Remembering the late Rob Sherman's role in removing religious symbols from public buildings in St. Charles

Any Christmas story about St. Charles in the past three-plus decades has to include a chapter mentioning Rob Sherman as the main character or, to some, the Grinch trying to steal the holiday.

It's been six years to the day (Dec. 9) since Sherman, a member of the Illinois Green Party, died when his home-built, single-engine aircraft crashed on his way to an event in Schaumburg.

Sherman was well-known as a civil liberties figure and atheist advocate even before he sued Kane County in the late 1980s for having religious symbols in public buildings. He targeted the Kane County Government Center, formerly a seminary because it had several crosses on former pews and other symbols that either had not been removed or covered.

Sherman lived in Buffalo Grove, but it did not stop him from getting the American Civil Liberties Union around that same time to demand St. Charles remove lit crosses atop the Municipal Center and fire station during the holidays.

Even though he followed the letter of Constitutional law in demanding these symbols be removed to preserve the separation of church and state, Sherman sparked plenty of outrage. He ultimately settled the suit with the county, as both sides conceded various legal points.

Overall, the anger in St. Charles may have been a bit shortsighted, but small towns weren't used to this "intrusion" from an outsider.

Ultimately, the city and residents responded positively by converting the symbols on government buildings to lit stars and erecting lit crosses on many different businesses and homes throughout the community. They were literally all over the place.

Though it was the best response St. Charles could deliver; hopefully, some of the community realized that not everyone celebrates Christmas. It never came across as a slam to other beliefs but was orchestrated as a defiant response to Sherman, a staunch defender of civil liberties. We hadn't seen much of that in these parts in 1986 and '87, and Sherman likely let any protest or outcry roll off his back. He stressed that state establishment of religion, or the hint of it, was simply a bad idea. It had the potential to not have a good ending in the wrong hands, he reasoned.

In retrospect, Sherman was not entirely out of line in his challenges to various local governments. He was, in effect, a pretty good watchdog.

But in St. Charles and other towns like it, displaying a belief in Christianity was an important gesture during the holidays. It was an understandable shock to the system when someone said it was far more reaching than that and violated the Constitution if those displays were on government buildings.

Voice for mental health

A major supporter of mental health awareness, education and support passed away last month. We should all remember who he was and what he did.

Jim McNish of Geneva was a major force behind the creation in 1993 of the National Alliance on Mental Illness for southern Kane, DeKalb and Kendall counties.

Those who knew him point to his significant passion for removing the stigma of mental illness to achieve parity in health care and other services for those affected and their families.

"Jim McNish was a force of nature - not like a storm, frightening and full of bluster, but more like gravity, quiet and powerful," retired judge and NAMI KDK board member Judy Brawka said in a tribute on the organization's website.

"Jim pulled people into his orbit with the sheer force of his heartfelt passion and dedication to mental health," she noted. "His innovative ideas and his power of persuasion inspired others to join in and support expanding mental health treatment and work against the stigma attached to mental illness."

​It's important to remember people like Jim McNish because their compassion stands out at a time more than ever in which we have to focus on it.

Organizations that address mental health have often noted that illnesses like cancer and heart disease are often in the public eye, thus easier to support with attention and donations.

Mental health, not so much. It's a mystery to many, much harder to notice and understand.

A good way to remember Jim McNish is to remember what he wanted us to be aware of and compassionate about.

It's a scam epidemic

With the holidays comes a wave of scams initiated by individual hackers or organized fraud operations.

Julie Conroy, head of risk insights for Aite-Novarica Group, told me there is little doubt scams designed to destroy holiday cheer have reached new heights.

"We had one analyst call it a 'scampocalypse,' and it's an appropriate term because it has reached epidemic proportions," Conroy said. "At holiday time, fraudsters are finding additional ways to leverage the scam attack vector to prey on people's fears and emotions."

She noted that the attacks occur online or over the phone, with a common one being a phone call from someone saying a child or grandchild has been in an accident and needs money.

"Gift cards are a favorite way to execute scams," Conroy added. "When you go into stores like Best Buy or Target at the gift-card rack, you will see a big sign warning you about gift card scams."

Most notably, a scammer would try to scare a consumer into sending gift cards to a specific address to stop a foreclosure on a home or some other made-up scenario.

The war against scammers is not an easy fight, Conroy noted. "The challenge is that consumers very quickly tune that stuff (warnings) out, and everyone thinks it happens to somebody else and not to them," she said.

A year away from the grind

As promised last week, I am sharing thoughts on being retired from my full-time work at American Banker for a year.

What is it like? Am I ever bored? In addition to continuing to write for the Daily Herald, I am also helping research and write content for a book on the St. Charles Country Club's 100th anniversary in 2024. But I am no longer in a daily grind, and, as Johnny Mathis used to bellow, it's "Wonderful, Wonderful."

It has been even more important for me to adjust properly to a "retired" schedule and leverage tasks with fun because we are not traveling these days. Various virus threats and the fact our dog is going on 16 years old keep us close to home.

If a lot of travel isn't in your plans, you have to follow a routine and a few of your own rules. One is devoting the first few hours of each day to your health. It starts with a long walk before breakfast and then another hour or so on various weight machines or the stationary bike in my basement. Then it's time to tackle various projects by fixing things, organizing things and labeling containers and boxes so you know what is in them while also getting rid of stuff you don't need.

Retirement means far more time for fun things like playing golf, visiting with the grandkids, having lunch with friends, or working in the yard during warm weather. Volunteering for organizations that need help is always rewarding, or joining organizations that focus on fun activities or aid favorite causes.

A hobby doesn't hurt. Mine is giving dance lessons in my basement. I've been doing that for a long time. It's fun and emphasizes how important it is to keep music in your life and extra strength and balance in your legs. My most important rule? I "shut down" by 3 p.m. most days, meaning that's when I read, watch Netflix or old TV shows and movies, or take a nap.

Don't underestimate the power of a good nap as you age. Naps don't have to be long. I have found 20 minutes to be just as good as a 90-minute power nap, and recent research from folks who study this stuff confirms that.

Retirement is not a tricky science. Find things you enjoy and do them more often. Expand your net by learning about or trying something you felt you didn't care for or didn't think you could do.

Take advantage of what this area offers in museums, arts, libraries, forest preserves and community events. And take day trips to interesting places.

Connect with people and be grateful you now have more time you can call your own.

Welcoming burgers and cocktails

The word had been out a few weeks that The Goat was coming soon to the former Oak + Swine barbecue restaurant site at 107 E. Wilson St. in Batavia.

This new burger and cocktail bar opened earlier this week, so hiring kitchen staff, bartenders, servers, and other positions went well during the weeks leading up to the holidays.

dheun@sbcglobal.net