Opening night coming up for Kane County Cougars

We're less than a month away from the Kane County Cougars opening night of April 7.

Those planning to attend that game or any other during the 2016 season at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark will simply add to the team's dizzying attendance numbers.

After all, the Cougars were touted last December as the first Class A franchise in minor league baseball history to reach 11 million fans during the course of the team's tenure.

Last year marked the club's 25th year in operation, and things were just fine for the Cougars. The team drew more than 400,000 fans last year, marking the 21st time in the team's 25-year history it was able to surpass that mark.

This is worth saying again: The Kane County Forest Preserve chairman at that time, Phil Elfstrom, sure had a good idea brewing in his head in the late 1980s and early 1990s when he first proposed the concept of minor league baseball in the Tri-Cities area.

His initial thought of putting the stadium on the site of the current Kane County Fairgrounds on the west side of St. Charles was probably OK, but it banked on the fairgrounds moving to Route 47, which was a very real possibility at that time.

The fairgrounds ultimately stayed put and rebuilt its site and the county settled on the Kirk Road location on the east side of Geneva for its maiden voyage into minor league baseball.

And the rest is history - and a good one at that.

Pharmacies head-to-head

The empty bank building at the corner of Lincoln Highway and 14th Street in St. Charles has come tumbling down to make way for a new CVS Pharmacy at that location.

And we scratch our heads only a bit in terms of why CVS would want to be right across the street from a Walgreens, but apparently this is the way the pharmacy giants play this game - get close to your competitors and let the consumer decide which is the best.

In addition, something tells us it won't be the last empty bank building to either come down or have a different use in the coming decade.

For the fish

As featured in this column a few weeks ago, there are certainly good places to go for fish fry during Lent at some local churches or Legion halls.

But I didn't have any problem trying an alternative. That would be Culver's cod filet basket. I may not go as far as agreeing with the chain's TV commercial that it is the "best fish sandwich in America," but it is definitely a good one for this time of year.

After washing it down with a chocolate fudge Oreo cookie "concrete mixer," you weren't hearing any complaints from me about this option on a Friday night.

For your skin

Another "coming soon" sign in a window tells us that Green Envee, an organic body and skin care product retailer, is going to set up shop at 17 S. Third St. in Geneva.

It's touting homemade botanic products to address many skin problems and provide what they say is a safer way to clean and exfoliate your skin.

Tough ticket

It might be tricky to get your hands on a ticket at this point, but it would be worth trying if you happen to enjoy the musical "My Fair Lady."

That's the spring musical at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday at Geneva High School. For ticket status, contact Debbie Hanson at (630) 463-3838.

All of the high schools in this area put on excellent plays, but I can't help mentioning one when some of its songs find a home on my iPod.

"On the Street Where You Live" in this great musical is one of them.

dheun@sbcglobal.net