Geneva man a real stairmaster -- just ask the folks at Sears Tower
While some of us were parked on our couches last Sunday either grimacing, laughing or crying about our inept Chicago Bears, Eric Leninger was busy climbing the 103 floors and 2,109 steps of Sears Tower.
The 24-year-old Geneva man was doing it for cancer research in the sixth annual "Go Vertical Chicago" stair climb, and he just happened to do it fairly quickly.
Leninger was the first to reach the Skydeck, and he did it in just 13 minutes and 42 seconds, or about the amount of time it took for the rest of us to fall asleep from the boredom of watching our NFL team, even when it wins.
"I was going for the record of 13:26, but I fell just short of that," said Leninger, who topped his past efforts of 14th place two years ago and third last year.
A 2000 graduate of Lake Forest College and now a law student at Northern Illinois University, Leninger said he prepares for climbing races by "mixing up" his training.
"I do distance running, aerobic, biking and if there is any kind of exercise machine, I do it," said Leninger, who has to be careful not to irritate knees that were injured during his collegiate cross-country career.
He has his sights set high, toward the Empire State Building in New York next spring.
"That's an international race, and a big one, but I am not sure if I am going to do that one yet," he said.
To the penny
Someone had a good idea about 10 years ago when the Geneva school district started recognizing community leaders and organizations with a breakfast during American Education Week.
That annual event was held at the high school Wednesday and, as always, a highlight is when the schools get a nice gift from the Geneva Academic Foundation. Derek Swanson, the chairman of GAF's Project Search, turned a check over to Superintendent Kent Mutchler for $63,357.43, showing that the organization accounts for every penny.
In addition to announcing funding available for individual schools, Swanson was quick to praise the school staff and booster organizations for their help in determining what the most pressing needs were for each school.
She's shy?
Geneva school board President Mary Stith had a shocking revelation for those in attendance at the Community Leadership Breakfast at Geneva High School last week.
She was talking about her fondness for author Mark Twain, and contemplated how impressed he would be with the growth and excellence of public schools since his era.
But those in the crowd who know Stith had to do a double-take when she said, "I was actually a very shy girl, and a bookworm" when talking about Twain being her favorite.
How would I describe the Mary Stith of today? She's never met a conversation she didn't like. And, unlike what you would expect from a shy person, she's always contributed a lot of words to those conversations.
Her words were interesting and thoughtful regarding an interpretation of what Mark Twain might say and think about today's education.
Political minefield
Campton Township, and now the village of Campton Hills, must be like some sort of political Bermuda Triangle. Many people venture into it with opinions and thoughts, but encounter a slippery slope in which many don't survive.
These folks can't seem to make up their mind. First came the push to become a village, and now there's an equally hard push to dissolve the village. In short, there is plenty of conflicting rhetoric unfolding in Campton.
But this does not surprise me. While it is one of the most desirable regions of Kane County, there has been a tendency for its residents to not see eye-to-eye, which fuels fliers and petitions that are always challenged for their accuracy.
I sat through some contentious school board and township board meetings 30 years ago when "city folks" first started moving into places like The Windings amid farmlands. Time has not eased the fundamental differences that fuel debate in Campton.