OLD SCHOOL PIZZA Couple Converts Former Malta Elementary Into Home and Restaurant
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OLD SCHOOL PIZZA Couple Converts Former Malta Elementary Into Home and Restaurant ............................................. 6 PROTON TATTOO Acclaimed Tattoo Artist Was DeKalb County’s First .....................................................12 DEKALB COUNTY SWIM TEAM Developing Great Swimmers and Friendships ...........17 ELLWOOD STEAK AND FISH HOUSE A passion for innovation ...............................................20 IN WITH THE NEW DeKalb Chamber Moves to New Location ................. 23
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Old Sch Sch A
lthough most people are eager to get out of school after they grow up, Josh and Molly Holbrook recently left their suburban home to move into an old school building in Malta, Illinois. Fittingly, the couple met while they were in high school together.
Couple Converts Former Malta Elementary Into Home and Restaurant
The Holbrooks purchased the former Malta Elementary School three years ago to be their family’s residence and have now converted part of it into a pop culture themed pizza parlor appropriately named, “Old School Pizza.” The unique restaurant, which is scheduled to open in the next month, features a huge collection of memorabilia, along with delicious casual food and games. Despite the fact that Josh Holbrook runs a lawn care service in Elgin and his wife, Molly, worked as a nurse, they had always wanted to open a family restaurant together.
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chool chool
Pizza Pizza “We’ve been together over twenty years and numerous times we were almost going to open up a restaurant or a bar, but it never fell into place,” said Josh Holbrook. “When we got the school, it just made sense to use it to open up a restaurant.” Josh worked in many restaurants when he was younger, starting as a busboy at the famous Blue Moon in Elgin when he was
only 13 and eventually managing a Little Caesars. Molly worked at some restaurants over the years, as well. The Holbrooks, who describe themselves as “kind of hoarders” have a huge personal collection of pop culture items that they have accumulated over the years. “The difference between a hoarder and a collector is how you display it,” joked
Josh Holbrook. Now that they have a large building and a public restaurant, they are able to take advantage of their life-long passion and share it with others. The couple’s idea for Old School Pizza is for it to be a fun community restaurant, that is also interesting enough that people from outside the community will visit as well. “I think it’s the coolest restaurant
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ever,” Josh Holbrook said. “It is all my stuff, so of course I’ll say that, but I can’t think of any other place that’s got such a variety of cool stuff to look at.” The pizza parlor contains items dating from the 1930s to today, so there’s something for everybody to enjoy and help bring back memories. One of the centerpieces of the restaurant is a giant 1972 McDonald’s train carrying Simpsons and McDonaldland characters. Other prominent items include a 1939 Bantam Speedster and a HarleyDavidson motorcycle. The memorabilia was obtained by the Holbrooks through a variety of methods. They have a large Big Boy statue that they bought online specifically for the restaurant. The largest item in the restaurant is a King Tut statue they got from a man in Maple Park who had it in his barn. It was originally used for a yearly festival in Chicago. The couple met a toymaker, who designed toys for some wellknown companies, and bought several of his one-of-a-kind figures, such as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, E.T., and Batman. They acquired a Keebler Elf from Josh’s friend, who worked next to a Keebler warehouse and found it by a dumpster. Monsters, Inc. and Simpsons characters were movie theater props. They also have many old McDonaldland figures from old McDonald’s playlands. Other figures in the restaurant include the Blues Brothers, Alvin from Alvin and the Chipmunks, Elvis, and Jaws.
and Craigslist. “It’s pretty much what we do almost all day,” said Josh Holbrook. “My thumbs are wore out.” The couple loves the show “Pickers,” because they enjoy finding cool things that are valuable and getting a good deal on them. “You get a little rush out of it,” said Josh Holbrook. “And then when you get to do something with the stuff, rather than just keep it in your house, it makes it a little more worth it, because now it’s like a museum.” Several of the items at the restaurant are Chicago area icons, including a big stained glass window that they acquired from Barnaby’s Pizza in Schaumburg when it closed. “Barnaby’s was always my favorite pizza place,” said Josh Holbrook. “I’m not trying to steal their thing; I’m just such a fan of their pizza and there’s no Barnaby’s out here.” They also have a working Bozo Buckets game that they will let every child play after they are done eating. “[We wanted] anything that’s iconic and stirs up memories and good feelings,” said Molly Holbrook. “There’s a lot of stuff from the 80’s, because we’re both 80’s kids. That’s what we’re into. We both collected stuff for our whole lives.”
They also have a collection of 30 lava lamps that Josh bought from a garage sale, and about 20 are displayed in the restaurant behind the bar.
