Community Corner

Valentine's Day Dinner to Honor Military Members

Buffalo Grove's Continental Restaurant is teaming with the Buffalo Grove Rotary Club to host a free dinner to service people who recently returned home.

Military veterans will be shown a little love and appreciation today in Buffalo Grove, when  hosts a Valentine’s Day dinner for about 25 service people and their families.

While the restaurant quietly has organized free dinners for special occasions in the past, this is the first time that military members will be the guests of honor, Contintental owner Pete Panayiotou said.

“I was in the Army, in the Special Forces, in the ’80s,” he said. “It just hit me. I was in the military, and I saw [service people] on TV, coming home. There they are with no hands, no legs, and there I was with my feet up on the couch.”

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The dinner, he said, “is just ‘thank you.’ ”

“We’re doing it just to do something nice for the community and for people who support us,” he said. “It’s good to have them back.”

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The program is co-sponsored by the . Rotarians will be on hand to greet and serve the guests.

“This is what Rotary is all about, giving back to the community,” said Steve Balinski, a Rotary member and Buffalo Grove’s police chief. “We talked about it being Valentine’s Day, maybe it’s just a nice day to say thanks.”

Many of the honored guests recently have returned from Afghanistan, Balinski said. Those on the guest list were identified through VFW organizations based in Arlington Heights and Berwyn.

About 75 guests are expected to attend. While Rotarians will lend a hand, Balinski said Panayiotou deserves all of the credit for the event.

“He’s a great business leader,” Balinksi said.

Panayiotou said the honored guests will dine on prime rib, baked potatoes, vegetables and dessert in the , and listen to music from a disc jockey who has volunteered his services for the night.

“It’s for everybody, including myself, to have a good time,” Panayiotou said.

The restaurant owner added that he has no qualms about letting Rotary volunteers try their hands at waiting tables, nor should they.

“If they drop the plate,” he joked, “I can’t fire them.”


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