McHenry County Blog

This was found at the Grand Opening of the Crystal Lake Chick-fil-A.

“JC IOU 1″ says this license plate which, odds are, is owned by a Christian.

There were other manifestations of Christians on opening day.

I saw a First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake CROP Walk tee shirt.

A contingent from the Spring Grove Bible Fellowship led by Pastor Scott Barrettsmith and his wife Julie and several members ate at Chick-fil-A at mid-afternoon.   To the pastor’s left is Nancy Cole, a McHenry County Pro-Life leader.

Chick-fil-A is closed Sundays, as are Hobby Lobby and car dealers.

After the ribbon cutting, Chick-fil-A’s Grand Opening script has the “First Bite” ceremony. You see franchisee Ben Moore in the white shirt in the center.  From left to right, Gary Reece is hidden by Pam Moore, Ben’s mother.  His mother-in-law Shirley Sherman is next. Standing next to Ben is his wife Laura and the three redheaded girls are theirs.  Behind Mrs. Moore is James Richter, whom Councilman Ralph Dawson, to his left, told me is Crystal Lake’s man on the street working with new businesses. I didn’t catch the Cow’s name.

No demonstrators.

The traditional ribbon cutting ceremony occurred after the speeches.  From left to right, the adults are Pam Moore, Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Gary Reece, Shirley Sherman, Chick-fil-A’s Ryan Holmes, owner Ben Moore, Laura Moore, Crystal Lake business assister James Richter, Crystal Lake City Councilman Ralph Dawson.  The three little redheads are the Moore children.

No lines.

Ben Moore and his wife Laura mix with the Opening Day customers.

A typical opening day, according to the Atlanta corporate folks.

Almost forty folks from corporate Chick-fil-A assisted in the Grand Opening.

6 AM was much too early for me to see the providing of the food coupons to the tent city folks that gathered the day before the Grand Opening for the First 100 Promotion.

The Ribbon Cutting Ceremony beat the steady rain that started about an hour later.

I learned that the 52 coupons given to each of the first one hundred people in line and on the property for twenty-four house before the restaurant opens are worth about $350.

Crystal Lake Police were on hand just in case they might be needed.

A lot were local according to Tiffany Greenway, one of the corporate public relations people in Crystal Lake.

The noon crowd on a rainy opening day at Crystal Lake Chick-fil-A.

Ben Moore explains how his family got to Crystal Lake.

It occurs to me that this is something like the Biblical gleaning concept.

In his speech to the Grand Opening gathering, entrepreneur Ben Moore, a Sycamore resident when he was awarded the Crystal Lake franchise, originally thought the 50 minute drive would be acceptable.

But, “My goal is to be part of the community.

Ben Moore’s family listens to her father’s welcoming talk.

“We prayed a lot about it,” he said.

Ben Moore talks to young customer.

“The Saturday before I went for training, a guy walked up to our house and said, ‘Can I buy your house?’

“Yes, you can,” was the reply.

The family has bought a farm north of Crystal Lake.

Moore said the process of opening the restaurant took three and a half years.

Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Gary Reece praise the City management.

“They have now turned the tide and are very welcoming to business,” he said before echoing the “Eat more chicken” slogan of the firm.

Later, Moore affirmed, “Crystal Lake has been great.”

No politicians running for office attended the Grand Opening, but later in the day County Board member Diane Evertsen, who lives northwest of Woodstock, and perhaps others enjoyed a chicken sandwich.

The restaurant is open 6-10, except Sunday, when it is closed.

Just got a call from a friend:

“I’m at Chick-fil-A and I can’t get in the parking lot.

“Cops everywhere.

“Can’t get into drive-though because it’s too long.

“People are parking at Menard’s walking over to get their food and coming back.”

A press release from Chick-fil-A:

Crystal Lake Chick-fil-A on Route 14 just west of Route 31.

Sycamore Resident to Open Crystal Lake’s First Stand-Alone Chick-fil-A Restaurant Aug. 9

New Stand-Alone Restaurant on Northwest Highway Creates 73 New Jobs

CRYSTAL LAKE, Ill. (Aug. 9, 2012) – Forty-five years after the first Chick-fil-A® restaurant opened in an Atlanta mall, pioneering mall food courts and introducing its signature boneless-breast-of-chicken sandwich, the chain will celebrate the opening of its first stand-alone restaurant in Crystal Lake on Aug. 9 by giving away a free year’s supply of Chick-fil-A to the first 100 adults in line grand opening morning.

