Also inside ... Antique shop is a business fit for a Kings Beauty lives in a glass house Business puts food and special events in the spotlight
New museum celebrates the arts
Communities aren’t putting up the ‘closed’ sign on outdoor events yet ... The fest is yet to come
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or many decades, the first barn on Jackson Street going south from Mount Carroll was home to a farmer’s cows.
That barn has gone through many changes since then, but a cow still calls it home — with just one difference: this cow’s copper.
The Copper Cow is a restaurant, bar and events venue housed in a former barn with a hundred years of history behind it and a promising future ahead of it — and if its first year in business is any indication of what’s to come, customers will be dropping in until the cows come home. For owner Bridget Brown and her staff, the business has been a work in progress — and they’ve made a lot of it since opening in October. They’ve been plugging away at making each day better than the one before, marketing the appeal of a venue with space to spare upstairs for weddings, meetings, parties and other events, and working to get more people in on the ground floor of the restaurant.
Their efforts have paid off.
The Copper Cow's leadership team — from left, manager Chelsea Titus, owner Bridget Brown and lead cook Robert Maxwell — have made Mount Carroll's newest restaurant, bar and event space a thriving one since opening last October.
“We've definitely grown a lot,” Brown said.
More people are coming through the doors, not only to eat or rent space, but to work. Business has picked up and that’s allowed Brown to add staff.
“We went from hardly selling any food to where our weekends are packed and super busy,” Brown said. “We went from having our bartenders doing both the bar and the dining room, to having a bartender, hostess, busboy, waitresses and dishwashers. We’ve definitely grown a lot.”
When it comes to the menu, Brown tries to utilize local growers whenever she can, such as getting meat from the Carroll County Locker in Lanark and potatoes from Neumiller Farms in Savanna.
Best-selling burgers include the Melty Cow, with grilled onions and melted Swiss cheese on rye bread; and the Milk House Burger, with barbecue sauce, mayonnaise, bacon, onion straws, Swiss and American cheese on grilled sourdough bread. There’s also a Pizza Burger and the Crunchy Corn, with cheddar cheese, chili and Frito chips.
Brown has come to appreciate the history
The Copper Cow’s home. Photos and other items hang on the wall of the restaurant/ event center (photos above). “I love when people ask about the history of the building,” she said. The building once was home to Shimer College’s Karyn Kupcinet Playhouse.
The performing arts center was on the top floor and a lounge on the ground floor. Kupcinet (at left) was a young actress from Chicago who was beginning her career in Hollywood until she was murdered on Nov. 28, 1963. Her parents, Irv and Esther, established the playhouse; Irv, known for his "Kup's Corner" column in the Chicago Sun-Times, was a trustee of the college at the time. The two pictures at far left are from the playhouse's dedication ceremony on May 19, 1968. The Kupcinets attended the ceremony, and making a keynote speech that day was Gov. Otto Kerner, in his last official act as governor; he had resigned his position to accept a federal judicial appointment, and his resignation took effect the following day. Check out the Karyn Kupcinet Playhouse Dedication Day photo album on The Copper Cow Facebook page to see more photos.
Need space? The Copper Cow has plenty. Whether it’s a wedding, family reunion or business meeting, its spacious event area offers plenty of room for any special event and has a bar. The upstairs space has original barn wood from its beginnings in the late 1890s, can hold up to 200 people, and has its own bar. From the late 1960s and throughout the ’70s, this was the performance studio for the former Karyn Kupincet Playhouse once owned by Shimer College.
The restaurant’s specials — served Wednesday through Sunday — have also been a big hit. Among the specials that have been offered: an Iowa pork chop on Wednesday, tacos and burritos on Thursday, seafood on Friday, steaks on Saturday and a discount on burger baskets on Sunday. New menu items are coming soon, Brown said, and customers are encouraged to follow The Copper Cow’s Facebook page for updates.
Looking for something on the healthy side? Salads are available in side, house, Caesar and chef’s varieties, as well as gluten-free wraps and pizzas.
Don’t forget to save room for dessert — brownie, turtle and mixed berry cheesecakes can top it all off.
Sounds like a pretty good lineup, especially considering food wasn’t originally part of Brown’s business plan. She had originally wanted to turn the place into a vacation rental, but changed her mind when she heard from a few people in town that what Mount Carroll really needed was another restaurant. That’s when a new business plan was born in a barn.
“The town kind of talked me into it the more I could come around,” Brown said. “They were all like, ‘You got to reopen. You got to have the bar. You got to have the food. Everyone loves eating here.’ A year ago, I had no intention on owning a restaurant.”
Today she employs a top-notch cook in Robert Maxwell, who Brown said, was a game-changer when it came to The Copper Cow’s menu.
Want
“The whole food stuff was all new to me, but now we’re doing awesome and we’ve been so busy,” she said. “When we first opened, we were just doing deepfryer food and appetizers, and it wasn’t until February when we got a really good cook in. Then our food started getting better, and we’ve been growing like crazy.”
