Marion couple opens barbecue eatery

MARION, Ill. -- While its accommodations may be tiny, there's a great big story behind the opening of a new Marion restaurant. A story that includes one couple and a family "so blended, we're almost pureed."

The couple, Keith and Kolina Edwards, celebrated the grand opening of Pop's Chuckwagon in April. The carryout restaurant is a venture they hope will allow them to continue to live out their dream.

"I just want to be able to provide for my family, help my church and leave something for my kids. And let's be realistic. It's all women at my house, why wouldn't I want to be here?" Keith Edwards jokingly asked.

The Edwards family includes four adult biological children, two children whose adoptions will be final later this year and the 60 or so foster children they've taken in over the past seven years.

The couple decided to take in foster children back when both were teaching assistants at the high school.

"I had a kid in class whose dad was dating his grandma. It's hard to tell someone they've got to act normal when their home life is that different," he said. "Now we're a long way from the perfect family, but when that's your competition, well, we don't look too bad. But really, we felt like this was something God told us to do."

Even the name of the restaurant reflects the Edwardses' devotion to their blended family. Several years ago, the couple took in a foster child who was in a full body cast. "We didn't want her to call me the same thing she called the person who made her end up in the cast, so we told her to call me 'Pop,"' Edwards said.

Two weeks before the little girl was to return to her home, the couple purchased a mobile barbecue operation and called it "Pop's" with the idea that, even if the girl ended up "15 years from now in Podunk, she might be at a fair or carnival and see the name and know it was us," Edwards said.

Just two weeks after the girl, now 5, was sent home, she and her baby sister were back with the Edwardses and are now awaiting final adoption. Kolina Edwards said her husband "found his niche" in the barbecue business.

The couple started with the mobile cooker and tried different sites in the city before deciding on a more permanent place for the business.

"I've had a lot of support, particularly from [the city's economic developer] Dorain Fletcher," Edwards said. "I can't say enough good about him. He worked just as hard to help me as he would a Circuit City or a 17th Street."

Fletcher returned the compliment and said, "It's rare that you find people so devoted to their family. Theirs is just the type of business we want in Marion."

Edwards said other businesses have been welcoming, especially other restaurateurs. "They've gotten me in contact with their suppliers and helped any way they could. We have had nothing but a positive reception from the business and community leaders," he said.

Armed with funds provided through the city's small business revolving loan fund, the Edwardses settled into their new building in March and planned their menu to include not only barbecued chicken, pork, pork steaks and ribs, but also burgers, brats, fried bologna and sides. The restaurant also features Kolina Edwards' homemade sourdough bread.