Chick-fil-A’s “First 100 Celebration” quickly became a hallmark of each grand opening when the chain first held the event in Arizona in 2003. More than 18 hours before the restaurant opened, the first person arrived and asked where to get in line.

Since then, the chain has given away more than $16 million in free food at almost 600 grand openings.

The parking lot parties attract Chick-fil-A’s loyal customers who come from around the block and across the country equipped with couches, TVs, computers, tents and other gear. Even extreme weather conditions do not dampen the enthusiasm of the participants who often arrive more than 24 hours in advance.

The latest Chick-fil-A First 100 celebration will occur at 4812 Northwest Highway where the chain will award a one-year supply of free Chick-fil-A® Meals (52 certificates) to each of the first 100 adults in line, ages 18 and older with identification – which is a total of more than $26,000 in free food.

The line officially opens at 6 a.m., Wednesday, Aug. 8, with the free meal cards being awarded Thursday, Aug. 9, sometime between 6 a.m. and 6:10 a.m.

The restaurant will open for business immediately thereafter. If there are more than 100 people by 6 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug.8, all 100 spots will be determined by raffle. For complete rules, see http://www.chick-fil-a.com/Locations/First-100.

The first stand-alone restaurant in Crystal Lake features the chain’s latest interior and kitchen design, allowing team members to quickly serve customers who dine in, drive-through or request catered orders for larger off-site events.

The restaurant’s design and capacity illustrates the historic shift in consumer habits from 1967 when S. Truett Cathy opened his first Chick-fil-A restaurant inside Greenbriar Mall in Atlanta, to 2011 when the chain opened its 1,000th stand-alone restaurant with the majority of business now coming from customers on the go.

The new restaurant on Northwest Highway is one of 96 locations the chain plans to open across the country in 2012, creating nearly 7,000 new jobs.

Despite the challenging economy, Chick-fil-A continued to grow in 2011, reporting record-setting annual sales of more than $4 billion, representing a 13 percent increase over 2010 and the 44th consecutive year of sales growth since the company began in 1967. Chick-fil-A’s overall growth will continue in 2012 with the projected addition of 79 stand-alone, two malls and 15 licensed locations.

“We are thrilled to follow up a very exciting 2011 where we saw the opening of our 1,000th stand-alone restaurant with continued growth across the country this year,” said Dan T. Cathy, president and COO, Chick-fil-A, Inc.

“Our outstanding franchised Operators and their team members provide both the freshly prepared food and excellent service on both sides of the counter that has our customers asking us to bring Chick-fil-A closer to where they live. In fact, the team at Crystal Lake will be glad to provide a ‘Backstage Tour’ of the new location to restaurant guests.”

Founder Truett Cathy perfected his recipe for a boneless breast-of-chicken sandwich while operating the Dwarf Grill which he opened in Hapeville, Ga., in 1946. The sandwich became the signature menu item when he opened the first Chick-fil-A, and it continues to be the hallmark product of the chain as it has grown to more than 1,642 restaurants in 39 states and Washington D.C.

Opening his first Chick-fil-A restaurant, Ben Moore is relocating from Sycamore, Illinois. Moore is a graduate of Southern Illinois University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in aviation management and an associate’s degree in aviation flight. He served as an airline pilot in Atlanta for more than three years before moving to Sycamore, Ill. Moore and his wife, Laura, have three children and are looking forward to developing relationships in the Crystal Lake community.

“Chick-fil-A has come a long way since Truett opened that first tiny Chick-fil-A restaurant in an Atlanta mall 45 years ago, but one thing has remained constant – our focus on providing top quality food in a friendly neighborhood environment,” said Moore.

“My team members and I share that same commitment at our new Crystal Lake restaurant and can’t wait to welcome and serve all of our new guests.”

The new Crystal Lake Chick-fil-A seats 144 with additional outdoor seating, and has warm colors and wood accents and convenient, award-winning drive-thru service.

The new restaurant is open Monday through Saturday from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., serving a full breakfast menu until 10:30 a.m.