How Brown found out about the building makes The Copper Cow’s story more intriguing: She came across it sort of by accident last year when scrolling through rentals online. Brown lives in northern Ohio and owns rentals back home, but a planned getaway to the Rock River area in Ogle County turned into a business trip to Mount Carroll when she saw the building’s original barnwood interior, cavernous ceiling, and a price she liked.
“I was looking at a property my sister sent me, and when I was showing it to someone, I clicked on the Zillow map to center it, and it clicked on this parcel,” Brown said. “I saw the pictures of the upstairs, and I was like, ‘That’s so cool! That’s building’s awesome!’ It was a total chance, so random.”
After buying the building, she learned about its history — and what a history it has. The Copper Cow represents the most recent chapter of a building that has a slew of stories to tell, and once had plenty of performances played on its stage.
Brown’s story is just the latest chapter in the barn’s history.
Originally built as a barn in the late 1890s, it was purchased in 1966 for use as a performance center for the former Shimer College that was in Mt. Carroll from 1852 to 1978. On May 19, 1968, the building was dedicated as the Karyn Kupcinet Playhouse, in memory of a Chicago actress who was murdered on Nov. 28, 1963.
The 22-year-old daughter of Chicago Sun-Times columnist Irv Kupcinet of “Kup’s Column” fame, Karyn had just begun acting in movies and television with guest appearances on “The Andy Griffith Show,” “The Donna Reed Show” and “Perry Mason,” and had a recurring role on “Mrs. G Goes to College.” Irv Kupcinet was a trustee at the college, and he and his wife Esther sought to establish a performing arts center on campus.
As Brown heard stories of the building’s past over the past year, she sought to pay tribute to the Kupcinets by decorating the lobby and dining room with pictures and newspaper clippings of them, as well as other moments of the playhouse’s history.
“I love when people ask about the history of the building,” Brown said. “Many of them love scanning all of the articles and stuff to learn or ask questions about it.”
After the college moved to Waukegan and playhouse closed in 1978, the building’s next longtime tenant of note was Henry’s Double K bar, operated by Henry and Kathy Meador from 2013 until Brown purchased it last year. The Meadors helped Brown transition the building into The Copper Cow and she retained some of the former staff, including manager Chelsea Titus.
Owner Bridget Brown
hadn’t originally planned on going into the restaurant business when she opened The Copper Cow, but when she learned that folks in the community were looking for another dining option in town, she listened to what they had to say, and it paid off.
The restaurant has “been growing like crazy,” she said.
Titus was all aboard Brown’s idea of what she was looking for in The Copper Cow, and even as business has picked up, she still makes a point of getting to know her customers better. Brown makes the 8-hour commute every so often from out-of-state, leaving the business’ day-to-day responsibilities to Titus.
“It was refreshing to know someone who had all of these ideas, and saying that we want to do this, and this,” Titus said. “I told her we can do this,” — and she was right. “It’s been busier every day. It’s great when you can walk up to a customer, ask them how their food is, and they’ll go, ‘It’s great!’”
The Copper Cow has hosted three weddings since opening its doors, along with baby showers, bridal parties, class reunions, graduation parties and benefits. The Mount Carroll Lions Club also utilizes its space for many of its functions such as its cornhole and euchre events. The event space can hold up to 200 people, and also has its own bar.
“It’s really pretty,” Brown said. “It’s all original barnwood, and has that barn-style loft look to it.”
In addition to the indoor event space, there’s also an outdoor patio with tables and room to
play a game of cornhole, as well as a space for bands. Most recently, the patio hosted country musician Jordon McFadden for an afternoon concert on Aug. 12; it was advertised as a “preconcert patio party” before country music star Brantley Gilbert played nearby at the Rhythm Section Amphitheater later that night.
Brown, like many music lovers throughout northwest Illinois, was surprised to see an area the size of Mount Carroll draw a big-name act like Gilbert, and others, such as Smash Mouth, Trace Adkins and Nelly.
“It’s crazy to me to have that big of a name come here,” Brown said. “Someone told me that Nelly was here last year, and I was like, ‘No, you mean, like, someone covering Nelly?’ That was crazy to me, but now I love it.”
Even though Brown doesn’t stay in Mount Carroll throughout the year, she’s come to enjoy what the area has to offer, and the friendliness of its people, who want a place like hers to succeed.
“We have a lot of weddings booked for next year, so it’ll be fun getting people to use that space,” Brown said. “I feel like the town, in general, is doing a lot of growing right now.”
Cody Cutter can be reached at 815-6322532 or ccutter@shawmedia.com.
The Copper Cow, 834 S. Jackson St., Mount Carroll, is open 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday. The kitchen closes at 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Find it on Facebook, Instagram (@coppercow. bar), coppercowbar.com or call 815-244-0196 for event reservations or for more information.
he summer heat’s getting ready to retreat and pretty soon autumn will fall into place. Leaves will get the green light to change colors, and like the mercury, begin to drop. The days will grow shorter and folks won’t be able to spend as much of the day soaking in the sunny weather on the lake — but it’s still too early to hunker down for the winter. There’s plenty of time to breathe in the crisp autumn air, and there are plenty of seasonal events throughout the area that will be packed full of fall fun.
