SEPTEMBER 2024
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Cheers to beer! Meet, drink, and be merry at Brewfest Golfers enjoy going along for the Ryder during Lake Carroll tournament Museum is a place of Historic proportions Restaurant’s recipe for success? Just add Pepper Prairie Club welcomes bugs with open arms
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ometimes, golf can be like a card game. Take Lake Carroll’s Ryder Cup. Good pairs can add up to a great four of a kind. Organizers want a full house. And players hope the deck is stacked in their favor. Many trips through the golf course are done with individuals trying to get the fewest number of strikes — hard drives or soft putts — throughout nine or 18 holes. Add a teammate in the mix, and there’s another layer of competition with alternating shots, and scramble and best ball play.
One of Lake Carroll’s premier golf events, its version of professional golf’s international Ryder Cup, utilizes different ways to play the game for 36 holes of challenging play within both foursomes and a team of 30 others scattered throughout Lake Carroll Golf Course.
Lake Carroll’s annual Ryder Cup has been up for grabs for nearly 25 years, and this year’s competition on Aug. 3, during a sweltering Saturday when a breeze was hard to come by, saw the Red Team, captained by the course’s assistant professional Logan Rohr, get off to a strong start in defeating the Blue Team, helmed by course pro Jason Hill, 23 1/2-18 1/2.
This year’s event saw 64 golfers, all from Lake Carroll, grouped into 16 foursomes — two pairs in each foursome — vying to win single points for each successful round of alternating shot, best ball and scramble play. If foursomes tied at the end of a round, each pair received a half-point.
Lake Carroll’s Ryder Cup brought out 64 golfers for an afternoon of golf and good-natured competition. Captaining the teams were the course’s professional, Jason Hill of the Blue Team (second from left) and assistant professional Logan Rohr (right) of the Red Team. Hill played with Tom Frieske and Rohr with Marty DeCrane.
In some cases, success on every hole counts, and that’s how the competition between the pairs led by the two captains went down. Rohr and Marty DeCrane tied with Hill and Tom Frieske after the best ball and alternating shot rounds with a half-point each, but the Red pair closed the day strong with the upper hand in scramble play for the full point. Rohr and DeCrane were one of seven pairs, four from Red and three from Blue, which secured at least a half-point in each round; and the foursome was the only one to have its competition come down to the final round. “It was back and forth the whole time, par, birdie, par, birdie, par, birdie on both sides, but it was fun,” Rohr said. “Marty just wasn’t missing any putts.” Rohr, in his third year of being a Ryder Cup captain, has now beaten his boss in consecutive years; his team was on the winning end of a 25-20 result last year and 20.5-18.5 loss two years ago. It was just one of the highlights of his day. The other highlight? Having a good time.
Jaime Melville putts on No. 9 as Joe Payette and Sheri Moutrey look on during the Ryder Cup’s scramble competition Aug. 2.
Blue Team members Glen Pfaff (left) and Dave Hovenin.
Red Team member Jeremy Allen (left) and Blue Team member Glen Pfaff (right) tee off on No. 10 during the Ryder Cup on Aug. 3. Allen and teammate John Esposito won two of three points against their opponents to help beat the Blue Team 23 1/2-18 1/2.
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“It’s a pretty good feeling to see everyone have some fun and playing together,” Rohr said. “It’s nice seeing everyone play with new people and having fun together. Everyone has the same skill set with the groups that we put together, so it’s cool to see people compete and have fun.”
Rohr picked the other 31 golfers for his team, and course superintendent Tim Throop picked his other Blue teammates for Hill. Golfers are paired using their handicaps to match opponents as close as possible.
Competition began with the captain’s foursome teeing off at 7 a.m. in best ball play, where simple stroke play is done and the best individual score within the pair is used to match up against that of the opposing pair. Alternate shot play came next, where golfers in a pair alternate turns hitting a single ball. Scramble play concluded the day, which involves golfers in a pair playing from one’s best shot closest to the hole.
“It has some variety,” Rohr said. “You got to place your teammate in the right spot, otherwise you put them in a bad spot to score. You really got to hit good shots to know where your teammate is going to hit the next one.”
Flag event competitions took place at various holes throughout Ryder Cup and Par 3 event on Aug. 2-3. Marty Chinderle had a shot that was the closest to the pin on No. 9 during Par 3 play that held on for him to win a prize.
Even though his team came up short this year, Hill also enjoyed seeing golfers on the green with those they typically wouldn’t play with on a regular trip around the course.
