A Sterling man has a collection of champions
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Touchdowns bring a Rocket man around again
People who need counseling are in good hands in Sterling
Rock Falls restaurant has all the right ingredients
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Publisher/Ad Director Jennifer Heintzelman Magazine editor & Page design Rusty Schrader For Advertising Contact Jill Reyna at 815-631-8774 or jreyna@saukvalley.com Published by Sauk Valley Media 113 S. Peoria Ave., Dixon, IL 61021 815-284-2222 Have a story idea for Sterling-Rock Falls Living? E-mail rschrader@saukvalley.com Articles and advertisements are the property of Sauk Valley Media. No portion of Sterling-Rock Falls Living may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. Ad content is not the responsibility of Sauk Valley Media. The information in this magazine is believed to be accurate; however, Sauk Valley Media cannot and does not guarantee its accuracy. Sauk Valley Media cannot and will not be held liable for the quality or performance of goods and services provided by advertisers listed in any portion of this magazine.
Collection of champions
While some collectors think inside the box, to the prizes in breakfast cereals, a Sterling man likes to think outside the box.
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Rocketman
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In good hands
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All the right ingredients
Touchdowns bring him ’round again ... One of Rock Falls High School’s biggest fans isn’t just a team player, he’s a team recorder.
Familiar flavors A Rock Falls baker and business owner has made a name for himself — and his coffee cakes: Dave.
With roots reaching back to the workplace, a Sterling counseling service has grown to reach out to the whole community.
When the owner of a Rock Falls restaurant decided to give the business a fresh start, he mixed together fresh food, a fresh look and a commitment to keeping customers coming back for more.
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g the ist, givin o m d n e ers hav lighter a berately y custom li a at e s h d t s e g is s raja takin a is B version y e n h t a mp awtexture ith a str r, the co a w e r y e cakes a h is t r h fu Day love. T r Fiesta n a step fo io t e a t come to n im t e experim e, just in ffee cak spirit of o c o r e orders, aban gh preberry h u o r h t s. ffice tes. festivitie e sold at their o er 48 sta w d lo r e a h t o be foun Cakes ipping t an also h c s up le h p g it o in w e e, sp sett or onlin ear, sale ekend, y e e w h , a t ls t g a hou at festiv nts durin Throug booths s 20 eve g a from y in s n n g a n therin d ma a n at as m g a r s e n h t o ghlocatio ets, and ns throu k r io a t pop-up a m c a lo o and fle braska, etown t farmers sota, Ne e eir hom n h t in o M t , s a entucky as close est — K w id M e page 8 s. out th ont’d to er state c h t E o K d A n C Ohio, a A Shaw Media Publication | Sterling-Rock Falls Living | Fall 2026 | 7
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CAKE cont’d from page 7 During peak season from August to December, Dave’s may have 30 to 40 salespeople representing the company, many of whom work weekends in addition to other jobs. Christkindlmarkets are especially appropriate for a product with German roots, and the company has set up at Chicago markets including Wrigley Field and Daley Plaza. “It’s a lot of work, but a lot of fun, too,” Dave Jr. said. “We’re here to provide this delicious product to our customers. We do our best to let people know who we are and where we come from, and this is what Dave’s Coffee Cake is all about.” CAKE cont’d to page 9
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Dave Barajas Jr. (left) and Dave Barajas Sr. operate Dave’s Coffee Cake in Rock Falls, which makes many varieties of coffee cake for sale online and at vendor shows across the nation.
CAKE cont’d from page 8 The coffee cake story began with a separate and much smaller operation. Dave Sr., a former Northwestern Steel and Wire worker who has served on a variety of local and municipal boards, opened a small bakery near the Rock Falls Post Office after a Mexican bakery across the street closed when its owner retired. He hired two bakers, and the together the three developed the coffee cake recipe. Though the bakery only lasted about eight months, the recipe proved to have more staying power. Dave Sr. and his wife Maria have also owned La Familia, a Mexican restaurant next to the coffee cake office, since 1999. When he mentioned the coffee cake to a couple while working there one day, they suggested he take it to a large craft show in Kane County. His first reaction was skeptical. CAKE cont’d to page 10
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CAKE cont’d from page 9 “What the hell is in Kane County?” he recalled. However, in March 2004, he went to the St. Charles event, one of the largest flea markets in the northern Illinois. The response convinced him there was something worth pursuing, and more than two decades later, Dave’s Coffee Cake
operates an office and kitchen in separate buildings near the Rock Falls Post Office. When he decided to get back into baking, he decided to keep the focus on just one product: the coffee cakes, a decision helped by advice from a friend and mentor, Kenny McCaslin, owner of the former McCaslin’s Bakery in Sterling. “He said, ‘You got something here, and I suggest you concentrate on that,’” Dave Sr. said Dave Sr. was born and raised in Sterling with his 10 siblings on Wallace Street near the steel mill, where the sound of the mill’s shiftchange whistle became part of his childhood. He once served on the Sterling Public Schools board and spent four terms as Sterling Township Supervisor, as well as having
served on the Twin Cities Educational Scholarship Committee, YMCA Board and Self-Help Enterprises Foundation Board. In 2022, during Hispanic Heritage Month, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity recognized Dave’s Coffee Cake among Hispanic-owned small businesses for its impact on the community. “Do I owe a lot to this community? You’re damn right I do,” Dave Sr. said. “They are very good people.” Dave Jr. became part of the business eight years ago. He has spent about 15 years working in economic development in Iowa after beginning his career in Sterling, a time in which he dealt with the aftermath of the steel mill’s closing and the effort to bring the Walmart Distribution Center to town. CAKE cont’d to page 14
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Dave Barajas Jr. and his father put together coffee cakes at Dave's Coffee Cake's Rock Falls kitchen. The elder Barajas started the baking business in 2004, and his son joined the company in 2018 as its CEO.