Some of the restaurant decor includes remnants from the old Malta Grade School. The pizza parlor is located in what used to be the cafeteria/lunchroom, that was also used as a gym. They kept the large mural on the wall that was painted by some of the children who attended the school in 1961-62. The mural depicts the entire town of Malta, in addition to DeKalb and Northern Illinois University. “Everybody’s been really, really happy we kept it,” said Molly Holbrook.
Josh and Molly also love finding items on Facebook Marketplace
Above the bar, they installed one of the original chalkboards from
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the school. Someone also gave them his 1959 basketball jersey that they will frame and hang up in the hallway, along with yearbooks from the 1950s that were donated by the former prom king of the school. As far as the food goes, the Holbrooks are excited to serve a pizza recipe they developed with the help of some friends who own pizza places. Featuring great sauce and fresh ingredients, their pizza will be available in thin crust and double dough varieties, and possibly some type of deep dish as well. “I think we’ve got a really good pizza to give to people,” said Josh Holbrook. The menu, which is still a work in progress, will also include a small selection of other entrees like burgers and chicken tenders, and sides such as fries and onion rings. “The menu will be kind of small, so we can focus on what we do really well,” said Molly Holbrook. They said they want to have a special once a week, and if people really like something that is on special, they will add it to the regular menu.
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Building on the family-friendly theme, Old School is planning to serve at least 6-8 flavors of ice cream, sundaes, milkshakes and floats, so that people from town can come and enjoy ice cream with their kids. They would also eventually like to get some pinball and video game machines in the restaurant, so kids can stop by after school and play games while they eat ice cream or pizza. The restaurant currently has seating for 84 people, but they have space to expand and add more tables to accommodate up to 130 patrons. Parts of the restaurant can also be sectioned off for parties. Overall, the Holbrooks are looking to provide a cool and clean environment, with the friendliest staff and the best food to top it off. “We want this to be a go-to family restaurant,” said Molly Holbrook. “It will be a fun place to come If you’re on a date. It’s not just going to be for kids, but we definitely want it to be familyoriented.” Old School Pizza will be open for lunch around 11 a.m. and close at 10 p.m. on SM-CL1744631
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weekdays and probably stay open until midnight on weekends. They hope to get a liquor license so that adults will be able to come in for a beer and enjoy some music on their vintage jukebox on any night. Being family-oriented, though, they don’t want to be a bar that’s rowdy and stays open too late. The Holbrooks want to make sure they are good neighbors, since the restaurant is in the middle of a residential area. HOME SCHOOLED When the Holbrooks realized that their growing family of five needed more space, they considered building an addition onto their St. Charles home. They also looked into buying an old church building in Batavia, but someone else beat them to it. It was at that point the couple stumbled upon the former grade school in Malta. While Josh was in Malta helping his brother renovate
his home, he met Bob Canova. He was serving as the caretaker of the school and had a floorplan of the building with him. Two days later, the Holbrooks were signing a contract to purchase the property. “We got a really good deal on it. I can tell you that much,” said Josh Holbrook. The couple just happened to be in the right place at the right time and it all came together. “I’m always worried that people get the wrong impression that we have a lot of money,” said Molly Holbrook. “We’re just regular people. The previous owner of the school was a restaurateur from Iowa who also owned a school building in Cortland and the former South Pointe Center in DeKalb. He had planned to turn the Malta school into a banquet hall, but never got around to it and it sat vacant for years. The structure of the school was in really good shape when the Holbrooks
acquired it, because it already had a new roof, windows and doors. With the help of friends and family, they cleared out, cleaned, painted, and carpeted the entire building. They know someone in almost every trade, so they reached out to many people to help with the renovation. “A lot of people will be getting some good deals on pizza. I can tell you that,” said Josh Holbrook. Every room in the building now has a theme and has begun the process of taking form. Themes for some of the rooms of the house include a cinema room, a personal bar with pool table and booths for playing board games, a medieval castle dining hall with a table that seats almost 30 people, a zen/ meditation room, a workout room, and a gymnasium with a stage, basketball court, trampoline and bouncy house.
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The old library has been transformed into a Victorian style living room and a kitchen. The kids have a video game room, and the home also includes a guest room, several offices, and storage upstairs for all the rest of the things they’ve collected over the years records, posters, antiques, pop art, etc. “It will be a long process in making it the way we want it,” said Molly Holbrook. “We’ll still be doing work the rest of our lives, but it’s coming along.” The family did retain some features from the school in their home. They left the lockers in one hallway, most of the bookshelves in the library area, and one whiteboard in each of the children’s rooms. The school’s P.A. system still works and they can use it to play music throughout the entire building. The original basketball hoops with the hand-painted Mustang mascot on them
were moved into the gym from the restaurant area, but remain as they were when students still roamed the halls.
they got hold of it they just went like wildfire,” Canova said. “Josh is a get up and go getter.”
