SVM Small Town Living East - Spring/Summer 2024

The cents add up to a lot of history in Lee County

Like Mexican food? Look for a hidden treasure in Harmon

There’s a new chief behind the bar at The Last Alarm

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Jennifer Heintzelman

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Rusty Schrader For Advertising

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Published by Sauk Valley Media

113 S. Peoria Ave., Dixon, IL 61021 815-284-2222

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18

A lot on his plates

When a young boy in Albania pulled back the Iron Curtain to see what was on the other side, he found Ashton, where he’s made a life as a family man, business owner, college instructor, county board member, and a big part of the small town he calls home

4 A hidden treasure

People near and far are coming to Harmon for a taste of Mexico, and they’re finding it right next door to a Leprechaun.

10

Cheers to 20 years — and more

When the owner of an Amboy bar decided it was finally time for her Last call, she didn’t have to look far to find someone to step in, step up and take over — she found the perfect person right behind the bar.

24

Having a some cents of history

Centennial, quasquicentennial, sesquicentennial,bicentennial, dosquicentennial ... Lee County can observe them all this year, from the anniversary of strolling through the park one day to driving on a paved road.

Craft, Vendor & Farmer’s Market

Saturday, August 10th 8:30am - 2:30pm

here’s a reason people talk about a “recipe for success.”

It’s all about finding the right combination of ingredients — and Luis and Francesca Casas have found just the right blend, both in their food and in their partnership.

Between the two of them, they’ve got nearly 60 years’ experience in the food industry, and they’re putting it to good use at Luchadores Mexican Grill, a business in Harmon that serves up south-of-the border food for takeout and delivery.

The Sterling couple own Luchadores in the adjoining space next to Leprechaun’s bar, and since May of last year, they’ve given people their fill from the grill, with their soft shell tacos, burritos, nachos and more, including their signature Lucha Fries.

TREASURE cont’d to page 5

Luis and Francesca Casas of Sterling opened Luchadores Mexican Grill in Harmon last May, and recently celebrated a year of serving tacos, burritos, nachos and other Mexican specialties.

Keeping Luchadores Mexican Grill running involves teamwork from the family of owners Luis and Francesca Canas (left). Also helping out are (from left) son Luis, great-niece Star, daughters Chynna and Karah, and grandsons Robert, Eli and Junior.

TREASURE cont’d from page 4

Luis has 35 years under his apron, both as cook and owner of various places, and Francesca picked up 24 years of management experience from the Rock Falls Subway; together they’ve created a family business that also includes their children and grandchildren.

“Hopefully it’s something that in the future can provide for all of them should they need something,” Luis said. “It’s also to show them that you can do anything, and anyone can have the

opportunity to do this if you work hard.”

Luchadores’ menu is like an invitation to meat and eat, with five choices to pick from: chicken, ground beef, steak, birria and carnitas — try one, try two, or mix all five.

The birria variety, which consists of slow-roasted beef ribs and beef roast, slow cooked in a chile guajillo sauce, has been growing in popularity with Mexican food fans throughout the region, and the Casases are seeing that trend locally, too.

TREASURE cont’d to page 6

Pictured: Some of Luchadores’ tacos, and below, its signature Lucha fries: French fries with rice, queso, carnitas, chicken, dipping salsa, sour cream and

A knack for knowing how to find the right mix and a willingness to try new things has helped the couple put their own spin on traditional Mexican fare: “We chose the food that we have because it all blends so well together,” Luis said. “Anything can be mixed with anything. You can create all kinds of stuff with the options that we have.”

Just don’t come to the counter looking for pre-made, cookie-cutter cuisine. Luis prides himself on using fresh ingredients to cook up his creations — “There’s nothing that comes in here that’s already made,” he said.

The Luchadores name comes from the name of professional wrestlers in Mexico. The couple chose it as a way to express their family’s indomitable spirit, to succeed no matter the challenge.

“It’s such an awesome Mexican tradition,” Luis said. “I’ve always loved that, but it’s more about our family and fighting through the struggles that we’ve been through, and surviving and pushing forward.”

