Geneva fourth-grader to appear on 'American Ninja Warrior Junior' March 30

A year ago, Miguel Serrato of Geneva was anxiously waiting to compete in a wrestling tournament for kids his age — but there was a minor glitch. Well, maybe a major glitch.

His father, Michael, forgot to sign up his son for the event. Oops.

Michael surely wasn't the first parent to overlook signing up a child for a youth sports event. But this accident led to bigger and better things for Miguel, a 10-year-old fourth-grader at Harrison Street School.

How much better? Enough so that Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns recently declared March 30 as “Miguel Serrato Day” in Geneva.

That's the day Miguel will appear on the Universal Kids channel in an episode of “American Ninja Warrior Junior,” a series that started last October showcasing young people who qualified to compete in the televised competition.

The transition from wrestling to ninja training, which essentially prepares a participant to show speed, agility and strength in mastering an obstacle course, became a focus for Miguel when he was left off the wrestling tournament roster.

His interest in ninja had already been planted, as the adult American Ninja Warrior show had piqued his interest. He was attending sessions at Ultimate Ninjas in Naperville to try it during the wrestling off-season.

“That same weekend we missed the wrestling tournament, there was a ninja competition in Hanover Park, so as a consolation prize we said we could try this tournament,” said Miguel's mother, Anna Serrato.

Miguel competed and qualified to go to a regional tournament. That was all he needed to convince him of something he maybe had known all along. He liked ninja training better than wrestling, and he was going to devote all of his time to that now.

It wasn't long before his coaches in Naperville informed him of the TV show and its application process, so Miguel and his family decided to try for it.

“Our ninja gym has pros on the adult show, and they posted the note that the kids show was coming up and how to apply for it,” Anna said. “We had to fill out an 100-page questionnaire and submit videos and interviews and photos.”

But Miguel was chosen, one of 192 kids out of some 10,000 applicants. That's the sort of thing that lands you a “Day” proclamation as a youngster in Geneva.

Miguel, who is celebrating his 10th birthday on Sunday, March 10, went with his family and a lot friends and supporters to tape his part of the show in Los Angeles last July.

“My favorite part of the obstacle course is the Wing Nut part,” Miguel said. On the Wing Nut, he has to hold onto hanging bars and swing back and forth to grab other bars.

We don't know how Miguel fared on the show, and he's not allowed to say, but his family is pretty enthusiastic about the 6 p.m. March 30 show — if that is any hint.

When his friends at school ask how he did, he has a pretty straightforward answer. “You will have to tune in and see.”

Suddenly, they're gone:

Even when you know some type of demolition is coming, it is always strange to see a building that was part of the landscape for decades suddenly gone.

It happened when the Fox Valley retail strip on the west side of St. Charles was leveled to make way for the new police headquarters, and it has happened again with the removal of the 1960s-type office building at Richards and State streets in Geneva to make way for the Cetron Place building project in that region. The developer has actually changed that project name to Hamilton Place, but the former building is gone, nonetheless.

To me, that building was always the home of the local WGSB radio station, even though it had been gone for decades. I didn't work there, but was interviewed or took part in interviews there on a few occasions when Howard Miller owned the station.

I was never in that building for any other reason than to chat with my friends Brian Henry or the late Les Hodge over the airwaves about the local high school sports scene.

New cookie delivers:

Girl Scouts with a table of cookies near Riley's Drugs in Geneva held signs up for those in passing cars to see that the popular treats were on sale for $5 a box.

Of course, we had to stop. The next time I fail to buy Girl Scout Cookies during the selling season will be the first.

I may have speculated a few months ago that the new cookie this year, “S-Mores,” had the potential to quickly become my favorite, knocking Tag-Alongs and Do-Si-Dos off the top of my chart.

They did. This chocolate and marshmallow cookie easily does the trick for satisfying my sweet tooth.

As you read this item, however, I am off the cookie habit for several weeks. Yes, I am back to giving up cookies and candy during Lent, just like any adult with a 6-year-old's habits might do.

But the S-Mores were attacked with a vengeance in the days leading up to the significant Lenten sacrifice.

Wally, Beaver pop up:

In my Daily Herald work or for my regular full-time job covering the financial services and payments industries, I have to research plenty of different topics on the web.

But during those searches, a few other really “important” things can pop up.

Such was the case when I found that Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers are scheduled to appear on Saturday, Aug. 17, at the all-night flea market in Wheaton.

Those of a certain age know I am talking about Wally and Beaver Cleaver, the brothers who endured hundreds of escapades on “Leave it to Beaver” from 1957 through 1963.

My DVR has about 160 episodes of this sitcom recorded, and I still get a kick out of seeing the trouble Beaver stumbles into and how he tries to weasel out of it.

Mostly, this was a TV show about parenting with, admittedly, some tough-to-reach ideals. But the premise was wholesome and clean, and it certainly makes you long for a time when having a moral compass meant something to a young kid and his family.

dheun@sbcglobal.net