A FRIENDLY WELCOME The people of Malta have greeted the Holbrooks with open arms and are grateful that some life will be restored to the long dormant school in the center of their little town.
Canova, who has lived in Malta since 1962 and has a hand in many community revitalization projects, also helped to get the restaurant ready by donating memorabilia.
“It’s just a nice small town,” said Molly Holbrook. “People are out and about and everybody’s looking out for everybody. You feel safe.” One person who’s definitely excited about the Holbrooks moving into the old school and opening a restaurant is Bob Canova, the man who helped to make it happen. “Josh and his wife had been looking for a place like this for years, and once
“It’s going to bring a lot of people into town to have a meal and then look at all of the memorabilia,” said Canova. “People travel a long ways to see a unique restaurant like this.” Canova is hoping that once people come and see their nice little town, they will want to move there or open a business. “We’re in a very unique situation right here between the college and university,” said Canova. “It’s a small village, but we’re all family.”
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Was DeKa lb
County’s
First
Tattoo Acclaime d
Tattoo Ar tist
Proton
By: Stephen Haberkorrn
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D
eKalb County’s first tattoo shop, Proton Tattoo, which recently celebrated its 17th anniversary, features a celebrity tattoo artist with humble beginnings. Chris May grew up in Waterman, Illinois and graduated from Indian Creek High School in 1994. As a youngster, he was into art as long as he could remember. “That was the best poor kid activity,” said May. “[All you needed] was printer paper and #2 pencils.” At age 17, May started getting tattooed at Skin of a Different Color in Aurora. “It was one of the few places to go back then,” said May. He would bring in drawings of the tattoos he wanted, and Craig Murphy, his tattoo artist, noticed his talent and told him he should consider becoming one as well and offered May an apprenticeship. In 2002 Chris and his friend Jon Bowman, opened their own business, Proton Tattoo in Cortland. It was the first tattoo shop in DeKalb County. It was actually illegal to tattoo in the City of DeKalb at that time, but a change in the law in 2009 cleared the way for Proton Tattoo to open a studio at their current location at 120 S. Fourth Street in Downtown DeKalb in February of 2010.
Business was always good for the partners at Proton Tattoo, right from the first day. But a phone call out of the blue would take things up a notch.
Ink Master In 2012, a producer for “Tattoo Nightmares,” a new realitybased show on Spike TV, contacted May about auditioning for the show. They flew him out to Los Angeles along with about 50 other people and May made it to the final two people. Even though producers chose the other contestant, they really like May. They called him shortly after and asked him to audition for another show called “Ink Master.” He interviewed in Chicago and was chosen to appear in the reality show during its 3rd season, which initially aired between July and October of 2013. May was one of 16 tattoo artists selected for the popular show, from 28,000 applicants. He ended up making it through seven episodes before being eliminated, but was then brought back for that season’s finale to compete against another artist for a chance to return the following season. Unfortunately, the other artist was chosen. “He was on the show longer than me and had a much bigger following,” said May. The TV show was great exposure for May’s business. “It was
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a free commercial every week for 45 minutes,” May said. “People still bring it up, even though it’s been seven years.” The episodes on which he appeared are still occasionally shown in reruns. They also air in different countries and he still gets emails from people in places like Argentina telling him they saw him on Ink Master. “It was cool, but it’s also a double-edged sword, because a lot of people think because of that I’m busy all the time,” said May. He said people often assume they won’t be able to get an appointment with him for months, when in actuality he’s usually only booked up three weeks at a time, at most. May was also lucky enough to tattoo a couple celebrities through a contest that his wife, Nina, won back in 2007. His then fiancé was a big fan of the soap opera, “All My Children,” and won a contest to swap jobs for a day with an actor on the show. She worked as a receptionist at Proton Tattoo at the time. The couple went to New York and Nina got to do some soap opera scenes. Then Jeff Branson, who played Jonathan Lavery on the show, came to the Proton studio in Cortland to answer phones and work at the shop. While he was there, he got an Elvis tattoo. May also inked Branson’s girlfriend, who accompanied him on the trip. Bob Guiney, winner of season four of “The Bachelor,” was hosting the event and got a tattoo from May as well.
Big and Bold is Better May says that he prefers to do largescale, illustrative-looking color tattoos that tell a story, but he’ll do whatever people want, including smaller, trendy tattoos. With a larger tattoo, said May, you’re going to have better results. Consequently, he is really happy any time he can do a full sleeve or a big leg piece. “The bigger it is, the more things you can pull off,” said May. “It’s like a megapixel photo; if it’s bigger, you’ll be able to see more detail and definition.” The tattoo master said that he spends a lot of time learning to draw better and trying to come up with unique designs. “It would be nice to get to do those things and change the landscape of what’s acceptable to get as a tattoo,” said May. “You can get a little risky and do something kind of crazy. You’re going to love that more in the long run.” He says many people choose to get a trendy tattoo for their first one because they view it as “safer,” since it’s more popular. According to May, many people are getting all the same tattoos that they see somewhere like Pinterest. “I think you should be mindful of what’s trendy and avoid it,” said May. He said he’s seen many people, including himself, later regret their first tattoo, not because tattoos aren’t cool, but because they just got something trendy that wasn’t unique or personal.
