St. Charles woman gives the gift of life
In his role as media relations director at Aurora University, Al Benson has passed along good story tips over the years.
This time it didn't have anything to do with the university, as he let area media outlets know about a bone marrow donor whose mother lives in his Aurora neighborhood.
He knows a good story when he sees one - a 49-year-old female leukemia victim from outside of Illinois getting a chance to live much longer, thanks to 25-year-old Amy Wisdom of St. Charles.
Wisdom became part of a national effort to attract more bone marrow donors when she learned about the program as an employee at the Elburn Post Office last year.
Now an employee at the Geneva Post Office, Wisdom last month went to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood to donate her bone marrow for an anonymous woman who was in need of the transplant in order to survive.
"It was supposed to be a two-day procedure," she said. "But because I am only 5-1 and 110 pounds, they wanted to be careful not to take too much out of me too fast."
Wisdom was relieved to learn that she gave what is generally considered two days' worth of bone marrow in only one day.
"When our office in Elburn did that drive to get donors, I just signed up at that time," Wisdom said. "After that, they (medical officials) came in and got DNA samples and I went through some other tests to get on the national bone marrow registry."
Wisdom, a graduate of West Aurora High School, has lived in St. Charles for two years.
"The reason I signed up is simple," she said, in summing up her experience. "I could possibly save someone's life. A couple of days of pain on my part is a small price to pay to give another person the chance for a longer life."
Some misty singing: It's been a long time coming since the Misty River Music Makers barbershop chorus performed in concert at the Fox Valley Presbyterian Church in Geneva.
But the ladies who make up this talented chorus, some of them for 20 or more years, know this is a special year for the group.
"We just recently celebrated our 25th anniversary and it is the 50th anniversary of our parent organization, Harmony, Inc.," member Donna Pelletier noted in an e-mail to fans and friends.
With all of the honors the chorus has earned in the past few years, combined with the importance of 2009, the concert at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, at the church seemed like the right thing to do.
You can also see the ladies on TV at 11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 26, when they're featured in a spot on ABC-Channel 7.
A noteworthy Hall: Now this is what our new president is talking about when he describes community service and those who know how to do it.
Kaneland High School is on to an excellent idea in creating a Hall of Fame that will honor former students who contributed to their communities in a significant manner, earned recognition in college or their professional career, excelled in extracurricular activities or were part of a Kaneland team or organization that had outstanding achievements.
They're looking for nominations for the ceremony taking place May 4 in the school auditorium as part of the Academic Awards Ceremony.
Disco act lives on: And we thought the Village People were just a bizarre act during the disco era?
These guys have stood the test of time, particularly with their famous "YMCA" song being blared out during so many sporting events. Now they're resurfacing again, this time on the stage of the Arcada Theater as the main entertainment at 8 p.m. April 25 during the St. Charles Downtown Partnership's annual Sisters Weekend.
Ron Onesti, owner of the Arcada, is working with event organizers for the first time, and he's landed a major act to bolster that popular weekend.
More rail debates: A train station in your city is a great asset, but it comes with some baggage. Geneva has learned this over the years in having the Metra station that serves the entire Tri-Cities region.
City fathers have another interesting debate and dilemma on their hands with the current Metra proposal to add a third track that would eliminate nearly 100 parking spaces.
Even with the new parking deck, finding a place to park at the station remains an interesting search. Here's to hoping Geneva doesn't get the shaft on this one and end up back at square one regarding parking.
Take that snow away: With a 60-degree day tossed into the middle of February, we were able to bid farewell to the piles of snow that were hanging around for months. And it happened so fast.
Just two weeks ago, city crews were hauling away mountains of snow that had piled up in the cul-de-sacs.
Living on a cul-de-sac, we were glad to see the trucks hauling off snow. Otherwise, we'd be under water now from this fast thaw.
dheun@sbcglobal.net