Reflections on the past St. Charles Foodie Fest stirs memories at History Museum

Last week was relatively historic for me, and not because Hillary Clinton became the first woman nominated by a major political party in this country to be our next president.

It was more from the standpoint of finding myself in places that tell us history stories.

One was out of state at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, and the other was local at the annual St. Charles History Museum fundraiser, this one called a Foodie Fest.

The topics were far different, but the message was the same. We can all learn more about our past by taking the time to visit these types of places and reading the information they provide at the exhibits.

With that premise in mind, the next few items are about my rides along memory lane, from rock music history to the interesting past of our local communities.

He was a Cub Scout?

Lead singer Jim Morrison of The Doors was quite a larger-than-life enigma. A rock legend and rock poet, if you will.

But the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame reminds us that he was at least somewhat like many of us.

He lived in a military family and bounced around from base to base, what they call a "military brat." But the showcase for The Doors had Morrison's Cub Scout troop photos on display. When looking at this smiling Scout, it is hard to believe this fellow cut his stellar music career short with a drug overdose at age 27.

Brings some greats:

With so many great things on display at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, one theme kept crossing my mind: Arcada Theatre frontman Ron Onesti sure has brought some great acts to St. Charles, many of them holding spots in the Hall of Fame.

When mentioning that to Onesti, he was quick to point out he has brought more Hall of Fame acts to his theater than any other in the country.

Graham Nash, who played the Arcada about a year ago now, has nearly an entire wing of the Hall dedicated to his career, from his days with the Hollies through the Crosby, Stills and Nash, and solo, eras.

Food and displays:

Aside from the fact many great St. Charles restaurants had food available at the St. Charles History Museum fundraiser last weekend and drew plenty of my attention, it is always fun to get reacquainted with the museum exhibits.

Information from the war bonds drive in St. Charles, to the historic structures in town to Karen Morrison's 1974 Miss USA victory is on display at this museum.

As for the food, I ate way too much.

Another dining fundraiser:

The Geneva History Museum is going the food-and-fundraising route in September.

Its annual fundraiser will be a barbecue event from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15 under a canopy in the parking lot north of the museum. Disc jockey Scott McKay of 95.9 The River will serve as the guest auctioneer for the live auction items being offered. Information is available at genevahistorymuseum.org.

Those who attend are sure to look over the museum exhibits, as they take area residents back to a time when James Herrington Jr. first brought his family from Pennsylvania in 1835 to the spot along the Fox River that would eventually become Geneva.

Or the photos showing Geneva's train depot in its earliest days. The railroad made its way here in 1853, which meant the towns in this area were going to grow a little quicker.

Depot and a bank:

The Batavia Depot Museum and the Coffin Bank right next to it take visitors back to a time when Batavia was somewhat of a rail hub. Or, at least it was part of a rail line for more than 50 years, including the electric trolley cars that ran along rails throughout the Fox Valley and into Chicago.

The old bank is interesting to visit, simply from the standpoint of what it would have been like to do your banking business in such tight quarters.

Some Batavia residents hooked on history are part of a group that is pondering the best way to go about expanding the Depot Museum in the future so that more residents can see more things about their community's past.

Leftover notes:

Having spent that time in Cleveland last week, a few things were still in my notebook that I wanted to share.

First, it was a bit of a challenge to play golf in such hot, steamy weather at the annual John Barton Memorial event at Bliss Creek, but it was for a great cause - the Jimmy V Foundation for cancer research and also to help some local families dealing with the bills that come when a child is dealing with cancer treatments.

And it was certainly good news to hear from organizers of this event, most specifically former Geneva football coaching legend Jerry Auchstetter and his family, that participants over the last three years have helped raise more than $50,000 for the cause.

Barton, a popular coach at Geneva High School, died from colon cancer a few years ago and his friends and colleagues at the school have kept his memory alive through these fundraisers.

Second, the Geneva Arts Fair was a hot event indeed, not only because of the talented artists displaying their wares. It was just hot and humid this time around. But not hot enough to keep art lovers away. It was surprising how many people attended.

It was nice to chat with Nancy Turpin-Marshall of Elgin about her "newspaper decoupage imagery."

That means she takes strips of newspaper clippings and shapes them into pictures and images. When I mentioned the Daily Herald, she talked about one of her pieces of art being featured in the paper.

When taking a closer look at her art, you can see what some of the newspaper stories might have been about. So those of us who love newspapers are easily attracted to something like this.

• dheun@sbcglobal.net