Chick-fil-A offers a completely trans fat-free menu and was among the first national fast-food restaurant chains to do so. In January the chain added grilled Chick-fil-A Chicken Nuggets as a Kids’ Meal option which, when paired with a fresh fruit cup or Buddy Fruits® Pure Blended Fruit To Go applesauce, is one of the most nutritious children’s meal combinations offered among any major fast-food chain.

To continue meeting a variety of customers’ menu needs, the chain recently launched a new line of desserts that include

• a revamped Fudge Brownie without nuts,
• baked fresh daily Chocolate Chunk Cookie, and
• an Icedream Sundae that can also be coupled with the brownie or cookie. And for a limited time, the chain brought back its
• Peach Shake this summer.

Chick-fil-A continues to win industry accolades including coming out on top of the 2011 Top 10 Excellent Large Fast Food Chains survey by Sandelman & Associates. The food service consumer research firm measured responses from almost 108,000 quick service customers about food quality, customer service and restaurant environment. In addition, Men’s Health “Eat This, Not That” 2012 edition again gave the chain high marks (A-) and named it one of the top two restaurants providing healthier menu options.

Chick-fil-A topped large chain category in Zagat’s 2011 National Fast Food Restaurant Survey that measured the opinions of 6,000 consumers covering 103 chains. With each chain being rated on its quality of food, service and facilities, the survey scored Chick-fil-A first in service and the chargrilled sandwich categories; and second in the areas of food, best drive-thru, most child friendly, and facilities. In 2011, Chick-fil-A also received Consumer Reports Top Chicken Chain for food and service.

For more information on the new Crystal Lake Chick-fil-A visit www.chick-fil-a.com/crystallake.

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About Chick-fil-A, Inc.

Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A, Inc. is the nation’s second-largest quick-service chicken restaurant chain (based on sales), with 1,642 restaurants in 39 states and Washington D.C. In 2012,

Chick-fil-A will add 96 new locations around the country, including 79 stand-alone restaurants, two mall restaurants, and 15 licensed locations.

Credited with inventing the boneless breast-of-chicken sandwich and first introducing the chicken nugget concept, Chick-fil-A serves nutritious and freshly prepared food products in mall locations, stand-alone restaurants, drive-thru-only restaurants, Chick-fil-A Dwarf House® and Truett’s Grill® full-service restaurants, and through licensed outlets in college campuses, hospitals, airports, businesses and industrial sites.

Chick-fil-A reached $4 billion in annual sales in 2011, reporting a 7 percent same-store sales increase and a 13 percent increase over 2010 overall sales performance. The record sales marked the 44th consecutive year of sales growth since the company began in 1967.

More information about Chick-fil-A is available on the chain’s websites, located at www.chick-fil-a.com/pressroom , or through Facebook at www.facebook.com/ChickfilA or Twitter: www.Twitter.com/ChickfilA.

It all started with Fox River Grove Precinct Committeeman Andrew Gasser’s blog.

He called for a Crystal Lake Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day for August 9th.

Why August 9th instead of August 3rd?

The back end of Crystal Lake’s Chick-fil-A will be humming when it opens on Thursday, August 9th.

The Crystal Lake restaurant wasn’t open on August 3rd.

The Grand Opening is August 9th.

Now Patch has picked up the story.

You can see the top of the story in Huntley Patch below.

The story on Andrew Gasser’s call for a Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day on August 9th, the first day of business for the new Crystal Lake restaurant.

The story is also on Crystal Lake-Cary Patch and Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Patch.

Chick-fil-A is having its Grand Opening in Crystal Lake on August 9th.

Having missed the nationwide August 3rd Appreciation Day, Fox River Grove Republican Precinct Committeeman Andrew Gasser is calling for a Crystal Lake Appreciation Day for August 9th.

As he reported yesterday, you can get a taste of Chick-fil-A’s product at Home Depot today starting sometime after t0 AM.

The email I received about the Appreciation Day event follows:

Ladies and Gentlemen,

You may or may not know that we will have our very own Chick-Fil-A opening August 9th right here in Crystal Lake. Many of us may not have participated in the Chick-Fil-A Appreciation day where conservatives all around the country supported Chick-Fil-A.

I have attached a flier with all the information and the plan is really simple. Show up on the 9th sometime and eat, post a pic or three on facebook, and enjoy the day. If we share this with enough of our family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers it could really be a fun time.