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CAKE cont’d from page 10 He now lives in Marshalltown, Iowa, but returns home regularly. His children also help with sales and other operations. Joining the family business also meant seeing his hometown differently. “When I think about being back home, I think about everything that’s happened in the community, and it all started with the people back then, and the workforce that we had here,” he said. “They are what built what we have here today.” Owing to the Barajases’ Hispanic heritage, the company’s identity
remains tied to the people who make it, sell it and support it — an idea they describe with a single word: “Familia.” “Familia is not just blood, familia is who you accept into your family and who you think of as being close to you — every single one of them,” Dave Sr. said. “The people in the office, in the bakery and the people who go out and sell for us.”
The bakery employs members of more than 30 families, and the Barajases feel a personal commitment to each one. Dave Sr. recalled an older employee who washed pans for the company, and a moment involving him reminded Dave Sr. how every part of the operation depends on everyone else. CAKE cont’d to page 15
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eecakes.com Go to davescoff ation about for more inform business and the Rock Falls for cakes. In to place orders ipping, orders addition to sh ranged to be also can be ar s office at 204 picked up at it u can also find Second Ave. Yo . it on Facebook
CAKE cont’d from page 14 “It just took me back, and I thought, ‘My goodness, it is just so important that we all work together,’” he said. “A guy who washes bowls understands that it takes all of us — from washing bowls to doing books to sweeping floors and working with the health department — working together. That’s familia, and they all take it to heart as to what this business means to everyone.” Dave Jr. sees that responsibility as part of the family’s future. “As I’ve grown up and matured, I’ve understood more and more that the shoulders that we all stand on are of people who laid the path,” he said. “Where we are today, it’s a lot of hard work, but there are a lot of people, besides Dad and even before him, that laid the path and gave us the opportunities to do some of the things that we’re doing right now.” While the coffee cake’s German tradition provides a foundation, the Barajases’ willingness to experiment keeps it moving forward. “It’s taking a long tradition
that began in Germany of a coffee cake and developing it, and keeping a lot of those flavors, and saying, ‘Let’s have fun with it,’” Dave Jr. said. “It’s been good. It’s been lots of fun.” n Shaw Media reporter Cody Cutter can be reached at 815-632-2532 or ccutter@shawmedia.com.
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By CODY CUTTER Sauk Valley Media
CODY CUTTER/CCUTTER@ SHAWMEDIA.COM
here used to be a time when kids couldn’t wait to dig for the prize inside a cereal box. For Joe Mazziotta of Sterling, the prize is the box itself — and there’s one brand he has a particular affinity for: The “Breakfast of Champions,” Wheaties. Putting his own twist on the cereal’s famous slogan that encouraged people to eat their Wheaties, Mazziotta decided to collect his Wheaties instead, and the Sterling man has built up an impressive collection of Wheaties and other cereal boxes. Collecting them has given Mazziotta, 82, a way to not only bring together two of his passions — sports and collecting — but celebrate the cereal that’s been around for more than a 100 years and preserve pieces of sports history. His collection is a reflection of a lifelong fascination with things old, uncommon and worth remembering. Raised in the football-crazy town of Massillon, Ohio, Mazziotta came to Sterling in 1977 as manager of the Endicott Johnson shoe store at Northland Mall. His interest in collecting Wheaties boxes began around 1984, he said. Over the years, the collection has grown to about 500 different boxes and related pieces of cereal history, ranging from single-serving boxes to 24-ounce boxes. Among them is a Roger Staubach Wheaties box that Mazziotta acquired already autographed, along with a framed, factory-flat 1988 Wheaties box celebrating the Los Angeles Lakers’ world championship. He also has flats from the 1993 Chicago Bulls championship team and a set of unglued, single-serving boxes from 1951 featuring Ted Williams, Bob Feller, Stan Musial, George Mikan, Sam Snead and Johnny Lujack. Some pieces reach even further back. Mazziotta has two Corn Flakes box flats from 1940 that were made for distribution in Canada, as well as a few 2-inch miniature cereal boxes from the 1920s and 1930s that were produced for dollhouses. His collection also includes a 1976 Bruce Jenner Wheaties box and a Mary Lou Retton box from the 1984 Olympics. One particularly prized piece is a silver-colored box featuring Walter Payton, Sammy Baugh, Dick Butkus, Don Shula and Jerry Rice. Mazziotta has all of the athletes’ autographs on it except Shula’s. WHEATIES cont’d to page 18
Joe Mazziotta holds his 1934 Wheaties box featuring football star Don Hutson, one of the oldest pieces in his collection, and one of over 500 cereal boxes and related items.
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CODY CUTTER/CCUTTER@SHAWMEDIA.COM
Joe Mazziotta’s Wheaties collection isn’t just all boxes; he has various pieces of Wheaties memorabilia and promotional items too. He also some other cereal boxes, including the oldest in his collection: a single-serving Toasted Corn Flakes box (right) that dates to roughly 1906–1915.
