Bill Kroeger may have grown up in St. Charles, but he's lived in Sycamore for the last 27 years. With 34 years in the construction industry working for Bulley & Andrews, Bill is no stranger to large projects. His experience in industry has prepared him well for his role as Sycamore Park District Commissioner, a position he has held for more than 6 years. Bill shared with the Club about the progress of its Vision 2020 park improvement and development program.

Mark Pietrowski Jr. graduated from Kishwaukee College with an associate’s degree, and Northern Illinois University with a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in communication. He is currently working on his doctorate in Educational Leadership. He was first elected to public office in 2009 as a Kishwaukee College Board Trustee and resigned in 2012 when he was elected to serve as a DeKalb County Board member for District 3. In December of 2014 he was unanimously selected by DeKalb County Board members to serve as the new Chairman and President of the DeKalb County Forest Preserve. In 2016 he was unanimously selected again to serve a second term as county board chairman and forest preserve president with a 12-Republican and 12-Democrat makeup of the board. Mark has served the community running charity toy drives, being a past-president of DeKalb Kiwanis, Vice-President of Egyptian Theatre board and Secretary of the DeKalb County Convention and Visitor Bureau. Currently, he is a member of the DeKalb County Farm Bureau. Mark also runs a small business with his wife. He is the current Director for Continuing and Professional Education at Northern Illinois University. He was recently awarded the 2017 SPS Presidential Award for Excellence at NIU.

No stranger to leadership roles, Sue Emberson was installed on December 19th as Assistant District Governor for Rotary District 6420 Area II by PDG Steve Kuhn. Sue has previously held positions of President, Board Member, and Treasurer for the Sycamore Rotary Club and is a past recipient of the Dr. John W. Ovitz, Jr. Rotarian of the Year award. Sue replaces ADG David Dosier. 

The Sycamore Rotary Club held its annual holiday party on December 19th. This member (and family) event has taken many forms over the years. This year's incarnation took the form of a pot roast lunch (provided by Catering by Diann) featuring a White Elephant gift auction. The auction proceed were earmarked for the student scholarship fund which is expected to fall short of historic funding levels next year with the expiration of one of the supporting scholarship funds. The auction was a huge success, raising $1720 for Sycamore High School students!