For the last few years, small tattoos like infinity symbols and arrows have been popular, but May said tiny symbols and things with fine lines and little details end up looking bad later on as your skin ages. Other things that are currently popular include positive statements and quotations. “It is positive, but can you really commit to that one saying for the rest of your life?” questioned May. “I always tell people, ‘A picture’s worth a thousand words, but a picture with ten words is worth ten words.’” May said that trying to tell people that their idea for a tattoo is bad is a craft in itself. “It’s hard to shoot someone’s idea down when they’re dead set on it,” said May. “It doesn’t matter to them that you’ve been doing it for 22 years.” “You have to be willing to work with the artist,” said Madeline Disz of Waterman, “because they’re just trying to make sure you get the best tattoo. If they tell you something’s not going to work, they know it’s not going to work and you’re not going to be happy with it later.” If someone is unhappy with a tattoo, Proton is not equipped to do removals; however, they can do cover ups. A coverup is where you tattoo something new over the old tattoo. “You have to be kind of tricky with it,” said May. “It’s like a puzzle. You have to do something that’s
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busy and confusing to the old design to really mask it well.” In addition, May also does touch ups on a daily basis.
Beware of “Scratchers” May said that the tattoo industry has expanded like crazy since he’s been doing it. “Before, we used to call it ‘the craft,’ but now it is an industry,” said May. Now there are many suppliers, aftercare products and tattoo machines available. There are also Chinese knockoffs of everything and fly-by-night schools, according to May. “You can buy a kit on eBay and mess people up,” May said. Much like in other growing industries, such as craft beer, May believes that the proliferation of tattoo parlors due to its increased popularity has actually hurt the overall quality of tattoos, as many sketchy shops have popped up. “There’s a lot more people doing it, and as a result, there’s a lot more bad tattoos being done,” said May. “It’s kind of sad, honestly—especially when you put your heart and soul into something and anybody can get something off eBay and start tattooing people out of their house.” People who tattoo outside of a shop are called “scratchers.” May said that scratchers can not only mess up people’s tattoos, but also infect them with things like hepatitis. Licensed tattoo artists have to update their blood borne pathogen training every year and get a health
inspection yearly. They are also required to have insurance. Proton’s business has grown over the years. When they first opened it was just May and his partner. They now have four tattoo artists working out of their shop, as well as someone who does body piercings. There are currently four tattoo parlors in the DeKalb area—some of which have ties to Proton. May doesn’t worry about tattoos losing their popularity, though. “I hope that someday it’s less popular and it kind of takes a nosedive and all these people who aren’t very good at it will have to find [another job],” said May. “If there’s a dive in popularity, it will really separate the wheat from the chaff.” There are, however, many great tattoo artists out there. May said people will go to school now for art just to become tattoo artists, and then use those art skills to take them up to the next level. May said that what helps him to keep advancing his skills is just spending time being a creative person and making artwork, whether it be drawing or painting, and then honestly critiquing himself. “I love my job,” said May. “I’m one of the few people that I know who loves going to work every day. It’s taken me places that I never thought I’d go.” In fact, May has been all over the country for his work. For instance, he tattoos at the
Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota every year. “It’s like two weeks of constant tattooing,” said May. May is a multi-talented artist. Besides doing tattoos, he also sells prints of his paintings, plays several rock instruments and wrote and produced music, and performs stand-up comedy and writes comedy sketches. He even completed the Improv and Writing Program at Second City in Chicago. His newest project is an animated sci-fi show on the streaming platform, Twitch. He even found a way to combine tattoos and comedy by producing “Scabbed Up Comedy,” where stand- up comedians perform sets while getting painful tattoos.