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WHEATIES cont’d from page 17 “I’ve ended up collecting, and collecting and collecting,” Mazziotta said. “I never had any kids. Endicott Johnson moved me around quite a bit and I managed eight stores in Ohio, Michigan and here in town. Many managers had wives and kids in school, and it was very hard for the company to move them; and me, they once moved me three times in one year. I made some good money back then, when these guys couldn’t do it. I never really grew roots in a town.” One of the more valuable pieces in his collection takes him back to his hometown. In 1983, General Mills offered shoppers in northeast Ohio the opportunity to vote on which local athlete they wanted to see featured on a Wheaties box. The winner was Chris Spielman, the Massillon native who went on to become a four-time Pro Bowl NFL linebacker. WHEATIES cont’d to page 19
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WHEATIES cont’d from page 18 The box, which depicts Spielman in his Massillon High School uniform, was the first Wheaties box to feature a high school football player. Mazziotta learned the box was worth something, but he didn’t have one. So, while visiting his mother in Ohio, with his brother Jim in town from the East Coast, he placed an advertisement in the Canton Repository newspaper looking for a Spielman box in good condition. He ended up buying five. “My brother said, ‘How much did you pay for them?’” Mazziotta said. “For all five, I spent $200. He goes, ‘I hope you know what the hell you’re doing.’” Mazziotta put some of the boxes on eBay and sold one for $109, another for $139 and another for $161. The last time he checked the trade magazines around 20 years ago, he said, the Spielman box was valued at around $150. Another find came from the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, where American figure skater Sarah Hughes won the gold medal. General Mills announced
that Hughes would appear on a Wheaties box, and about a month later, Mazziotta began seeing the boxes surface. By then, he had been collecting for years and knew that small differences between seemingly identical boxes could matter. “A woman at a TV station on the West Coast had a box, put it out at $10 on eBay and sold it for $20,” Mazziotta said. “Some guy in Virginia had that box for $39.99, with the ‘buy it now’ at $50. It didn’t sell and he put it out again a week later for $30 and $39.99 to buy it now.” Then a friend in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, found another Sarah Hughes box. It looked different. Mazziotta called General Mills and asked how many varieties of the Hughes box had been produced. He was put on hold for about 20 minutes before being told there was only one. “As soon as I saw the other one on there, I bought the one for $39.99,” he said. A couple of weeks later, the seller called him.
“He called me up a couple of weeks later, and he said, ‘You’re the man,’ because they had only released about five of them. That was a prototype.” Stories like that are part of what makes the hobby appealing to Mazziotta: knowing the history behind the packaging and recognizing when a seemingly ordinary box might be something much rarer. Wheaties was introduced in 1924, but its connection to sports didn’t begin until a decade later, when sports figures first appeared on the backs and sides of boxes. Lou Gehrig became the first athlete featured on the front in 1934. Baseball players dominated the boxes for years before athletes from other sports began appearing more frequently after World War II. In 1958, Olympic pole vaulter Bob Richards became the first athlete pictured on the front since Gehrig. WHEATIES cont’d to page 21
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the BOX market
Among the hundreds of items in Mazziotta’s Wheaties collection are a 1988 factory-flat box celebrating the Los Angeles Lakers (far left), an autographed collectors edition box (left) — and the most personal item in the collection: A custommade box featuring a photo of his late wife Betty (above).
PHOTOS: CODY CUTTER/CCUTTER@SHAWMEDIA.COM
A GREAT TIME IS A SURE BET!
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WHEATIES cont’d from page 19 Whenever Mazziotta buys boxes of Wheaties from the grocery store that potentially could have future value, he handles them from the sides. He gets discouraged when cashiers and clerks grab boxes from the top, where there’s nothing but air and the cardboard is susceptible to creasing. His oldest Wheaties box is from 1934 and features football player Don Hutson on the back. He obtained it in the 1990s. “It cost me quite a few bucks when I got it back then,” he said. The oldest cereal box in the collection isn’t Wheaties. A single-serving box labeled “Toasted Corn Flakes” dates to sometime between 1906 and 1915. When Mazziotta acquired it, he called General Mills to verify its age. “I told her it still had some cereal in it,” Mazziotta recalled. “She literally flipped!” Mazziotta answered the collecting call long before his Wheaties days — and it was another sports-related collectible that made the call: Baseball cards. Growing up close to Cleveland,
Mazziotta and his brother followed the Cleveland Indians, while their father, a New York City native, made his own allegiance clear. “’This is a Yankees household! I was born in the Bronx, and there will be no … Indians fans in this house!’” Mazziotta recalled his father saying. Young Joe became a fan of Yankees slugger Mickey Mantle, and he still has the 1954 Bowman Mantle card he pulled from a pack when he was 10, though it’s hardly in mint condition. “My mom got me a wallet when I was 10 years old, and I didn’t have a dollar bill to put in it,” Mazziotta said, so “I put the Mantle in it. Every time he’d hit a home run [on TV], I’d take it out and admire it. It’s got creases and worn to hell and back.” WHEATIES cont’d to page 22
E Z ... I x o R b l P a The the cere in
What’s the most valuable cereal box? As with any collectable, something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it, but according to an article at MoneyDigest.com, someone was willing to pay a lot for a 1934 Wheaties box featuring Lou Gehrig, which sold for $7,680 in a 2019 auction. Another auction saw an unopened, 10-pack of singleserve cereal boxes from 1961 sell for $21,600 in 2025 — but those boxes also came with something extra: a trio of Post Cereal baseball cards, one of which featured Mickey Mantle.
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WHEATIES cont’d from page 21 Like many kids his age, he was bitten by the baseball card bug — buying packs, putting together sets (like a 1957 Topps baseball card set he worked on) — but he eventually lost the itch to collect. Something else bit the growing boy: The love bug. “We bought gum packs for a nickel,” Mazziotta said. “I traded a lot, but when I got to be about 14, I lost interest in them. What can I say? There were a lot of nice looking skirts going around back then.” His interest in sports cards returned years later through Home Plate Sports Cards near the Sterling Theater. At one point, he bought nearly 300 1983 Topps cards of Chicago Bears great Walter Payton for $99 — about 33 cents apiece — and still enjoys checking what cards such as those are worth, particularly when professionally graded.
