Ringing that Heritage bell gets the blood flowing
If St. Charles Heritage Center board president Brian Henry calls and asks if you'd like to ring the large bell at the Heritage Center, just hope for decent weather.
Our service club took its turn ringing that bell, as part of a program in which a different individual or group will ring it for 75 straight days in honor of the historical society's 75th anniversary. We rang on a clear, but cold day. And it's only gotten colder and snowier since then.
The ringing takes place at noon each Tuesday, so hope for calm winds and moderate temperatures, if that's even possible at this time of year. It was Henry's idea for this "celebrity" bell-ringing, and he acknowledged that it has left him solely in charge of getting someone for each of the 75 slots.
"It was a case where you had the idea, so you have to do the work," Henry said. "But it's actually a lot of fun calling all of these people, and no one has turned down the offer yet."
A few ringers of note who are scheduled to have the bell clanging loudly soon are new St. Charles Fire Chief Patrick Mullen; Karen Morrison Comstock, the Miss USA 1974 winner; former Mayor Sue Klinkhamer; and St. Charles Police Chief James Lamkin.
Sneakers back on: I haven't seen Geneva High School Principal Tom Rogers run that fast on a basketball court since his playing days in the early 1980s. But Rogers turned in a fast 20-yard dash to try to keep order as the student body at Geneva overflowed from the stands onto the court after the Vikings topped Batavia last Friday night.
Here's a secret, kids: Your principal was right in the middle of a similar on-court celebration as a player about 25 years ago when Geneva upset a highly touted St. Charles East team led by Tony Burnell.
Double duty: The way the weather has been playing tricks on city cleanup crews around here the past few years, someone could make a lot of money by inventing a machine that would suck up snow and dead leaves at the same time.
Still has energy: My friend Janet Rossi of St. Charles tells me she doesn't get around too much any more, nor does she type as often. Many residents probably know Janet from her many columns in area newspapers over the years -- many as Janet Cool, and then as Janet Rossi.
She claims her new keyboard is "very different and cramped" and that her eyes are much weaker. But she's got enough energy to ring the Salvation Army bell from 2 to 4 p.m. today at the Blue Goose Supermarket, where she says her Viking woman's blood will help her brave the outside elements.
All about Christmas: You think you know your Christmas trivia? Be sure to read my column Sunday.
Rev. William Beckman of Immanuel Lutheran in Batavia will share his fascinating facts and lore regarding the holiday season.
Beckman at one time served as principal at Valley Lutheran High School in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
dheun@sbcglobal.net