This week we’re featuring the town of Vian, Oklahoma (pop. 1,466) and sharing some of the stories of rural revival happening here! Today’s guest blog post is from Callie Prier, co-owner of Morning Sky Boutique and Evening Shade Mercantile, which offers a great selection of women's clothing, accessories, jewelry, gifts, art, home decor, and more. Welcome, Callie!

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Hello! My name is Callie Prier and I am co owner of Morning Sky Boutique. I was born and raised in Vian, Oklahoma. I left after graduation to attend Oklahoma City University and graduated with a degree in Broadcast Journalism, then moved to Montana to be with my husband who was stationed there with the Air Force. We moved back home in 2011 and ended up having three kids: Blake, Creede, and Lyla.

I had always known I wanted to come home and raise my kids in Vian, but didn’t know exactly what it was I wanted to do when I got here. I have been a photographer for nine years, I also worked for a college after moving home, and then started working for my dad who has been the local physician here for 36 years. In 2014 my mom, Suzanne Sullivan, and I had heard that one of our favorite buildings in downtown Vian was recently listed on the market. Having no experience in owning a business/boutique, my mom and I purchased and remodeled the 1903 building and became partners in what is now Morning Sky Boutique.

After being open for our first year, we were overwhelmed with the support we were getting not only from the locals and surrounding towns, but also the business we were getting from people from all over the state from Oklahoma City, Norman, Tulsa, Muskogee, as well as people from Arkansas, Texas, etc. I had always known we lived in a gorgeous part of the state, but had underestimated the amount of traffic Lake Tenkiller brought through our little town not only in summer months, but all year long. With the need for more space, we purchased the building that bordered ours, cut a breezeway through the wall and decided to move our home and gift inventory into the newly remodeled building and named it Evening Shade Mercantile. We chose to keep our clothing, jewelry, shoes, and accessories in Morning Sky Boutique, but the two side by side seemed fitting.

My mom and I have both always dreamed of opening a business in downtown and are equally passionate about Vian and trying to make it a better place for all of us to live and raise our kids. Our original goal of starting a business was to bring more people to our area, keep more money local and hope to share priceless time together as mother and daughter. What ended up happening was something unexpected and much more significant. We have met the most amazing people who live locally, are at the lake, or are traveling through — and have built relationships and friendships with those people that we would have otherwise never known. Meeting these people and learning their stories has made it all so worth it!

We truly have the best people around living here in Vian who are working so hard to bring Vian back to life and make this town what we all dreamed it could be.