SVM_Small Town Living West_Summer 2025

Businesses may call the shots, but they rely on an Erie man to take them

For 70 years, success has come with a catch for a Fulton family business

Family prides itself on serving up food that’s delightful and delicious

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Delightful and delicious

What’s in a name? A smile for one thing, along with a menu that offers a fun and refreshing take on the classics at a Morrison family’s restaurant, served with a side of sentimentality and topped off with a pinch of the past.

12 Picture this ... and that

Mailers and magazines, fliers and photo spreads — if you’ve ever had a product picture pull you in, there’s a good chance an Erie man’s work was tugging at your attention.

26 Networking

Success comes with a catch for a Fulton family business that’s been turning a river into a cash flow and introducing generations to the benefits of their fresh catches of the day for 70 years.

s an art teacher, it’s Jamie Harmon’s job to be creative, so when she was looking for a name for her family’s business, she knew she wanted something clever and catchy that would stick in people’s minds — like peanut butter to the roof of your mouth. She didn’t have to look far. It was right there between a couple slices of bread.

Jamie and Paul Harmon own Peanut Butter and Deli in downtown Morrison, where they serve sandwiches, drinks and desserts.

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The Harmons are the family behind Peanut Butter and Deli on Morrison’s Main Street, a deli-style restaurant where she and husband Paul and their son and two daughters serve up sandwiches, salads, drinks and desserts from one of Morrison’s oldest buildings — and one of it cleverest named businesses.

“Being an art teacher, I just couldn’t let it be boring,” Jamie said. “We were talking about the word ‘deli’ and what rhymed with it. We were going through it and it came to ‘jelly.’ We thought about that and I was like, ‘How about Peanut Butter and Deli?’ I thought it would catch attention. So there it stuck.”

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Having a family business is a point of pride for Peanut Butter and Deli owner Jamie (left) and Paul Harmon (in back, at right), who employ their children, (from left) Gracen, Cort and Landri, at the restaurant.

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For Jamie and Paul, who own the restaurant and building, investing in Morrison and responding to what residents wanted in their hometown was important to them as they considered opening a business. When the town’s Subway closed a couple of years ago, they looked for a way to fill the void, while bringing their own spin to the local restaurant scene. In December 2023, they brought their menu to Morrison, and put more than a few grins on people’s faces with a name that sounded good enough to eat.

Gracen Harmon, Jamie and Paul’s oldest daughter, manages the business and her

sister Landri and younger brother

Cort work with her. Landri is in college, and working in the family business helps pay her way through school; Cort is in junior high and helps wherever needed when he’s not in school. Paul’s mom Bev also helps out, making desserts. Rounding out the crew are a couple of high school girls who work parttime.

Gracen enjoys taking on a leadership role at the family business and working with her siblings.

“It’s been fun working with my family, and providing job opportunities to the girls in a fun environment to work,” Gracen said. “Although I get to boss around [my brother and sister], it’s great to work with them. It’s great to see all of the kids come in, and that’s one of my favorite parts about it. I get to see a lot of Cort’s friends come in, and some of Landri’s friends come in, and we’re able to have a lot of fun.”

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Life! Live YOUR BEST

The sandwich menu includes a turkey club, ham and cheese, chicken salad, roast beef, and The Big Red Rumble sandwich, named after a cheer that’s popular at the high school’s sports events, with roast beef, turkey, ham and American cheese. Breakfast options include egg and cheese sandwiches with either ham or bacon, or served plain. Paninis are part of the sandwich fold, with a grilled cheese and a stuffed crust pizza-like sandwich with pepperoni, Mozzarella and red pesto sauce. Every now and again, the Harmons will come up with a sandwich special as well. Sandwiches come on white sourdough or wheat berry bread, and any sandwich can be made into a wrap instead.

And of course, the sandwich selection wouldn’t be complete without a nod to the name of the business: The peanut butter and jelly comes with a choice of grape, strawberry, or the Harmon’s own “Deli Jelly” of a cream cheese and raspberry mix.

Salads include a Caprese, grilled chicken and a side salad. Pasta and potato salads also are on the menu, as well as desserts such as parfaits, muffins, cinnamon rolls and occasional specials, courtesy of Grandma’s home cooking.

“It’s more of a fun, refreshing take on some of the classic sandwiches and sides, with some sentimental homemade aspects on it as well,” Gracen said. “We try to do something new each month if we can.”

