Top 'Talk of the Town' topics in 2016

Before we plunge too deep into 2017, I have to tuck away the 2016 notebook. It allows me to remind readers of things we touched on in "Talk of the Town" last year.

It's a small recap gleaned from the hundreds of names and places mentioned in this space the past 12 months.

First, the feedback from readers has been quite positive since I was moved into my new home on the front of the Neighbor section on Sundays and Wednesdays more than a year ago.

After years of being in the high-rent district of page 3 in the front section on Sundays, we rather enjoy this new camping ground in Neighbor because we can share more information and photos.

So, here's the 2016 notebook recap:

New Arcada neighbor?

We opened last year wondering what might go into the Starbucks location next to the Arcada Theatre in downtown St. Charles after Starbucks moved to a new spot in the First Street plaza.

At first, word was that a new sports bar might take up shop there, but then later in the year, a reality TV episode of "Wahlburgers" with the Wahlberg family had us thinking that Mark and Donnie Wahlberg were contemplating a Wahlburger's restaurant in that spot.

After all, Donnie and his wife, actress Jenny McCarthy, planted firmer roots in St. Charles, with both performing on occasion at the Arcada and capping the year off as grand marshals of the Electric Christmas Parade.

It would make sense they would try to convince Mark that St. Charles was a good spot for their restaurant chain.

Arcada frontman Ron Onesti wasn't waiting around on what might happen next to his theater. He was forging ahead with plans to reinvent the Club Arcada on the third floor of the Arcada building.

Another celebrity:

Arguably one of the most well known celebrities in the culinary world is chef Alain Roby of the All-Chocolate Kitchen in Geneva. Playing off the popularity of his chocolate shop, Roby and his wife Esther opened Primo - a small-plates, upscale restaurant - in an open retail spot right next to All-Chocolate Kitchen.

Lots of mall talk:

We talked about the Charlestowne Mall forever it seemed, and the script remained pretty much stuck with not much going on, other than even more stores closing.

In the meantime, city officials are holding out hope that a Cooper's Hawk restaurant near the property will provide a much-needed spark for the rest of the project to somehow take hold. Why do I fear Cooper's Hawk will bail out if the mall remains a shaky proposition?

Did I mention I've never bothered calling the mall by its new name, The Quad? It's bad enough nothing is going on there, but to start calling it something no one is the least bit familiar with seemed silly at best. So I did the developers a favor and ignored that.

Help for a mom:

Brandy Murphy of St. Charles was nominated for the title of Super Mom for a "Today Show" contest on NBC - and she won.

TV celebrities honored the mother of triplets for her exhaustive devotion to family and treated her to a day of luxury at the Waldorf in Chicago.

Catch that stagecoach:

We know early settlers had to use stagecoaches to get around this area during the migration west, but we never gave much thought to the routes they took until Georgiana Vitti, a volunteer at Batavia Depot Museum, shared her research on the topic.

She has discovered where key stations were and what trails they followed in the Tri-Cities and surrounding area.

It provided a strong appreciation for places like Garfield Farm in knowing that weary travelers stopped there for food and drink and a place to sleep during their travels. Knowing a stagecoach line went nearby, you could picture one making its way along the dirt paths in that area as Garfield Farm remains close to what it was like 150 years ago.

Big birthdays:

Two St. Charles institutions celebrated significant birthdays, with the Colonial Café restaurants marking 115 years of business in the region and the Baker Community Center in St. Charles celebrating its 90th year of serving the community.

Melvin Peterson, a community center board member for 73 years now, marked his 95th birthday early last year.

Providing some inspiration:

There were plenty of inspirational stories in the column last year, not the least of which was Robin Schwarz of St. Charles recovering from a long series of cancer treatments and rebounding through her love of ballroom dancing.

She danced with professionals at Fred Astaire studio in St. Charles in a fundraiser for cancer survivors.

In addition, Tim and Doris Trout of Batavia were bringing wheelchair accessibility issues to light, noting how much they had learned since their son was diagnosed with ALS and began using a wheelchair.

The hotel centerpiece:

The Rox City Grill in the Hotel Baker in downtown St. Charles reopened after some renovation work, again illustrating that the Salas family has every intention of keeping this historic symbol of the city vibrant.

There were some rumblings in town later in the year when city officials began contemplating a pitch for a new hotel along the First Street redevelopment project.

Though city officials were doing what they were elected to do - listening to all business development options - some residents were quick to defend Hotel Baker, saying anything so close that would potentially harm business there was flirting with damaging the city's history and image.

Those new eats:

As with other years, there was no lack of news about restaurants closing or opening in 2016.

Readers like to keep close tabs on this sort of news, and they seem to enjoy it when I mention these places. It should be known that I am not a restaurant reviewer, and am not trying to pretend to be one in this column.

But I enjoy all different types of food, and never mind noting when I really liked something, or that readers had consistently told me they really liked a certain place.

So, in that spirit, please do keep in touch with me about any sort of things going on in your life that you would like to talk about in this column.

dheun@sbcglobal.net