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lockportlegend.com news<br />
the lockport legend | May 16, 2019 | 3<br />
Grapes and Hops owner hopes to win over Lockport<br />
Craft beer and<br />
wine boutique<br />
expected to open in<br />
late summer<br />
Alex Ivanisevic<br />
Assistant Editor<br />
Lockport residents have<br />
more than just warmer<br />
weather and Old Canal<br />
Days to look forward to<br />
this summer.<br />
Also coming to the<br />
community in the next<br />
few months is a new craft<br />
beer and wine boutique<br />
in downtown Lockport.<br />
Terrance Hooper, primary<br />
owner of the Grapes and<br />
Hops located in Kankakee<br />
for five years, has high<br />
hopes for what the future<br />
holds and can’t wait to<br />
bring the establishment<br />
and its offerings to a second<br />
location in downtown<br />
Lockport, at 1026 State St.<br />
“[Grapes and Hops] is<br />
a boutique focused on locally<br />
produced products,”<br />
Hooper said.<br />
About 80 percent of the<br />
items at Grapes and Hops<br />
are made and produced in<br />
Illinois, and even those<br />
that are not, Hooper said<br />
they still take a very local<br />
approach to sourcing<br />
regional items, from what<br />
he calls “day trip-able locations”<br />
such as Michigan<br />
and Wisconsin.<br />
Grapes and Hops has<br />
a selection of beer, wine,<br />
whiskey, cheese, fudge,<br />
as well as non-alcoholic,<br />
craft beverages.<br />
“Everything in our store<br />
is craft produced, not made<br />
at a place that we cannot go<br />
to touch, see or feel how it<br />
is made,” Hooper said. “It<br />
is one of the reasons we<br />
took the local approach,<br />
[and] we spend the time to<br />
get to know the makers of<br />
our products.”<br />
Hooper said what makes<br />
Grapes and Hops unique<br />
is its beer flights and wine<br />
tastings. Hooper takes great<br />
pride in the work they have<br />
done to be creative with<br />
their flights; one of them<br />
had a Girl Scout cookies<br />
theme and was then served<br />
with the cookies they purchased<br />
from a local troop.<br />
Hooper said he also appreciates<br />
the relaxed experience<br />
and space that has<br />
been created in Kankakee<br />
which he hopes to carry<br />
over to the Lockport location.<br />
“We want people to<br />
come here and disconnect<br />
from their phones and talk<br />
to each other,” Hooper<br />
said.<br />
He said he is happy to<br />
show customers at Grapes<br />
and Hops they can have<br />
several experiences in<br />
one because of the variety<br />
available with the tastings,<br />
flights and pairings, in<br />
addition to the establishment’s<br />
push to local products.<br />
He said from day one<br />
he knew Grapes and Hops<br />
would expand to more<br />
than just one location.<br />
Hooper said that when<br />
looking to establish a second<br />
location, it was important<br />
to him to find an<br />
area that matched the authentic<br />
realness he feels<br />
that Grapes and Hops is all<br />
about.<br />
“That is not a very easy<br />
process,” Hooper said.<br />
But eventually when<br />
looking at downtown<br />
Lockport for the location,<br />
he found it had many of the<br />
qualities he was searching<br />
for and was able to envision<br />
the future landscape<br />
of the area thanks in large<br />
part to Mayor Steve Streit.<br />
“I was impressed, and<br />
if it wasn’t for the mayor,<br />
we probably wouldn’t<br />
have seen the potential,”<br />
he said. “The more we<br />
visited, the more Lockport<br />
felt like home for us<br />
because it had the historic<br />
bones we were looking for<br />
and Steve had an incredible<br />
vision for what the<br />
downtown was going to<br />
be and we felt that it was<br />
real.”<br />
He added that it took<br />
about two years from the<br />
time Lockport was first<br />
contemplated for the second<br />
location, until he<br />
confirmed it was the right<br />
place for Grapes and Hops.<br />
Ultimately, Hooper said<br />
it was Streit, and Lockport<br />
being a “unique city<br />
with a lot of great history,”<br />
that sold him on bringing<br />
Grapes and Hops to Lockport.<br />
Lockport City Administrator<br />
Ben Benson said he<br />
and the mayor are “happy<br />
to have a successful business<br />
added to the downtown<br />
area,” and called it<br />
“an addition to the Lockport<br />
downtown experience.”<br />
“We are pleased they are<br />
joining the Lockport family,”<br />
Benson added.<br />
The Lockport location<br />
of Grapes and Hops is to<br />
have party space available<br />
for booking events once<br />
renovations are complete<br />
after opening, and the lower<br />
level of the space will be<br />
fully functional and ready<br />
for customers upon opening.<br />
Hooper said he hopes<br />
construction of the<br />
5,000-square-foot space<br />
Township pleased with inaugural Community Fun Day<br />
Submitted by Lockport<br />
Township<br />
The inaugural Lockport<br />
Township Community Fun<br />
Day was held on May 4<br />
and the theme was “Star<br />
Wars.”<br />
The Township thnkas all<br />
the vendors, organizations<br />
and residents who came<br />
out and participated as<br />
well as the event sponsors:<br />
State Sen. Pat McGuuire,<br />
Crest Hill Mayor Ray Soliman,<br />
State Rep. John Connor,<br />
Lockport and Crest<br />
Hill Lions Club, Lockport<br />
Rotary Club, United Way<br />
of Will County, Lockport<br />
Township Board of Trustees,<br />
and City of Crest Hill<br />
Alderman and Lions Club<br />
member Nat Albert.<br />
The Midwest Garrison<br />
The craft beer and wine boutique, Grapes and Hops, is<br />
expected to open toward the end of the summer at 1026<br />
State St. in downtown Lockport. Alex Ivanisevic/22nd<br />
Century Media<br />
is the Illinois Chapter of<br />
the 501st Legion, a Star<br />
Wars Imperial costuming<br />
Club, added a unique flair<br />
to the event.<br />
RIGHT: Members of the<br />
501st Legion, a “Star<br />
Wars” costuming club,<br />
added authenticity May 4<br />
to the Lockport Township<br />
Community Fun Day.<br />
Photo submitted<br />
and other requirements<br />
will move along smoothly<br />
into the summer months<br />
and Grapes and Hops will<br />
be able to open its doors on<br />
State Street toward the end<br />
of the season.<br />
ASK<br />
YOUR<br />
LAWYER<br />
by T. Andrew Coyle<br />
Attorney at Law<br />
“Who can sell mom’s house?”<br />
This is a question I get asked<br />
often when a parent or elderly<br />
relative is in a nursing home<br />
and not able to sign their<br />
own paperwork. The answer<br />
as to who can sell the house<br />
depends on a few things: First,<br />
does mom have ‘capacity’ to<br />
sign a deed? If mom is able<br />
to understand the terms of<br />
the sale and what that means<br />
for her financially, then she<br />
might be able to sign the<br />
deed herself and save a lot of<br />
headaches. If she’s not able to<br />
understand that, then we need<br />
to see if mom ever signed a<br />
Property Power of Attorney. If<br />
so, the person named in the<br />
POA should be able to sell<br />
the house on behalf of mom<br />
and deposit the money into<br />
mom’s bank account. If there<br />
is no POA, then we may need<br />
to go to court to have mom<br />
declared disabled and have<br />
a family member named as<br />
her legal guardian. There are<br />
other factors to consider as<br />
well so if you have questions<br />
on this or any other elder law<br />
matter, contact THE COYLE<br />
LAW OFFICE at 815-838-6199.<br />
www.coylelaw.org<br />
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