $10 for lawn permits and these fees cover both days. Park permits can also be purchased at City Hall on a first come, first served basis and cannot be reserved by phone. Maps will be available at Food Fair, Casey’s, Fika and Powell’s True Value beginning Thursday afternoon. House of Joy Ministries will be at the City Park on Saturday from 3:00-5:00 to collect donations, but may leave earlier if the trailer is full. For questions, please contact Dianne Foster at 660-679-1125.
Growing In Grace Community Center, 700 W. 4th St., Appleton City, will have a garage sale September 25-26 to raise money for the center
Growing In Grace Community Center will have a community dinner 3:00-6:00 p.m. October 4 at Forest Park, with a Christian Rock band and grilling at the park with side dishes. Please come and enjoy. Donations only. October 18 is Kid’s Fun Day at the community center from 3:00 p.m. -6:00 p.m. There will be baking Halloween cookies with Breanna Swartz, Halloween goodies bags to take home, along with games and food.
The AC Library is starting to plan for this year’s fall events and first on the list is for Halloween. If you are interested in participating in the Safe Trick or Treating event this year, please email the library at acmolibrary@gmail.com to let them know, so they can add you to the participant list.
The MU Extension office in St. Clair County is offering a Barn Quilt class in Osceola on October 8 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The class will be held at the library in Osceola, 115 Chestnut Street. Jocelyn Wheeler from Hickory County will be the instructor for the class. Participants will have the opportunity to construct either a 2 ft x 2 ft design for $45.00 or a 1 ft x 1 ft design for $25.00. The 1 ft x 1 ft board is intended for those who would like to hang their barn quilt indoors. It is not durable enough for outdoor hanging. Register for the class at the Extension office located inside the west door of the courthouse, 655 Second Street, in Osceola, or by calling 417-646-2419, by October 7. For more information or for ADA accommodations please call the St. Clair County Extension office at 417-646-2419.
2025 marks 90 years since Dr. Ellett first opened Ellett Hospital in 1935. To help commemorate this great milestone the hospital is hosting a 90th Anniversary Celebration on October 24 from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. A slideshow of Ellett Hospital throughout those 90 years will be part of the festivities. To complete the slideshow they are asking for help from the local community. If you have photos of Ellett Hospital from years past, please reach out to Michelle Siegismund. They are especially interested in photos from the old hospital building and photos of the current facility from 1973-early 2000’s. You can contact Michelle Siegismund at by phone at 660-476-5249, email at michelle.siegismund@ellettmemorial.com or by sending a Facebook messenger message to the Ellett Memorial Hospital Facebook account.
West Central Missouri Community Action Agency will host its 60th Anniversary Denim & Diamonds Casino Night on Saturday, October 18, 2025, at Primitive Olde Crow & Winery in Clinton. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. The fundraiser includes dinner, casino-style games, raffles, and prizes, with proceeds supporting housing, food assistance, job training, transportation, and small business programs that strengthen rural families and communities across the region. Tickets are $50. For more information visit: wcmcaa.org/denim-diamonds-fundraiser
The Montrose FBLA is continuing their Shoe Drive through October 17. If you need to dispose of some new or gently used shoes (no holes or missing soles), please contribute them to their drive. Drop off points are at Montrose R-XIV School, Montrose Savings Bank, and Ellett Memorial Hospital, St, Clair Co. State Bank or Bartz Photography. Their collection goal is 2500 pairs of shoes, sandals, boots, tennis shoes, cleats, flip-flops, Crocks and more. For more information, contact Robyn Eckhoff, FBLA Adviser, at reckhoff@montrose.k12.mo.us or at (660) 693-4812, ext. 0310.
Ellett Memorial Hospital Appleton City offers outpatient specialist services for September, 2025. Call 660-476-2111 for appointments. Sept 30 Rheumatology – Dr. John.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Sept 25-26 Growing In Grace Community Center garage sale
Sept 26 ACHS Homecoming: Parade 2:30. Game against New Heights Christian Academy Cougars at 7:00 p.m. Coronation at half time
Sept 27 EMH Community Block Party will be 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Oct 3-4 AC City wide garage sales
Oct 4 Living Waters Ranch of Osceola 18th Annual Free Fall Festival 11:00-5:00 p.m.