It’s festival time.
September and October are typically the final months before outdoor events go into hibernation until the next year, and community’s aim to close out their prime tourism season by showing off their best during a fest. These area festivals attract thousands of fun-seekers from near and far, from kids looking to take their mind off the new school year to parents looking to take their mind off the old work routine. Looking for some arts and crafts? Want to sample some beers, wines and cheeses? Hoping to scare up some fun? Fall festivals offer all these options, along with live music, games and contests. There’s also plenty of food from local businesses who set up tents and trucks so folks can see what’s on the menu.
On the following pages are some of the area’s upcoming festivals, so mark your calendar or update your phone’s list of upcoming events — and enjoy ...
An annual tradition since the early 1950s, the Lena Lions Club’s annual festival offers free entertainment, carnival games and rides, merchandise Bingo, and food. The club’s hallmark menu item is its ham, available at its own stand and a favorite among the locals.
Several other food vendors will also be at the downtown festival. And for the kids who enjoy seeing trains rumble by, there’s a chance one might roll through on the nearby tracks. The fun begins at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 8 and lasts for a few hours, then continues all day Saturday, highlighted by a parade through downtown at noon.
If it’s a bevy of beer, wines and spirits you’re looking for, Oktoberfest at Minhas gives people who like to get into the spirits a chance to wash down different styles made at the nation’s second-oldest India Pale Ale (IPA) brewery (founded in 1845). A bags tournament also will take place, and there will be live music throughout the weekend. Among the products that come from the brewery — as well as its other plant in Calgary, Alberta: Huber Bock beer, Blumer’s Moonshine, Alamo Gold tequila, Blumer’s Absinthe Superior and Titanium vodka. If soda is more your style, Blumer’s soft drinks also are available. If you miss the Oktoberfest, the brewery is open daily from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Having grown from a simple operation to its multi-faceted operation today, Minhas also has a restaurant, tap room, brewery tours and a breweriana museum. Hourlong brew tours are available at 1 and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 1, 3 and 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
It’s a smalltown event that’s big on fun during this daylong celebration. Attractions include a farmers market with artisan crafts and a variety of fresh farm foods, art activities, special exhibits and an art auction at the Maquoketa Art Experience facility on Main Street, and a sidewalk chalk art contest. There’ll also be games and other vendors. The performing arts also get their moment in the spotlight when locals put their talents to the test during a talent showcase from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Chicagoland country-rock artists
3 Day Rain will perform a free concert from 6 to 8 p.m.
Chicago Avenue, on the south side of downtown, will be home to The Pretzel City Brew Fest, which runs from 1 to 5 p.m., rain or shine (must be 21 or older to attend). Tickets, purchased as general admission or advance VIP, entitle brew fans to samples of local beers. Competitive beer-related games will add to the fun. Attendees also can vote on their favorite beer; Freeport Illinois Brewer’s Society’s French’s Mustard Ale was voted the best beer among more than 150 different varieties last year. Also last year, Brewfest was recognized as one of the "best events" during the Governor’s Conference on Travel and Tourism. Go to buff. ly/431xUbf to purchase advance tickets.
Lake Carroll Property Owner
Since 1995
Aaron Wolfe, Owner
This small Ogle County community of around 1,000 residents goes all out for one September weekend with a parade, live music and shows for cars, tractors, horticulture and crafts. More than 75 cars will be on display Saturday, with “best of” and speciality awards presented. Almost as many tractors also will roll into the festival, including old-style engines that have been rumbling for more than a century. New for this year’s festival is a pickleball tournament that will bring together some of the area’s best in this growing sport. Never heard of pickleball? It’s similar to tennis, but played with paddles instead of racquets, plastic balls instead of tennis balls, and on a slightly smaller court.
An Oregon tradition since 1970, Autumn on Parade brings people to town to not only enjoy a weekend of fun, but also help lead them to this artisan town’s many arts-related exhibits. The vendor market, surrounding the historic Ogle County Courthouse Square, brings together nearly 200 different entrepreneurs aiming to spread the word about their wares. The kids area offers a petting zoo, inflatable play areas and other entertainment. The market and kids area will be open both days, and the kids area will have a special time on Sunday – from 1 to 3 p.m. – devoted to those with sensory challenges. Cars and tractors are part of the fun as well: On Saturday, a large collection will roll in to Oregon Park East along the riverfront where owners will show off their rides. Across the road is the historic Chana School, unique in architecture among late 19th-century rural frame schoolhouses and open to the public on Saturday. Live music and a beer garden are also on tap between 1 and 8 p.m. Saturday. Sunday also features a 5K and Fun Run, pancake breakfast, and harvest-themed parade downtown.
If it’s cheese that pleases you, or wine that makes you feel fine, historic downtown Shullsburg’s annual Cheese Fest is the place to be. Not only will there be a variety of cheeses made by Wisconsin’s master cheesemakers, and wines from local growers, but plenty of entertainment as well. Cheese-related events include a curd eating contest and a bake-off. Live music also will be part of the fun, and just in time for fall: hayrides around town and a scarecrow contest that gives folks who are good at fluffing the stuffing something to crow about. Other events include pavement chalk drawing, a book sale, cheese trivia and a raffle.
