Nelle

No one can visit Stillwater without walking by or visiting Lowell Inn. One resident remembers the owner of Lowell Inn driving her car along the old highway 36 with her sunglasses, a huge smile and a scarf around her hair. Most though, remember Nelle Palmer as a stylish and exacting proprietor of the Lowell Inn. Taking over with her husband as manager of a new and struggling inn, Nelle and her husband Arthur had the idea to paint the telephone poles blue and advertise “Follow the blue poles” to Stillwater. The utility company made the couple paint them back, but by then the strategy was a success so it hardly mattered. From starched dresses as waitresses-or “Nelle’sGirls” to beloved staple recipes, Nelle’s enormous personality created an impression on a generation of young women who learned the art of hospitality. Her recipes have been featured in cookbooks and are well remembered by locals who grew up with them