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hen Grant and Denise Snow opened up St er lin g-Roc k Fa lls their downtown Rock Falls electronics business in 1987, towering home stereos took up a chunk of people’s living room walls. Nearly 35 years later, the sounds of popular music can be heard on devices you can tuck into your ear. Changes in technology have been exponential, but the business philosophy at Snowtronics has remained the same through the years. Grant, who lends the family name to Snowtronics, can fix electronics big or small.
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Grant Snow works on circuit board at Snowtronics in downtown Rock Falls. “You have to have that technical experience and the knowledge he has,” wife Denise said. “It’s not just take a board out and put a board back in. You have to have the components. It’s a technical field that requires steady hands.”
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Snowtronics owners Grant and Denise Snow pride themselves on the kind of customer service you can’t get from a website or bigbox store – in-person and personable. “We’re a small mom-and-pop shop and have been here a long time,” Grant said. “We take care of the people that come through our door.”
Taking care of customers’ devices as if they were his own has kept the trust going all these years, Grant said. “We try to do right for the people that come in through the door,” he said. “We’re here because the consumers come through my door. I’m here because people need me here.” “When it gets back to their home, I want them to get years of use out of it, not days.” Televisions? Snow can fix that. Car stereos? Yep. Cell phones? You betcha. That dusty Nintendo Entertainment System and the zapper that’s needed to play Duck Hunt for the first time in 30 years? He can bring those back to life, too, and just about anything else that isn’t too far gone. There aren’t very many like him around these days. “We get people coming in from all over the place because they can’t find anybody,” Grant said. They specialize in new car and home audio electronic sales and installation and servicing all types of electronics, from common consumer items to more specialized requests, and they have a large line of car stereos, amplifiers, subwoofers and subwoofer boxes. Continued on page 9
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Snow spends most of his time tinkering with the many repair jobs, for gadgets old and new, on his slate. Some devices can no longer be repaired by the manufacturer, but they can be brought back to life with Grant’s skillful hands. “You have to have that technical experience and the knowledge he has,� Denise said. “It’s not just take a board out and put a board back in. You have to have the components. It’s a technical field that requires steady hands.� The former Marine corporal was a ground radio repairman, and he became familiar with all different types of cables, diodes, wires, circuits and conductors – some pieces as small as a tip of a needle. Grant, a Rock Falls native, started out repairing and installing car stereos at his house, but thought, “If I could do it at my house, I could do it anywhere,� he said. “We were getting a lot more people at my door than what my wife really wanted.� Earthquake Sound was the big car stereo manufacturer when Snow opened, along with Rockford Fosgate. Snow “sold a ton� of Earthquake Sound systems early on, but like any business, product lines come and go – and that goes for store displays, too. A shelf full of boxes doesn’t always cut it these days. People serious about their auto audio systems want a front-row seat to the sound before they buy, and soon, Snow will be able to give it to them. Continued on page 10
Grant Snow works on circuit board in the work area at Snowtronics in downtown Rock Falls. Some components on circuit boards are so small that an extra-powerful set of eyes is needed, courtesy of a microscope. Snow can repair a wide variety of consumer electronics, including video game systems, home audio systems and cellphones.
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Grant Snow (right) talks to a customer about a stereo receiver that was brought in to the store. Snowtronics offers a repair service for a wide variety of consumer electronics, and also sells home theater and car audio systems.