“It’s a fun tournament and fun event,” Hill said. “We get to put people together who aren’t normally together, so it’s about different groupings of different people that wouldn’t normally play together on a regular basis. So we’re basically match making, that’s what the best part is.”
Reid Paxson has played in several Ryder Cups over the course of 20 years, and enjoys hanging out with the Lake’s fellow golf lovers.
Each year, he takes pictures of the winners of the course’s other premier events — the mens and womens Club Championships, Senior Club Championship, and the Mr. and Mrs. Club Championship — that are on display for a year in the pro shop.
Competing for the Red Team, Paxson and Scott Cuvelier finished in one of the event’s two ties against Cos Triggiani and James Weese, splitting the final scramble round. Even though golfers make their way back to the Clubhouse to get a glimpse of the leader board three times during the way, they often ask fellow golfers along the way how their team is faring against the other.
Deb Scheidegger putts on No. 9 during the Par 3 scramble competition of the Ryder Cup on Aug. 2. CODY CUTTER/CCUTTER@SHAWMEDIA.COM
“We can mess with each other and joke around, or be serious then not serious,” Paxson said. “When you make the turn, you get to hear the guys on the other fairway go, ‘How are you doing? Are we up? Are we down?’ Things like that. That’s cool. That’s really part of what makes this community.”
This year’s field of golfers ranged from high-school age to players in their 80s, adding variety to the pairings.
“I’ll probably play this well into my 80s if I can,” said Paxson, 78. “It’s good for everybody. It’s good to get out here and see people you haven’t seen in a while, or play golf with.”
The Red team performed best during alternate shot play, winning nine times against Blue’s five, which gave them a 161/2 to 111/2 advantage heading into scramble play, which saw the two teams even up at seven points each. In all, Red pairs performed better than their Blue counterparts 10 times.
Bill Green and Randy Steinbach from the Red Team were the only ones to come away with a clean sweep of three points. Tallying 2 1/2 points were the Red teams of Don Robinson and Deb Cuvelier, and Ryan Clayton and Rod Grove; and the Blue teams of Sheri Moutrey and Robyn Farm, and Jerry Cassens and Dom Demaria.
Many golfers took an opportunity to warm up for the Ryder Cup competition by participating in a Par 3 scramble during the preceding Friday evening on the first nine holes of the course. Golfers competed in pairs, and the duo of Lance Erickson and Jaime Melville had the best score with 2-under par, which included three birdies. The team of Robinson and Cuvelier finished second and Trey Sturtevant and Mitchell Brinkmeier were third.
Both Ryder Cup and Par 3 play included separate skill competitions for certain holes — “flag events” — with prizes awarded for the longest putt and an approach closest to a hole. These “flag events” add to the camaraderie and competition of the event, attracting more players and adding to the fun.
“What a great event,” Paxson said. “Of all of the events they have out here, this is one of the best that brings different golfers together, and there’s a lot of people.”
Cody Cutter can be reached at 815-632-2532 or ccutter@ shawmedia.com.
Pro shop assistant Scott Woodley keeps track of scores Aug. 3 during the Ryder Cup.
hough its mug doesn’t runneth over with breweries like it used to, Freeport’s legacy of suds is far from tapped out.
Thanks to local brewers committed to crafting beer, and organizers of an annual celebration of suds, there’s still plenty of beer to go with The Pretzel City.
More than a century ago, nearly a dozen breweries were pumping out beer — companies including Fritz, B&O and Yellow Creek are part of the city’s lore — but today’s breweries are writing a new chapter in the city’s history of hops, with a plethora pilsners and a list of lagers to be proud of, coming from places such as Generations Brewing, Lena Brewing Co. and Wishful Acres Farm and Brewery.
It’s no surprise then that some people decided to raise a glass to the city’s history, and its future, with a celebration of brew.
Pretzel City Brewfest has become one of Freeport’s most popular events, where thousands gather to whet their whistles with creations from local and regional brewers and distributors. This year, its 12th edition will happen Sept. 28 downtown along Chicago Avenue. The fun takes place between 1 and 5 p.m.
Attendees — who must be 21 or older — get a lot of beer for their buck. For $40, or $75 as a VIP, there are nearly 100 different samples available to savor, each with their own unique flavor that brewers — both businesses and home brewers — hope will be a hit. General admission attendees get a glass and 20 tasting tickets; VIPs get 10 additional tickets, a T-shirt, special souvenir glass and more, along with indoor space set aside to enjoy the event. About 200 VIP tickets are available, and those who have one can enjoy the fun an hour earlier than the rest.