What’s on the menu at Peanut Butter and Deli? Sandwiches, salads, drinks, desserts and more — and if you prefer, any of the sandwiches can be served as a wrap.

The Harmons also have brought Dole Whip to town and offer it as a dessert with a different flavor each day. Dole Whip is a fairly new dessert offering to the Midwest. The gluten- and dairy-free treat is a cross between Italian ice and gelato, with a thick texture. Its name comes from the strawberry and pineapple flavors that come from the Dole fruit company.

You wont’ find Mustang Alley or The Morrison Bakery at 119 E. Main St., but you’ll find a nod to the building’s past, courtesy of the current occupants. Jamie and Paul added some historical flavor to Peanut Butter and Deli’s decor, including ads from businesses that used to be in the same storefront. “A lot of people in Morrison love that when they come in,” said Jamie.

As for the drinks, regular, iced and frosted coffees are among the top sellers, as well as fruit smoothies and splash drinks, which are refreshing flavored waters with no caffeine. The drinks have become popular with customers, and have even share equal billing with the sandwiches.

“The new thing that I did not imagine was going to be so crazy were the drinks,” Jamie said. “The smoothies and the splash drinks have been crazy. The frosted coffees and our specials, too. I never imagined this as a drink place, I always just thought sandwiches and a fun little environment, and all of a sudden it has become quite a bit of fun.”

Bringing business and family together in their community is important to the Harmons. Jamie’s parents, Steve and Julie Belschner, once owned The Clothes Depot, a clothing and screen printing business, elsewhere on Main Street, and Jamie worked there as a teenager. Gracen is working with her grandfather to try and resurrect the business in the future; she’s already designed the staff’s shirts for the restaurant as well as Peanut Butter and Deli apparel they sell.

Getting to see her children experience the same community connection that she did years ago is a special thing to her, Jamie said.

“I like the feeling that it gives me from when I was young, having worked in my parents’ shop,” Jamie said. “Having something open and coming up with different ideas, it just brings back those memories for me.”

The Harmons also own rental properties in town, including the second floor above their business. The building dates back to 1855, not long after the railroad was built through town, and has housed several stores and bakeries through the years. Jamie and Paul got hooked on in its history when they bought the building, and enjoy sharing it with customers. Reproductions of old Whiteside NewsSentinel ads hang on the on the walls featuring businesses once housed in the building.

They’ve found that their customers have a taste for history too, Jamie said.

“A lot of people in Morrison love that when they come in. We’ll hear them out here eating lunch and they’ll be talking about coming here to Carpenter’s Bakery. We went to the Courthouse and figured out who owned the building all the way back to 1855, and figured out what businesses were here in it. Then we went to the library, got on the microfilm machines, and found advertisements that were in the newspaper.”

Pictures aren’t the only place where the walls talk about the building’s history. When they were remodeling, portions of the building’s original brick walls that had been exposed were left that way, cleaned off and edges smoothed, a nod to the building’s history.

“Being in an old building and finding some of these old things, to see all of that, it was interesting,” Paul said. “There were old fixtures and wallpaper hidden behind some of the stuff on the walls. There was stuff that’s been here since forever ago.”

For Jamie, entrepreneurship isn’t just a source of income, it’s a source of pride rooted in family tradition, born from the cherished childhood memories of the time spent in her parents’ downtown shop. Now she gets to share that with her own family and her community.

“Our story kind of starts when I was a kid because my parents owned a store downtown,” Jamie said. “I just knew that it was something that we wanted to do and have my kids have that same experience.”

Running a business with her family, supporting the community and celebrating its history. For the Harmons, their business has allowed them to bring the past and present together — a combination that goes together like peanut butter and jelly. n

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

& d e l i Eat up!

Peanut Butter and Deli, 119 E. Main St. in Morrison, is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Find it on Facebook and Instagram, go to peanutbutteranddeli. com or call 815-400-9024 for more information.

ave you ever looked at a picture of a product and said “I’ll take it!”?

There’s a chance Steve Sullivan helped you decide to buy it.

Did you ever flip through a grocery flier in the newspaper and say “Mmm, that looks good”? Then you probably saw his work (though it would have taken an Eagle-eyed shopper to spot it).

Or maybe you saw a photo of a green machine and said “Nothing looks like a Deere.” If so, then Sullivan may have been the one to get you to look at it.