He recently purchased a frame car audio display that he hopes to have completely installed by the end of October. It’s a $30,000 orange fiberglass and aluminum display with a car seat and controls to simulate whatever atmosphere a driver is in, to give them a better idea of how their sound will sound. A similar setup for a motorcycle also is in the works; Snow hopes to have it done by spring. One of Snowtronics’ more colorful displays is for a 4K OLED television set, where every one of the billions of pixels has its own red, green and blue LEDs. All LED and CLD TV’s have a backlight that shoots through a screen, and that’s where you see the picture; OLED sets do not do that. All of that makes for extremely crisp picture quality, and the set is about as thin as a pane of window glass. “It’s the best TV on the market,” Snow said. “A lot of actors don’t like this kind of TV because it shows so many of their flaws in their skin. The makeup artists don’t like it either because it shows the bad makeup jobs. Everything flows so flawlessly in it, it’s amazing.” As far as the old tube televisions go, it’s one of the few things Snow doesn’t work on anymore because they’ve become almost completely obsolete. However, there are many electronics once considered obsolete that are making comebacks. There are a couple of record players on the store’s shelves – LP’s have made a comeback in recent years. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, vinyl has outsold CDs in 2020 for the first time since the 1980s. Continued on page 11
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Grant continues to repair plenty of VCRs, despite video cassettes being off the market for quite some time. Some things, however, do get beyond the point of repair; if it costs too much to repair something as opposed to buying new, he’ll let you know. He has studied constant changes in the electronics world throughout his whole time in business, and that helps keep his mind sharp, he said. Competing with the power of the internet and product profit cycle ideas, such as repairing Apple iPhone parts, is something that’s always on the Snows’ minds, but they have a powerful tool to help them compete with the world wide web: quality and personal service. “It’s truly a hometown feel,” Grant said. “They know who I am, I know who they are – and our handshakes are a lot better.” “All I got to do is take MORE INFO care of the people that are Snowtronics electronic sales and service, 106 taking care of me. That’s West Second St. in Rock what I’ve done all of my Falls, is open from 10 life in this business. I could a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from have done it a differ9 a.m. to noon on Sunday. ent way and built bigFind Snowtronics ger stores, but those on Facebook, email snowtronics@comcast.net guys go by the wayside or call 815-626-6758 for because they bite off more information. more than they can chew. This way, I’m comfortable sleeping at night fixing things for guys.” Snowtronics does more than just repair audio and video equipment; the shop also services Kirby vacuums, which are still marketed by the manufacturer exclusively through door-to-door demonstrations. No one in town repaired Kirby products when Snowtronics opened, but Grant saw a need for it in the area. Snow also carries a stock of Kirby supplies. As long as electronics of all types need fixing, Snowtronics will be around. “We’re a small mom-and-pop shop and have been here a long time,” Grant said. “We take care of the people that come through our door.” n
Grant Snow, owner of Snowtronics, talks about some of the used home audio equipment he has in stock. He says used home audio equipment is a great way to create a good-sounding stereo system at a reasonable price. Snowtronics sells used receivers, turntables, speakers and more. The shop also carries a line of car audio and home theater systems, including hi-def televisions.
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Members of the Sterling Dive Club, from left: Paige LaShelle, Braiden Herrera, and Laci Long.
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STORY CODY CUTTER PHOTOS MICHAEL KRABBENHOEFT
here’s more to diving just jumps and flips; it can also be a valuable tool in a person’s battle against the jitters and yips. That’s where the Sterling Dive Club can help. Club president and coach John Berge has seen a lot of divers in his time, some who took to the board like a duck to water, and others who had a hard time getting over the fear of being on the edge, but who went on to win championships – the kind of people the club is perfect for: people who could use a little spring in their step. “What we really try to do is use diving as a teaching tool to teach confidence,” Berge said. “Once a kid gets confidence, it just translates into so many things. It builds leadership. We view diving as such a mental game and sport.” The club, formed in 2001, is a USA Diving Program run by Berge and fellow local swimming and diving instructors; it’s affiliated with the Sterling Park District and has most of its workouts and diving sessions in the Duis Center pool in Sterling, with the occasional lesson at the Byron High School dive pool. Laci Long, a junior at Dixon High School, was persuaded to join the club a few years ago after her mother suggested it. She’s the first of the club’s members to come from somewhere other than SHS or Newman Central Catholic High School. Berge remembers Long often muttering “I’m scared” when she first started as a seventh-grader, but whatever worries she had were gone after a few jumps. “At first, I was like, ‘No, I don’t want to do it; it seems scary,’” she recalled. “[Mom] made me go, and I liked it. It was real fun, and I kept doing it.”
Sterling Dive Club member Braiden Herrera dives Sept. 18 at the Duis Center in Sterling. Club president John Berge said Duis “is an outstanding diving facility. Most downstate facilities are not this nice.”