Hello lamppost, whatcha knowing? We’ve come to watch your scarecrows showing ... For more than 20 years, Dixon has welcomed guests who like to hang around: scarecrows mounted on light poles downtown. People can vote on their favorite scarecrow and awards will be given to the best ones. The festival itself runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and features pumpkin racing, pumpkin painting, a donut eating contest, petting zoo, craft vendors and music from street performers.
It’s worth carving out some time to stop by Mount Carroll for this event. The city gets a head start on Halloween during this annual downtown celebration. The event features a costume parade for kids and their pets, decorating contests for pumpkins and gourds, a ping-pong ball drop on the descending bricks of Main Street, pumpkin racing, a pumpkin weight guessing contest, and a pumpkin slingshot and catapult show. The town’s final farmers market of the year kicks off the event at 8 a.m., with live music and other attractions part of the fun as well.
“It’s
CODYne of Kings’ most prominent antiques has seen a revival in recent years — and it’s not the first time.
This old house of worship isn’t hard to spot. Just look for the place on the city’s main drag that looks like a church. But you won’t find anyone singing hymns inside. More than likely you’ll run into someone singing the praises of the shop where you can find antiques, sweets, coffee, and pleasant memories.
Sweet Revival started life as a church during the Civil War days and since then it’s had a second life — and a third and a fourth, and the person who’s breathed
new life into the building has made it her happy place, and customers’ happy place, too.
Customers at Sweet Revival will find antiques, home decor, vintage collectibles, furniture, and all sorts of goods and goodies from different eras — slices of life from long ago that sit where churchgoers once sat. Today, the congregants have been replaced by customers and instead of hearing sermons, you’ll hear folks chatting, sharing some banter with a cup of fresh coffee in one hand, a chocolate in the other and a smile on their face as they take a stroll down memory lane.
“The goal here was to create an atmosphere that people want to come back to,” owner Laura Fitch said. “Hopefully once they’ve been in, they’re drawn to come visit again. Whether they buy something, or just look, the goal is to make it enjoyable and a happy place.
Laura Fitch opened Sweet Revival in February 2015 in the former Kings Presbyterian Church. The shop carries antiques, and the bar serves up coffee and sweet treats. a good mix. Sometimes people will say, ‘You have all of my favorite things.’ They’re my favorite things, too.”The revival of Kings’ church building, and the attention it has received in the past 8 years couldn’t be any sweeter for Fitch.
“It’s a good mix. Sometimes people will say, ‘You have all of my favorite things.’ They’re my favorite things, too.”
Fitch’s business draws customers from both near and far. State Route 64 goes through the small town, connecting the scenic hills of eastern Iowa to Chicago. She’s had motorcyclists from Denmark come in to enjoy a cup of coffee, and a German couple stop by twice on their American motorhome adventures. Some customers have rediscovered things that they remember from their grandparents’ homes from years ago, or one-of-a-kind things they may have heard of but have never seen.
If you find something, you better get it when you see it: One of Fitch’s customer had his mind set on a small kerosene heater stove.
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25235 Payne Rd., Shannon, IL 61078
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Rather than come in and revamp a vintage building into something that would have been new, but not necessarily improved, Fitch kept the character of the church intact. “The workmanship that’s gone into it, and with the cornices inside and the molding outside is just something you don’t find anymore,” she said. Even the pews have been pressed into service, as another place to display antiques. “The goal here was to create an atmosphere that people want to come back to,” she said
30,000 square feet of showroom”
207 E. Broadway Mt. Carroll, IL
815-244-2111
Monday to Thursday 9AM-5PM Friday 9AM-6PM • Saturday 10AM-2 PM
“Over
“I had one with a glass chimney in the middle, which is fairly uncommon,” Fitch said. “I had never seen one before. A gentleman came in and said, ‘I’m going to think about that.’ Two hours later, it sold. He came back about two and a half hours later, and I said, ‘It just sold.’ He said. ‘If you ever see another one, you know that I want it,’ and I told him that I don’t know if I’ll ever see another one.”
Fast forward about a year and much to her surprise, she found another one.
“I was just astounded that I ever saw another one. I had his phone number, and I called him up and said, ‘Guess what I found?’ He rushed right here and was happy that I found another one.”
Fitch tries to learn as much as she can about the antiques she acquires, but it’s not unusual for her to learn things from her customers, too.
Her favorite antique find? It’s the largest one in her collection — but it’s not for sale: The building.
“The workmanship that’s gone into it, and with the cornices inside and the molding outside is just something you don’t find anymore,” she said.
As with the many unique antiques inside, the building itself has an interesting backstory story to it.
Kings was established in 1875 by William H. King when the former Chicago, Rockford and Northern Railroad laid out its track from Flagg Center to Rockford (this line later became the Milwaukee Road and is currently owned by Illinois Railway and Canadian Pacific). Plans at the time had called for neighboring White Rock to have the railroad go through it, but when that didn’t happen, much of its business moved to Kings.