Two of its menu items are named in honor of Mexican professional wrestling legend and past WWE world champion, Rey Mysterio Jr. The El Rey nachos are a combination of chips, cheese, choice of meat, rice, beans, mozzarella cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and jalapenos; and there’s a smaller variety called the El Ray Jr. The El Mysterio burrito packs the five meats into a wrap, along with the vegetables, cheese and sour cream, it’s a 14-inch handful that comes cut in two.

“When you mix all five flavors together, it blends real well,” Luis said. “It’s such an amazing flavor when it’s all mixed together.”

Francesca likes tending to customers at the counter, where she gets to meet people and see their reactions to the food as they get a whiff of what’s coming from the kitchen.

“The meat lovers love the El Mysterio,” Francesca said. “El Mysterio is all of the five meats combined, and you can get it on the nachos or on the Lucha Fries, too.”

Another menu item is a taste of Mexico with a wee bit o’ the Irish. The El Duende consists of a bed of rice topped with a variety of meats, cheeses and vegetables. The name is Spanish for “The Leprechaun,” owing to both the next door bar’s name and Harmon’s Irish heritage and as for that bar, their neighbor is quite neighborly, welcoming Luchadores’ customers to enjoy their food there, seated either inside or at their outdoor tables; and they can wash it down with a beer or other drink.

So why did the couple decide to open their business in Harmon? It’s a question they get a lot, and the answer is simple: No one else was doing it. Other than frozen pizzas served at Leprechaun’s, there hasn’t been a place that serves food in Harmon for many years, which Luis knew all too well. He worked at Grainco F/S in town as a logistics manager and came to know many local farmers and suppliers in the area. He also has become friends with Leprechaun’s manager, and co-worker at Grainco, Tom Wilson.

Luis was hungry for a shot at owning a food business again, so he worked with Wilson on coming up with a way to make that happen.

“We had such a great friendship there at work, and we just decided to go with it,” Luis said. “I became really embedded in the farming community, so this seemed like the perfect place to me. I like the peacefulness of it, and the tranquility of small-town living is just awesome.”

But before he could bring his talents in the kitchen to Harmon, he needed a kitchen. Work began in 2022 to build an addition to the bar, and while that was happening, the Casases bought a food truck and took it to marketplace events in Dixon and Sterling as a sort of test drive for the business. That gave them a chance to find out what customers liked, tweak the menu, and promote their brick-and-mortar location.

Business at the food truck picked up speed, and by the time Luchadores opened, word — and taste — of mouth helped it get off to a good start.

cont’d to page 8

TREASURE

Luis and Francesca make a good team at Luchadores. Luis likes sharing his talents in the kitchen, and Francesca enjoys interacting with customers, including lending a hand if they’re not sure what they want: "We'll look through the menu and I'll ask them a few questions, and we'll see what they like.”

When they opened, they were greeted with long lines of people from all over, some who likely had never been to, or even heard of, Harmon before. It got to the point where they bought pagers to let customers know when their order was ready. Though that first week of business was busy, the Casases were committed to making sure the food was worth the wait.

“We try to showcase ourselves with our food,” Luis said. “The food just has to be perfect. When someone comes out here, I want them to be blown away and surprised by the quality and the level of flavors we have.”

New to Mexican cuisine? The Casases’ can help you figure out what to order.

“I can kind of tell when they come in, they’ll be looking around and I’ll ask whether they’ve ever been here before,” Francesca said. “We’ll look through the menu and I’ll ask them a few questions, and we’ll see what they like. With a taco dinner, you can get two, three, as many kinds [of meat] as you like, and find out which ones they like. We can mix the meat and toppings, too. A lot of people will start out with a taco platter and try a little bit of each.”

As with any business, especially a rural one, winter weather can be a worry, but that good old Midwestern spirit didn’t let a little snow slow them down. Where there’s a grill, there’s a way, and folks hopped on their snowmobiles and headed over to Luchadores.

