Historic partnership: Standing ovation for Citizens of the Year Jess Coffel and Bill Hamburger
The historic 53-year partnership of B & J Outdoor Power Equipment owners Jess Coffel and Bill Hamburger was celebrated during the presentation of this year's Outstanding Citizen of the Year Award during a banquet held Wednesday night at the Du Quoin Elks Club.
Chamber president Sheila Haggard presented the awards to Coffel and Hamburger in front of a large audience of guests that included business men and women, family members, friends and guests.
Among the special guests were John A. Logan College President Mike Dreith as well as a contingent from the college and Pam Gremmels Atwood, daughter of longtime Gremmels Hardware Store owners before it became B & J Hardware, then B & J Outdoor Power Equipment.
The night was also marked by a special presentation to past two-year chamber president Fred Huff, two special President's Awards for service to Charles Novak, chamber concessions chairman and Richard "Doc" Holladay, longtime chamber secretary. A very thoughtful addition to the program was special recognition of businesses Kalin's Cafe, Farm Fresh and Hardee's for their sponsorship of the Employing Diversity Program at the Perry County Counseling Center.
Newly appointed Du Quoin city administrator Brad Myers won the evening's 50/50 drawing, an appropriate welcome to the community.
A 6 p.m. social hour was followed by the 7 p.m.dinner catered by Cathy Chaney Catering of Du Quoin, which received compliments at every table.
Du Quoin newspaperman John H. Croessman shared how important the partnership of Jess Coffel and Bill Hamburger are to the integrity and character of the downtown business community. Longtime personal friends, he spoke on how this partnership affected the lives of people like Pam Gremmels. As a child, the daughter of onetime owners Mr. and Mrs. Louie Gremmels would listen to Bill and Jess harmonize beautiful church hymns while stocking shelves on a Saturday morning. They gave her rides around the hardware store on the oaken ladder which ran along wall-mounted rails (she now has that ladder in her office) and rides on the back shop conveyor up to the second floor. He mentioned the 1906 steel and brass Detroit scale "where the nails were weighed that built Du Quoin neighborhoods," or the Scott's grass seed measured by the pound, the rope measured by the foot and "the character and integrity measured by the mile."
For 53 years, this partnership has stood on the shoulders of "doing the right thing even when nobody is looking."
Jess said it was a partnership built on communication. "We talk every day," adding that they talk to each other as much as they talk to their truly great wives, Sharon and Shirley. They talked about the late, great names that for decades have sustained downtown Du Quoin. "I think about these men and women. I think about the businesses," Jess said.
And, they think about the fun. When the late Ken House of House's Ideal Cleaners--who "fought flat roofs for years" --installed a new pitched roof on his business, they sneaked in and sat rain buckets here and there across the floor with small amounts of water in each to make it look like the roof still leaked.
"I appreciate this city and our townspeople for supporting us," said Jess. Bill said the partnership goes all the way back to his birth. Jess' mother was the midwife when Bill was born in 1938.
Croessman called he table in front of him where Bill and Jess sat a table full of "the greatest people in Du Quoin" whose lives are filled with faith and hard work. He spoke from the heart--at times emotional--adding that "I know we speak together. The lives of Jess Coffel and Bill Hamburger are much larger than tonight's effort to say thank you for the way you live them."