The young village was without a church building for its first few years, but the town found one in White Rock and decided to give it a second life, and second home. Undeterred by what was then so small feat, a deal was sealed for the church and it was hauled back to Kings, with loaders, blocks and good ol’ reliable horsepower the real kind.
“[Mr. King] said whoever gets a church to this spot gets the deed,” Fitch said. “The members of this church actually picked it up and moved it from a couple of miles away, and it came down what was a dirt road then by horse-drawn sledge, and here it is. They got the deed to the land for $1.”
Sweet Revival’s antiques are a treat for the eyes, but you can treat your other senses, too, with a whiff of a scented candle, a tasty treat, or a sip of gourmet coffee. “We started out with just antiques and then over time we added the coffee bar,” Fitch said. “Later on, we added the chocolate. My dream was coffee, sweets and antiques; and good music.”
The church, built in 1862, had served as White Rock’s Presbyterian church. About 30 years after it moved to Kings, an addition was constructed in 1915 that altered the alter from a north-south direction to an east-west one. The new addition also housed the church bell and steeple. Kings Presbyterian Church served the community for about 125 years before it closed in 2005. The building got a third life, this time when another church moved in, but it didn’t stay for long.
Fitch and her husband James, who enjoy going on the occasional antique hunt, became interested in keeping the old church building a viable part of the community, so they sealed a deal to give it a fourth life, as Sweet Revival, which opened in February 2015.
“I always wanted to do something with coffee, but I didn’t know what else I wanted to go with it,” Fitch said. “I knew I wanted to blend a few things. Because we live just a couple of miles from here, we drove by this building for a few years, and I told my husband that I could do something with this. He let me follow my dream and supported me all the way, and here we are.”
Among the items in the shop are some pieces by her daughter-in-law, Kate May Fitch. Kate has canvas paintings and other crafts in a side room, and her ink drawing of the church’s exterior is featured on some of the store’s mugs and post cards. “I love being able to have her things here,” Laura said.
The coffee bar features espressos, lattes, cappuccinos, white and dark mochas, breves and Americanos, and a “coffee of the day” that Fitch selects from the menu. Other hot drinks include hot chocolate; herbal, green and black tea; a hot spiced cider; and an Oregon Chai latte.
The chocolates, a mix of dark, white and milk, come from an Indiana candy maker. Fitch sells a lot of large peanut butter cups, toffee, and sea salt caramels; as well as maple creams and chocolate mint patties when they are in season. Like the coffee, the sweets came after the antique store opened, and they’ve both proven popular with customers.
“We started out with just antiques and then over time we added the coffee bar,” Fitch said. “Later on, we added the chocolate. My dream was coffee, sweets and antiques; and good music.”
When Fitch needed some help running the shop, she didn’t have far to look. One of her neighbor’s daughters, Teagan Meyers, has helped out behind the bar counter and at the cash register for 4 years. When she isn’t raising the bar with her college high jump accolades for the Sauk Valley Community College track and field team, Meyers enjoys sampling the new coffees that come in and sharing them with customers.
Sweet Revival, 12554 E. state Route 64 in Kings, is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Find it on Facebook, go to sweetrevivalantiques.com or call 815-761-5643 for more information.
“It’s really cool to see all of the different things that come in, and to meet all of the different people, too,” Meyers said. “It’s really fun to meet people in the community and outside of it. I really like when people come in and get really excited about our building, it’s always nice to hear that.”
Fitch loves telling people the history of the church, and said the people are fascinated by its story, and they’re often surprised at how spacious this former small-town church is.
“My customers are some of the finest people I’ve ever met,” Fitch said. “There are people who come here from all over the world, and it’s just been fascinating to meet them. I love the people who come in. We share stories, we share interests, and for many people, they’ll say that this is their happy place or their peaceful place, and I’m happy to provide that for them.
Teagan Meyers of Kings (left) has helped out Sweet Revival owner Laura Fitch at her shop for 4 years. The recent Rochelle High School graduate and Sauk Valley Community College student enjoys getting to meet new people who stop by from all over.
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sk Donna Luning whether glass is half full or half empty and she’ll tell you it’s definitely full — of possibilities.
It can be a part of our everyday lives and it can be a thing of beauty. Its potential fires the imagination of those who twist and bend and shape it into works of art.
It can also inspire a museum, which is what it’s done for Donna and her husband, Jim, who opened the Woodbine Art Glass Museum to house the more than 4,200 colorful handblown pieces that they’ve collected over the past two decades.
A subset of the glass art medium, art glass typically covers the period since the mid-19th century, with pieces made primarily for decorative purposes. Fans of art glass enjoy its beauty and durability. While glass can be fragile, there’s also a sense of permanency to it, with each piece capturing something that stands the test of time.
“Things can get rusty, things can get yellowed and that kind of thing, but art glass will stay the same as the blower made it for hundreds of years,” Donna said. “I like that part of it, that it stays the same and it’s just as gorgeous as it was when it was first made. I like the colors, the shapes, and that it looks just as it was when it was initially was made. It’s pretty neat.”
