Veterans Center in St. Charles brings former military together

In recently writing about Batavia Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1197 looking to create some family-oriented events in the coming months, it reminded me it's been about five years since veterans' organizations in St. Charles combined their manpower and money to create the new Veterans Center in St. Charles.

So, how has that all worked out?

"For various organizations in town, the center has been an outstanding change," said Jake Wyatt, a retired Army colonel who saw action in Vietnam and the Persian Gulf.

"From a people standpoint, we have added new members and many more people come on Wednesday or Saturday mornings for coffee and doughnuts."

In his position as finance officer for the American Legion Post 342 and quartermaster in charge of finances for the VFW Post 5036, Wyatt is in a good spot to see that the combined Veterans Center was a good move.

For the longest time, the older veterans from World War II era were reluctant to combine organizations in any way. As those veterans passed away, those left behind saw the need to approach the idea because of dwindling funds and memberships.

"I would say roughly 75 percent of the VFW members were also Legion members, so when they went to a meeting, only about seven of them were just with the VFW," Wyatt said.

"I just told them this was ludicrous to spend an extra $30,000 a year to maintain two separate locations," Wyatt added.

In addition to the VFW and American Legion finally combining and moving a block or so north of the previous VFW location that is now a parking lot, the AMVETS organization and Vietnam Vets Association 663 Post also began using the center.

Other groups that meet at the site at 311 N. Second St. include the Daughters of the American Revolution, the St. Charles Rotary Club, and the Changing Children's World Foundation. Other groups or church organizations use the center when needed.

"We do not rent the center," Wyatt said. "Our facility is open to anybody that needs it for an event or meeting."

The only requirement is that an active member with a key to the center has to be on-site for security purposes.

As much as anything else, the Veterans Center represents a new look and feel for the organizations. The center does not serve or sell liquor, but will have beer or wine available for certain events.

"There is no hard liquor in the building," Wyatt said. In acknowledging that part of the public's common perception of a VFW Post included the thought of older gents sitting at a bar, Wyatt said with that out of the equation, "the guys really enjoy just getting to know each other better."

In fact, a more common mission of the Veterans Center now, Wyatt said, is trying to help veterans troubled with alcoholism or financial hardships to get back on their feet.

"We had a couple of veterans not long ago living out of their cars," he said. "We arranged for a place to stay, put them up in a hotel for about a week and worked through Lazarus House and the county to get them back on their feet."

To learn more about the Veterans Center, call (630) 377-9845 or stop by between 8 and 10 a.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays for doughnuts and coffee.

Now, that's a coincidence:

And here I thought it was kind of interesting that my neighbor had the same birth date as my wife, and that he and his wife have the same anniversary date as ours.

But that's nothing compared to what St. Charles couple Jim and Julie Keller found out about Chris and Karin Roberts, a St. Charles couple they became friends with through Facebook.

Turns out, Chris Roberts and Julie Keller went to Hoffman Estates High School a year apart.

The two couples learned they had the same wedding anniversary of May 25. But that's not even the half of it.

They discovered they had weddings at the same time, at 4 p.m. May 25 in 1985 - at the same hotel, the Schaumburg Hyatt. Of course, they also figured out they were all at O'Hare Airport the next morning at the same time. I'm guessing that was for honeymoon getaways.

Wait. There's more.

Both couples have daughters who are teachers. Those daughters, Lauren Keller and Carrie Roberts, wed their husbands at the same time and date - 5 p.m. June 25, 2016.

The Robertses have lived in St. Charles for more than 20 years and they own the Trade Show Network on Tyler Road in St. Charles. Jim Keller is a partner at OnPath Financial LLC in St. Charles, while Julie is a teacher at Wredling Middle School.

And this saga belongs on a morning or late-night TV talk show.

Café prepares to open:

Mary Barr and her daughter Jackie Barr were hoping to have their Café & Barr business at 407 S. Third St., Suite 150, in Geneva open this past weekend.

They were looking to complete city inspections and have the new coffee, wine and beer shop running on all cylinders by the time Swedish Days rolls around in a couple of weeks. So, as you are reading this, it is possible the Barrs are in business.

If that new business doesn't keep them busy enough, they are also involved in opening the Love Theory Bridal shop right next to it in Suite 160. Daughter Nikki Barr is the owner of the bridal shop.

We'll have more information about these new places next week.

He's gone fishing:

The fellow carrying a fishing pole and walking west along the State Street Bridge in Geneva toward the Herrington Inn looked familiar to me.

And he should have, especially in that particular setting. It was Paul Ruby, who I had seen many times before inside the Herrington Inn, where he worked for Shodeen Corp. for many years as the general manager.

Turns out, Ruby mentioned that he was now retired - thus, the fishing pole in hand.

Apparently, he opted for the quiet exit-stage-left type of retirement, rather than through a news release. I had received numerous news releases about the goings-on at the Herrington for the past two decades, so it was kind of surprising to hear Ruby was no longer part of the equation.

I got to know Paul Ruby much better when covering the Concert for a Cure fundraisers that supported his foundation's desire to fund Parkinson's disease research. He has been dealing with the disease for 13 years now.

Over that time, I learned a lot about Parkinson's and what the doctors, researchers and fundraisers had to say about it.

I appreciated Paul's openness about the topic, and wish him nothing but the best - and lots of fish along the Fox River - in the future.

dheun@sbcglobal.net