Home Page | Rotary club of Sycamore

Oak Crest Satellite Club Meeting
Oak Crest Community Center

Oct 25, 2018 11:45 AM
Annual Pancake Breakfast
St. Mary's Memorial Hall

Oct 27, 2018
7:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Oak Crest Satellite Club Meeting
Oak Crest Retirement Center

Nov 08, 2018
11:45 AM – 1:00 PM
Makeup Meeting
Nov 21, 2018
11:45 AM – 1:00 PM

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Speaker: Stephanie Severing

Posted by Eric Jones on Oct 17, 2018

We were joined by Stephanie Severing, Community Programs Coordinator for the Family Service Agency (FSA). The Ms. Severing reviewed the structure of the FSA and their range of services. They started a program for seniors that is modeled on the Big Brother/Big Sister model. They have severed their affiliation with the Big Brother/Big Sister organization due to costs but continue similar programming for kids, and are looking to relocate to the vacant bank property opposite Jewel on route 23.

Pancake Breakfast Returns for 2018

Posted by Eric Jones on Oct 11, 2018

The Rotary Club of Sycamore, IL is hosting its annual pancake breakfast again this year during Pumpkin Festival Weekend. This year's event features a brand new venue, the St. Mary's Memorial Hall. Join local Rotarians as we raise funds to support our local literacy projects, clean water projects, disaster relief projects, and much more.

Our new location should provide better parking and more space for families to eat together, so bring your kids and friends and join us for a tasty start to your Saturday. Tickets are $5 at the door or available from your neighborhood Rotarian and all proceeds go to support local projects.

Breakfast includes all-you-can-eat pancakes, sausages, coffee, orange juice, milk, and apple sauce.

Guest Speaker: Linda Klein Means

Posted by Eric Jones on Oct 10, 2018

Linda Klein Means was born and raised in DeKalb County. In high school, she decided that she wanted to be a journalist, even though the high school didn't have its own newspaper. This passion followed her to NIU where she became a Northern Star feature writer, and eventually landing her a job with the Chicago Tribune. After marrying her husband, a Rotarian and international business mean, her travels took her around the world to destinations that included Venezuela, Brazil and France, a journey that she writes about in her new book, "Passport to the World: Looking Back While Moving On."

Guest Speaker: Mayor Curt Lang

Posted by Eric Jones on Sep 19, 2018

"Greatness is made every day by those who live here," says Sycamore Rotarian and Mayor of the City of Sycamore, Curt Lang. During Wednesday's meeting, the Mayor shared with us the past, present, and future as he sees it for the City of Sycamore.

Of particular importance to the Mayor was that any future development in the city should be intentional. "You can’t have growth without a plan." Property taxes are a major concern and building up the City's industry will reduce that burden. To that end, Mayor Lang also shared business statistics from the DCEDC showing excellent growth for our local industries. Additional slides were dedicated to education, the park district, and public works, with an emphasis on taking pride in our history and the historic aspects of our existing buildings.

This year the City Council is expected to hold 24 meetings, and with a new initiative, each of the 23 local faith groups will take turns providing invocations before city council meetings.

Guest Speaker: Joe Ryan

Posted by Eric Jones on Sep 12, 2018

Joe Ryan, head coach of the Sycamore High School Spartan football team, shared his story and some facts about the team with our group. Joe also brought four players from the team along with him. Joe has coached for 31 years, and had great mentors to show him the way including his brother who was a Hall of Fame coach. He is also helped by great assistants.

Joe has been at Sycamore for 15 years, coaching the football team for all of those. Of the four different places he’s coached, Joe remarks that he likes Sycamore the best. As of our meeting, all of the Sycamore teams are 3-0 for the season and have the most playoff points in the state. The team faces its biggest “challenge” of the year in the First National Challenge Game this Friday against DeKalb. The team has failed to post a win in that game for the last four years.

Student of the Month: September 2018

Posted by Eric Jones

The new school year has kicked off and with it the resumption of the Student of the Month program. The chosen student for the month of September is Griffin Nelson. Mr. Nelson is ranked 4th in his class with a weighted GPA of 4.483 and an SAT score of 1450. Aside from excelling in the classroom, Griffin also volunteers his time with a plethora of local organizations and extra curricular opportunities included Feed My Starving Children, Track & Field, Football, Basketball, Zumba for a Cause, Business Leadership Academy and others. A quote that always inspired him was from Bruce Lee, "The most dangerous person is the one who listens, thinks, and observes."

Griffin was joined at the meeting by his parents. Of them, he remarked that his household provided him the opportunities to explore, experience and learn. For his future plans, Griffin plans to pursue aerospace or mechanical engineering and would eventually like to travel, having already visited 10 countries and half the US, experiencing different cultures. He believes that immersing yourself in other cultures is one of the best ways to learn. He also hopes to use his degree to be a part of the innovation of the future.

Griffin decided to donate his $100 from the Sycamore Rotary Club to Opportunity House.