Cali & Chance boutique moves to Geneva

All it took was for the granddaughter of Sally Lutz to put her face in a picture where it did not belong to trigger a big change in Lutz's business life.

Admittedly, that sounds quite odd. But as Lutz was taking a photo last year of various products for the Christmas season at her Cali & Chance store in Naperville, her granddaughter Callie suddenly photo-bombed the proceedings and popped up among a vase of flowers. One of the signs in the photo said, "You only regret the chances you don't take."

So there was the not-so-subtle message for Lutz, who had been contemplating how to move her store in Naperville closer to the Tri-Cities, considering her family lived in St. Charles and operated the St. Charles Florist shop and a boutique in Wasco.

"It was a moment, and it helped me to decide to do this," she said of the surprise photo bomb.

A month ago, Lutz did "this" by moving her shop, which she calls a "California-style boutique with Midwest roots and philosophy," to 316 Franklin St. in Geneva, behind the Graham's Chocolate and Ice Cream store.

"So the name of the shop is related to two different concepts, that being that Cali is a combination of short for California and for Callie," said Lutz, whose shop includes a branding slogan of "just cool stuff."

And the store has plenty of that, in addition to clothes, in what Lutz wants to portray as items for all ages and all sizes.

"It's a little Boho chic and very multigenerational," she said.

Operating as the "sister" store to the businesses in Wasco, the Cali & Chance location is open Thursday through Saturday.

After two and a half years in Naperville, Lutz wants to showcase her store in Geneva as one that has made "a lot of thoughtful purchases" for items, including candles from a company that supports struggling young mothers.

"It's been like spinning plates so far," Lutz said of essentially operating three businesses. "When the florist shop and boutique are working on weddings, it gets very busy."

Earning his medals:

A few weeks ago, we featured an item about the Power Athletics facility in St. Charles including a nonprofit organization called PaWellness Inc. for those with disabilities, low incomes or advancing age.

Part of the story focused on owner David Brown and his work with Chris Chavez of St. Charles in preparing the Judson College student for Special Olympics events.

So, we were certainly pleased to see that Chavez recently earned four medals in a Special Olympics event in Seattle.

Kindness overflows:

Talk about a random act of kindness. Mary Sharp of Geneva did just that in knitting a quilt displaying a rocket and stars as a gift for Cole Spiegel, a young boy battling a rare genetic disorder that makes him vulnerable to various cancers.

Sharp read about Cole in some of my past columns and connected with this grandfather, Duane Buttell of St. Charles, to offer this wonderful gift.

Mary and Dick Sharp have long been the type of people you want to have in your community, getting involved in various projects to help others.

Dick, whose health has been an issue recently, served for years in township government and was a supporter of Geneva, providing affordable living sites for older residents.

Hot chess match:

The Geneva Commons central courtyard has quickly become a nice gathering spot for concerts and other activities, despite some bouts of hot and humid weather.

Who would have thought that chess was going to be an outdoor sport in hot weather?

That's what it was the last time we were near the courtyard, as a father and his son were taking part in a game with the large chess pieces at the west end of the courtyard.

It was probably more than 90 degrees, but it didn't seem to bother these two.

But I'm guessing maybe it would be more fun to play chess in this manner with weather in the 60s or 70s.

Promoted to the next grade:

The magazine distributed through our neighborhood featured some photos of smiling children holding their certificates for completing kindergarten and moving on to first grade.

This is not something one would have seen in the late 1950s and early 1960s when people my age were grinding their way through kindergarten.

It sure is a more satisfying approach than the one I encountered when leaving kindergarten, or most any other grade for that matter. "You're somebody else's problem now," the teacher would declare.

With those words, I knew I was advancing to the next grade. Come to think of it, I should have received a certificate with those words front and center.

And I likely would have smiled when displaying it.

dheun@sbcglobal.net