Twins use birthday to pay forward
When they reached that milestone birthday of 10 years old, twin brothers Justin and Matthew Callaci of St. Charles were ready to throw a party that would benefit someone other than themselves.
"Being twins, they always got so much for their birthdays, it was time to pick something for a charity," said the boys' mother, Laura Callaci.
The boys, students at St. Peter School in Geneva, had learned about the Lazarus House homeless shelter in St. Charles and decided that would be the focus of their birthday.
A party at Quarry Pool in Batavia last summer in which invited kids donated for Lazarus House resulted in $900 in Target gift cards that were used to purchase items off the shelter's "needs" list.
"It was a good experience for them, and it is something they will continue to do," said Callaci, who added that the boys who attended the party also got a tour of the shelter and learned about how it serves the community.
"I think they were really surprised at what they have compared to some others, and they were kind of quiet afterward," she said. "I think this is something they will embrace as they get older.
"So many parents thought it was a great idea, and we hope others consider it as well. As I told my sons, if you are going to get together with friends, then make something productive out of it."
Ghosts, typos: The popular Boy Scouts Haunted Hike set for its second weekend, Friday and Saturday at Camp Big Timber in Elgin, reminds me of the annual Ghost Hike at Fabyan Forest Preserve years ago.
It also reminded me of a haunting story. Back in the days when newspapers were first converting to computerized typesetting, the computers at my newspaper decided to corrupt in an odd way. After a story was filed and output by the computer in newspaper column format, words or sentences from stories would be mixed into other stories. Even more meticulous proofreading became critical. No matter how hard we tried, a small line in the wrong place would occasionally end up in print.
I will never forget how the wrong line popped up in an obituary when it proclaimed that the deceased "will be buried at the annual Ghost Hike at Fabyan Forest Preserve." And then it went on to give all of the other details without a glitch.
Miraculously, the family was not upset and even found it humorous when I explained what had happened. Too bad Jay Leno wasn't around with his silly headlines back then. We would have been infamous.
By the way, the haunted hike is held from 7 to 11 p.m. Friday and 6:30 to 11 p.m. Saturday.
Dining at Brighton: My thanks to Viv Kantor of St. Charles for having me as a guest for her husband Art's birthday party at Brighton Gardens on Dunham Road last week.
My friend Art has been a resident at Brighton since having some heart problems the past year or so. The staff at Brighton provided an excellent meal and service.