Goodfield's signature restaurant may not re-open fully until mid-January, but the restaurant's owner — and the community — aren't waiting to put the "Busy" back in "Busy Corner."
And the restaurant's signature pies — a Thanksgiving staple for many in Central Illinois — return just in time for the holiday.
The pie sale, starting at 8 a.m. Wednesday, will be at the Busy Corner restaurant's original location about a block further off Interstate 74.
They aren't able to take custom orders like in past years, but owner Derek Vollmer said about 1,000 pies in numerous flavors will be available on a first-come, first served basis. All told, it's not far short of the 1,300-1,400 pies during a normal year.
"It seems like everybody's been real excited about it ... It seems to be a good reaction from everybody that they're glad that we still have some way to get some pies to them," Vollmer said.
With the kitchen closed along with the rest of the restaurant after a Nov. 13 fire, making the pies is a community effort.
"We've actually had several kitchens reach out in Central Illinois offering space," said Vollmer, including local churches and the Barn Theater III. "People shouldn't panic about having enough pies."
"It was just unbelievable," he added, noting that within 24 hours of the restaurant's initial post, it garnered over 100,000 views.
And it's not just community residents who've offered support. Like the map in the entryway to the restaurant with pins representing the homes of customers from across the nation and beyond, Vollmer said personal outreach has come from everywhere.
"We've had a lot of comments on our posts and personal messages that they come through every year at a certain time from out of state and they are looking to get back in," Vollmer said.
No one was injured when the fire broke out during the early morning, and it was quickly contained. But the heavy smoke damage, along with parts that take a while to arrive, have left a lot of work to do.
"Everything right now is basically gutted," Vollmer said.
Still, he's grateful for the progress that has been made. "Everybody understands the need to open quickly, and so everyone's doing a great job."
In the meantime, the restaurant recently re-opened as a "pop up," during limited hours at the old location. It's communicated with patrons via its Facebook page.
"Right now, it's just somewhere to get together, staff can get together and see each other, customers can come in and see us ... and it's very nostalgic being at the old busy corner where it all started," said Vollmer, who became emotional when asked about support for his employees.
While the restaurant is still able to pay employees some, there's a gap from the tips, particularly for servers, that the restaurant can't fully bridge. But again, community members have stepped in, with a fund for workers at the Goodfield State Bank, as well as a GoFundMe page.
“This may be, like I said, a couple months, and that could be a long time to go without," Vollmer said.
