Gen Hoe Restaurant Review

Gen Hoe is an iconic restaurant in Geneva that specializes in authentic Chinese food. This year Gen Hoe celebrates its 40th anniversary. How has it been successful for 40 years? It all starts with lifetime owners, Tony and Jenny Lee.

Anyone that comes into the restaurant will surely recognize Mrs. Lee. She has been serving customers from the beginning when Gen Hoe was a takeout only shop across the street from their current restaurant. Today she can be seen talking to customers in the dining room or helping them with their takeout orders.

Mr. Lee continues to be the head cook enjoying every minute in the kitchen preparing his customers’ favorite dishes. He prides himself on cooking authentic Chinese cuisine with the freshest ingredients.

Gen Hoe and Mr. and Mrs. Lee have many loyal customers that turn into friends. Recently they held an anniversary party to celebrate their forty years in business.
The dining room was overflowing with happy guests as they were treated to some of Gen Hoe’s most popular dishes. There were trays of Sweet and Sour Chicken, Egg
Foo Yung, Chicken Fried Rice and everyone’s favorite, Egg Rolls. Other favorites served were Lemon Chicken, Gen Hoe Delight and Crab Rangoons. The buffet provided a chance to find a new favorite.

You can enjoy Gen Hoe’s hospitality too: inside or out. If you are dining in you will be treated to dinner in abeautiful dining room with great service. The waiters have all been at Gen Hoe for years. They can suggest a dish or drink that would compliment your meal. The service is wonderful and the portions are generous. Gen Hoe also offers takeout service with the same food quality as served in the dining room. And it is quick!

Dawn Vogelsberg is married to a lifelong Gen Hoe fan and former employee and is raising three children that either work at Gen Hoe or hope to.

This article first appeared in the January 2010 issue of eGeneva Magazine.

Geneva Giving

Geneva is fortunate to have so many activities to choose from during the holiday season. There
are outings and celebrations held throughout the city during the months of November and December that many of us participated in. There is no doubt about it; we are a city steeped in holiday traditions.

I tried to determine which one activity would most aptly define Geneva. Then it occurred to me that it wasn’t an activity at all but the charitable goodness of our residents.  Giving is all around us. While oftentimes it seems that everyone is soliciting money and donations this time of
year, Geneva still seems to be willing to rally around people in need. When as a community we put others before ourselves, we are working towards making Geneva a more beautiful place to live.

So please give yourself a pat on the back for the extra Christmas presents you bought just so your children could give them to charity, to all the ones and fives you slid into the kettles and to all the checks you wrote to your favorite charities. Geneva is truly a giving community.

P.S. How serendipitous is it that one of the most inflectional people in the creation of Geneva was Charity Herrington!

This article first appeared in the January 2010 issue of eGeneva Magazine.

Geneva An Appealing Place for Filmmakers

If the nine letter HOLLYWOOD sign represents a place where magic is possible and dreams can come true, Geneva’s six letters may represent the same message in a more quaint way especially for filmmakers.

Geneva has always been a destination spot for shopping, dining and festivals. Interestingly, it seems that it is also a desired location for filmmaking. In 1974 the Geneva Motel was used in the Oscar winning, Harry & Tonto and again used in the 2001 movie, Novocaine. Then in 2002, The Road to Perdition was filmed downtown at the Hotel Geneva allowing many Genevans to be part of the excitement and watch the filming on State Street.

Today, Geneva continues to draw interest from filmmakers. Recently Director Jonathan Cohon brought his cast and crew to the courthouse steps to film a scene for “Debt of the Heart” starring Joe Farina. The premise “Geneva … also a desired location for filmmaking.”

of “Debt of the Heart” is that Joe returns to the small town of his childhood to find that the ghosts of his past have been replaced by the cries of his present. It is great that they used our own courthouse for one of the scenes.

Coming this spring, Geneva can look forward to its first starring role in the movie Bad Batch. It is being filmed right here in Geneva!

Geneva resident and Location Manager of Bad Batch Vic Portincaso said, “Frank Merle, along with co-producers Chad Meyer and Matthew Gill, have set their sights on the many wonderfully varied locales offered around Geneva while scouting potential places to set up
production on their forthcoming horror/comedy Bad Batch.” The movie will be about a small town overrun by drug-induced zombies.

When asked why filmmakers are looking to Geneva to film, Portincaso told me that the Geneva Film Festival has increased interest in filming in Geneva.

“The key to getting filmmakers to film in your area is for them to have knowledge of the area and photographs of the backdrops available. Another key is for them to understand what will be required for them to film in the area. Most of the filmmakers that get their work accepted by the festival will attend the festival. Film professionals such as producers and distributors will be attracted to the festival by the quality of films being shown. By being here for the film festival, they can see first hand what is available. This allows Geneva to be at the front of their thoughts when they are looking for locations.”

Do we have more films in our future? According to Events Coordinator Susie Sperber of the Geneva Film Festival, “The festival has been expanded to four days to accommodate a larger number of film screenings and workshops. This will draw more independent filmmakers to the area for a longer period of time. The beauty and charm of Geneva will do the rest.”

It always does!

This article first appeared in the November 2009 issue of eGeneva Magazine.

Above & Beyond

When I first met Renee Wood, we were sitting in small chairs in our first borns’ kindergarten class.

We’ve stayed in touch; and this summer while discussing drum sets, we talked about our kids and husbands and how to balance our hectic lives. That same week while at the dentist, I saw an article about Renee in Good Housekeeping Magazine. During our entire conversation she never mentioned it! Not a word! That is Renee Wood–funny, warm, modest and beautiful, inside and out.

