Dave's making his own 'best of' list for Tri-Cities

Every publication seems to have a list of the best cities in the country, or the best places to eat, or the best schools, or the best this, that and the other thing.

The Daily Herald and others offer a "Best of" format, but those call for readers to cast votes for favorite things.

It makes me scratch my head in wonder on those occasions when lists pop up out of nowhere to declare the "best." They surely follow guidelines and, quite possibly, even qualified research.

But when you are from the Tri-Cities region, it bothers you to not see our communities at or near the tops of these lists.

This week, U.S. News & World Report issued its list of best high schools in the United States for 2015. St. Charles North had the best local ranking at No. 35. OK, maybe schools are easier to gauge, based on student scores and such. But other things seem more random, based on taste and maybe hunches.

With that in mind, next week I am going to reveal my list of "Reasons Why the Tri-Cities Area Should Be on Nearly Every 'Best Of List' That Anyone Concocts."

Yes, that's the official name of my list. And I welcome readers to send me a note about anything - a place, a business, an event, a person - they believe makes this area stand out in such a way it should never miss a spot on an important list.

Here are a few reasons I feel compelled to come up with my "reasons list."

How about St. Charles?

One list surfaced recently and, to be honest, I didn't even pay attention to who created it. Basically, it was rating the best places in Illinois to eat. Some 25 towns were mentioned as offering the best variety of restaurants.

Geneva made the list, somewhere around No. 12. I don't know Peoria that well, but it slipped into the No. 5 spot, and places like Carbondale and Rockford ranked really high as well. When I lived in Carbondale in the mid-1970s it had some OK pizza places, but a college student isn't going to know much more than that. And Chicago, drum roll please, was of course No. 1 on this particular list.

You know where I am going with this. How could St. Charles not be on the list? Also, if you really probed this topic carefully, you would find Batavia also is nothing to sneeze at when it comes to dining.

But I make the case for St. Charles here. Za Za Trattoria, Francesca's, Pheasant Run, Hotel Baker, The Office, Top Table, Salerno's, and other hidden gems should give this town some qualifications.

Yet another snub

And then there's a survey from Outside magazine, which calls itself America's leading active lifestyle brand. I'm not arguing that point, but they sent along a note alerting me that a "town in your area" had been nominated for the magazine's best towns of 2015.

The closest town to us on the list for Midwest nominees was Evanston. Nice town, but come on. Spend a little time on the Fox River bike trails here, or in the various forest preserves, and see if something in the Tri-Cities area doesn't catch your fancy. Just saying.

We'll take that

On a Thrillist of the "12 Best Illinois Restaurants not in Chicago," at least Geneva's Bien Trucha made the cut. And in an effort to educate me about why Peoria and Rockford rank so high in that other list, this one rated restaurants in those cities quite high. Apparently, if you have ever eaten at Abreo in Rockford or One World Cafe in Peoria, you would understand.

But, again, we may have lost a few fine dining sites during the recession, but we have to have a few that rank highly in some fashion.

To help Lazarus

Here's an easy way to help the Lazarus House homeless shelter in St. Charles. If you stop by Kimmer's for an ice cream treat between 3 and 7 p.m. Sunday, ask for a Kimmer's Kares fundraising card, and 10 percent of your purchase benefits Lazarus House. If you are looking to help the shelter even more, check out the Lazarus House website for details about a golf outing June 8 at Royal Fox in partnership with the St. Charles Kiwanis.

The bad example

It seems like a bad example of how humans interact with wildlife always rears its head. The Fox Valley Wildlife Center in Elburn was planning to release a father Canada goose and his family last week. The shelter had nursed the father back to health - and you may not like hearing about why.

This particular creature didn't run afoul of other wildlife. It was beaten by a group of kids in a nearby suburb, and someone was alert enough to see it and gather the injured animal and its family to bring to the shelter.

Here's a reminder to any other stupid kids thinking it is fun to try to kill a Canada goose. They're protected by federal law, so be prepared for some heavy punishment if you get caught.

dheun@sbcglobal.net