The Greater Freeport Partnership runs the event, and while brews are the big draw, organizers hope the event will also help promote all that the city has to offer, encouraging people to check out other local businesses and attractions. Whether someone likes the dark lagers or the lighter pilsners, there’s sure to be something for everybody, GFP Brand Director Megan Haas said.
“The nice thing about Brewfest is that we’re always introducing new things,” Haas said. “The people who have come in the past are still going to get the same great event, but we always hope to bring something new to the table — not to throw people off their feet, but for them to go: ‘Hey, that’s something different,’ with something they haven’t tried before.”
Freeport’s nickname — The Pretzel City — comes from the salty treats that local pub patrons enjoyed.
Tasting a bevy of brews is just part of the Brewfest fun: The college days of beer pong can be relived, but with a twist: Instead of ping pong balls and red Solo cups, the game is played with large bouncing balls and big buckets. Patrons can also toss a ring, or an axe, during a pretzel-style ring toss game or axe throwing activity — and guests need not worry about errant axes flying about; event staff gets to decide whether someone has had a little too much to drink before they play. How’s your arm strength? Find out when you see how long you can hold a full, foot-tall, thick glass beer growler at arm’s length. Brewfest has an annual tournament to see who can hold their own, with three competitions on the top of the hour leading to the championship round at 4 p.m.
As one of its emcees, Tim Connors aims to make sure everyone has a good time. He helped bring some of Brewfest’s ideas over from a similar annual event in Potosi, Wisconsin, nearly 15 years ago, and he’s been a fixture at Freeport’s event since the first Brewfest in 2012. He’s seen stiff arm competitions with growlers and tasted hundreds of different beers through the years, and Brewfest has become something he looks forward to being a part of each year.
“It’s my second Christmas,” Connors said. “I love Brewfest so much because of the people, because of the activities and because of everyone coming back to Freeport. It’s one of those things that’s just a great Freeport family event.”
Special releases of new flavors are revealed at the bottom of each hour — three for general admission and another three just for the VIPs — and one of them has the honor of being promoted with great fanfare. Each Brewfest has a grand reveal of a local brewery’s newest flavor, brought out in a golden keg at
Sure, you’ve hoisted a few, but have you ever hoisted a heavy growler? It’s a Brewfest test of endurance during a contest to see who can hold the growler at arm’s length the longest. It’s just one of the many activities planned for the event in downtown Freeport.
1:30. The selection alternates between Generations, Lena Brewing and Wishful Acres each year, with the latter having its unique release this time around.
One of Connors’ roles as emcee is getting the first taste from the golden keg, and then coordinating the line of thirsty people who follow.
“We make a big deal out of it,” he said. “We put music over it, and bring it out on a rolling cart. Someone will come in and hit it, and everyone lines up for it.”
Learning about the blends of beer and watching people sample the suds and seeing their reactions is one of the things GFP Events and Engagement Manager Katie Gentz enjoys about the event.
ATTENTION EXHIBITORS!
“When you hear the beer names sometimes, you’ll go, ‘Huh?’” Gentz said. “It’s amazing to find out how many people go, ‘This is good!’”
“It’s also interesting to find out what people decide to put in beer,” she said. “We had a home brewer last year who put Lucky Charms in it, and when you think about it, cereal is grain and grain goes in beer. However they do that, it’s interesting.”
Brewfest guests can nominate their favorite beer among both brewing companies and home-based brews to receive the honor of being the best appreciated.
Putting together Pretzel City Brewfest involves plenty of work from the staff of the Greater Freeport Partnership and its Brewfest Committee. They include (from left) GFP Brand Director Megan Haas, emcee and committee member Tim Connors and GFP Events and Engagement Manager Katie Gentz — and emcees Scott Musser and Connors (right) help make sure people have fun.
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... and their efforts haven’t gone unnoticed. In 2022, Brewfest was awarded “Best Event in Illinois” among those with a budget of $500,000 or less from the Illinois Governor’s Conference on Travel and Tourism.
“Whenever we work with a brewer or a distributor, we always ask for their two to four favorite that they want to showcase,” Gentz said. “Everybody gets a sample, they can taste it, and then go on to the next one. People will have their favorites, and there can be some surprising ones.”
Brewfest has been held at several locations throughout town, but Haas enjoys its current location: a block-long stretch downtown.
“It’s between two older brick buildings, so it has this really nice, urban feel to it,” Haas said. “Neighbors around that area have really embraced it and have made it feel like that is the place where we want it to be. It’s a wonderful atmosphere for this type of festival.”
