'Prairie Girl' sculpture finds a home in Geneva

"Prairie Girl" has found her home in the Sensory Garden at Peck Farm Park in Geneva.

Geneva sculptor Larry Johnson has created the "Prairie Girl" statue with, as he puts it, "hopes that the sculpture shall move and inspire its viewers of the beauty and vitality of youth."

This is of particular importance to Rod and Donna Mebane of Geneva, as the piece of art has been donated to the Geneva Park District through the couple's Starshine Galaxy Foundation, which provides an annual art scholarship for talented students at Geneva High School.

It's all in memory of their daughter Emma, who died in her sleep at the age of 19 in 2011. Even though Emma's life inspired the sculpture, it is not meant to resemble her, leaving it open to honor any child who has left us too soon.

Emma's family acknowledges Peck Farm is the perfect place for artwork to honor their daughter because she was born in Delnor Hospital just a few miles away and was pronounced dead there 19 years later. She also played soccer on the fields near Peck Farm.

"Prairie Girl was conceived as a young girl in timeless garb, holding a cardinal, the state bird and symbol of ISU, where Emma was a student," Johnson said. "And it is the symbol of the return of a lost soul.

"Some may wonder whether she is releasing, cradling or simply admiring the delicate bird," Johnson added.

The Sensory Garden at Peck Farm was already an eye-catching pleasure, but Johnson and the other generous donors have put Prairie Girl in a perfect place, adding a new element that reflects this area's history, as well as keeping Emma Mebane and others alive in so many hearts.

It took nearly two years for Prairie Girl to become reality from concept to finished product, but takes only seconds to catch our attention and admiration.

Bring that cake:

Maybe I have the magic touch.

Not long after mentioning in this column that it wouldn't hurt to have a Nothing Bundt Cakes in this area, after trying the cake from the Wheaton site and doing cartwheels of joy afterward, I spotted a Facebook post indicating that might happen.

I called the Wheaton store to speak to owners Todd and Ashley Davies, and one of their workers confirmed that Geneva or St. Charles would be a possible location in the near future.

The Facebook post mentioned Geneva in the first quarter of 2017. We'll keep a close eye on another round of sweet stuff calling the Tri-Cities home.

Breaking ground next?:

Neighbors may have noticed surveyors out on the open land along Woodward Drive on the west side of St. Charles recently.

That parcel is earmarked for 78 new homes through Corporate Reserve Development Partners LLC, a project the city council approved earlier this year.

This is a better use for the land than original plans, it seems, that called for fairly large office buildings and parking decks.

Considering the trees to the north of the property and nearby duplexes along Remington Drive and Birch Lane, this area with new homes, sidewalks and a park should be a nice addition to this part of the city. It's somewhat tucked away to the west of the Aldi grocery store, but it has plenty of appeal.

But unless we get a mild winter (and what are the chances of that?), it's hard to imagine a lot being accomplished in this area until next spring.

Drought buster:

This is one to keep in mind next summer if we go through a drought. This year, it got quite dry only in summer's final weeks.

Still, all I have to do is get involved in a golf outing or planned golf trip to trigger rain.

An annual two-day outing to Lake Geneva turned into a one-day event, with the second day of golf totally rained out.

It has happened many times in my world, but golfers in general know that Mother Nature holds all of the cards during the local season.

Door-to-door finances:

You don't always see a financial adviser pounding the pavement, but Mike Hilker, an Edward Jones adviser with an office on Randall Road in Batavia, rang my doorbell on a recent hot, humid afternoon.

He caught me when I was on deadline for a story, but I enjoyed chatting for a few minutes. He worked for a major bank in the past, so we connected a bit because I cover the financial and payments industries in my regular full-time job.

It must be hard to go door-to-door to get people to talk about financial stuff out of the blue. It seems most people either would have their financial house in order with an adviser, or have no interest in the topic. Or, they generally don't trust others to tell them how to make their money grow.

He said he has talked to a lot of people and not all of them are situated properly with investments or their overall finances; some of them being open to ideas and wanting to learn more.

I've used the same financial consultant for the past 25 years, so I wasn't in the market for Mike's services. But I give him credit for getting around to meet people and hope he does well.

dheun@sbcglobal.net