Pepperidge Farm Downers Grove - A Little Stranger Things Going On...

Most mornings, I catch the train out of the Fairview Station on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Metra line.  Bordering the south passenger platform, past the station is a Pepperidge Farm factory.  And it totally gives off a "Stranger Things" vibe to me.  

Every morning when I walk past it - and even more on mornings when it is snowing a little bit - I get this very specific Hawkins National Laboratory feeling as I see the trucks moving to/from near the docks.  

Now, making Goldfish crackers isn't going to open a hole to the upside down.  But it doesn't keep me from smiling about it each morning I head there.

You might be wondering...why is there a Pepperidge Farm factory there in the first place?  Well...it is a place that provides a diverse employee base.  And has been there for 65 years.  It was selected due to our proximity to Chicago, but there also is this cute little story about how the founder just liked the Village's name:

While the Downers Grove site was initially selected for its proximity to Chicago and distribution routes, Pepperidge Farm founder and pioneering entrepreneur, Margaret Rudkin, had a different, personal preference for the town. In a speech given to celebrate the site’s 10th anniversary, she said, “I must confess that Downers Grove was my favorite location for the most unbusinesslike reason imaginable. The name sounded right to me. Doesn’t Downers Grove just sound like a place where good food would come from?”

Very un-Hawkins-like, isn't it?