Joe Ryan, Head Coach of the Sycamore High School Football team, speaks to club members about the unique challenges of holding practices (and eventually playing games) during the pandemic.
For the first time in 37 years, Joe Ryan is not involved in a fall football game as either a player or coach. The Illinois High School Athletic Association has moved the current school year football schedule to the February 15 to May 1 timeframe due to COVID-19 issues. The Sycamore High School Football Coach talked about the challenges of trying to offer a meaningful program to students despite the pandemic during a presentation this week for Sycamore Rotarians.
Ryan knew things would be different this year starting with summer practices. Practice groups were limited to nine players and one coach with masks and distancing among the requirements. After July 4 there could be groups of 50 and eventually access to the weight room was allowed. However, Ryan said practice rules kept changing and it was frustrating for players and coaches alike to keep a positive outlook. He even started Friday night video events during practice featuring past key Sycamore High School games just to keep up enthusiasm for when real games could begin.
Coach Ryan says his team’s first game will be March 5th. Overall, Coach Ryan is optimistic about fielding a strong team. He says he has a group of very talented players. He plans on using a Wing-T offense because of the number of play options it gives the team and the more players who can participate in the action. He anticipates the shortened schedule will result in conference title matches but no statewide contests. Even so, Ryan pledged to “stay positive” as he coaches the Spartans through the COVID-19 football season of 2020-2021.
Our speaker this week will be Jay Anderson, President of Kishwaukee & Valley West Hospitals, discussing Northwestern Medicine initiatives.
Following is our schedule of upcoming speakers/presentations:
Wednesday, February 17 (Hybrid meeting: In-person at Blumen Gardens, pending status of Covid mitigation efforts, and online via Zoom): Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital & Northwestern Medicine Valley West Hospital (Jay Anderson)
Wednesday, February 24 (Hybrid meeting: In-person at Blumen Gardens, pending status of Covid mitigation efforts, and online via Zoom): DeKalb Farm Bureau (Greg Millburg)
Wednesday, March 3 (Hybrid meeting: In-person at Blumen Gardens, pending status of Covid mitigation efforts, and online via Zoom): Elder Care
Wednesday, March 10 (Hybrid meeting: In-person at Blumen Gardens, pending status of Covid mitigation efforts, and online via Zoom): DeKalb Forest Preserve District
Wednesday, March 17 (Hybrid meeting: In-person at Blumen Gardens, pending status of Covid mitigation efforts, and online via Zoom): CASA DeKalb County (Jessica Sandlund)
Wednesday, March 24 (Hybrid meeting: In-person at Blumen Gardens, pending status of Covid mitigation efforts, and online via Zoom): Curt Lang
Wednesday, March 31 (Hybrid meeting: In-person at Blumen Gardens, pending status of Covid mitigation efforts, and online via Zoom): DeKalb County Community Gardens
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A bill to make September 11 a national day of mourning was introduced in the U.S. House on October 25, 2001, by Rep. Vito Fossella (R-NY) with 22 co-sponsors, among them 11 Democrats and 11 Republicans. The bill requested that the President designate September 11 of each year as Patriot Day. Joint Resolution 71 passed the House by a vote of 407–0, with 25 members not voting. The bill passed the Senate unanimously on November 30. President Bush signed the resolution into law on December 18 as Pub.L. 107–89. On September 4, 2002, President Bush used the authority of the resolution to proclaim September 11, 2002, as the first Patriot Day.
Original co-sponsors in the House were Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Rick Boucher (D-VA), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Phil English (R-PA), Randy Forbes (R-VA), Benjamin Gilman (R-NY), Felix Grucci (R-NY), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Steve Israel (D-NY), Peter T. King (R-NY), Ray LaHood (R-IL), Nita Lowey (D-NY), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Michael R. McNulty (D-NY), Jim Moran (D-VA), Jerry Nadler (D-NY), John E. Peterson (R-PA), Thomas M. Reynolds (R-NY), Ed Schrock (R-VA), Don Sherwood (R-PA), Ed Towns (D-NY), and James T. Walsh (R-NY).
The flag of the United States is flown at half-mast at the White House and on all U.S. government buildings and establishments throughout the world; Americans are also encouraged to display flags in and outside their homes. Additionally, a moment of silence is observed to correspond with the attacks, beginning at 8:46 a.m. (Eastern Daylight Time), the time the first plane, American Airlines Flight 11, struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
Patriot Day is not a federal holiday; schools and businesses remain open in observance of the occasion, although memorial ceremonies for the 2,977 victims (this number excludes the 19 hijackers who also perished) are often held. Volunteer and service opportunities are coordinated by the Corporation for National and Community Service.
September 6, 1757 – Marquis de Lafayette is born in France. He came to America in 1777 to volunteer in the American Revolution; became a key military leader in defeating the British; and established a life-long friendship with George Washington.
September 6, 1860 – Pioneering social worker and 1931 Nobel Peace Prize winner Jane Addams is born in Cedarville, Illinois (near Freeport).
September 7, 1533 – The future Queen Elizabeth I is born in England, the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.
September 12, 1913 – African American Olympic athlete Jesse Owens is born in Oakville, Alabama. His four gold medals in track and field at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin are a crushing blow to Adolph Hitler’s myth of white supremacy.
September 7, 1940 – The German Luftwaffe began its Blitz bombing campaign against London during World War II.
September 8, 1900 – A hurricane with winds of 120 miles per hour struck Galveston, Texas, killing over 8,000 people, making it the worst natural disaster in U. S. History. The hurricane and tidal wave that followed destroyed 2,500 buildings.
September 9, 1776 – The United States officially came into existence as the Continental Congress voted to change the name of the new American nation which was previously known as the United Colonies.
September 11, 2001 – The worst terrorist attack in U. S. history occurred as four jet airliners are hijacked and crashed; two into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, one into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and one into a field in Pennsylvania during a struggle between the hijackers and passengers. The attack leaves nearly 3,000 people killed.