Now Everybody Gets Them May compares the demographics of people who get tattoos to musical preferences. “Everyone listens to music, but they listen to different kinds of music,” said May. “A lot of people get tattooed, but there are different kinds of people who get tattooed, from people who get that little tattoo here and there, to people who get their whole body tattooed.” Proton clients range in age from 18 up until their 80s. May recently tattooed an 81-year-old woman who came in with her
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daughter and granddaughter and got matching tattoos. He says there are slightly more women than men coming in for tattoos. Joel Aspinwall, 44, of DeKalb was 17 when he got his first tattoo. He has so many tattoos now that he’s lost count. Chris May did his entire back and about ten other tattoos. “Back when I was young, it was different than it is now,” said Aspinwall. “It was artists and rockers that got them. Now, everybody gets them.” What Aspinwall likes about tattoos is that each one gives you “a little snapshot” of that period in your life when you got it. He considers his body to be an artistic canvas. “Why walk around with a blank canvas when you can decorate yourself?” Aspinwall asked. His back piece, a mantis fighting a drunken monkey, is a tribute to his study of Kung Fu. “I just gave him the concept and he knocked it out of the park,” said Aspinwall. He described May’s style as very bold. “His ability to layer color and texture is really like nobody else. Everybody at his shop is really talented, really good people. If you’re stopping in, anybody that’s going to help you is going to take good care of you.”
Madeline Disz has 26 tattoos, the bulk of which have been done at Proton Tattoo. “I think [tattoos] are fun,” said Disz. “My dad gets them. My brother has them, so it just kind of became a family bonding thing.” Disz’s brother actually works at Proton Tattoo. “I love it there,” said Disz. “There’s a lot going on, so you’ve got a lot of visual distractions when you’re getting tattooed. Everyone’s really accommodating and they always seem pretty excited to do a tattoo. I’ve liked everything I’ve gotten from them. I’ve never had a bad experience.” Clinton Garland, 33, from Sterling originally saw one of May’s tattoos on Myspace and figured it was by some well-known tattoo artist in Los Angeles. He was amazed to learn that May was located in DeKalb. Since then, he has had plenty of tattoos done at Proton.
Advice for People Considering Getting a Tattoo May advises people to check out the portfolios of tattoo artists. Most of them have samples of their work on their Instagram account. He said it’s worth the extra money to get a tattoo done by a better artist. “Don’t let price dictate who you end up going with,” said May. “If you see a better guy and he’s $100 more than the guy who’s ok, go to the better guy.”
“Growing up, my parents told me if I ever got a tattoo I’d get kicked out of the house,” said Garland. “My dad’s old school, blue collar. He’s even cool with tattoos now, too.”
Large tattoos are not cheap and it’s a big commitment. A full sleeve color tattoo could cost you $3,000-$5,000. It’s also 30-40 hours of work. They are done in sessions. You will do a session and then wait a couple weeks for it to heal before continuing with another session. Some tattoos take 8-12 months to finish. Typically, May said, you pay for the day’s work each time you come in, so you don’t have to pay for an entire sleeve in advance.
Garland is happy to have found a tattoo shop he can trust. “Chris is awesome,” said Garland. “I just describe something I have pictured in my head, and every single time Chris draws it even better than I had it pictured.”
Lastly, prepare to endure some pain. Dylan Foord of Sycamore, who got a tattoo on his chest touched up by May, compared the pain to a constant bee sting. “It’s going to hurt, but it’s worth it.” No pain…no gain.
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mers Developing Great Swim and Friendships By: Stephen Haberkorn
eKalb County is lucky to have a great year-round competitive swim program that is afďŹ liated with the Kishwaukee YMCA and the DeKalb Park District. The DeKalb County Swim Team (DCST) was started in 1980 when the YMCA team, the DeKalb Park District team and the Kishwaukee Country Club teams were combined. While many champion swimmers have trained with the DCST over the years, perhaps the best thing they have developed is a familyfriendly environment that has connected thousands of families and produced many lifelong friendships. The DeKalb County Swim Team trains and competes primarily in the Bickner Aquatic Center in the Kishwaukee YMCA. The facility, which was built in 2000, contains an 8-lane, 25-yard competition pool with ample room for spectators. DCST currently has about 150 kids from all around DeKalb County and beyond, including swimmers from Dixon and Byron to St. Charles and Geneva, and from Caledonia and Marengo to Hinckley and Waterman. These young swimmers have an amazing level of commitment to their sport, with many of them training for hours every day. One of the team’s most-successful swimmers currently is 11-year-old Gage
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Helfrich of Dixon, who travels about an hour each way to get to the Kishwaukee YMCA for practices and competitions. Helfrich has won multiple age group state championships and hopes to swim in college after first breaking “all of the records on the board,” according to his father, Matt Helfrich. Despite the many hours of driving and practicing, Matt Helfrich believes it’s worth it. “[DCST] is a bigger team and he has kids pushing him and he pushes other kids,” said Helfrich. “I think he’s going to go somewhere, and he’s learning here. It’s just a great group of people, really... We’re very happy to be here.”
won many district and state titles over the years, including Boys State Championships in 2002, 2003, 2011, and 2014; Girls State Championships in 2007, 2009, and 2013; and an Overall State Championship in 2007. Most recently, the 21-and-under boys won the 2018 Long Course State Championship. DCST has also won ten Northwest District Combined championships. During the summer, DCST is affiliated with the DeKalb Park District and swims against 13 other community swim teams in the North Central Illinois Swim Conference (NCISC). They have won the NCISC sixteen times.