His collecting interests go beyond sports memorabilia. He has several pieces of Ballantine Ale breweriana, including bottles and cans dating to the late 1800s and early 1900s. He also has a collection of vintage pennies, a hobby he began at 11 with money earned from his newspaper route. Among the coins are 1909 “V.D.B.” Lincoln cents, which bear the initials of cent designer Victor David Brenner. The initials were removed from the coin shortly after production began, making some varieties considerably more valuable, depending on their condition and where they were minted. Mazziotta was married three times, with his most recent wife, Betty, being with him for 18 years before her death in 2018. The former Bergners worker happily put up with his collections, he said, while the couple also enjoyed raising koi fish in their backyard pond. While Mazziotta considers his Hughes prototype and Hutson vintage Wheaties boxes to be his two most valuable pieces, perhaps no box is more sentimental than a
custom-made, single-serve purple Crispy Wheaties and Raisins box featuring Betty on the front. It sits behind glass in his living room hutch. “She didn’t mind,” Mazziotta recalled of his collections. “I was lucky to have her.” Even with all of the other things he has collected over the years, it is the Wheaties boxes Mazziotta is most proud of. Their appeal, he said, comes from the combination of the athletes they feature, their age and the stories behind individual boxes. Rarity can make one valuable, while another might appeal to someone because of the athlete pictured on it, the era or the memory it carries. In Mazziotta’s opinion, collecting is about more than simply owning something. “You have to have an interest in it,” he said. “You have to appreciate that it’s old, and you can have a sort of relationship to that.” n Shaw Media reporter Cody Cutter can be reached at 815-632-2532 or ccutter@shawmedia.com.
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Charlie Bennett, in Rock
Falls High School’s press
box.
IA.COM
CODY CUTTER/CCUTTER@SHAWMED
player in sports. here’s more than one way to be a team ch and others support Some people play, some people coa ds. They’re all ways to be their team by cheering from the stan rts and fields. part of the stories that play out on cou way to be part of the Charlie Bennett has found his own story. He tells it. behind a microFor Bennett, the stories unfold from nt a decade bringing phone and camera, where he’s spe basketball to viewers Rock Falls High School football and his cell phone camera, a wherever they happen to be. Using ped to his shirt, Bensmall tripod and a microphone clip book through Rockets nett broadcasts games live on Face s, conversation and, Live, providing play-by-play, analysi e who once spent eight at times, the perspective of someon ball. years officiating basketball and foot
who lives in Sterling, The 1981 Rock Falls High graduate, nd Rockets athletics, has become a familiar presence arou championships, the lows covering teams through the highs of in between — and he of losses, and the everyday moments where his loyalties lie. does it with a passion that doesn’t hide . “Am I a homer for “Rock Falls is my team,” Bennett said ” Rock Falls when we’re playing? Yes. followed the Rockets has he ng, ami stre In 10 years of live with coverage that’s from press boxes and gymnasiums, no less dedicated to both casual and conversational, but shy about cheering supporting his home team. He’s not ers by their nicknames, them on, he’ll sometimes call play he’ll chat about other and when there’s a lull in the game r else comes to mind. Rock Falls sports news, or whateve BENNETT cont’d to page 26
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n
RUST Y SCH
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PHOT O ILL USTR AT
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By
Cody Cutter Sauk Valley Media
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BENNETT cont’d from page 24 That dedication to the Rockets has not only fueled his drive to celebrate the team, but to share their highs and lows. Bennett said the relationships he has formed with student-athletes and their families over the years have become one of the most meaningful parts of his work. In return for promoting them on the broadcasts, they return the favor. “The Class of 2024 was a class I really, really clicked with, especially with the boys,” he said. “I was going to team dinners with them, I was invited to nine different graduation parties. I felt that the kids enjoyed what I do.” Bennett has been covering games long enough that some of the people who watched his games before they were old enough for high school are the same kids he’s covering now, while others whose games he officiated years ago now have children appearing in his broadcasts.
“This is a labor of love for me,” Bennett said. “I enjoy it. I go to every football game. I go to most home and away basketball games, and if both boys and girls are playing at the same time, I’ll usually go to the away game, because I’d rather see people come to the home game and watch it. If they want to listen to me, they can listen on their phone while you’re watching the home game [in person] and cheering on these kids.” Bennett never played sports himself for the Rockets, but spent eight years as a basketball and football official, with much of his basketball work coming at the junior college and NCAA Division III levels. His connection to high school athletics remained after he stopped officiating, and in 2013, an opportunity arose at WSDR in Sterling under sports director Cathy Verhulst. He considered giving broadcasting a try, but originally was hesitant. o b `
“At the time, I was still smoking cigarettes and I couldn’t say three words without coughing,” Bennett said. “The guy who [then] did it was really good and you could tell he had done some announcing before. Then he moved out of state, and I called her up because she was looking again.” Bennett got his chance in 2014. His first game was in Harvard, where repeated lightning delays pushed the coverage past midnight. He called Rocket sports and Sauk Valley Community College men’s and women’s basketball. His time covering Rock Falls football included a difficult period in 2014, when comments Bennett made surrounding a controversial mid-season firing of football coach Scott Berge led to Rock Falls administration asking that he not return for future broadcasts after the season. BENNETT cont’d to page 27
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BENNETT cont’d from page 26 Bennett’s absence from Rocket sports didn’t last long. Before the 2016 football season, Bennett said he and then-athletic director Rich Montgomery met to clear the air. “I said, if Rich will have me, I’ll do it,” Bennett said. “We had a coming-to-Jesus meeting, I admitted that I was totally wrong, and I blew off at the wrong time for the wrong reason. We made up and got along great.” Bennett spent 2016 back at WSDR, and also began Sauk Valley Streaming Sports, conducting Facebook Live broadcasts of Sauk Valley Community College Skyhawks men’s and women’s basketball. The radio station changed ownership in 2017 and later decided to drop its Rock Falls football coverage after ad revenue fell short. Bennett again was out of radio, but fell back on his live streaming endeavor and started including Rock Falls High School sports coverage on it. In 2021,
Rock Falls football coach David Chavira talks with Rockets Live's Charlie Bennett during an interview show Aug. 18, 2025, at Hinders Field in Rock Falls.
