Free clinic taken aback by builder's kindness

As Shannon Watson put it, the Tri City Health Partnership is still "recuperating from the shock" of meeting Daryl Kemp.

Sometimes kindness just hits you that way.

Kemp amazed staffers at the free medical clinic a couple of weeks ago, when -- seemingly out of the blue -- he showed up and volunteered the services of his construction company, Blackberry Builders Inc., for a $40,000 renovation project.

Watson, the nonprofit's executive director, said Kemp simply told her he had heard the day before that the clinic needed some financial help, and he thought he might be of assistance.

As it turned out, "this amazing man" offered up costly construction services and materials needed to revamp the clinic basement to include a staff washroom and workspace, Watson said.

"In a day when rarely there is a 'free lunch,' Tri City Health Partnership is being treated to a 'feast,'" she wrote in an e-mail announcing the news. Blackberry Builders, based in Elburn, has already started on the job and expect to wrap it up in 60 days.

In addition, the Kane County Riverboat Fund is kicking in $10,000.

The clinic, 318 Walnut St., St. Charles, was founded in 2001 by a group of doctors. It has served more than 1,600 patients since opening.

Frog monitoring: If you're a croak hound -- that is, someone who likes to hear frogs sing -- mark your calendar for Feb. 9.

The St. Charles Park District has scheduled a frog monitoring session from 9 a.m. to noon that day at Pottawatomie Community Center, 8 North Ave.

Volunteers will be trained to listen for frogs in community wetlands and learn how to help keep track of the amphibian's population in northern Illinois.

You'll hear from amphibian experts who will familiarize you with various species of frogs and teach you how to tell them apart. You'll also get a CD with different frog calls and an assignment of visiting local wetlands three or four times during the upcoming spring mating season.

The project is part of the Chicago Wilderness Recovery Plan, which is examining the decline of certain frog species across the city and suburbs.

For more information, call Kane County coordinator Pam Otto at (630) 513-4346, or send an e-mail to potto@st-charlesparks.org.

New economic director: Brian Pabst was introduced to the city council last week as St. Charles' new economic development director.

Pabst held a similar position for the village of Downers Grove for nine years and, most recently, was executive director of Berwyn Development Corp. He replaces former economic development director Theresa Fawcett, who resigned in July to return to her family in Texas.

In his last job, Pabst led a development team that included a consortium of municipalities trying to improve the corridors they share. In St. Charles, he's tasked with soliciting new businesses and helping ease their transitions into the community.

First Street update: Just a heads-up: The city will have a meeting Jan. 24 to update business owners and citizens about progress on the First Street redevelopment project. The meeting is at 8 a.m. at city hall, 2 E. Main St.