2009 will be ending, but the names live on
We sure do talk about a lot of stuff during the course of a year. And it means this "Talk of the Town" column had plenty of names and places mentioned along the way.
Today's column highlights just a few of what I felt were the more interesting notes we shared.
A night of terror: Mike Newbill, a 1990 graduate of St. Charles High School, shared the story of his role in the Foreign Service and his assignment in Mumbai, India, where he was on the evening of the widespread terrorist attack on that city.
A lifesaving dog: Teresa Milewski of Batavia slipped on an icy path near her home and fractured her arm. It was dark and cold, and no one could hear her calls for help, other than her 156-pound American mastiff named Kirby. When Kirby came to her aid, Teresa was able to cling to the dog's collar and brace herself on Kirby's shoulders until she was able to get home.
A hero's honor: When Marty Jordan of St. Charles lost his life in rough waters in South Haven, Mich., last summer while saving family members from the same fate, his heroic efforts did not go unnoticed. He was honored by his former elementary school with its first St. Angela Award for past students.
Running for his life: The family of P.J. Lukac of St. Charles had plenty of support in participating in a fundraising run for the Brain Tumor Research Association. P.J. Lukac is a Burlington Central graduate who is now a medical student and he was dealing with a cruel irony in discovering he had a brain tumor about the same time he was studying about the brain in med school.
Following his dream: St. Charles architect Mike Dixon proved that it is never too late to pursue a dream or make the bold steps to do something completely out of your comfort zone. After years of designing buildings throughout the region, he was ready to share his knowledge as a member of the Peace Corps, where he will be assigned in one of the countries of the former Soviet Union.
Ticker keeps ticking: Former St. Charles Mayor Fred Norris made headlines by being rushed to the hospital following a heart attack - and then used the opportunity to keep reminding others of monitoring their heart health.
An impressive stretch: I marveled at the Geneva girls' basketball team's record of 32-0 before finally falling at the state finals. The team was 14-0 as of this writing this season.
Ins and outs of eats: Restaurants were coming and going at quite a clip. I checked out many new and old places. One of my favorites was the return of Pop's Place owner Nick Koutsonicolis to his St. Charles restaurant. We were sad to see Cork 'N Fork close its doors, but welcomed new places like T-Bones in St. Charles and Fiora's in Geneva. The Onesti Italian Steakhouse in St. Charles continued to impress, and old favorites that closed, like River Lane Pub in Geneva, were to open again with new owners.