New event venue in Batavia aims to bring Hollywood-style glamour to Fox Valley weddings

It would take quite a bit for friends and clients of Shuki Moran to believe he had somehow lost his golden touch for event planning or, worse, lost his mind completely.

Moran certainly knows the event planning business, having been involved in fashion design and major event planning for Hollywood stars and other clients in the Los Angeles area for roughly 20 years.

But his closest friends thought he was crazy to put all of his cards on the table and try to make a go of it with his reception hall on the south side of Batavia.

The way Moran saw it, this was no April Fool's joke.

In coming to the Chicago area about 10 years ago to seek places to continue his event planning craft, Moran eventually offered his services from his new home base in Geneva.

More recently, he attempted to land a site along Route 31 in St. Charles to open his own banquet hall. That plan never got off the ground, but he spotted the former VFW banquet site when driving around Batavia and envisioned something special.

Even though the building wasn't in the best shape, he liked the large parking lot, 5,000-plus square feet inside and 2,000 square feet outside near the bike trail and Fox River. Plus, he could fix whatever ailed the building.

In just more than two years, he is well along in turning the empty building next to the VFW Hall into Revelry 675, his new banquet facility at 675 S. River St. in Batavia.

"People told me I was out of my mind and that the building wasn't going to be good, but I liked the site," said Moran. "Now, I have many who thought I was crazy, but now they see it, and they are surprised how nice it is."

Even though the area around Revelry 675 is primarily industrial, Moran is confident his facility will stand out as elegant, classy and worthy of memorable events.

"There's a great view at this site. It is a big building and a huge parking lot," he added. "So, every dream you want is here."

Having grown weary of big-city life in Los Angeles, Moran's desire to bring a level of elegance and a wow factor to event planning in a smaller town brought him to the Tri-Cities area. He and his husband live in Geneva.

The opportunity to plan the spectacular St. Charles wedding for his friends Donnie Wahlberg and Jenny McCarthy in 2014 cemented his love of the area.

Born in Tel Aviv, Israel and eventually coming to Los Angeles in 1990, Moran built an impressive client list while rubbing elbows with Will and Jada Smith, David and Victoria Beckham, and Brooke Burns and Gavin O'Connor.

McCarthy lists Moran as her "go-to guy" for party planning on her website.

Locally, he built a friendship with Michael Knuth, the owner of EvenFlow nightclub in Geneva and the Comedy Vault club at 18 E. Wilson St. in Batavia, not far from Moran's banquet facility.

"We should be able to support each other's businesses," Moran noted. "I couldn't believe it when he told me he was the owner of the Comedy Vault." He added that a group could go to a comedy show the night before a wedding or other event and then "have the reception here at Revelry 675 and have some more fun."

Moran said he was able to avoid the setback of COVID restrictions by spending the worst parts of the pandemic getting plans in order and obtaining needed supplies.

Revelry 675 officially opens on Sunday, May 1, with a grand opening gala set for Friday, May 6. He already has events booked in the summer and fall and some in 2023 - all before opening his business.

"As soon as we officially open, the bookings will pick up, and there will be a lot of publicity going out," Moran said.

"Slowly, we will always draw more business people here because they will see the city of Batavia and its potential," he said. "I just love it here, and as I look out the back of my building, it's just an amazing place."

Expand that remote feeling

The concept of 25N Coworking in Geneva was perfect more than a decade ago when people started working remotely more often as freelancers or entrepreneurs or even as part of a business that would lease small office spaces for its employees.

The pandemic even stifled these community remote working spaces, but the concept is coming back behind the strength of vaccinations, masks and other COVID safety rules when needed.

It has fueled growth at 25N Coworking, located in the courtyard at 25 N. River Lane in Geneva. The company recently renovated its site and expanded into a space one of its clients had used before, as that client moved all of its employees to the upstairs portion of 25N Coworking.

"We worked our way through the pandemic and have now seen an uptick in business," said Erin Maresko, chief marketing officer for 25N Coworking.

"We kind of see the flex-office market now as a real benefit because so many businesses went remote during the pandemic," Maresko added. "They realize they don't need a giant lease and all employees in one place, as it makes economic sense and the employees are happier (to be in smaller settings)."

25N Coworking in Geneva sits in one of the brick buildings that make up the European-style courtyard that features plenty of floral displays and interesting architecture. It's one of the more picturesque settings in the downtown area.

"We love it there, so close to the Fox River," Maresko said.

25N Coworking also has offices in Arlington Heights, and the company is developing one in Rolling Meadows. It expanded into Texas with two locations and operated two in Virginia under a different brand name.

"We definitely have aspirations to have at least 10 to 15 locations, focusing on the Chicago area, which is where we specialize," Maresko noted.

The worms, bugs cometh

This week's cold and wet snap aside, worms and bugs generally make grand entrances around here as spring warms things up.

But few of us know exactly why our driveways and sidewalks are suddenly covered with earthworms some morning when there was no sign of them the day before.

No one can say for sure if there is a specific reason worms decide to leave the ground and turn up in big numbers on our driveways after a rainy night, but there are a couple of theories, said St. Charles Park District naturalist Pam Otto.

"Worms need to stay wet, and as the ground thaws, that moisture percolates down through the ground, and they can sense the temperature is changing," Otto said. "One theory is they just want to relocate, and they move to do it, as it is easier to move on top of the ground than it is to go through it."

Another theory says the worms respond to the vibrations of the rain hitting the soil, which draws them out, Otto added.

Worms aren't the only creatures that come out in big numbers when the weather warms up.

Anyone out for a walk along the Fox River a week or so ago may have become victims of the swarms of small bugs that suddenly appear. One never knows for sure on what day they might walk into a swarm of bugs.

"We call them 'midges,' and they are about the size of mosquitoes, but they don't bite," said Otto, who admitted she made the mistake of having her mouth open near a swarm of these so-called "river bugs" last week and had a few go down her throat.

The swarms result from what has been going on in the water for months as the bugs evolve, Otto added. "They all come out at once, and the males are trying to find females in those swarms, and the females go back to the river and lay their eggs."

The swarms tend to congregate around a prominent point, such as a building or a tree branch or "sometimes it is your head," Otto noted.

Her advice is pretty simple for those who confront the bug swarms. "Tell people to keep their mouths closed," she said.

dheun@sbcglobal.net