ABOUT THE BARN
The Packee Family took ownership of the barn in 2015 and with the help, hardwork and talent of the Segura family, we restored the barn into what it is today. We are keeping the barn as original as possible with adding our own unique touch. These walls could tell stories.
Below is an article researched and written by Dave Clarke from The Kewanee Star Courier.
Part one of a three-part series: One step ahead of the law
Grover Zang’s first brush with the law took place in 1906 when he was 18 and charged with slugging the attendant who was trying to remove him for rowdy behavior from the ice skating rink at Windmont Park.
After nearly a decade of bootlegging, gambling, and dodging the police in the secretive underworld of Prohibition in 1920s Kewanee, he finally went “legit” and, in 1930, built a magnificent stable for thoroughbred racing horses south of Kewanee he called the Waunee Stock Farm. There, he would raise and train some of the best pacers and trotters in harness racing, and became known as the “genial gentleman” of the Sport of Kings, competing at race tracks across the nation until his sudden death in 1939.
Today, his massive, four-winged barn has been rebuilt from the ground up by two Kewanee men, Tony Segura and Scott Packee, and renamed The Stables Wedding & Event Venue, now catering to weddings, receptions and other social events.
But back to 1906. On Jan. 31, young Zang was ordered off the ice at Windmont lake by special officer Dudley Craig. He resisted, striking Craig in the face several times, according to the account in the Star Courier. The next morning, he was arrested by the Wethersfield constable for resisting an officer and disorderly conduct.
In a pattern that became familair with Zang, he hired not one, but two attorneys, and got the case moved from a magistrate in Wethersfield, who happened to be Craig’s brother Burt, to a court in neighboring Kewanee. After a day-long trial that went into the evening, he was found not guilty, his lawyers proving that the attendant was not a sworn police officer, ergo there was no arrest to be resisted and no conduct disorderly.
Over the next few years, Zang held various jobs including working at an oil well in California, driving a 19-passenger auto bus transporting shoppers from nearby towns to Kewanee, and in 1917, purchasing a 7-ton Republic truck from the Hay Brothers Garage, which was exhibited at the Kewanee Fair. There is no information, however, on what he did with the rather large vehicle, but may have hauled for hire.
Zang apparently had an itch that always needed scratching when it came to breaking the law. A search of the digital archives of the Star Courier on the Kewanee Publc Library’s website found Zang’s name first appeared in court news in February 1920 when he was fined $10 and costs on a charge of gambling after a sweep of local establishments by out-of-town detectives. In October of the same year he paid a fine of $200 on gambling charges. Over the next 10 years Grover Zang’s name appeared often in the police and court news for bootlegging, possession of moonshine, possession of a still, possession of mash, gambling and possession of stolen property. Prohibition went into effect on Jan. 16, 1920, making the manufacture, distribution and sale of alcohol illegal. It didn’t take long for Zang to start spinning what seemed like a revolving courtroom door, getting caught, paying a fine, and going right back to his bootlegging and speakeasy. Zang lived in an isolated residence on the west side of Chautauqua Park, away from the eyes of the law, in a place called The Japanese Garden, known only to friends who got in using a secret password at the door.
The basement bar was raided for the first time Wednesday, Dec. 7, 1921, by Kewanee police. Zang paid a fine of $100 and costs the next morning in magistrate’s court. The house is still there, now the home of the Paul Hove family.
Hove was told by the late Kewanee businessman Hadyn Keesler that Zang had a hidden escape tunnel leading into the park so customers could discretely scram when the law came knocking in a frequent cat-and-mouse game between cops and those serving illegal home brew. Hove said a section of the original bar is still in the basement. By 1923, Zang had moved to West Third Street on what was known as Whiskey Row, in downtown Kewanee, and was operating a “soft drink parlor,” a common front for selling and serving moonshine whiskey, where he was also arrested along with the proprietors of three other establishments in November of 1923.
In March 1926, Zang had a week of especially bad luck. On the night of Monday, March 22, acting on a tip, Kewanee police caught Zang loading kegs and barrels of moonshine from a horse-drawn wagon into the trunk of his car around 10 p.m. at the fairgrounds on the east edge of town, now the sites of Kewanee High School and Fairview Homes. A man had brought the load onto the grounds under cover of night with the containers covered by loose hay. Zang paid a fine of $200 and costs on a charge of possessing liquor in connection with the moonshine hayride.