The Erie man’s work has been seen by countless consumers, ending up in mailboxes and magazine racks near and far and websites around the world.

Sullivan is a commercial photographer who works behind the scenes to set the scene for clients through his freelance business, Steve Sullivan Photography. It’s a job that can be summed up in a few words: pop, stop and shop — make products pop so people will stop and shop — and though his job is a snap, he’s had a lot of time behind the lens to make it look effortless, more than three decades and counting, the last 18 as a freelancer.

“It’s got to make you stop,” Sullivan said. “Whether you’re presenting a product, or introducing someone new, it’s got to draw you into it.”

SULLIVAN cont’d to page 15

When Steve Sullivan of Erie started taking his first commercial photos in 1991, dark rooms and film were the norm — now it’s software and digital cameras.

SULLIVAN cont’d from page 13

Since graduating from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale with a photography degree in 1991, Sullivan has made a career out of telling stories and selling products with the click of a button. He grew up in Rock Island and worked for a professional photography studio in Bettendorf until making the leap into freelancing in 2007. He and his wife Tori moved to Erie in 1999 to be close to her family, and Steve has a small studio next to their home where he works.

As a freelancer, he can choose to accept or decline assignments, some of which have been nearby and some that have taken him a few hours from home. He’s shot product photos at Johnson Rauhoff, a creative agency in Benton Harbor, Michigan, for companies including Walmart, Sur La Table, Cabela’s and Newell Brands. Bethany Lowe Designs, a vintage holiday decor company, also has called upon Sullivan for its print and online catalogs.

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Closer to home, Sullivan has done photos for John Deere, Jumer’s Casino in Rock Island, Erie Foods, Drives (now Timken Drives) in Fulton and Rock Island-based Eagle grocery stores — the photos in the now-closed grocery chain’s Wednesday sales fliers were his work.

Sullivan’s business keeps him busy. With companies wanting to get photography work done as quickly as possible, there’s little wiggle room on the schedule, so Sullivan has to make sure each click counts. Stylists, sales reps, and the occasional hand model work with Sullivan during each photo shoot to help position products so they look their best — they call the shots and he takes them, making sure the light’s right and the camera settings are set. The photos are snapped and then it’s onto to the next assignment.

“The stylists … assign you — ‘Here’s the layout’ — and you have to follow what their direction is. An account rep is there, too. They have it laid out and they call the shots … You follow whatever they give you.”

With nearly 35 years in the profession, the process has become second nature to him.

“I’m reliable, I show up and I do what they ask,” Sullivan said. “I’ve been doing it a long time, so I kind of know what I’m doing. I don’t stumble through it because I’ve done it for so many years. I won’t tell you I’m the best, because there is a lot of good talent out there, but I have years of experience and will get it done. There won’t be a lot of sitting around, and with this, you can’t. It’s off to the next one and they’re ready, ready, ready.”

SULLIVAN cont’d to page 17

SULLIVAN cont’d from page 16

Businesses not only rely on him to make their products look good, but the people behind them too, with his professional staff portraits and convincingly casual candids.

equipment,” Sullivan said. “That’s fun, because I don’t have to shape it or fold it into a nice neat box, I’m going around looking for smiles.”

Sullivan’s photography experience began in the days when a photo shop was a dark room, not a computer program, and has evolved along with the advances in technology, when memory cards and megabytes have replaced canisters and rolls of film.

He’s not young anymore, he’ll admit, and he realizes a new breed of tech savvy photographers have joined the field — but that doesn’t deter him; it helps make him better, he said.

“It takes some skill,” Sullivan said. “There are people out there who are really advanced: You’ve got to do Photoshop, the computer work, and on the camera end. I learn a lot from other people. Even today, it’s my favorite thing to do, to talk to another person about what they’re doing, in the photo world especially. Back in the old days of film, it took a little more effort. Now a lot of that can be fixed on a computer.”

Today’s photographers can learn from Sullivan, too, like the time he showed a photographer an old trick: Using the graphite from a pencil to make an etching on a glass filled with clear liquid pop out — no Photoshop necessary.

“She was making the drinks according to layout, and one of the glasses had an etching on it with a little design, but you couldn’t see if in the photo,” Sullivan said. “I went and got my finger dirty with a pencil and I rubbed it on the glass and it popped. She looked at me and goes, ‘You are old. The young kids would have tried to fix it in Photoshop, but you fixed it right here.’ With film, you kind of had to fix it right there because there was no retouching. It gave it a little bit of gray, with the liquid being clear, and you could see it.”