CODY CUTTER/CCUTTER@SHAWMEDIA.COM
Sauk Valley Streaming Sports became Rockets Live. “Rockets Live kept going and going, and it’s been a fun time,” Bennett said. “I really enjoy it. I get along great with the kids.” Rockets Live has grown to about 2,000 Facebook followers. Bennett generally works alone now, although partners earlier in his career occasionally o b ` provided color commentary or statistics. Before games,
he introduces the lineups and discusses the opponent and the Rockets’ season. During the game, his calls remains loose and conversational while incorporating basic play-by-play and analysis. He keeps enough statistics to highlight meaningful performances and sometimes draws on his officiating experience to explain — or even question — a call. BENNETT cont’d to page 28
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BENNETT cont’d from page 28 “We’ll talk about different things,” Bennett said. “One conversation may turn into something different, then something different, then something different.” Viewers can also interact with him through the Facebook Live comments. Bennett has several sponsors supporting the broadcasts, and at the end of each game he selects Players of the Game, who receive gift certificates for food from JW’s Third Base in downtown Rock Falls. While top statistical performances often stand out, he also looks for opportunities to recognize players showing improvement. He also hosts a weekly Tuesday conversation with the Rockets football coach. The segment previously featured Kevin Parker and now features Rock Falls football coach David Chavira, who took over the program in 2025. They discuss the previous game, the team’s practices
and the upcoming opponent. Chavira said Bennett stepped in at a time when local high school sports coverage was beginning to disappear. “I was around when we started to lose [radio] coverage locally, and it’s always been an idea that we had to earn it back,” Chavira said. “Having Charlie come in, his spirit is to do what’s best to cover the programs, and that means a lot. When no one came in, he came and made it his passion.” Bennett’s involvement goes beyond the broadcast itself. During this year’s football preseason, he promoted an effort on Rockets Live to collect Gatorade and bottled water for the football program to take on road trips. The appeal reflected Bennett’s desire to use the audience he has built to help the athletes whose games he covers. He has also developed relationships with other schools in the Big Northern Conference, where Rock Falls plays. Some opposing schools have welcomed him, o b `
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including Genoa-Kingston, where athletic director Phil Jerbi has watched his broadcasts even when the Cogs are not playing the Rockets, Bennett said, and sometimes helps him with information on Cogs teams through the streaming comments. The decade he’s spent as a voice of the Rockets has brought many memorable moments. Bennett was there for Rock Falls boys and girls basketball regional championships in back-to-back weeks in 2017, and again in 2019. He also covered additional boys basketball regional titles in 2023 and 2025, followed by the Rockets’ Class 2A sectional championship in 2025. “Our sectional win two years ago, that was a great time and I was right there with the kids,” Bennett said. “‘Come here, Charlie, take a picture with us!’” they’d say, but Bennett was self-effacing, telling the kids: “It’s all about what you did, I just talked about it.” BENNETT cont’d to page 30
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BENNETT cont’d from page 29 He also has experienced the other side of sports and community life, including the death of football player Brock Parker during the 2021 season. His years behind a microphone have included difficult stories alongside celebrations, reinforcing the personal connections that have kept him involved. Some memories are memorable for less emotional reasons. Bennett recalled a football game at North Boone, where he and broadcast partner Shawn Porter worked from the bleachers because the press box was too small. The temperature was about 25 degrees, with 30 mph winds. “Luckily, Shawn was smarter than I was,” Bennett said. “He brought blankets.” Until recently, Bennett had considered continuing Rockets Live through the 2027-28 school year before retiring
from broadcasting, but retirement will As he wraps up the football season, come early. On Aug. 22, he announced on he remains focused on the same purpose the Rockets Live Facebook page that he that drew him to broadcasting and kept plans to stop conducting streams him behind the microphone for a after the current football decade. season ends in Octo“I do it for the kids,” ber. Bennett said his Bennett said. “That’s decision stemmed in always been my part from differthought. These ences with Rock kids deserve Falls High School recognition. With administration football, if no over support one’s going to do Find Rockets Live on YouTube and for Rockets Live their games, what Facebook for more information on the and the school’s recognition are streaming platform that features increased use of they going to get? select Rock Falls High School Hudl for game streamThe more I’ve been athletic events. ing — a move that not with it, it’s made me only will mean a change for want even more to give the Bennett, but for viewers as well. kids recognition.” n While Rockets Live broadcasts have been Shaw Media reporter Cody Cutter free to watch, Hudl broadcasts require a can be reached at 815-632-2532 paid subscription. or ccutter@shawmedia.com. ` o b
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back to the g n i h c a e r s t o With ro counseling g n i l r e t S a , e workplac o reach out t n w o r g s a h service y, h e l p i n g t i n u m m o c e l to the who hallenges c s ’ e f i l h t i w clients deal or giving r a e n a m e h t by lending nd then a , n o y r c o t r e them a should est foot b r i e h t t u p m helping the r place e t t e b a o t h t pa forward on a