A few days later, on Saturday, March 27, police raided Zang’s soft drink parlor (again) where they found a gambling game in progress in the basement.
Part two of a three-part series: Building a ‘horse palace’ south of town
Grover Zang apparently began to tire of playing hide-and-seek with local law enforcement as the Roaring 20s rolled on. His name in the papers went from raids and rum running to the “Sport of Kings” as he entered the world of harness racing. The Feb. 21, 1928, Star Courier reported prospects were good in the upcoming racing season for Zang’s 3-year-old, “Kewanee Boy.” Another reason for settling down to a respectable life was Zang’s marriage in 1928 to Dora Lauer.
Zang had been training his horses at the county fairgrounds track in Cambridge but soon had plans for his own operation closer to home. In the Dec. 10, 1929, Star Courier it was reported that Zang had purchased 80 acres of land from E. S. Whiting four miles south of Kewanee for $200 an acre “and contemplates using it to house his horse stables.“
About two weeks later, on Sunday, Jan. 26, 1930, Zang’s soft drink parlor, The White Front, at 207 W. Third St., was raided resulting in a fine of $125 and costs — and more bad press — for operating a gambling game. In June of 1930, Zang was “building a large new barn on the old Whiting property...headquarters for his stables, training quarters and perhaps a riding academy.” He was unaware that, at the same time, undercover federal officers were observing local establishments, including The White Front. On the night of Saturday, Oct. 4, 1930, the feds swooped down in surprise raids on numerous establishments shortly before midnight, arresting 12 men and three women on charges of possessing and/or selling liquor. Zang was apparently not there when the feds busted down the door, but a warrant was issued for his arrest as the owner. By now identified in the newspaper story as “Kewanee horseman Grover A. Zang,” he was finally acquitted of the charges in federal court in Peoria in April of 1932, while three of his employees were each sentenced to two to three months in jail. By this time, Zang was filling the pages of the Star Courier with stories from the harness racing circuit and photos of his new stable.
It has been said that some of the lumber used to construct the barn came from demolition of barns and exhibit halls at the Kewanee fairgrounds. The fair closed in 1927 due to “lack of interest and accumulating losses,” according to a June 14 story. In October of 1929 it was reported that the securities company that owned the property was selling the buildings to buyers who were tearing them down for lumber. The timing is right, but Zang was not listed among those tearing down the barns. In December of that year, Zang bought the Whiting land and announced plans to build a stable, so he may have been among others not listed in the paper.
On Wednesday, Dec. 31, 1930, the first photo of the completed barn appeared in the Star Courier with “Waunee (used for the first time) Stock Farm — Trotters & Pacers” bannered across the front of the building in large letters. “This is one of Kewanee’s new and promising institutions of the past year,” the caption read. “It has commanded the attention of passing motorists since its completion several months ago.” The proprietor, Grover A. Zang is “a veteran in the ranks of turfmen of this part of the state and has one of the outstanding stables of the country in the harness racing classic. His charges appeared in some of the fastest circuits in the country this year and were in the money many times.” Besides the modern stables, the facility boasted a half-mile race track and training course north of the barn. A lengthy feature story by Star Courier sports writer C. O. Schlaver appeared April 17, 1931, with more details. “Here, the horse reigns supreme...all of an aristocracy bred to the sulky and race track.”
The $15,000 barn housed 17 horses owned by Zang and others, including a retired sheriff and current county treasurer, both from Stark County, indicating that the former bootlegger was mingling with a better crowd.
It was anticipated that more than 100 tons of hay stored in the cavernous mow and several thousand bushels of oats stored in bins on the first floor would be needed annually to feed the stock. Other “someday” ideas for the racing emporium were a grandstand on the racing oval and a tourist camp “in that grove of trees to the north of the track.” Neither was ever built. Zang took a six-month racing tour to half a dozen surrounding states, transporting eight pacers and trotters in a “horse palace” van mounted on a truck specially equipped with separate stalls for each.
