For Tatum Glas, her career as a graphic designer has built up quickly over the years; but her marriage has been a romance on ice.
Glas says she met her future husband while he was working at Lord Stanley's in downtown DeKalb. They eventually decided to wed, and she then heard about a contest being staged by the Rockford IceHogs -- with first prize being a free wedding during a game at the MetroCentre. They won, and tied the knot in front of 3,300 fans between periods of an IceHogs game; she says the period ended with a brawl on the ice, which was being cleaned up even as they took their vows.
Settling into married life, she has turned Tatum Glas Design into a successful enterprise...designing logos and labels for several regional businesses. She also uses her skills to promote the United Leukodystrophy Foundation, in its efforts to fund research into this disease.
Tatum has also used her fast-growing hair to help out charity; Pantene's Beautiful Lengths collects trimmed hair to make into wigs for women being treated for cancer.
Dan Escatel's family emigrated from Mexico to the United States, and growing up he spoke Spanish around the house before learning English in school; but as a child, he was actually disappointed to learn that his family came to the U.S. legally -- having expected to hear a story of a daring struggle to sneak across the border.
But his family's mundane arrival set the stage for a successful career; growing up in Rochelle after moving there from Mendota, he attended Northern Illinois University after graduating high school and started off by studying economics.
He was eventually led into a career as a mortgage banker for Stillman Bank in Rochelle; his experience with economics and with electronic business management has served him well as he built his career...and his family settled into a comfortable life in the community.
The Sycamore Rotary Club plans on having a booth at this year's DeKalb-Sycamore Chamber Expo; it will be held on Thursday, March 29th from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the DeKalb High School Fieldhouse.
This event is open to participation by all DeKalb and Sycamore Chamber of Commerce members; the B2B portion runs from 3:00 to 4:00, and the event is then open to the general public from 4:00 to 7:00.
This will be a prime opportunity for our Rotary Club to show the public who we are and what we do, and perhaps convince some of our friends and neighbors to consider membership in Rotary.
The Sycamore Rotary Club's annual Hula-for-Loota draw-down raffle will be held on Thursday, April 19th; it will be from 6:30 to 9:00 at Chapel in the Pines, located at 15165 Quigley Road.
This annual evening of fun and furious negotiating will include dinner, cash bar, raffles, prizes and our featured drawing; there will be plenty of giveaways throughout the evening, so even if you're eliminated...you can still win!
Tickets will go on sale soon; all proceeds will go to the Rotary Club's scholarship fund.
Plans are beginning to take shape for this year's Rotarians at Work Days.
This project has evolved to the point that it can no longer fit into a single weekend; it will now be spread out over several weeks in April and May...giving Sycamore Rotarians, and everyone in our Rotary-affiliated clubs, the opportunity to take part in at least one project serving the community.
We will also be adding a new project to the line-up: the historic North Grove School one-room schoolhouse on Brickville Road (pictured).
Here is the projected schedule:
Saturday, April 21st -- Old North Grove School on Brickville Road, 9:00 a.m.
Saturday, May 5th -- Sycamore Park District Park Pride Day -- Rotary Park at Sycamore Lake, 9:00 a.m.
Saturday, May 12th -- Pay it Forward House, 9:00 a.m. and Kishwaukee Special Recreation Association at Hopkins Park, 10:00 a.m.
Saturday, May 19th -- Youth Service Bureau Bicycle Auction at DeKalb H.S. Fieldhouse, 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (two shifts)
More information on each of these events will be released in the weeks to come; and Rotarians will be invited to sign up for at least one project...and lend their muscle, to help provide maintenance and other clean-up work for each of these not-for-profit organizations.
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:
January 11 Jim Stoddard
January 18 Jeff Keicher
January 25 Julie Sgarlata
February 1 Troy Oates
February 8 Riley Oncken
February 15 Curt Lang
March 1 Heidi Wright
March 8 Ray Dembinski
March 15 Eric Jones
March 22 Jim Buck
April 5 Sally Bruch
April 12 To be announced
Apirl 19 MJ Schwartz
Apirl 26 Lavarre Uhlken
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.
DG Steve Kuhn (right) and AG Jim Nelson pose next to the newly-purchased, authentic iron lung obtained by the three northern Illinois Rotary Districts; it will be available for all Rotary Clubs and districts, for promotion of End Polio Now.
Any District or Rotary Club wishing to use the iron lung will be charged a fee; it will be housed in a trailer, which can be transported to any site. It's expected to be on view at the District 6420 Conference hosted by Sycamore in April.
As a reminder, the club is collecting your Rotarian Magazines (after you read them of course) to hand out to guests and others in order to share information about the great things Rotary does around the world.
If you have any spares, please bring them to one of our meetings and put them in the box by the badges.
Attendance Report -- February 21, 2018
Attendance: 60.87%
Visiting Rotarians: Bob Pritchard (Kishwaukee Sunrise
Guests of Members:Laurie Swedberg (Ben Swedberg); Jonathan Delaughter (Ahmed Kamel)
Other Guests: Maite Zarate and Malena Dadan Castagno (Argentina exchange students); Jennifer & Eric Schopfer (host parents for Malena) and Clayton Schopfer (outbound exchange student); Betsy Hull, Finance Director for DCCF
