Debbie and Jon Higgason own Higgy’s Bar and Grill on the Pawnee Square at 613 7th Street in Pawnee.  Higgy’s has been open since June of last year.  The couple also owns County 5, a bar and restaurant in Bullpitt, Illinois. 

When looking at opening Higgy's, the Higgasons had been considering purchasing the adjacent building to open a gaming room, then learned they could purchase the former 1854 Wine Pub as well.

“My husband likes to find the smallest space available and put a kitchen in it,” Debbie Higgason said.  “When we bought County 5 five years ago, there was just four walls and a bar.  Here in Pawnee, there was a kitchen, so we had an idea what we were doing.”
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Debbie joked and said that Jon said got the idea for a bar after they were sitting around in their garage, and he said he needed to open a bar to charge for beers.  Then she laughed and added, “He built a kitchen so I would cook for him.”

This isn’t the first time the building has served as a bar, before it became Higgy’s, it was the 1854 Wine Pub, and was the original location for Locals.  Before that, at one time the building was a gun ammo shop with a jewelry store next door back in the 1950’s.  The building is also familiarly remembered as a tearoom.

Debbie said when she was a teen she worked as an Assistant Manager at Wendy’s.  “I said I would never do it again,” she laughed since she recently retired from the Kincaid Power and is now working at the two bar/restaurants fulltime.

Jon works at the Northern Suffolk Railroad besides Higgy’s and County 5.  “When we first bought County 5 in August of 2018, we started and planned to have pizzas and a bar, then we added different ways to cook and kept adding,” Debbie said about the expanding menu.

While the menus at the two bar/restaurants are not quite mirror images of each other they are quite similar.  At Higgy’s, they offer extensive appetizers, from French fries and tots, to white cheddar balls, portobellos, and cannelloni bites.  They also have wings, broccoli bacon bites, and more. Then there are the pizzas!  “We can make about any concoction if we have the ingredients.  Then with appetizers, hot wings, pretzel bites and cannelloni bites are very popular.”
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As far as sandwiches they offer hamburgers, Philly cheesesteak, and Debbie added, “We can’t hardly keep Italian beef in stock.”

These are just a few of the sandwiches available. Besides the regular pony and horseshoe, they also offer a mule shoe, which Debbie said, “Is double the meat.”

“Our horse, pony, and mule shoe doesn’t have bread unless you ask for it,” she added. While the kitchen usually closes most nights around 10:00 p.m., customers can still order appetizers or pizzas until closing time.

County 5 in Bullpitt also has a drive through window option.  Debbie said, “We didn’t think about the 16” pizzas when we designed the window. We usually take the money, then bring out the pizzas.”

The drive through window made all the difference during COVID, it truly supplemented their income. “On Sundays in Pawnee, we have fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans and corn.  We always have real potatoes,” Debbie said.

Tuesday’s, they offer a homemade chicken and noodle special, and in Bullpitt, it is offered on Wednesday.  Higgy’s is open 10:30 – 12:00 p.m. Sunday – Thursday and until 2:00 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.  Although they close at midnight usually, Debbie said they will stay open if someone is playing. County 5 is open until 3:00 a.m. every night. Debbie said in Bullpitt they have a later crowd that overflows from the Taylorville bars that close at midnight. 

She said they are liking it in Pawnee.  “I like the locals, they are friendly.”

They have regulars that come in for lunch, and the crowd is smoothing out.  With Bingo every Tuesday night with Progressive Jackpots, and a pool table and darts, along with gaming and often entertainment, there is something to do that keeps bringing customers back time and time again.  Bingo has become quite popular.  “My daughter calls the numbers,” Debbie added.
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As summer comes, she said the entertainment will dwindle off a bit since people like to be outside.  The Higgasons are in the process of building a small beer garden out back.  “We have one started, but I have to wait for Jon to finish it,” Debbie said, adding he is very busy with a fulltime job as well as the business.

