The Sycamore Rotary Club will again be providing free dictionaries to all 3rd grade students in our local schools; they will be distributed on Wednesday, October 14th, immediately following the Rotary Club meeting.

 

The Dictionary Project works with Rotary and a number of other organizations to provide dictionaries to students.  Children in 3rd grade are the traditional recipients; they are at an age when they're starting to learn and consider the meanings of words, and giving them access to a dictionary encourages that process.

 

And while many children don't have books of their own, due to tight family finances or the presence of electronic media, having a book to call their own encourages their overall interest in reading.

 

 

Nancy Teichmiller faced a very different life while visiting Argentina this summer, as part of a teacher exchange program; she found herself learning the country's customs and way of life...while getting celebrity treatment from nearly everyone she encountered.

 

After Sycamore High School hosted an Argentinian teacher earlier this year, Teichmiller was chosen to reciprocate by visiting a host school in their country.  She says she had to get used to a very different atmosphere in these schools; students of all ages go to the same building (half-days, split by age groups), there are no clocks or school bells, teachers rather than students move from class to class, and students address teachers by their first names.

 

Teichmiller had to get used to different foods, and different meal times; Argentinians routinely have dinner at 9 p.m. or later, and events such as Rotary meetings often begin at 9:30 p.m. or later.  And while the locals were proud of their customary dishes, they were fascinated by her tastes...and many believe that all Americans eat huge meals, especially at breakfast time.

 

She says students there get more intensive instruction in English, and often take private lessons outside of school time.  And she visited several schools during her stay -- receiving VIP treatment at all times, and becoming a student and staff favorite at her home school.

 

 

There's hardly anyone in Sycamore who doesn't know Jesus Romero -- not only as a restauranteur, but as a consistent supporter of the town's many charities.

 

Romero has been selected as the October Citizen of the Month by the Sycamore Rotary Club; he is being recognized for his contributions to a variety of local not-for-profit agencies, supported by the annual Cinco de Mayo celebration sponsored by his Taxco Restaurant.

 

Romero opened the restaurant after emigrating to the United States from his native Mexico; he first lived in Chicago, but after a couple of trips to Sycamore with family realized that this was the type of town he really wanted to live in...and build a business in.  Once established, he founded a local Cinco de Mayo celebration; each year, one or more organizations are chosen to receive the proceeds to further their goals.

 

Jesus himself is serving or has served on a number of local boards, committees and charitable organizations, and continues to give back to the Sycamore community he chose to make his home.

 

In recognition of his efforts, the Sycamore Rotary Club is providing $100 for donation to the charity of his choice.

 

 

The DeKalb Rotary Club is inviting all area Rotarians, and anyone interested in Rotary, to a Happy Hour at Fatty's Pub and Grille.

 

It will be on Friday, November 13th from 4:30 to 6:30 in Fatty's back room; all are welcome to attend for an informal gathering of Rotarians.

 

 

The Rotary Board has instituted a new policy concerning member e-mails, in order to get around a problem with company servers blocking messages.

 

Recently, our Rotarians were asked to let us know if they had had trouble receiving the electronic version of The Spoke; after a complaint, and analysis of messages sent via the website, we discovered that some Rotarians had their messages blocked by company servers.

 

Each of these Rotarians had given us a work-related address; company servers often treat mass e-mailings as spam, and filter them out -- thus, The Spoke kept getting rejected.  We solved the problem by having the affected members give us a personal address to send their e-mails to, instead of a business address.

 

So henceforth, new members will be asked to provide a personal e-mail account for us to use.  Current members who are having no problems receiving The Spoke may keep their current address, regardless of its origin; but if you should change your e-mail address for some reason, please be sure to give us a personal account to replace it with, so that your receipt of The Spoke and other Rotary Club mailings may continue uninterrupted.

 

Members of our various monthly program committees are reminded that this responsibility has been shifted; this year, all Finemaster presentations are under the auspices of a dedicated committee, which is now solely responsible for conducting these segments at each Rotary meeting.

 

President Russell Bishop created the standing Fines committee in an effort to keep the times and type of questioning consistent; this also frees up the monthly committees to focus their efforts on other areas.

 

 

The Sycamore Rotary Club will hold a Make-Up Session on Wednesday, November 25th -- the day before Thanksgiving.

 

Attendance is optional, and there will be no formal business conducted; each Rotarian in attendance will receive a make-up credit, to be used at any time throughout the year.