Evergreen Pub & Grill in St. Charles will mark 90th anniversary with special party
If you spot some folks playing Rolle Bolle — the Belgian outdoor game that is a cross between bowling and horseshoes — at Evergreen Pub & Grill in St. Charles on Saturday afternoon, you haven't gone back in a time machine.
As part of a 90th anniversary celebration this weekend, Evergreen owner Tom Trier and managing partner Brian Zirlin are, for one day, bringing back the recreational activity that made the previous Ray's Evergreen so popular in past decades.
Well, that and there was also pigeon racing and a lot of regulars knocking down shots and beers.
Those days are definitely gone. Evergreen Pub & Grill, which reopened more than two years ago, is marketing itself as a place with better food and an atmosphere welcoming all ages.
The fact that pigeon coops and the Rolle Bolle area have long been replaced by an outdoor dining deck and a sand volleyball court at the 1400 W. Main St. site tells you something.
“We are trying to attract different ages now,” Trier said. “We still have longtime patrons coming in, but now it's a mix of young and old, and families coming in for dinner.”
There's still much nostalgia at Evergreen, as the walls display photos from when Gus Van Glabeke opened it in 1928 as Gus' Evergreen Tavern to when Ray Triest bought the business in 1948 and gave it the Ray's Evergreen name.
Bernie Deutsch bought the business and operated it for 25 years before selling it to Peter Lappin and Malcomb Kanute, who did a lot of the refurbishing to the site in 2008.
Trier and Zirlin have started their own chapter, fully aware of the significance of how Evergreen fits in with the city's other 90-plus years historic sites like Hotel Baker, the Arcada Theatre, Colonial Ice Cream, Rehm Electric, the Baker Community Center and many others.
“We are cognizant of the history of this place,” Zirlin said. “That's why we kept the Evergreen name, but, at the same time, we want people to know this is a new chapter for the pub.”
Part of that chapter emphasizes the dining menu as having more of a Wisconsin supper club feel to it.
“There are a lot of great restaurants in this area, all trying to do something different, but we want to go back to the basics in just offering really good food and making people comfortable here,” Zirlin said.
For those who have never seen a Rolle Bolle game unfold, it takes place from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 22. It is a throwback to when the Moline Malleable factory workers and their families and friends along Dean Street made the game their sport in St. Charles.
Back on stage:
After years of attending enjoyable Fox Valley Repertory programs at Pheasant Run, it's been relatively quiet at the resort's Mainstage Theater.
Arcada Theatre frontman Ron Onesti has worked with the resort in the past year or so to stage some smaller acts, but he has a lot of other ventures demanding his attention.
After a grand reopening event last week, Mainstage Theater is destined to be far more active in the future.
The Sigman Brothers Productions will bring most of the programs to the theater now, but any booking company that wants to rent the theater space is able to do so.
Sigman Brothers has three shows lined up already for Pheasant Run — “Rumpelstiltskin” from Oct. 19 to 28, “Dogs” from Dec. 21 to 30, and “Mountain Charley” from March 1 to 10, 2019.
The resort mentions United Talent, Forte Productions and Midwest Entertainers as other companies likely to book shows.
Mostly, we are pleased to see that the 320-seat Mainstage Theater will once again be an option for a night of entertainment, adding to an impressive list of others in the area, from the Arcada and Norris theaters in St. Charles, Paramount in Aurora and Hemmens in Elgin, to the various community college theaters at Waubonsee, Elgin Community College and College of DuPage.
Those requested meals:
A Facebook posting from a woman whose elderly mother put in a request for dinner from Culver's for her 99th birthday surely hit home for us.
She informed the Culver's on the east side of St. Charles about her mother's request, sending the restaurant a photo of her enjoying her carryout meal at her birthday party.
She went on to sing the praises of Culver's for following up by sending her mother a note and some flowers.
My late mother-in-law also requested Culver's often, and it was indeed the last place she went out to eat. Not long after that, she wasn't able to leave her care center any longer.
But Culver's was a grand night out for a lady who wasn't going to have many more of those types of nights.
Beauty services bazaar:
When a woman says a man has no idea what it takes to get ready for work or a night out, she is certainly correct.
If we aren't inclined to shave, sometimes it is just a matter of brushing the teeth and combing the hair. For the ladies, it is much different. And a group of businesses in Geneva has the goal of helping women find a matching business for providing what they need to help them look and feel their best.
The Co-Op Beauty Bazaar will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 1, at Lola, 11 S. Second St. in Geneva.
This event will be set up similar to a speed-dating scenario in which the ladies will visit each booth to get to know the business and what it offers.
Mayor Kevin Burns, as he often does, will get in on the fun by ringing a bell each time a woman and business agree they are a match and “commit to one another,” event organizers say. Each guest who commits to a match gets entered into a giveaway drawing for various prizes.
Those interested in attending can call Lola at (331) 588-5649 or email contact@lolabygina.com.
For those who have not yet tried Craft Urban for a meal, that restaurant will serve food and drinks at the event.
The businesses involved are Lola, V-Fusion Studio, Jori and June, Meraki by Amanda, Ink & Arch, Nora's Shoes, The Herrington Spa, Green Envy, Green Gypsy Juice and Bare Moxie.
dheun@sbcglobal.net