P.J. Klem's helps Lyons man ride again

LYONS – On June 25, Dennis Graber was riding his bike on Ogden Avenue when he fell and struck his head.

The 67-year-old Lyons resident was taken to the hospital, where he would spend the next four days in recovery. When members of the Lyons Police Department arrived to assist Graber, they told him they would lock up his bike and he would be able to get it when he got out of the hospital.

However, when Graber returned to recover his bike, which was locked to a fence in the 8000 block of West Ogden Avenue, it was gone.

When staff at P.J. Klem’s Restaurant, located across the street, learned Graber’s bike was taken while he was recovering, they immediately lent a hand.

P.J. Klem’s owner Dimitra “Tula” Kostadinov said she often would see Graber riding his bike past the restaurant. When she learned the bike was his only mode of transportation, she said the decision to buy him a new one was an easy one.

“It was nothing,” Kostadinov said. “It’s just a bike – it’s not like it was a million dollars.”

She went out and bought the bike and dropped it off at the Lyons Police Department to be delivered to Graber.

Graber said he was surprised someone would purchase a new bike for him and was thankful for the restaurant’s help.

“It was great,” he said. “Very nice.”