The team is led by senior coach, Matt Anderson, who returned to the program in 2017 after coaching at the collegiate level for over twenty years at NIU, Ohio State and Youngstown State. Anderson swam for DCST as a child and helped to build the club in the early 1990s as an assistant to now legendary former head coach and current YMCA Aquatics Director, Brian Bickner. After Bickner resigned as DCST head coach to spend more time with his family, he eventually reached out to his old friend, Anderson, to continue the tradition of excellence.
Nine-time IHSA State Champion and DCST alumna, Athena Ye of Sycamore, explained the formula for DCST’s consistent excellence. “The successes that my teammates and I achieved were not only because of what we did in the water, but the times when our coaches guided us, when our teammates raced us, and when our parents encouraged us,” said Ye. “Success is a group effort, even if the performance is individual.”
“As coaches, we try to develop them at a very young age to do everything correctly, so that over time it becomes something they do automatically without thinking about it,” said Anderson. “At the higher levels, you’re probably taking 5,000 strokes and doing 200 flip turns in a practice. Remembering to do each one of them correctly is a challenge. By the time they are older, if they’ve learned things right, it’s more about tweaking things.” Anderson said the goal for their program is for swimmers to continue to improve and love the sport after they leave the team. “We don’t want them to get peaked out at this point,” said Anderson.
SUSTAINED SUCCESS The DeKalb County Swim Team has
Ye, who swam for Rosary High School in Aurora and is currently a member of the Harvard University swim team, said that the coaches at DCST were some of the most encouraging and supportive people she’s ever met. DCST swimmers are fortunate to have a group of over 20 professional coaches helping them improve. Every one of the coaches has competitive swimming experience. The staff is made up of two full-time coaches, Anderson and Josh Norek, and about 20 senior and junior assistant coaches. The junior coaches include current DSCT high school-aged swimmers who work with the younger children. Grace Flemming, 18, from DeKalb is in her 13th year swimming with DCST. After each of her last two seasons swimming for the DeKalb-Sycamore high school co-op team, she was named Daily Chronicle Girls Swimmer of the Year. She’s not sure yet where she wants to go to college next year,
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but she would like to study biomedical engineering and then possibly go on to medical school. She has been coaching with DSCT for three years. “I’ve really loved working with kids,” said Flemming. “I enjoy my job so much. The coaching even helps my own swimming, because as I’m coaching I’m seeing things these kids are doing and I think about it for myself and I’m like, ‘That’s what I should be doing.’” She hopes that she can continue to coach swimming when she’s done with school.
ELITE SWIMMERS
Individual accolades have been numerous over the years for DCST swimmers. The team has had 16 National Champions, 43 National All-Americans, 105 National Qualifiers, and 186 Individual State Champions. DCST swimmers have held numerous state and national YMCA records, and 59 DCST alumni have gone on to receive college swimming scholarships at all levels. They have also had several kids go on to qualify for the U.S. Olympic time trials. “When you’re having those kinds of numbers, that filters down,” said Bickner. “Things like that help to grow the team and get people more interested.” Several of the notable individual standouts over the years include: Mackenzie Powers, Sycamore, 3-time IHSA State Champion, swam for Penn State University; Emily Launer, DeKalb, 2-time YMCA National Champion, 9-time IHSA medalist, swam for Northwestern University; Grant Alef, Maple Park, 13-time YMCA State Champion, 33time YMCA All-American, swam for University of Minnesota; Caitlynn Moon, DeKalb, 21time YMCA All-American, held
YMCA national record in the 800 freestyle, 1500 freestyle and 1650 freestyle, swam for Texas A&M; Daniel Hein, Sycamore, IHSA State Champion in 100 backstroke, 10-time IHSA State medalist, 5-time YMCA National Champion, set IHSA state record and YMCA national record in 100 backstroke, swimming for University of Missouri; and Athena Ye, Sycamore, IHSA State Champion in 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly, 15-time IHSA State Medalist, Illinois State Swimmer of the Year in 2019, swims for Harvard University.
