Upcoming Sisters Weekend really resonates with these women

Eileen and Dave Kibble adopted Katie Kibble when she was 3 days old. She lived in Batavia for two years and has been in St. Charles the rest of her 24 years. She lived as a single child with a single mom after her parents divorced when she was 2.

Knowing that about Katie Kibble would lead one to believe that the annual Sisters Weekend event April 11 to 13 in St. Charles wouldn't carry much meaning for her.

But that weekend will be one of great pleasure for Katie, who discovered and met her blood sister in the past year and plans to have her come for her first visit to St. Charles that weekend.

"A year ago my biological mother called me out of the blue and I got to meet her for the first time," Katie said. "When I had that meeting, her name is Desiree, I got the best gift I could get when I was told that I had a brother and sister."

Katie met her brother, but has since lost contact with him. But she began an ongoing correspondence with her sister, Marci Hunt, a 28-year-old resident of Phoenix.

Meeting her sister: Eileen Kibble arranged a surprise visit for Katie and Marci in Arizona last July on Katie's "special day" -- the date of her adoption.

"I was very careful the way I did it," Eileen said.

"After I had called Marci to see if she wanted to meet Katie, we had to keep it a secret for two months -- and that was tough for Marci."

Katie said when she first encountered Marci in the lobby of the motel in Phoenix "it was like a fairytale movie."

"We instantly saw each other and ran as fast as we could toward each other and just stood there hugging and crying for about five minutes," Katie said.

Eileen said she was wondering how the sisters would recognize each other when they first met, but "they were like magnets, they knew right away and just ran to each other."

So the return favor this time is for Marci to come to St. Charles for the Downtown Partnership's Sisters Weekend.

"She's all worried about it being too cold here," Katie said. "But we're really looking forward to it because it has been amazing how we've learned we are so much alike and have the same views and opinions on things.

"It's really like we've known each other our whole lives, even though there were so many years apart."

For those sisters: Katie Kibble and Marci Hunt won't be the only sisters having fun in St. Charles the weekend of April 11 to 13. Something tells me plenty of siblings will take part in activities planned by the Downtown Partnership. A lot of that fun will center around "The Four Bitchin' Babes" concert April 12 at the Arcada Theater, as well as wine tastings, parties, meals, shopping and activities at the Sisters Weekend "home base" of the Hotel Baker.

More information about the weekend is available by calling Deb Pfaff at (630) 513-5386.

For horses and fun: If you have a fondness for the Bunco dice game and a soft spot for horses that have endured neglect and abuse from past owners, a planned fundraising event is perfect for you.

The Field of Dreams Horse Rescue and Adoption rescue barn in Elburn is hosting a Bunco tournament from 7 to 10 p.m. April 11 at the Pottawatomie Community Center in St. Charles.

Organizers are hoping for 24 teams, at a cost of $120 for a four-person team that will compete for cash and prizes.

Signup deadline is Wednesday and information is available at (630) 392-3190 or (847) 431-6302.

A fancy style: I noticed my co-worker, Kathy Edgar of St. Charles, has a beautiful printing style when she jots down notes or addresses envelopes. After years of training at a Catholic school, my printing and penmanship wasn't too bad when I was young. But years of being a reporter and writer pretty much ruined that, as you train yourself to write down notes as fast as people can talk.

But Kathy filled me in on something regarding school curriculum. She said she learned this fancy style by helping her son master the D'Nealian Print/Cursive style that apparently is taught in a lot of schools.

"It's done to help the kids make the transition from printing to nice handwriting," she said.

Parents who really know what their kids are studying may have heard of this interesting concept. I had not heard of it when my son was in grade school, and certainly not when I was in school. My training consisted of a nun making me print or write letters and words on three-lined columns on the chalkboard.

And we didn't call it anything other than learning how to write so other people could read it.