Family memorabilia ends up in dumpster, tossed out by Applebee's during remodel

CLINTON, Mo. - When the Applebee's in Clinton re-opened about two weeks ago, a few residents noticed something very important was missing.

It's not every day these two friends reunite over a game of Chinkerchek. If you've never heard of Chinkerchek, it's a game similar to Chinese Checkers that was invented in Clinton, Missouri. There's also the Buzz Bomb and the boomerang plane also made by the same inventor.

"His name was Lawrence Wesley Brown," said Chris Walker, who has lived in Clinton his entire life.

He was Chris Walker's grandfather. Walker loaned some of those family heirlooms to the local Applebee's 10 years ago as part of a "Hometown Heroes" display.

Walker has a contract with Applebee's listing all of the items loaned, including his grandfather's Chinkerchek board and if asked back, would be returned.

That was also the case for Glenda Hann who loaned the food giant some of her father's treasures. He was a local artist.

"There were water color paintings, his paint brushes, his artist palette," said Hann.

When she and Walker found out the restaurant was being remodeled, the friends both inquired about their families' memorabilia. They were told the items were sold, trashed, or missing.

"Indeed they had not been sold that they were probably in a dumpster somewhere," said Hann.

"It made me pretty angry, disillusioned, pretty disappointed with Applebee's," Walker added.

Walker and Hann say they aren't looking for money; they just want their treasures back.

They both say they won't return to this Applebee's or any Applebee's in the near future.

When contacted late Monday afternoon, the Vice President of Communications for Applebee's parent company told FOX 4:

"Our franchise has investigated the issue and confirmed that an unfortunate mistake was made in dealing with the memorabilia at the time of the remodel. For a number of reasons it was not known at the time that the items were not the property of the restaurant. Applebee's and the franchisee share the disappointment and truly apologize for what was an unfortunate mistake."