While the Lunings opened the museum together — 16 years ago in Woodbine, a small town of about 200 residents on U.S. Route 20 between Stockton, where the couple lives, and Elizabeth — Donna’s the bigger fan of art glass. She became fascinated with crackle glass at first, and how it reflected the light, and her passion grew from there.
The museum’s pieces come from around the world — the U.S., Canada, Germany, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Scandinavia, among the countries — and range from a few decades old to a few hundred years old, with a few even dating back to medieval times. Glass artists used different techniques through the years, some of which have been passed down through generations, and others that have faded into memory after an artist’s death.
In addition to thousands of pieces of art glass, the Woodbine Glass Museum also sells pieces of unique jewelry, including many bracelets and necklaces designed with stones.
Seaform glass is characterized by fluid shapes, open shapes and spiral wraps of color. The piece at right was made by Washington State artist Dale Chihuly. Similar examples of the technique can be found at the Woodbine Art Glass Museum.
Visitors to the museum first get a chance to begin a collection of their own as they walk through the front door and into a gift shop, where they can buy pieces of art glass and jewelry. Prices and sizes range from small to big. Then it’s on to the main attraction: the museum, where thousands of pieces of all sorts of sizes, shapes and color are on display — fittingly enough, behind glass.
Entry to gallery of glass is $5, and the Lunings ask that no photos be taken, preferring people see the pieces in person, but they strive to make the visit worth the price of admission, sharing their knowledge and stories.
“I hope people can come and enjoy seeing something beautiful,” Donna said. “I’m hoping people come and see us because we have a lot to offer, and you can’t see it anywhere else. It is hard to find some things that can be that gorgeous.”
Some of the pieces are organized by color — such as solid blue works made with cobalt, green ones from magnesium, and cranberry-colored ones made with gold — while others are grouped by the country they came from. Color schemes such as amberina stand out among others in the room. These brightly colored pieces are amber-colored at the bottom and blend into an orangish-red at the top.
“They’re beautiful, beautiful colors,” Donna said.
Once they’ve taken it all in, Donna likes to ask visitors what their favorite color is. She’s heard different answers, but some come up more than others.
“For men, it’s usually cobalt,” Donna said, given its rather opaque look. The color’s not made anymore in the United States because it’s carcinogenic in the molten stage, she said. Other countries continue to make cobalt glass, however.
As for the women?
“It is usually cranberry, because they look pink,” Donna said. “When they find out that gold made it, they like it even better.”
Cameo, dichroic and Mont Joye designs also are featured. Cameos have drawings or etchings on the surface, and some are also embossed with designs. Dichroics can display many different colors depending on the light. Mont Joye art originated in France during the mid-1800s, with nature depictions bordered with red, purple and gold enameled designs.
Most art glass pieces are made primarily to please the eye and not serve a func tion, though many can do double duty, like this piece made by the Lotton Art Glass Studio in south suburban Crete. Though its nice to have flowers in a vase that’ll never die, you could put the real things in there if you wanted. A piece similar to this one is on display at the Woodbine Art Glass Mu seum.
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The museum’s pieces come in various sizes, some as small as board game token and others much larger, like one of Donna’s prized pieces: the largest in the museum, which is about a foot tall and a foot wide and weighs more than 40 pounds. It was made by the world-renowned Lotton Art Glass Studio in south suburban Crete, established by the late Charles Lotton. Owning
“He was the hot stuff in art glass,” Donna said. “I would go to shows and try to save up money because they were expensive. People would still pay for it because they knew they would one day go up in value.”
Another large piece that stands out among the others is a purple seaform piece with dark stripes, which looks like a sea shell. It was made by another world-renowned glass artist, Dale Chihuly of Washington. A picture of it can be found on the
“His claim to fame was the seapod forms,” Donna said. “I was lucky enough to get one, but it cost me the
Home to just a few businesses, Woodbine doesn’t boast the kinds of tourist attractions that larger cities do, so the Lunings’ museum is basically in a glass by itself in the quaint little community on the busy byway between Freeport and Galena. The museum sits on the south side of the highway, a rather nondescript beige-colored building belying the beauty that’s inside. A sign out front and letters along the side of the building beckon passersby inside.
Beyond that, the Lunings rely on word of mouth — their own and from visitors’ social media posts — to tell people about Woodbine’s best kept secret.
“It’s like a hidden treasure,” Luning said of the museum. “I’ve known people to get on Facebook and post, ‘You can’t believe what I found in Woodbine!’ They’ll tell everyone and people will come.”
Cody Cutter can be reached at 815-632-2532 or ccutter@shawmedia.com.
The Woodbine Glass Museum and Gift Shop is located at 3799 East Woodbine St. (U.S. Route 20) in the town of Woodbine (Stockton is used for mailing address and directional purposes). It is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Find it on Facebook, email jluning@yahoo.com or call 815-947-3904 for more information.
rom the city’s tallest resident to American’s tallest president, art looms large in Oregon.
