Well, back in my day...
"We used to walk two miles to school in snow up to our hips in the winter and 100-degree heat in late summer."
Those of us who attended grade school or high school in the 1940s, '50s or '60s are probably among the last to have annoyed their children with that line.
We used that example because our parents used it on us. And, in some cases, we (and our parents) were telling the truth.
School kids make no such treks these days, and it seems odd to hear high-schoolers moan about how far they have to walk - from the parking lot to the school.
Geneva students who park in the Burgess Field parking lot have a fairly decent hike to the school, and students at St. Charles East who park in the far reaches of their lots, or even on surrounding side streets, put a few miles on shoes during the course of a year.
Batavia students join the fray this year, with the construction work continuing for the high school addition. With much of the previous student parking dug up and new parking areas not quite ready, students will be parking in the lot at the former Furnas and Siemens location at McKee, VanNortwick and Wilson streets.
That's a nice hike to start the school day. With the high price of gas, maybe more students will walk instead of drive.
Not so small: Don't look now, but that small village of Elburn won't be so small in a few years as the proposed Elburn Station development starts to unfold.
Sho-Deen Inc.'s plan, if approved, could go a long way toward doubling Elburn's population. It calls for more than 3,000 new residences, some of which will be multifamily, over 681 acres on the east side near Anderson Road.
The name of the development reminds you that the village is lucky that Metra planners finally got a train station out there. Or unlucky, depending on one's point of view. Without the train station, there likely would be no Elburn Station development.
That's a good song: Maybe this "Guitar Hero" game is a pretty cool thing. Noticed while browsing around Best Buy: A young boy, maybe 8 years old, blasting out the guitar riff to "Mississippi Queen" by Mountain. If anyone takes the time to tell that kid what a great rock band Mountain was and play 0a few more of their songs for him, then he gets a good rock 'n' roll education to go with his video game.
Provides teen jobs: With Bennigan's in Batavia and St. Charles shutting its doors on the "eating out" crowd, those who work at other restaurant chains are likely walking on eggshells about now.
I've always been amazed at how the parking lots at our restaurants seem to be full on a fairly consistent basis. It doesn't always fit my budget, but dining out is a good thing for the local economy and it has always provided jobs for many area teens.
We certainly don't want to see too many other restaurants go vacant on us.
dheun@sbcglobal.net