US-12 through Allen was the Chicago Road before it was a highway, and the Sauk Trail before that; today the storefronts along it are stacked with antiques and the traffic slows down to look. J III Services, LLC keeps the ground on either side of that street in order all year. Warm months are mowing, trimming and edging for houses, shops and the yards on the back roads out of the village. Cold months are plowing and shoveling, often well before the sun is up, so lots and drives are open before the first car turns off the highway. Hillsdale County winters run gray and long, and a cleared driveway is a small, real kindness.