January is Rotary Awareness Month, and Sycamore's own District Governor Steve Kuhn took time to remind us about Rotary's connection to its roots -- something that is passed along to all Rotarians from the beginning of their membership, as a reminder of what this organization is all about.
DG Steve has been taking the Club's copy of the official portrait of Rotary International founder Paul Harris with him to various Rotary events in District 6420. Harris is an icon to those in Rotary, not just because he originally conceived of the club...but because he infused it with his own desire to help his community, and to build friendship and goodwill among others.
Impressed by the informality of close-knit business colleagues away from the workplace, he envisioned a club where members would treat each other as equals, and use their combined skills to benefit the public. Joining three others at the founding meeting on February 23, 1905 in Chicago, they set out to bring together other members from different professions...rotating their weekly meetings among their various offices (inspiring the name Rotary).
From this humble beginning, Rotary has grown to encompass the globe; it has over 1.2 million members in Rotary Clubs around the world, each devoted to providing service to their fellow man in thousands of different ways -- living up to the tenents of the Four-Way Test, and the Rotary motto "Service Above Self."
The Sycamore Rotary Club was chartered in April of 1944, and throughout the years has brought together local icons from a variety of professions -- from law, finance and insurance, to education, technology and the arts. While Sycamore is one of the larger clubs in District 6420, Rotarians consistently prove that it's not the size of a club which matters, but the drive behind it; the tiny Rotary Club of Harvard recently made it into the pages of The Rotarian, with its local garden project.
DG Steve reminded the Rotarians on hand that they have the skills necessary, and the will behind it, to do so much to benefit Sycamore and DeKalb County -- the best way to uphold the legacy of Paul Harris, and of Rotary itself.
Michael DeVito has been appointed by the Rotary Club's Board of Directors to fill a current vacancy on the Board.
DeVito works at MyInsuranceGuy.com in Sycamore; he takes the place of David Miller, who had to resign due to a new business opportunity out of town. Under the Rotary Club's bylaws, the Board has the authority to make such an appointment if a Board member departs in mid-term.
For DeVito, this is the latest chapter in a whirlwind membership; he joined the Rotary Club last fall, immediately making an impact with contributions to several Rotary projects...including Operation Warm and Adopt-a-Family. On top of that, he got engaged during the holiday break to his longtime girlfriend, Madeline Kuhn.
He will serve as Rotary Club President in 2020-2021.
December Student of the Month Libby Swedberg presents her $100 charity contribution, provided by the Sycamore Rotary Club, to Noah Nordbrock of the DeKalb County Community Foundation.
These monies will be applied towards the Youth Engaged in Philanthropy (YEP) Young Grantmakers fund, to be used to support charitable organizations as selected by YEP. Libby is a member of both the YEP Board of Directors and the Sycamore H.S. Interact Club, and told the club upon receipt of these funds that they would be put towards this purpose.
The next Club Committee Meeting Day will be held on Wednesday, January 31st, 2018; in lieu of a regular meeting, all committees with projects coming up during the next quarter of the Rotary year will have the opportunity to meet and work on details of their events -- putting club time to use, instead of having to meet via e-mail or after a regular meeting.
Upcoming projects would include the February and March program committees, Rural-Urban Day, the District Conference on April 27-28 at Faranda's, Hula-for-Loota and Rotarians at Work Day. Others may be added, as required.
A therapy group of girls staying at Hope Haven has bonded together, after enduring the worst imaginable trauma while growing up…and spending the last two and a half years sharing their experiences with each other. Now as they prepare to move through their last year together, the members of this group – who have dubbed themselves “The Squad” – hope to share one last great adventure…and are seeking Rotary’s help.
Hope Haven Executive Director Lesly Wicks says these six girls have participated in trauma therapy sessions at Hope Haven, and have struggled just to find shelter at times. But through these sessions and their work with each other, these girls now have a chance at fulfilled adult lives. Part of their therapy has involved exploring the outdoors; they have been camping, hiking, kayaking, canoeing and other outdoor events in five states.
They now want to undertake their most ambitious adventure yet, with a trip to Canada; the cost of such an excursion would be high, so with the help of Dave Juday from Ideal Industries they have developed a business plan and model…and have begun manufacturing a number of items, to sell around the community and put towards their Canada trip.
Rotary President Eric Jones encourages Rotarians to not only support their sales effort, but find out what more Rotary can do to help The Squad realize this dream, and goals beyond that. He, Lesly and Dave want to expand the vision for this group beyond a single fundraising opportunity, and would like to know if any Rotarians would be interested in devoting their time and effort to help these girls further build their confidence and character.
Please contact Eric if you are interested in helping out.
Attendance Report -- January 3, 2018
Attendance: 54.41%
Guests of Members:Madeline Kuhn (Michael DeVito)
Other Guests: Luca-Sophie Giese (exchange student)