Brewfest has attracted the attention of both tourists and other event organizers throughout Illinois. In 2022, it was awarded “Best Event in Illinois” among those with a budget of $500,000 or less by the Illinois Governor’s Conference on Travel and Tourism. Connors has also noticed that promoters from Potosi’s festival incorporated some of Freeport’s ideas into their event.
“Two years before Brewfest started, I was asked to go up to Potosi to their Brewfest just to see how it ran,” Connors said. “Then I would bring my friends up, party for an hour, and talk with everyone that was in charge. I took as many ideas as I could from Potosi down to Freeport.”
For those who want to come but don’t want to drink, designated driver tickets are available for $10. There’s also plenty of food to complement all of the beer, with a variety of food trucks selling their unique culinary creations as well.
And don’t worry about any brouhahas with all that beer — this is strictly a brew ha-ha kind of event.
“This is not one of those things where it cane turn into a belligerent crowd, it’s a fun crowd,” Haas said. “By 5:30 when everyone’s ready to wrap up and ready to go, they’re so happy and really excited to have been able to spend time together.”
Cody Cutter can be reached at 815-632-2532 or ccutter@shawmedia.com.
Pretzel City Brewfest runs from 1 to 5 p.m. Sept. 28 along Chicago Avenue between Spring and Jackson streets in downtown Freeport. General admission tickets are $40, at greaterfreeport.com/events or on the day of the event. VIP tickets, which include additional experiences, are $75 and must be purchased online in advance.
Find Pretzel City Brewfest on Facebook or Instagram (@pretzelcitybrewfest) for more information.
ou don’t see many semi-trucks rolling through the winding streets of Lake Carroll, just ones hauling supplies and equipment to The Clubhouse, West Marina or for the occasional construction project.
And needless to say, you won’t see any on the lake, right? Wrong.
When Ed and Lisa Grillo take their boat out on the water, people do a double take.
“Is that a … ?” “No way. It couldn’t be!” “Waitaminnit, that really is a … ”
Yep, it’s a semi, well, a semi-boat anyway — and “semi” is the key part, because it’s half truck, half boat.
The hybrid hauler is actually a pontoon boat and a Peterbilt cab combined into one seaworthy semi, cleverly christened “Peterboat.”
Ever since the big rig rolled into the community, it’s caused quite a buzz.
“When you’re driving down the lake, you get to see people’s reactions,” Ed said. “They do double- and triple-takes. No one’s seen anything like this around here.” Or heard it. The boat not only looks
BOAT PHOTO SUBMITTED
When Ed and Lisa Grillo need to go somewhere on the lake, they just call a cab — the one that sits atop the couple’s custombuilt pontoon boat. When Ed came across a truck cab at his business, it sparked the idea for the project. “I took it and thought, ‘There’s a use for this,’” he said. “I wanted it to be something different, so I said, ‘Let’s build this pontoon boat with a semi-truck on top of it.’ ... I said, ‘We can do this, let’s make a boat,’ and have fun doing what we do.”
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The Grillos, who have lived part-time at Lake Carroll since 2000, took a damaged gray semitruck cab frame and built their idea for their Peterboat from there, with one of the first decisions being the color: Ed wanted it in his favorite color. Peterbilt’s familiar sovereign blue is contrasted with the silvery shine of the pontoons and chrome, both inside and out.
Construction on the 23-foot, 11-inch long boat (1 inch shy of Lake Carroll’s maximum allowed boat length) began in January, not long after he bought a pontoon frame to set the truck cab on and build a seating area. The cab was gutted, and most of the exterior was saved except for the rear wall. The console, dashboard, steering wheel and wiring was all redone, new lighting and a stereo system were added, new exhaust stacks were installed — and with the push of a button they puff out smoke — and the cab seats went through a couple of idea changes along the way, settling on cutting wheel rims modified to serve as seats.
Ed had a license plate made for his custom boat, a nod to his business, Ultimate Spray and Wash in Elgin, which cleans and does body and detail work for semi-trucks.
boat — not for beer, though. The modified keg holds fuel. Another distinctive detail: The outboard motor, a Suzuki 250, is painted yellow with a Caterpillar company logo on it (Caterpillar manufactured engines for semis until 2010).
To the rear of the boat, cushioned bench seats provide seating for several, and passengers will have it made in the shade when a powered bimini top is unfurled with a push of a button. There’s even a keg on the back of the
“We modified it, made all of the brackets, put an interior in it and did all of the stuff inside and outside,” Grillo said. “We polished the tubes, put semi wheels and made chairs and put a keg on [the back of] it to serve as a fuel filler. Every nut and bolt, and every wire, my wife and I designed and built.”
