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A Rock Falls family business has been smoothing things over with their customers for more than 120 years.

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16 Happy days are here again, and again and ... For more than 150 years, customers have been leaving a Dixon business wearing more than just a new piece of jewelry — they’ve been wearing a smile

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A mo busin r lec e th ess t toe t a lot an ce hat ’s exc s, an of m ntur been y e d of t ption Willi emor is bo aroun i . und h a e df A m s fam e fir m ily b st fo ong s Aut and m to co or oB the lur em us AL and iness gener m is t ody is enEX a p — A atio his p no T. P n r l SH ASCH e-tee , Hom s of t hoto AW n A e r, B he ME L/AP Gil. ud DI A A.C SC OM HAL

A Rock Falls family business has been smoothing things over with their customers for more than 120 years

By Cody Cutter | Sauk Valley Media

When a Rock Falls body shop first opened its garage doors for business, horsepower was still powered by horses. More than a century later, the family business is still on a roll — it’s just not doing much buggy work these days. From wooden carriages to mechanical machines, Williams Auto Body has fixed it all. Scratches and scrapes, dings and dents, smashes and crashes — if a vehicle needs some TLCC (tender loving car care), the shop can help. It’s been getting customers on the road again for 125 years, and a lot has changed in that time, but one thing hasn’t: the Williams name. Scott Williams is the fifth-generation owner of his family’s shop, representing the longest multi-generational business in the Sauk Valley.

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PHOTOS: ALEX T. PASCHAL/APASCHAL@SHAWMEDIA.COM

Every tool has a job to do, but some of them have a story to tell too, like the shop gear at Williams Auto Body. Above, owner Scott Williams shows a file used by his great-great grandfather, Al Williams, who opened the business back in 1897. Other speciality files can be seen sitting on the workbench, and in the inset at right. At left is a tool that Al’s father, Gil, labeled during his time in the shop.

WILLIAMS cont’d from page 3 He’s seen his fair share of changes in his time, but nothing quite like the changes his great-great grandfather saw. Al Williams was there for the birth of a revolution on the road, when horseless carriages left horse-drawn carriages in the dust. But if Al were still here, even he’d have to admit that things are a lot different these days. “Technology has just taken over now,” Scott said. “The continuous education that you have to keep up with is just mind-blowing, especially with a lot of the electronics anymore.”

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These days, body shops aren’t sanding wood and dipping paint brushes to get the job done. They’re sand-blasting metal and spraying computer-matched colors onto vehicles. They’re putting vehicles back together with so many parts that it’s like reassembling a two-ton puzzle. Gone are the stoves that used to help paint dry, replaced by high-tech thermal rooms where watching the paint dry doesn’t take so long.

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Williams Auto Body painter Nick Meier works on a project in the paint booth Feb. 17. Meier has worked at the shop for 10 years. “It’s always a challenge,” he said. “It’s always different and it’s never the same monotonous work. It keeps it fun.” ALEX T. PASCHAL/APASCHAL@SHAWMEDIA.COM

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WILLIAMS cont’d from page 4 Nick Meier has painted at the shop for almost 10 years, and enjoys not only the work, but also the family atmosphere throughout the place. “It’s always a challenge,” Meier said. “It’s always different and it’s never the same monotonous work. It keeps it fun. The schedule’s great for my home life and family.” But through all those changes and challenges, the family’s commitment to its craft and its customers has remained — and that goes all the way back to Al Williams, who opened a small buggy repair shop in Sterling 3 years before the turn of the 20th century. Al eventually passed on his pride, and his business, to son Homer, who would do the same for his son, leaving the business in Bud’s hands. The handiwork continued and Bud later passed the business to son Gil, who left the business to Scott — five generations in the same family, an impressive father-to-son feat that’s rare in small businesses these days.

My motto that I try to stress to potential customers is that if your car is not safe enough for me to put my own family in it, it’s not leaving my shop.” Scott Williams Williams Auto Body