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ife doesn’t always follow the plans we make for it. There are seasons of joy, uncertainty and loss. Relationships change. Families struggle. Children hurt. Grief arrives. Sometimes, even the ordinary pressures of life become a bigger burden than a person can carry alone. Seeking help can begin with a conversation — an opportunity to understand what is happening and find a way forward. Moeller, Myers and Associates in Sterling has provided that opportunity, helping individuals, couples and families navigate life’s challenges and transitions. The practice is observing its 25th year in business, dating to when Margo Myers opened it in 2001. It provides counseling for children, adolescents and adults, along with couples and family therapy, trauma treatment, employee assistance and other specialized services. Though the conversation may begin with one person taking that first important step, it takes two to see it through, and much of the work that goes into it depends upon the people who are trained to carry on the conversation. As executive director, Natalie Moeller has 33 years of experience as a licensed therapist, and she has watched the practice grow into a team with a variety of experience and expertise. Though she brings decades of experience to her role, Moeller has seen even new employees quickly recognize the value of the culture they create. Jenna Harris, the practice’s newest addition, joined less than a year ago as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, but she said it didn’t take her long to see the value of the experience that’s been built over decades. “The years of experience and the culture that’s brewed here allows for newbies to gain the wisdom to have longevity,” Harris said. The result is a practice equipped to meet people where they are and get them to where they need to be, wherever that may be. For children, difficult experiences don’t always come out in conversation. Sometimes they emerge through toys, drawings, games and stories. The practice offers certified play therapy, an approach that lets children use a “language” they may be more comfortable with — playing — to help them express emotions, process experiences and develop coping skills. HANDS cont’d to page 34 A Shaw Media Publication | Sterling-Rock Falls Living | Fall 2026 | 33
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HANDS cont’d from page 33 “We want to work as a team,” Wentling said. “It’s working with parents and helping Sand trays, dollhouses and art in a them understand how they can co-regulate child-friendly room can become therapeutic their child.” tools in the practice’s child-friendly setting. The practice also has expanded its speA child dealing with divorce, for example, cialized treatment for clients dealing with might rearrange furniture in a dollhouse trauma. One example is Reconsolidation as a way of expressing a desire for conof Traumatic Memories (RTM), a treattrol. Therapists can use those clues ment developed for first responders to introduce structured activities and veterans in the aftermath of that teach emotional awareness the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. and coping skills. It has since expanded to people Mary Alice Wentling, who dealing with traumatic experiences has 28 years of experience as from any point in their lives. a licensed therapist, is the only There are four certified RTM proregistered play therapist in the Sauk viders at the practice among roughly Valley. 550 worldwide, about 300 of which are “We use play as their form of A wall-hanging at in the United States. RTM is designed to language,” Wentling said. “There are Moeller, Myers and separate traumatic memories from the metaphors through it, and it’s my job Associates reminds intense emotional responses attached to co-regulate them and follow their clients that even when to them, allowing clients to process traumetaphors and maybe push them a times seem tough, matic experiences without repeatedly little bit out of a stuck thought by dothere’s hope ahead. reliving the associated fear, helplessness ing a ‘What if this could happen?’” or terror. Treatment generally takes three or The work extends to parents, who learn four sessions totaling about five hours. how to help their children co-regulate emotions such as anxiety, anger and hyperactivity. HANDS cont’d to page 36
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CODY CUTTE R
AWM /CCUTTER@SH EDI
OM A.C
Moeller, Myers and Associates in Sterling is observing 25 years in business this year. The private behavioral health and counseling practice was established in 2001 by Margo Myers. General manager Natalie Moeller (far left) has led the practice since 2015. Also pictured are therapists (from left) Erin DeSutter Rangel, Mary Alice Wentling, Ashley Siepka, Andrea Wright, Jenna Harris, office manager Liz Knebel, and Alison Boothe. Not pictured is therapist Jennifer Buechler
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HANDS cont’d from page 34 The practice also has therapists trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), another trauma-focused treatment that uses guided bilateral stimulation while clients process distressing memories. Wentling said RTM has demonstrated a success rate of about 90 percent in treating PTSD. “It takes five hours to be able to complete a traumatic memory, in just three or four sessions, and then the person doesn’t have to relive it,” Wentling said. While specialized N ATA L I E treatment is one MOELLER way the practice has
ASHLEY SIEPKA, therapist broadened its services, other tried and true techniques have remained, serving as a thread connecting Moeller, Myers and office Associates to its manager earliest days, such as LIZ KNEBEL employee assistance. Currently, 11 companies utilize the practice for EAP services, which provide onsite or office-based counseling for employees and their immediate family members dealing with personal, marital, relationship or family problems that may interfere with work. The practice also provides workplace training on subjects including stress, anxiety and depression, workplace wellness, communication, harassment and substance abuse. For some employees, the workplace connection
