In the early 1900's, once-rich farmland across Illinois was beginning to lose the nutrients needed to grow the common crops of the day -- oats, wheat and alfalfa. Many farmers didn't know about crop rotation and soil management; but Henry Parke understood, and he joined several of his farming friends on Christmas Day in 1911 to set about bringing this information to their colleagues across DeKalb County.
This marked the birth of the DeKalb County Soil Improvement Association, which today is known as the DeKalb County Farm Bureau; its current manager, Greg Millburg, says the organization set out to help improve the tilth of the soil in this county, and bit by bit grew its services to accommodate the growing array of needs that farmers required as they moved through the 20th Century, and into the new millenium.
The original organization eventually split off into the Extension Service and the Farm Bureau; the latter represents hundreds of persons involved in farming and agriculture-related fields, and helps to give the farmers of today access to the information they need to maintain productive crops.
Millburg says even with the influx of population into DeKalb County, 88 percent of the owned property within its borders is devoted to farming and ag; and our county still maintains some of the richest soil in the world -- which means that agribusiness will continue to remain vital to the economic growth of the area.
The nascent satellite Rotary Club at the Oak Crest retirement home will have its next organizational meeting on Thursday, March 8th; it will begin at 11:45 a.m. in the Gathering Place meeting room, inside Door 4 at Oak Crest.
A second meeting was held last week, and featured Bob Pritchard as a guest speaker; former Sycamore Rotarian Barry Schrader is spearheading this effort to build a new Rotary branch, and is hopeful for a big turnout by our own members...as well as potential recruits from Oak Crest.
If you are able to attend, please be sure to do so; you can bring your own lunch, or buy food at the cafe inside Door 18 on the east side.
A decision on whether to formally apply for admission as a satellite club must come soon, and we need as many participants as possible to help build this new organization.
Students graduating from Sycamore High School and moving into the district's Life School no longer have to feel left out as they watch their classmates move on to college...thanks to a special donation from the Sycamore Rotary Club.
Last year, graduating seniors posed for pictures identifying the schools they would be moving on to, and sometimes wearing shirts for their new institution; this included students headed to the Life School after completing their individualized educational plan through District 427.
To give these students further pride in their accomplishments, the Rotary Club provided them with collegiate-style sweatshirts identifying them as Life School students; this year's graduating class will again be provided with these shirts, as part of the Rotary Club's literacy efforts.
The Life School provides continuing education for students with developmental or intellectual disabilities; this is the next step for those students who have finished four years at Sycamore High School and qualify to move on to the school at 357 California Street.
Jenny Ruff, wife of former Rotarian Phil Ruff and now Host Family Coordinator at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at NIU, shared with the Rotary Club about an opportunity to participate in and support the Youth Leadership Program run by NIU and sponsored by the US State Department.
The program is seeking families willing to host 2 students for one week (April 13-20). The Ruffs are great supporters of exchange programs and have hosted several of our exchange students in the past.
This is a great opportunity to learn more about Southeast Asian cultures with students who have been vetted by the government. Obligations would include transportation to/from NIU during the week (morning drop off and evening pickup).
They are also looking for local high schoolers who would be interested in being a part of the program to participate alongside the Asian students.
We will be needing Sycamore Rotarians to help out with our two major spring projects -- Rotarians at Work Days, and the District Conference.
Rotarians at Work will now be spread out over several weeks, in order to give our members the opportunity to chose one or more projects which fit their schedule. Work sites will include the Old North School on Brickville Road, Rotary Park at Sycamore Lake, the Pay it Forward House, Kishwaukee Special Recreation Association at Hopkins Park, and the Youth Service Bureau's bicycle auction.
We'll also need volunteer staff for the District Conference, to be held Saturday, April 28th at Faranda's in downtown DeKalb. Sergeants at Arms and registrars will be needed throughout the day; we will also need one or more Rotarians to monitor the display featuring an authentic iron lung...as part of the End Polio Now project.
Sign-up sheets will be made available over the next few weeks; for more information, please contact Jeff Petersen about the District Conference and Brian Adams concerning Rotarians at Work Days.
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 are now on sale; all proceeds will go to the Rotary Club's scholarship fund. Raffle prizes are also needed; contact Paul Michel for more information.
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:
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.
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 -- March 7, 2018
Attendance: 62.32%
Guests of Members:Jennifer Gelman (Paulette Renault)
