A Dubuque staple is marking 25 years with its community-involved owner.

Judy Faulhaber took over Big Apple Bagels on March 1, 2000, with her late husband, Jeff. The outgoing owner at the time knew he wanted Faulhaber, then a manager, to take the reins.

"He really wanted to sell it to me," she said. "Me and my husband knew this is what we wanted."

Faulhaber calls her store a "bagel cafe," noting diverse options for breakfast and lunch. The menu includes bagel sandwiches, pizza bread, coffee and smoothies. The store also offers catering.

EAST DUBUQUE, Ill. — The novelty was enough to make Phillip Stietz drive 73 miles on his motorcycle to East Dubuque in the predawn darkness.

“I wanted to see the first pitch,” said Stietz, of Albany, Wis.

Stietz was the first patron to arrive early Tuesday morning at The Other Side bar in East Dubuque to watch a broadcast of the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers opening the Major League Baseball season with a game in Tokyo.