For the Debbie and Jon their customers become almost like family.  Most holidays they have been open, and Debbie has prepared a traditional meal and served them at no cost.

If looking for a place to kick back and try out some new food, appetizers, drink, or entertainment, check out Higgy’s on the square.   For more information, call (217) 646-8188 or check their facebook page at (1) Higgy's | Facebook.

T and J Lawn Care is located on the corner of Highway 104 and Pawnee Road in Pawnee in a former automotive building.  Owned by Jamie Rolland and his father-in-law Todd Williams, they just moved into the building last year.  They have decorated the building in their corporate red and green colors. 

The T stands for Todd, who Jaimie said, “Does the behind-the-scenes paperwork and such,” and the J stands for Jamie who does the physical labor aspect of the job.

The Rolland and Williams families are very entrepreneurial.  Jamie’s wife Tara runs a daycare out of her home.  “She has kids from babies to age seven,” Jamie added.  

Jamie and Tina have three children, two sons ages 13 and six and a daughter that is soon to be 12. 

“This is our sixth season,” Jamie said about T and J Lawn Care.  “We work in springtime from sun up to sundown.”
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T and J Lawn Care offers residential and commercial lawn care, tree trimming, and in the winter snow removal.  Along with the lawn care business, they also offer property maintenance.  “We do deck installs, privacy fencing, light tree trimming and light removal.  If removals require a bucket truck, we subcontract out.”

Another part of the property maintenance tasks offered include gutter cleaning, power washing, mulch and rock installation and more.

Jamie grew up on a farm and found this kind of work to be his passion.  “I’ve been doing this type of work for 23 years.  Seventeen of those years were for other companies.”

Opening the business has been a wonderful partnership.  “I married into a good family. I have a mother and father-in-law that believe in me.”

With his wife Tina for the past ten years, they have been married for six years.  “It has been an amazing ride. When Tina’s parents moved here, we got married and moved here too.  We like Pawnee.”

Jamie grew up south of Murrayville, east of Manchester, and north of Roodhouse.  “I’m a country boy.  I lived with my grandparents’ part of the time.”

Getting started not long after high school Jamie said he got his start working in Sherman at Standerfer Lawn Care.  “I grew up on a farm and liked the work and I had a knack for it. I was driving tractors and mowing ditches at ten years old.”

While academics wasn’t his thing, he found that hard work and mechanical jobs were. 
He is self-taught and over the years has taught others about the lawn care industry as well. “To learn just takes someone to listen.”

T and J Lawn Care is an award-winning company that prides themselves on their customer care.  “We just won the State Journal Register Reader’s Choice Award.  We also were the first runner up in the Illinois Times Readers Choice Award,” Jamie added.

Taking pride in their work is a big part of what made them an award-winning company.  “Lawn Care and Property Maintenance is expensive, so we pride ourselves on giving people what they pay for.  It is nice to pull away from a property and say, ‘We just did that”.

The company works all over Central Illinois and while Jamie said he is not actively taking on new jobs, he will accept work in the Village of Pawnee because he would like to spend less time on the road and more in town where he lives and works.  “Right now, we go all over central Illinois, it is profitable.  We are all the way in Jacksonville and Petersburg.”
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To contact T and J Lawn Care, call 217-899-3420 or 217-891-6875. Check out their Facebook page at (4) T&J Lawn Care And Home Services | Facebook.

Behind Madonna’s Child Development on Carroll Street, or Highway 104 in Suite C, are three Pawnee businesses.  The three are Administrative Services Incorporated, Black Oak Securities, Inc., and Buckeye Insurance Agency, Inc.  Dwan Gross, who is the current owner, explained that all three businesses were originally started by Alvin “Marty” Mavis, Gerald “Jerry” Garfield and Eric Stark.