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The club doesn’t do all its work in the pool, sometimes it heads to dry land. Gymnastics lessons are also held at Duis, allowing divers to work on jumps, bends and twists – all skills that are needed for a good dive, which translates to more points during competitions. Gymnastics and dance are two great core skills to have for diving, Berge said. Berge, who dove for Sauk Valley Community College’s first swim team in the early 1970s, has helped out with coaching the local high school teams. One of his fellow coaches, Max Lindsey, was a gymnastics instructor with the park district. They helped coach Sterling High School’s first female divers nearly 20 years ago, and coached 2005 SHS graduate Matthew Whittaker to multiple state meets – and that’s where the success of local diving really took off, Berge said. Photos on page 15, story continued on page 16
Sterling Dive Club president and coach John Berge said the club can provide an important first step to people looking to find confidence in themselves – a step that leads up a ladder and off the diving board. “What we really try to do is use diving as a teaching tool to teach confidence,” he said. “Once a kid gets confidence, it just translates into so many things. It builds leadership. We view diving as such a mental game and sport.”
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“This is an outstanding diving facility,” Berge said. “Most downstate facilities are not this nice, and we have the facility [gymnastics area] right here, and that allows us to do training. For the younger divers, we’ll do the drills there when it’s safer and build up their confidence to go up on the board.” Time working with double-minis and tumbling tracks helped someone like Long make a name for herself in the regional diving field. Competing for the Byron High School cooperative, Long won a sectional championship and qualified for the state diving meet last school year. This season, she’s breaking records in the pool – some of which she set herself. “I really learned how to not be scared of the board, mental toughness, and all of the basics,” Long said. “Those really helped my career in the long run.” Braiden Herrera, a sophomore at Sterling High, found out a couple of years ago when he joined the club that diving wasn’t just about bending knees and springing from a board. Braiden, already a swimmer, was introduced to the club by a former teammate, Brayden Wolf. “You have to have perfect form coming off of the board and have the least amount of splash and always have your toes pointed,” he said. The club is for divers 10 years old up through high school. Paige LaShelle, a seventh-grader at Morrison Junior High School, recently joined the club and is one of its youngest members. She used to be a gymnast at Great River Gymnastics in Fulton, and her mom thought diving would be a great way to stay active. In her short time with the club, she’s learned how to do forward dives, back dives, and front and back flips with the gym equipment, but it sometimes can be a different feel once she’s on the actual diving board. Continued on page 17
Sterling Dive Club member Braiden Herrera dives Sept. 18 at the Duis Center in Sterling. “You have to have perfect form coming off of the board and have the least amount of splash and always have your toes pointed,” he said.
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“At first I’m scared, but once I get the hang of it, it’s fine,” she said. Club members also have the opportunity to attend the summer Olympic swimming trials next year in Indianapolis, and they’ve gotten to know several Olympic divers, some of whom come from Illinois. With the COVID-19 pandemic slowing down some of the club’s activities, the club decided to spend some time giving back to the community it calls home: It helped raise more than $4,000 for the Sauk Valley Food Bank. Among its many alumni, five divers from the club have earned seven state final medals: the aforementioned Whittaker, Mary Sue Lemay, Nick de Long, Kallie Zuidema and Zaina Rumbolz. Zuidema has the highest state finish among them, having placed third in 2016. Kelly (née Lemay), who dove at the UniDIVE RIGHT IN versity of Iowa for a couple of years, The Sterling Dive Club will have diving returned a few introduction programs in January at the Duis Center in Sterling, and in June at years ago to help both the Duis Center and Byron High instruct the club’s School. Individualized coaching is providcurrent divers as ed during June and July depending on well as with the the needs of the divers participating. Sterling High proThere’s no fee to join the club, gram. but there is a $5 per session fee Club divers have for classes. earned 53 sectional Find Sterling Dive Club on Facemedals and won 14 secbook, contact the Sterling Park tional titles; District at 815-622-6200 or Berge, whose day job is email club president John Berge at jberge1951@ managing the McFalls, Berge gmail.com. and Associates accounting firm in Sterling, is quick to credit others for their roles in helping the club become a success. He’s thankful to have a talented instructional staff to help members overcome their fears and tap in to their inner strengths to find their confidence. “If someone learns six dives or 11 dives that lets them compete, and they challenge themselves, that’s what we’re hoping for, because that’s what’s going to make them successful as adults,” Berge said. “Sports do that in general, but we think diving does that in particular.” n
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Midwest Flyboard owner Jeff Freas, shown here at Moonlight Bay in Sterling over the summer, can provide people with a flight of fancy footwork when they strap on a flyboard and float on air, high above the water.
