ASHLAND, Ill. — Jones Boys markets its product with the catchy phrase: “We are the Boys with the Brats!”

The family-owned business was represented at the recent Illinois Products Expo where it offered samples of Apple Brats & English Bangers. Jones Boys Market is run by the third and fourth generations, by John and Beth Jones and their son, Dan, heading up the store that opened in 1932.

The Jones family sells fresh-cut meats and specializes in wursts and brats in a building constructed during the 1850s and expanded in the 1940s. Jones Boys is a household name that brings people from the Springfield area and beyond to the Jones’ store and town. In fact, in 2014 Dan won an agritourism award for his efforts in bringing people to Ashland.

The expanded business is in part because of the Jones Boys Market involvement in farmers’ markets in Peoria, Springfield and Decatur. The Boys’ “buy local, buy fresh” push changed the way farmers’ markets were run, allowing new products like Jones’ brats to become part of the market scene.

“The markets evolved with multiple vendors, music, et cetera, and became more like an event like the Farmers’ Market offered Thursday night at the Springfield Fairgrounds,” Dan explained.

The expanded markets offered electricity so the brats became part of the markets and more people learned about the handcrafted meats this family-run business has. “Dad started making brats in late 1998 and 1999. They are different; his recipes evolved,” he said.

Dan, who came to the store in 2010 after working 10 years in sales, credits some of his father’s specialty brats to the fact he traveled to Korea during the Vietnam War and enjoyed and experienced new flavors. “He first created a Hungarian recipe and eventually created his famous Apple Brat recipe.”

The brats were developed, John said, after customers began to ask for them. “A man from Springfield was looking for some apple brats and I thought I could make them. I wrote my own recipe,” John explained.

 “When I started, Dad had eight to 10 type of brats,” Dan added. “It took a lot of effort; now we are up to 52 different kinds. Dad knows meat. My grandma had a big family and was always in the kitchen. That love of cooking was passed down.”

Through a customer, local microbrewery and eatery Obed & Isaac’s learned of the Jones’ brats and came to try them for themselves. The brats are now part of the restaurant’s menu. Dan’s marketing efforts are paying off for this store that began life as a dry goods store.

“My grandpa and his brother’s Aunt Gertrude ‘Trudy’ Blank started the business,” Dan said. When Trudy opened the store it was called Blank’s Groceries; he added, “Her dad had the first hardware store in Ashland, located across the street.”

The second generation to work at Jones Boys Market was John Blank Jones and his brother, Russell. They became involved with the business in the 1930s and after they returned from World War II, they took over the reins of this family store.

During the war Russell was a supply sergeant in Britain, working with meats, and John had been a cook – so their wartime experience worked well to expand the store in adding their own meat market. They renamed the store Jones Boys Market and expanded the building in the 1940s, including the meat counter and coolers.

The top 10 favorite brats are the Apple, English Bangers, Chicken Bacon Ranch, Smoked Mozzarella & Garlic, Sweet Italian, Horseradish, Steakhouse, Jalapeno, Root Beer, Ham & Pineapple and the newly developed Smoked Cheddar. Besides the specialty brats Jones Boys also offers its own pulled pork, hand-rubbed ribs and fresh-cut steaks and chops.

“We also grind our own hamburger from ground sirloin,” Dan said.

Come June, a spring tractor drive will arrive in town, with drivers eating a lunch supplied by Jones Boys Markets. This is just one of the community events the market participates in over the summer months.

The market is located at 201 Editor Street, open Monday-Friday from 7 a.m.-6 p.m. and Saturday from 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Check out the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pages/Jones-Boys- Market/111066777825 for more details, or call 217-476-3914.