FRIENDS AND FAMILY
The swim team is made up of all different kinds of families, from all different backgrounds. The YMCA promotes the values of caring, honesty, and respect, and those are exhibited throughout the team, beginning with the coaches and the parents. Ultimately, despite all of the success that DSCT swimmers have achieved in the pool, what is perhaps most exceptional about the team is the family atmosphere that connects both the swimmers and their families. “A lot of people say the swim team is kind of like their second family,” said Bickner. He said that last spring they had a DCST reunion at Fatty’s in DeKalb that was attended by over 100 families.
emotional support system can get a kid through the struggles.” Gavin Anderson, a 17-yearold senior at Sycamore High School who was the 2019 Daily Chronicle Boys Swimmer of the Year, started swimming for DCST when he was eight. He said his best memory was going to nationals with three other guys on the team and doing everything together. “We were an extremely close group of guys,” said Anderson. He said the group stays in touch and even had a Friendsgiving and a Christmas party together last year. Daniel Hein of Sycamore, who is a four-time All-American at the University of Missouri, swam with DCST for 11 years. “I don’t really remember all the practices we did, all the yards, specific times, specific meets, or anything like that,” said Hein. “But I do remember the friendships that I made and the family atmosphere.” He said the family environment he experienced with the DeKalb County Swim Team was one of the most important things he looked for during the recruiting process when he was selecting a college swimming program.
It’s not uncommon for kids to swim with DCST for 8-10 years and develop deep bonds with their peers. Beth Raetzke of Sycamore, whose daughter, Hannah, 13, swims on the team, said that those relationships help kids get through the times of discouragement. “If you’re focused in on friendships and being with people who you really like to be around, now you have something else to look forward to,” said Raetzke. “And that
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Ellwood
STEAK AND FISH HOUSE A PASSION FOR INNOVATION By : D . M . H erra
B
ill Hristakos fell into the restaurant business by accident and discovered his calling on the way.
Hristakos arrived in the U.S. from Greece in 1975. Like many of his countrymen, he said, his first work in America was in a restaurant. “It’s tradition,” Hristakos said with a shrug. “Everybody, when they come here from Greece, works in restaurants. I wasn’t sure about it at first, but little by little, I grew to love it.” On a sunny Sunday afternoon, Hristakos sat at a table in the window of The 1879 Lounge, the cocktail lounge attached to his DeKalb restaurant, the Ellwood Steak and Fish House. He paused to say hello to customers beginning lunch at high tables of dark wood, and to admire an elaborate bloody mary garnished with vegetables, shrimp and a miniature burger. Hristakos worked in restaurants until 1984, then took a 17-year hiatus to operate a wine
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and spirits store – the first liquor store to open in the city of Evanston, he said. In 2001, he went back to his roots, opening a restaurant in Long Grove. After 13 years in Long Grove, Hristakos retired – or so he thought. But it turned out the restaurant industry wasn’t through with him. “In 2014 I had just retired from the restaurant business when my friend told me there was an opportunity out here (in DeKalb),” Hristakos said. “I’ve been in cities all my life, so when I came out here, it was different. I wasn’t so sure at first, but then I said, ‘Let’s try it.’ It’s been five years, and so far, so good.” Hristakos wanted to open a steakhouse – a high-end casual restaurant that borders on fine dining. The menu includes sandwiches and burgers but focuses on choice Black
Angus steaks wet-aged 35 days. He wasn’t sure if there was a market for what he envisioned in a rural area like DeKalb. “It looked like a fast-food town,” he admitted. “I wasn’t sure how successful this would be. It was hard when we started, but every business is hard to start. We found a place here and I’ve made a lot of friends. DeKalb is a beautiful town.” Ellwood’s and 1879 are located at 2219 Sycamore Road, a neighborhood dominated by fast food, quick casual restaurants and big box stores. While that may have initially intimidated Hristakos, an upscale dining option was exactly what the neighborhood needed, according to Matt Duffy, the executive director of the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce. “Having a fine dining option on
Sycamore Road is a huge thing,” Duffy said. “It’s nice to have that option in a busy central location.” The Sycamore Road corridor is also home to the local hospital and a number of professional offices, and Duffy noted Ellwood’s has become a staple for the business lunch crowd. During the week, Hristakos said, the restaurant’s small plates menu is popular. Larger than an appetizer but smaller than a full meal, the small plates offer diners a lighter lunchtime option. Weekends, the owner said, are largely all about the steaks, though the menu offers a variety of other options. True to its name, the Ellwood Steak and Fish House also has fresh fish brought in twice a week. The care taken with securing the best meats is extended to the rest of the
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restaurant’s ingredients. Hristakos is particularly proud of the olive oil pressed from his own olives grown in Greece. Hristakos inherited several olive farms from his parents, he said. Once a year, he travels to Greece to oversee the harvest and the pressing of the olives. The extra virgin olive oil is used at the restaurant and sold to the public at DeKalb and Sycamore’s summer farmer’s markets. Hristakos is a hands-on owner, working regularly in the Ellwood kitchen. On his days off, you can find him creating new recipes from his kitchen in Des Plaines. He says he loves asking people what foods and flavors they like, always seeking inspiration for new combinations. “This is my passion,” he explained. “I cook here, I cook at home, I cook
on my days off. I love cooking, and I love trying new things.” Extensive as it may be, Hristakos’ experience can’t help his customers unless he can share it with them. To that end, he holds short staff meetings every night before the dinner service begins. Staff receive more extensive education in meetings every three months. “In this business, you have to keep your employees up to date because they are the ambassador to the customer,” Hristakos said. “They don’t have to be connoisseurs, but they have to know the basics – the difference between prime and choice meats, how a chardonnay is different from a chenin blanc.” While Hristakos’ years in the liquor business proved valuable in helping him develop the Ellwood wine
list, he shrugs off well-known food pairing rules like red wine with beef and white wine with fish. “There are people who act like if you drink white wine with a steak you’re going to die,” he said, rolling his eyes. “I say drink what you like. Maybe your palate wants white wine and you want to eat a steak.” After all, he said, knowing when to break the rules is the secret to crafting new flavors. “Sometimes the book will tell you not to do something, or the recipe will say only do it this way,” he said. “But you experiment. You think, the recipe doesn’t have garlic, but I think garlic would taste good in this. So, you try it and it’s even better. That is the beauty of creating new dishes; you can follow your palate and let that guide the way.”