WILLIAMS cont’d to page 7

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WILLIAMS cont’d from page 6 “It was a lot of talk about how Al instilled in Homer quality and customer service,” Scott said. “It’s been passed on down, and my motto that I try to stress to potential customers is that if your car is not safe enough for me to put my own family in it, it’s not leaving my shop.” Al Williams established the foundation of his family’s business philosophy in 1897, at his first shop in a large two-story garage on the corner of East Second Street and 19th Avenue, across from Riverside Cemetery on Sterling’s east side, where an empty lot now sits. His sons, Homer and Ralph, later worked alongside Al before he retired in 1929 and Homer took over. With so much time in business, there’s bound to be a lot of stories to tell. Among them is one about how Al really earned his stripes after a setback that could have slowed him down. “People would bring in their buggies in the fall, and my great-great-grandpa would put new wheels on it, paint them and pinstripe them,” Scott said. “Rumor has it that he lost a part of one of his fingers, and when he would

pinstripe, he used that nub as a guide to get stripes straight on a wheel.” As horses made way for more motors, Al’s original neighborhood shop outgrew itself. After Homer took over, he moved the shop to different locations throughout the Twin Cities until putting the brakes on the moving trucks and settling down at the business’ current location in 1941 on the west edge or Rock Falls, at the corner of Prophetstown Road and U.S. Route 30. By that time, Homer’s son, Vernon — “everyone knew him as Bud,” Scott said — joined the shop and later became the third-generation owner. Scott still fondly recalls memories of growing up in the shop when Bud took over, and the business is full of pieces of it past. Though the tools that Bud and Homer used collect a little more dust than they used to, all those mallets, pliers and unique contraptions, such as a double-edge pick hammer to get into tight spots, still have a home at the shop — and some of them are even pressed into service from time to time. Others remain as personal memories of the family’s hard work over the years, Scott said.

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WILLIAMS cont’d to page 8 EstablishEd 1999

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WILLIAMS cont’d from page 7 Elsewhere in the shop, family photos honor the memory of the men and women who helped the business survive and thrive. One photo that stands out is one of the first four generations of the family business — Al, Homer, Bud and a pre-teen Gil. What you won’t find at the shop are some of the methods that have, thankfully, made way for more modern — and safer — tricks of the trade. “I remember as a kid, when I was 14-15 years old, my grandpa was in the shop straddling a gas tank on a car, welding it and soldering a hole shut with an open torch and a lead bar,” Scott said. “I left, because I knew what gasoline and fire does. He was an amazing guy.” Another memory Scott shared was of how the family adapted to business during wartime. “A lot of times, they didn’t have steel because everything went to the wars, so they straightened a lot of stuff,” Scott said. Bud’s wife, Betty, also worked at the shop, handling office duties. They weren’t the only husband-and-wife team that are part of Williams’ history: Gil and Caroline, Scott’s parents,

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were in charge when the shop celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1997, a milestone that’s earned state recognition and a place in the pages of Popular Mechanics magazine. Like Homer, Bud and Gil did before him, as a child Scott would wander around the shop, exploring the larger-than-life vehicles that were rolled and towed through the door. He was fascinated by what he saw, and as he grew up, he would help out in the shop sometimes. The payday? Pizza and priceless memories. “When I was a kid, on Friday nights we’d be sitting in the middle of the shop on a milk crate eating Gig’s Pizza with my dad for our Friday night suppers,” Williams said. “The roast beef pizza was the good one.” The shop was a big part of Scott’s life growing up, and he officially joined the family business in 1986. Gil and Caroline took over from Bud and Betty in the 1980s and passed ownership to Scott in 2017. Today, the shop does full-service collision repair, provides 24-hour towing, and does U-Haul rental. “We’re thankful for the community still supporting local businesses,” Scott said. “It’s great to hear some customers come in and say something like ‘Your grandpa was running this place the last time I was in here.’ We’ve been fortunate. It puts a smile on my face.” n

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n at’s bee h t n o i t l institu ested a i v c n i n s a ’ t n i i f ys When a ears sa y 5 hat’s a t 3 , 1 s r s o f e c d c aroun nity’s su u e bank m h t m o o t c e s t k in i u can ta o y t n e m commit By Cody Cutter | Sauk Valley Media

STERLING — “Shop local.” When most of us hear that phrase, we think of stopping in to Main Street mom-and-pop shops. Keep the money circulating locally — it’s the lifeblood of a town’s business community. But how many of us think about banks when we hear that phrase? Sterling Federal Bank does. They think about it, and talk about it, a lot — and they don’t just pay lip service to shopping local. The bank puts its money where its mouth is.

It’s a philosophy that’s served the bank well. Through recessions and depressions, financial busts and booms, the bank’s been a fixture of the community’s financial landscape for 135 years. Since it opened in 1885, Sterling Federal Bank has operated under a mutual form of organization, in which it is mutually owned by its depositors; there are no shareholders. Mutual banks are more common on the East Coast, but not as much in the Midwest. One of the benefits of that setup? A mutual understanding. Local banks are more connected to their community than “big box” financial institutions, giving them a better understanding of how the decisions they make impact the community they live in, the customers they serve, and the people who work for them. Sterling Federal Bank is overseen by a nine-member board of directors who are a mix of business owners, local executives and current and former bank officers. The next rungs of leadership after the president and CEO are four Vice Presidents, each in charge of finance, lending, operations and retail. In recent years, the banking industry has undergone many changes, but Sterling Federal Bank has remained true to its roots, said its president and CEO, Dean Ahlers, who has been with the bank since 2007, and in charge since 2013.

