Girl with brain tumor gets a special night at Hannah Montana concert

To say Brooke Bemont of St. Charles was on cloud nine or had Christmas early last weekend might be an understatement.

The 10-year-old Munhall Elementary School student had the thrill of a lifetime when she was offered tickets to the Hannah Montana concert at Allstate Arena in Rosemont.

And if anyone ever deserved an unforgettable night seeing one of her heroes in concert, it was Brooke, who has endured four rounds of chemotherapy and 23 radiation treatments the past several months to treat a brain tumor.

Many people came together to arrange for Brooke. her sister, Caleigh, and a friend, Mia Dadian, to attend the concert in grand style -- with a limo ride and seats in the mayor's skybox, courtesy of Mayor Bradley Stephens of Rosemont.

Brooke's mother, Christal, got the ball rolling by contacting Bare Necessities, an organization dedicated to eliminating pediatric cancer and providing hope to those suffering from it.

Christal inquired about the Small Miracles program and let folks at Bear Necessities know how Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana) had become a hero to her daughter.

Crystal Arts, a volunteer for Bare Necessities, secured this small miracle by getting tickets through a request to cancer survivor Rick Weigand, an employee of Leyden Township, who knew Mayor Stephens. Brooke and three other girls also suffering from cancer chosen by Bare Necessities were beside themselves with excitement when it all came together.

"The girls barely slept that night, and the big, black stretch limo that picked them up was filled with candy and food," Christal said. "They all just felt like mini-celebrities."

The night was full of pleasant surprises, as the girls met the Jonas Brothers, the band that opened for Miley Cyrus, and then also met Cyrus backstage after the show.

Christal praised Stephens, saying he gave up his skybox for the girls and filled it with food and gifts.

"The whole night was about the kids," Christal said. "And it was all made possible by other people. It was just an amazing thing.

"When I asked Brooke afterward if it was as good as she had hoped it would be, she just told me, 'It was so much better.'"

Trimming the waste

Don't you cringe a bit when seeing the paper waste that is produced by a restaurant, particularly a fast-food operation?

Nathan Rosenthal, a former chef at a Schaumburg restaurant and employee in the food industry at Disney World in Florida, says there is more to conserving restaurant waste than meets the eye.

"The food waste itself can be significant," said Rosenthal, who has recently joined The Rosenthal Group, a St. Charles business his father Fred created to help companies streamline their waste and save money in the process.

"When I worked for Disney, they would give their leftover hamburger meat to farms and it would be turned into slop for pigs," Rosenthal said. "And leftover bread can be used as bird feed, or made into bread crumbs."

Rosenthal said there is much that can be recycled beyond the obvious of "cardboard, paper, glass and plastics."

Fast-food chains may use recycled paper for their bags, Rosenthal said, but those eventually end up as waste going into a landfill.

"A lot of people don't realize that everything around them is recyclable," he added. "The easier message is to just throw it in the garbage. It takes time to recycle, but it helps our environment."

Information about The Rosenthal Group is available at (630) 962-3109.

Old stuff in new spot

It's a bit odd to drive past 413 W. Main St. in St. Charles and not see the Antique Market III, with its displays of unique and collectible items.

Now you have to go by 11 N. Third St. to see what the Antique Market III has to offer. It recently moved after 22 years on West Main.

A St. Charles Bank and Trust facility is being proposed for the antique store's former location, which would give residents yet another financial institution in their downtown.

But back to the Antique Market III, which now sits at the east end of the Old St. Charles Place Plaza.

Anyone still hunting for something different as a holiday gift can find dealers at Antique Market III displaying and selling holiday collectibles, as well as railroad, military and sports collectibles and memorabilia.