Latest tree infestation really bugs me

Taking care of trees is a lot like taking care of kids. You have to really pay attention to them ­- and be willing to spend money.

The latest attack on my pocketbook comes courtesy of some critters known as Zimmerman Pine Moths. I've gone 55 years without ever hearing of these bugs, but the folks at Tree Green in Winfield tell me the Zimmerman Pine Moth is a borer that will burrow under the bark of Scotch and Austrian pines. They obstruct the flow of sap, literally destroying them limb-by-limb.

I'm also told that woodpeckers and yellow-bellied sapsuckers then make an assortment of holes, trying to eat the borers. A tree will certainly perish if not treated, and owners sometimes don't realize their trees are under siege until it's too late.

So if you have Scotch or Austrian pines on your property that appear to be drying and browning, it's possible you've encountered the Zimmerman clan.

After discovering this in our backyard, we're amazed to see how many trees have this problem at other homes, along parkways or in landscaping berms near commercial areas.

Companies that care for trees can save the day, however, as Scotch and Austrian Pines that undergo treatments can be restored.

Another corn patch: After reading about St. Charles' in-town cornfield on 14th Street last week, a reader pointed out that another small patch of corn sits behind the Walgreen's on Bricher Road.

I was aware of that, but it appears to be owned by a developer. A Batavia Enterprises sign sits on the property, which is zoned for commercial or residential use.

So that small patch appears destined for more brick and mortar.

Goodbye to Janet: Just a couple of weeks after her son-in-law suddenly passed away, we got the news this week that longtime newspaper columnist Janet Rossi had died.

When I was in charge of a newsroom, Janet wrote literally hundreds of columns for me over a stretch of several years about her views of the local scene. I was happy to give her the opportunity to have her voice heard, and was pleased to see she had her final published piece - a letter in the Daily Herald - not more than three weeks ago. And it was classic Janet Rossi - she was bemoaning the loss of Burger Drugs and the fact that she could no longer find a place to buy a pair of socks in downtown St. Charles.

In one of her final e-mails to me, she said her heart was broken over the passing of her son-in-law. She wrote it in a way that she meant it literally, not necessarily figuratively. In that regard, she was preparing all of us for the sad news this week.

He was gone early?: It would have been nice to say that we've watched Dave Purcey work through the ranks of our local schools to make a name for himself in Major League baseball as a rookie left-handed pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays.

But Purcey, whose records show he was born in St. Charles in 1982 and graduated from the University of Oklahoma before becoming a 2004 first-round pick of Toronto, apparently left our area fairly quickly.

A quick check with local baseball coaches indicated that Purcey's name never surfaced on area baseball rosters. And he certainly would have been a player people would remember.

St. Charles East coach Mark Foulkes said his first season as a high school head coach would have been around the same time Purcey should have been a senior.

"I just don't recall that name around here, so he must have moved out at a pretty early age," Foulkes said.

If we're off target on this one, and anyone recalls Purcey playing baseball around here, even as a youngster, send me an e-mail.

He set his career high for strikeouts two weeks ago with 11 in a 1-0 loss to Tampa Bay.

Still no place to meet: There must not be any extra rooms in the area to conduct a meeting, or someone would have given the Fox Valley Knitters Guild a hand.

My column will on occasion get the word out for a need or a cause, and it was surprising to hear that the knitters group had no response when I mentioned a week ago that they needed a place big enough for about 80 ladies to meet monthly.

If such a place exists, you can contact Vice President Eileen Hoesly at (630) 443-7666.

dheun@sbcglobal.net