Good things happening in Winchester

By Editor | July 9, 2025 |

By Carmen Ensinger

There are a lot of good things going on in Winchester in the way of commerce. Several new businesses have opened within the last year bringing much needed revenue to the city plus goods and services to the city’s residents.

Winchester Mayor Rex McIntire plans to include a letter with this month’s utility bills pointing out some of these good things, which include:

Ron Lacey has the Roadside Grill up and going along Old Route 36 at the old Buck and Jo’s location.

Jason and LaRae Timmerman are the owners and operators of the Chug and Chow bar and grill on Hill Street behind the Scott County Courthouse.

Tim and Laurie Mason are the new owner/operators of the Winchester Bowl and Rosie’s Diner on the Square.

Lucy Reid has started a book store called the “Diana” on the north side of the Square.

The Daws Family are operating their ice cream shop on South Main St.

Work has begun on the new Peak Insurance office building on Hill St.

Work has also begun on the new Phillips 66 gas station and convenience store at the corner of Cherry and Main streets with completion expected this fall.

Mark and Callie Reichert have been working on remodeling the former Dorsey Hardware building on the west side of the Square.

“I want to thank all of the owners and operators of all of these businesses along with the many businesses already in operation for making the investments in our community,” McIntire said. “It is very important that we do business with these establishments in order to help them succeed, and in turn help our community flourish. Hence the term, BUY LOCAL.”

With that being said, it is still difficult for businesses in small rural communities to succeed without outside dollars coming in.

“To bring money in from outside of the area, we need to have something to attract people – to make Winchester a destination location,” McIntire said. “For the last few years, it has been my goal to erect a life-size statute of President Abraham Lincoln to go along with Stephen A. Douglas for several reasons.”

One reason is to commemorate the fact that Lincoln made the original Winchester courthouse the first location where he made his historic speech to express his disapproval of the Kansas Nebraska Act of 1954.

This act created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska and allowed residents to decide by popular sovereignty whether to allow slavery. The act basically repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which had previously prohibited slavery in those territories based on latitude.

Secondly, to express that Winchester is truly a historic community with ties to both Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas, who once lived here.

“Nationwide, there are many thousands of people that come to Illinois to look for Lincoln sites,” McIntire said. “The ‘Looking for Lincoln’ followers would bring in those outside dollars to Winchester to help our local businesses survive and thrive.”

While the Winchester Square has a nice statue of Stephen A. Douglas, McIntire wants to get one of Lincoln to be placed there as well.

“It is my goal to purchase and erect a quality, American made statue suitable for the Winchester Square and erected in close proximity where Lincoln actually made the address,” he said. “The statue will be purchased 100 percent through public donations, without the use of any tax dollars.”

McIntire said so far they have collected over $9,000 from local fundraising raffles and very generous contributions from Mr. and Mrs. Emory Wood, Mr. Oscar Robert, Deborah L. Freesen and family, Dr. and Mrs. Randall Lawson, Mr. and Mrs. Rex McIntire and through the efforts of Alderman Jeffrey Michael Pittman in conducting the fund-raising raffles.

“I know that many of our residents are experiencing difficult times and are unable to make a donation to the statue fund, but for those who are able, I humbly ask that you donate what you can to make the Lincoln Statue a reality,” McIntire said. “We have been searching the internet to find a suitable statue. If you would like to assist in finding a suitable statue, please feel free to conduct your own search and let us know at city hall what you find.”

Donations may be made at the Winchester City Hall at 1 East Market Street.