Mr. Mavis from Rochester retired in 1997, Mr. Garfield from Springfield retired in 2007, and Eric Stark from Glenarm, just recently retired this past July 2021.  Dwan, who hails from Taylorville, Illinois, said that she has been with the business since 2000.  

She learned about an opening at Administrative Services in a local newspaper.  “I saw an ad in the Breeze Courier, I interviewed and have been here ever since.  In 2005, I acquired some ownership, and then became President in 2021.”

The Administrative Services office was first located in Rochester, Illinois, but has been at the Pawnee location since 2018.  Dwan said they rent space from Madonna and Lynn Strawn, who redid the space to fit their business needs and now it suits them perfectly.

​“I have a great staff, Tammy Scott from Taylorville, who has been with me for ten years, and Jami McElroy from Pawnee, who has been here for three years,” Dwan added.

The three businesses Administrative Services Incorporated, Black Oak Securities, Inc., and Buckeye Insurance Agency work together hand in hand.  The first business that started it all was Administrative Services, which was incorporated in January of 1989.  Administrative Services, Inc. specializes in employee benefits.

“Since 1989 we have been dedicated to providing our clients with not only the best benefits, but also the best service,” Dwan explains.  “As an independent firm, we can help you shop, compare, and find the best plans for your specific needs and budget.  Throughout the years we have been working to create an employee benefits package which will allow even the smallest firm to compete with the largest for good employees. We work with each client personally to make this possible.”

As part of their services, they offer Pre-Tax Plans e.g. Flexible Spending Accounts, Health Reimbursement Arrangements and Premium Only Plans, along with Insurance Plans, and Retirement Plans. “When you offer benefits like these, you need a Third Party Administrator,” Dwan said, and that’s where they come in.  We offer a variety of plan designs, no one size fits all.  We offer plans to statewide associations, both large and small corporations, and sole proprietors.”

To meet the investment needs of our clients, Black Oak Securities, Inc. was born.  “Black Oak Securities was incorporated in September of 1992,” Dwan said. 

On their website they share, “Black Oak Securities Inc. (BOS) is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a broker dealer (BD) and is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).  BOS is an independent BD that has been conducting limited securities business since 1992.”

“Black Oak Securities, Inc. now has 15 registered representatives in Illinois and Missouri that work not only with employers, but with individuals as well. We can help you start saving for retirement through an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), including Roth IRAs, Rollover IRAs, etc.  We offer employer sponsored plans such as 401(k)s, Profit Sharing Plans, SIMPLE IRAs, Payroll Deduct IRAs & Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) Plans.  We can even assist with saving for college for your kids.”

She goes on to say, “Our team is honest, ethical, trustworthy, truthful, timely and reliable.  We are committed to act with integrity and loyalty.  You can count on us to work diligently on your behalf as recommendations are being made.”

The other aspect of the employee benefits industry is insurance, which is how Buckeye Insurance Agency came about.  Buckeye Insurance Agency became incorporated in December of 1997.  At Buckeye they offer both group and individual health care plans along with dental, vision, life and disability insurance.  They can help with Medicare and “Obamacare” as well.

“All three businesses go hand in hand, we are a one stop shop.  With three different companies in one office, we can provide you with the ability to offer your employees a variety of benefits, many at little or no cost,” Dwan said.

While the office move to Pawnee happened in 2018, Dwan and her husband Shawne moved outside of Pawnee in 2010.  “We like the small-town atmosphere of Pawnee,” she added.

Pawnee has been a great place for business located right in the heart of central Illinois.  The business and client base are all over Illinois and Missouri.  To keep business running smoothly takes a great team, and Dwan can’t say enough of her staff.  “I couldn’t do it without them; they are very knowledgeable of the products offered and provide great customer service.”
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Open for business Monday – Friday from 8:00 am – 4:30 p.m. customers can stop by or call Administrative Services Incorporated at 217-498-8450.

