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SERVING THE VILLAGE OF ANTIOCH AND TREVOR WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 2020 DISPLAY ADS (262) 728-3411
VOLUME 08 • NUMBER 46
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Looking to bounce back Bella’s steps up for families on the front lines of coronavirus
By Heidi Schulz STAFF WRITER
On a normal day at this time of the year Mark Mazzola could be found in his main office at Bella’s Bouncies – one of Northern Illinois’ leading event and entertainment companies – preparing for the busiest time of the year. Bella’s is family-owned and operated and was started in 2007 with seasonal outdoor rentals. The business, consisting of a trailer, the family’s Chevy Trailblazer and four moonwalks, was being run out of their garage with all the deliveries being done by Mark. While still operating and growing their outdoor business, in 2011 they expanded by adding the indoor inflatable play center in Lake Villa. In January of 2015 they were again expanding and added Bella’s Bouncies Skate on Grand Roller Rink in Fox Lake, and followed with another indoor inflatable play center in Volo in 2018. But nothing is normal lately. While Illinois residents are on a stay-at-home order from Gov. J.B. Pritzker that went into effect on March 21, Mark has been forced to close all of his Bella’s locations. At the time of the order, Bella’s had 35 people employed at their indoor locations – a number that almost doubles during the outdoor rental season. All employees
had to be laid off, according to Mark. The hope is that they will be able to hire most or all of them back when they are able to reopen, but there are many uncertainties about what business will be like. Among the many unknowns is when they will be able to reopen, whether all restrictions will be lifted, how soon it will be before large groups will be able to gather again, and whether people will question the sanitation practices of businesses like these. The biggest question of all is how much negative impact will it have on their business. Mazzola has always been a big supporter of the local community and during this trying time nothing has changed that aspect, if anything it has made him reach out and offer more support to those in need. Before the order On March 19, just prior to the stay-at-home order, and following the lead of another local business, Bella’s offered a free pizza event to members of the community. They had the supplies to make the pizzas at their skate facility, but didn’t have the boxes to pack them in since pizzas are usually only served at the rink. Mark called around and was able to secure donations of pizza boxes from other local establishments. Employees, now former
staff, volunteered their time to make the pizzas, form the boxes, hand out the pizzas and clean up after the event. Mark, his wife Ellen, daughters Bella, 14, and Daniella, 12, along with Bella’s volunteers: Cody, Natalalee, Donna, Dillon, Meadow, Darby, Kathy, Rayne and Sophie were able to make and give away 75 pizzas. The giveaway was from 6 to 7 p.m. and people were able to pull up to a drive-through line to get their pizzas. Since the statewide order On March 25, Bella’s announced how it was again looking to offer support and appreciation in the community. The business’ Facebook page put out a post to health care workers, police officers and firefighters offering them an opportunity to bring their families in for a skate session, one family at a time. Mazzola received approval from the Lake County Health Department to open his roller rink to individual families and is offering skate times for up to 45 minutes per family. Skate sessions are set up for zero contact between anyone at Bella’s and the family. After scheduling the skate time, families come in and the skates are ready for them. They can even have a special song playlist for them to skate to if they request that ahead of
time. Over the weekend some families took advantage of the free skate offer at Bella’s. This is a very stressful time for those working on the front lines of COVID-19 and the families were very appreciative of this offer to be able to enjoy a little bit of normalcy. The family skate times are being offered through April 9. More information is on their Facebook page, Bella’s Bouncies Skate on Grand.
See BELLA’S, Page 5
SUBMITTED PHOTOS Hi-Liter
Top: Volunteers, from left, Darby, Dillon, Meadow and Kathy get ready to box up and hand out pizzas at the March 19 community event. Above: The Hinz family from Volo, Phil who is a firefighter, his wife Lisa and their children, Henry, 9, and Mille, 6, attended a free session over the weekend at Bella’s Bouncies Skate on Grand.
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