Country Insurance & Financial Services Agent Lindsay Waters of Godfrey has earned a position on the insurance group’s distinguished All American team.

Waters is among a group of more than 300 Country agents and agency managers who qualified for the award. Country has more than 2,000 agents and agency managers in 14 states. This is the third time she has been named an All American.
Waters also qualified for the Country Executive Club, whose members represent the top 3 percent of agents and the top 10 percent of agency managers for overall achievement.

All American is awarded each year by Country to agents and agency managers who have excelled in identifying insurance products and financial solutions that fit the needs of their clients. Agency managers and agents who receive the award provide outstanding service to their clients.

“The All American is among the highest honor a Country agent or agency manager can receive. Members of our agency force who earn this distinction are those who have shown a true commitment to customers’ needs,” said Paul V. Bishop, senior vice president of sales for Country.

Waters’ office is at 2402 State St., Alton. The office phone number is (618) 466-7383.

Jason Watkins is an energetic young business owner, attempting to make a difference in Downtown Alton.

Monday night, the 25-year-old Watkins revealed a new Team Cycling Kit for his Wild Trak Bike shop-sponsored racing team at a “gear release party” at Bossanova in Alton. Russ Smith, owner of Bossanova, hosted the event.

Watkins said Smith, one of the sponsors for the team, put on a great party.

“We had a D.J., laser lights and smoke equipment,” Watkins said. “It was a lot of fun.”

Watkins explained his racing team: “The team of about 30 riders competes in local and regional races including mountain bike, cyclocross, BMX and road races as well as criteriums, triathlons, skate park demos and judged freestyle runs. We’re mainly interested in enjoyment of riding, but we win our share of events, too.”

Several of the Wild Trak Bikes team members meet at 6 p.m. every Wednesday when the shop closes. Watkins extended an invitation for others to attend.

Ian Sasek, 21, of Alton, a shop employee, said he enjoys the ride. “It’s a ‘no-drop’ ride, which means that no one is left behind. It’s a good time for everyone.”

Watkins said as many as 25 riders often show up for the weekly ride.

Watkins has been on a bike since he was a young child. He was 20 when he took over Wild Trak in 2003.

“Business has tripled in the last five years,” he said. “We have done it by promoting bike riding, giving people a reason to ride and making it more fun for the community. We hope to have a race in the area by next year.”

Branch manager Robert T. Stegemeier announced changes taking place with Wachovia Securities taking over the old A.G. Edwards office at 112 W. Homer Adams Parkway in Alton this past week.

He said he is excited about the ownership change and what it will mean for customers.

“We now can offer the banking side,” he said. “The banking side, plus being one of the largest brokerage firms in the country is a definite plus. Wachovia manages $1.2 trillion in retail client assets.”

Products that will continue to be offered by the new Wachovia Securities team are: investment, retirement and estate planning; stocks, bonds, mutual funds; asset-management accounts; professional portfolio management services; trust services; insurance and annuities and wealth-management services.

New products include banking services, lending services and access to investment banking expertise.
The merger between Wachovia and A.G. Edwards will be complete by February 2009. For information about Wachovia services, contact (618) 466-0011.

Werts Welding, 400 Old St. Louis Road in Wood River, appeared on the February 2008 cover issue of Bulk Transporter magazine, quite an accomplishment for that type of business.

Werts was featured after marking its 50th anniversary celebration in November.

Dwight Werts, president of the company, said it was a tremendous honor to be featured in the magazine.

“This magazine has been around for years,” he said. “I can remember the companies they wrote about and now I am in there. This made me feel proud about what my family has accomplished.”

Werts said he enjoyed the 50th anniversary event on Nov. 15 at the Wood River facility.

“It was a great day,” he said. “I literally had people from Maine to California here and
everywhere between. We had vendors, suppliers, customers and friends from all over the country. We received a lot of nice plaques and gifts, but we didn’t have it for that.”

During the anniversary event, Dwight said the entire 3-acre parking lot of the business was full.
“It was kind of like a wedding where you try to talk to everybody,” he said. “I was overwhelmed at the response. People came from all over the country. A lot of my mom and dad’s friends came.”

Robert and Verna Werts, Dwight’s parents, started the business 50 years ago. He said he thought about them every minute of the 50th anniversary celebration.

“One of my suppliers had a big banner with a portrait of them in the middle,” he said. “We still have the banner hanging in the facility.”

Dwight Werts said he grew up in the business and actually started sweeping the floors and holding wrenches for his dad. The company has locations in Des Moines, Iowa; San Antonio, Texas; Birmingham, Ala.; Tampa, Atlanta and Wood River.

- Dan Brannan

State Street Antiques/Jim’s Attic at 115 N. State St. in Jerseyville is marking its 10th anniversary.

Judy Greene owns the business solely. She has been in business with the Jim’s Attic portion of the business for 20 years.

The business sells antique and collectible items.

“I find my job quite interesting,” Greene said. “People don’t have a lot of fun money with gas prices up so high, so it takes a lot to do this. We like our location — right on the Main Street.”

Greene thrives on the selling part of the business.

“I love the contact with people,” she said. “I do the old-fashioned approach, waiting on people. I walk up and greet them and do the one-on-one contact.”

The business is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Today, State Street Antiques/Jim’s Attic will have an open house with gifts and refreshments to mark the 10th anniversary.
An open house Saturday and Sunday will have gifts and refreshments to celebrate 10 years of the State Street name.
State Street has 12 vendors; some with multiple booths.

For information, call (618) 498-1440.

Phyllis Bechtold and her husband, Dan, are opening a new business in Godfrey called Food N Fermentation, a wine, beer, cheese, chocolate and gift shop.