Not only has Renee been featured in Good Housekeeping Magazine, but she’s been a guest on “Oprah” as an incredible example of a woman achieving her dreams; and she was chosen as one of the 20 most promising women business owners by the Make Mine a Million $ Business program. The thing I love about Renee is that you would never know the powerful woman that she is.

Renee was working as a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) social worker where she assisted families in dealing with the loss or pending loss of a child when she and her husband moved to Geneva. While caring for her four daughters, in her “spare” time, she began combining the experience of working as a NICU social worker and her business skills to start, The Comfort Company, Gift of Hope for Healing Hearts.
She designed her first piece of memorial jewelry after the unexpected death of her sister-in-law’s father. Unable to find a gift that expressed her feelings, Renee sketched a teardrop-shaped pendant. She then had the pendant manufactured and penned a verse to go along with it. The Comfort Company was off and running.

When I asked Renee how she balances a husband, four kids and her own business, in typical Renee fashion she said, “Balance is overrated and just a boring buzzword of our time. I think a more worthy goal—and one much more attainable—is simply to try to control the chaos.”

From “Oprah” to Good Housekeeping, you never know where this wonderful Geneva woman will turn up, but one thing is for sure–she won’t be the one to tell you!

This article first appeared in the October 2008 issue of eGeneva Magazine.

Help for Homeowners

With home foreclosures in the Tri-Cities increasing rapidly, the Kane County Board has launched “Help for Homeowners” to assist area residents. The goal of this program is to ensure that residents are aware of the many services available to assist them during these difficult times.

Today’s touchy economic conditions are having an impact on many residents. Kane County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay said, “Many families are finding it difficult to make ends meet, and some are even facing the prospect of home foreclosure. This reality is catastrophic not only for those individual homeowners but our entire community, and we all need to work together to stop the trend.”

The Help for Homeowners Website provides an overview of the many resources available to Kane County homeowners, from emergency repair assistance and property tax exemptions to property tax freeze options and foreclosure prevention counseling.

In the next few months, free homeowner clinics will be held around the county to offer more detailed information. A clinic is scheduled on September 6 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Kane County Government Center. Call 630-906-9400 to reserve a spot or click here for more information.

This article first appeared in the August 2008 issue of eGeneva Magazine.

Concours d’Elegance

August 24, 2008
10:00 am	to	5:00 pm

What happens when you bring the most elegant automobiles in the world to historical Geneva, Illinois? You have a magical weekend for car enthusiasts and local residents called the Geneva Concours d’Elegance.

The Concours d’Elegance showcases the heritage, artistic value and engineering significance of the automobile with a premier car show held Sunday, August 24. The event is free and open to the public beginning at 10 a.m. It will be held on Third Street from Campbell to South Street. Attendees will see some of the most beautiful cars in the world.

Steeped in beauty and reverence for local history, Geneva is a natural host to this fascinating event. One exciting aspect of that history will be shared during the Concours weekend by Jeff Mahl. Mahl’s great-grandfather, George Schuster, won the Great Race 100 years ago. He drove his Thomas Flyer through Geneva en route from New York to Paris for the Great Race in 1908. Mahl will be on hand during the weekend giving presentations of his great-grandfather’s experiences driving the Thomas Flyer during the Great Race.

While the mission of the Geneva Concours d’ Elegance is to produce the best classic and exotic race-automobile event, it is also to support a worthwhile cause. This year’s proceeds from the weekend’s events will benefit the American Diabetes Association.

This article first appeared in the August 2008 issue of eGeneva Magazine.

Meet Kane County Elementary Teacher of the Year: Dr. Ann Ramsey

For 14 years, Dr. Ann Ramsey has been a model educator and mentor. With her focus on students’ lives both inside and outside the classroom, dedication to lifelong learning and emphasis on involving parents in their children’s education, Dr. Ramsey has served as a standout teacher whom the community of Geneva will never forget.

Therefore, it came as no surprise that Dr. Ramsey, who teaches at Harrison Street School, was named Elementary Teacher of the Year at the 2008 Kane County Educator of the Year Awards.

People from all aspects of her life wrote hundreds of letters in support of Dr. Ramsey. Most are written by her students, praising her encouraging nature, her aim to help others in the community and, above all, her interest in her students as individuals. Many students valued how Dr. Ramsey attended their recitals, plays and activities long after they grew out of her classroom. They also frequently mentioned the yearly Christmas reunion parties she holds at her home for all of her former students.

“Last year, she held eight parties in about two weeks,” wrote former student Emily Ritchie in her letter. “This shows Dr. Ramsey’s dedication to her students.”

Students also still remembered clever tricks and rhymes that helped teach a math concept or WordMasters definition. But one of the most common themes from the students’ letters was that she really cares about her students and teaches them to be themselves and embrace their gifts. As former student Cassie Kuyawa said in her letter, “With Mrs. Ramsey in my life, I believe anything in my life is possible.”

Dr. Ramsey shapes her lessons around her personal educational philosophy, which focuses on developing her students into confident, self-directed and enthusiastic members of society who contribute to their community. Her students sense this every day in the classroom and take the feeling with them into their adulthood.

Dr. Ramsey is a delightful person, and her charisma and love of other people are contagious. The sentiments expressed by students and parents are proof positive that Dr. Ramsey has lived her life in a way that has touched many lives in Geneva.

This article first appeared in the July 2008 issue of eGeneva Magazine.