When Steve Sullivan isn’t working for his commercial photography clients, he’s creating cyanotype art in his home studio, a process that uses sunlight, water and chemicals to create Prussian blue images. He displays and sells his works at The Loft on Main art gallery in Morrison.

CODYCUTTER/CCUTTER

On days when he’s not on jobs or editing photos, he works on his new passion — this own artist’s “blue period,” as it were.

Sullivan has recently renewed his interest in another form of photography, cyanotype, a primitive form of blue and white imagery.

When it comes to people, Sullivan’s work has included assignments for American Rental Properties in Moline and various shots and events for John Deere. He recently accompanied a fiveyear-old and his family on a tour of one of the Deere facilities in the Quad Cities through the Make-AWish program; his shots captured the child’s experience and were given to the family as a keepsake.

Another recent event for Deere was for a “Women in Ag” program, where he captured candid shots showing the reactions of office workers getting a look at how some of the equipment worked in the field.

Cyanotype photography is a cameraless technique that involves laying an object on paper coated with a solution of chemicals before exposing it to UV light and washing with water to create stunning white and Prussian blue (cyan) images. Since April 2024, Sullivan has captured natural items such as leaves and grass using the process. His works are displayed and sold at The Loft on Main in Morrison (see page 18 for a story on The Loft) and Ember on the Hill in LeClaire. His works also were featured throughout July in an art gallery at CGH in Sterling.

More info

Call 309-659-7269 for more information on Steve Sullivan Photography in Erie. Find him on Instagram (@ sullycreated) to see his latest cyanotype artwork.

“That’s all candid, looking and pointing at the

“I remembered it from school, but I couldn’t justify buying the chemistry and paper for that, and in my mind there was no way I was going to make a living on it,” Sullivan said. “I saw other people do it, and I recently visited someone in a hospital and I was in a hallway and they had these big blue [images]. I did a little reading on them, tried a couple for myself, and a couple of people said they were amazing. Here I am a year later. I’m having a blast.”

Whether it’s putting products in the spotlight or creating art out of the blue, Sullivan’s storytelling through photos is an ever-evolving adventure, and one that keeps him going after all these years.

“I’ll go until my body quits,” Sullivan said. “I plan to keep doing it. I try to keep up. I like talking with people who come from different experiences, and then maybe they can tell me things.” n

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

oing to school in Como, art wasn’t one of Sharon Boyles’ favorites classes, and it wasn’t something she was all that interested in growing up either.

Then she moved to Morrison.

It was there that her children learned to appreciate art more than she had when she was in school, and it was there where she started stretching her creative muscles, making naturethemed, mosaic-like art pieces from cloth to show family and friends. She began connecting with the community on a different level, finding like-minded lovers of creativity and artistic expression.

Then she started getting Lofty ambitions. That led Boyles to not only find a creative outlet, but a place on the board of directors at an art gallery right in her hometown.

Boyles and nearly 35 other local artists have works on display and for sale at The Loft on Main, a downtown gallery and studio showcasing nearly 1,500 works in various mediums — oil, acrylic, pastel and watercolor painting, drawings, wood and glass art, ceramics, jewelry, photography and fabric — all on display throughout two floors of its downtown storefront. Not all the pieces are on display at all times, due to space considerations, but they all eventually find their way onto walls and displays, waiting for gallery-goers and art-buyers to give them a new home.

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CODY CUTTER/CCUTTER@SHAWMEDIA.COM

Sharon Boyles shows photos of some of her mosaic-like fabric art. Her pieces are on display at The Loft on Main art gallery in Morrison, and Boyles serves on its board of directors. She said she came to enjoy art later in life, inspired by the community around her, and enjoys seeing the results of other people’s inspiration at the gallery. “I marvel at what people can do,” she said.

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The gallery welcomes works from Whiteside and nearby counties, curating a collection of creativity from throughout the area that offers people a place in Morrison where art takes center stage and the audience plays a part too, supporting and celebrating local talent.

Maybe they just stop by ponder over a thoughtprovoking painting, maybe they’re looking for a statement piece to take home that says something about their personality, or a little something to liven up their living room, or maybe they want a truly one-of-a-kind gift — it’s all there, and unlike big-city galleries, the intimacy of The Loft’s surroundings creates a closer connection between the artists and their community.