Instead of a tourist camp, Zang built a place called the Waunee Tavern in that grove of trees in 1932. A story on Saturday, June 18, reported: “The Waunee Tavern, an attractive new building on Route 28 (now 78) south of Kewanee and to the north of the Waunee Stock Farm, will have its opening tonight. Equipped for convenience and service to patrons, the tavern will be operated by Mrs. Grover A. Zang. Short orders, sandwiches and refreshments will be served tonight from 7 o’clock to midnight and on Sunday, chicken or steak dinners will be available.” The establishment soon became a popular destination. In April of 1933, 12 members of the business women and teachers’ class of the Y.M.C.A. hiked to the Waunee Tavern one night for supper and returned by moonlight. In December of that year, the Wethersfield High School football team and Coach George Keist were treated to a season-ending banquet at the Waunee Tavern by the players’ fathers. The head football coach from Keist’s alma mater, Eureka College, was the speaker.
Part 3: Death of an ‘enterprising, progressive citizen’
Grover Zang may have moved his businesses out into the country because of increasing pressure on speakeasys and gambling dens in town, but when the 18th Amendment was repealed in 1933, ending Prohibition making it legal to serve alcohol once again, liquor could be served legally to adults.
Rumors have persisted over the years, however, that Zang continued to maintain a low profile gambling operation in the basement of his dining establishment south of town.
In 1937, Zang was involved in tearing down the old Central School. According to a June 22 story, “Material is to be salvaged and Mr. Zang will use some of the lumber in the extensive enlarging program for the Waunee Farm restaurant.”
No documentation could be found to determine when the corn crib south of the barn was built, but an ad for Kewanee Machinery & Conveyor in October of 1938 invites the public “to inspect the modern crib and granary at the Waunee Farm owned by Grover Zang, which is equipped with a new Kewanee bucket (grain) elevator.“
Zang and his wife also became prominent in bowling circles in central Illinois and eastern Iowa, enhancing his new respectable image.
In March of 1939, Zang announced he was not entering any horses in races that year. Injuries plagued the 1938 season and left him with few race-worthy horses.
Well-connected and respected in the horse industry by now, Zang was selected as a judge of harness races at the Illinois State Fair in the summer of 1939. On the morning of Aug. 17, when he didn’t come down from his room for breakfast, fellow judges checked and found him dead in his room. He was 52. The coroner believed Zang had died of a heart attack sometime during the night. There was no sign of a stuggle.
At his funeral, attended by “scores of relatives, friends, business associates, and prominent harness racing officials from around the state,” Rev. Ludwig Emigholz told mourners, “And there is comfort in the character of the departed, for he was an enterprising and progressive citizen with many, many friends, and who was considerate of all those with whom he was associated.” Not too shabby for a longtime bootlegger. Among the pallbearers was a future Kewanee police chief, Clyde Rorah, who was apparently a close friend.
Mrs. Zang continuued to own and operate the Waunee Farm Restaurant and leased the farmland and barn to Axel Madsen, an immigrant from Denmark who planned to create a breeding farm on which he would produce foundation stock for dairy herds in this part of the state. Madsen also owned plants manufacturing dairy products in Toulon, Tiskilwa and Manlius.
In January of 1945, Mrs. Zang sold the restaurant and adjacent home to Marion “Bud” Ward, a popular Kewanee cafe owner who had operated Henry County’s first open-air barbecue at Tenney and Garfield streets. Ward announced the Waunee Farm would reopen in the spring after being closed since December of 1943 due to rationing for the war effort. Also in January of 1945, Dora sold the 80-acre Waunee Stock Farm to Simon P. Bryan, who had purchased the 160-acre Golden Guernsey Dairy Farm across the road in 1944 from the Johnstone brothers. In 1953, Kewanee VFW Post 2675 sold their tavern and clubrooms at 215 W. Third St., and purchased the Waunee Farm Restaurant from Ward, opening under their ownership that fall.
The move proved to be more than the VFW had apparently bargained for, getting into a squabble with the musicians union and later fined after being busted for selling liquor to minors, all resulting in negative press for the post.