“It’s gone really well,” Luis said. “All winter, we thought it was going to be very difficult, but it wasn’t. We maintained our customer flow, and it’s been good. We’ve met new people, and almost every day we’ve had a new person come in and try us for the first time. This summer, it’s going to be an awesome thing, I’m very excited about it.”

TREASURE cont’d to page 9

The Casases’ children and grandchildren help take orders, get things set up and ready for business, and lend a hand with delivery. Luchadores delivers with a 15-mile range, which includes Amboy and much of western Lee County. It also does catering, and has done a couple of weddings since opening.

RETTUCC/RETTUCYDOC

Harmon, just a few miles west of state Route 26 and U.S. Route 30, doesn’t see a whole lot of people just passing through, so word of mouth and social media have helped the business bring in traffic.

More info Luchadores Mexican Grill, 201 1/2 S. Second St. in Harmon, is open from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Find it on Facebook, go to luchadoresusa.com, or call 309-291-9452 for more information.

“How I was raised, my dad would always say that the best places are the hidden treasures, the ones that you have to go out and find,” Francesca said. “I’ve heard from quite a few people that now consider us a hidden treasure. People have told me that [we’re] worth the drive [to Harmon]. In the winter, we attracted a lot of snowmobiles, and now we’ve attracted lot of bikers. We’re getting all kinds of people, and the word is getting out. I love it.”

Francesca homeschools their children and Luis has since left his position at Grainco and now works full-time for Illinois American Water in Sterling, but he’s still bringing his home-cooking away from home to Harmon, from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. He was born in Chicago, raised in the Quad Cities and got his business feet wet in Bloomington-Normal at a young age, “but I prefer Harmon over Chicago,” he said. He likes what he’s seen after a year in business, and can see it growing even more, he said.

“All of our past experiences have led to this, and it’s matched us together perfectly with this,” Luis said. “This is phenomenal what we’re building here. We’re building it with the intention to grow, and hopefully another one in Dixon, or have similar smaller ones in other rural communities like this. I just see endless possibilities.” n Cody Cutter can be reached at 815-632-2532 or ccutter@shawmedia.com.

hen Barb Harrison tallied up the earnings at The Last Alarm Firehouse Pub after last year’s Amboy Depot Days, the profits for the downtown bar she owned were sky high, like they had always been right after the four-day festivities that attract thousands of people each year.

That’s all good, right? Well, yes — and no. The hard work and stress that goes with running a business had started to wear on Harrison.

Having everything at the firehouse-themed bar in tip-top shape and running like a well-oiled machine during that busy week reminded her of something she told herself a few years back.

“I always told myself that when I couldn’t physically do another Depot Days, I would be done,” Harrison said. “During the last Depot Days, I said I couldn’t do another one. It’s four days, start to finish, and it just took so much out of me. It just got to the point where I was ready to be done.”

For the customers who’ve enjoyed hoisting a few at the local watering hold and the staff who worked there, that might have been cause for alarm. If Harrison was ready to hang up her bar towel for good, then what would that mean for the business she owned for 20 years? Would it close? Would her regulars have to find a new place to go? Would her staff be out of a job? They needn’t have worried.

ALARM cont’d to page 12

Barb Harrison (left) turned over ownership of The Last Alarm in downtown Amboy to Rachel Miller on April 1. Harrison owned the bar for 20 years before selling it to Miller, who has worked there for 11. “She’s been here four days a week, so she’s been our face,” Harrison said of Miller.

“When I came to sell it and she said she wanted to purchase it, I was ecstatic.”

IN CASE OF THIRST FILL GLASS

Rachel Miller, a longtime employee at The Last Alarm, stepped in to pick up the torch, buying the bar and taking over on April 1 — 20 years to the day when Harrison bought it.

Miller knows the bar inside and out, a huge benefit when it comes to any transition of ownership, she said. Not only that, having someone who knows the business so well goes a long way in keeping the bar’s atmosphere the way that customers have come to know and love.

