Candy for a cause: Tootsie Roll drive returns to Geneva and Batavia
Candy doesn’t need any type of promotion or support from me, other than saying I have always bought it and liked it. When it’s tied to a worthy cause, that’s a different story and worth promotion.
Candy does fine on its own, having brand recognition that lasts longer than many products. Plenty of the candy I bought at the corner store in my Chicago neighborhood 65 years ago remains available today.
Tootsie Roll is one of those candy brands for which I would always plunk down my pennies and nickels. After all, this chocolate treat has been around since 1896 — and the Knights of Columbus are certainly pleased that is the case.
The Batavia and Geneva Knights of Columbus Post 2191 sent me a note to say an article I wrote last year about its annual Tootsie Roll Drive for individuals with intellectual disabilities helped the organization “raise more than $25,000 and blew away our $16,000 goal.”
Of course, that equates to the Knights of Columbus being able to give a fair amount of money to local organizations. It doesn’t go unnoticed by the men and women who are on the streets and in downtown areas with Tootsie Rolls to hand out and cans or jugs to accept donations. This year’s drive takes place Sept. 6, 7 and 8.
“It is most important that we thank this generous Kane County community for continuing to support the Tootsie Roll Drive,” Tim Studlo of the Batavia-Geneva Knights said. “While the Knights do collect the money, it really is our community's generosity that allows us to be so successful with the drive.
“Kane County citizens are super charitable,” Studlo added. “This drive is a community effort and example of what we can all do when we come together to support those in need. A big thanks to all the citizens donating and for the stores for letting us collect.”
More than 120 Knights and family member volunteers took part last year and distributed more than 15,000 Tootsie Rolls.
You never know when road construction in the area may potentially interfere with some Knights this year, but let’s hope that is not the case.
Realizing many people do not carry cash these days, each volunteer has a QR code on the collection bin to scan with a phone so people can donate on the spot or pay later. But if causes like this ever cross your mind, make a note to maybe carry a little cash that weekend.
Local organizations that benefit from the Tootsie Roll Drive include Association for Individual Development, Fox Valley Special Recreation, Giant Steps, Marklund Hyde Center, Special Olympics, Special Camps for Special Needs and Valley Sheltered Workshop.
Just like the longevity of the candy brand, the Knights of Columbus have been taking donations and handing out Tootsie Rolls for more than 50 years, having started though a council in Tinley Park in 1970. The drive is present in 44 states and raises more than $2 million annually.
An interesting twirl:
A few weeks ago, I wrote about how we have so much interesting public art in the Tri-Cities and that an eye-catching sculpture is not hard to find when walking, biking or driving.
To fully appreciate it, however, you have to stop and actually look at the art, contemplate its name and see who created or donated it.
And, even after years of admiring the area’s sculptures, on occasion you come across one you hadn’t taken the time to notice. It happened to my wife and me not long ago near Batavia’s Jeffery D. Schielke Government Center.
It’s a small piece on the west side of the footbridge that connects pedestrians and bike riders on Houston Street and Island Avenue with North River Street.
It’s called “Give It A Twirl,” created by Kai Schulte and offered as a gift to the city in 2002 from the Batavia Plain Dirt Gardeners.
This eye-catcher is unique in that you are able to spin a flower bowl and look through a lens that creates a kaleidoscope of colors as the flowers pass by. With a parent’s help in twirling the flower bowl, young kids in particular might get a kick out of this piece.
Getting money’s worth:
For the past several years, the Forest Preserve District of Kane County has received roughly $200 of my annual tax bill to do what it does — maintain the preserves, acquire land and conduct educational and recreational events for residents in the dozens of preserves it oversees.
Two years ago, the district was tabbed the first in the state to receive Illinois park accreditation, essentially acknowledging the district does a fine job of maintaining the preserves and welcoming people to use them.
It’s nice to know our tax dollars have helped the district do things like add nearly 3,000 acres to the district and create three new preserves since voters approved a land acquisition and preserve improvement referendum in 2017. In total, the district can boast of protecting 23,517 acres of public land.
From a personal standpoint, my wife and I get our money’s worth out of the forest preserve district in terms of walking the trails and participating in various educational programs. There are weeks in which we are in a forest preserve nearly every day. We could say the same about park district preserves and walking trails that hug the Fox River.
We would encourage others to enjoy the forest preserves in Kane County. We are lucky to have them.
We know too many people who have never been in one or make rare visits. Their tax dollars help make the preserves what they are. They should reap the benefit by visiting them.
For a fallen member:
A group of St. Charles Kiwanis had plans to meet on the driveway of the home of Tony Savarese on Sunday, Aug. 11 to sing the club anthem, “When Kiwanis Calls,” to their gravely ill fellow club member.
It was a show of support for Savarese and coincided with the club’s efforts to host a blood drive in his honor two days later at the Baker Community Center in St. Charles.
But Kiwanis got the bad news the morning of the scheduled driveway meeting. Savarese had passed away that morning.
It hit the club hard to lose the 79-year-old Savarese, who attended college in Louisiana before being commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Force.
His journey in the Air Force, from 1967 to 1971, included marrying Libby Smith, a young lady he met while in college.
His journey eventually brought him to St. Charles in 1999, and it wasn’t long before he became a member of the Kiwanis.
It was a fascinating journey for Savarese, who ultimately followed his dream to become a special agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a role he earned in August of 1972. He worked for the FBI out of Louisville, Kentucky before being transferred to Illinois in 1974. After years in Bloomingdale, he and Libby moved to St. Charles.
The blood drive was a success, as many Kiwanis and others in the community donated. They figured it was the least they could.
“If I had to summarize Tony in one sentence it would be that he epitomized the Kiwanis tenet of selfless service to those who are in need,” said Kiwanis member Mike Dohan.
Fest lands at Wheeler:
For many years, the Fox Valley Folk Festival drew hundreds of people to Island Park in Geneva. You don’t need me to tell you the festival featured all sorts of folk music and storytelling.
Island Park has long had flooding issues, a problem that seems to have gotten worse with the river waters being rerouted under the train track overpass as work on a third rail continues.
With Island Park being soggy and in need of reseeding in many parts, festival organizers sought other locations. COVID derailed the event for a couple of years before its return last year, but recent flooding at Island Park and fear about what even more rain could do, prompted a move to the north side of Wheeler Park in Geneva.
It will be the 48th edition of this interesting and entertaining event that draws folk music lovers from all over the Chicago area as well as out of state.
It unfolds over Labor Day weekend, Sunday, Sept. 1 and Monday, Sept. 2, and you’ll notice a lot more people and cars — and music — at Wheeler Park those days.
The Fox Valley Folklore Society and Geneva Park District sponsor the event, which features nearly 20 performers over two days and a “barn dance” on Sunday night.
For those not sure how this could unfold at Wheeler Park with its disc golf course, the north side of the park has plenty of open space.
dheun@sbcglobal.net