In April of 1955, Glen Andris had purchased the restaurant from VFW Post 2675 and was advertising for full-time waitresses and a part-time cook. Applicants were required to state their age and experience. Andris was later advertised as the cook. On Tuesday, June 28, 1955, a small ad in the classifieds announced the restaurant, under a new name, Andris Waunee Farm, would open for business at 5 p.m. that day. The place had been remodeled and a completely new kitchen installed with streaks, chicken, lobster and chops on the menu.
There were also accommodations for private dinners and banquets. The Waunee Farm we remember today was born.
As for Zang’s famous barn and the farm that went with it, according to his grandson, Bill Bryan, who now lives on the farm across the road, Simon Bryan owned it until his death in 1956. The former dairy and farm on the west side of Route 34, Which Bryan purchased in 1944 from the Jonnstone brothers, went to Elaine Bryan, widow of Bryan’s son, James, who died while fighting a fire that destroyed the house on the farm in January of 1954. After Simon’s death, his widow, Nellie, traded the Waunee farm property to her sister, Grayce and brother-in-law Paul Armstrong, of Toulon, for a condominium they owned in Sarasota, Fla., where she moved and later remarried.
According to published property tax assessments, the Armstrongs owned the 77-acre farm for several years before selling it to Clayton Humphrey, secretary-treasurer of the Kewanee Production Credit Association, while Andris owned 3 acres on which the restaurant and home were located. Humphrey died in 1966 and his wife two years later, in 1968.
The first sign of Andris’ name associated with the property is an April 17, 1969 photo of Ratliff Bros. “grading the half-mile exercise track on land just south of Andris Waunee Farm Restaurant. The track will be used by race horses stabled in the former ‘Zang’ barn.” Glen and his brother Kenneth are listed as owners of the 77 acres in the published 1970 tax assessments.
After Glen Andris’ death in 2007, the property remained in a trust until it was purchased by Kewanee Harley-Davidson dealer Dennie Packee several years ago. In 2017-18, Packee’s son, Scott, and Tony Segura completed an extensive renovation of the barn from the ground up, converting it into an wedding and event center called The Stables, which is now available for wedding ceremonies, receptions and other events.
The Packee Family took ownership of the barn in 2015 and with the help, hardwork and talent of the Segura family, we restored the barn into what it is today. We are keeping the barn as original as possible with adding our own unique touch. These walls could tell stories.
Below is an article researched and written by Dave Clarke from The Kewanee Star Courier.
Part one of a three-part series: One step ahead of the law
Grover Zang’s first brush with the law took place in 1906 when he was 18 and charged with slugging the attendant who was trying to remove him for rowdy behavior from the ice skating rink at Windmont Park.
After nearly a decade of bootlegging, gambling, and dodging the police in the secretive underworld of Prohibition in 1920s Kewanee, he finally went “legit” and, in 1930, built a magnificent stable for thoroughbred racing horses south of Kewanee he called the Waunee Stock Farm. There, he would raise and train some of the best pacers and trotters in harness racing, and became known as the “genial gentleman” of the Sport of Kings, competing at race tracks across the nation until his sudden death in 1939.
Today, his massive, four-winged barn has been rebuilt from the ground up by two Kewanee men, Tony Segura and Scott Packee, and renamed The Stables Wedding & Event Venue, now catering to weddings, receptions and other social events.
But back to 1906. On Jan. 31, young Zang was ordered off the ice at Windmont lake by special officer Dudley Craig. He resisted, striking Craig in the face several times, according to the account in the Star Courier. The next morning, he was arrested by the Wethersfield constable for resisting an officer and disorderly conduct.
In a pattern that became familair with Zang, he hired not one, but two attorneys, and got the case moved from a magistrate in Wethersfield, who happened to be Craig’s brother Burt, to a court in neighboring Kewanee. After a day-long trial that went into the evening, he was found not guilty, his lawyers proving that the attendant was not a sworn police officer, ergo there was no arrest to be resisted and no conduct disorderly.
Over the next few years, Zang held various jobs including working at an oil well in California, driving a 19-passenger auto bus transporting shoppers from nearby towns to Kewanee, and in 1917, purchasing a 7-ton Republic truck from the Hay Brothers Garage, which was exhibited at the Kewanee Fair. There is no information, however, on what he did with the rather large vehicle, but may have hauled for hire.
