Former restaurant owner was full of life
Few topics in this column triggered as many comments as when I reported about two years ago that Frantastic Wings on the east side of St. Charles had closed.
So many readers wondered what happened. We later learned Wings owner Marie Free was diagnosed with lung cancer that eventually spread to her brain. She passed away at age 48 last August.
Her son, Matt Beardsley, was kind enough to drop me a note of thanks for writing about his mom's business and sharing the rave reviews of readers about her restaurant.
More so than the illness, Beardsley said, his mother's business was a victim of what many small businesses face - slow business and mounting debt from taxes and/or rent.
"She was a very strong and independent woman; she was a proud single mother; she was a very proud grandmother; for the short time she had with her grandson," Beardsley said of his mother.
"She loved her restaurant and she never let the world get her down," he added. "She worked till she couldn't walk and she laughed till she was no longer breathing."
And, as so many of her restaurant patrons knew, she cooked up some great wings.
Still paddling: The Mid-American Canoe Race was such a fixture in June, you tend to forget it is going to be held again this year - but in September.
Those interested in joining in on this big race from St. Charles to Aurora on our river, can do so by signing up through the Fox Valley Park District.
With the race being held later this year, it won't run into the conflicts I remember years ago when it was once held on the same weekend as Pride of the Fox and St. Charles High School graduation. It was our introduction to big-time congestion and traffic.
Knows her Corvettes: My wife called me crazy, but that was nothing new. I couldn't make myself break away from the TV last Saturday afternoon when the Cubs and Sox were tied 5-5 late in the game. She wanted me to go with her to meet her sister and brother-in-law on Bunker Road to watch the hundreds of Corvettes parade by as part of the Bloomington Gold Tour that was wrapping up its weekend at Pheasant Run in St. Charles.
She said it was fun watching the cars go by as part of their 30-mile parade. In our marriage, my wife is the car lover. As these cars went by, I am sure she knew the model year of each Corvette. All I would know was the color.
Time to enjoy town: It's been a long time - 35 years to be exact - since Genevans have used a name other than Bill Kidwell after the title of Geneva police chief. He officially retired Tuesday and I wish him all the best as he might actually be able to enjoy the city he's served for so long.
The new chief, Steve Mexin, has always returned calls when I needed information, so that's a great signal out of the starting gate for me.