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IN with the
NEW E
veryone came up a winner in a downtown office space equivalent of musical chairs – one that is seeing city hall take up residence downtown, the chamber of commerce bridge the gap between downtown and the university, and a local bank make efficient use of empty office space.
Last fall, the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce moved its offices from a century-old downtown bank building into newer, more modern digs inside the First Midwest Bank location at 130 W. Lincoln Highway. The move was sparked by the City of DeKalb’s decision to locate city offices in the historic bank, known as the Nehring Building. The building was recently sold to the city by the DeKalb Park District;
City Hall relocation sends DeKalb Chamber of Commerce office from historic bank building to modern bank
the chamber had been a tenant there since 2002. “The city downsized and didn’t need their huge building on Fourth Street anymore,” DeKalb Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Matt
By D.M. Herra
Duffy said. “When they were seeking to relocate, they wanted to be in the heart of downtown.” Located at the intersection of Lincoln Highway and Second Street, the Nehring Building fit the bill. The city’s need for space dropped dramatically after the DeKalb Police Department moved into its new facility in 2013, and the old city hall will require some major renovations in the near future, city manager Bill Nicklas has said. The Nehring Building – smaller, located in the heart of downtown and already government owned – seemed the perfect solution. That solution did, however, put the chamber and the building’s other tenants, the DeKalb County Convention
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and Visitors Bureau and the DeKalb Area Agricultural Heritage Association, in the market for new space. According to Duffy, the chamber considered several years ago moving to a space better suited to its needs but was hesitant to leave the Nehring Building’s future up to fate, Duffy said.
When searching for a new space, however, layout took a backseat to location. The chamber board’s top priority, Duffy said, was to stay downtown, or as close to downtown as feasible.
“It’s a neat historic building, and I’m glad it’s going to continue to be maintained as that,” he said. “We didn’t want to threaten that or to create an empty space downtown.”
As it turned out, the timing of the search couldn’t have been better. First Midwest had recently relocated some of its staff, resulting in empty office space it decided to rent. The bank is located in a transitional neighborhood, where downtown blends into the Northern Illinois University campus community.
Though the Nehring Building has its historic charms, Duffy said, the layout created challenges for the way the chamber does business.
“The timing was perfect,” Duffy said. “It’s a nice, professional business environment in a high traffic area, and it’s a great space.”
“A couple of years ago we had an office built for me because the whole space is just wide open,” he said. “There was no place to have private meetings or even to close the door and take a phone call. That open layout works for some environments, but for us, it was limiting.”
The new location has space for each of the chamber’s four full-time employees, Duffy said – private offices for himself, the membership director, and the director of marketing and events, as well as a welcoming reception area. There is also conference space and basement storage.
“The last space had a lot of dead space we couldn’t utilize,” he admitted. “We had a lot of storage, but it wasn’t really organized – you’d have a little bit here in this corner and a little bit over there in that corner. And there was no elevator to the basement, so if you were storing things down there you were carrying them up and down stairs.” The other Nehring Building tenants are also settling into new spaces. The DeKalb County Convention and Visitors Bureau, previously housed above the chamber offices, has moved to the DeKalb County Community Outreach Building, 2500 N. Annie Glidden Road in DeKalb. The DeKalb Area Agricultural Heritage Association has temporarily located to the NIU-owned building at 2280 Bethany Road in DeKalb as it continues to search for a permanent location. With all the Nehring Building’s tenants relocated, the building is undergoing some renovation work to prepare it for its new identity as DeKalb City Hall. The city expects to move into the finished building by spring. The old city hall will then be sold.
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