New Batavia VFW commander planning family-friendly events

If Batavia VFW Post 1197 members arrange the type of family activities they are discussing, it won't be long before local parents are noticing their kids can have a lot of fun at the VFW.

Long viewed as places shrouded in some secrecy and for veterans to get together and have a few drinks, VFW Posts have actually been much more than that.

But Jay Davis, the commander-elect of the Batavia VFW, is laser-focused on making sure the post can change its public perception and prove itself to be a fun place for families.

"We have always felt the VFW needs the community to thrive and survive," said Davis, an Army and Persian Gulf veteran who has been a VFW member for 27 years, the last five with Batavia. "We get our members from the community."

To that end, Davis said the post is planning a series of family activities open to the general public. It's a strategy that can help families participate in affordable, fun events, while also helping the post spread its message and increase donations and membership.

The post, located at 645 S. River Street (Route 25), has its most important weekend coming up, as it will host a Memorial Day service at 10 a.m. Monday, May 27.

In the two days leading up to that, a team of 33 volunteers will be giving away the small flowers of the Buddy Poppy campaign while seeking donations for the VFW at Woodman's market in North Aurora on May 25 and 26.

That's the vital, and routine, stuff that the VFW engages in.

But the Batavia VFW has future plans, include a day in which the Batavia Fire Department would host families so that young boys and girls can see the trucks and try on firefighter gear.

Another idea is for "Movies on the Lawn" on a monthly basis.

"Our property is pretty massive," Davis said of the area behind the post building. "We could have people come down and watch G-rated movies and have popcorn and pop."

Davis is already working on a camping event at the VFW before Labor Day, offering what he calls "low-impact camping" in which families that want their kids to camp out without going far away or deep into the woods, could do so on the VFW property.

"We'd have a fire pit out there and porta-potties, and some of the vets on the site to help keep it safe," Davis said.

Other ideas being considered include bringing back some type of community meal, such as an affordable spaghetti dinner, or planned bike rides from the Batavia VFW Post to the one in Montgomery.

Davis also said he has been in touch with B & G Brewing of St. Charles to conduct a Beer Brewing 101 event for young adults in the community who are interested in learning about craft beers.

"These are all ideas that get you away from the classic picture of what people think is going on at the VFW," Davis said. "Our meetings are closed, but we want the other things to be open activities that are fun family events."

In Paul's memory:

State Sen. Don DeWitte sure did a nice thing in memory of the late Paul Bergeson, a longtime instructor and athletic director at St. Charles High School who passed away in December of 2018.

DeWitte informed the Bergeson family that he wanted to pass a Senate resolution honoring Paul - and got it completed as Senate Resolution 2257.

"What a classy move by a classy guy," said Paul's son, Dave Bergeson.

DeWitte, the former mayor of St. Charles, has been serving in Springfield as a Republican for the 33rd District since September of 2018.

Chaos to carpentry:

Ty Pennington has been on TV enough to almost make you think that carpentry is something we all could master.

After all, how many homes has this guy turned into something special as part of the various programs he has been on?

He'll be coming to the Barnes and Noble store at the Geneva Commons at 4 p.m. Saturday, May 18, to talk about his book titled "Life to the Extreme: How a Chaotic Kid Became America's Favorite Carpenter."

While we like to see our local independent bookstores do well in each of the Tri-Cities, we also don't mind seeing a franchise like Barnes and Noble continue to serve customers.

Having these types of popular celebrities stop by to sign books is always a nice feature at a bookstore.

Carry on the history:

Though the Arbizzani family wasn't shouting from the rooftops that it was looking to sell its Flagstone and Little Owl restaurant/bar operations in downtown Geneva, you got the sense something was up.

After all, Flagstone was closed for a short period of time for a refurbishing, and Little Owl has undergone a few changes as well.

Now the word is spreading that these locations are on the market.

There's certainly no problem with name recognition if someone were to buy these Geneva landmarks and carry on with the long history.

And it's quite a history. The Arbizzani family has operated it since 1947, taking it over from Tony and Victor Lencioni.

The Little Owl hasn't always been at 101 W. State St. It started in 1920 at 117 W. State and six years later moved to 9 S. First St. in a frame building next to the fire station.

Lencioni moved the restaurant to its current spot in the Wrate Building in 1935.

There is a difference:

In writing about clinical psychologist Pete Temple of Geneva last week, I made the mistake of calling him a psychiatrist. So apparently, I had no idea what the difference is. So that was my bad.

Those in that line of work and Temple himself, of course, knew right away that I had misfired on that one.

Simply put, and to my understanding now, a psychiatrist is able to prescribe medications to a patient. A psychologist is not able to.

There are probably some other differences, but that's the easiest one for me to digest.

dheun@sbcglobal.net