‘It takes an army of volunteers’: How Geneva Beautification Committee brightens up the city

Visitors driving or walking through downtown Geneva will likely notice the gorgeous plantings on display on most street corners.

Kathy McNeil knows this to be true, especially when some visitors reach out to her as head co-chair of the Geneva Beautification Committee.

“I have been contacted by five other groups from various cities who wanted to know how to start their own beautification committee,” McNeil said. “Our beautification efforts do not go unnoticed by the hundreds to thousands of visitors that walk through our downtown area.”

You don’t have to be a visitor to appreciate the work this committee has done for more than 30 years, about 28 of which were formally as the Geneva Beautification Committee.

Many residents have likely seen committee volunteers planting in May, weeding and maintaining the flower beds through October, and then cleaning them out in early November as winter nears. The committee also plants mums in August and hangs flower baskets along the State Street bridge.

“It takes an army of volunteers to care for our 58 gardens, to keep this town looking beautiful,” McNeil said. “Geneva Beautification would not exist without them.”

That army of volunteers sits at about 140 this year, carrying on a tradition started by co-chairs Clara Anderson and Paul DesCoteaux in the early 1990s. They started it with a citywide contest calling for residents to beautify their yards and houses.

From there, it morphed into much more, partly because the Geneva Post Office reworked its sidewalks and property with bricks. That change prompted DesCoteaux to ask if he could create gardens on the property.

In 1996, the committee officially became the Geneva Beautification Committee and was initially charged with beautifying the corner “knuckles” along State Street and Third Street after repaving occurred.

Since then, the process has essentially called on individuals, families or businesses to stake a claim to each garden as their own to care for throughout the warm-weather months.

As such, all of the street corners with gardens stand out, in effect becoming a trademark of Geneva. Some are small, some are large, and some just stop you in your steps to admire.

Kristie Dienst, volunteer coordinator and treasurer of the committee said the city has “many showcase gardens’ created by the committee but points to the garden and plantings at The American Legion Post 75 at 227 S. Second St. as a standout.

“The Legion needed some TLC a few years ago, and our East Side Gardeners, who cared for the corner of Eastside Drive and State Street, were asked if they’d like to take on the Legion project — and wow, they did,” Dienst explained. “The veterans who go to The American Legion are most appreciative of the tended gardens, as well as helping to keep Geneva beautiful.”

McNeil cites a garden on State Street west of River Lane as one of the largest undertakings of the committee, one that is much narrower and longer than most as it lines a portion of the Shodeen office and retail building. McNeil also noted herbaceous perennials that rebloom annually were added at that site to cut future costs.

“We also added perennials to the city parking lot at Second and Hamilton streets for this same reason,” McNeil said, noting it was a committee goal this year to add perennials to the larger gardens.

From a personal standpoint, I found the garden at the southwest corner of James and Second streets quite interesting.

Cared for by the nearby Unitarian Church, it is labeled a Monarch Waystation because of its milkweed plants, which attract Monarch butterflies.

A quick review of some of the small signs providing names of the gardeners indicates how widespread this effort has become. We spotted The Ferris family, the Garden Gnomes, ReMax Excels Geneva, String Violin Shop and Geneva Garden Club as garden caregivers in a small sample.

Anyone interested in learning more about the committee can reach McNeil or Dienst through the Geneva city website — geneva.il.us/729/Beautification-Committee

Other than an obvious love for their hometown and understanding gardens are soothing and beautiful, the committee volunteers aren’t looking for any special type of recognition for their work.

But McNeil has a suggestion that has some meaning.

“I would ask your readers that if they are downtown and see our volunteers working in their gardens to please thank them for their hard work and dedication,” she said. “We all love our hometown and want to continue to see it remain as beautiful as it already is.”

Just Kabobs going pita crazy

Get ready for a “Greek Walmart” on the west side of St. Charles.

Well, at least that’s the nickname the employees of Just Kabobs at 1825 W. Main St. came up with for the new minimart they plan to develop and open just east of their restaurant.

The new business for Kabobs owner John Symonides will mainly operate as a “pita factory,” making fresh pitas for the restaurant and for those who would like to purchase some to take home.

In addition, the mart sells steaks, ribs, chicken, and frozen goods to take home.

Other than the pita factory concept, the mart is an open book at this point. Kabobs employees told me what patrons of the restaurant and new mart would like to see there would ultimately dictate how it evolves.

The new minimart will occupy a building that formerly housed an auto-parts store.

By the way, if you haven’t been to Just Kabobs, I can sum it up like this: Other than being really good, it is inexpensive and a place that provides generous portions.

Cantwells land McGraw gig

Nearly three years ago, I wrote about Tommy Leland Cantwell and his brother Brandon becoming successful musicians in Nashville with a band called the Flying Buffaloes.

These Geneva boys are still making music, even though the Flying Buffaloes, an alternative country band, has disbanded.

Their mom, Nancy Cantwell, sent an update note, saying the boys had hooked up with Timothy Wayne, nephew of country star Tim McGraw, and are now in a band touring as an opening act during McGraw’s 2024 Standing Room Only tour.

It keeps the music dream alive for a couple of guys who graduated from Geneva High School (Tommy in 2010, Brandon in 2013).

They point to past high school music director Pat Frederick as a key mentor as well as their father, Tom Cantwell, who had a local rock band called Gallery.

The mystery of golf

My lack of golf skills has resulted in legendary shots, including smacking a tee shot straight to the right into my golf cart.

The ball rattled around inside the cart and settled into the beverage cup. It’s the only hole-in-one I’ve ever recorded.

Another time, I won the “shortest drive” competition at an outing, hitting one all of 15 feet. I won a “Happy Gilmore” VHS tape for that effort.

But, I may also be the only person who has ever won a shortest-drive and a longest-drive competition at different outings.

How in the world did I win the longest drive? It’s actually not that hard — if you hit a decent drive down the middle of the fairway, and it makes a direct hit on a sprinkler head. It resembled dropping a Super Ball off a building onto the pavement below. It took a huge bounce forward and then got some extra roll.

It’s the only possible way I could win that sort of competition. Sometimes, it’s better to be lucky than good.

These golf memories popped into my head last week during my annual golf trip to Lake Geneva. This time, the blind squirrel found a nut again, and I won the longest-putt competition.

But another miracle of sorts occurred, this one potentially being a good thing. I have a hybrid 4 club in my bag, which I have struggled with mightily in hitting the ball square.

Before last week, of 10 swings with the club, at least seven resulted in the ball dribbling forward a few feet. You’re classic “topping” the ball.

Last week, I decided to clear my head completely, loosen my grip, and let the club do what it is supposed to do. I hit the ball so well that we started keeping track of how many times I could do it. My previous record was one in a row. I left the course with 10 straight solid hits.

Could it possibly carry over into my next round? Did the Cubs win the World Series again in 2017?

• dheun@sbcglobal.net