Light beer ... It’s the beer that made Milwaukee famous, and an eye-catching piece at The Last Alarm, where this vintage stained glass Schlitz light hangs over the bar. It doesn’t stay on all the time, though, only lighting up briefly upon request; because of liquor license laws, it doesn’t remain on because the bar doesn’t serve that brand of beer anymore.

“It’s classic, and I could have sold that light several times,” Barb Harrison said.

Miller — like, Harrison, an Amboy native — has worked behind the bar for 11 years, and has seen other bars go through drastic changes after an ownership change, and she didn’t want that to happen to a place that’s become like a home away from home for her. Most of the bar’s staff at any given time during the past 20 years are volunteer area firefighters, an inspiration for The Last Alarm’s name.

“The people who work here are important to me. We’re a group that all gets along,” Miller said, and she didn’t want to see a new owner come in and make changes that would put her co-workers in a bad spot, cutting hours or cutting pay. “Barb was very generous paying us. I was worried about that, and didn’t want that to happen.”

ALARM cont’d to pages 13 & 14

Rachel Miller and Barb Harrison shared their experiences of selling and buying a business with high school students in the Whiteside Area Career Center’s Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities (CEO) program April 29, at Sauk Valley Community College.

ALARM cont’d from page 12

Plus, she said, she likely would have been the one to help a new owner during the transition — “I couldn’t imagine not working here had it been sold to someone else. I knew I’d probably be the one who had to answer all of the questions to someone who had never run a business before, let alone a bar: ‘How do you do this?’ ‘How do you do that?’ — so she decided instead to answer the call.

“I figured, I’ll just do it myself,” she said. “[Barb] just jumped right in to make it happen.”

Harrison had a few other people in mind as she started the selling process, but when she learned of Miller’s interest, she “went straight to the top of the list,” Harrison said.

“She’s been here four days a week, so she’s been our face,” Harrison said. “When I came to sell it and she said she wanted to purchase it, I was ecstatic. I kept asking her a couple of weeks in, a month in, ‘Are you still in?’ She was the perfect person to purchase it because she’s been the face of the bar for quite a while. Even though I owned it and was visible in the community, everyone loves her. They love her more than me, I’ve always said that.”

Tending bar had been a secondary career for Harrison during her first few years of ownership. She’s a florist by trade: She owned The Main Flower Barn in Amboy for 11 years, and after selling it and staying on staff for a short time, she worked for Floralcrest in Mendota. It was during that brief time when Harrison stayed on at the Flower Barn that she came to know Miller, who was a recently hired high-schooler getting her start in the working world.

ALARM cont’d to page 15

About a decade later, Harrison learned that Miller was looking for a job and thought she’d make a great bartender.

“I knew her personally, and I knew her work ethic,” Harrison said. “She has a great personality, and I knew she would be a perfect fit for a bartender, and now it’s kind of come full circle.”

The Last Alarm received its first gambling machines around the time Miller was hired, and the revenue they generated helped give the bar some aesthetic upgrades inside and a patio outside, with money left over to make donations to local organizations. While that period of ownership “was tremendous,” Harrison said, not all of her 20 years were winners.

The Covid-19 pandemic was a tough time for the food and drink industry, and wading through the mandated closures in 2020 was a challenge. While it wasn’t open for business, there was still plenty to do around the bar – painting, cleaning, fixing things up – that Harrison tasked to Miller and other bartenders to keep a paycheck coming in.

“She’s taken care of us all,” Miller said. “During Covid, it was hard for everyone and it was hard to see this business shut down. It affected us all differently, and for me, it was my source of income to my family, and she made sure every single one of us was taken care of.”

Special mid-week events, such as Tuesday’s trivia nights and Wednesday’s Queen of Hearts drawings, have helped bolster the bar’s business in a post-pandemic economy. The Queen of Hearts drawings have also helped local organizations receive thousands of dollars, from donations funded by the drawing. The most recent beneficiary was the Amboy Fire Department, which received $25,020 this past fall. The current drawing (as of May) will help Amboy’s Buddy Bags program, which helps feed children in the community. Want to know what the current jackpot is up to? Find out on its Facebook page, or look at one of the front windows where the amount is posted each week.

