Historic Sholes schoolhouse needs new paint job

Tom Sawyer certainly went to a one-room schoolhouse similar to Sholes School, the 1872 structure that sits in LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve in St. Charles.

If Mark Twain's fictional character from around that era took a look at Sholes today, he wouldn't need Aunt Polly to convince him that another whitewashing project might be in order.

I'll even use the same ploy that Tom used in convincing his friends that it would be "fun" to whitewash the fence he was supposed to work on himself.

The old school can certainly use a coat of paint, and it would be fun for an organization or youth group to step forward to do it.

The last time the school was painted several years ago, the Pioneer Sholes Restoration Society paid for it. That group is rapidly running out of money, according to member Craig Dorsey.

"The contract that the school has with the forest preserve places the responsibility for painting with the forest preserve, but they don't seem to notice that it needs to be done," Dorsey said. "And since somebody else paid for it last time, I think that is what they are hoping for again."

Dorsey said the folks at the restoration society and forest preserve would be grateful for any mention of the need for a paint job in hopes that a Scout group or other volunteer organization might come forward next spring to do it.

"Boy, could we use volunteers for painting, and for staffing and to clean the school, and, would you believe that we are using the same furnace from the 1970s and that it has been under water twice?" Dorsey asked.

The school has been at LeRoy Oakes since 1978. It just happened to be one of the first stories I was involved in covering when first coming on the scene in the Tri-Cities as a reporter. For many years, as a member of my service club, I helped clean the school to get it ready for visiting classes. The place is worth keeping in good condition.

It's been here a long time and can continue to be an interesting historical reminder for schoolchildren as to what it used to be like to get an education on the prairies of Illinois.

Any person or group interested in a Tom Sawyer type group effort to paint Sholes School should contact Dorsey at (630) 956-2581 or sholes@pioneersholesschool.org, so he can run some ideas by forest preserve officials.

Back to 'Idol'

It's been nearly 10 years since St. Charles native Leslie Hunt's participation on "American Idol" got me interested in the most popular show on TV at that time.

Many area residents were familiar with Hunt from her local concerts and the musical roots behind her family. She made it to "Idol's" top 20 in 2007, but didn't advance beyond that.

It left me hooked on that show and the next one that fell into place, "The Voice." So eight years later, along comes Jeffery Austin, also a former St. Charles resident, making it the top four on "The Voice" last year.

And to keep this Tri-Cities area momentum going, we now have 18-year-old Kayla Mickelsen of Geneva High School to root for on this year's series finale of "American Idol."

"Idol's" coverage is a little erratic in the early stages of the competition, so it's hard to say how much of Mickelsen we will see. But she passed her audition and made it to the Hollywood portion of the competition.

The connection for all of these great talents? At some point they have performed at either the Arcada Theatre in downtown St. Charles or the Norris Theater at St. Charles East High School.

Given those venues, we may be sending other singers to popular TV shows on a regular basis.

From shoes to law

It was hard to imagine another retail business taking over the empty Giesche Shoes spot on Fourth Street in Geneva, but it appears a good fit is moving in.

Workers are reframing the interior of the building in preparation for Griffin Williams LLP to open the site as a law office.

Same, but better

The winter may not be the best time to gauge how Batavia's revamp of Houston Street turned out. At first glance, it appears the same, only slightly narrower, but that's not an issue.

Mostly, it is easy to envision how nice the new tree islands along the street's north sidewalk will look during the warmer months.

This street takes residents and visitors to most of the city's important stuff that takes place along the riverwalk, at the band shell or Depot Pond. Plus, it provides easy walking access into Fabyan Forest Preserve or to River Street across the pedestrian bridge. Batavia was wise to give it a bit of a facelift.

dheun@sbcglobal.net