MARION, Ill. (WSIL) -- A school bus waited for a group students finishing a meal at Mackie's Pizza in Marion after a Scholar Bowl competition.
The restaurant has seen an increasing number of groups coming into the restaurant to sit down and enjoy a meal, mask-free.
"Table business is starting to come back. We're starting to book more parties," said owner and general manager John McPeek.
McPeek says the restaurant was able to stay open because of curbside pick-up. But after two years of requiring face coverings, McPeek says it's time for Illinois' mask mandate to end next week.
"We're glad to see it happen and I know all the restaurants in this area are excited for it to happen," McPeek said.
Most people inside restaurant were without their masks and talks of the mask mandate's pending finale drew sounds of sarcasm.
"Oh, praise the Lord," laughed one person.
"As if we all had them on," remarked another.
This mindset may cut the progress made during the pandemic, according to Paula Clark of the Jackson County Health Department. Clark says health officials want the mandate to end but not the cost of more lives.
"I worry about if we get another variant," Clark said. "If we get another surge it will be very hard for the community to go backwards fom this."
But McPeek says it's up to people within the region to decide if they should wear masks and not 'have them dictated to us.' Next week's end to the mask mandate, McPeek says, means a return to normalcy.
"Kids came in and none of them had a mask on so we'll see what happens," McPeek said.
"It definitely is a long time coming."