While there tends to be changes when a new owner takes over a business, Miller has kept both the Tuesday and Wednesday fun going, knowing how much customers enjoy it, and how much the community benefits from it.

“Everyone wanted to know if anything was changing,” Miller said. “It’s the same name, same faces, we run specials Monday through Sunday and they’re the same, we do trivia on Tuesday, Queen of Hearts on Wednesday, so pretty much everything its the same.”

The bar celebrated its 20th anniversary April 20 with beer specials, snacks and a DJ, and Harrison was there to help celebrate. As she had after selling her flower shop, Harrison stayed on for a little while after selling the bar, working her final shift on April 26. She’s not going completely away, though: She plans to still drop in occasionally, but this time on the other side of the bar; and also plans to continue her DIY floral and craft workshops at the bar.

Somewhere down the line, there’s sure to be a moment where Miller might need to tap into Harrison’s vast knowledge of the business one more time, and she’ll be willing to help.

“She’s very knowledgeable,” Miller said. “Anything you need to know, she knows how to do it, or fix it, or knows a guy to call. If she can’t get you the answer, she’s going to figure it out for you.”

The Last Alarm wears its pride in first responders both inside and out — with turnout gear, signs, and a mural by Amboy artist Loreen Mead on the bar’s north wall (left). Firefighting also inspired the bar’s name, and several bartenders there are volunteer firefighters, both full- and part-time.

Also continuing at the bar are its Happy Hours from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, the sale of Illinois Lottery tickets, frozen pizzas from Eastside Cafe, and it being a Chicago Cubsfriendly bar.

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it — that was one of the reasons why I wanted Rachel,” Harrison said. “She would be the perfect one to keep going what I had started and built it up to. But I’m all for change, too. She’s implementing new specials. She had a DJ for the anniversary party, and it was a great turnout and we had a lot of fun. With things like that, I hope she can put her own little spin on it. The customers were worried about the specials and the drink chips, and she’s going to honor them.”

While Rachel is the sole owner of The Last Alarm, she has a partner in life who’s more than happy to lend some support. Her husband, Josh, has family who’ve owned bars in the past, and he’s been encouraging her and doing what he can to help during her transition from employee to owner.

“A lot of people think women can’t own a bar, but Barb proved that wrong,” Miller said. “When I told him about the idea of buying the bar, he was always very supportive. His parents owned a bar, and his siblings owned a bar up in Wisconsin. He would tell me not to be scared about it, and we’ll figure it all out, and it will all work out. I also would like to show my kids that you really can do anything that you put your mind into.”

Going from bartender to bar owner has come with new responsibilities, and Miller has stepped up to learn the ropes: doing the books, payroll, vendor contracts, licensing and handling work schedules — and Harrison has helped her every step of the way to make the transition a smooth one. They’ve also shared their experiences of the transition to a younger generation of aspiring business owners: They gave a presentation April 29 to the Whiteside Area Career Center’s Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities (CEO) program to share with high school students how the process works.

Harrison’s days as owner may be behind her, but she’ll always have the memories of her time at the tap.

“I’ve loved the people,” Harrison said. “The people, the stories, and the characters I got to meet, for the most part, that’s the best part. The hard part is dealing with the paperwork and all of the different groups you have to appease, all of the business behind the bar that people don’t see. But seeing different people who come in and meeting new customers –especially the campers who come in, we’ve gotten to be good friends with the ones who are seasonal. They’ll be excited to see Rachel has taken over since the sale happened when they were gone.”

And they aren’t alone. Both customers and employees are enjoying seeing the bar’s new chapter unfold, and Miller is pleased to have a dedicated and committed staff to help her along the way.

“If I didn’t have great employees, I couldn’t do it,” Miller said. “They come to work, they know what they’re doing. There are very long days, but at the end of day, I’ll think, ‘It wasn’t too bad.’ I couldn’t imagine starting from scratch with new employees. They make the business run.” n Cody Cutter can be reached at 815-632-2532 or ccutter@shawmedia.com.

