Sugar Grove rallies around ill former library director
Beverly Holmes Hughes doesn't live in Sugar Grove, nor does she work there anymore. But the former Sugar Grove Library director, and 2010 Sugar Grove Citizen of the Year, has a lot of fans in the town.
And they are rallying around her as she battles glioblastoma multiforme - malignant brain tumors.
Sugar Grove Library trustees Pat Graceffa and Louise Coffman, as well as Village Trustee Mari Johnson, are some of the organizers of the "Beverly's Battle With Brain Cancer."
They are trying to support Beverly and her family in practical ways, with gifts and money.
Hughes has had surgery to remove tumors, then six weeks of radiation and chemotherapy treatments. She has another six months of chemotherapy to go.
She's not able to work full-time during treatment. Hughes is the main breadwinner for her household, which includes her husband; her sister; and her sister's four adopted special-needs children. They live in North Aurora.
Donations of gasoline-station and grocery-store gift cards; Lysol; disinfectant cleaning wipes; hand sanitizer; paper towels; trash bags; and school supplies are being accepted at the Sugar Grove Chamber of Commerce office in the Community House on Main Street; at Advanced Realty Concepts, 91 Sugar Lane; and at five houses. For a list of the houses, join the Facebook page "Beverly's Battle With Brain Cancer."
Monetary donations are being collected at Castle Bank, 36 E. Galena Blvd., Sugar Grove.
For information, write to beverlyholmeshughesfund@gmail.com.
Good eats:
For one reason or another, I just didn't make it to the Flavor Fare tent at Festival of the Vine in Geneva this year. So I missed out on what Nobel House was doing that was so special it won the Lencioni Best Presentation Award.
And I'm sad that I missed its barbecue sandwiches and something called "belly beans."
Nobel House, 305 W. State St., was one of 23 restaurants participating in the festival.
The award is named for the late Geneva building commissioner, Chuck Lencioni, who started the Flavor Fare in 1983, back when he was owner of the Firehouse No. 5 pub in downtown Geneva.
A check of Nobel House's menu shows it serves poutine, a dish of fries covered in gravy and cheese. It's the second time in a week I've seen poutine on a menu, the other time being at Munchie P's' Elburn outpost. Have a bunch of Canadians moved here?
• In other restaurant news, El Molcajete plans to open a second location in the Berry House, 227 S. Third St., in Geneva.
A giggle:
Batavia Alderman Steve Vasilion lightened the mood a little with his recent vote to recommend supporting an effort to bring a medical-marijuana cultivation center to Batavia.
The roll-call vote proceeded with "aye" after "aye" until it got to Vasilion. "Yeah, dude," he said, in a very Jeff Spicoli-like moment.