Zang apparently had an itch that always needed scratching when it came to breaking the law. A search of the digital archives of the Star Courier on the Kewanee Publc Library’s website found Zang’s name first appeared in court news in February 1920 when he was fined $10 and costs on a charge of gambling after a sweep of local establishments by out-of-town detectives. In October of the same year he paid a fine of $200 on gambling charges. Over the next 10 years Grover Zang’s name appeared often in the police and court news for bootlegging, possession of moonshine, possession of a still, possession of mash, gambling and possession of stolen property. Prohibition went into effect on Jan. 16, 1920, making the manufacture, distribution and sale of alcohol illegal. It didn’t take long for Zang to start spinning what seemed like a revolving courtroom door, getting caught, paying a fine, and going right back to his bootlegging and speakeasy. Zang lived in an isolated residence on the west side of Chautauqua Park, away from the eyes of the law, in a place called The Japanese Garden, known only to friends who got in using a secret password at the door.
The basement bar was raided for the first time Wednesday, Dec. 7, 1921, by Kewanee police. Zang paid a fine of $100 and costs the next morning in magistrate’s court. The house is still there, now the home of the Paul Hove family.
Hove was told by the late Kewanee businessman Hadyn Keesler that Zang had a hidden escape tunnel leading into the park so customers could discretely scram when the law came knocking in a frequent cat-and-mouse game between cops and those serving illegal home brew. Hove said a section of the original bar is still in the basement. By 1923, Zang had moved to West Third Street on what was known as Whiskey Row, in downtown Kewanee, and was operating a “soft drink parlor,” a common front for selling and serving moonshine whiskey, where he was also arrested along with the proprietors of three other establishments in November of 1923.
In March 1926, Zang had a week of especially bad luck. On the night of Monday, March 22, acting on a tip, Kewanee police caught Zang loading kegs and barrels of moonshine from a horse-drawn wagon into the trunk of his car around 10 p.m. at the fairgrounds on the east edge of town, now the sites of Kewanee High School and Fairview Homes. A man had brought the load onto the grounds under cover of night with the containers covered by loose hay. Zang paid a fine of $200 and costs on a charge of possessing liquor in connection with the moonshine hayride.
A few days later, on Saturday, March 27, police raided Zang’s soft drink parlor (again) where they found a gambling game in progress in the basement.
Part two of a three-part series: Building a ‘horse palace’ south of town
Grover Zang apparently began to tire of playing hide-and-seek with local law enforcement as the Roaring 20s rolled on. His name in the papers went from raids and rum running to the “Sport of Kings” as he entered the world of harness racing. The Feb. 21, 1928, Star Courier reported prospects were good in the upcoming racing season for Zang’s 3-year-old, “Kewanee Boy.” Another reason for settling down to a respectable life was Zang’s marriage in 1928 to Dora Lauer.
Zang had been training his horses at the county fairgrounds track in Cambridge but soon had plans for his own operation closer to home. In the Dec. 10, 1929, Star Courier it was reported that Zang had purchased 80 acres of land from E. S. Whiting four miles south of Kewanee for $200 an acre “and contemplates using it to house his horse stables.“
About two weeks later, on Sunday, Jan. 26, 1930, Zang’s soft drink parlor, The White Front, at 207 W. Third St., was raided resulting in a fine of $125 and costs — and more bad press — for operating a gambling game. In June of 1930, Zang was “building a large new barn on the old Whiting property...headquarters for his stables, training quarters and perhaps a riding academy.” He was unaware that, at the same time, undercover federal officers were observing local establishments, including The White Front. On the night of Saturday, Oct. 4, 1930, the feds swooped down in surprise raids on numerous establishments shortly before midnight, arresting 12 men and three women on charges of possessing and/or selling liquor. Zang was apparently not there when the feds busted down the door, but a warrant was issued for his arrest as the owner. By now identified in the newspaper story as “Kewanee horseman Grover A. Zang,” he was finally acquitted of the charges in federal court in Peoria in April of 1932, while three of his employees were each sentenced to two to three months in jail. By this time, Zang was filling the pages of the Star Courier with stories from the harness racing circuit and photos of his new stable.
