St. Charles to celebrate its native heritage

You'll be hearing a lot in the next two months about a big birthday party in St. Charles. Or, better put, a birthday party for something big.

That "something big" is the statue of Potawatomi Indian Ekwabet that stands watching over the Fox River along the St. Charles Freedom Walk.

Hard to believe, but it has been 20 years since sculptor Guy Bellaver revealed the statue he was commissioned to create by city fathers and business leaders as a tribute to the Native Americans who were the first to live in the region known as the Fox Valley and Tri-Cities.

Bellaver and his wife, Elizabeth, along with other volunteers, are organizing "Ekwabet's 20th Birthday Party -- A Celebration of St. Charles' Cultural and Historic Heritage" for the second week in May, with a party along the riverwalk on May 17 and various other exhibits and events throughout town leading up to it.

Drumming and dancing exhibits in Pottawatomie Park, storytelling at the library, art galleries and other events will all be free to the public. Watch for more information about this interesting tribute in the newspaper in the coming weeks.

Elizabeth Bellaver tells me there is a Web site, the result of an in-kind donation, with information at www.ekwabets20thbirthdayparty.com.

Shining for years

Sometimes it can take eight years to notice something.

Or at least that's what I thought when my wife commented on how nice the decorative lamp streetlights looked on the east side of Geneva.

I was surprised it was the first time she noticed them, as I was under the impression they'd been up along State Street in Geneva for several years.

Mike Buffington, the electric superintendent for Geneva, informed me that we were both correct.

"We were trying to get decorative lamps that resembled what the old gas lamps would have looked like in Geneva so many years ago," Buffington said. "And we put those lights in downtown about eight to 10 years ago."

But the lights on the east side were put in only recently, when the Route 38 and Kirk Road project was completed, Buffington said.

"We still have to extend out on the east side with lights, and we usually try to put them in when a street project is completed."

No harm to trees

At the risk of sounding like I don't support the concept of placing ribbons on trees to show support for a local sports team or a community or national cause, I do worry about the trees.

I still see ribbons on trees in Geneva and Batavia that were placed during the football season, and I know that DeKalb and surrounding communities will have ribbons in memory of those lost in the tragic shooting at NIU.

But Kane County nature programs director and Daily Herald columnist Valerie Blaine tells me not to worry about the trees.

"I don't think the ribbons have any negative effect on trees," Valerie said. "Trees exert a lot of pressure as they slowly grow in girth. Eventually, they can bust out of those flimsy ribbons."

Valerie said other examples are seeing weeds pushing up concrete once they take hold in a crack of a sidewalk, or trees on an old pasture that have enveloped barbed wire that once was wrapped around them for fencing.

We agreed that ribbons on trees are more of an aesthetic question -- how long after an event or show of support do we want ribbons on our trees? And who would be responsible for taking them down?

Plays a key role

Monsignor Joseph Linster wasn't taking much credit for the impressive "Here I Am Lord" conference that drew more than 3,500 young people and their parents to his church last weekend for inspirational workshops, lectures and concerts.

"I just pay the bills," Linster, the pastor at St. Patrick's Church in St. Charles, told the audience at last weekend's outstanding concert by Tony Melendez, a Nicaraguan man who was born without arms, yet learned how to play the guitar with his feet so he could sing and play music in delivering his message of hope and love.

"I have been at St. Patrick 15 years now," Linster said. "And the thing I have been most impressed with is the generosity of the people of St. Patrick's.

"We are able to do this like this conference because of you," he told parishioners in attendance.

Let me add that Monsignor Linster could easily have noted that he has also provided masterful and understanding leadership. And that's why his church is in the forefront of providing such vital conferences.