Movers aim to make Mother's Day special for homeless moms
Mother's Day can be a casualty for a broken family - a day that goes by like any other without much fanfare for a mother in a homeless shelter.
A local moving company wants to change that. Two Men And A Truck of Kane/DuPage is hosting a collection drive to provide gifts for moms in the Lazarus House shelter in St. Charles, owner Wendy Petrusha said.
"This is our first time working with Lazarus House," said Petrusha, who thought of the St. Charles shelter first because of personally helping with other events for Lazarus.
"Lazarus House was very open to what we are looking to convey with this drive in making these moms feel special," Petrusha said.
The drive will feature collection boxes at KinderCare on Prairie Street in St. Charles, Market Financial Group, Blackhawk Taekwondo, Harmony Chiropractic, Fifth Third Bank and Rejoice Lutheran General Church of Geneva. These locations will have collection boxes available until May 5.
Students in the learning service class at Haines Middle School in St. Charles are coordinating an internal drive at the school to help the cause, Petrusha added.
"The aim is to get the moms things they don't normally spend money on or don't have money to buy," Petrusha said. A list of gift ideas is available on the moving company's Facebook page.
Petrusha suggests "nice hair products, some beauty items, things they can pamper themselves with for a bit."
Because the moms are transient, the gifts have to be small items so they are easy to carry, she added.
It's all part of the Two Men franchise's "Movers for Moms" program, now in its seventh year. This is the first year a local shelter will benefit, but the program last year resulted in more than 210,000 items collected for donation to 100 shelters across 30 states.
This one's for Alfred: Did you know Alfred Nobel, the namesake of the Nobel Prize, was a Swede? As such, his name on a new restaurant in Geneva makes plenty of sense.
Jason Levin thinks so. If things go as planned, by the end of the month local diners will have another tavern/restaurant to check out on State Street as Levin and partner Dave Cilio will open Nobel House.
Nobel House will operate out of the location recently vacated by Tavolini, the former home of the Geneva Family Restaurant.
"The place is inspired by Alfred Nobel because we like going back in history and utilize that as an inspiration for a place," Levin said. "You end up learning a lot about these guys, so it is kind of interesting."
Levin, a Geneva resident, has plenty of experience in the tavern/restaurant world, operating five locations throughout Chicago with a group of investor partners.
Nobel House will offer what Levin calls "chef-inspired tavern food." The food is "very comforting American fare put together by two chefs on staff and will feature some smoked meats and other things," Levin added.
"We're very craft-centric, so we are going to have three beers on tap and feature craft beers as well," Levin said.
Levin can't pinpoint a specific opening date because of construction schedules, and the fact he is still working on staffing and the menu.
"We think it's a dynamite location, and I personally think the restaurant scene in Geneva is fantastic and we are going to bring something else," Levin said. "We are on the front end of some good stuff happening in downtown Geneva."
Apparently, Geneva will have all of Nobel's bases covered in the process. Nobel was born in Stockholm, Sweden. And Stockholm's, a restaurant/bar carrying his hometown name, sits across the street from Nobel House.
Hands together: It takes less than a half-hour of your time, but it shows you care about kids and want to stop child abuse.
CASA Kane County will hold its annual Hands Around the Courthouse event at noon Thursday at the courthouse on Third Street in Geneva.
Dignitaries who deal with child abuse and neglect will make some brief comments, but the event mostly is to take part in a moment of silence to remember the 93 children who lost their lives to abuse or neglect in Illinois last year.
The ceremony is open to the public, and a light lunch is available after the presentations.
In the past, empty shoes have been used on the floor of the courthouse entrance to represent the lives lost. Those shoes should have been filled by kids who likely wanted nothing more than to be happy kids.
Add music to Cougars mix: What could the Kane County Cougars possibly do this year to make a night out at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark even more fun?
How about a 90-minute concert before certain Saturday games during the summer? The Cougars are booking local bands that have become summer favorites around here, so you'll want to keep an eye open for those pregame concerts.
The 'snaps' worked?: Last year I asked people what they would want to fix with a snap of their fingers if they had the power to do so.
Fixing Charlestowne Mall in St. Charles and the Mill Race Inn property in Geneva were mentioned often during that chance for residents to make their wishes.
Looks like some folks heard those fingers snapping. New owners will try to revitalize Charlestowne Mall as The Quad, and Geneva developer Kent Shodeen is going to take a crack at the Mill Race Inn property.
Bumpy ride: Not that we are interested in rating the terrible condition of some of our local roads, but you can certainly put this one in the category of "in need of some help." Kautz Road between Routes 64 and 38 will benefit greatly from some future tender loving care.
dheun@sbcglobal.net