CODYCUTTER/CCUTTER@SHAWMEDIA

.C OM

irim Mimini remembers a time when the reward for working all day was a simple loaf of bread.

That was the case in communist Albania during the Cold War, where Mimini’s parents worked long hours under an iron rule. Fast forward to today, long after the fall of communism in Eastern Europe and his journey to the United States, and Mimini’s life is a far cry from the one he lived growing up. Today, the bread he earns comes from the restaurant he’s been the proud owner of for more than a quarter century, The Huddle Cafe in downtown Ashton.

It’s a life that’s rich in rewards for Mimini — serving satisfied customers who come in hungry and leave full, with a smile on their face, thanks to a menu that offers something for everyone, breakfast, lunch and dinner, 6 days a week, courtesy of Mimini and his wife, Adelina. Even after 26 years, he still finds being at The Huddle’s helm like food for his soul.

HUDDLE cont’d to page 20

Adelina and Lirim Mimini cook a wide variety of breakfast, lunch and dinner meals at The Huddle Cafe, a restaurant going on its 75th year and owned by Lirim since 1998.

“We have a special feeling for food, because we grew up in eastern Europe in a communist country, in Albania, where people worked all day for food,” Lirim said. “So food, to us, is sacred.”

Want to relax and try your luck at the gambling machines?

The Huddle Cafe offers a selection of domestic and import beers as well as wine, by the glass or the bottle.

HUDDLE cont’d from page 5

“There’s something unique about it, and other restaurant owners will say the same, we’ll meet different kinds of people,” Mimini, 46, said. “Even in a small town, we meet all kinds of people from all different backgrounds. The variety of people that you meet, that’s what I like. It’s not just people from Ashton who support us, it’s people from all over.”

The Huddle Cafe has been in business since 1949, with several different owners and the occasional name change through the years, but Mimini has served as its longest owner, having taken over not long after graduating from high school in October 1998, just three years after emigrating to America with his parents.

It’s that journey from Albania to America that has helped him appreciate running a restaurant.

“We have a special feeling for food, because we grew up in eastern Europe in a communist country, in Albania, where people worked all day for food,” Mimini said. “So food, to us, is sacred. We take pride in that because we came from a very poor country where people worked all day for just a loaf of bread — 80 cents a day. Everything was a cooperative, dictatorship, brigades, everybody got paid the same. So when you work for 32 years like my parents did for a loaf of bread, and you come in here and can see thousands of dollars of food, it’s like 360 [degrees].”

HUDDLE cont’d to page 7

8TH ANNUAL

SATURDAY •JUNE 15, 2024

THE HUDDLE CAFE FACEBOOK PAGE

When Mimini began writing his chapter in the Huddle’s history, he began by adding some pages — to the menu, taking what had been a basic line-up and expanding it to five pages, plus a separate menu for pizzas.

There’s the traditional fare breakfast, burgers, fries, steak, chicken — but Mimini likes to add his own twist to things, too. There’s a Juicy Lucy burger with a cheeseinfused patty; a Big Mozz burger with mozzarella sticks, marinara and mozzarella cheese; and a biscuits and gravy omelet during breakfast hours (7 to 11 a.m.), an omelet smothered in gravy with with biscuits inside. Or, you can get a little bit of both — breakfast and lunch — with a Monto Moo, a burger topped with Swiss cheese, served on French toast.

He found that the more he offered, the more business picked up.

“For being in a small town, we

The Huddle Cafe opened in 1949, and owner Lirim Mimini has operated it since 1998. During his ownership, the restaurant expanded from having just a few meal options to a five-page menu of breakfast, lunch and dinner dishes, as well as homemade pizza.

have a lot of food,” Mimini said. “We have a lot of choices. Our menu’s five pages, and we also have a pizza menu. Anything so that people don’t have to drive so far out of town. I always like to be comparable with Dixon and Rochelle.”