Grillo has owned Ultimate Spray and Wash in Elgin for nearly 30 years, a business that cleans and does body and detail work for semi-trucks. In his line of work, it’s not unusual to come across old truck cabs. One day, he saw a 2012 Peterbilt 389 that was totaled in a rollover, and one look at it sparked a thought. It reminded him of custom pontoon boats he saw that used truck cabs in their design.
With his expertise, Grillo set out to make one that he felt was better than the ones he had seen. “I’ve seen a few of them out there that people made and I thought I could do it better,” he said.
The wrecked cab gained a new lease on life when Grillo worked with his wife and some of his employees to transform it into a custom-made boat.
“I thought, ‘There’s a use for this,’” Grillo said. “I wanted it to be something different, so I said, ‘Let’s build this pontoon boat with a semi-truck on top of it.’ I clean, detail and polish semis for a living, and I own a body shop for semi trucks. I said, ‘We can do this, let’s make a boat,’ and have fun doing what we do.”
Though the idea of combining a semi and boat is relatively new, the idea of automotive-inspired boats aren’t. They’re a forgotten fad of the 1950s, when manufacturers designed boats to look like cars, with big fins, bright colors and chrome trim. A few models are on display at the Volo Museum in McHenry
County (go to volocars.com/the-attraction/exhibits/finnedboats-of-the-50s). Some vehicles have even been turned into makeshift boats by migrants fleeing Cuba to the United States.
Even while dealing with a health issue, Ed was able to use the down time to work on his project. He underwent open heart surgery last year, and during his recovery, he hashed out ideas for his project, working through the details for the design and custom parts needed for the project.
“When I was off for three months, I put my mind together and put together a list of what I thought it would take to build one,” Grillo said. “I couldn’t work, they wouldn’t let me. They took my phone away and said for being there 28 years, you’ve done so much for us and we’re now doing it for you. I had three months that I stayed at home and couldn’t do anything, so I thought about how I wanted to make it.”
No detail was too small for the project. The custom hood ornament shows a monkey holding a wrench on its shoulders; a custom-made nameplate features the Peterbilt logo redesigned to read “Peterboat,” and a mock Illinois license plate (“Truck Wash”) advertises his business.
The Peterboat had its maiden voyage around the Fourth of July, when the couple tested the waters at Lake Carroll, but it was a bit of a nail-biter at first.
said Ed Grillo.
Was the Grillos’ grand project going to work out, or was the shakedown cruise going to be shaky? That question consumed Ed’s mind as he slipped the boat into the lake for the first time. As it turned out, one of the most unusual things to ever float on the lake was a success.
“I was really nervous at first, but now I’m real comfortable out there, it’s like driving a truck,” Ed said. “I put it in the water not knowing how well it would float, run or steer, or how it’s going to handle. Since they’re checked off and are good, I could enjoy driving it. It was a good learning experience.”
The boat’s first few voyages on Lake Carroll have turned out great, Ed said, even as he continues to make some small adjustments. It’s gone as fast as 28 miles per hour, though Ed would like to see it crack 30. The Peterboat, however, was built with cruising, not speed, in mind, so it won’t break the lake’s 40 mph speed limit. It’s been a topic of conversation at Lake Carroll, but Ed doesn’t plan to limit his cruises there; he wants to take it out to either Fox Lake or Pistakee Lake in the north suburbs, or both, he said, some time this year.
Needless to say, it’s been quite the adventurous summer for The Grillos. They’ve even changed the minds of some doubters along the way, who thought their idea wouldn’t float.
“I knew I could do it, and it’s just amazing and heartwarming.” Ed said. “A lot of people doubted me, not because of being capable of doing it, but because they had never seen a semi truck on top of a pontoon. I had a friend who said he’d be embarrassed to go on one, but when he did he was like, ‘I am sorry I ever doubted you.’ He goes, ‘It’s beyond what I had imagined, I didn’t think it was capable of being done.’ It was really pretty cool.”
When it’s not on the water, Peterboat is docked in Grillos’ garage at Lake Carroll when they’re there, otherwise it’s parked close to their home in the suburbs. They haul it down the highway on a nearly 100-mile ride when they make it out to their home away from home, garnering plenty of looks from riders along U.S. Route 20. One time, when he stopped at a Jimmy John’s in Freeport, the boat attracted a crowd of about 20 people.
Turning a trashed truck into a treasure has been a labor of love for Grillo, and one that he takes pride and joy in. It’s also been a project that reminded him of a value lesson, one that he hopes others can learn from.
