Lincoln Highway thrives in Kane County
No one can say the Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition hasn't been doing its part to provide public art for the communities along the highway's 179-mile stretch from the Indiana border to the Mississippi River.
Residents in Geneva, St. Charles and Maple Park have been part of the group's Interpretive Mural Project in which murals are hung in a prominent place in the community as a dedication to the history of the highway.
Geneva's mural at 10 S. Second St. shows it offered some of the first traffic lights and police on motorcycles along the highway, which roughly followed U.S. 30 and Illinois routes 31 and 38.
In St. Charles, at 102 E. Main St., the mural shows color and black-and-white images of the Hotel Baker and Arcada Theatre, while Maple Park's mural is displayed at its village hall, highlighting some of the highway's early filling stations.
“Community response has been more than wonderful so far, each time a mural goes up on a wall,” said Sue Hronik, program director for the coalition. “All have been anxious to provide local historical information, if available, for the mural subject.
“It is important that a connection be made to every community and that we get to know what is important and meaningful to them,” Hronik added. “Every community representative contact has done the legwork within their town and has had the ability to find possible building locations and knows where there may be great story materials for a local tie-in to the Lincoln Highway.
“The research must be accurate, and the artist, Jay Allen, works from that to come up with a visually captivating mural design.”
The project, funded by a grants from the Federal Highway Administration and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, takes place year-round with a coalition goal of placing a mural each month.
“Through the visuals of the murals we can highlight the byway and its communities' impact on history and American travel,” Hronik said. “It provides a unique attraction for each location.”
Hollywood windmill: Early birds who may have been in the vicinity of the Fabyan Forest Preserve Windmill before dawn last Sunday morning saw plenty of lights, cameras and action.Chances are, they weren't quite sure what they were seeing.A group of DePaul University film students were working on their summer project, a film called #8220;The Witching Hour.#8221;This was no easy-credit class in which students just kill time by playing around with camera equipment.#8220;This will be a movie-industry level film,#8221; said Judy Bafaro, one of the film students living in Chicago while attending DePaul. #8220;We were actually in Geneva for about three overnights, working from 5:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.#8221;The movie, set in the early 1900s, calls for plenty of hands on deck.#8220;I think we had about 100 extras at our Geneva location,#8221; Bafaro said.#8220;This was a high-level project, one of the largest shoots done by the university.#8221;Tons of promotions: When Phil Elfstrom first started pitching the idea for a minor-league baseball team in Kane County in the late 1980s, detractors were worried it could be another place for people to drink too much.Elfstrom knew better, saying a Class A team would draw families based on promotions and stuff to entertain kids, not by being a place for rowdy beer drinkers.So here we are, 21 years into Cougars baseball, and the team is planning an event that confirms what Elfstrom said years ago #8212; a Veeck family #8220;Night of 100 Promotions.#8221;Yes, the family of baseball promotion king Bill Veeck will be on hand at the 6:30 p.m. Thursday game at Elfstrom Stadium to be part of the festivities.It sounds like a great time, and the Cougars marketing crew tells us many of the promotions will remind folks of old Chicago baseball favorites.Needs a coat: The future of the former Geneva post office on Third Street remains unclear as to whether an entirely different business will eventually take up shop there or if the postal service could possibly use the building in some fashion again.Regardless, the building definitely needs one thing: a fresh coat of white paint.Par for the course?: You figured the weak economy of the past few years has hurt public golf courses, but it apparently has hit private clubs as well. Crain's Chicago Business recently reported that many private clubs are struggling, and buyers are weighing the pros and cons of investing in certain courses known to be struggling.John Weiss, CEO of Royal Fox and Royal Hawk country clubs in St. Charles, recently bought the Hillcrest Country Club for $3 million, according to a Crain's report, and converted it into a course called The Grove.Makes you wonder what will be next for some of the private clubs that may have passed those heydays.Hit the spot: A hot summer night and a stop at Kowske's Moo LaLa in Batavia had a satisfying result: a chocolate pie swirl.For those not familiar, this would be similar to a Dairy Queen Blizzard, and the #8220;chocolate pie#8221; part speaks for itself.dheun@sbcglobal.net