This is it! Now it’s time to punt and pivot again while messages file in about this puzzling pandemic — and we’re mindful of the words to a song made popular by Kenny Loggins back in 1979.
“This is it!” first became music to our ears the year our first-born child arrived 10-and-a-half weeks prematurely. Many times the words by Loggins and Michael McDonald to the soft rock sounds inspired courage to do what needed to be done when life is so precious. Finding the song playing online this past year was a great discovery. By contrast, the other song that kept my spirits high during our daughter’s first holiday season nearly 42 years ago was “The Best Gift” by Barbra Streisand. And so it goes.
This is it! August was the month back in 2001 when we were editing stories, assembling pages and placing photos for the first 8-page issue of this publication that was launched during the Jaycees Last Fling on Labor Day Weekend.
This is it! Fondly known as “Naperville’s original pet store,” Dog Patch opened in 1972, and is now headed to close its doors by the end of the month. Thanks to Craig and Greg, two of our dogs enjoyed many visits to Dog Patch.
August also has been the month when many of our front page covers through the years have featured local dogs with reminders that Dog Days, the traditional 40 days and 40 nights of hot, humid weather are about to end on August 11. From the patios at Mesón Sabika and Quigley’s Irish Pub to Exchange Club Memories Fountain in Fredenhagen Park to a baseball game at the Lisle-Benedictine University Sports Complex to disc dog competitions at Nike Park, our cover has featured steamin’ hot dogs in the sunshine in more ways than one.
Whether in need of tree care for a 30-year-old river birch or a coffee break with friends, Naperville enterprises appreciate when you shop and dine locally.
Those big mounds of broken bricks used to be the school and administration buildings at Little Friends, Inc., on Wright Street.
Naperville’s second Costco, located on E. Ogden, is slated to open Thurs., Aug. 19.
Let your state legislators in Springfield know the value of open waterways In Illinois. As the west branch winds through Naperville, the mighty DuPage River provides great recreation via fishing, canoeing, kayaking and tubing. Be safe. Be free. Enjoy outdoors.
Can you hear those carillon bells? Not likely. While Moser Tower is undergoing rehabilitation, its visitor center is closed, tours are canceled and bells will be quiet. Repairs to Naperville’s iconic bell tower along the Riverwalk and the Eagle Street walkway across the quarry aim to be completed this fall with a cost of nearly $2.1 million. Stay tuned!
While “This is it!” was on our mind, we got a chuckle out of a quote waiting in our inbox by F. Scott Fitzgerald with the heading “Bureaucracy 101.” Though the quote is from “The Crack-Up,” a collection of essays written by the American author in 1936, more and more we recognize that humor is a funny thing and we appreciate it now more than ever.
“No grand idea was ever born in a conference, but a lot of foolish ideas have died there,” wrote Fitzgerald.
Think about it.
How did we become Naperville? Individuals such as Captain Joe Naper and his family came to the banks of the DuPage River in 1831, enjoyed what they found, imagined roads, farms and commerce and started it all.
In time, downtown developed with its quaint Main Street. For the city’s 100th birthday in 1931, the community built Centennial Beach in one of its quarries along the DuPage River. In 1969, volunteers created Naper Settlement, followed in 1981 by the Riverwalk. In 1995, the idea for a bustling outdoor art scene known as Century Walk began.
Simply put, a small Naperville Visitors Bureau that promoted local hotels and restaurants grew into the Naperville Convention and Visitors Bureau, adding the Naperville Development Partnership in 1996.
Since June 21, we’ve observed remarkable resilience as residents pulled together in the aftermath of the tornado that ravaged a 5-block area of our city on Father’s Day. That all-American can-do spirit started when this community was first settled 190 years ago. Folks continually volunteer and generously support ways to fulfill unmet needs that make a difference.
Doggone it!. This is it. Be part of it. Pay attention. Be safe.
Thanks for reading.
– Stephanie Penick, PN Publisher
