Dairy Queen 1953-Aft 2006

Moniteau County, Missouri

Dairy Queen

April 1953-Aft 2006

Photos shared on Facebook and from a California Democrat in 2000

From the January 8, 1953 California Democrat:

To Establish New Business

Rellis Wilson of Windsor said Tuesday evening he has purchased from Clarence H Rohrbach the lot west of Mr. Rohrbach's residence on highway 50 and will build on it an establishment for the handling of a product known as Dairy Queen. He said he planned to start construction on the building soon. Mr. Wilson is a brother of Mrs. Earl Elliott of this city.

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From the February 26, 1953 California Democrat:

Building New Drive-In

Rellis Wilson of Windsor has begun the erection of a new Dairy Queen Drive-In on highway 50 west. The new building is going up on a lot adjacent to the home of Clarence H. Rohrbach who sold the lot to Mr. Wilson a number of months ago. Mr. Wilson is a brother of Mrs. Earl Elliott of this city.

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From the April 30, 1953 California Democrat:

Over 1000 Cones Given Away

More than 1000 free ice cream cones were given away in four hours at the grand opening of the Dairy Queen, on Highway 50, Tuesday afternoon. After school was dismissed all of the school buses, at the insistence of the students, stopped and at times there were several hundred waiting for their free cones. The Dairy Queen is owned by Mr. and Mrs. Rellis Wilson.

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From the May 26, 1955 California Democrat:

Treats School Children

Mr. and Mrs. Rellis Wilson, invited the children of the kindergarten and the first three grades of R-1 school to have an ice cream cone at their place on highway 50 west. The kindergarten pupils were there two weeks ago and the grade pupils went Thursday. Mr. Wilson let the children have the privilege of filling their own cones. There were approximately 200 children in the groups. They hiked from school to the ice cream place and Mr. Wilson helped each group get safely across the highway.

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From the 2000 History of Moniteau County:

The California Dairy Queen

The Dairy Queen at California has been in business 47 years as of the year 2000.

Rellis and Pauline Wilson opened Wilson's Dairy Queen April 29, 1953, after moving to California from Windsor with two small children, David and Eric, in March of the same year. It was a seasonal operation, opening every year in the early spring and closing in the late fall. The menu, limited to a few soft drinks, soft-serve products and hot dogs for the first year, gradually expanded to include a large selection of soft drinks, soft-serve products and the well-known foot-long chili dog.

Some exterior remodeling took place from time to time over the years, including the building of a house on the lot behind the business in 1956, which the family moved into in 1957. A daughter, Cathy, was born in 1960.

The Dairy Queen continued to be operated as a family business until the middle 1960's when outside help began to be hired, both because the business had expanded and the older son, who was in college, fulfilled a military obligation.

A large number of young people, mostly high school students, were employed at the Dairy Queen from then on.

The Wilson's sold the business in February 1987 when it became the California Dairy Queen. The new owners were Jerry & Merna Vanderpool, who moved from Sedalia to California to run the business. The Vanderpools remodeled the business extensively, converting it to inside service, with a line of Dairy Queen Brazier products.

After Jerry's death, Merna continued to operate the business.

Cal and Charlotte Gerlach purchased the business on October 17, 1998, from the Vanderpool family after Merna also passed away.

The Gerlach's did extensive remodeling, including an enlargement of the building, making it necessary to move the Wilson family house off the lot. The house was moved to a new location on Cooper Street.

Going out of the 1990's into the 2000's, the California Dairy Queen had a larger inside area, drive-through service, a fully concrete parking lot, and a menu that was once more expanded. A mainstay of the California Dairy Queen menu is the well-known foot-long chili dog.

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