“Sometimes people come in and see the work of people that they know, and they’re like, ‘I didn’t know they did this,’” Boyles said. “I think it’s really inspirational to see all of the different styles. None of the people here duplicate anybody. They’ll see something simple, like a bowl of oranges, and will be like, ‘It is so beautiful!’ It’s enlightening that way, and it gives them something to talk to them about when they see them next time.”

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More than just a gallery though, The Loft is also involved in curating the next generation of artists, supporting the arts, hosting occasional art classes, and promoting and supporting other art events in town, such as Odell Public Library’s Tiny Art Show (held this past March) and the annual Paint the Town on Main Street (on Sept. 25 this year). Its Coffee and Conversation program, on every third Thursday morning, attracts artists and art lovers alike to get to know pieces a little more and catch up with creators to learn what projects they have in store.

While a small town in the heart of farm country — where there’s a lot more hay lofts than art Lofts — may not seem to some people a likely home for a thriving art scene, The Loft’s roots actually stretch back to the city’s early years, when the seeds for the city’s creative community were planted.

More than 100 years ago, seats of county government such as Morrison often attracted professionals such as doctors, lawyers, educators and businesspeople. Their presences didn’t just bring wealth and status to towns, but also an appreciation for the arts that’s been, and continues to be, handed down through the generations.

Boyles cites her children’s art teacher, Ned Nesti Jr., as an inspiration for growing the community’s art culture in recent years, which led to the gallery’s opening in 2017 with support from the Morrison Area Development Corporation.

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“The art program in Morrison was way above-and-beyond,” Boyles said. “It was incredible. He got the kids’ works published in scholastic arts magazines. He opened that up, and it’s always had support. The arts really are supported in Morrison, and it’s here to stay.”

While inspiration can strike anytime and anywhere, it sometimes strikes close to home, with some of the works at The Loft based on local sights , such as the Annan Mill, showcased in a pencil drawing on the second floor. Some pieces are inspired by fellow artists, such as one Boyles says she created after seeing a photo at the gallery: “There’s one piece that’s a photograph and I was inspired by it, and I have a piece called ‘Inspired.’”

It was a moment of serendipity that reinforced Boyles’ belief that art can be for anyone — even students who prefer recess to Rembrandt.

“I didn’t like art in school,” she said, but when she started tapping into her talents and channeling her creativity into fabric art, it unlocked a desire to do more. You don’t need to be a trained artist with years of projects in your portfolio to start creating or be in a gallery; sometimes you can just make things up out of whole cloth, like Boyles.

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For those who think they’re not creative, Boyles said maybe “you just haven’t found your medium yet.”

“I marvel at what people can do,” she said.

Want to showcase your work? Each piece is juried by the gallery’s board of directors, led by Morrison mayor Scott Vandermyde as its president. Each potential new piece is considered for craftsmanship, selection and application of materials, technique, concept, originality and presentation.

Vandermyde isn’t an artist himself, but has come to appreciate it over the years, he said. He recently helped one of the gallery’s featured woodworkers, his predecessor as Morrison mayor, Everett Pannier, sand pieces for one of his works. Vandermyde’s dual role as the gallery’s board president and city’s mayor puts him in a unique position to help get the word not only about the gallery, but the city where it makes its home.

“We just need to continue to find ways to get the word out,” Vandermyde said. “We’re always talking about our publicity strategy. “We’re also using it as a bit of a social stop, too. We want to sell stuff and have the artists get commission and exposure, but we also want to do more social things, too. If people see something they like, maybe they’ll come back and buy it.”

Joan Vander Bleek has lived in Morrison for more than 30 years and exhibits her oil and acrylic paintings at the gallery. Much of her work is done on small canvases and feature a variety of sights. She’s always eager to enhance her craft through workshops and classes, and like Boyle, she too has found inspiration from not only her fellow artists, but her hometown.

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Joan Vander Bleek has lived in Morrison for more than 30 years and exhibits her oil and acrylic paintings at The Loft. “This is a really unique area,” she said. “There are all kinds of creative people, and there's a lot of art for such a small community. If this wasn’t here, I probably wouldn't have developed this far."

“This is a really unique area,” Vander Bleek said. “I’m shocked that we have this many artists in such a small community. There are all kinds of creative people, and there’s a lot of art for such a small community. If this wasn’t here, I probably wouldn’t have developed this far. I was just dabbling in painting, but having this here and having them say that you should put your stuff in here, it’s really helped a lot of people grow.”