By Cindy Ladage

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Hair on the Square has been open for three years.  Jenny Gillick and Ashley Milner are owners of Hair on the Square, a beauty salon just off the square.  The actual business location address is 619 Douglas St., Suite B, just around the corner from Glenn Brothers Garage Door Inc. 

Just the right size for the two stylists, Jenny said about the area where their cute shop is located, “Before, this was the storage for the (Glenn Brothers) garage.”

Way back when, the location of Glenn Brother’s Garage was Harry’s, a bar and grill famous for their milk shakes and hamburgers.  Jenny and Ashley think perhaps the area where their shop is now located was once where the pool table was back when.  The building has been a few other businesses along the way, but today it is a place for Pawnee residents and those in Central Illinois to come to be pampered.

The building is owned by Glenn Brothers Garage and Tim Glenn converted the area for the stylists into their current cool workspace.  With exposed brick and the clean sleek grey color combo, it sets just the right tone for a wonderful beauty experience.  At Hair on the Square, they offer a variety of treatments.  Without ever having to leave town, you can get a haircut, color, highlights and more.  You can get a perm, waxing, a pedicure or manicure!  

On the square, this is an easy location for Pawnee residents, however, customers come a ways to the shop as well!  One of the Facebook Reviews shows one customer drives an hour one way for hair styling, providing readers an idea of the stylist’s customer base loyalty.
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Besides the services outlined above, Jenny and Ashley added that gift certificates are available.  This would make wonderful Valentine’s Day, or upcoming Mother’s Day gift.

Jenny and Ashley are experienced stylists that chose to open a shop together and pool their talents.  ‘We worked together previously,” Ashley said.  

The two met when working at another salon.  That experience showed them that working together was something they knew they would enjoy before opening their own shop.  

Pawnee has been the perfect place for their hair salon location.  Jenny, who was born and raised in Pawnee, attended cosmetology school in Springfield right out of high school and started doing hair right after graduation.  “I’ve been doing hair for 23 years now,” she added.

Ashley who also has been a Pawnee resident all her life also attended cosmetology school after high school and started working in the industry after graduation.  “I have been doing this for 18 years,” she shared.

Hair on the Square is open Tuesday from 10-7, Wednesday from 3-7, Thursday from 10-7, Friday from 8-2, and Saturday from 10-2, most of the time.  With COVID, and unexpected family needs, hours may vary slightly! 

Both Jenny and Ashley are married with children. Jenny and her husband Matthew have been married for eleven years and have two children, a girl that is eight, and a boy that is four.  Matthew works in Taylorville for a food service warehouse company.  Ashley is married to Bill, and they have two children.  Their daughter is 19 and married, and they have a daughter that is 13. Ashley’s husband Bill works for the State of Illinois at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

“I love it,” Jenny said about both working in the beauty industry and working in Pawnee. “I love doing this, and when I want and need to, being here in town, I can take care of stuff at home.”
Ashley added that the community has been very supportive of their salon.  “Pawnee is a good place to do business.”  

For more information about Hair on the Square, you can find them on Facebook at (5) Hair on the Square | Facebook.  Call 217-646-9068 to book an appointment.

She shared that this is a big problem that a lot of people are unaware of, and one that the Federal government really doesn’t do a lot about, however it is strictly regulated how this is handled. Tina is a Certified Mediator through the Center of Conflict Resolution in Chicago and a Certified Claims Analyst from the American Moving and Storage Association. She also holds a certificate in Interstate Household Goods Regulations from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Basically, this all means that she knows the rules and helps resolve the problems between the movers and the consumer in a legal and timely manner!

One thing that many consumers do not realize, Tina pointed out, is that trying to keep the cost of a move down, they quickly sign off on liability forms not realizing how little they may get back in the event of damage to an item. Look closely at what you are signing and realize what will be paid if something goes wrong. “When something happens, they, the consumer is upset because of what they signed and they don’t realize that is all the cost will cover,” Tina said.

“I do investigations into what happened, sometimes the movers want to do better,” she added, and they will send more money to cover the cost of the item after taking off depreciation.