“It’s what inspired me to think that life’s too short,” he said. “If I don’t do it now, I’ll never do it.”
Cody Cutter can be reached at 815-632-2532 or ccutter@shawmedia.com.
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Being in the restaurant business for more than 50 years, Jocky Kamberi has acquired a taste for good food — and he’s not the only one. His customers have too, and that’s helped make the restaurant and bar he and his wife Lindita own a Mount Morris tradition.
Along state Route 64, The Pepper Mill has been welcoming customers for 30 years now, and with all those years running the place, you might think there’s a secret ingredient to the Kamberis’ success, but it’s really no secret: It’s his customers.
“We’ve been here for 30 years and people keep coming back,” Jocky said. “There must be something neat here, maybe the menu, or that the town really needs it, but they keep coming back.”
His decades of experience in the food industry helps, too. Kamberi not only knows how to set the table, he knows how to set the mood, serving up a warm and welcoming supper club atmosphere that keeps customers coming back for more.
Lindita and Jocky Kamberi have made The Pepper Mill restaurant in Mount Morris a dining destination for 30 years.
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Whether it’s a special night out, winding down after enjoying a local event, or just getting out of the house and letting someone else do the cooking, the Kamberis give people a pleasant place to pull up a seat and enjoy the ambiance. A mixture of rustic and retro, the cozy surroundings of wood and stone walls combines with low lights to provide customers a relaxing place to unwind, enjoy a drink at the bar or a bite to eat at one of the tables.
And no matter where they sit, the aroma of fresh-cooked food gives diners a preview of what’s to come: hearty portions all around, including several varieties of chicken, sizzling steaks, seafood, ribs, burgers and fries, and more.
Kamberi said his commitment to quality is a top priority, something that’s not always been easy in recent years, as the restaurant industry has faced its share of struggles amid rising costs and changes in people’s dining habits.
“With everything you see, I don’t cut corners, I buy the quality stuff,” Jocky said. “I try to keep the same quality of stuff all of the time. I’m not trying to buy cheaper things because it’s cheaper to buy it, it’s the same quality all of the time. I could get a lot of stuff cheaper, like meat, but I don’t want to do that.”
situation.
One of the dishes he enjoys serving up and customers enjoy eating is one he brought with him from his time as a cook in suburban Chicago. It’s an “everyday special” at The Pepper Mill, and one with a familiar name: Chicken Jockey comes with five large battered chicken strips served with a choice of dipping sauce. Jocky started making it while working as a cook at a restaurant in the Chicago suburbs and it became a hit.
“People really love it,” he said. “When I used to work in the suburbs, we could come up with ideas to put on our menu, and if people liked it, it would stay there.”
Catches from the seafood menu include deep-fried cod and scallops, fantail shrimp, fried catfish, orange roughy and baked white fish and salmon. Can’t decide between cod, scallops or shrimp? There’s a plate with all three available as well.
Like liver and onions? It’s on the menu, served with baby beef and bacon. Pork chops are there as well, along with New York strip and ribeye steaks; the steaks come with options to add shrimp, grilled onions and sauteed mushrooms. A kids menu offers smaller portions for those 12 and younger. To top it all off: ice cream for dessert.
Come on a certain day of the week — except Monday, when the Pepper Mill is closed — and enjoy some of the entrees at a discount: pork chops on Tuesday, ribs on Wednesday, New York strip on Thursday, cod on Friday, and fried chicken on Sunday. Hungry for prime rib? It’s Saturday’s special, and the only day it’s served.
While The Pepper Mill has been around for decades, its history dates back even farther. Before the Kamberis bought it in 1994, it was Elliot’s Supper Club. With the new owners came a new name, one that came all the way for Las Vegas, where Kamberi came across a place called Peppermill Restaurant on the Vegas strip.
in 1893
While adding their own flavor to the business, the couple decided not to change the look of the place too much. They also kept one of Elliot’s popular menu items: The Grinder hamburger, served with ham, lettuce and tomato. The approach has worked well, attracting both new customers and keeping old ones — some of whom have been eating there longer than the Kamberis have owned the place.
While Jocky spends much of his time in the kitchen, Lindita makes the rounds around the tables serving up food, drinks and smiles. After 30 years in business, many customers know them on a firstname basis and some have become friends.
“I like the people,” Lindita said. “I like being a server to them, and I enjoy doing it.”
It might not be long, though, before customers will get to know someone else on a first-name basis. After 30 years, the
couple has decided to put the restaurant up for sale and retire (it was on the market as of press time in August).