can make counseling feel more accessible. “It’s pretty cool and creates an open door for a lot of people who wouldn’t maybe be so sure about counseling,” therapist Erin DeSutter Rangel said. “Knowing that we’re supporting their company and providing these services, they see our faces and our fliers, it gives people more access to our services.” The EAP work reaches back to the beginning of the practice’s history. The Community Employee Assistance Agency, based in the Quad Cities, opened a Sterling office in January 1993 to provide substance-abuse treatment and employee assistance, serving workers at Northwestern Steel and Wire, Wahl Clipper and other area employers. When the agency closed its Sterling office in 2001, Margo Myers was its program director. Rather than allow the community to lose the resource, Myers opened Margo Myers and Associates later that year, a decision that became particularly significant as Northwestern Steel and Wire closed that year, leaving hundreds of displaced workers who had been part of the area’s employment backbone. “She saw a need with all of those workers being displaced and unemployed,” Moeller said. “Working with CGH and Wahl, those were the three top employers in the ’80s, ’90s and early 2000s, and then Northwestern Steel and Wire shut down. She had the foresight to continue, and we’re just happy to keep the legacy alive. “I’m glad Margo decided to stick with it and not let that dissolve.” HANDS cont’d to page 37
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management available alongside therapy. HANDS cont’d from page 36 “It’s so nice to be able to listen to a psychiatric nurse Nearly two decades later, the practice faced practitioner, and she’s listening to us and hearing us and a big test in being able to serve the community. making appropriate changes and additions, and collabWhen the coronavirus pandemic hit in 2020, orating with therapists to be able to function better and it forced much of its counseling online. As an healthier,” Moeller said. essential service, the practice was allowed to For the therapists themselves, continuing education remain open, but therapists had to quickly learn is essential to that process. All of the practice’s clinicians new technology and establish confidential ways are master’s-level professionals with at least two years to meet with clients virtually. of post-master’s experience and hold either a Licensed It also became the practice’s busiest period, Clinical Social Worker or Licensed Clinical Professional as people dealt with job losses, isolation and Counselor credential. uncertainty. Therapists had to adapt despite losTherapists also recognize needs in the community and ing some of the cues and connections they had pursue additional training to meet them, Wentling said. relied upon during face-to-face sessions, such as “We have lots of different needs in the communiseeing a person’s body movements. ty, and the people who work here recognize … [those “I wasn’t trained in IT or anything like that, needs], and then they get extra training to be able to but we had to pivot and learn how to use Zoom meet them,” she said. and use these platforms that were confidential The practice’s growth has been accompanied by a and appropriate for client care,” Moculture that newer therapists appreciate. Theraeller said. “That was challenging, pist Alison Boothe, who’s been with the pracall while keeping ourselves tice for two years, said its longevity in the safe from getting sick.” community was one reason she sought a Despite its challenges, Moeller, Myers and Associates, position there. the practice continues 3917 E. Lincolnway, Suite E, in “This is the most supportive work to offer virtual therapy Sterling, is open from 8:30 a.m. to environment that I have ever had,” sessions if a client can’t 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and Boothe said. “I leave every day feeling attend a session in per8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday. Find it on grateful to be working here. The amount son due to work or family Facebook or call 815-626-8760 to of support and great relationships I have constraints, or illness, schedule appointments or for built — this place has always stood out to Moeller said. more information. me.” “We do prefer in-sesAshley Siepka, a therapist who has been sion therapy because of the with the practice for three years, said the suphuman connection between eye port goes beyond just professional development. contact, body language,” Moeller said. “The personal connections and support, not only pro“Tone of voice is vital and we can observe more fessionally, but personally is always there and available,” closely and clearly the client whereas through Siepka said. “Natalie really cares about staff wellness, the computer it’s very difficult to do that. Mirror and she has made us all feel valued and cared for. It’s neurons in our brain and nervous system can definitely appreciated. It helps us to be able to be more help regulate with clients when you’re in person. present and available for our clients.” Co-regulation is a huge resource in therapy, and Moeller said she feels equally fortunate to work alongthat can be difficult to do virtually.” side the staff. The experience demonstrated how meet“I’m lucky. I tell them all of the time — and maybe not ing a community’s needs sometimes requires enough — how grateful I am and how fortunate I feel that changing how care is delivered. That evolution I’m surrounded by the best,” Moeller said. “I know I can continues with Harris, allowing clients to receive count on our clients receiving the best care. We support medication management and therapy within the one another, and are extremely intellectual, strong, wise same practice. women. We’re really good at advocating for our clients “I’ve appreciated having those working relaand each other, and I think that’s really special.” tions to be able to provide linkages and referrals, It’s helped establish trust that extends beyond the knowing that they are in capable and competent services offered or the people providing them, she said. hands,” Harris said. “With me doing medications “We have that competent reputation of clients and and therapy together, we can look at a person referral sources knowing that when they come to us, holistically a whole lot easier, in the same office.” they’re in good hands.” n Moeller said clients have responded positively Shaw Media reporter Cody Cutter can be reached at to having psychiatric evaluation and medication 815-632-2532 or ccutter@shawmedia.com.