“There are a lot of rules and regulations and I have to write letters and make sure that the mover is compliant with the law. I speak before police agencies, and I am a mediator as well. My name hit a mover Facebook page and my email went wild,” Tina added.

Things can get dicey sometimes in ways that no one would ever guess. Tina shared that sometimes police officers get involved when movers won’t release goods if not paid. This happens sometimes when a mover gives an estimate, then the estimate is too low. For example, the consumer may forget about items in the basement and the attic, then the mover comes to load up and the estimate goes up when they see the items in these places or the storage area that the consumer forgot about! “Estimates are not binding,” Tina added.

With clients all over the US, the Internet is her friend. “I have clients in New York, Tennessee, Wisconsin, California, Illinois and did have some as far as Maine. Her first year in business, she had to work out of state because she could not work in Illinois for a year.

Besides speaking to police officers, she also speaks at moving conferences advising them about what they are supposed to do and not supposed to do. She would like to provide information to consumers as well. She advises those getting ready to move to be as ready as possible before the move and think about their options before signing the dotted line. “Get estimates from there different movers. Check out complaints from the Better Business Bureau, you don’t need the ratings, just look at the number of complaints. After four or more complaints, the mover starts to develop patterns. If moving from point to point in Illinois also check for complaints with the Illinois Commerce Commission.”

Tina loves working in Pawnee. She and her husband Larry live in the country between Pawnee and Divernon. “I like the small-town atmosphere.”
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Originally from Dewitt, Tina graduated high school from Clinton and was a Distribution Manager for Revere Ware for years. Then she attended Illinois Central College in Peoria, Illinois where she became certified in Transportation and Traffic Management, compliance enforcement on interstate regulations from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The college helped her find her job with the State of Illinois and she said, “When transferring from Clinton to here, Springfield was too expensive for me moving alone. I looked at the small-town area and ended up here, it was so attractive.”​

One day Mike’s dad traveled back to the area looking a truck crane. “He saw a house for sale by Dowson’s hog farm and said, ‘I found a spot and we are moving.’”

That’s how Mike and his dad, mom Marie and sister, Debbie Bailey ended up in the Pawnee area. “I moved here when I was three and went to school in Chatham.”

From the time he was a tyke Mike wanted to be an iron worker. “I took autobody classes thinking that was the way for me,” Mike said.

When he was a kid, his dad kept telling him no every time he asked about becoming an iron worker. Mike said he had pretty much given up getting to join the Union, then when he was 17 his dad asked him if he wanted to be an iron worker. Mike originally said no, because he thought his dad was joking but when he realized his dad was serious, he said yes. “That was the happiest day of our lives.”

Mike joined the Iron Workers Union Local 46 in June of 1986, and he has never looked back.
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Sharp’s Welding and Fabrication is mostly a one-man shop. On occasion though, Mike said he has hired help. “But usually, I’m by myself. I’m real picky and I want to be sure when something leaves here there are no problems with it. I’m mobile too so I do a lot of service calls like yesterday I went out to help a guy that is redoing a car frame.”

Mike has had his shop on Cotton Hill Road for five years, prior to that he had a shop in Springfield. “Before that I was on South Grand for about a year, and on Dirksen a couple years before that.”

“I do a lot of work on semi-trailers. I put a lot of rollback trailers in the shop. I built cranes in the back of the shop, and I can have the bed off the truck and flip it over in an hour and put it back together. I do crazy stuff,” he shared.
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Having the shop at his home has turned out great. “I like being here. I can be in the shop till seven at night I have a lot more freedom. Guys can drop their semis off, and I can work on them over the weekend, and they don’t lose work time, they can pick them up on Monday.”