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f someone told you they could fly, you’d probably think their story didn’t hold water. You might want to think again. The story does hold water. In fact, it’s all about water, which is blasted through a pair of jet-propelled boots that can send someone soaring. Ready for liftoff? You don’t have to go far. Jeff Freas STORY of Rock Falls can hook you up with a ride like none CODY CUTTER other. PHOTOS COURTESY Freas owns Midwest Flyboard, a business that, litALAINA BURTLOW, erally, has taken off – especially in recent months as LITTLE BOW PHOTOGRAPHY local folks search for things to do during the downtime that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought. “It’s fulfilling. We can help people have fun in a time when it’s not really the greatest time,” Freas said. Freas’ hydro-powered and buoyant board hooks up to a jet ski which sends water through the hose and out of the board, like a snake out of water. Riders lace up built-in boots, wear the appropriate safety gear and a helmet with a built-in radio, and they’re off.
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“If you can stand up straight, you can fly,” Freas said. How high? Upwards of 60 feet, nearly as high as a seven-story building. Just don’t get all pumped up to leap tall buildings in a single bound. It takes practice to reach to board’s maximum altitude. And not just anyone can operate the machinery: Freas and his friend/business partner, Larry Dale are certified to do so, a process that took being trained by a professional in not just mechanics and maneuvering, but also CPR, first aid, wound care, and the ability to train other people to operate the gear. The flyboard was invented in 2012 by Frank Zapata, a French watercraft pilot. Flyboards were featured on “America’s Got Talent,” and world championships have been conducted. Freas saw flyboards in action a few years ago at Wisconsin Dells, and thought about running a business offering people some fly time. At first, that plan didn’t pan out and Freas soon switched to barber school. However, the school closed when the recent pandemic hit, and he found himself thinking back to the flyboards. This time, he got the plan off the ground and high above the Dells on Lake Delton. Dale soon joined Freas, and the two teamed up to offer people some flying fun. “He asked me if I wanted to do it, and I said. ‘Yeah, lets go!” Dale said. Photos on page 21. Story continued on page 22
There’s more to Jeff Freas’ business than just giving them something to do in their free time – he’s giving something people something to smile about. “I wanted to bring something new to the area,” the owner of Midwest Flyboard said. “It’s fun. Anyone who comes and does it is happy. ... The minute they come out of the water, they’re smiling ear to ear.”
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The rider (Midwest Flyboard owner Jeff Freas, shown here) is propelled into the air by a pair of jet streams of water pumped through a hose that connects to the outflow of a personal watercraft (such as a jet ski), controlled by another person. The thrust that would send the watercraft speeding across the water is instead funneled into the hose, providing the power to lift a person into the air. The instructor on the jet ski controls how high the flyboard can go up, while the rider controls the direction: Bend toes down to move forward, and bend toes up to move backwards; bend the left knee to move left, and the right knee to move right.
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“Opportunity knocks and you got to answer it.” The friends are about 15 years apart in age, but both grew up along the river and around horsepower. “For some people it can take whatever amount of time, but for us it was pretty quick,” Freas said. “We’ve been around motors – if it has a motor, I’ve probably been on it.” They brought the boards to the Twin Cities and on the Rock River at Moonlight Bay this summer, and it’s been a hit, they said. The pair run sonar along stretch of the river each week they are out to make sure there are no logs or other dangerous debris. Once on the water, the jet ski acts like a water pump, pushing water through the hose to the board. The hose is about 75 feet long, and can go as high as 65 feet at its maximum – but don’t expect to go that high right away; it takes many hours of practice to maneuver successfully every few feet. No newbies get more than 4 or 5 feet in the air. The instructor on the jet ski controls not just the ski, but how high the board can go up. The rider controls the direction: Bend toes down to move forward, and bend toes up to move backwards; bend the left knee to move left, and the right knee to move right. Once riders have mastered maneuvering at a certain height, they can go up another couple of feet. Sometimes people have difficulty gauging how high up they are. “Three feet feels real high,” Freas said. “You’ll be surprised how many people will be that high and say, ‘Man, that 10 feet up is getting real scary.’ Yeah, it does when you get up there, but you’re only at 3. ‘Uh-uh, no way!’”