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OOK PAGE PHOTOS: ANA’S CAFE FACEBN
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here is something gratifying about being recognized when you walk through a restaurant’s doors. Maybe you’ve been coming there for years. Maybe you’re not quite a regular yet — but the owner of Ana’s Cafe hopes you will be. Either way, Fadil Bekteshi hopes you’re as happy to see him as he is to see you. For Bekteshi, being able to build a relationship with his customers has become one of the most rewarding parts of running his Rock Falls restaurant, where he’s welcomed customers since opening a few years ago. “When you get up every morning, you’re happy to go out and see these customers,” Bekteshi said. “You give everything you can to have everyone come through these doors, they come with a smile and they leave with a smile and say, ‘Thank you very much.’ That means a lot to us. We’re working hard, and we’re going to continue to work hard. If they come alone, they’ll come back and bring their whole family. That shows we’re doing something right.” At Ana’s Cafe, some customers have become such familiar faces that when they don’t make it in, the staff notices. Some come in twice a day. Others have been disappointed when the Bekteshi family takes a couple of weeks off for vacation because it means missing their regular visits. Ana’s, named after Bekteshi’s 8-year-old daughter, serves breakfast and lunch from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday through Tuesday, closing on Wednesdays for family time. The restaurant offers familiar diner favorites alongside its own creations, with an emphasis on fresh ingredients, generous portions and a broad menu. The restaurant has seen business increase over time, Bekteshi said, with customers frequently complimenting both the food and restaurant’s cleanliness. “We get a lot of feedback We love to listen to customers,” Bekteshi said, and if there’s anything they don’t like, he welcomes the feedback. Fortunately, what he’s been hearing so far has been good. “They always say: ‘Whatever you’re doing, keep doing what you’re doing.’” The breakfast menu includes a bacon chicken ranch hash stack, a house creation loaded with hash browns, bacon, chicken, sausage, cheese, scrambled eggs and gravy. Cinnamon-swirl French toast is the restaurant’s biggest breakfast seller, while cinnamon swirl pancakes and the Lumberjack combo also are popular choices. The Lumberjack comes with two pieces of cinnamon swirl French toast, two eggs, two strips of bacon, two sausage links, a small slice of ham and a choice of hash browns or house fries. ANA’S cont’d to page 40 A Shaw Media Publication | Sterling-Rock Falls Living | Fall 2026 | 39
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ANA’S cont’d from page 39 Omelets and skillets also are part of Ana’s big breakfast menu, including less-traditional omelet options such as gyro, Hawaiian, and corned beef hash varieties. Bekteshi’s own house syrup is available alongside traditional syrup choices. Lunch favorites include five-piece chicken tender plates, half-pound burgers, Reuben sandwiches, chop steak, spaghetti and fettuccine. Meatloaf is another popular item, with the restaurant going through about 40 pounds a week, Bekteshi said. Pastas have become increasingly popular as well, while the strawberry bistro pecan salad with chicken offers a lighter option — and some menu items are available in smaller portions from the senior-friendly menu. Several rotating specials make appearances, including the slaw burger, gravy burger, BBQ beef sandwich and Monte Cristo. The restaurant also has its own house sauces, including original hot sauce, hot ’n honey and creamy jalapeño varieties.
Larger, family-sized meals have become another part of the business. Chicken tenders can be ordered in trays of 25 with a similarly sized tray of fries, an idea Bekteshi started after individual chicken tender plates became particularly popular. Chicken fettuccine and shrimp fettuccine also are available for larger groups. Those large orders can be placed one day ahead for pickup the following day. “Customers have told me, ‘You have so many choices on this menu,’” Bekteshi said. “That’s a good thing. It’s a compliment.” Bekteshi has spent most of his adult life in the food business. He and his wife, Nete, moved to Rock Falls from Salem in downstate Illinois because they were looking for a smaller community and a more established business schedule that would allow them to spend more time with their children. He purchased the restaurant in November 2023, which previously housed Gazi’s Restaurant since 2009, and a KFC before that. ANA’S cont’d to page 41
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CODY CUTTER/CCUTTER@SHAWMEDIA.COM
ANA’S cont’d from page 40 “When I took over this place, it was completely different inside,” Bekteshi said. “We replaced all of the booths, all of the tables. We wanted to change it. When a business is failing, you want to bring changes to it. We’ve turned it around.” He also has no hesitation about saying he believes Ana’s has brought better food to the location. “We took over and we turned it around,” Bekteshi said. “Specifically, food-wise. We don’t do any shortcuts. It’s the old-fashioned sort of way. It’s good food. We buy very good and quality products. We work well with our suppliers. It’s got to be excellent food for us to actually buy it.” Customers such as Sterling retiree Owen Harrell have noticed the difference. Harrell has been coming to the Ana’s — and its predecessor — for years and said Ana’s represents a big improvement. “Their chicken tenders are second to nobody in town,” Harrell said. “One observation that I see: I don’t eat soup, but you’ll never see soup come out of a can or a bag. I’ve been coming here for a lot of years. I’ve seen a lot of changes. It’s ten times better than it ever was.” Harrell especially enjoys the gravy burger, noting that the gravy is made fresh daily. “It makes all the difference when you make it fresh,” Harrell said, “but if I had to pick one food I like most, I’d still go back to the chicken tenders.” ANA’S cont’d to page 42
When Fadil Bekteshi took over the former Gazi’s, he remodeled it inside and out, and renamed it after his daughter, Ana. He also added house sauces to the restaurant’s revamped menu (above). “When I took over this place, it was completely different inside,” he said. “We replaced all of the booths, all of the tables,” — and, he added, he’s always looking for ways to continue making the business even better.
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ANA’S cont’d from page 41 Bekteshi said Harrell has become a fixture at Ana’s. “He’s here every single day and makes sure he keeps us going.” He also focuses on hiring the right people for the kind of restaurant he wants Ana’s to be. The restaurant employs 10 people, and “our staff has been very good, and they’re doing an excellent job,” he said. Though he’s already made a lot of improvements, the restaurant is still a work in progress, Bekteshi said. Improving upon what he has already done means continuing to listen to customers, he said, maintaining the standards he has established in the kitchen and finding ways to make the restaurant better as time goes on. “It’s still improving,” Bekteshi said. “We’re going to improve, as days and months and years progress. That’s our main focus, to continue improving in here, but with the outside as well.” n Shaw Media reporter Cody Cutter can be reached at 815-632-2532 or ccutter@shawmedia.com.
CODY CUTTER/CCUTTER@SHAWMEDIA.COM
Eat up! Ana’s Cafe, 901 First Ave. in Rock Falls, is open from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday through Tuesday. Find it on Facebook or call 815-626-4294 to place carryout orders or for more information.
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A Shaw Media Publication | Sterling-Rock Falls Living | Fall 2026 | 43
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