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Charles City business women gather to show, ‘We can do it!’

Charles City business women gather to show, ‘We can do it!’
Photo courtesy Sara Scobee
A group of area business women gathered recently under the new mural painted on the back wall of The Rustic Corner on Main Street in Charles City, part of the Town of Colors mural project. Pictured are (front row from left) Tami Vetter, The Rustic Corner; Dr. Angela VanGilder, Cedar Soleil Spa; Joanna Thompson, property owner and event coordinator for Main Street Charles City; Darci Tracey, Prologue Books & Wine; Elaine Jennings, Birdie & Bo’s; Robin Macomber, the artist who painted the mural; Erica Chick, 2Kute Klothes; and Susanne Peterson, Encore Boutique & Consignment; (back row) Elissa Ellis, The Rustic Corner; Tiffany Rottinghaus, Mara/Cardigan; Ginger Williams, Charles City Area Chamber of Commerce tourism and marketing coordinator; Lori Otto, Otto’s Oasis; Shelly Zweibohmer, Unique Country Store/S&S Designs; Dr. Anne Lundquist, Charles City Schools superintendent; Danielle Ellingson, attorney; and Rhonda Dana, Darbe & Co.
By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

A group of Charles City business women gathered for a photo recently under a new Town of Colors mural that includes a depiction of one of the country’s iconic symbols of working women.

The mural on the back alley wall of The Rustic Corner on Main Street includes an image of the World War II “We can do it!” poster that later began being referred to as “Rosie the Riveter.”

Charles City business women gather to show, ‘We can do it!’
This poster was one of a series designed for a Westinghouse Co. campaign to promote the war effort in World War II. The woman depicted would later be referred to as Rosie the Riveter, although the original Rosie was a painting of a different woman done by artist Norman Rockwell as a cover for the Saturday Evening Post. Office for Emergency Management, War Production Board/Wikimedia Commons

Rustic Corner owner Tami Vetter said she got the idea of gathering the working women to draw attention to the mural, painted by local artist Robin Macomber, and to recognize “how many women are making things happen in Charles City.”

“I just kind of went up and down Main Street. I started with the people I knew, and then we invited other people. Not everybody was able to show up. We just reached out to women in business that were available that day,” Vetter said. “We started making a list, and it was amazing how it started to grow as we went along.”

She said about 40 people were invited and 16 of them were able to gather for the photo, taken by Sara Scobee.

“The thing I told people who couldn’t make it, they’re invited anytime to come down, before it gets icy, and we’re happy to take their picture and add it to our collection, because we’ll post those pictures on our social media,” Vetter said.

She said the murals can be so much more than just art and a way of beautifying the city. One of the goals of the Town of Colors program is to promote tourism and economic development.

“The tourist groups that I’ve taken to the alley already are like, ‘This is amazing for the town,’” Vetter said. “It can mean so much more than just decorating a building. I hope people appreciate it and find a way to make their lives better with it.”

Vetter said she sent a picture of the mural to a friend, Les Nelson, who is currently in Texas.

Nelson sent her back a text that described the mural as “Art that will keep people smiling, instill a positive attitude and a sense of heritage and a sense of purpose going forward,” and he continued, “Two of my aunts were welders in the shipyards of Houston, Texas, during the second world war, breaking barriers and stereotypes without a chip on their shoulders or an agenda. Just filling a need, taking the country forward in a quest for freedom.”

Artist Macomber said the mural was inspired by Vetter’s love of peonies and the fact that when Vetter came to town she started a business called Working Women that had as its logo the World War II image of Rosie the Riveter, depicting women who took over jobs in factories and other businesses in America when many of the men were drafted to fight.

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