I hope we can all come together as a party and have some fun together.

Respectfully,
Andrew

The Crystal Lake Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day flyer.  Please note this was initiated by Andrew Gasser, not Chick-fil-A, and was done without knowledge of the restaurant chain.

Crystal Lake Chic-fil-A restaurant on Route 14 just east of Route 31.

Who ever knew that a Fox River Grove Republican Precinct Committeeman’s blog could break news in Crystal Lake?

Just up is an article by Andrew Gasser about Crystal Lake’s Chick-fil-A’s planning to give away free sandwiches at Crystal Lake’s Home Depot across the Route 14/31 intersection from the restaurant’s new location.

Crystal Lake Chick-fil-A Playland.

Andrew Gasser’s blog says the free lunch will be served starting sometime after 10 AM Saturday.

Grand Opening of the Crystal Lake store is Thursday, August 9th.

Talk a look at the inside of the restaurant here.

Read what Cardinal George as to say about the Chicago politicians and their “Chicago values” here.

The following was published on the Chicago Catholic Blog Sunday, July 29th. McHenry County Blog has received permission to reprint the column by Cardinal Francis George:

Reflections on “Chicago values”

Recent comments by those who administer our city seem to assume that the city government can decide for everyone what are the “values” that must be held by citizens of Chicago.

I was born and raised here, and my understanding of being a Chicagoan never included submitting my value system to the government for approval.

Must those whose personal values do not conform to those of the government of the day move from the city?

Is the City Council going to set up a “Council Committee on Un-Chicagoan Activities” and call those of us who are suspect to appear before it?

I would have argued a few days ago that I believe such a move is, if I can borrow a phrase, “un-Chicagoan.”

Cardinal Francis George

The value in question is espousal of “gender-free marriage.” Approval of state-sponsored homosexual unions has very quickly become a litmus test for bigotry; and espousing the understanding of marriage that has prevailed among all peoples throughout human history is now, supposedly, outside the American consensus. Are Americans so exceptional that we are free to define “marriage” (or other institutions we did not invent) at will? What are we re-defining?

It might be good to put aside any religious teaching and any state laws and start from scratch, from nature itself, when talking about marriage.

Marriage existed before Christ called together his first disciples two thousand years ago and well before the United States of America was formed two hundred and thirty six years ago.

Neither Church nor state invented marriage, and neither can change its nature.

Marriage exists because human nature comes in two complementary sexes: male and female.

The sexual union of a man and woman is called the marital act because the two become physically one in a way that is impossible between two men or two women.

Whatever a homosexual union might be or represent, it is not physically marital.

Gender is inextricably bound up with physical sexual identity; and “gender-free marriage” is a contradiction in terms, like a square circle.

Both Church and state do, however, have an interest in regulating marriage.

It is not that religious marriage is private and civil marriage public; rather, marriage is a public institution in both Church and state.

The state regulates marriage to assure stability in society and for the proper protection and raising of the next generation of citizens.

The state has a vested interest in knowing who is married and who is not and in fostering good marriages and strong families for the sake of society.

The Church, because Jesus raised the marital union to the level of symbolizing his own union with his Body the Church, has an interest in determining which marital unions are sacramental and which are not.

The Church sees married life as a path to sanctity and as the means for raising children in the faith, as citizens of the universal kingdom of God.

These are all legitimate interests of both Church and state, but they assume and do not create the nature of marriage.

People who are not Christian or religious at all take for granted that marriage is the union of a man and a woman for the sake of family and, of its nature, for life.

The laws of civilizations much older than ours assume this understanding of marriage.

This is also what religious leaders of almost all faiths have taught throughout the ages.

Jesus affirmed this understanding of marriage when he spoke of “two becoming one flesh” (Mt. 19: 4-6).

Was Jesus a bigot?

Could Jesus be accepted as a Chicagoan?

Would Jesus be more “enlightened” if he had the privilege of living in our society?

One is welcome to believe that, of course; but it should not become the official state religion, at least not in a land that still fancies itself free.

Surely there must be a way to properly respect people who are gay or lesbian without using civil law to undermine the nature of marriage.

Surely we can find a way not to play off newly invented individual rights to “marriage” against constitutionally protected freedom of religious belief and religious practice.