Expanding the menu has helped expand his customer base, too. The restaurant draws people from out of town, from communities big and small. While he’s attracted his share of regulars, Mimini enjoys seeing new faces come into The Huddle, too, and he sees a lot — “There’s a lot of times when we don’t know half of the people,” he said — people from Mendota, Rock Falls and other larger communities.

Mimini is a big believer in supporting the community that’s supported his business.

“We sponsor a lot,” he said. “ ...

I’ll do a lot with the school because it’s for the kids. I like helping the kids.”

HUDDLE cont’d from page 7

But that’s OK with Mimini and Adelina. Those new faces are just friends waiting to be made.

“I haven’t done any surveys or anything, but I think half of our business is from out of town,” Mimini said. “That’s something to be noted. … There’s a lot of times we’re the only place open at night, and we have a lot in the farming community that come in during the evenings.”

June 6 will mark The Huddle Cafe’s 75th anniversary. Stanley Jenkins and J.C. Bilderback were its first owners, having hauled the building from Camp Grant in Rockford. Descendants from the Jenkins family continue to be customers at least once a year. “It’s kind of neat because you don’t see that everywhere,” Mimini said. When they come by, it gets Mimini thinking about his own children, and wondering if they’ll do the same someday down the road; two of them, daughter Rina and son Musi, also work at the restaurant.

Being part of the local business community for so long, Mimini has not only seen many of his customers grow up and achieve their dreams, but he’s also seen several of his high school-aged waitresses and cooks go on to be successes in other fields of work. It’s something he takes great pride in.

“Sometimes I feel old because of that,” Mimini said with a smile. “We have a lot of success stories. They went to school, they paid their bills, and now they’re doing good. That’s a good feeling, knowing they cut their teeth here. It’s something that taught them customer service, something that taught you to treat people with respect, something that taught you that if you give good service you’ll receive good tips. You’re more than just a plate taker.”

The same can be said of those who also work for him at Mimini’s General Store, on the opposite end of Ashton’s downtown from the restaurant. He has owned the store since 2016 and sells a variety of groceries and sundries, as well as hand-cut meat. On top of that, he also teaches Spanish classes at Sauk Valley Community College two days a week, utilizing his college degree in linguistics; and he serves on the Lee County Board.

HUDDLE cont’d to page 9

He’s also happy to support his community, through sponsorships for special events and sports teams.

“We sponsor a lot,” he said. “We’ll give a lot of money to this town. We’re in three or four different sports packages that the school offers. We have two softball teams. Some people may not see that [with us]. I’ll do a lot with the school because it’s for the kids. I like helping the kids.”

Mimini may not be an Ashton native, but he’s proud to be part of the community he now calls home, helping it grow and succeed. Sometimes that takes an 80-hour work week to make it happen, he said, between the restaurant and store. Part of that commitment is not taking short cuts, even when business is slow at the restaurant. He never knows when someone will stop in, so when he says he’s open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday though Saturday, and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, that’s when he’s open.

“We’ll sit here with no business, we’ll sit here with full business,” Mimini said. “We are here. If a guy driving down the road is hungry, they’re not hungry tomorrow, they’re hungry ASAP, we have to take that into consideration. You have to provide the food when they’re hungry.” n

Cody Cutter can be reached at 815-632-2532 or ccutter@shawmedia.com.

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The Huddle Cafe, 802 Main St. in downtown Ashton, is open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday. Find it on Facebook or Instagram (@the.huddle.cafe), or call 815-453-2677 to place a carryout order or for more information. Menus are available on both social media sites.

ural Lee County’s past is full of stories — people, places, facts and figures that have played a part in putting it on the map and helped tell its tales. Some are well-known, while others can only be found when you dust off the history books and flip through the pages.

All those stories, big and small, have earned their place in local history books, but some of them just don’t always get their place in the local limelight.

When it comes to celebrating the past, most of the historical hoopla is usually reserved for benchmark anniversaries — 100 years, 200 years, and the like. People don’t tend to get as nostalgic when the 99th or 101st anniversaries come around.

