Let’s Go Fly a Kite! Club President-Elect Brandon Diviak promotes a kite flying event as part of the Sycamore Park District 100-year anniversary. Diviak picked up 20 kites at the recent Rotary president-elect training session (PETS). He’s looking for volunteers to help youngsters launch kites at the recreation center April 15 from 4- 6 PM.
April’s student of the month is Madelyn Stacy. The high school senior is vice-president of the National Honor Society, a participant with both Rotary Interact and Kiwanis Key Club, helped her Math Team win a first place, and competes in Cross Country (a team captain) and Track and Field. Besides her busy academic, club, and athletic commitments, Stacy has worked part-time as a store cashier and a restaurant server. Stacy told Rotarians she has always liked school (and noted both her parents, Andrew and Erika, are teachers). She added that this included an early interest in numbers, then math, and now calculus. She hopes to apply her math knowledge by studying engineering at the University of Iowa. Stacy said she will be donating her $100 check from Rotary to the Spartan Food Pantry.
DeKalb County Administrator Brian Gregory highlighted key county issues during an appearance at this week’s meeting. Gregory spoke about challenges faced in sustaining the county nursing home, economic expansion and its impact on taxes, and changes in state laws superseding county ordinances for wind and solar projects.
DeKalb County Administrator (and former Sycamore City Manager) Brian Gregory updated Rotarians on some key issues with significant impact to county residents during this week’s meeting. Gregory joined the County in March of 2021. Since then, he’s had to deal with a financial crisis at the County Nursing Home, an economic boom that impacts county taxes, and a change in the rules affecting controversial renewable energy projects.
Gregory said shortly after he started working for the County, he was told there was a problem with the Nursing Home account having enough money to meet payroll. He learned that the Nursing Home was not generating enough money to cover expenses, including salaries and bonds for an addition to the Nursing Home property. Focusing on what was best for residents and following multiple public hearings, Gregory said the tough decision was made to sell the Nursing Home which should be finalized soon.
The economic industrial building boom happening along Interstate 88 near Peace Road is making a favorable impact on the County tax base according to Gregory. He said the $1.93 billion in investment is equivalent to the value of a town the size of Sycamore being created all at once. Gregory said that should help spread out a property owner’s tax burden. He called these “transformational times” with more than $1 billion of future projects already in the planning stages.
For his last point, Gregory said local control over controversial renewable energy projects is being superseded by state guidelines. Gregory noted that significant time and effort went into the County’s rules for project location, including strict setback rules. He said these were done through multiple public hearings and an attempt to respond to significant citizen input. But with the passage of state legislation, the renewable energy standards created at the state level will override the County rules. Gregory said these state rules are designed to be renewable energy friendly and to aggressively promote solar and wind projects.
As with Happy Dollars and fines, 50/50 raffle proceeds have long been earmarked for the scholarship fund for Sycamore High School seniors. In an effort to "spread the wealth" and support more causes, the members of your Rotary Board have determined that 50/50 raffle proceeds collected each month will benefit a different cause.
For the month of June, 50/50 raffle proceeds will help support CASA DeKalb County, Inc. to advocate for and serve as the voice for children who have experienced abuse or neglect in DeKalb County. The Board has committed that the total amount given to this cause will be no less than $250.
Thank you for your support of this important cause...and best of luck with the raffle!
The Rotary Club of Sycamore is committed to supporting many great causes. Following are the causes we have support since July 2022:
$372.50 to Sycamore District 427 for School Supplies (50/50 raffle cause for August)
$300.00 to Habitat for Humanity of DeKalb County (50/50 raffle cause for September)
$465.50 to Safe Passage (50/50 raffle cause for October)
$1,350.00 for Polio Plus (funds raised through Chicken Salad Tasting with Suter Company)
$2,761.00 for Habitat for Humanity of DeKalb County’s 2022 Home Build (w/ Dist. 6420 Matching Grant)
$400.00 to Usborne Books (during District conference) to provide reading materials to Ukrainian refugees attending two schools in Chicago's Ukrainian Village
$896.00 for Adopt-a-Family
$1,000.00 to Coats for Kids
$1,000.00 to Feed My Starving Children/Make a Difference DKC
$352.50 to Spartan Food Pantry (50/50 raffle cause for November)
$1,000.00 to Sycamore Public Library to fulfill District 6420 Governor's "Nothing Reads Like a Book" initiative
$292.50 to Sycamore Food Pantry (50/50 raffle cause for December)
$500.00 to Pay-It-Forward House (50/50 raffle cause for January)
$400.00 to Navajo Water Project (50/50 raffle cause for February)
$365.00 to DeKalb County Community Gardens (50/50 raffle cause for March)
$297.50 to Tails Humane Society (50/50 raffle cause for April)
$500.00 to South Prairie Elementary School (Rotary Reader)
April 3, 1924 – Academy award winning method actor Marlon Brando (known for The Godfather, A Streetcar Named Desire, and On the Waterfront) is born in Omaha, Nebraska.
