The Suter Company has grown well beyond its roots; from its operations on May Street in Sycamore, it eventually expanded to a new plant along Bethany Road...and now, that newer site is being expanded, creating new room for processing and storage of the company's trademark products.
Tim Suter says it had become obvious by last year that they had outgrown both locations, and the time was ripe for expansion of the Bethany Road center; the company had to go through the arduous process of getting approval from the City of Sycamore in a three-phase process, in hopes of getting ground broken by the fall of 2017. They had hoped to be completed earlier in the spring, but the bitterly cold weather of late December and early January slowed down the process.
But he says they're back on schedule, and ready to open a plant with more cold storage, dry storage and processing room -- along with shell space for future expansion. This will effectively double the capacity of the Bethany Road operation; once that's complete, they'll be moving most of the equipment and product from May Street, devoting it strictly to its canning operations. But Suter says they have no intention of closing down the May Street plant, saying that it's still an integral part of their operations.
The company also continues its devotion to community service; they annually sponsor and host the Make a Difference DKC meal packing project for Feed My Starving Children, and the accompanying raffle to raise funds for it.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Illinois) will give the keynote address at the District 6420 Conference, to be held on Saturday, April 28th at Faranda's in downtown DeKalb.
Kinzinger is currently serving his fourth term in the United States House of Representatives and represents Illinois’ Sixteenth Congressional District, which stretches across 14 counties in the Northern Illinois region.
Congressman Kinzinger serves as a member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
As a 20-year old sophomore at Illinois State University (ISU), he challenged a three-term incumbent for the McLean County Board.
After serving on the McLean County Board, Kinzinger joined the United States Air Force. He was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in November 2003 and later awarded his pilot wings. He has served in the Air Force Special Operations, Air Combat Command, Air Mobility Command, and Air National Guard.
Kinzinger continues to serve as a pilot in the Air National Guard, with the current rank of Major.
Bethany Lerch will be the opening speaker for the District 6420 Conference on Saturday, April 28th; her topic will be "How Rotary Changes the World: A Shareholder’s Meeting."
Born and raised in Oshkosh, Lerch is a former Fulbright scholar and Rotary Foundation scholar. She has BA in German and International Studies from UW Oshkosh and a Master of Letters in Terrorism Studies from the University of Saint Andrews in Scotland.
Her professional experience includes Assistant Lecturer of American Studies at the University of Leipzig in Germany, volunteer teacher in Palestine, and military trainer in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Since her return to the United States in 2016, Bethany has resumed graduate school, this time in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Someday, she hopes to more meaningfully help vulnerable minorities and assault victims.
Teresa Wasonga, the co-founder of a school for girls in Kenya, will be among the featured speakers at the District 6420 Conference on Saturday, April 28th at Faranda’s in downtown DeKalb.
She and her husband, Kishwaukee Sunrise Rotarian Andrew Otieno, co-founded the Jane Adeny Memorial School, a school for disadvantaged brilliant girls in the country – a school good enough for the richest, and open to the poorest.
Wasonga is a graduate of the University of Missouri – Columbia, a Fulbright scholar and an instructor at Northern Illinois University. She is the recipient of the 2017 University of Missouri Columbia College of Education Alumni Outstanding Professional Achievement Award, 2013 Rotary International Service Award for Exemplary Humanitarian Service, and 2013 Service Above Self in Leadership (Rotary International District 6420).
In addition to teaching and research on educational leadership in the US, she has done research sponsored by Fulbright in Kenya. Findings from her research are modeled at the school, with a hope to stimulate innovation and improve practices in school leadership, teaching, learning, and entrepreneurship in Kenyan schools.
Students with disabilities often have little opportunity to use playgrounds; for those with physical issues, the equipment may simply be inaccessible...while for those with cognitive or autistic problems, the environment may not be safe for them to use.
But the Sycamore Rotary Club is now actively involved in an effort to provide a safe location in town, for use by children with such hurdles to overcome.
Citizens for Inclusive Playgrounds wants to erect the play area on the campus of South Prairie Elementary School; that is the site within the district where most children with such disabilities are assigned, and a safe location designed to let them play and interact with all students is needed.
Rotarian Marijo Schwartz, who is with the Sycamore School District, has been spearheading the effort to bring the playground to town; a goal of $130,000 is needed, and so far over $71,000 of that has been contributed by a combination of public and private donors. Over $57,000 is still required to launch the project; the Sycamore Rotary Club will be seeking a grant from District 6420 to supplement its own donation, and some individual Rotarians are pledging to contribute.
There is no set deadline for the project, but all monies must be collected before work can begin; it's hoped that construction can be completed over the summer. Anyone wishing to contribute should contact the DeKalb County Community Foundation, or Marijo at mschwart@syc427.org
Our incoming exchange student is Sebastian Colmenares. He is from a suburb of Valencia, Venezuela and will be 18 when he arrives.
We must find three host families to share the 11 months he will be here. Homes with high school aged child(ren) are preferred. If you are interested (and want to know more), or know of families in the school district who might make great host families, please contact Bert Gray, Youth Exchange Officer, at rkgray1@sbcglobal.net or 217-521-0968.
Bert will provide the club with more details about Sebastian as they become available.
We are entering the second semester of the school year for South Prairie Elementary, which has hosted Rotarians each week as part of our Rotary Readers project.
Each Thursday, Rotarians come to the school with two book selections; one is read to the students, and both are donated to the library. Each Rotarian also comes prepared to discuss his or her occupation, and what reading has meant to them in their lives. Each visit runs from about 9:45 to 10:30 a.m.
For those signed up to read during this second half of the school year, here is the remaining schedule:
May 3 Sally Bruch
May 10 Sue Emberson
May 17 Michelle Jurkovic
Rotary Reader Tips:
Be sure to arrive early enough to have time to pick out your two books and rehearse the one book that you will read to the third graders.
Engage the children by asking questions of them during the time you are reading. Add your own personal comments to what is being read about the story or happening to the characters.
If you have been or will be a Rotary Reader this school year, mark your calendar for Friday, May 4.
South Prairie Elementary School is hosting its end-of-year Rotary Breakfast Buddies Event. All Rotarians who have read (or will read by the end of the year) are invited to the event.
Breakfast will be served from 7:55 a.m. to 8:25 a.m. Please be sure to check in at the school office.
You will get breakfast and a chance to interact with the 3rd grade children you previously read to. Please make it a priority to attend this event and show our support for the children at South Prairie Elementary School.
Attendance Report -- April 18, 2018
Attendance: To be determined
Guests of Members:Wally Sundberg and Tim Bagby (Jeff Keicher); Mike Cullen (Marijo Schwartz); Michelle Jones (Eric Jones)
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