There’s a little ray of sunshine in downtown Excelsior Springs and she goes by the name of Molly (Morgan) Roberts. Molly grew up here in Excelsior Springs, right on Elms Blvd. with her two brothers and two sisters. Her father Joe Morgan was a larger-than-life character well known in Excelsior Springs who owned and operated the Town and Country Leader and later acquired the Excelsior Springs Standard. Molly said, “Dad worked and lived in Kansas City, but he and mom decided they didn’t want to raise their kids in the city. So he had an opportunity to buy the Town and Country Leader and move back here, and I’m so thankful he did, I love Excelsior Springs so much.”
In 1988, Molly married Charlie Roberts and they lived in Excelsior Springs for a couple of years before moving to Warsaw, MO where they opened a “really fun, big 3700 square foot antique shop.” In 2010 Charlie started having some health problems and by 2011 they made the move back to Excelsior Springs. “My intention was to retire and take care of Charlie. But I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t sit at home,” she said. Although Molly says she really loved living in Warsaw it never felt like home to her. When she and Charlie moved back to Excelsior Springs Molly says, “I just sighed a big sigh of relief because I thought I’m home. I had my family around me, which I needed so desperately. And it was such a beautiful thing to feel so safe.”
Molly opened a little art studio on 100 Broadway, Molly Roberts Studio, right as the downtown was starting its resurgence. She eventually outgrew her space and moved across the street to 109 East Broadway, where she began having art classes and becoming more involved in the downtown renaissance. She said 109 Broadway held extra special meaning for her, “because that just happened to be the office of the Town and Country leader for many, many years.” She says she had worked in that same space for years as a typesetter, a commercial artist, and a sales representative for her father’s newspapers.
Currently Molly Roberts Studio has moved down the block a little further to 253 E Broadway Ave. where Molly says, “I’m gonna do this till I can’t do it anymore, and, when I can’t my daughter Megan, will take it over.” Her words of advice to Excelsior citizens, “Count your blessings. We have a beautiful downtown, beautiful shopping areas, and beautiful people. We have so many interesting features in Excelsior springs. This is a town where people come to visit, and we get to live here every day! Be thankful,” she concluded.
Full disclosure, Molly Roberts is the aunt of Excelsior Citizen co-founder Courtney Cole and is also a paid sponsor for the Excelsior Citizen.
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