Heun: Norris Cultural Arts Center still going strong

A couple of readers were concerned that the Norris Cultural Arts Center in St. Charles might be facing problems because it was making some of its gallery art available for sale.

The art has been acquired at Norris through its various exhibits and annual art shows.

Also, some felt it seems as if the Norris Theatre at the center has not offered as many concerts as in the past.

Mark Smith, an NCAC board member and events producer, eased some of those fears, essentially reminding us that because the center is shared with the St. Charles School District, many events are staged at the Baker Community Center, including six Saturday night concerts and various events on Wednesday afternoons.

Still, Norris Theatre remains active for community use.

“We continue hosting five concerts in the Norris Theatre annually, performed by the Fox Valley Concert Band, and we're presenting for the second straight year the annual Elgin Symphony Orchestra ‘Holiday Brass Concert’ in early December,” Smith said.

A “Music and More in the Gallery” series in the NCAC gallery remains on the center’s schedule.

“As for our permanent art collection limited sale, we now have approximately 150 original works in that collection,” Smith explained. “Given the heavy use of our gallery for three Norris-produced exhibits and various rental exhibits, we rarely have more than 30 or 40 pieces on display from the permanent collection.”

It makes sense, from a community service perspective, Smith notes, to offer the public an opportunity to “acquire some of these wonderful artworks.”

The NCAC board is dedicating its upcoming season “to an extended celebration of the Baker Community Center's centennial anniversary,” Smith added.

The St. Charles Park District has added another five years to NCAC’s original operating agreement, meaning concerts and programs will continue at the Baker, which Smith cites as “our home away from home venue.”

Smith said NCAC will soon launch its new website, which “testifies to our commitment to continue serving the community into the future.”

Don’t let your FOMO lead to financial ruin

A trip to Europe. A Taylor Swift concert. A Word Cup match or NBA Finals clash. Boy, that all sounds great — whether I can afford it or not.

But it triggers something many can’t overcome — the fear of missing out. Or FOMO, some call it.

It’s a trait we’d tend to associate with young children who don’t want to be left out of something. Most commonly, it rears its head when a child puts up a fight at bedtime when any number of things seem better at that time.

For adults, FOMO can be damaging when it becomes part of a trend that isn’t new, but has been given the name “fun debt.”

Those with FOMO tendencies — and potentially struggling credit or bank accounts — are easy pickings for “fun debt,” meaning they are willing to throw themselves deeper into debt just to experience a trip or event they can’t pass up.

That’s happening with the backdrop of soaring ticket prices and travel costs.

Experian, a consumer credit reporting firm, surveyed more than 1,000 consumers ages 18 to 65 and older last month, revealing 79% say they would consider financing a “once-in-a-lifetime” event. Another 36% noted they are willing to go into debt to travel.

And even though 67% acknowledge travel is less affordable than a year ago, 70% are still planning to do so. Nearly 40% felt the price of tickets for the event or events at their destination were most prohibitive, but it wasn’t stopping bookings.

“It sounds like a thing younger people would do, and probably not those over 50 thinking about retirement,” said Rich Rohlfing of St. Charles, a retired financial adviser and registered investment consultant. “I would definitely advise against something like that, unless it is a special situation in which you have someone facing medical problems, and they are not caring about retirement, and just want to have a fun time.”

Apparently, there are some of those — and more. The survey revealed those in the 45 to 64 age group acknowledged awareness in the increase in travel costs, but it was not stopping them (47%) from booking trips.

During his long career with several banks, and 10 years with Merrill Lynch, Rohlfing often cited an anecdote about travel being a costly venture for those with more pressing financial needs.

“I heard someone say that on a plane heading to Las Vegas everyone is happy and thinking about all of the money they are going to win,” he said. “And then, on the way home, it’s very quiet and some are complaining about how the odds were against them.”

Given that fans have been shelling out thousands of dollars for major events, the Experian survey suggests FOMO is increasingly outweighing financial caution.

“I don’t encourage debt unless it is for something like a house, or a needed car or a college education, things like that,” Rohlfing noted. “To take on more debt to take a vacation, attend an event or travel the world seems pretty short sighted.”

Personal finance company WalletHub says 8.8 million Americans have at least one credit account that is delinquent or shut off completely.

Financial hardship is widespread across the country, but at least, according to WalletHub, Illinois is among the least financially distressed states in the country. Kansas is at the top of the list as the most distressed.

“People feel they can afford a lower payment and they build up credit card debt in the process,” Rohlfing said.

“I have said bankruptcy starts slowly at first and then, all at once, it happens,” he added. “You get past five years living on credit, then the month comes where you can’t make the payments because of the fees, which keep piling up.”

The best advice anyone can give to people with money problems is to learn more about their circumstances and options, Rohlfing suggests.

“It shocks me when seeing very smart adults with good paying jobs, but with their finances, they just do the wrong things over and over again,” Rohlfing said. “And you wonder, how is this not taught? It is not that hard to understand (good financial habits).”

For now, anyway, FOMO is a powerful influencer.

Some fine music

The halls are alive with the sound of music — at Batavia schools.

The Batavia School District’s music program was recently honored with a designation of Best Communities for Music Education from the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation.

It marked the 12th time in the past 13 years that Batavia has earned this honor, which goes to districts that demonstrate “outstanding achievement in providing music access and education to all students,” according to NAMM.

“This recognition continuously highlights the passion our students, staff, and community share for the profound power and impact of music,” Tom Kim, school superintendent, stated in a press release. “My sincere appreciation goes out to our dedicated music educators and everyone involved in making this happen.”

Blocking important calls

It’s been three months since my bladder cancer surgery and post-surgery treatments.

I’m doing fine, but modern technology nearly made it much worse.

Several months passed from the time an annual checkup revealed another tumor in my bladder (third in 10 years) to the time of my actual surgery.

Initially, the doctor said the surgery scheduler would contact me soon after the checkup. That call never came. And I called the office a couple of times and left messages.

Meanwhile, my wife was diagnosed with a serious ailment and most of our time was spent getting her right. After that was stabilized months later, I called the urologist to get an update on my next step. We decided to do another scope, which indicated the tumor hadn’t gotten larger, so that was good.

At that time, I again noted no one had called me. They sent me to the surgery scheduler’s office. After I told my story, she said a change in the office phone system had resulted in some calls being blocked by patients’ phones.

I told her I had never set up the phone to block anything, especially something important. In fact, I didn’t really know how to block voicemails on my phone.

When I got home, I looked at my phone and found a “blocked voicemails” section at the bottom of the current voicemails. After opening it, I was stunned to see about 30 voicemails from the urologist over the past nine months, trying to schedule my surgery. A policy about not using follow-up text messages added to the confusion.

Maybe not wanting me to be alone on this crazy-phone island, my wife discovered important calls from her medical providers were automatically going into voicemail because the phone didn’t recognize the number. Sort of the same dilemma, but at least she could see the voicemails.

A hunt around her phone settings resulted in finding she had something checked off under an option for dealing with unknown callers that would not allow the phone to ring.

We changed that, and she was able to get these calls and add the number to her contacts.

The lesson here? Beware of what your phone is up to, or what you unknowingly may have asked it to do.

• dheun@sbcglobal.net