Being near the family has its benefits. His wife Angela is there and helps him with picking up material, supplies and sometimes even gets her hands dirty helping. Thank God for her. The grandkids can come out and see what grandpa is up to. With three sons and a daughter Mike said they have five grandbabies. “I can start and stop when I want. I am blessed. I work on what and when I want. I am not only a welding and fabrication shop, but I sell new steel, welding supplies for Airgas, and Airweld and trailer parts from Trailers Direct and RNP Carriages, and do small repairs on welding machines.”

Lately during the fall, he added, “Farmers keep me pretty busy.”

Doing what you love has paid off over the years. “It’s not a job. I enjoy what I ‘m doing. I’m lucky and blessed. I get to figure point A to point B.”

Pawnee was perfect because the Mulkins wanted to work in a small-town environment. “I’m a 3rd generation paint contractor,” Rick Mulkins said. “My grandpa, Bill Mulkins started painting in the 1950s in Springfield. My Dad, Rick Sr., ran Rainbow Painting for several years.”

Rick learned the craft over summers and school breaks. Growing up in Riverton and graduating from Riverton High, he went on to UIS and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. “I had bigger dreams to work in Corporate America. I always wanted to own my own business,” Rick said. “But I wanted to move to the big city and pursue my dreams.”

So, like many young people, Rick headed for the Windy City. There he worked in many sales roles. “I worked for various manufacturers and distribution companies in a variety of leadership roles. In Chicago I met my wife, Cindy. We married in 2008. She had a love of Interior Design and everything involved with home renovations. Together we started buying, renovating and flipping houses.”

While he learned painting from the family business, it was working on his own home and that of his neighbors that Rick picked up the needed carpentry and fine finishing skills. “My wife Cindy got me a miter saw and said, ‘you can do this.' So, I started practicing. Friends and neighbors saw the work and said, ‘Would you do this at our house?’”

Rick said it all really began by helping their neighbors with jobs like painting and finish carpentry. “We started cultivating the love for this business. Then people said, ‘Why don’t you do this for a living?’”
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The idea took and eventually, they opened Cinric Painting in 2018! In the meantime, though Rick said, “The years in Corporate America gave me a good idea of business and necessary skills to operate my own business.”

Gail has one son, and two grandchildren. “Carly is age 20 and she just bought her own home,” Gail said. “Collin is 14, and he is an awesome kid.”

“There are a lot of good stories,” Gail said about the business and her opportunity to work with family. “My mom, Vivian Smith worked with me for years until her health went down and Delores Estill, Darrell Snelling’s sister-in-law also worked here too.”

When asked what she likes best about the real estate business, she added, “I enjoy most helping people find what they are looking for, especially young people. I like making people happy.”

If there is a downside, she said perhaps it is the hours. Gail commented that she has never seen the market like it is today. “Now it is a sellers’ market. I am concerned how much and how fast the home prices have increased.”

At Snelling Chevalier, they work not only in Pawnee, but the surrounding area as well. In today’s market Gail said that people are not moving so there is a shortage of houses. When a house comes up, it is a sometimes a bidding war. This can make for stressful business. “You really have to watch for things coming on the market.”

“We sell mostly in Sangamon, Christian, Macoupin, Montgomery and occasionally Morgan County,” Gail said. Besides selling real estate, Snelling Chevalier is also a property management company. “I think there are more than 75 units that we manage. We have a lot of out of state owners that I manage for.”

When asked why that was Gail said, “Owners from out of state buy because property in the Midwest is more affordable.”

They also offer notary services at Snelling Chevalier Real Estate.

​For information about Snelling Chevalier Real Estate Inc., check out their website at Realtor Springfield IL | Homes For Sale | Real Estate Agent (snelling-chevalier.com) or call Gail at 217-625-2411 or her cell phone at 217-494-8262. Jeromy Chevalier can be reached at 217-415-9021.

Langheim Concrete is a Pawnee mainstay. Owner Reese and Sara Langheim shared, “Our company has been around since 1973.”