“I want to enjoy the rest of our years left,” Jocky said. Though their days serving customers are drawing close to a close, their emphasis on quality isn’t coasting to the finish line, and even as they get ready to enjoy retirement, they’re proud of the mark they’ve made in Mount Morris and are grateful for the countless customers they’ve served through the years.
Like any restaurant, word of mouth can say a lot about a place, and the Kamberis hope that the word their customers say is “Yum!”
“We’ve had people who come from the suburbs and go to Lake Carroll, and eat when they’re coming home,” Jocky said. “I hope they have a good meal and pass the word around.”
Cody Cutter can be reached at 815-632-2532 or ccutter@shawmedia.com.
hen a person is driven by their passion for something, it’s easy to get on a roll. Ask Wayne Lensing. What started as a collection of cars has grown into a nearly 90,000-squarefoot museum.
Cars that carried everyone from a Colonel to Commanders in Chief. Exhibits from the frontier days to the New Frontier to the final frontier. The animal kingdom and The King’s final wishes. Weapons of world wars and the Wild West. They’re all on display at Historic Auto Attractions in Roscoe, 10 miles north of Rockford, about an hour’s drive northeast of Lake Carroll.
There’s a lot to see at the museum — tens of thousands of items spread out in nearly 30 rooms — but they all have one thing in common: They all have a story to tell. While some played a humble role in history, others were part of pivotal events that helped shaped the world.
RUSTY SCHRADER/SVM ILLUSTRATION
Wayne Lensing is the man behind the museum. The founder of Historic Auto Attractions turned a passion for classic cars into a tribute to times gone by, spending nearly 30 years traveling near and far to build up an impressive collection of historic and historical artifacts. “Whenever people come here, they talk about this being a hidden gem,” said Museum Director Alex Merry.
Regardless of how big or how small of a role they played, their tales are brought to life at Historic Auto Attractions, a passion project for the man behind the museum.
Among the eclectic items on display in the 86,000-foot museum: the Secret Service limo that drove behind President John F. Kennedy in Dallas the day he was assassinated, the red pickup from TV’s “Sanford and Son,” weapons owned by Jesse James, and a copy of Elvis Presley’s last will and testament.
It’s an impressive collection, one that took Lensing, an automotive industry businessman, nearly 30 years and trips around the world to build. When the museum opened in 2001, the collection began with automobiles, but the more he immersed himself in history, the more history found a home at the museum. Before long, it outgrew the 30,000 square feet the museum started with, so another 50,000 square feet was added in 2022. Today, though you can make it through the museum in 2-3 hours, you could easily spend the whole day there.
There are a lot of cars with a lot of interesting stories at Historic Auto Attractions, but this 1957 Plymouth Belvedere is one of the more fascinating ones. Though ads at the time heralded the Belvedere’s “thrill-power to go,” the thrill is gone from this vintage ride — its get up and go got up and went after it sat buried in a leaky time capsule for 50 years before it was unearthed in 2007. But this battered beauty is still a head-turner, bringing the past to the present at the museum.
“We’re not just trying to preserve history, we try to make it come alive,” Museum director Alex Merry (left) said.
As Lensing tends to his businesses and continues to travel the world to add to his collection, museum director Alex Merry leads her team in guiding visitors on a tour through the past, breathing new life into history.
“We’re not just trying to preserve history, we try to make it come alive,” Merry said. “We try to get it to talk a little bit, and get those stories from the people who were there. There’s a lot of personal touches to this museum, and as people walk through, they can sense and feel it.”
A big part of the collection are the vehicles that started it all, about 100 different ones throughout museum, from motorsports, the American presidency, World War II (both Allied and Axis) to films and TV shows. There are Batmobiles, cars owned by Franklin Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin, and the 1932 Studebaker John Dillinger used during an Indiana bank robbery. You can even see Colonel Sanders’ limousine.
There’s also one that was frozen in time — almost.
In 1957, a brand new Plymouth Belvedere was buried in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as part of a time capsule to be opened in 2007. The capsule wound up being damaged after a seal was broken, and the Belvedere was anything but stylish when it was unearthed in a pool of water; but its journey is interesting, and it’s one of Merry’s favorite tales to share.
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And for one brief, shining moment, they were the cars of Camelot ... The 1956 Cadillac secret service limo above drove behind John F. Kennedy when he was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas. At left is a 1962 Lincoln JFK rode in during a troop inspection.
“Not a lot of people will bury a car,” Merry said. “This was a brand new car with zero miles on it, and a fun fact for me that will always get me to giggle is that, in 1957, people didn’t think gasoline was going to be our fuel source [in the future], so they put some gasoline in the trunk. They had contents from a lady’s purse to show — bobby pins, makeup, change, dollar bills. You never really hear the stories of something brand new being put in the ground. I’m happy she found her home here.”
