Help honor one soldier's ultimate sacrifice

If sad stories make you cry, get out your Kleenex for this one.

It's about Army Capt. Drew Jensen, who was second in command for his company at West Point, where Jonathon Monken was first in command.

Jonathon Monken is the son of Jon Monken, the facility director of the Norris Recreational Center in St. Charles.

"Drew was a good friend of my son, and during a deployment in Iraq, his 3rd Stryker Brigade came under attack and one of his soldiers was wounded underneath a truck," Jon Monken said. "When Drew was helping that soldier, he was shot at the base of his neck, and it resulted in him being paralyzed, with no use of his limbs."

The Jensen family in Portland, Ore., was faced with a difficult decision. In knowing he would never recover after four months on life support and undergoing surgeries in Landstuhl, Germany, Jensen requested that his life support be taken off. He died last month.

A memorial honor

In honoring Drew's wishes, Monken said, the Jensen family has established a memorial scholarship to be given to underprivileged students who show exceptional leadership skills.

Area residents wishing to donate can do so with checks made out to the Drew Jensen Memorial Scholarship and mailed to or dropped off at the Norris Recreation Center, 1050 Dunham Road, St. Charles, IL, 60174, Attn: Jon Monken, Director.

"Prior to finishing his active duty, my son was in Kosovo for eight months and had two years in Iraq," Monken said. "Over that time, he had a close relationship with Drew, and this is something we wanted to do for the family."

Monken said Drew's wife established the scholarship fund "to honor her husband and help the family deal with his ultimate sacrifice."

The color of ribbons

The blue ribbons have been all over Geneva in support of the football team, but the red ribbons were scheduled to come out Saturday to signal the start of the annual drug awareness program with Red Ribbon Week.

A "Pray for the Children" vigil will be conducted at 7 p.m. today on the front steps of Geneva city hall, but activities stressing drug-free lives and overall wellness have been taking place all month in Geneva schools and area businesses.

Expansion at Riverwoods

If it's a good cause, it's a good place to focus your charity.

My service club has been helping Riverwoods Christian Center by donating money and manpower to its various programs, but I was pleased to hear that many other groups and businesses are doing the same.

The push has been on to help the center, which has served underprivileged kids in this area since 1977, continue its building and expansion project and bolster its operating budget at the summer camp site on Riverwoods Lane in the rural area north of St. Charles.

If you've never visited the center, nor seen the new dormitories, which are being built mostly by volunteers, it is worth the trip. Also, of significance to the overall environment and offerings at Riverwoods, the new recreation center provides many new alternatives for camp directors.

But this is a tricky place to find if you've never been up in the area. You can get more information about the center by calling Executive Director Jay Curtis at (630) 584-2222.

Run of bad luck

My friend Warren Swenson, who is best known for his heating and air conditioning company that has served the area for years, has had a run of bad luck.

He was just getting over some hip surgery and starting to get around again, but was attacked by a dog the other day when taking a short walk near his St. Charles home. He fought off the animal, but came out of it with a broken elbow. So we hope he recovers quickly from this latest scary episode.

November madness

If basketball state playoffs are March Madness, then the onset of the football playoffs must be November Madness because area teams will be hoping to play well into next month.

We were treated to great football seasons again here in the Tri-Cities, and here's to hoping more area fans can have the same fun that Batavia provided last year by making it all the way to the state final game in its class.

dheun@sbcglobal.net