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SUPPORT cont’d from page 9 He said the bank takes no stock in the idea of selling out. “Over the years, there has been a push for mutual banks to become stock banks,” Ahlers said. “We’ve really focused on the fact that we’re not for sale. Our goal is to maintain our mutuality forever, unless there’s some type of government tax change or something that makes it so that we cannot function that way. Our sense of pride is that we’re not beholden to stockholders; our focus has always been and will always be our customers, our communities that we’re in, and our employees.” The local philosophy is one they’re proud of, and one they keep front and center, through signs, banners and ads that have read “Since 1885 and not for sale” and “Local loans from a local lender.” “We like to do a loan on a local business here because we can understand what’s going on in our market,” Ahlers said. “There’s more to the numbers, there’s an art and a science to it,

and we can do a loan for someone because we know who they are and what they’re doing, whereas somebody that probably didn’t understand our market probably wouldn’t do that loan.” That commitment to keeping things local not only benefits the bank and its customers, it trickles down to the community. When customers do well, the community does well. “If someone comes in and wants to open up a checking account, rather than saying ‘Here’s our options. What do you want to do?’ our people are going to ask questions about why they want to open up a checking account, what are your goals and objectives, and what are you trying to accomplish,” Ahlers said. “We’re not just trying to give business to people, we’re trying to make sure we’re understanding where you’re trying to go to help you reach your goals, whether that’s retirement, college education, owning your first home, whatever. We’re always looking at the bigger picture rather than just the transaction.”

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Sterling Federal Bank's main office, at 110 E. Fourth St.

CODY CUTTER/CCUTTER@SAUKVALLEY.COM

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SUPPORT cont’d from page 10 Sterling Federal Bank started out as the Whiteside County Building and Loan Association on Nov. 9, 1885, housed in the former Galt (later Miami) Hotel at the southwest corner of East Fourth Street and Locust Street. The bank survived both the Panic of 1893 and the Great Depression of the 1930s. It changed its name to Sterling Federal Savings and Loan on June 9, 1934, after receiving its federal charter. The following year, the bank moved to 13 E. Fourth St. — a building now demolished — where it stayed for nearly 30 years before building an office at 402 Second Ave., the current home of Raymond James and Associates.

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CODY CUTTER/CCUTTER@SAUKVALLEY.COM

For Sterling Federal Bank, shopping local isn’t just a catchphrase, it’s a commitment to their community. “We ... understand what’s going on in our market,” Sterling Federal Bank President and CEO Dean Ahlers said. “Our focus has always been and will always be our customers, our communities that we’re in, and our employees.”

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SUPPORT cont’d from page 11 A survivor of two World Wars and deregulation in the 1970s, Sterling Federal continued to evolve. It adopted a federal savings bank charter on May 8, 1990, and changed its name to Sterling Federal Bank, and built a new three-story headquarters across from its Second Avenue location, at 110 E. Fourth St. The expanded space gave the bank room to grow, with space for insurance and investment services, as well as a gathering place for its senior-oriented Four Seasons Club. The bank offers more than two dozen types of insurance — auto and home, pet, life, flood and more. The investment team of two financial advisers handles customers’ stocks, bonds and mutual funds. The Four Seasons Club is for customers age 50 or older who maintain deposits of $20,000 or more with the bank. The program has day trips, a travel points program, and other free services such as checkbook balancing, photocopying and laminating.

