Good News Sunday: Geneva family turns nightly dinners into themed occasion

This is Good News Sunday, a compilation of some of the more upbeat and inspiring stories published by the Daily Herald during the previous week:

Twenty-one days. Twenty-one themed dinners. Twenty-one sets of coordinating costumes, props and activities.

Stuck at home during the coronavirus pandemic, the McCall family of Geneva has made the most of its time together by dressing up as a different cast of characters every night, including those from "The Breakfast Club" and "Scooby-Doo" as well as superheroes and iconic rockers.

Then, after capturing their ensembles in a family photo, they sit down to a carefully planned meal based on their chosen theme.

Hair dye, band T-shirts and heavy eyeliner were integral in the McCall family's punk-themed dinner one night this month.

The elaborate dinners began March 30 when 6-year-old Lyla asked if she could wear her fancy white dress to dinner. Already in the midst of preparing an Italian meal, Lyla's mom, Lindsey, dug out her mother's old wedding gown while the rest of the family got dressed up for a mock Italian wedding reception, complete with an after-dinner dance party.

The next morning, Lyla and her 4-year-old brother, Sidney, asked what their dinner plans would entail. So the McCalls brought out their animal prints and built their night around watching the buzzworthy Netflix documentary "Tiger King."

For the full story, click here.

Arlington Heights 'Ninja' ready for prime time

Spider Walls and Flying Squirrels might sound like something out of a childhood nightmare, but it's just another day on the course for Owen Pham.

The 10-year-old from Arlington Heights not only challenges those obstacles, but he also takes on a Crazy Cliffhanger and Little Dipper as part of his "ninja" training.

You can see Owen put his skills on display when he appears on an episode of "American Ninja Warrior Junior" on the Universal Kids network at 5 p.m. May 1.

"I thought I'd try it out and I was pretty good at it," said Owen, who attends Olive-Mary Stitt Elementary School. "My mom signed me up for a competition in Wisconsin and I finished first. That's how I got into Ninja."

For the full story, click here.

Costanza haircut raises $15K for a food pantry

A 33-year-old financial adviser has raised more than $15,000 to support the Batavia Interfaith Food Pantry during the coronavirus pandemic - and he has the hairstyle of "Seinfeld" character George Costanza to show for it.

Having sported the same professional do for the past decade, Nick Ninedorf noticed his full head of hair was getting a little shaggy.

Rather than ask his wife, Karly, to give him a trim, the Campton Hills resident saw an opportunity to simultaneously do something charitable and make people smile.

He launched a Facebook fundraiser seeking donations In turn, he pledged to let his wife cut his hair live on Facebook.

The catch was this: The amount of money raised would determined how his hair would be styled.

Et voila, a chrome dome.

For the full story, click here.

Workshop sends cards, letters to military

The cards and letters are coming in.

After a plea went out last month from a Wheaton-based organization for families staying at home to write letters to the military, the idea is gaining traction. Last week, organization officials estimated they had received nearly 200 letters so far, and they are accepting letters until May 16.

American Legion members Carl Voda and Matt Porter, DoodleBug Workshop Executive Director Sarah Starke and her son Alex collect letters for the military at DoodleBug Workshop in Wheaton.

For the full story, click here.

Blood drive a chance to do 'something good'

Mike Aukerman, CEO of DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen, started making plans for a blood drive at his Vernon Hills business back in December.

At the time, he just wanted to do something "nice and good" for the community. But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tuesday's drive turned out to be far more crucial than Aukerman could have imagined.

Forty-four donors gave blood, and DreamMaker employees were ready to step in for no-shows. Each donor received bottles of hand sanitizer, bottled water and various coupons, including from the event co-sponsor, Sport Clips Haircuts of Libertyville.

"What I get out of this is knowing I did something good," he said. "Helping some people that I will never know in my life, that doesn't matter if I know them, just the idea doing something nice and helping people."

For the full story, click here.

• Good News Sunday will run each weekend. Visit dailyherald.com/newsletters to sign up for our Good News Sunday newsletter.