Good News Sunday: Wheaton’s new electric bike shop is on a roll

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

A husband and wife took a long road trip — some 200 miles from Appleton, Wisconsin, — to buy an electric bike from a new shop in downtown Wheaton.

Other out-of-town customers are willing to make the trek from New Lenox and Joliet.

Their enthusiasm for e-bikes has made the Pedego store exactly what it was intended to be: a destination breathing new life into the south side of the downtown.

The e-bike craze lured Jeff Alvis out of retirement from a career in management consulting. He shifted gears and opened the shop — the only Pedego dealer in the Western suburbs — after sensing a business opportunity last year when a friend brought him up to speed on the hot market for electric bikes.

“We’ve had a lot of couples, either the man or the woman is a good bike rider and the other one doesn’t happen to be, but they want to ride together,” he said.

Alvis discovered how much fun it is running a store with his wife, Andie, and their business partners, Bill and Karen Budicin, a couple from Lisle.

For the full story, click here.

St. Theresa students entertain seniors at St. Joseph’s in Palatine

The sixth-grade class from St. Theresa School in Palatine recently made the trek to nearby St. Joseph’s Home for the Elderly to deliver entertainment and gift bags to its residents.

The cheerful group of 40 students was supported with honks from passing cars and trucks on the walk down Northwest Highway to the home.

Once there, they were greeted by about 25 eager residents, who were seated along the sidewalk of the facility’s cul-de-sac.

Students shared jokes, performed Shakespeare and read an original story: “The Chicken Who Couldn’t Cross the Road,” written by sixth-grader Megan Oleksak.

The student trip to St. Joseph’s Home for the Elderly is a more than 10-year tradition that had to be revised this year because of COVID-19 after being canceled a year ago, according St. Theresa’s Terri Kolbus.

For the full story, click here.

Batavia woman honored for helping seniors book vaccine appointments

In the throes of the pandemic, senior citizens throughout the Batavia region found the almost “Hunger Games”-like battle to book a COVID-19 vaccination appointment to be not only frustrating, but downright daunting.

Enter Batavia mom Erin Cluts.

In January, Cluts began hunting down and booking vaccine appointments for Batavia-area seniors, many of whom couldn’t navigate the labyrinthine online system. To date, Cluts has helped an estimated 100 or more seniors secure vaccine appointments.

In honor of her devotion, the Batavia Park District’s Batavia Senior Citizens Club and Mayor Jeffery Schielke proclaimed May 19 Erin Cluts Day and presented her with a framed copy of the official proclamation.

“It is about celebrating our community and what we do in difficult times,” Cluts said. “It’s not about me, it’s about the community and what we do when we come together.”

For the full story, click here.

Farmers markets opening for the season

If you wanted to, you could visit a farmers market every day of the week.

That’s what we learned while compiling a list of suburban farmers markets.

Several of the markets are already open. Some open this weekend; and some open next week or later.

You can find more than just fresh fruits and veggies at most of these markets. Many of them include locally-produced products such as soaps, vinegars and oils, honey, baked goods and even craft items such as jewelry and home decor.

Check out our list, which published Thursday, May 20, in the Neighbor section. There was also a special pullout section on farmers markets in the Wednesday, May 26, paper.

For the full story, click here.

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