It's Friday night at JR's Bar and Grill in McConnell. And on this night, they're celebrating JR's birthday.
"It should definitely be a good time," said Justin McNett, also known as J.R., the bar's owner.
A fun start to the weekend that J.R. hopes stays safe following a burglary there just two weeks ago.
"Took the crow bar and bent the deadbolt out along with the the door and tore all this wood off," McNett said.
Once inside, J.R. says the burglars busted locks on the poker machines, looking for money. There wasn't any there.
The suspects then hit some drawers behind the bar but didn't take anything. Still, J.R's taking precautions.
"Definitely got me thinking about getting security, security with cameras," McNett said.
It turns out that J.R'.s was among four Stephenson County bars struck that same weekend by burglars.
The others were in Winslow, Cedarville and Orangeville.
The Orangeville bar was hit three times over the weekend and a safe was stolen.
"They got to be pretty brave," McNett said.
Authorities believe there's a link between these bar burglaries based on timetables and methods of entry. But they're still searching for suspects.
While these incidents may seem shocking in tiny communities like McConnell, J.R. feels, they're just as vulnerable to big city bandits.
"All these small towns do get the guys from out of town that will rummage through and do their thing and get out," McNett said.
Authorities with the Stephenson County Sheriff's office say they're working with the bar owners and other area law enforcement agencies to solve these burglaries.
They also say the weekend before these cases, there were similar incidents in nearby Ogle and Wisconsin's LaFayette counties.
There's nothing yet from authorities on a suspect description.
But J.R.'s heard rumors that the suspects could be driving a white SUV with Wisconsin plates.