The State’s attempting to redefine marriage has become a defining moment not for marriage, which is what it is, but for our increasingly fragile “civil union” as citizens.

Francis Cardinal George, OMI
Archbishop of Chicago

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A Chic-fil-A restaurant will open in Crystal Lake on Route 14 just west of Route 31 on August 9th.

Peter Breen speaking in Crystal Lake.

With some Chicago Alderman Proco “Joe” Moreno asserting his apparent right to veto zoning changes in his ward (is that an invitation to corruption or what?), Lombard Village Trustee Peter Breen is introducing a Chick-Fil-A appreciation resolution.

His press release is below:

Lombard Trustee Breen to Introduce Resolution in Support of “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day”

Breen invites businesses forced out of Chicago due to their sincerely held beliefs to relocate to Lombard

LOMBARD, IL—Lombard Trustee Peter Breen, Chairperson of the Village’s Economic & Community Development Committee, will introduce a resolution at the committee’s meeting on Tuesday, July 31, calling for support of “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day,” scheduled for August 1, in response to recent actions against the restaurant chain by City of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Alderman Proco “Joe” Moreno.

This week, Ald. Moreno, supported by Mayor Emanuel, announced that he would refuse to permit a new Chick-fil-A in his city ward due to statements in support of traditional marriage attributed to and confirmed by Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy.

Chick-fil-A opened a new restaurant in Lombard earlier this year as part of a long-planned expansion into the Chicagoland market.

“Opposite the intolerant ‘values’ espoused by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, our values in Lombard are pro-business, pro-jobs, and pro-freedom,” said Breen.

“We uphold the constitutional rights of free speech and freedom of religion of our residents and business people alike.

“Lombard is open for business.

“If Chicago is going to expel outstanding businesses like Chick-fil-A because of their leaders’ deeply held beliefs on issues of public importance, we will invite those businesses to invest and bring their economic benefits to our community.”

Chick-fil-A had already received zoning approval for a restaurant in the 2500 block of North Elston Avenue in Chicago.

“However, Ald. Moreno exercised ‘aldermanic privilege’ to deny Chick-fil-A permission to divide the property there, which will prevent the company from purchasing an out lot near the Home Depot already on the site.

“ldermanic privilege is a Chicago tradition that allows aldermen near-absolute control over zoning issues in their wards.

“From an economic standpoint, the timing couldn’t be worse for this abuse of dubious authority.

“The U.S. Constitution and Illinois law forbid government officials from discrimination based on a person’s sincerely held religious beliefs,” said Breen.

“We have a word for religious intolerance in this country: bigotry.

“And, in this case, it’s illegal.”

The Economic & Community Development Committee will consider the “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day” resolution at its next scheduled meeting on Tuesday, July 31, at 7 p.m., in the Community Room of the Lombard Village Hall.

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Chic-Fil-A will be opening a restaurant in Crystal Lake on Route 14 east of Route 31 on August 9th.

Crystal Lake’s Chick-Fil-A has outdoor tables with umbrellas ready to be unfurled.

The parking lot is striped, but workmen are still at the replacement for Hooters in Crystal Lake (which replaced Hardee’s).

And, what is that replacement?

Kid-friendly Chick-Fil-A.

Knowing that the restaurant was coming to Crystal Lake, I noticed the funny billboards on our trip south this summer.

“Brake 4 Chikin,” reads the cows’ billboard.

Holstein cows are shown promoting the eating of chicken.

I would make a guess that the best hamburgers are not made from Holsteins, a cow bred to produce milk, but maybe that’s where they end up when they stop producing enough.

In any event, the billboards were among the highlights of the many miles we drove on Interstates.

Thursday, August 9th, our family will get to see what all the talk is about.

Certainly, the Crystal Lake restaurant will appeal to kids.

There is a playland.

“We’ve very excited to serve everyone in McHenry County,”  Operator Ben Moore told me.

Parents can eat while children play in this enclosed area.

There’s plenty of room to sit down for lunch or dinner.

Chick-Fil-A has plenty of space and obviously serves Coke products.

And, there’s a drive-thru as well.

I wonder if Chicago’s own superhero from the 1970′s–Chickenman–will be at the Grand Opening.

The restaurant is located on Route 14 in Crystal Lake in front of Menard’s and next to the Village Squire.