The Loft on Main is a not-for-profit organization that relies on donations, benefactors and grants to offset costs — one of the biggest of which is rent, which is paid to the building owners, who also have a vacation rental on one end of the second floor.

Another way The Loft generates support for the arts is making the pieces affordable. The more pieces that go out the door and into people’s homes, the more word spreads.

“It works for here because we’re in a smaller market where you can’t put big price tags on them,” Vander Bleek said. “If something of mine turns out pretty nice, I’ll put them in here.”

Like other nonprofits, The Loft wouldn’t be possible without the volunteers and supporters who give their time and effort to the cause of creativity. The gallery is always looking for volunteers — a challenge that’s been even more difficult since Covid — who can guide people through the gallery when it’s open, from Thursday to Saturday, as well as board members and instructors for art classes.

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LOOK AT THE LOFT

The Loft on Main, 112 E. Main St. in Morrison, is open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Find it on Facebook and Instagram, go to theloftonmain.org, email theloftonmaingallery@ gmail.com or call 815-772-4005 for more information and special events.

Even those who don’t want to volunteer can still help, with word of mouth. Art may speak volumes, but it only takes a few good words to let people know that there’s an art gallery full of talent in the heart of Morrison. Boyles said that even though The Loft’s been around for nearly 10 years, local people still stop by who say they didn’t know there was a gallery in their hometown.

Whether it’s someone just dropping by for a visit, or an artist who’s found their calling, Boyles just hopes people pay a call to The Loft.

“I can’t say enough good about this place,” Boyles said. “For me, it’s my way to give back to the community. My boys got such a great art education here, and this is something I can do to help promote it, and keep the people interested in creating.” n

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

Some artists draw their inspiration from local landmarks, like this print of a detailed drawing of the Annan Grist Mill in Morrison, featuring cutaway views of the mill and its inner workings when it was still an operating mill.

asting nets from his father’s wooden boat out on the Mississippi River as a child, Mike Schafer’s love of fishing started at an early age. Today, he’s casting the net a lot wider, as the owner of the largest fishery in the United States that deals with Asian carp, caught from the same river and sold at, and processed very close to, his shop near Lock and Dam 13 north of Fulton.

For nearly 50 years, Schafer has built the second-generation family business, Schafer Fisheries, into one that caters to customers both at home and around the world, attracting people to its retail store to whet their appetite with a variety of fish and seafood, and shipping products internationally. He’s even helping the farm community and people with a green thumb by selling fish-based fertilizer made from his stock at its processing plant just across the county line in Thomson.

In an industry that’s faced its share of challenges through the years — a pandemic and international tariffs just in recent years — the business has held its own. Schafer can remember a time when there used to be 20 different fish markets within 30 miles up and down the river. It’s a point of pride for him, not just because of the business’ growth, but because it’s part of his family’s legacy. His father Donald started it in 1955.

“He opened this, caught a lot of fish, and I remember fishing with him when I was very small,” Schafer said. “It’s in my blood and in my roots. We’ve grown the company from a very small mom-and-pop operation, with retail and a few restaurants back in the day, to where we’re nationwide now,” Schafer said. “On fresh fish, we have our product shipped to California, New York, and a lot of points in between; and we’re worldwide on frozen.”

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Schafer Fisheries retail manager Nonie Schaver shows some of the various kinds of seafood and fish products sold at the Fulton store.

“It’s fun for people to stop in who have never been here before, see the live fish, and see the process with the way we work,” she said.

While grocers have grown too, with neighborhood shops replaced by bigbox stores with miles of aisles, they don’t offer the same selection as a place like Schafer’s. Products competing for freezer space and the demand for bigger profit margins have left chain stories with a more limited line-up, much of it processed and frozen.

That’s where a place like Schafer’s has the edge. Its focus is on fresh fish, a larger seafood selection, and personalized service. It attracts fish fans from all backgrounds — from those who simply enjoy it to those who find it’s an important part of their diet — who can choose from a larger selection, learn about its health benefits, and explore different ways to utilize it, such as smoked salmon and carp spreads.

Schafer employs a fleet of fishers who haul in catches from the Mississippi River and elsewhere and bring their fish to the store for processing and sale.