April 5, 1856 – African American educator Booker T. Washington is born as a slave in Franklin County, Virginia. Self-taught to read at an early age, he becomes principal of the Tuskegee Institute with 30 students in 1881 and helps it grow into a modern university which today has 2,900 students.
April 6, 1483 – Considered the architect of the Renaissance period of painting, the artist Raphael is born in Urbino, Italy.
April 8, 563 BC – Celebrated as the birthday of Buddha; an estimated 350 million people currently profess the Buddhist faith.
April 2, 1513 – Near present-day St. Augustine, Florida, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon comes ashore and claims the territory for the Spanish crown. The Spanish explorer was on an ill-fated search for the “Fountain of Youth,” the fabled water source that was said to bring eternal youth. He named the peninsula he explored “La Florida” because his discovery came during the time of the Easter feast of the flowers, or Pascua Florida.
April 4, 1968 – Civil Rights leader Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. is shot and killed by a sniper in Memphis, Tennessee. As head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, he had championed non-violent resistance to end racial oppression. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
April 6, 1896 – After a break of 1500 years, the first Olympics of the modern era was held in Athens, Greece.
April 8, 1913 – The 17th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution was ratified requiring direct popular election of U.S. Senators instead of being chosen by state legislators.
Birthdays & Club Anniversaries
Member Birthdays
Becky Springer
October 3
Paul Stromborg
October 3
Joyce Klein
October 21
Matt Nelson
October 22
Sally Bruch
October 29
________________________________________
BOARD OF DIRECTORS, 2023-2024
President – Brandon Diviak
President Elect – Steve Wilder
Director (President Nominee) – Jonelle Bailey
Director (President Designee) - Becky Springer
Past President – Tim Neubert
Treasurer – Dr. Michele Jurkovic
Secretary – Sally Bruch
Sergeant at Arms – Paulette Renault
Monthly Committees
July: Board of Directors
August: Jeff Keicher, Brandon Diviak, Pat Shafer
September: Dave Hamilton, Jeff Jacobson, Jim Stoddard
October: Paul Callighan, Matt Nelson, Paul Stromborg
November: Sue Emberson, Jeff Frank, Mark Spiegelhoff, Heidi Wright
December: Paul Barnaby, Larry Berke, Riley Oncken
January: Ray Dembinski, Joyce Klein, Rob Mondi, Tim Neubert
June: Stephen Hansen, Steve Wilder, Paulette Renault
Standing Committees
Membership: Jonelle Bailey, Ray Dembinski, Bob Hammon, Steve Kuhn, Jeff Petersen, Bob Wildendradt, Jeff Jacobson, Brandon Diviak, Matt Nelson, Riley Oncken
Public Image: Bob Brown, Paul Callighan, Jeff Keicher, Joyce Klein, Tasha Sims
Fellowship: Paulette Renault, Pat Shafer, Mark Spiegelhoff, Sally Bruch, Sue Emberson Dave Hamilton, Paul Barnaby, Larry Berke
Service: Brandon Diviak, Jeff Frank, Michele Jurkovic, Rob Mondi, Brendan Wilson, Heidi Wright, Alicia Cosky, Tim Neubert
Foundations: Jim Buck, Sue Emberson, Matt Nelson, Jim Stoddard, Paul Stromborg
New Generations: Chip Houdek, Julie Sgarlata, Becky Springer, Steve Wilder
Scholarships: Tim Neubert, Julie Sgarlata, Ray Dembinski, Steve Kuhn, Michele Jurkovic, Don Clayberg
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