|
By
Friday morning, Nick O'Donoghue, Computer Consulting Associates
Internet support manager, had no accounts of it striking here in
Lincoln – "not
that I'm aware of," he said.
People
are advised to delete e-mail received with the subject line “ILOVEYOU.”
People should not open the attachment.
 According
to FRISK Software International, a producer of anti-virus software,
the virus is in the attachment to the e-mail message. The body of
the message says, “kindly check the attached LOVELETTER coming
from me.” The attachment is called LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs.
If
the attachment is opened, the virus makes copies of itself and
causes them to be executed each time Windows is opened. The virus
mass-mails itself to addresses in the Outlook address book. Computer
files with the extensions CSS, HTA, JPG, JPEG, JS, JSE, SCT, WSH,
VBE, VBS may be destroyed, as the virus overwrites them with copies
of itself. The virus adds the VBS extension to any files that did
not already have a VBE or VBS extension. Files with the extension
MP2 and MP3 may have their “Hidden” attribute set. Files
destroyed by the virus cannot be retrieved unless there are backup
copies.
|
|
Since
Dominic “Doc” Guzzardo and his wife, Rose, arrived in Lincoln
from LaGrange in 1947, the Guzzardo family has been a part of
every Logan County family’s memories.
Doc was a milkman, a pie man and an insurance man before
buying a horse barn in the back of a Pulaski Street building on
Lincoln’s square and converting it into a restaurant.
[April Heern]
The
Guzzardos introduced pizza to Lincoln, but the new restaurant,
opened in 1957, served a full menu—everything from lobster to
steak. Doc and
Rose’s 11-year-old son, John, washed dishes and their
15-year-old daughter, Gracie, waited tables.
In
the mid-1960s, the Guzzardos opened the Rose Room, a lunch and
banquet business on the ground floor of a building near their
second-floor restaurant. About
the same time, Frankie Hallett, an LCC freshman from Ohio, started
waiting tables at Guzzardo’s, and within a month had caught
John’s eye. John gave Frankie a ride to the LCC dormitory one night after
work, and, well, the rest is history.
[Sign above back door]
Doc
and Rose, John and Frankie, worked side by side in the family
restaurant. Gracie
and husband Bob Ware went away to Murray State University, then
came home again as Bob took up teaching at Lincoln Community High
School and later Lincoln College.
Grace worked at Graue Pharmacy for 25 years.
In 1999, Bob and Grace were tragically killed in an
airplane crash in Colorado. Doc had passed away in 1992.
Rose’s
banquet room grew into a catering business, and for 32 years the
Guzzardos have served food at the State Fair.
In the 1970s, the family took a stab at the frozen pizza
business, but abandoned that venture to refocus on fresh-baked
pizza pies served to folks they know.
John
and Frankie’s three children grew up in the business.
Michelle and Janelle waited tables, and Nick bussed tables.
Now Michelle and husband Kyle Heisner live in Austin,
Texas, with their children—Allison, 5, and Jonathan, 7.
Janelle and husband Arve Kjoelen live in Edwardsville with
3-year-old Natalie, and 2-year-old twins, Joshua and Zachary.
Nick
and his wife, Shelly, are the mainstays of the Guzzardo business
today. “It’s in
Nick’s blood,” John says proudly.
“He is the main man now.
Nick orders, hires, fires, bids on catering jobs, and
cooks. He does it
all.”
(To
top of second column in this article)
|
“If
I could do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing,” says
John. “I love this
business.”
Asked
if he feels the same way, Nick grins, “I love it now.
Ask me again when I’m in my 50s.”
April
Heern loves working at Guzzardo’s, too.
She’s a sophomore at LCC, and has served tables at the
restaurant since she arrived here from Carbondale her freshman
year. “The
Guzzardos are great people to work for,” she says.
“They will bend over backwards for you.”
April plans to be a social worker after college, but right
now, she is happy to work for the Guzzardos.
Glenda
Allison also worked for the Guzzardos, about 35 years ago.
“The kids from the junior high came here every Friday
night, filled up all the tables, ordered Cokes and french fries,
and left without a tip,” she remembers. “When they were gone, we had to chip the gum from under the
tables. I’ve eaten here almost every week since.”
[John talks with Tom and Darla Kissell.]
The
Guzzardos have been active in the Lincoln Christian Church in
Lincoln for 50 years. They
have served in city government—Doc as an alderman and John as
mayor. They have
supported every good cause in the community, especially the ones
that focus on kids.