Jeff Freas hovers above the water at Moonlight Bay in Sterling.
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Freas has been as high up as 65 feet, and Dale as high as 40. Dale, however, enjoys being on the jet ski watching riders have fun. “To see the people’s expressions on their faces is just priceless,” he said. “They get past the ‘Whoa!’ once they get up in the air. Then it’s all fun from then on.” They’ve given people from all over northern Illinois – ages 9 to 60 – the flying experience, and everyone who has tried it has had a happy landing, Freas said. “Everyone’s said they love it, and it’s like nothing they’ve ever done. There’s no other feeling like it in the world.” When Moonlight Bay boaters see the red and white jet ski with what looks like a tail in the NEED A LIFT? water, they know something cool is about to hapWant to ride in the air pen. Passers-by often stop and watch the board when the weather starts and rider in action. They’ve made appearances to get warmer next year? on plenty of Snapchat and Facebook Live scenes, Find Midwest Flyboard and it’s been great advertising so far, Dale said. on Facebook or call 815499-5440 to schedule an “As soon as you bring someone up in the air, appointment or for more they all just stop,” Dale said. “You see nothing information. but cameras and cell phones. On the weekends it’s free entertainment for all of the campers.” Midwest Flyboard offers beginner and advance lessons, with individual or group rates. With any adventure, safety is their top priority. All riders must sign a waiver before getting on the craft. The first year was a success, and though it’s getting too cold to do much more flyboarding this year, hopes are high for next year, Freas said. “I wanted to bring something new to the area,” Freas said. “It’s fun. Anyone who comes and does it is happy. Nobody leaves mad. Everyone’s happy. The minute they come out of the water, they’re smiling ear to ear.” n
Jeff Freas hovers above the water at Moonlight Bay in Sterling.
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STORY CODY CUTTER PHOTOS ALEX T. PASCHAL | FOR STERLING-ROCK FALLS LIVING
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terling, 1877: Rutherford Hayes is the 19th President of the United States, a commercial telephone service is being introduced, and Thomas Edison is tinkering with what would be a phonograph machine that could record sound. With only about 5,000 residents in a city roughly half the size of what it would become, Sterling’s place along the Rock River provided enough prosperity – chiefly through riverfront industry – to allow for expanded entertainment and performance opportunities for its residents. The small town even had the United States’ second-largest distillery at the time, so large that the Internal Revenue Service had a office in town just to keep tabs on the taxes. But while that tax money was music to Uncle Sam’s ears, another building was music to the ears of city residents. The Academy of Music was established in 1877 at the southeast corner of Locust Street and Fourth Street. The performance center became Sterling’s place to enjoy fine arts for nearly 65 years, until the Sterling Theater was built across from it, on Fourth Street, in 1924.
D&E Furniture manager Brad Clemens points to the former Academy of Music theater area on the third floor of the store’s downtown building. The store uses the top level for storage.
Continued on page 27
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“Stairing” into the past ... A spiral staircase (left) once led patrons up to the theater from an entrance on East Fourth Street. The doors in the photo at right led to the theater balcony. The staircase leading to the door has long been removed.
Continued from page 26
For nearly 90 years, the grand theater has existed as a shell of its former self, tucked away after its new owner, Sears, Roebuck and Company – which moved in to the building not long after the theater closed – did little to maintain it. These days, D&E Furniture, which has owned the building for nearly 40 years, uses part of the theater area as storage. The seats
are long gone, but more comfortable La-Zboy chairs are packaged in boxes along walls waiting to be hauled down an elevator for customers.
From Keystone to music keys
The Academy of Music building came as a result of the success of the Keystone Works, a Sterling company founded by John A. Galt and George Tracy that manufactured hand
corn shellers, hay rakes, broadcast seeders, corn planters and stalk shredders and cutters. In 1857, Galt owned a hardware business and made farm implements in a small building in Sterling. At first, it was considered just a side business to the hardware; he erected additional buildings 5 years later on the ground that would later become the Academy. Tracy later acquired the property. Continued on page 28
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Looking from the southeast corner of the old Academy of Music stage to the former seating area. The seats were pulled out by Sears, Roebuck and Company after its acquisition of the building nearly 90 years ago.