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SUPPORT cont’d to page 13

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SUPPORT cont’d from page 12 Through the years, the bank has added branch offices — Morrison in 1972, Rock Falls in 1979, two in Dixon in 1990 and 1997, and second location in Sterling in 1997. The bank bought two branches of Marquette Bank in Clinton, Iowa, in 2001, and added locations in Mt. Morris and Byron through the acquisition of the former Mt. Morris Savings and Loan in 2007. Another chapter in Sterling Federal’s story was written on Aug. 27, 2019, when it became a covered savings association; that means it can operate like a traditional national bank and removed limits that previously restricted its ability to originate and retain commercial and agriculture loans. The bank also invests in the community, through its annual Employee Charity Challenge, which donates money to local charities. Employees come up with a list of charities that the public votes on at the bank’s Facebook page, and the top vote-getters divvy up donations. About $42,000 is invested, with $20,000 going to the charity with the most votes. The challenge also helps promote local charities, Ahlers said. “We’re really big about giving back to our communities, not only on a corporate level, but our employees really buy into it as well,” he added. The Subprime Mortgage Crisis of 2008 proved to be a crossroads in the bank’s history. Having solely been a mortgage lender at the time, if it wanted to continue as a mutual bank,

some changes needed to be made, chief among them the entry into the commercial loan market in 2012. When families felt the effects of the crisis, Sterling Federal rolled up their sleeves and found ways to save nearly 250 homeowners from losing the roofs over their heads. “We did everything we could, as long as they were willing to work with us, if we could find a way to keep them in their home, we did that,” Ahlers said. “Even though that was a detriment to us financially, and even though we could legally do it (foreclose), we didn’t.” The most recent crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, was another moment in history when the bank had to rise to a challenge. When the federal government announced the Paycheck Protection Program loan program, Sterling Federal puts on its masks and rolled up its sleeves as it prepared for an expected flood of requests from local businesses who wanted to know more about the recovery program. In addition, the bank kept its employees working: 40 guaranteed work hours for full-time employees, and 30 for part-timers. “When something goes wrong, we find a way to circle the wagons,” Ahlers said. “We’re asking what can we do to benefit our communities out there. We really take that initiative that we really are a community bank, and are here for our communities. If we can do something to help them, we’re going to find a way to do it.” n

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DIXON — Times change, styles changes, people change, but one thing that hasn’t changed at a Dixon store that’s played a part in people’s precious memories for more than 150 years: People walk in happy, and leave happier. “The jewelry business is one of the happiest businesses to be in,” said Eric Brantley, who owns the shop with wife Judy and his mom, Linda. “You’re dealing with engagements, which are always happy, and if it’s not an engagement, we’re dealing with people giving gifts, whether it be your wife, girlfriend, or for a wedding or birthday gift. We do custom engraving, and a lot of times that’s for awards. It’s a really happy business.”

TREIN’S cont’d to page 16

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Trein’s owners Judy and Eric Brantley have good reason to smile: It’s because they ’ve brought a lot of smiles to customers’ faces through the years. “The jewelry business is one of the happiest businesses to be in,” Eric said. ALE X T. PASCHAL/APASCHAL@ SHAWMEDIA .COM

TREIN’S cont’d from page 15 The business has been putting smiles on people’s faces for generations, since a pair of Amboy merchants took their jewelry business to Dixon shortly after the Civil War. Today, the team at Trein’s is still making people smile, whether customers are looking for a piece of new jewelry or they want to bring new life to a family heirloom. The Trein name became part of the store’s story when William Trein took over the business. After another ownership change, Eric’s father, Gordon, bought the business in 1954 and it’s been in the Brantley Family for nearly 70 years now. Gordon met his wife, Linda, when she was a young employee; they

Established 1975

eventually married and raised Eric, who remembers wandering the shop as a boy, amazed by all of the shiny tiny pieces of steel and stone. “In the 50 years that my father was here, he built a business and a reputation that was all about taking care of the customers and making sure they were happy and satisfied,” Eric said. “It’s been a pleasure to continue his legacy, rather than trying to build one of our own. We’ve, of course, made some changes to keep up with times, economies and lifestyles, but it’s still the same theory: We want our customers to be happy, and when they come back, it’s for something good.”

TREIN’S cont’d to page 17 EstablishEd 1947

F l a v o r s We bring life to products.TM Providing Community Service for 75 years.

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“Beautiful jewelry for any special occasion — or ‘just because’” ... Trein’s carries a wide selection jewelry: rings, necklaces, earrings, and more. ALEX T. PASCHAL/APASCHAL@SHAWMEDIA.COM

