Tri-City Chargers to honor two of their own
With a chance to honor local military veterans and deliver a message that resonates with its mission statement, the Tri-City Chargers Youth Football Association is not letting this opportunity pass by.
When the celebration includes two former players from the organization who went on to be Marines, it represents one of those rare human interest stories that hits close to home - especially for the 600 families of players in the Tri-City program.
Last November, I wrote about Nick Milbourn, a 2003 St. Charles North graduate, and Phil Akins, a 2004 St. Charles East graduate, who played on the Tri-City Chargers together in 1997.
Both joined the Marines and both were deployed into harm's way, where they ran into each other in Iraq - the first time they had seen each other in years. They were honored with a reunion in St. Charles last November.
But the board of their former football league has set aside Aug. 21 as a day for the organization to celebrate their achievements.
"We feel strongly feel that the 600 boys in our program understand the significance of what these young men have done and that is one of the big reasons we wanted to hold a ceremony to honor them," said Dominick Donatelli, a Tri-City Chargers football board member.
Donatelli said the board approved flying in Milbourn, who is still in the military and stationed in California, and his wife for the ceremony.
Akins was honorably discharged last year after serving in Iraq. Milbourn was most recently stationed in Afghanistan, but was doing a previous tour in Iraq when he ran into his former football pal.
"We are going to have the mayor (Don DeWitte) come out that day and also hope that more people in the community come to celebrate with us," Donatelli said.
The celebration will include talks by board members and the mayor, along with other special moments that are still in the planning stage.
"We plan on presenting the boys with Tri-City Chargers jerseys with the Marine emblem embroidered on it," Donatelli said. "We will also have commemorative coins featuring the Marine insignia and the TCC logo."
The Marines will be asked to participate in the coin toss to start the Pig Skin Classic kickoff game that day.
Donatelli said organizers are working on getting a military plane "fly by" during the event, and may also have a drill team on hand, possibly from Marmion.
Spruced up office: A walk past Congressman Bill Foster's Batavia office will cause a double-take these days. The bare, brick walls that are in the atrium just inside windows at the River Street office now display artwork from Water Street Studio artists.
The first one to catch my eye was the "Bellevue" painting by Greta Bell that I mentioned last week as this year's Art in Your Eye festival promotion poster. It will be in Foster's office before moving into Batavia City Hall's permanent art collection.
Water Street Studio Director Jim Kirkhoff arranged the art setup with Foster's office, and it appears it was a good idea for the Congressman to show off some of the talent of his constituents.
The plan calls for a different artist from Water Street Studio to be featured each month.
Loyal to this pizza: When calling to order a pizza for dinner last week, a reader was surprised to hear the voice greeting from Genoa Pizza say, "We are no longer in business; thanks for the loyalty and patronage for the last 18 years."
I never heard many discouraging words about this popular pizza parlor at 705 E. State St. in Geneva, and it appears this closing came without warning.
The reader also said her husband couldn't believe it, because he had seen one of the Genoa employees trying to drum up business the day before by holding a sign advertising the day's lunch special.
This time, it may not be a case of the bad economy driving out another business. An employee at the Genoa Pizza in Sugar Grove said the owner of the Geneva site is moving to California, and that a new owner was going to take over and introduce a new pizza joint. She said the former owner's name was Joe Pizzo, but city records list the owners as Giuseppe and Marcia Giannola, and so far there have been no records about a change of ownership filed.
Pizza lovers will have to stay tuned.
They were right: Predicting when a construction project will be completed is like choosing the winner in a horse race. There's a fairly good chance that your prediction will be off a bit.
But those working on the Batavia band shell at the Peg Bond Center kept targeting the Windmill City Festival for completion and sure enough, it was there on display and in service for the music and dancing that delighted festival goers. If you haven't had a chance to stop in on the festival yet, today is the final day for this summer fun.
Lured me in: It was a small sign, but intriguing enough to have me stop at El Molcajete, the new Mexican restaurant in Geneva.
The sign was promoting the night's special plate - Roasted Pineapple Shrimp Tostada. It turned out to be an excellent choice on a warm night.
It was disappointing to see RJ's leave that 113 W. State St. location a couple of months ago, but this is a new eatery worth checking out.
You have to bring your own wine for dinner, but they offer an extensive menu, along with kids fare and traditional American favorites.
Sign looks good: It's only halfway done, but the new "Arcada" tower for the St. Charles theater's marquee stands out nicely. Completion of the digital reader portion of the marquee is a few weeks away as the project involving the city, Downtown St. Charles Partnership and the nonprofit Arcada Theatre Community Legacy Program will continue.
That nonprofit group is in place to reimburse the city for half of the cost of the project, as well as support other projects related to sustaining the theater's legacy in the future.
dheun@sbcglobal.net