St. Charles 'Santa' relishes trip to War memorial
John Forni has plenty to be thankful for this holiday season.
The 84-year-old Forni was sworn in for another term on the St. Charles Park District Board last May while recuperating in the hospital after heart surgery.
"I've been feeling really good; that heart surgery did me a whale of good," said Forni, who is best known around St. Charles for portraying Santa Claus for nearly 60 years.
Forni was probably most grateful for his better health when he got a phone call from Congressman Bill Foster's office that a spot had opened up for a trip in which area World War II veterans were spending a day at the war memorial in Washington, D.C.
"Sue Klinkhamer (former St. Charles mayor) called me and asked if I was available to go, and I thought I should do it," Forni said.
Forni was emotionally overwhelmed with the one-day experience - and quite tired, leaving for Washington D.C. at 1 a.m. Nov. 19 and returning at 2:30 a.m. the next day.
"Being in the service and seeing what I saw, and then to see this memorial, it was beyond my expectations," said Forni, who was in the Navy and part of the invasion of Saipan in the South Pacific.
"We were there in support of the Marines invasion, and so many of those poor Marines were wiped out," Forni said. "It made the trip to the memorial meaningful in a way that I can't even describe."
A dollar for history: Like most other 9-year-olds, Daniel Sandberg of Geneva knows what he likes. And this fourth-grader at Williamsburg Elementary School likes something enough to plan a fundraiser for it.
Daniel enjoys visiting the Geneva History Center and he was determined to help its cause when learning of its financial troubles.
He asked his mother, Jane, if it was OK to ask everyone in Geneva to donate $1 to the history center. And Daniel was ambitious about it, saying he would go door-to-door to accomplish this feat.
Early this week, his plan was in its early stage as he was hoping to be able to hand out cards during Friday night's Christmas Walk in Geneva to introduce his campaign to help the center.
Packages for troops: Fox Valley Troop Support will be busy this weekend.
Those interested in sending a package to deployed military personnel from the Fox Valley region can drop off donations at the Batavia VFW from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday. Volunteers will sort through donations and create care packages on Saturday for a Monday delivery.
The organization's chairmen are open to any suggestions for fund drives or item donations to help with the care package program. Sarah Giachino can be contacted at (630) 587-3789 and sarah@fvts.org or Kathy Tobusch can be reached at (630) 406-9172 and Kathy@fvts.org.
And more troop support: The St. Charles East girls' basketball team is joining the spirit to support our troops with a game the night of Jan. 8 designated for that cause.
Team members and boosters will be collecting items to send to troops overseas. So mark your calendar for attending that game.