It’s where a nearly 50-foot statue has stood for more than a century as an eternal testament to its creator’s talent; and as a new century dawned, it’s where a sculptor’s con victions helped him follow in the footsteps of Abraham Lincoln. The arts have long found a welcoming home here.
Now that home has an address.
The Coliseum Museum of Arts, Antiques and Americana opened in July in the town’s centuryold community center, and its rotating and per manent exhibits, as well as occasional classes and fine arts performances, promise to ignite a creative spark in anyone who visits — and its executive director, Michael Glenn, says the place is full of not only surprises, but possibilities.
Local artists have a showcase for their talents at the Coliseum Museum of Art, Antiques and Americana, like this piece: “Geezer,” by Dixon artist Betty Predmore. CODY CUTTER/CCUTTER@SHAWMEDIA.COM
“We have a place where you’re going to be excited and surprised at what you see,” Glenn said. “You’ll also realize that you can’t see it all in one visit, and you’ll come back because there’s a lot to process in just one visit. If you’re local and have family or friends visiting, or you have a high school reunion, this is a place where you can bring people to show off some of the special places in the area. We want to keep that rotation going.”
Hundreds of unique pieces — paintings, sculptures, ceramics, pottery, glass and photography among the mediums — are displayed throughout the museum, and some are even available for purchase. Six rooms are dedicated to exhibits, and more works are displayed along the walls outside the rooms. Two rooms feature galleries named after two notable Oregon legends: Lorado Taft, who created “The Eternal Indian” concrete sculpture of Chief Black Hawk; and Gov. Frank O. Lowden, an Oregon resident who served as Illinois’ chief executive during World War I.
Permanent and on-loan work (as of mid-August) includes art glass, bronze sculptures, carved decoys, Crown Milano, Czech glass, Ephraim pottery, Fulper pottery, Native American art, Norse pottery, tramp art, treenware (wood dishes and other household utensils made by North America pioneers), Van Briggle pottery, and Rookwood pottery.
Performing arts will also have a home at the museum, where organizers plan to host the occasional concert or play on the Coliseum’s stage.
“It’s permanent and rotating art, but it’s more than just that; it’s an activity center for the community,” Glenn said. “We want to do literature, music, art, the whole package; and not just for adults, but also for kids and students. I like to have student art shows, and we have a lot of things in plan there. Maybe a student recital. There are lots of possibilities here.”
Having a platform like the Coliseum helps local artists “rise to the occasion,” Glenn said, to create more and express themselves.
The Coliseum itself is an important piece of Oregon’s architectural art legacy, having opened a century ago, on Jan. 2, 1923. Throughout its history, the venue has hosted public events, concerts, dances, roller skating, basketball games and Grange meetings. As times changed and those kinds of events found a home in school gyms and other, larger venues, the Coliseum needed a new lease on life, and it found it with the museum.
“With the changing of times, technology and other structures being built, this was not being used much,” Glenn said. “There was even some discussion by people to raze the building. People put their craft into this, it’s not a cookie-cutter. Can you imagine the stories, if the walls and the floors could talk?”
If they could, one of the things they would say is, “Thank you for your service.”
One of the Coliseum’s hallmarks is the veteran’s honor roll wall above the original front entryway, featuring the names of soldiers from town who answered the call of duty during wartime.
Oregon native Craig Carpenter had several of his watercolor paintings exhibited in July and August at the Coliseum Museum of Arts, Antiques and Americana. Carpenter’s watercolor paintings depict scenes of everyday life in Oregon. “He’s like the Norman Rockwell of Oregon,” Michael Glenn said.
The museum’s genesis began six years ago, with an idea to preserve the Coliseum coming from Kent Lawrence, president of the Chicago-based A. Charles and Lillemore Lawrence Foundation. Lawrence, a second-generation Chicago attorney, has donated toward community initiatives throughout Ogle County in recent years, and provided the initial funding for the Coliseum museum. He and his wife, Kathy, have owned the Patchwork Inn, one block east of the museum, since 2009.
“[They] came out here and wanted to give back to the community and make a difference here,” Glenn said. “They wanted to be a part of this and give back to the community and invest in it.”
After a few years of planning, designing, and setting up a leadership structure — and contending with the setbacks dealt by the coronavirus pandemic during that time — the museum had its grand opening July 14, and judging by visitors’ reactions, the time it took to make the museum a reality was worth the wait, Glenn said. Not only were they amazed by the art, but they were happy see another attraction bringing more people to town.
The veteran’s honor roll wall — listing names of local residents who served their country during wartime — wasn’t retired from duty when the museum moved in. It remains in its place of honor, above the original front entryway.
CODY CUTTER/CCUTTER@SHAWMEDIA.COM
“We had a really great celebration, and filled the place up,” he said. “People were excited, and it was one of those things where it just felt good. You knew that what you were doing was the right thing for the community, and it was strategic for tourism, too.”
The museum is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization, and accepts monetary and art donations. A tier-based membership program also is available. Glenn also seeks out grant opportunities and corporate sponsorship to help the museum.