It has been said that some of the lumber used to construct the barn came from demolition of barns and exhibit halls at the Kewanee fairgrounds. The fair closed in 1927 due to “lack of interest and accumulating losses,” according to a June 14 story. In October of 1929 it was reported that the securities company that owned the property was selling the buildings to buyers who were tearing them down for lumber. The timing is right, but Zang was not listed among those tearing down the barns. In December of that year, Zang bought the Whiting land and announced plans to build a stable, so he may have been among others not listed in the paper.
On Wednesday, Dec. 31, 1930, the first photo of the completed barn appeared in the Star Courier with “Waunee (used for the first time) Stock Farm — Trotters & Pacers” bannered across the front of the building in large letters. “This is one of Kewanee’s new and promising institutions of the past year,” the caption read. “It has commanded the attention of passing motorists since its completion several months ago.” The proprietor, Grover A. Zang is “a veteran in the ranks of turfmen of this part of the state and has one of the outstanding stables of the country in the harness racing classic. His charges appeared in some of the fastest circuits in the country this year and were in the money many times.” Besides the modern stables, the facility boasted a half-mile race track and training course north of the barn. A lengthy feature story by Star Courier sports writer C. O. Schlaver appeared April 17, 1931, with more details. “Here, the horse reigns supreme...all of an aristocracy bred to the sulky and race track.”
The $15,000 barn housed 17 horses owned by Zang and others, including a retired sheriff and current county treasurer, both from Stark County, indicating that the former bootlegger was mingling with a better crowd.
It was anticipated that more than 100 tons of hay stored in the cavernous mow and several thousand bushels of oats stored in bins on the first floor would be needed annually to feed the stock. Other “someday” ideas for the racing emporium were a grandstand on the racing oval and a tourist camp “in that grove of trees to the north of the track.” Neither was ever built. Zang took a six-month racing tour to half a dozen surrounding states, transporting eight pacers and trotters in a “horse palace” van mounted on a truck specially equipped with separate stalls for each.
Instead of a tourist camp, Zang built a place called the Waunee Tavern in that grove of trees in 1932. A story on Saturday, June 18, reported: “The Waunee Tavern, an attractive new building on Route 28 (now 78) south of Kewanee and to the north of the Waunee Stock Farm, will have its opening tonight. Equipped for convenience and service to patrons, the tavern will be operated by Mrs. Grover A. Zang. Short orders, sandwiches and refreshments will be served tonight from 7 o’clock to midnight and on Sunday, chicken or steak dinners will be available.” The establishment soon became a popular destination. In April of 1933, 12 members of the business women and teachers’ class of the Y.M.C.A. hiked to the Waunee Tavern one night for supper and returned by moonlight. In December of that year, the Wethersfield High School football team and Coach George Keist were treated to a season-ending banquet at the Waunee Tavern by the players’ fathers. The head football coach from Keist’s alma mater, Eureka College, was the speaker.
Part 3: Death of an ‘enterprising, progressive citizen’
Grover Zang may have moved his businesses out into the country because of increasing pressure on speakeasys and gambling dens in town, but when the 18th Amendment was repealed in 1933, ending Prohibition making it legal to serve alcohol once again, liquor could be served legally to adults.
Rumors have persisted over the years, however, that Zang continued to maintain a low profile gambling operation in the basement of his dining establishment south of town.
In 1937, Zang was involved in tearing down the old Central School. According to a June 22 story, “Material is to be salvaged and Mr. Zang will use some of the lumber in the extensive enlarging program for the Waunee Farm restaurant.”
No documentation could be found to determine when the corn crib south of the barn was built, but an ad for Kewanee Machinery & Conveyor in October of 1938 invites the public “to inspect the modern crib and granary at the Waunee Farm owned by Grover Zang, which is equipped with a new Kewanee bucket (grain) elevator.“
Zang and his wife also became prominent in bowling circles in central Illinois and eastern Iowa, enhancing his new respectable image.
In March of 1939, Zang announced he was not entering any horses in races that year. Injuries plagued the 1938 season and left him with few race-worthy horses.