Reese added that they have a motto, “Doing concrete the Langheim way since 1973”. That is just shy of 50 years in the concrete business. However, they really have been working at this for half a century because, even before his parents Bill and Kathye Langheim started the company in 1973 Reese said that his grandpa Ernie Langheim had been in the concrete business since the 1960’s just not incorporated.

Langheim Concrete’s office in Pawnee is at 304 Carroll Street, Pawnee, Illinois. This location is next to the car wash and Krekels along with the storage units they own. Reese is one of Bill and Kathey’s four children. “There is Billy, Chad, me and Rebecca. Billy is the head of the State Police, Chad passed away, he was the Superintendent of Raymond Schools before his passing in May of 2014. My sister Rebecca (Adcock) owns Face and Fringe hair Salon in Chatham.”

While Reese grew up in Pawnee, his wife Sara is from Springfield. “I exported her,” he added.
With her maiden name of Bullpitt Sara feels like she is from the area with the same name as the nearby town. There is some way back relative connection she thinks to the town. These days the two operate Langheim Concrete as well as a bevy of other businesses. Reese took over Langheim Concrete 22 years ago.
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“I bought Langheim Concrete in 1999 off my dad. My boy Connor is working with me now,” Reese added. “I have three children, Connor (17), Kale (11) and Callie (4).”

While they are in Pawnee, they do travel to offer their services. This is a family business through and through. “My wife Sara works in the office and field. I’m in the field every day. I do just the concrete. We also have a rental business in Pawnee and Sara does that.”

The Langheims recently sold the concrete plant outside of Pawnee on Highway 104, however they still offer an array of concrete options. “We do house foundations and footings, and walls, both commercial and residential as well as parking lots,” Reese said.

Sara added that they also offer pours for patios, driveways, and sidewalks as well. “We also sell rock and sand too,” Reese added.

While Sara handles the day-to-day part of the rental business, Reese added that he has been in this business for quite some time. “I have been in the rental business since I was 17, and I am 43 now.”

Part of the importance of offering this business in the Pawnee area he added is that recently, “No one could find houses in Pawnee.”

The rental business is not only in Pawnee but is more widely spread through Central Illinois. “We have house rental properties in Pawnee, Auburn, Girard and Springfield.” Reese added.

The rental business operates under the umbrella of RJC Rentals which serves as a Property Management Company. Information can be found on Facebook at RJC Rentals | Facebook.

​The rental business not only multi-town, but it is also multi-state. “Recently we expanded to include Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri, and Florida as well.”

“We offer from one bedroom to five-bedroom houses,” Sara added. The Langheims rent and sell properties in all three states, Illinois, Missouri, and Florida.

“We have two businesses in Florida, a boat shop and marina. We work seven days a week.”

While they work hard, the Langheims are also sun loving people. “We try to stay here, but in the winter, we go to Florida. We go where its warm.”

Florida has another draw for the Langheim family because Sara added, “We have race boats. Reese competes in the Super Stock Class and is a driver for Jack Hammer Offshore Racing. He has a 32’ Victory VTX.”

Even though they head south when the snow flies, their business is still up and running during the wintertime because Reese added, “We push snow and salt in Pawnee during the winter. I keep about ten plow drivers going.”

During COVID-19, the house rental business has been challenging and Sara has been trying to help hard hit residents by assisting them with completing grants for tenants.

The Langheims have around 90 storage units next to their office in Pawnee. The storage units Local Storage are also operated under RJC Rentals. “We have sizes ranging from 8 x 8 up to10 x 30’,” Sara said.

Besides the concrete, and rental businesses, Reese and Sara also own Pawnee Learning Center as well. “We took over the Pawnee Learning Center in March of 2016,” Sara said. “Shari Bearhinger is the Director, and she has excellent staff.”
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For information about Langheim Concrete, or RJC Rentals house rental or storage units, call 217-625-7779. Generations of Langheims have been operating in the Pawnee area for years and they continue to serve the town they love.