A straight edge placemat. River Bend Placemat , located 2 1/2 miles N E of Cary on Rawson Bridge Road  in Cary Illinois

Due to the size limitations of my scanner, the entire menu may not show in some of the scans.  

The Cary Fire Protection District, at long last, disposed of what remained of the River Bend restaurant – an abandoned, critter-infested shell – during a fire training exercise on Oct. 23. Still, Capt. Dennis Krenz had one more surprise for former owners Alberta and George England, who had come to say goodbye: A couple plates and some stemware for old-time’s sake. “The bar was still here, and wine glasses were still hanging,” Krenz said. As a kid, my family had many meals at the River Bend – a throwback supper club at 6614 Rawson Bridge Road in Cary. Back in the ’60s, it quite literally was out in the sticks – next door to the Northwood Fur Farm in a region dominated by farms rather than fairways. Sometime between 1935 and 1938, Chicagoans Erwin and Sue “Babe” Moews built a summer cottage on Tuxedo Lane. The restaurant building itself likely was there in some fashion – a refuge for thirsty patrons from the rigors of Prohibition. Irv’s Tavern was known for serving rye cold in the 1940s, but the establishment had a far more complicated reputation before that. Stories passed down through the decades tell of slot machines in the dining room and even the restrooms, Alberta England said. Gangsters also are said to have frequented the joint. But clearly local celebrities such as John Hertz; John Sexton, founder of Sexton Foods; and John Plain, of John Plain & Co. catalog renown, visited the restaurant on weekends. The Moews began adding food in the ’40s, but the menu did not really blossom until the next-door neighbors, Art and Lena Giovanoni, bought the place in 1948. England said the River Bend was the first restaurant in McHenry County to serve pizza. Dorothy and Marvin Krump bought the restaurant in 1955 and began expan ding the bar and the menu. The River Bend became known for its steaks and fancy drinks. They had fashion shows featuring mink coats from the nearby fur farm. The Krumps owned and operated the River Bend until 1973, at which time high roller and golf course owner Herman Schwinge purportedly bought the place for his Las Vegas showgirl “girlfriend.” Legend has it that after three years, a quarrel ended their involvement. “Everything was left exactly as it was that very night, with all the food on the tables and in the coolers,” England said. That is exactly how Tom Decker and his son, Dan, found it when they bought River Bend seven years later. “It was quite the cleanup,” said local restaurateur Brett Colemen, who managed the River Bend at the time. “There was meat in the coolers and freezers, and – of course – the power had been turned off.”

in very good condition has been folded

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