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SUBLETTE – Country Village Meats, a longtime business staple in this village of 430, has new owners.
Paul and Laurie Darrow of Geneva bought the butcher shop at 401 N. Pennsylvania Ave. from Eddie Morrissey and Dale Leffelman on Nov. 28, and many of its traditions will continue, the Darrows said in a news release.
For example, local farmers will still be able to bring their livestock to be slaughtered on site under state inspection, and to customers’ specifications.
Depending on the day of the week, visitors also can watch staff cut halves of beef or pork, and on smoking days, the smells of ham, bacon, sausages or snack sticks greet customers from the shop’s state-of-the-art smokehouse, the release said.
Country Village Meats still will be sold in area stores and at the shop in Sublette, which offers a full retail counter with deli meats and cheeses, fresh-cut steaks, smoked ham, bacon, and marinated steaks and pork chops.
The Darrows also will continue to sell the shop’s signature sausages and snack sticks.
“We’re fortunate to inherit the recipes and instructions from a master sausage-maker like Dale Leffelman,” Laurie said.
The shop has a long history in the village. Howard Leffelman bought butcher shops in Mendota and Amboy, and a locker in West Brooklyn, then opened the Leffelman Meat Center on U.S. Route 52 in 1954.
He and his son Gerald, ran the store until 1974, when it was sold to the Shrock family.
Dale Leffelman and Morrisey, who worked for the Schrocks, bought it and renamed it Country Village Meats in 1995.
The Darrows are happy to join the family-owned legacy, Paul said in the release.
“We are excited to become part of the community and look forward to getting to know everyone.”
MORE INFO
Country Village Meats, 401 N. Pennsylvania Ave./U.S. Route 52 in Sublette, is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday.
Call 815-849-5532, go to countryvillagemeats.com or find it on Facebook for more information on products and prices.