But it’s not just centennial celebrations that bring the past to the present. Double the milestone and double the memories — there are 200 reasons to celebrate bicentennials, just ask anyone old enough to remember being around for America’s year-long love affair with liberty during its red, white and blue birthday bash in 1976.

Other milestone markers come with some linguistic tongue-twisters, though they don’t tend to get as much attention as centennials and bicentennials. There’s the quasquicentennial for 125 years and sesquicentennials for 150 years; and when it’s time to mark 175 years, you’ve got several different words you can wrap your tongue around — seven by some counts, including dosquicentennial and septaquintaquinquecentennial (though some who’ve done the math contend some of the terms don’t quite add up, but we’ll leave that to the linguists).

Some Lee County tales from the past have been featured in this magazine in recent years, like how the former Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroad roared through the heart of the county and created communities; the Green River Ordnance Plant’s contribution to World War II; and the story of the only Catholic church in the nation to bear the name of St. Flannen, itself having observed its quasquicentennial a year ago.

In this issue of Small Town Living East, we’ll tell you a few more stories that have reached a milestone this year, tales mostly forgotten, but ones that deserve to be remembered: When state Route 2 was first paved through the county, a legendary Amboy athlete’s beginnings in sports, the genesis of Amboy’s oldest park, a community that shares its name with an early 1900s movie star, and natives pondering their future home.

You might not be able to say “septaquintaquinquecentennial,” but once you’re done reading, you shouldn’t have any trouble saying, “Hmm, now that was interesting.”

YOUR JOURNEY, OUR MISSION

Every ride with Lee-Ogle Transportation System isn’t just about getting from point A to B; it’s a step toward fostering a community where care, accessibility, and support are extended to all.

We are more than just transit. Our commitment is to inclusivity and caring for those who choose to ride with us. By choosing LOTS for yourself or a loved one, you’re ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to travel with ease and dignity. Together, let’s keep our community moving forward.

Ride with LOTS – where every journey strengthens our community bonds.

The popularity of modern-day motoring reached a milestone in 1924 in Illinois, when the number of automobile licenses issued surpassed the 1 million mark.

As more cars and trucks traveled through Lee County in the Roaring ’20s, the gravel and dirt roads that were good enough for horse and carriages just weren’t cutting it for horseless carriages.

Riders were getting in a rut on dirt and gravel roads worn by weather and wear and tear, making for a bumpy ride wherever they went. Paved highways were the answer to the growing problem, but they took time and money. In 1924, the rubber finally met the road on the county’s first major north-south highway that was paved, with the opening of state Route 2, which originally went from South Beloit down to Cairo.

Currently, Route 2’s journey through Lee County, heading southbound, goes from the bridge over the Rock River near Grand Detour, through Dixon, and toward Sterling. However, when Route 2 opened a century ago, it didn’t go to Sterling — instead, it went south of Dixon along most of current U.S. Route 52 to Mendota, making a boomerang-like shape within Lee County.

Planning the route involved the improving of existing roads. Initial construction began along the stretch heading north from Dixon in late 1923 by turning dirt stretches into gravel. Pavement of the highway within nearly all of its entirety was completed the following year, save for a section around Henkel Station in the county’s southeast corner (finally paved in 1926).

For the highway’s first year in the county, its route from Amboy to Sublette initially took motorists out from Main Street to what is now Shaw Road, and then turned toward Sublette near the small village of Shaw on what is now Inlet Road.

A more direct path from Amboy to Sublette was completed in 1925; it turned off from Shaw Road onto what is now Searls Road, and followed it in a southeast direction into Sublette. The Searls Road alignment was bypassed in 1929 with the current stretch of highway going southeast from Amboy’s city limits.

In 1935, U.S. Route 52 was created, and replaced the Route 2 designation south of Dixon. Route 2 extended west from Dixon through Sterling and eventually to the Quad Cities in 1937; it was removed west of Sterling in 1974. n

Chief Keokuk (above) and Chief Wapello