Hand it to the residents of the Old Appleton community on the Cape Girardeau-Perry county line. They don't give up, and years of effort are finally paying off.

In 1982, the town's century old bridge across Apple Creek was washed out by flooding. The structure is believed to be the oldest iron bridge in the state still at its original site.

Since then, the community has been working to restore the bridge in hopes that it could be replaced on its piers to span the creek. This would give pedestrians and other non-vehicular traffic a safe way to go back and forth without risking life and limb on the Highway 61 bridge.

With a lot of community fund raising, some $100,000 has been generated. Residents have volunteered their time and energy to rebuilding the bridge, which currently sits on one bank of the creek. And now the Missouri Department of Transportation has awarded a $200,000 grant for the project, provided the community can come up with the final $50,000 needed.

The stick-to-it spirit of Old Appleton just goes to show what any community can accomplish when it works together.