Feeling unbalanced? Sycamore Speedway can cure what ails you

The onset of warmer weather meant Sycamore Speedway finally had some chances to dry out and prepare for next weekend's start of the 2008 stock car racing season.

"We really just had to wait to get rid of the water," said Carol Fabrizius of Maple Park, who has been an owner of the speedway the past 46 years.

Fabrizius said snow was still piled up two weeks ago and then heavy rains came, but the first practices of the season were scheduled for last night and the season opens this Saturday.

"When the sun comes out, we dry up pretty quickly," she added.

This racetrack on Route 64 west of the Tri-Cities will always have a pleasant spot in my memory bank as the place that cured me of a ridiculous health problem.

Twenty-four years ago, my wife and I returned from our honeymoon in the Virgin Islands. Apparently my ear got plugged up on the plane flight and simply wouldn't unplug.

It went on for weeks, making me feel like I was rocking on a boat all of the time. Those who have suffered through this, or even worse problems, know how tiresome and literally sickening it can be when it drags on.

My wife enjoyed stock car races and talked me into going. After a few minutes at the track, the cars roared by the grandstand during one of the races, and -- boom -- the thunderous noise popped my ear and unplugged it! Immediately, I stood up with no loss of balance or sense of motion, and it was wonderful.

After telling that story to Fabrizius, she laughed and said, "I am glad we were good for something else other than racing for you."

She said she has been plagued by similar ear problems but has never taken advantage of her own track to find the cure.

It got smaller: Customers at Riley Drug could easily be led to believe all of the interior work going on there the past months was to expand the longtime Geneva pharmacy at 415 W. State St.

With about 80 percent of the new makeover complete, Riley Drug looks much larger inside. But it's an optical illusion, according to Sandi Gould, a store employee for the past 11 years.

"It's the new ceiling," said Gould, who was quick to point out that it is actually the building's old ceiling now exposed, replacing the store's traditional tile drop-ceiling.

"I think the workers were amazed when they saw what excellent shape the original beams and framing were in," Gould said, while admiring the ceiling's new stained look. "It shows that this old building is in good shape."

Riley Drug actually got smaller, as two back rooms will soon be available to renters. The toughest part of the makeover was moving the pharmacy section from the back north wall over to the east wall of the store, Gould said.

Owner Jim Riley Sr. is still wintering in Florida, but plans on being back for the store's grand opening in late May so he can view the makeover that his son, Tim Riley, pieced together.

Yard's open: Fans of the Scotland Yard pub weren't quite sure they would like its move out of the Arcada Building to West Main Street next to Hunter's Restaurant. But there was uncertainty about what would happen to Scotland Yard as well as places like the Manor Restaurant when things began transforming in downtown St. Charles.

With the recent closing of Hunter's Restaurant, blamed on the weak economy, residents shouldn't be confused about what it means to neighboring Scotland Yard. The pub relied on Hunter's for its food service, but plans are being made to fix that problem.

The main thing is, Scotland Yard remains open.

St. Charles downtown planners are hoping for another upscale restaurant to replace Hunter's at that site, setting the stage for other parts of town to complement the resurrection of First Street.

Bring out bottoms: St. Peter School in Geneva scheduled a big fundraiser Saturday night, and parents were encouraged to wear clothes from their favorite decade. So, I ask this question: I know there are pants these days called "boot cut," but did anyone really still have true bell-bottom pants in their closets to recreate the 1970s? Those silly things seemed like they were in style for 20 years. But time goes slow when you look so dumb.

dheun@sbcglobal.net