Brown County Antique Mall
~ story and photos by Karen E. Farley
In the 1989 movie Field of Dreams, Ray( Kevin Costner), an Iowa farmer, hears a mysterious voice in his cornfield saying,“ If you build it, they will come.” Cheri Clevenger, owner of Brown County Antique Mall, decided then that someday she would build her own field of dreams.
Cheri grew up in Indianapolis and moved to the country as soon as she was able to make it on her own.“ I love small towns and people,” she says.“ When I was growing up I wanted to live in a small, tourist town and have my own business.”
After working in the communications business for over 30 years and raising two children, Cheri finally got to have that dream business in Nashville, Indiana. On April 1 of 1995, she purchased the building. At the time, there were only a few dealers in the mall and it was mostly furniture.“ It was already an antique business, but I only bought the building,” she explains.
24 Our Brown County Jan./ Feb. 2016
Cheri likes to share the building’ s history with people.
In 1968, Wayne Ogle sold his gas station in town and opened one on State Road 46 where the mall is now. A lawn mower shop was added later. After Wayne’ s passing, Elaine and Norval Fishvogt purchased the building and opened an antique shop called the Yankee Dollar. They added on to the original building and built an upstairs area where artists could gather to paint and hold art classes. In 1989, Denver and Gladys Veteto purchased the business, renamed it BC Frontier Mall, and added the back section.