Building a friendship: How Geneva homebuilder, Iraq War veteran bonded during construction of a home with smart technology

During 41 years of building homes in the Tri-Cities area, Havlicek Builders owner and president George Havlicek has made plenty of friends with those who have purchased those homes.

But one in the past year stands out a bit because it unfolded not long after Havlicek Builders of Geneva was chosen by the Gary Sinise Foundation to build a high-tech “smart” home in St. Charles for a wounded veteran.

Actor Gary Sinise of “Lt. Dan” fame in the movie “Forrest Gump” is well known for the work he has done in helping wounded veterans get back on their feet. His foundation has orchestrated the construction of 90 specially adapted homes since 2011 for severely wounded veterans through its RISE (Restoring Independence Supporting Empowerment) program.

When the foundation was seeking a builder in May of 2022 to construct a home for Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Patrick Scrogin and his wife Alexa, Havlicek builders got in the mix through a mutual friend who knew Scrogin and his story of being wounded in a helicopter crash on March 1, 2007, during his second stint in Iraq that left him in critical condition and took his leg.

The foundation chose Havlicek Builders over a few other candidates. It didn’t take long for Havlicek to see that the technology needed to adapt the house to Scrogin’s needs was only part of the construction story.

“This was a project that not a lot of people could have pulled off,” Havlicek said of the home built in a wooded area along Burr Road in St. Charles. “The lot itself was a tough one, with the hilly topography. And with the needed utility hookups, with everything having to be on one level, made it all really difficult.”

Considering how much time and collaboration was coming, it was a good thing Havlicek and Scrogin hit it off immediately — and have stayed friends well past the home-building timeline that started in April of 2023 and ended with the dedication ceremony in January of 2024.

“He is a great guy,” Havlicek said of Scrogin. “Once I began working on the project with Patrick and his family, we immediately clicked on a personal level.”

The two began socializing, playing cards and doing other things together. “Now, I consider my friendship with them to be a wonderful byproduct of this project,” Havlicek said. “I am looking forward to calling Patrick and his family our friends for many years to come.”

The project and dedication ceremony provided an indication of how much went into building a home with the type of technology that Scrogin would need to adapt to his prosthetic leg and other injuries.

“Working within the constraints of the project, we were able to put together an amazing team of staff, craftspeople and vendors, all who deeply discounted their labor and services in order to bring this project to fruition,” Havlicek said. “I am still humbled by the amazing generosity of all who were involved in the project.”

None of it is lost on Scrogin, who emphasized how grateful he was to the Gary Sinise Foundation when talking to reporters two months ago at the dedication ceremony.

But he’s also pleased with the friendship he’s built with Havlicek in the project’s aftermath. It was easy for him to tell that Havlicek was the kind of guy he could connect with, confirming that it was also an immediate friendship.

“George is such a straight shooter, and he was a big help through the process,” Scrogin said. “He was always there if I had questions or my wife had questions.

“Some people in life, you just meet, and everything clicks, and that is kind of how it worked,” he added.

Not long after the project started, Havlicek invited Scrogin to meet the Havlicek Builders staff and share his story. “I think he maybe wanted his people to know me and understand what I have been through in my journey,” Scrogin said.

This was the first time Havlicek Builders became part of a Gary Sinise Foundation project. And it meant much to Havlicek to engage in such a meaningful project and make a new friend on top of it all.

“I cannot emphasize how grateful I am to my staff, who went far above and beyond any expectations to make this complicated project a reality,” he said, calling it a “once-in-a-lifetime” experience.

“While there were many moving parts to put together, the end result was a beautiful, functional home for a wounded U.S. soldier and his family.”

Another restaurant cycle

When you’ve been around a region for a long time, you’re quite likely to see some restaurants or bar-and-grill establishments that you enjoyed eventually put up the “closed” sign for good.

Most recently, the Old Towne Pub in Geneva and the Gammon Coach House in Batavia alerted patrons that the doors were closing. Far from being categorized as a regular at these places, I still found them unique and enjoyable when stopping in.

I felt the same way about Little Owl and Sergio’s Cantina in Geneva when they shuttered.

What the landscape will look like when these places have new tenants is anyone’s guess. Turnovers of this nature generally come in cycles and often take a long time to shake out.

In the case of Gammon, at 3 S. Batavia Ave., it may be more of a rebrand. So, that corner in Batavia could serve patrons again sooner than the others.

It was fairly humorous to glance at social media posts as a cast of folks tried to provide insight and reasons for a surge of restaurant closings, particularly in Geneva.

The answer probably isn’t as deep as some would have you believe. More often than not, these are small businesses operated by families or friends, and they hit some of life’s most notable obstacles — financial problems, the desire to retire, a squabble among partners, a disagreement between management and staff, a desire to move into a different location, or to move to a warmer climate. And, of course, there are always economic factors that affect patron spending or staff hiring. It’s not an easy sport.

Sure, relationships with city officials or neighboring businesses come into play, but guess what? It’s all been going on for several decades.

I go as far back as enjoying the Geneva Mining Company, which operated out of the 201 W. State St. location where Old Towne Pub has been in business for about 20 years.

For anyone keeping a scorecard on such things, I was also a big fan of the Checkmate restaurant in downtown St. Charles before it burned down in early August 1983.

Checkmate was at 117 W. Main St., in what is now the parking lot for Szechwan Restaurant and the Small Cakes bakery. A disaster triggered that change, which is another factor that sometimes comes into play.

A first visit to Livia

It was great to visit with colleagues from my first newspaper job in the Tri-Cities area with Chronicle Newspapers in 1977. We had all sorts of tales to tell and lamented the fact that there used to be as many as six newspaper reporters and a local radio reporter at city council or school board meetings in those days. Currently, you’re not likely to see a flood of reporters at most meetings.

That aside, the location of our lunch get-together was important because it was my first time dining at Livia Italian Eatery at 207 S. Third St. in Geneva.

The chicken limone was an excellent choice, and the service was great.

I figured this place was going to be good, considering the track record of BG Hospitality Group, which also operates the Gia Mia locations in Geneva, St. Charles, and other suburbs, Ella’s Italian Pub in Geneva and Elmhurst, and moto imoto in St. Charles.

Bugs and warmer weather

We’ve grown used to a period of time, usually late spring or early summer, in which gnats swarm our heads during morning walks.

I don’t recall ever dealing with this during the first week of March. But there they were, swirling around my head as if preparing to enter a cozy nesting place.

I noticed some birds flying in odd patterns, darting back and forth at a park near our house. It was easy to figure out what they were up to —feeding time on tiny flying bugs had come as an early gift this year.

To those birds, I say: Eat up, my friends. Have as many helpings as you’d like.

I know what you’re thinking. Is this guy annoyed by gnats swarming near his head? Wait until he gets a load of the cicada outbreak coming this summer.

dheun@sbcglobal.net