Leydig Center to reopen Thursday in Dixon

DIXON – Dixon’s shopping scene is about to get a little healthier with the reopening, for one day at least and hopefully more, of one of the city’s most popular stores.

The Leydig Center, a resale facility located at 1107 Warp Road, is set to reopen on Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It had been closed since March 19 due to COVID-19 concerns.

A board meeting was held on Monday morning, in which reopening guidelines were established. It was the first meeting since the passing last week of Gene Lemme, who was a volunteer and board member for 25 years, the last 10 of which he served as board chairman.

“Our purpose for wanting to open the store at this point is we want to honor Gene Lemme’s legacy,” board member Susan Johnson said. “He put a lot of heart and soul into making the Leydig Center what it is today.”

Johnson was nominated to take over as chairwoman. It will be voted on at the next Leydig Center board meeting on Oct. 20.

Johnson used the words “test balloon” when describing the Leydig Center’s reopening on Thursday, in that it could be short-lived if safety measures are not followed.

All shoppers and volunteers must wear protective masks at all times. Those without a mask will be issued one.

Shoppers are to maintain a distance of at least 6 feet, and hand sanitizer will be available. Anyone with a cough, fever or shortness of breath is asked to stay home.

Two cash registers instead of three will be used, and they will have protective shields.

No fitting rooms or bathrooms will be available for use. Some of the smaller rooms, such as the book room and the seasonal room, which currently has a fall theme, will need extra attention.

“Some of the rooms are smaller than others, so it’s a tight squeeze,” Johnson said. “We need common sense to be used so that if they walk into a room and it’s crowded, please don’t go in there until other people leave the room.”

Under normal circumstances, the Leydig Center is open on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and it is hoped to reach that level of service again someday. The store depends on a volunteer work force, and a safe working environment will be needed for the volunteers to come back. Johnson noted there is currently a staff of 122 volunteers, some who work a shift here or there, and others who are there virtually all of the time.

“If we have the cooperation of the community coming and shopping and being responsible when they’re here, the volunteers will come,” Johnson said. “We’re solely run by volunteers. If people don’t feel safe to come to work here, then they won’t, and we won’t be able to open the doors because we won’t have the workers to do so.

“If people are cooperating, we’ll continue to look at expanding hours and days of service. For now, though, we’ll go small and do a soft open this first week.”

Volunteers have been participating in “Workday Wednesdays” for the past few months, getting the store ready for when it was time to open. No donations, other than monetary, are being accepted at this time.

The Leydig Center has been in operation for more than 90 years, including the last 13 at its current facility on Warp Road.

Profits are funneled back into the community and have supported more than 80 organizations, including the Dixon Area Emergency Needs Fund, Salvation Army, the local food pantry, Sauk Valley Food Bank, Kreider Services, Dixon Public Schools – Tools for Schools, Meals on Wheels, YMCA Strong Kids, Pads 1 & 2, Dixon Public Library, Hospice Sauk Valley, VITAL, Home of Hope, University of Illinois Extension, the Dixon police and fire departments and the Boy Scouts.

More than $3 million have been donated to those organizations.

The Leydig Center is hoping to carry on in the spirit of Lemme, who died on Sept. 20. He touched many lives as a school teacher, a war veteran and an award-winning gardener, to name just a few of his accomplishments and interests. He’ll be remembered fondly by those he associated with at the Leydig Center.

“He was such a great leader for the Leydig Center,” Johnson said. “Not only did he have a lot of knowledge of how things would run, he’s a retired teacher and his organizational skills with getting the workers to come here and get projects done in a timely manner was wonderful. He’d oversee the finances and oversee every department, and was just a great guy all in all.”

With Lemme overseeing things, the volunteers knew their donated time would be put to good use.

“Gene was a very personable person,” Sandy Morris said. “He cared about every individual volunteer. He would walk up and remember that my grandson had cancer or [somebody’s] husband was going to have surgery and how was that going. He was a very caring individual.”

Lemme was always there for the volunteers.

“Gene has always been a caring person,” Janis Butterbaugh said. ”I’ve known him for more than 55 years. He’s caring. He goes the second mile. He cared about all the volunteers. He’s just going to be missed.”

“Gene had a heart of gold and he always took care of the volunteers,” Gwen Weidman added. “One thing I’m really going to miss about Gene, I always knew that when Aldi’s had avocados on sale, we were going to have some awesome guacamole and chips the next time at the center. He will be missed.”

If things go as planned, the Leydig Center will carry on well into the future, with a dedicated volunteer staff and shoppers eager to patronize the business.

“He would have hoped for that,” said Joan Lemme, Gene’s wife of 62 years.