Dianna Howard likens the Coffee Connection to the fictional TV bar Cheers: Everybody knows your name. As it turns out, that is just the kind of atmosphere she was hoping to create when she opened the place just under five years ago.

“There’s something about this place,” Dianna said. “It’s a good place to be, sort of like walking into home.”

The space Coffee Connection occupies at 404 Court St. has been a coffee destination in downtown Pekin for years, with at least two of the previous occupants being purveyors of lattes, espresso and lunchtime fare. But this is not Dianna’s first entrepreneurial endeavor. She has owned Sparky’s, a neighborhood bar on Peoria’s East Bluff, for 26 years. Before that she ran another establishment near downtown Peoria for 10 years.

After all those years in the bar business, Dianna started thinking that she would like to try something new. “I have always liked the camaraderie in neighborhood bars and the way everyone gets real close. What I didn’t like as much was the alcohol and gambling,” she said.

“I thought, if there is a place where people can get together without those two things, that would be great. I have always been a coffee person, so I thought a coffee shop would be just the thing.”

As she was considering her options, the owner of CJ’s coffee shop decided to call it quits. She worked out a lease agreement that allowed the new proprietor to be up and running in a very short time.

“We were sort of winging it there at the beginning,” she said. Armed with a vision and a passion for coffee and people, Coffee Connection opened in February 2020. Everyone knows what happened next: COVID.

“It’s been an interesting ride but we’ve stuck with it and it’s been amazing,” she said. “Four years ago I didn’t know a lot of these people existed and they are now my best friends.”

Running a business in Pekin is a return engagement of sorts for Dianna. She grew up in Marquette Heights and graduated from Pekin High School. She then moved to Peoria because “I was just too cool to live in Pekin.”

Caring for an elderly parent brought her back in 2016 and she has been here since. She is joined in the business by her nephew, Mikey Howard, who is a barista; Vikki Barker runs the kitchen; and Vikki’s daughter, Brooke Elliott, is also a barista.

“It’s like home for us,” she said.

In addition to the full complement of coffee and other beverages, Coffee Connection also has a lunchtime menu featuring homemade chicken salad, tuna salad, soups, breakfast casserole, muffins, and other made-from-scratch baked goods.

Dianna said one of the things that sets Coffee Connection apart from other establishments is that it is a faith-based organization. Her faith is evident all around, from the décor to the Bible study groups that meet there regularly.

The shop is open on Sunday mornings so people can come in for livestreaming of services from Rock Church in East Peoria. She said the coffee is complimentary and brothers Mark and Sam Goddard always bring donuts.

“I know that I’m probably not going to get rich doing this, but it’s what I want it to be right now,” Dianna said. “It’s hard to believe these people are such good friends after such a short period of time.”

Coffee Connection is open Monday through Friday from 6am to 6pm, and 7am to 6pm on Saturdays. Sunday hours are 8am to 2pm.