Dressing — removing the inedible parts to prepare the fish for cooking — is done only a line-cast way from where shoppers shop, and it’s one of the unique sights that customers can check out when they visit, retail manager Nonie Schaver said.

“It’s fun for people to stop in who have never been here before, see the live fish, and see the process with the way we work,” Schaver said. “It’s different than most retail environments you go into. We try to be extremely helpful with people finding things that they’ve never tried before, or things that they’re looking for.”

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In addition to all kinds of fish caught in rivers and streams, Schafer’s has a wide variety of seafood and fish-based products that it sells from other companies: lobster, king crab, snow crab, octopus, calamari, alligator and crawfish; and ocean fish such as orange ruffle, red snapper and sea bass.

“You can’t walk into Walmart or Hy-Vee and find Sturgeon caviar,” Schaver said. “You can’t walk in and find octopus, things like that. We have all types of seafood that you can think of. It’s very interesting.”

Fish can also be used as a less-expensive substitute for ground beef, Schaver said. Samples are offered on occasion, and have included spaghetti, sloppy joes, chili and tacos, all made with fish instead of beef. “They’re astounded to know that it’s fish,” she said.

Asian carp wasn’t meant to be a big seller 40 years ago, but the Great Flood of 1993 changed that: It was initially imported to control algae in fish farms, but many escaped into the Illinois River during the flood, and made their way to the Mississippi River a few years later.

All told, the fishery handles between 8 to 10 million pounds of various kinds of fish each year.

While fish can have health benefits for people, it’s good for Mother Earth’s diet, too.

SCHAFER cont’d to page 30

Tristan Schoenhaar of Savanna unloads his catch from a recent day on the water on a boat owned by Terry Theissen of Savanna at Schafer Fisheries in Fulton. The delivery process happens only feet away from where customers can shop for their fish.

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There’s something fishy on the farm — there’s net profit to be made, from fish parts not fit for food. Schafer offers organic, fish-based fertilizer for the consumer and ag market.

“Fish do a wonderful job in increasing soil nutrition.”

Mike Schafer, Schafer Fisheries

SCHAFER cont’d from page 29

Nearly 20 years ago, Schafer began making fertilizer from parts previously considered waste, including the head and innards, as well as from fish that didn’t make the cut for human consumption. The practice, however, goes back a lot longer than that. When Pilgrims came to America during the 1600s, Squanto, a Patuxet Native American, showed them how fish could be used to fertilize their crops.

Today, the SF Organics line is sold both on the consumer level — in quarts, half-gallons and gallons — as well as in larger quantities to farmers. Much of Schafer’s clientele for the fertilizer are from Amish, Mennonite and Hutterite farms, he said.

SCHAFER cont’d to page 31

“Fish do a wonderful job in increasing soil nutrition,” Schafer said “Dairy farmers spread it on their pastures and it raises the relative feed value of the grasses. A cow only eats what it needs to sustain itself, so they can graze a lot more cattle on the same amount of land. It’s very beneficial to them.”

Schafer’s unique stock of fish and seafood, as well as its fertilizer, makes it a destination for customers from all over looking to add some variety to their menu but can’t find what they want at a big-box store. Their fish is also eligible for those on SNAP assistance, who can use their Illinois Link card to do some fishing from Schafer’s freezer. Regardless of the reason they walk through the door for the first time, it likely that they’ll walk through it again.

And when they do, Schafer and his staff will be happy to see them.

“You get to know them and talk to them like a friend instead of just another person across the counter, it’s very family oriented,” Schaver said. “It’s interesting and fun that we get a very wide variety of nationalities who come here. It’s real fun for people to come in and be able to pick out their fish. The kids like to come and see the fish in the tank. Some people think it’s fascinating to see us dress fish, others may not like it so much. It’s an interesting place, especially for people who have never been in here.”

While the farm-to-table movement has grown in popularity in recent years, Schafer enjoys being part of a river-to-table movement, introducing folks to the benefits of fresh fish — and once they get a taste of it, he hopes they’ll be hooked on it just like he was all those years ago, when he and his dad would put up the “Gone fishing” sign and head out on a mighty river.

“It’s pretty unique, it really is,” Schafer said. “We have a lot of people who stop in and see what we’re all about.” n

More info

Schafer Fisheries, 21985 Waller Road/state Route 84 in Fulton, is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Find it on Facebook, go to schafersmokedfish.com and sf-organics. com or call 815-589-3368 for more information.

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