Hebron vendors say they get a lot of heat for the wares

A few weekends this summer, and three or four times last year, Greg and Jaci Grana set up their T-shirt and apparel stand at the busy northwest corner of Routes 173 and 47 in Hebron.

It wasn’t until recently she learned the lot is known by some around McHenry County as “Hate Corner,” Jaci Grana said this week.

“It is sad, that people would give it that name,” she said.

The Granas, of Harvard, sell under the business name Brutal Defiance Inc. Imagery found on the business’s Facebook page for other merchandise includes bloody brass knuckles, one that states “Talk Poopee, Get Owie,” and a more adult version of that slogan.

Not everyone appreciates their goods, Hebron Chief of Police Juanita Gumble said.

One of the shirts hanging from the booth uses a typeface made of guns and states “[Expletive] Biden.”

On Monday, Jaci Grana spoke at the Hebron City Council meeting regarding an interaction the couple had on Memorial Day weekend with Trustee Dawn Milarski on that corner. Since that interaction, the couple also has talked to village police officers, and they were told a formal complaint was made against them.

“The problem is ... they don’t want the kids to see the [shirt] and the guns,” Chief Gumble said. “Kids are asking questions” about what that specific imagery means.

Since he bought the lot five years ago, owner Steve Vole said he has allowed vendors to sell from booths set up there. Those vendors have included people who sell pro-Donald Trump and other themed merchandise. One of those vendors, who no longer sells there, left several flags behind and those remain up year-round, Vole said.

Vole said he is a Republican, and he had offered Biden supporters the same opportunity to sell at the corner, but has never been taken up on the offer. “In the ‘90s, I voted for Bill Clinton twice,” Vole said. “Money is money. I don’t care” as long as what is sold is not vulgar or rude.

In the past, when the vendor had a flag similar to the Granas’ T-shirt, it was taken down, Vole said.

The interaction with Milarski occurred at the gravel lot at 10:15 a.m. May 27, Jaci Grana said. “I said ‘hello’ and waved” before Milarski told the couple they were on village property, that she was a village trustee, and that they needed to move their wares to the far back side of the lot.

They let her know they were on private property and they had permission to be there, Jaci Grana said.

“The conversation changed from where we were to how she didn’t like the language of our shirts,” Jaci Grana said.

“The conversation changed from where we were to how she didn’t like the language of our shirts.”

—  Harvard resident Jaci Grana

She was unsure if Milarski meant the shirt she was wearing, showing two women in silhouette holding guns with the Brutal Defiance logo underneath, or the other T-shirt for sale, Jaci Grana said.

Greg Grana recorded a video including a portion of that interaction. In the two-minute video shared via Facebook, Milarski is walking back toward her vehicle.

Crosstalk, wind and traffic noise make it a difficult to hear portions of the video. In part, the conversation includes:

Greg Grana asked if Milarski didn’t like the clothing they were wearing.

“No, I don’t like the language. ... ” Milarski said. “I did not say I didn’t like your shirt.”

“I didn’t come here to attack you. ... I wanted to know if Steve told you to park here versus over there,” Milarski said.

“The lot is not a part of the village” Milarski said in the video, but said later that “the lot is a part of the village.”

A police officer came to the lot the following day and informed the couple they needed a solicitors permit to sell in Hebron. They went to Village Hall and got the permit, Jaci said.

After the Village Board meeting, Milarski did not want to comment about the conversation. She did write in a message: “I was elected by the village of Hebron residents to serve the community.”

Greg Grana said he is a U.S. Navy veteran who suffers from PTSD, and that the interaction with Milarski has made him anxious and depressed.

They do get negative comments yelled at them from passing motorists at times, and some of those comments might be aimed at the signs other vendors have, Greg Grana said.

No other people have approached them with negativity about their items while there, he said.

One woman once asked Jaci Grana who she voted for, she said, adding that she would not give the woman an answer.

The Granas said they aren’t making much money at the stand, which is a sideline for them. Most of the money they do make from their booth is donated to veterans groups and others, Jaci Grana said.