TREIN’S cont’d from page 16 Though the store puts 1883 as its first year of business, its roots actually go deeper. The Brantleys had originally thought the business began in 1883 until Linda dug a little deeper into the store’s history and, with the help of Telegraph newspaper ads in the 1870s, traced its origin to Amboy, to either 1860 or 1861. The store’s lineage begins with Samuel Dodge and Augustus Kling, two mercantile shop owners from Amboy who later moved to Dixon some time after the Civil War to open Dodge and Kling jewelry store. Augustus’ nephew, E.L. Kling, bought out his uncle in 1883. William Trein came to work for the store in 1906 after operating his own store for 5 years in Ashton, and eventually bought the store in 1920 and gave it its current name. He owned it until Theodore Wolf and Julius Hess bought it in 1944. Gordon Brantley came to Dixon from Austin, Minn., eventually buying half-interest in Trein’s and becoming sole owner in 1965. Gordon was part of the business for more than 50 years before his death in 2005, after which his wife, Linda, took over operations. Eric joined

the store in 1987 and Judy came along in 1996. Linda, who started working at Trein’s in 1964, still comes by most days, and is Trein’s certified gemologist appraiser — a title in the jewelry business that is held in high regard, as not many achieve such a certification. Gordon and Linda were 22 years apart, which gave Eric two different generational mindsets to learn from. “He got to deal with a different generation. The one he worked with was different from the generation my mom worked with,” Eric said. “So I got to learn from the generation before me, and before I was even born, that generation. It’s given me knowledge that I probably couldn’t have gotten otherwise.” The Brantleys aren’t the only family who have a history with Trein’s. The store has served generations of families through the years, and Eric knows of at least one family that’s bought weddings gifts from Trein’s for five generations. Sometimes a family jewel even returns to the store. About 20 years ago, a lady brought a ring purchased Dec. 22, 1924, that once belonged to her aunt, and wanted to sell it back. The ring came with the original receipt and box. It originally was bought for $45, which would be about $740 today, but was missing the stone and was damaged. Eric bought the ring back for the original $45 price.

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Trein’s has a selection of colorful eastern European art glass.

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TREIN’S cont’d from page 17 “She wanted to know if we wanted it back, because she didn’t want it,” Eric said. “The stone was missing, but it was purchased by her aunt, who never got married. She purchased it for herself in the original Trein’s box. I bought it from her, just because, how could I not?” Watches have also passed their time in the shop, since its earliest days. Today, the Brantleys also repair, engrave and appraise jewelry, and every now and again make international trips to find more fine jewelry to bring to the area. The store also carries a wide selection of eastern European art glass, watches, pearls, necklaces, earrings, and stainless steel accessories, such as tie bars and cuff links. The art glass, most of which originates from the Czech Republic, is displayed prominently along the store’s walls. The Brantleys purchased much of their original collection in bulk from a Dixon native who designed them. Sometimes, a customer has more than one reason to smile when they shop at Trein’s, like sales associate Monica Druen. She came into Trein’s for a wedding ring, but left with something more: a job.

ALEX T. PASCHAL/APASCHAL@SHAWMEDIA.COM

Getting a ring on her finger helped Monica Druen get her foot in the door at Trein’s Jewelry when owners Eric and Judy Brantley were looking to hire someone. Trein’s designed Druen’s wedding ring, and eventually asked her to join their team. “I’m really starting to appreciate the whole process, and I really enjoy working with the customers, who are awesome. It’s really exciting for me TREIN’S cont’d to page 19 to learn and have fun.”

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Sometimes, the rings at Trein’s come full circle, like this one that a customer purchased in 1924. Decades later the customer’s niece brought the ring into Trein’s and asked if they wanted to buy it back. The ring, still in the original box and with its receipt, had seen better days, but the woman left the store with $45 in her pocket and a piece of the store’s history had come home. “I bought it from her, just because, how could I not?” said Eric.

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Druen’s journey from customer to customer service began last year when she was looking for a certain something special for her wedding ring, and Trein’s — which does around 200 to 300 different pieces of custom work each year — turned out to be the perfect place. She and Trein's Jewelry, 201 West First St. in Eric worked SUBMITTED PHOTO downtown Dixon, is open from 9 a.m. together to come to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, up with a customand 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. designed ring with an Find it on Facebook, go to treinsjeworange sapphire set off elry.com or call 815-284-6626 for by diamonds from her mother’s wedding ring. more information. “I’ve learned about how there is so much detail in a ring, and what goes into it,” Druen said. “I’m really starting to appreciate the whole process, and I really enjoy working with the customers, who are awesome. It’s really exciting for me to learn and have fun.” Eric and Judy don’t have any children of their own, but they’ve already agreed that when their time comes, they’ll do everything they can to make sure the store remains a part of Dixon. “As fast as businesses change, and when they change hands, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of longevity,” Eric said. “They’re in it for the quick money, they’re in it for the quick return, and they’re in-and-out and gone. This should give them the confidence that we’re not going anywhere. We’re growing and keeping up with times, because what we were in 1883 and what we are today are very different. We like that we’re at the forefront of it all.” n

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