Well-connected and respected in the horse industry by now, Zang was selected as a judge of harness races at the Illinois State Fair in the summer of 1939. On the morning of Aug. 17, when he didn’t come down from his room for breakfast, fellow judges checked and found him dead in his room. He was 52. The coroner believed Zang had died of a heart attack sometime during the night. There was no sign of a stuggle.
At his funeral, attended by “scores of relatives, friends, business associates, and prominent harness racing officials from around the state,” Rev. Ludwig Emigholz told mourners, “And there is comfort in the character of the departed, for he was an enterprising and progressive citizen with many, many friends, and who was considerate of all those with whom he was associated.” Not too shabby for a longtime bootlegger. Among the pallbearers was a future Kewanee police chief, Clyde Rorah, who was apparently a close friend.
Mrs. Zang continuued to own and operate the Waunee Farm Restaurant and leased the farmland and barn to Axel Madsen, an immigrant from Denmark who planned to create a breeding farm on which he would produce foundation stock for dairy herds in this part of the state. Madsen also owned plants manufacturing dairy products in Toulon, Tiskilwa and Manlius.
In January of 1945, Mrs. Zang sold the restaurant and adjacent home to Marion “Bud” Ward, a popular Kewanee cafe owner who had operated Henry County’s first open-air barbecue at Tenney and Garfield streets. Ward announced the Waunee Farm would reopen in the spring after being closed since December of 1943 due to rationing for the war effort. Also in January of 1945, Dora sold the 80-acre Waunee Stock Farm to Simon P. Bryan, who had purchased the 160-acre Golden Guernsey Dairy Farm across the road in 1944 from the Johnstone brothers. In 1953, Kewanee VFW Post 2675 sold their tavern and clubrooms at 215 W. Third St., and purchased the Waunee Farm Restaurant from Ward, opening under their ownership that fall.
The move proved to be more than the VFW had apparently bargained for, getting into a squabble with the musicians union and later fined after being busted for selling liquor to minors, all resulting in negative press for the post.
In April of 1955, Glen Andris had purchased the restaurant from VFW Post 2675 and was advertising for full-time waitresses and a part-time cook. Applicants were required to state their age and experience. Andris was later advertised as the cook. On Tuesday, June 28, 1955, a small ad in the classifieds announced the restaurant, under a new name, Andris Waunee Farm, would open for business at 5 p.m. that day. The place had been remodeled and a completely new kitchen installed with streaks, chicken, lobster and chops on the menu.
There were also accommodations for private dinners and banquets. The Waunee Farm we remember today was born.
As for Zang’s famous barn and the farm that went with it, according to his grandson, Bill Bryan, who now lives on the farm across the road, Simon Bryan owned it until his death in 1956. The former dairy and farm on the west side of Route 34, Which Bryan purchased in 1944 from the Jonnstone brothers, went to Elaine Bryan, widow of Bryan’s son, James, who died while fighting a fire that destroyed the house on the farm in January of 1954. After Simon’s death, his widow, Nellie, traded the Waunee farm property to her sister, Grayce and brother-in-law Paul Armstrong, of Toulon, for a condominium they owned in Sarasota, Fla., where she moved and later remarried.
According to published property tax assessments, the Armstrongs owned the 77-acre farm for several years before selling it to Clayton Humphrey, secretary-treasurer of the Kewanee Production Credit Association, while Andris owned 3 acres on which the restaurant and home were located. Humphrey died in 1966 and his wife two years later, in 1968.
The first sign of Andris’ name associated with the property is an April 17, 1969 photo of Ratliff Bros. “grading the half-mile exercise track on land just south of Andris Waunee Farm Restaurant. The track will be used by race horses stabled in the former ‘Zang’ barn.” Glen and his brother Kenneth are listed as owners of the 77 acres in the published 1970 tax assessments.
After Glen Andris’ death in 2007, the property remained in a trust until it was purchased by Kewanee Harley-Davidson dealer Dennie Packee several years ago. In 2017-18, Packee’s son, Scott, and Tony Segura completed an extensive renovation of the barn from the ground up, converting it into an wedding and event center called The Stables, which is now available for wedding ceremonies, receptions and other events.