Trey Covalt: Main Street Station owner, founding member of Fiesta Days remembered

At first, the descriptions of Trey Covalt offered up by family and friends seem almost paradoxical.

His partner, Sarah Giallombardo, called him "a giant among men," but she also spoke of his humble, unassuming nature.

His eldest daughter, Kelly, said he was stern but possessed a certain warmth that let his family know without a doubt that he loved them, even if he didn't say it.

His childhood friend, Bob Doran, said he had a commanding, calming presence, was a natural-born leader, and yet he was perhaps one of the quietest men Doran knows.

After listening to the stories that make up the fabric of Covalt’s life, one thing becomes clear: Covalt left a lasting impact on his family, friends and the McHenry community at large. This impact will be held in the hearts of many who knew him until the day comes when they are able to gather together and celebrate 72 years of a life well lived.

For now, Covalt's family and friends are processing their grief by looking at photographs and telling stories, sharing the many memories he made up until his death April 21.

Floyd E. "Trey" Covalt III was born May 5, 1947. He was a lifelong resident of McHenry and was quite the troublemaker as a kid, Doran said.

Covalt and Doran were backyard neighbors and fast friends, Doran said.

The two attended the same schools, played football together and got into all kinds of mischief as kids, including multiple attempts to blow up a small, wooden bridge over the creek that runs between Chauncey H. Duker School and Edgebrook Elementary in McHenry.

"Every summer, we blew it up until the town decided to make it into a concrete bridge," Doran said, laughing.

Doran and Covalt spent the most time together as members of the McHenry Viscounts Drum and Bugle Corps, which began in the early 1950s as part of the American Legion – a patriotic veterans organization dedicated, in part, to mentoring youth.

Covalt joined the Viscounts a year after Doran did, in 1960, and they bonded over playing the same instrument, the baritone bugle.

Even back then, Covalt lived and breathed music. In only two years, he moved up the ranks to become the drum major and one of the musical directors for the corps. The Viscounts was a huge opportunity for two poor kids from McHenry, Doran said, allowing them to compete across the country and even to be named national champions in 1961.

"Trey was considered one of the top drum majors in the country," he said. "He was so talented; he had so much poise.”

Covalt went on to study music at Berklee College of Music in Boston and loved composing music up until the very end of his life, Giallombardo said.

After college, Covalt served in the Vietnam War as a member of the 173rd Airborne Division until he was honorably discharged in 1969. His time in Vietnam earned him a number of service medals, including the National Defense Service Medal and the esteemed Purple Heart, Giallombardo said.

Upon returning to McHenry, Covalt began teaching the youth of the Viscounts Drum and Bugle Corps, instilling the same love of music that was so important to him as a boy.

“He could just command 100 kids in a minute, you know. All he had to do was raise his hand,” Doran said. “He commanded our respect."

Covalt even helped organize a reunion for the group in 2007, almost 40 years later.

Doran and Covalt remained close friends throughout the years. Their families get together often, even to this day.

“He was pretty special,” Doran said. “Very humble, very quiet, very nonjudgmental ... he was a peacemaker.”

Covalt had three daughters with his first wife, Kathie Miller (Covalt). Kelly is the eldest, followed by Becky and Jenny. In 1988, Trey met Giallombardo, with whom he would share the rest of his life. They had two children, Jacob and Hannah.

As a father, Covalt was a disciplinarian. He wanted his kids to succeed, but he also wanted them to experience everything that life had to offer, Kelly said.

Many of her earliest memories of her father focus on parties he would throw at their house on Ellen Road in McHenry for Christmas, the Fourth of July or really any excuse to get together with family and friends, Kelly said.

Covalt's eldest three daughters said he always was planning family outings, whether it was a trip to the theater, a Blackhawks game or a vacation to Mexico.

“I remember that my dad didn't do a lot of [do-it-yourself] stuff,” Jenny said, laughing. “He always knew a guy.”

Covalt always was eager to contribute to his community, a lesson that he passed on to each of his five children.

He served on the board of the McHenry Area Chamber of Commerce, including a stint as president from 1983 to 1984. Covalt also was a founding member of Fiesta Days, serving on the festival's board from 1985 to 1994.

Former McHenry Mayor Sue Low Meyer served on the Chamber board with Covalt as well as the Fiesta Days board, where the two were part of a handful of people who, in the 1980s, made the festival what it is today.

Low Meyer and Covalt were co-chairmen of the board, which Low Meyer said quickly came to feel like a family, as all of the members and their families spent a lot of time together over the years.

“My most vivid memories of [Covalt] was that group and the fun that we had working very hard on behalf of our community,” Low Meyer said.

Together they made the decision to move Fiesta Days from Pearl Street park, now known as Veterans Memorial Park, to the 5-acre expanse of Petersen Park.

“It was his idea to bring in nationally known entertainment,” Low Meyer said. “And over time, it grew from a small local festival into a real fest, you know – a mainstay of the city.”

This year may be the first in its 72-year history that the festival will be canceled, Low Meyer said.

Giallombardo said the '80s and '90s marked the heydays of the festival, back when water fights with the McHenry Township Fire Protection District and drag racing down the city’s streets on beds with wheels still were allowed.

Covalt was named the parade marshal for Fiesta Days in 2005 and was given the key to the city by his good friend Low Meyer, who became mayor of the city in 2003, Giallombardo recalled.

“Trey was just a person that was larger than life,” Low Meyer said. “Everybody knew him. Everybody liked him. He was funny and fun.”

Low Meyer's late husband, Tom Low, was a longtime friend of Covalt's and also was a member of the Viscounts Drum and Bugle Corps.