One of the museum’s first permanent exhibit acquisitions was a trio of mini-sculpture “peep show” dioramas made by Lorado Taft. The dioramas depict scenes from ancient and Renaissance history, and were among some of Taft’s final works done at his Midway Studios in Chicago before his death in 1934, nearly two decades after he created the iconic Black Hawk statue. They were purchased by the Superior Public Library in Wisconsin in 1937, and remained there until acquired by the Coliseum museum in 2019.
In August, featured artists included Craig Carpenter and Harry Nurmet. Carpenter’s paintings depict scenes of everyday life in Oregon — “He’s like the Norman Rockwell of Oregon,” Glenn said. Nurmet, a native of Estonia who fled his country during World War II, was an avid painter of flowers and stilllife depictions of items from his native Estonia; he co-founded Oregon’s Eagle’s Nest Art Society in 1957, a group dedicated to celebrating and preserving the arts.
OREGON — The Coliseum in Oregon, now home to the Coliseum Museum of Arts, Antiques and America, is observing its centennial year in 2023 — but it’s not the only local institution with a birthday this year.
The catalyst for Oregon’s arts scene observes its quasquicentennial (125th anniversary) this year, and you can visit a gallery that celebrates the legacy left behind by a group of artists and writers who decided to build their nest near Oregon. In 1898, a group of artists from Chicago set out to establish a seasonal colony where they could get their creative minds in harmony with nature. After a failed attempt to start one in Indiana, the group settled along the Rock River in Oregon and established the Eagle’s Nest Art Colony.
Lorado Taft, best known locally for creating The Eternal Indian concrete statue of Chief Black Hawk, was the most renowned of the colony’s founding members. Other charter members included sculptor Nellie Walker; artists Ralph Clarkson, Charles Francis Browne and Oliver Dennett Grover; writers Hamlin Garland, Henry Fuller and Horace Spencer Fiske; architect brothers Irving and Allen Pond; organist Clarence Dickinson; and University of Chicago administrator James Spencer Dickerson.
Eagle’s Nest members not only came to the colony to create their works, they also dedicated their time to share their art and educate local residents about the creative culture. They utilized Oregon’s businesses and professional services — grocery stores, doctors, churches — in an effort to get to know the local folks; and, in turn, promote the arts, be it painting, sculpting or writing.
The colony was located where Northern Illinois University’s Lorado Taft satellite campus is today, next to Lowden State Park. Some of the artists’ cottages remain intact, long after its last founding member, Clarkson, died in 1942.
The Eagle’s Nest legacy lives on at a gallery that features works created by colony founders. The gallery is located on the second floor of the Oregon Public Library, 300 Jefferson St., and is open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Go to oregonpubliclibrary.com/eagles-nest-art-gallery/ to learn more about the gallery and take a virtual tour.
You can read more about the group in the spring/summer issue of Ogle County Living, at issuu.com/shawmedia/docs/svm ocl 042423 (at right).
— By Cody Cutter, Sauk Valley Media
Top: “Morning in Florence 1400” is one of three mini-sculpture “peep show” dioramas made by Lorado Taft on display at the Coliseum Museum of Arts, Antiques and Americana in Oregon. Here, a group of people admire the door of the Baptistery of Florence by Andrea Pisano of 1336. The dioramas were one of the museum's first permanent acquisitions, having previously been at the Superior Public Library in Wisconsin since 1937. Bottom: Tramp art, exhibited at the museum, was common throughout 19th Century America. Many of the intricate pieces found in this type of art came from discarded materials, giving art journalist Frances Lichten of the Pennsylvania Folklife magazine the inspiration in the 1950s to come up with a name for the artform.
CODY CUTTER/CCUTTER@SHAWMEDIA.COM
The first workshops hosted by the museum in August included a forensic art demonstration from retired Illinois State Police special agent Bethe Hughes, and an oil painting demonstration by Beverly Garcia of Grand Detour, whose works also were exhibited during the month.
As the museum continues to find its footing, Glenn is rounding up exhibits and planning classes and shows, tasks he’s not unfamiliar with. He was executive director of The Next Picture Show fine arts center and gallery in Dixon for a few years before retiring in 2021. That didn’t last long, though, and he was coaxed out of retirement in the spring of 2022 as the museum’s first executive director.
Now, as the seeds planted a few years ago begin to grow, Glenn looks forward to helping the Coliseum take its place among Oregon’s long-standing legacy of celebrating the arts.
“There’s a lot of talent, and we want it to blossom here,” Glenn said. “We have some amazing collections. Some of these permanent collections are 50, 100, or 200 years old. You name it — there’s wood, there’s glass, there’s bronze, there’s pottery. It can take a long time to process the permanent collections. It’s amazing, and I think people are going to be shocked that something like this is here in Oregon.”
Cody Cutter can be reached at 815-632-2532 or ccutter@ shawmedia.com.
The Coliseum Museum of Art, Antiques and Americana, 124 N. Fourth St. in Oregon, is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Find it on Facebook, go to cmaaa.org, email info@cmaaa.org or call 815-595-5810 for up-todate exhibit information.
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