Oct 4 Growing In Grace Community Center community dinner 3:00-6:00 p.m. at Forest Park
Living Waters Ranch of Osceola is gearing up for its 18th Annual Free Fall Festival October 4 from 11:00-5:00 p.m. Many fun outdoor activities will be set up including the zipline, archery, BB guns, outdoor games, hayride, giant slide, mechanical bull, pony rides, exotic animal petting zoo, wild edibles (plants and bugs) and back by popular demand the Forgers for Christ ministry. Kids will step up on a large trailer with old time forging stations and forge either a dinner bell or a tomahawk to take home. There is a limited number available so come early and get signed up. The festival is free to attend however, since a concession stand is available, it’s requested that no outside food or drink be brought in. Sponsors are still being accepted for this event to help offset the cost of the activities. Please contact Joyce Brown, Director, by email at: livingwatersranch@gmail.com if you are interested in sponsoring an activity or you have any questions. Donations are welcome at the gate, but not required. The festival is one of several free outreach programs offered by LWR. Monthly day camps are hosted each month for special needs adults and their staff/caregivers. Free field trips are available for area K-12 grade special needs students. Blessings Store for grandparents to choose gifts for grandchildren at Christmas and Christmas from the Heart allows children to make and take Christmas gifts home to their loved ones. If you’d like to know more about the LWR ministry contact Joyce at the above email address. Churches and civic organizations who would like a presentation may also contact her to set up a time and location. Living Waters Ranch is located 6 miles south of Osceola at 4520 SE 450 Road. Follow signs posted to the festival. The mission of the ranch is to share the love of Jesus and provide wholesome, family fun in the beautiful outdoors that God created.
Mediacom/Extreme has come to Appleton City. Mediacom has provided cable TV to this area for several years, but now offers fiber backbone high speed internet and phone service. Mediacom is the 5th largest cable operator in the U.S. serving more than 1.45 million homes and business across 22 states. Overall, more than 15% of their total broadband customers subscribe to Gigabit services. They feature month to month agreements. No more long- term contracts for basic services. They also offer the latest technology in cloud-based voice phone systems and business Wi-Fi with Advanced Data Security. For residential service call 855-633-4226. For business service call your local commercial sales representative, Gary Woody, at 816-315-9650 or email gwoody@mediacomcc.com.
Funds are needed for the backpack program. Holy Trinity Church in AC houses this project, which is funded by you, the community. They now are sending 35 packs of food home with school kids weekly. The cost is $950 per month and they are reaching out for help. Donations may be made to: TUMC, with memo: Backpack. Thank You.
River of Life Fellowship hosts Third Sunday meetings each month called “All the More” meetings at 6:00 p.m. Everyone is welcome to attend and they will have a variety of “different kinds” of meetings over the year including singspirations, times of fellowship, formal and more informal times of worship. They will enjoy snacks and fellowship after each meeting. The next events are Sunday, October 19: Monegaw Strings Bluegrass Gospel and Sunday, November 16: Phil & Pam Morgan Gospel Ministry.
Ingathering4 is coming soon to River of Life Fellowship in Rockville soon. Nightly October 6 – 13, come and hear the Word of God taught and preached as it’s time for the Ekklesia to be the Ekklesia. Visiting area ministry every night from throughout the area as different churches are represented, leading worship and sharing the message. Meal begins each night at 6:00 p.m. for those able to attend, especially the visiting ministry, followed by worship meeting at 7:00 p.m. There will be fellowship and snacks each night following the meeting. A love offering will be taken nightly for visiting ministry. Come and be a part of God’s End-Time Ingathering.
The Appleton City Ministerial Alliance meets throughout the year providing community services and opportunities for the area churches to gather together for worship. Additionally, the ACMA helps people through the region in a variety of ways. In 2023 the ACMA founded the Tony Reynolds Memorial Scholarship, which is a $1000 scholarship awarded locally to an area student pursuing continuing education post-high school. Some in the community have asked about the ability to make donations directly towards the scholarship fund that are not used in other ACMA endeavors. At any time, you may make donations towards the ACMA and we encourage you to do so. You may make donations at any of our community meetings, or feel free to contact one of the ministers serving in the ACMA for more information.
The Ellett Memorial Hospital Foundation was established in 2000 by a local couple to benefit and carry out the purposes of Ellett Memorial Hospital. The Foundation has played a major role in the Hospital’s recent renovation/expansion project. The Foundation is a 501c3 organization and plays an important role in ensuring the future of the Hospital by providing an avenue for individuals, groups and corporations to lend their financial support through tax-deductible contributions. The Ellett Memorial Hospital Foundation would like to extend an invitation to the community to assist with this project. They would like to welcome all current and past members of the community and service area to make a donation to the Ellett Memorial Hospital Foundation. Donations can be restricted or non-restricted for use as the donor identifies. Recognition will be given for all contributions. For further information, contact Julee Snyder, Ellett Memorial Hospital, 660-476-211.
“The Little Apple” was started by the A. C. Economic Development as way of informing residents of news and events sponsored by area businesses and organizations. Items of a clearly personal nature, such as birthdays, anniversaries, awards (not group sponsored), personal sales and the like are not accepted for publication. Items may be edited for accuracy, grammar or space restrictions. Please email articles for “The Little Apple” to dcp81@embarqmail.com by Tuesday evenings or bring them to Dr. Payton’s office to be included in that week’s edition. To receive “The Little Apple” free by e-mail, or to be removed from the email list, send your e-mail address to dcp81@embarqmail.com If you have changed your email address, please send the current address, so the list can be updated.