DETAIL SHOTS AT RIGHT: The glass chandelier (top) remains intact surrounded by a tin ceiling, even though its lights were dimmed long ago. Music hasn’t echoed off the tin ceiling (bottom) in nearly a century, but it remains intact along with the chandelier.
Continued from page 27
Galt and Tracy, both Sterling residents, sought to lend their names to the arrival of both a hotel and a performance center downtown. Tracy and architect James F. Platt were in charge of building the three-story Academy of Music building in 1877, and his partner built the Galt Hotel across Locust Street the same year (the hotel later became the Miami Hotel and burned down in a 1971 fire). The building took less than a year to finish, and cost just $43,000 – adjusted to $1,064,426.10 in 2020 dollars.
Sights and sounds
Tracy’s building wasn’t just a theater; it had storefronts at street level and suites for other businesses and organizations. It also served as an early post office and housed Sterling’s first library and YMCA. Just about anything on the spectrum of fine arts kept crowds entertained at the Academy – plays, music, spoken word and even Vaudeville had its time. Continued on page 29
D&E Furniture Manager Brad Clemens mans a warehouse elevator that leads up to the top floor of its building, the former home of the Academy of Music.
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Some of the more notable acts to perform there were conductor John Phillip Sousa (whose works include orchestrated patriotic American staples such as “Stars and Stripes Forever” and “The Liberty Bell”) and Eddie Foy and The Seven Little Foys, a Vaudeville song-and-dance act. The theater occupied the top floor, and was accessible through a keyhole entrance near the building’s corner which took patrons to a large staircase from the ground floor – both of which have since been removed. Another entrance was on Fourth Street, and a spiral staircase leads up to the top floor. A balcony, where the Twin Cities’ more wealthier folks sat, was accessible through the Locust Street entrance. As many as 1,200 people flocked to the theater on Friday and Saturday evenings to see and hear performances. It was considered to be the largest theater in northwest Illinois, and sometimes was a circuit spot for acts who made their way to or from Chicago. Patrons viewed the stage looking north to south, and helping them see the stage was a large green and gold chandelier that hung down from the center of the seating area. The chandelier is still there, but hasn’t been lit up since the theater closed in 1925. Most of the tin ceiling also is intact, but the stage arch has been retooled over the years.
A list of stagehands was written more than 100 years ago on the back wall of the former Academy of Music stage. To the right of the names, in a brace, reads a message “Consumers of onions in 25¢ bunches. Give us a call. Ever yours to command.”
Photos on page 30. Story continued on page 31
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History in our old hometown
MORE INFO
Want to learn mo re about Sterling’s historic arc Read about the sto hitecture? rie buildings in Sterlin s behind the g Main Street’s “Historical Archite ctu cation at sterlingm re” publiainstreet.org (click on the “hist oric arc ture” link under “E hitecxplore Downtown”)
LEFT: Workers stand on the roof of the Sears building sometime during the 1930s, in this photo posted to the “You Know You Grew Up In Sterling-Rock Falls If ... “ Facebook page. At this time, a pediment stood atop the building, just above the raised “Academy of Music” letters in the center of the building’s cornice on the west side, and read “Geo. S. Tracy Block.” Tracy was a businessman who formed a partnership with Thomas A. Galt during the 1860s as Galt was expanding a business that would become the Keystone Manufacturing Company, later located in Rock Falls. According to genealogytrails.com, Galt – who owned a hardware business – began making farm implements in 1857 in a small building in Sterling. At first, it was considered just a side business to the hardware. In 1862 Galt erected additional buildings on the ground that would later become the Academy of Music. To the right of Sears can be seen signs for the Chase greeting cards and photographs store, and the Sterling Bootery. At this time, Locust Street was still brick, and still a twoway. RIGHT: By the time this photo was taken, the Geo. S. Tracy pediment had been removed.
r High School’s senio The cast of Sterling e th o on stage at play pose for a phot ic in 1914. us M Academy of
HISTORICAL RLING/ROCK FALLS COURTESY OF STE IVE CH AR L DIGITA SOCIETY/ILLINOIS
COURTESY OF STERLING/ROCK FALLS HISTORICAL SOCIETY/ILLINOIS DIGITAL ARCHIVE
Members of the “The Old Home Town” talent show pose for a photo in the Academy of Music in 1923.
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The top floor of the Academy of Music building also housed dressing rooms and other rooms.
