The pros and cons of a 25-stop 'wine crawl' in St. Charles

You have to hand it to St. Charles Mayor Ray Rogina. He's a level-headed fellow who tends to see the positive side of things, even when others might try to draw a darker picture.

Take the recent city council debate over whether downtown St. Charles should host its own version of "Wine Down Winter," an event that has taken place in Libertyville in the past.

Not being much of a wine drinker, my first impression still is that this pitch, being made through Shakou Sushi restaurant as the host, represents a classier version of a pub crawl - an older crowd, maybe.

It's important to embrace that concept, because at first blush the fact that the event calls for 25 stops at various locations for wine samples would lead some to envision folks stumbling and bumbling through town.

Granted, it is probably good I would never care to try a 1-ounce sample of wine at that many places. At some point during that journey, I would transform into an Otis Campbell and those around me might regret taking me along.

City officials who were reluctant to go forward with the wine crawl sort of envisioned that same thing. They didn't want the city to fall back down the slippery slope of having a reputation in which too many of its residents can't handle their liquor. In short, police were dealing with far too many late-night, alcohol-related incidents in the past. Younger crowd, maybe.

Rogina was quick to support the event, noting those who engage in wine tastings represent a different breed. Essentially, that means they are rarely looking to get rowdy or stupid, damage property or start fights.

In some cases you might have to take a leap of faith in saying most would know when to stop so they could drive home later without a problem, but it is safe to say most wine tastings don't encourage that sort of imbibing.

The last I heard was Shakou possibly didn't want to risk any bad publicity from such an event, and was considering scrapping the idea.

If that's the case, it is unfortunate. An event that signals we have made it through another winter certainly has a certain attraction. And it seems logical to predict that not many were going to make it to each stop on the crawl.

Regardless of how it plays out, this idea deserves at least a first try.

Kept a secret:

Generally, journalists have a hard time keeping a "secret." In other words, when we are told something that is off the record, we try to get that same information from someone willing to go on the record with it.

In the case of a piece of information chef David Reyes Jr. shared with me related to his taking over the Hache Moderne Brasserie restaurant on State Street in Geneva, I just didn't want to spoil it for him by spilling the beans early.

Reyes Jr. and his wife Juliette also operate The Finery & Blacksmith Bar in downtown St. Charles and The Grandstander on Third Street in Geneva.

He told me a few months ago that he was going to surprise his wife by renaming Hache as "Juliette" in her honor.

Now that the new name has been on the awning of the building for a few weeks, it is safe for me to say it: He plans on using his wife's name in rebranding the restaurant, while still keeping its emphasis on French dining.

So there, I kept the secret.

What a ringer:

All of the Salvation Army red kettles have been tucked away for a couple of weeks after another round of traditional holiday bell ringing. But we can't let this past year's bell ringing volunteers fade into memory without mentioning the uplifting work of Bunny Honeyman, who has been ringing the bell in St. Charles for the Salvation Army for the past 18 years - and doing so with the disability of being blind.

On the down side, a reader who said she has driven Bunny to her ringing duties all of these years sent along a note to express displeasure with the location of Bunny's kettle this year at the Charlestowne Mall.

Apparently it was at a door entrance that hardly anyone uses these days. One might say mall management didn't put a lot of thought into where a bell ringer might do well.

Of course, the reader sent the note after seeing my item about ringing the bell at the mall for 20 years and watching its ongoing demise.

Want their bread:

A few readers have mentioned Breadsmith, at 121 N. Second St. in St. Charles, has closed. But the location has a note on it saying the operators hope to reopen soon.

From what I can ascertain, loyal customers are certainly hoping that is true.

These types of places are starting to fall by the wayside. Three years ago, Geneva lost Great Harvest Bread Company. That spot on North Third Street has since been filled by Gia Mia.

Lessons from Ward:

In taking some time off during the holidays, I did what most people should do with their free time. I watched a couple episodes of "Leave it to Beaver," partly because it remains a funny program and also because it tends to make you long for days in which core values were actually topics parents discussed with children.

Mostly, it left me with this thought: If Ward Cleaver could sit down with some of our state and national politicians, and explain the difference between right and wrong behavior, just as he did with young Beaver Cleaver, we'd likely be much better off.

dheun@sbcglobal.net