But as its website says, the museum is “so much more than cars.”
While the room of presidential and world leader limousines is the largest one in the museum, displays dedicated to President Kennedy command an impressive space, spread across three rooms. Among the displays are his funeral flag, artifacts and memorabilia from his presidency, and one room dedicated to that fateful day on Nov. 22, 1963, including a piece of the legendary picket fence located near the grassy knoll in Dealey Plaza, where some believe a second assassin may have fired from.
Vehicles are also part of the JFK exhibit. The 1956 Cadillac Secret Service limo that followed Kennedy through Dallas on Nov. 22 is displayed behind a replica of the 1961 Lincoln Continental X 100 limo he rode in that day. Also on display is the 1962 Checker Marathon Dallas Taxicab assassin Lee Harvey Oswald rode in to elude police, and the ambulance that carried him to the hospital after he was shot.
The museum’s collection is one of the largest displays on the former president in the world, Merry said. Even the story of JFK’s connection with Marilyn Monroe is told.
“The Kennedys were a great looking family from the outside to represent America, and then you dive deeper and some of the things that people like to find more information on, such as his connection with Marilyn Monroe,” Merry said. “All of the conspiracies that wrap around the Kennedys, there’s a lot of love interests, and it’s an intriguing part of American history for a lot of people of all ages.”
Another room with pieces of White House furniture highlights first lady Jacqueline Kennedy’s commitment to ensuring that items in the president’s residence should be preserved so future generations could learn about them.
“Jacqueline Kennedy, in my opinion, had a huge impact for women in the United States and for the role of the first lady,” Merry said. “She preserved historical ideas, whether it was furniture, artifacts or documents that people were just tossing. I find that remarkable.”
Tributes to the Old West, and the stars who brought it to life on the big screen are among the exhibits at the museum.
Arrows help guide visitors through the museum. The first room, Frontier Land, has props from western films and TV shows, and rifles and pistols used by the likes of Jesse James, Annie Oakley and “Buffalo Bill” Cody. Also included are a log cabin and tee pee replicas, and a “Wild West Town” diorama that once was part of the nearby Rockford Speedway, which closed last year. Themes of other rooms include 1950s entertainment icons, America during wartime, antique clocks, ancient Egypt, space travel, Abraham Lincoln, 9/11, Jesus Christ, Prohibition-era gangs, and the Animal Kingdom, with taxidermy displays from the Arctic and the Serengeti in Tanzania. The Illinois Stock Car Hall of Fame also is located among the racing-related collections.
The museum also hosts five cruise nights throughout the year where car enthusiasts can show off their rides and admire others; the final one this year is Sept. 11.
Amy Field, HID
Lydia Sitter, Au.D
Carolyn Awender, Au.D
Merry and Lensing, along with the museum’s chief historian Tony Farrell, are always looking for ways to promote and bring new ideas to the museum, and much of that work is done during the museum’s off-season, when it’s closed in February and March.
One of the planned additions for next year is a world records exhibit, Merry said. It’s one of several tasks on Merry’s mind, which also includes a push to increase museum attendance, both on its own right and piggybacking on new Rockford-area developments, such as the Hard Rock Cafe Casino that opened in late August.
Here’s looking at Hughes ... It’s the car that started it all. After museum founder Walter Lansing bought this car in 1995 — once owned by famous billionaire and recluse Howard Hughes — and he saw how fascinated people were when he showed it to them, it sparked the inspiration to start a museum.
As each piece is added to the museum, it’s a step back in the past, and a step forward for the museum, as Lensing and his staff continue their mission to make their museum more than just a tourist attraction, but an experience, where people can watch history come to life.
PAST-ING LANE AHEAD
“Whenever people come here, they talk about this being a hidden gem,” Merry said. “We’re tucked away in Roscoe, a small town around the state line. ‘How did it end up here?’ is a question we always get. There are gems here, and people are starting to slowly sniff them out. It’s starting to become a bigger thing now.”
Cody Cutter can be reached at 815-632-2532 or ccutter@shawmedia.com.
Historic Auto Attractions, 13825 Metric Road, Roscoe, is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday from April to early January. Tickets are $28 for adults, $17 for children 7-17, and are free to those aged 6 or younger; a family pass for two adults and up to four kids for $65. Season passes, group rates and senior and military discounts also are available. Find it online at Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, go to historicautoattractions.com or call 815-3897917 for more information.
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