Continued from page 29
Modernization efforts often were made during the theater’s time, but they only went so far. When the Sterling Theater was built across the street – at ground level with no steps to climb – and movies started to upstage live productions, the Academy faded away and fell into disrepair.
Decline
Sears soon acquired one of the storefronts and later expanded to the seven other storefronts under the building’s cornice, but the retail king of the time had no desire to run a theater. The first two floors were remodeled and the top floor became storage – which was the way business went for 50 years before Sears moved to the east end of town in 1980, next door to the former Kroger grocery store, where The Goodwill Store is today. According to D&E owner Jack Clemens, a “big shot” executive from Sears inspected the building and saw three cast-iron columns that were standing with no real use to them. With no theater in business, or public needed on that floor, the executive decided to take the columns for himself. What was once a hallmark of downtown Sterling became a trash heap of sorts over the half-century Sears had the building. That was, until Doc and Phyllis Clemens needed space to expand their small furniture store on Sterling’s north side. They moved downtown and found noth-
ing but boxes and boxes up toward the bottom of the chandelier, all throughout the seating area. “When you look back in history, Sears was the equivalent of what Walmart is today, so they had the money to come into a building like this and tear it all out,” Jack Clemens said. “It was a pretty impressive building in its day.” The trash is gone, but the neglect was enough to effectively prevent the theater from ever being restored to its glory days. The Clemens’ cleaned it up for more organized storage along the stage area and sides of the building. Like Sears before them, D&E takes up the entire building, and it remains one of Sterling’s oldest downtown businesses; thus, like the building’s occupants before, it’s become a part of Sterling’s history. In September, more people have noticed the building’s past. When the beige and maroon cornice needed a paint job, it also was decided to repaint the former “Academy of Music” lettering in its original place. The old lettering was made of tin and bolted onto the brick; it was removed during Sears’ ownership, but the outline of the lettering could faintly be seen for many years until its recent painting. The old wood floor creaks a little louder, and the original wallpaper has frizzled up, but the Academy of Music’s story carries on to another generation. n
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Janna Groharing says “being involved with different events and activities is something I’ve always done and enjoyed,” and in her job as executive director of Sterling Main Street, she’s found plenty to enjoy. “It’s my hometown,” she said, “and I want to make it a better place.”
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hen Janna Groharing tells people they can find a lot in downtown Sterling, she knows what she’s talking about. She found a career there. Groharing, 49, is the executive director of Sterling Main Street, part of the Main Street America movement that’s helping revitalize and promote downtowns across the nation. She serves as an ambassador of sorts for the many mom-and-pop stores, restaurants and other businesses that make downtown their home. But downtown Sterling isn’t just a job for Groharing, “It’s almost a way of life,” she said. “I feel like I’m working 24-7 to some degree, but to be good in this type of role you have to be passionate about what you do. You just kind of wear that on your sleeve all of the time.” That passion has lasted longer than the 7 years she’s been on the job, and her dedication to the position is unprecedented – Sterling Main Street went through four directors in its first 5 years. The former manager of The Precinct on the east side of downtown, Groharing always was willing to help make downtown a better place, whether it was promoting events or promoting downtown,and that helped her get a seat on Main Street’s board of directors before she slid into the top role. “When you’re working at a bar, you’re always involved with events and activities to find ways to attract people to the bar,” she said. “Being involved with different events and activities is something I’ve always done and enjoyed.” “I like being the party planner, being the hostess with the mostest,” she said. Continued on page 34
Indian leader Mahatma Ghandi once said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world,” a philosophy that Sterling Main Street Executive Director Janna Groharing embraces when it comes to making downtown Sterling a great place.
