ROCHELLE – City of Rochelle officials welcomed several new residents to the community by hosting a reception for them at Kennay Farms Distillery on Thursday evening.

The reception took place from 6-8 p.m., and included food from Ralphy’s BBQ, a cash bar with different types of drinks to purchase and a presentation from Mayor John Bearrows and City Manager Jeff Fiegenschuh highlighting many of the points of interests and utilities located in Rochelle.
The main goal of the event was to help the new residents both feel welcomed to the community and to provide them with the proper information on who to call for a variety of needs and services.
One new resident said that during the short time she has been here, she has fallen in love with the town.
“I am right at three months in the community and when I came here I knew no one, but so far I love it, everyone is so nice and so welcoming,” said Bonnie Banning. “I plan on staying here.”

The event first started out with a reception in the upstairs portion of the distillery and then was followed by a PowerPoint presentation from the mayor and city manager. During the presentation, the mayor went over many amenities the city has to offer, new projects that will be coming soon and where many of the municipal buildings are located.
But one of the main points was that the city of Rochelle is one big team that works together.
“The City of Rochelle is very blessed to have such an incredible staff, we have the right people in the right spots. Rochelle really is a team and we see everyone like family,” Bearrows said.
It was also mentioned in the presentation that not a penny of the city’s money was used to fund this event.
Along with the mayor and some other city staff, there were many other local businesses and organizations present for the new residents to become familiarized with. After speaking to a few of the new residents attending the event, it was a common response for them to say that the community has made them feel very welcomed.
“This event is great, I have met so many people and feel so welcomed. I feel like I am part of the community already,” added Josh Crofton, new resident and store manager at the new ACE Hardware.
While this event was aimed toward the new residents to the community, many of the residents who have been here their whole lives also benefited from the reception. Rick and Doris Kennay are the owners of the distillery and say they are very grateful to have been able to host this event for the community.
“My family has been in the Rochelle area since 1888 and we love Rochelle. This event is fantastic, this is what the distillery was built for,” Rick said.
This was the first new resident reception for the city of Rochelle, but in the future, there are plans to begin hosting two a year. Everyone who has attended a new resident reception in the past will get an invite to all of them in the future. This will help the events continue to grow in size and the previous attendees will be able to help the new residents with their transition.
“We just want to thank everyone because we wouldn’t have our jobs if you weren’t here,” said Fiegenschuh.