John McIntyre from Hy-Vee’s Wine and Spirits Department provided an overview of Hy-Vee’s store operations with a department-by-department description of services offered. He highlighted the fact that Hy-Vee is employee-owned with a focus on putting the customer’s needs above all else.
They source locally when possible, and prepare all of their various fresh-food offerings on-site every day including their sushi, Italian food, Chinese food, and new charcuterie offerings. Additionally, their meat department employs full-time butchers and operates like your traditional butcher shop.
Hy-Vee employs a full-time in-store dietitian who works with customers to do meal planning and design, working with customer dietary restrictions and goals and are, in-fact, the nation’s single largest employer of dietitians.
Their on-line ordering system has been heavily used by the community and they continue to do all of your shopping for you, readying your groceries for store pick-up or delivering them to your front door without additional charge and while still allowing you to earn the same FuelSaver Rewards as in-store purchases.
They are launching a new marketing effort this year which will see the removal of their ads from newspapers and the launch of a new direct-to-consumer mailing on a monthly basis. Hy-Vee is well positioned to continue their successes in the local community and they look forward to hosting a Rotary event in the future should the club choose.
Last year the Rotary Club had the chance to bid on a select assortment of ceramic bowls created by the Sycamore High School Art Department as a fundraiser for the Food Pantry. That will be happening again this year.
The exact meeting has yet to be determined, but they go on sale to the public on Wednesday, February 7th...so the auction may be that day or the week prior.
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.
Paul Stromborg is looking for volunteers to join him in meeting with members of the Oak Crest Retirement Community to discuss the potential creation of a satellite club.
Interested members should reach out to Paul to set up a date and time that works for all.
Plans are beginning to take shape for this year's Rotarians at Work Days. You read that right -- 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 a preliminary 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 Luca Giese
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.
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.
We will be needing Rotarians to man this booth throughout the afternoon and early evening; volunteers will be sought, beginning with the Club Committee Meeting Day on January 31st.
The next Club Committee Meeting Day will be held on Wednesday, January 31st, 2018; in lieu of a regular meeting, all committees with projects coming up during the next quarter of the Rotary year will have the opportunity to meet and work on details of their events -- putting club time to use, instead of having to meet via e-mail or after a regular meeting.
Upcoming projects would include the February and March program committees, Rural-Urban Day, the District Conference on April 27-28 at Faranda's, Hula-for-Loota and Rotarians at Work Day. Others may be added, as required.
Attendance Report -- January 17, 2018
Attendance: 66.18%
Guests of Members:Jonathan Delaughter (Ahmed Kamel), Steve Brunett (Suzanne Anderson)
