Skeleton Key Still 'Humbled' By Acts Of Kindness 1 Year After Tornado

WOODRIDGE, IL — Brand bartops glisten and kegs shine inside the recently reopened Skeleton Key Brewery, with hardly a trace to suggest the Woodridge taproom was gutted by a tornado on June 20, 2021. One reminder is a print from Charles Mackesy's book "The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse."

The print, plucked from Mackesy's tale of four unlikely friends who help each other through challenges, reads "What's the best thing you've learned about storms?"

The answer? "That they end."

"It's Still Weird for Me"

It's been a year since Emily Slayton heard on a police scanner that the EF-3 tornado had hit the Lemont Road brewery she owns with her husband, Paul and brother, John Szopa. The storm tore off the roof, demolished walls and shattered glass in the brewery, which had been expanded just a few months earlier.

Slayton told Patch she's still haunted by memories of the night the tornado struck.

“It’s still weird for me," Slayton said. “There was a very long period of time where it was hard for me to go to the brewery.”

She said she didn't feel comfortable going back until the drop ceiling was put in. That took almost eight months.

In addition to damage from the tornado's high winds, Skeleton Key Brewery sustained water damage, Slayton explained. “Rain just poured in," she said. "A lot of damage came from flooding after the tornado.”

There was a chemical spill in the back of the brewery and walls were still actively collapsing from moisture damage.

Slayton and co-owners had to do "a lot of mitigation getting the place back to where we could even start building again.”

For a short time, they worked with the Village of Woodridge to find another location, but they found themselves intrinsically linked to that spot on Lemont Road.

“In our hearts, we didn’t want to move to anywhere else," Slayton told Patch.

A Sense of Normalcy

In October, village officials gave the go-ahead for Skeleton Key to reoccupy the space. The brewery would still need several more months of remodeling, but Slayton and her crew were so eager to see their customers again, that they opened a makeshift pub called "Little Key" in the back of the brewing area.

With just 28 seats and a few tables, Little Key became a haven of "normalcy" for the customers, staff and owners of Skeleton Key, Slayton said, despite the fact that "we had no beer of our own." Customers entered through the back door and enjoyed beers brewed via Skeleton Key's collaboration with 13 local craft breweries.

These partnerships were indicative of the ongoing support Skeleton Key has received from other breweries. Local brewers and customers banded together after the June 20 tornado to help Skeleton Key with beer sales, brewing and storage.

Through Little Key, Slayton and her team were also able to reconnect with their beloved customers. “To us, it was really important to maintain that connection with our customer base. And to have even the faintest sense of normalcy.”

Little Key opened its doors Oct. 14 and made its last call March 27, Slayton said.

"We're Back!"

With repairs complete and a fully revamped brewery, tap room and lounge, Skeleton Key was finally able to host its grand reopening the weekend of May 19-21. The festivities included live music, food and, of course, plenty of beer.

As the last night of the weekend started to draw to a close, Slayton watched her husband, Paul, take the stage to sing a song with their friend, musician Matt Alfano.

That's when it hit her, and she became emotional.

“The weekend’s over. The stress is over. We’re back!" Slayton said.

While describing the grand opening and the months leading up to it, Slayton can't help but rave about her staff, whom she was able to keep on payroll with the help of a GoFundMe and more support from other local breweries.

“It’s been so wonderful to be open again," Slayton said, “I get so excited every time I go in there and I get to see people and our staff happy and enjoying themselves.”

"It Makes You Live More in the Moment"

Still, it's been a "weird mix of emotions," Slayton admits. "I'm so grateful we were able to come back and rebuild and for the support we received.”

She said there's still a "deep-seated fear that it could all be taken away again. Maybe once we get past a year, it will feel like we’re on solid ground again."

“I don’t know if it will ever go away," Slayton admits, but adds that the uncertainty "makes you live more in the moment and be more present in the day to day."

That print of "The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse"that hangs inside Skeleton Key is a constant reminder for Slayton of those things for which she is thankful. The print depicts the ragtag foursome as they stroll before a stormy background illuminated by a rainbow, a symbol of the light that comes amid the darkness.

A reminder that yes, storms do end.

Surrounding the print, Slayton and her team used a gold pen to handwrite more than 2600 names of friends, family members, customers, colleagues, anonymous donors and strangers who helped them over their past year as they recovered from the tornado.

Slayton said, “The kindness we were shown. The generosity we were shown is something that will forever be humbling.”