In life and in death, inspiration continues

Sometimes you know them very well. Sometimes they are just acquaintances. Other times, you just hear or read about them.

Either way, they can leave the same impression - these are people who make your community a good place to live.

Each person you come to know, or maybe just read about on the pages of this newspaper, has numerous stories to tell. They come and go, of course, and sometimes we lament that they leave us way too early and with so much more to offer.

These thoughts crossed my mind recently when learning of the passing of Donald Schambach, who opened Fifth Avenue Florist in St. Charles in the mid-1970s when he was 27.

I never spoke to Donald, other than on those occasions when I was in a late panic to get flowers for my wife and he'd steer me in the right direction.

He seemed like a hardworking gentleman who you would certainly want as part of your community. He ran an important local business and he ran it well.

Another recent news flash had me waxing nostalgic about World War II veterans, especially those who continue to be an important part of a community.

When Merritt King of Geneva recently earned a French Legion of Honor medal for his courage in the days after the D-Day landings, in which he helped remove land mines along the French countryside, it made me proud that this fellow has given so much for his country and his hometown.

I wasn't around when Merritt was a star athlete at Geneva High School some 70 years ago, but I've known him since his days as a Geneva alderman and a volunteer for a number of worthy causes. Thankfully, he's still very much alive.

Schambach and King. Two very different people. One has left us, the other continues to inspire. We've been lucky to have both as part of our hometowns.

He knew his radio: Those who knew the inner workings of our local radio station, WGSB, back in the 1960s and 1970s were sad to hear of the passing last week of Dick Hubbell of St. Charles.

He was one of the first general managers at the station, and those who worked for him tell me he was one of the first to envision an entirely local news station, to go along with state and national reports.

WGSB morphed into WFXW into the 1990s and, of course, now there is no true local AM station exclusively covering the Tri-Cities.

Neighbors take action: A week ago I mentioned the interesting temporary street signs for Red Gate Road - pieces of wood with "Red Gate" painted on in black - at the site of road construction at Randall Road.

The county's road widening and improvement project at that St. Charles site caused work crews to remove the regular signs. I gave the construction crew credit for putting up the temporary signs, but neighbors in that area corrected me, saying they had to put up the signs themselves.

Apparently, a temporary sign the county crew made was taken down during work and never put back up.

"It was overlooked, and that's not part of our normal procedure," said Dave Bush, chief of construction projects for the county. "We should have had a sign up there and we appreciate the residents who did it."

Bush said one of the neighbors was having a party one weekend, and guests had trouble locating Red Gate Road without signs.

He also admitted the project was taking longer because of some utility relocations that became more complex than expected.

"It does have a November completion date and we are proceeding with that schedule," Bush said. "But I understand the concern, because it is a project that is getting a little long in the tooth."

Preschools not spared: It's not exactly an eerie site, but it is odd to see toys strewn around the playground of the now-closed La Petite preschool on Fargo Boulevard near the Kaneville Road frontage in Geneva.

It looks like the toys are in the exact same spot that children were last playing with them. That's how suddenly this place closed, in what appears to be another of those signs of the poor economy we don't think about much - more people are out of work, thus staying home and taking care of their kids. Or, they don't have the money for day care and are finding other alternatives.

Some public exposure: The Wok 'N Fire restaurant coming soon to the First Street plaza in St. Charles got some public exposure last weekend without doing a thing - other than having its name plastered on the windows of its new location.

The people streaming over to the Taste of the Plaza in the new parking garage were sure to take note of the sign.

Those strange Cubbies: Call me a glutton for punishment. I actually went up to Milwaukee this past week to see the Cubs play the Brewers.

Why, you ask? It was part of a two-day golf and baseball excursion planned by Brian Henry of ReMax in which several local fellows plunk down their dollars well in advance - when hope, as they say, springs eternal for the Cubs.

It hurts your brain to think about the Cubs too much, but you can't help but comment when one of its overpaid and underperforming "stars" gets suspended for comments about how negative the whole experience is in Cubdom.

I'm referring to Milton Bradley, of course, and the story in the Herald last week about his take on life as a Cub.

First, he's got it all wrong about Cubs fans being negative. True Cubs fans wanted Bradley to succeed. Early on, Herald writers were telling us how well Bradley was hitting in spring training, and we were pulling for him more than he'll probably ever know.

But when a player's antics and, well, lousy baseball result in heartbreak with little optimism for the future, you're going to hear some booing.

Part of that stems from this: It costs a ton of money to go see a Cubs game, and we suspect that part of the reason for that is some recent success and, of course, the huge salaries these guys get.

When we pay a lot of money for nothing other than a series of stink bombs, it means this: We're getting ripped off. To that, you may feel like booing.

dheun@sbcglobal.net