The business will be at 6017 Godfrey Road next to Josephine’s restaurant.

Phyllis Bechtold, a local entrepreneur and author, has started several businesses with her husband, including LaMarsh Gift Shop and Piasa Winery in Grafton, Godfrey Meat & Gourmet, Riverbend Gifts in Grafton and Nature’s Nest in Alton.

Phyllis Bechtold is also the author of “Seymour Bluffs and the Legend of the Piasa Bird” and “Seymour Bluffs and Robert Wadlow.”
The store will have a soft opening Friday, Feb. 8, and grand-opening event on Saturday, Feb. 9. The business will be open from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

“We will have more than 100 varieties of beer to start and more than 200 wines,” Phyllis Bechtold said. “We will also have chocolates and cheeses and gifts. We saw a need for this type of shop in this part of town. It will be much like Crushed Grapes in Edwardsville.”

For information, call (618) 466-6111.

- Dan Brannan

- Dan Brannan

The Schwegel’s Grocery store at 1601 Washington Ave. in Alton will be consolidated with the Schwegel’s at 901 Alby St., said Bud Schwegel, one of the owners.

The store in Upper Alton will officially close its doors on Feb. 13.

Bud Schwegel, 70, Monica Campbell and Robert Schwegel own the Alby Street location. Bud Schwegel has been a fixture at the Alby Street location for years and is in semi-retirement.

Bud, daughter, Monica Campbell, and son, Robert Schwegel, are the owners of the new operation.

“We are putting everything under one roof, so we are consolidating the businesses,” he said. “The two stores were doing all right, but we thought we would be better off to have one store. We owned the building on Alby and were leasing on Washington. The fixed expenses keep rising each year in the grocery business. We had the grocery on Alby for 23 years. We will be offering discounts up to 10 percent off next week.”

I am sure many will miss the Washington Avenue Schwegel’s location, but I encourage them to visit the other store once their operations are consolidated. Schwegel’s in Upper Alton will also have a 10 percent off discount sale on inventory beginning this week, so I encourage residents to take a look at their items.

- Dan Brannan

Freer Auto Body and Accessories Inc., 4512 N. Alby Road in Godfrey, continues to find creative ways to give at Christmas time.

Margaret Freer, one of the owners, and her sons, Tim and David, husband, Mike, and the rest of her family have been busy recently at discount sales purchasing Christmas presents for 2008 for the different drives.

“So far we have gotten $2,854.98 worth of kids’ coats,” Freer said. “We have also purchased toys valued at $1,227.36.”

Freer said her family purchased the coats and toys at a significantly reduced price. She stores the coats in the basement of her home in Godfrey and the toys in the attic at the Freer shop.

The family purchases toys and coats each year at this time during the post-Christmas sales season so they can extend their reach in the community.

“We love doing this for the kids,” she said. “This is something our entire family does. I can’t believe all the quality things you can get. We are all about quality. We want the gifts to be just like something we would give our own grandchildren.”

Margaret Freer challenges other businesses in the area to assist with Community Christmas, the United Way-Telegraph campaign, and others in need of help.

- Dan Brannan

Chong Kim is a well-recognized man at Nori’s Sushi and Japanese Grill, 1025 Century Drive in Edwardsville.
He can be found behind the counter each day preparing fresh sushi for customers.

Nori’s business continues to build, and much of the reason is the personal attention Chong, his wife, Hyunjoo Kay, and other employees give to customers.

Chong, 34, works behind the bar seven days a week. Chong said he gets tired sometimes, but he can handle working each day at the restaurant. The couple has run the business for 2.5 years.

Chong and Hyunjoo are from South Korea and married in 2002. Chong studied computer science at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, finishing in 2003.

Sushi is healthy food, Chong said, and a cuisine growing in popularity in the United States.

“I knew about sushi before I came here but learned about it mainly in the United States,” Chong said. “I was working at different Japanese restaurants, and I enjoyed preparing sushi.”

Chong arrives at work each day at 9:30 a.m. and cooks the rice first for sushi, then begins cutting fish and preparing vegetables.
“Everything is fresh each day,” he said. “I can say we are one of the freshest sushi restaurants in the St. Louis area. Everyone in the St. Louis area gets their fish from Chicago.”

Nori’s is open Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 5 to 9 p.m. On Friday and Saturday, the restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 to 10 p.m. On Sunday, the restaurant is open from 4:30 to 8 p.m.

The restaurant has many repeat customers. One of Nori’s most frequent customers is Tami Webb of Glen Carbon. She said she enjoys the freshness of the sushi, along with the service, and that keeps her coming back.

“Tami comes here a lot,” Chong said. “She is here at least twice a week.”

“I am friends with a lot of people from the area,” Chong said. “I pay a lot of attention to my food, and I enjoy talking to customers.”
For more information, contact Nori’s at (618) 659-9400, or visit www.norissushi.net.
- Dan Brannan

Tractor Supply Co. building store in Alton

Tractor Supply Co. has started construction of a new facility at 3001 Homer Adams Parkway in Alton.
The new location will be the company’s 12th Illinois facility. Tractor Supply Co. is the nation’s largest retail farm and ranch supply store chain.

The store will have 19,047 square feet, including sales floor and support service space. A fenced exterior space will be built for storage and display items such as fencing, sprayers and livestock equipment.

The store should be a welcome addition to Alton for farmers and agricultural workers.

The company serves many of the maintenance needs of those who enjoy the rural lifestyle, as well as tradesmen and small businesses. The company also sells light truck equipment, work clothing and seasonal products, including lawn and garden equipment.