When
you climb the stairs to the reception area at Guzzardo’s, you
may be greeted by Frankie or Shelly. They ask about your family.
You ask about theirs.
You realize that you don’t come here only because the
food is good, but because it makes you feel good to be here.
Guzzardo’s is a touchstone place.
You see people you know.
You remember when your children were small.
You think of athletic banquets here with kids dressed and
polished, eating pizza and getting awards.
You can hear echoes of Doc’s chuckle and see him pouring
a cup of coffee while rehashing the Lynx’s last basketball game.
You are glad that Rose, always busy helping some group in
town, was not too busy to count the pennies and keep this family
business solid over the decades.
[Nick and Shelly Guzzardo, the third generation]
You
bite into a schnitzel, a tenderloin way too big for its bun; eat
one of the cinnamon twists that the kids swarm to when they enter
the salad bar room; and spoon some French onion soup. Your companion stares at a massive plate of piping-hot, baked
mostaccioli. You
relax. You swap
stories. You know you are in a good place.
[LDN]
|
|
Part-owner
Jon Steffens said, “Our grand opening received great support
from the Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors and a steady crowd of
residents throughout the day.
Downtown business owners and patrons came out to show
support, and almost everyone bought something.”
The Steffens brothers, Jon and Jason, operators and part
owners of the café, are a part of a family corporation that
includes their parents, business entrepreneurs Larry and Bette
Steffens.
[Beth and Jason Steffens stand behind the counter
of their newly opened café.]
Jon
and Jason Steffens liked the idea of gourmet coffee blends and
flavorings so much that they decided to open Grapes and Grounds.
Jason’s wife, Beth, has been instrumental in the
launching of this new venture. “We are trying to create a social
climate where people can meet friends or read the newspaper while
they drink coffee and eat sweets,” said Jon Steffens. Biscottis
are now available, and the dessert menu will be expanded to
include muffins, pastries and many of the dessert items that are
served at Eckert’s Fine Dining.
Jon
Steffens joined the family corporation in December 1998 as a
partner and is the chef for Eckert’s Fine Dining, another of the
family’s holdings. The
restaurant serves gourmet six-course French and Italian fare.
Jon said that his love of good food blossomed after a
six-month stay in Italy, as did his love of fine wines and
coffees.
The
café serves a full array of specialty coffees: cappuccinos,
lattes, espressos with and without flavors, as well as specialty
teas. The café also sells its own special blend of packaged
ground and whole bean coffee under the Grapes & Grounds label. Chia tea (the Turkish word for tea) – a rich and creamy
blend of honey, cream and spices – is served, as well as frozen
drinks. The menu
includes many sugar-free offerings.
The
café carries 90 kinds of wine, a small selection according to Jon
Steffens. “Our wines are affordable but good at $8 to $20 per
bottle. We want
people to get in the habit of picking up a bottle of wine on a
weekly basis to drink with their meals.”
At these prices, he feels, people can afford to buy and try
different wines on a regular basis.
Wines are imported from all over the world – South
Africa, Chile, Italy, France, etc.
(To
top of second column in this article)
|
The
café has a computerized, interactive wine guide where patrons can
research wines from different countries to find out what kind of
wine would be best for a particular meal.
“There is a ton of information there,” said Jon
Steffens.
European
biers are available that will appeal to bier lovers with and
without trained palettes. The
owners will concentrate their selections of biers on micro brews.
In the early years of Lincoln, the 100 block of Sangamon
Street was known as “Dutch row,” since the owners of that
block were of German nationality.
Although the makeup of the block may have changed, the
flavors of the German pubs have returned.
Patrons
can purchase baskets made to order, filled with wines, coffees,
biers and with their respective accoutrements for any occasion.
Wine racks, bottle openers and host of other items are also
available to help complete the experience.
[Jon (left) and Jason (right)
Steffens sit outside their Grapes and Grounds cafe on Sangamon
Street.]
The
Steffenses have purchased most of the property on the 100 block of
Sangamon Street, from 121 Sangamon St., the location of Eckert’s
Fine Dining, to 129 Sangamon, where the Pink Shutter is housed.
Some of their other downtown properties include a building
at 412 Pulaski, across the street from the Vintage Fare
restaurant, and properties at 519 and 521 Broadway St., the
locations of Action Rental and Sorrento’s restaurant.
[Kym
Ammons-Scott]
|