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Continued from page 33
Sterling’s wasn’t her home growing up – she’s a 1989 Rock Falls High School alum – but she has fond memories of shopping with her family at Sterling’s businesses of yesteryear such as Kline’s, Bachmann’s Shoes and Weinstein’s. The city’s downtown also provided Groharing with a job and income before she went to college; she was a clerk at the former Eberley Drug Store on Locust and Third streets. She graduated from Illinois State University with a degree in criminal justice. But as it turned out, life in the criminal justice world didn’t last long, either. After stints as a youth services counselor, office secretary and a brief flirtation with real estate, she got the job at The Precinct. Working in the professional world and the food and beverage industry proved to be great background that led to annual events such as Fourth Fridays – when downtown businesses open up to local artists and musicians – and eventually led Groharing to Sterling Main Street. “It’s weird how all my jobs are all kind of interconnected,” she said. It’s not unusual for Main Street organizations to have a high turnover rate in their staff, Groharing said, but she considers herself a “lifer” in her current role. The day-today differences in her job makes it fun, and never boring. “There’s always different projects and stuff going on. Without our events, it’s been a little weird because you’re always trying to come up with new and creative ways to do what you’re doing and do it better and attract people
to the downtown.” This year has been a challenge with the COVID-19 pandemic sidelining many of Sterling Main Street’s usual programs, such as Movies at Grandon, the annual car show and Hops on the Rock. It’s put Groharing and a group of dedicated volunteers in a position where they have to think outside the box – or as Groharing puts it, “lots of throwing spaghetti at the walls to see what sticks,” to see what works. Groharing is fortunate to have the support of fellow Main Street directors throughout Illinois, who she meets with – usually electronically – and shares ideas. “There’s a lot of thinking and a lot of research,” she said. “I read a lot of stuff on the Main Street world. One of our favorite terms is R-and-D, rip off and duplicate, to see what other communities are doing. “I’m constantly getting sounding boards of people from the same field that are finding out what’s working and what’s not, and have ideas to try.” Sometimes the electronic meetings don’t always lend themselves to Main Street’s work, so in mid-September Groharing put together Sterling Main Street’s first in-person board meeting – with social distancing in mind, of course – at the Mercantile Building downtown. These days, without the big events happening, Groharing spends time finding ways to recruit new and maintain current volunteers, with the belief that change doesn’t happen until there is some sort of action happening.
MORE INFO Sterling Main Street is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to the revitalization of downtown Sterling. The group was recognized as one of Illinois’ Main Street programs and earned National Main Street accreditation in 2009 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which it’s maintained with Main Street America since then. Go to sterlingmainstreet. org, find it on Facebook, @ SterlingMainSt on Twitter, @sterlingmainstreet on Instagram, call 815-626-8610 or visit its office at 318 First Ave. The office, which also sells Sterling-themed items in its gift shop, is open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Thursday. More on Main Street America mainstreet.org/home
Continued from page 35
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Sterling Main Street has been instrumental in improving facades and landscaping downtown.
Continued from page 33
“I want more people to be involved in our community,” she said. “Yeah, it’s nice to have our business owners and business employees that work in the downtown involved, but downtown Sterling is everybody’s back yard. It belongs to everybody. “It’s not just for the businesses downtown. We want you to come downtown and enjoy downtown; and if we’re missing something, or think we need to be doing something better, get involved and help us do it.”
Sterling Main Street has been instrumental in not just helping downtown shops with their business appeal — through marketing and promotion – but curb appeal, too. The organization’s facade grant program has helped downtown businesses such as Mead’s Bicycle Shop, Phil Mattox Insurance and both UOI and Merle Norman – which are across the street from the Main Street office on First Avenue – with projects to repair and restore storefronts.Landscaping throughout downtown also has been a important endeavor. Another recent point of pride was
the summer opening of the Sterling Marketplace’s newly built outdoor pavilion; it hosts vendors from the Twin City Farmer’s Market, which is run by Sterling Main Street. The year-round market attracts people from as far as the Chicago suburbs. Sterling Main Street’s successes, as well as those of the downtown as a whole, are the results of teamwork among businesses, community leaders and residents working together to keep Sterling vibrant, Groharing said. Among her regular contacts in making all of that happen are Sterling City Manager Scott Shumard, Sauk Valley Chamber Executive Director Kris Noble and Greater Sterling Development Corporation Executive Director Heather Sotelo. “I feel like we’ve got a lot of real good momentum, not just in downtown Sterling but in the community as a whole,” she said. “We’ve got a real good team. We’re all working toward the same direction for the betterment of Sterling. The last several years we’ve got a lot of strong energy and partnerships and communication.” Making downtown Sterling a better place involves a team effort among folks within its area, and forward-thinking volunteers who are dedicated to their town’s prosperity. “It’s my hometown,” Groharing said, “and I want to make it a better place.” n
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