When Covalt decided he wanted to open a restaurant bar, it was Low who took a leap of faith and went into business with him, Low Meyer said.

“My mom said he always dreamed of owning a bar,” Kelly said. “I think every guy dreams of owning a bar.”

Covalt had worked in the concrete business for many years and decided it was time for something new, Kelly said.

Main Street Station has been a cornerstone of the McHenry community since the restaurant first opened in 1987, she said. In the early days, it was a pub and popular hangout spot for locals, but today it has grown to serve some of the best Southwestern/Mexican food in town.

The Lows sold their share of the restaurant in 1991, and Kelly began working there as a waitress a few years later after graduating from college.

She worked her way up to become manager of the day-to-day operations, with Covalt maintaining his position as owner.

Kelly is talkative and has a special knack for interacting with customers and staff. But when it comes to big-picture business decisions, she admitted she is easily frustrated.

She and Covalt were the perfect team in that regard. Every time Kelly became agitated about something, Covalt was there to patiently remind her to step back and take a breath.

That is not to say that the two didn’t butt heads occasionally – Kelly wanted an electronic point-of-sale system to increase efficiency, and Covalt still communicated using slips of paper rather than emails – but they managed to strike a balance between tradition and innovation that made the establishment feel like home to their many regulars.

Covalt began dating the love of his life, Giallombardo, only a year after he opened Main Street Station.

She still remembers their first date in September 1988, when Covalt drove more than an hour into Kansasville, Wisconsin, for 3-pound lobster tails.

As they drove through rural Wisconsin, Giallombardo said she remembers joking that he was whisking her off to kill her and leave her in a cornfield. To that, Covalt laughed quietly and patted her hand.

When they finally arrived at a dilapidated shack in the middle of nowhere, Giallombardo flushed at the thought that she was greatly overdressed.

Once inside, the Auctioneer Inn actually was quite elegant and had some of the best lobster tail she had ever tasted, Giallombardo said.

It was that night that she realized she was in love with Covalt.

“There was a feeling and just the kind of man he was ... you just felt safe when you were with him,” she said.

Giallombardo said she and Covalt always meant to get married, but they never got around to it because they simply didn't feel like there was anything missing from their love for one another.

“He was the calm to my storm,” Giallombardo said wistfully. “My one, my only, my constant … and that’s no easy task.”

“I can honestly say, in the 32 years we were together, I valued every second I had with him,” she said.

Covalt was a wonderful father to the couple's two children, Jacob and Hannah, whom he adored. Before he died, he had been teaching Hannah how to play the piano, Giallombardo said. The two shared a love for the theater.

One thing that sticks out in Jenny's mind when she thinks of her dad was how good of a dancer he was.

“He could lead anyone, which is good because I suck at dancing," she said. "But he could make anyone look good.”

Covalt stole the show when the two danced at her wedding, Jenny said. He even changed the song she wanted to dance to, saying it was too slow. His choice? "Fly Me to the Moon."

“I think he lived a very, very full life,” Becky said. “And I mean, he had all of us, so what more could he want?”

As a White Sox fan, Covalt had a playful rivalry with Becky, who is a Cubs fan.

Whenever the Cubs lost, he had a big flag with an “L” on it that he liked to fly at Main Street Station, Becky recalled. If they won, he would write a “W” on a post-it note and begrudgingly stick it to the wall.

Covalt loved all Chicago sports, from the Blackhawks to the Bears to the Bulls, and was a loyal attendee of the Indianapolis 500 for 50 consecutive years.

"To be a little sappy, I think McHenry is a little less because he's gone," Doran said. "He really did contribute so much over the years."

Covalt was a man well-liked and well-known. In speaking with family and friends, they all described him in largely the same way: He was generous; he was funny in a subtle, sarcastic way; and he listened deeply, letting those around him know that he really cared about what they had to say.

“He was just a great dad and a really good person,” Becky said. “I don't think I ever heard him talk bad about anybody.”

Covalt will be missed by many. His family and friends look forward to the day when the McHenry community can come together to celebrate his memory.

Until then, his family said they have felt comforted by notes of encouragement, stories and photos of Covalt that people have shared with them.

“Being able to see the nice things and the memories has been very comforting and makes us even more proud,” Jenny said.

Jenny said her father’s relationship with her 4-year-old daughter, Charlotte, will live on through the stories she will tell of the kind of man he was.

He has three grandchildren – Charlotte is the youngest, and then there are Kelly's two sons, Derrik and Trey.

Covalt is preceded in death by his parents; his sister, Camille Hutchison; and his brother-in-law, Charles T. Hutchison.

The Covalt family has been supporting one another through Skype and FaceTime, phone calls and text messages. Giallombardo said she encourages other families who may be grieving the loss of a loved one to rely on each other in this way.

“I'm one of those that if I'm falling apart, I don't feel like I can do that when someone's there. ... I feel like I need to pull it together," Giallombardo said. "But all the calls ... it allowed me to fall apart with my friends and with my family, and it did help, but it did take them reaching out to me at first."

Coping with the loss of a loved one is hard enough without the constraints on social gatherings brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. There are resources available to help people who may be feeling lost or overwhelmed in this time.

Kelly said she has found comfort in spending time at the bar surrounded by all of the sports posters and war memorabilia that Covalt hung on the walls over the years.

She said she feels confident that she can uphold her father's legacy, even in the face of financial strain caused by the pandemic.

“I think I can make it work because we have such a loyal customer base,” Kelly said. “I don't find it hard to be there. ... I feel like I'm talking with him all the time."

Those who may be looking for other ways to support the Covalt family might consider putting in an order at Main Street Station, which is open for curbside pickup from 4 to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday.