Today's speaker was Heather Du Vall, executive director for Pay-it-Forward House, a not-for-profit organization that provides lodging for individuals and families that have a loved one being treated in one of the local health care facilities. The Pay-it-Forward house opened in 2005 after purchasing the house next to Kindred Hospital and receiving a special use permit from the City of Sycamore. To date, they have provided more than 20,000 nights of rest, all possible due to the donations of financial support and time from local volunteers. 

 

Heather, who studied psychology at UW-Eau Claire, comes to Sycamore from Green Bay, Wisconsin. She previously worked with the Ronald McDonald House Charities, one of the inspirations behind Pay-it-Forward House. 

 

More information about the Pay-it-Forward house can be found at their website: http://www.payitforwardhouse.org.

Tom Cleveland, Airport Manager for the DeKalb Taylor Municipal Airport, presented to the group on the various happenings and improvement projects being considered for the airport. Uniquely sized relative to other airports outside of Chicago, DeKalb's airport is well suited to handle a variety of commercial traffic for local businesses as well as shuttle service for organizations like the NIU sports teams. Some of the proposed enhancements to the airport would allow it to service larger aircraft. 

Today the club was joined by Diana Hulst, Executive Director for the DeKalb County Youth Service Bureau (YSB) who presented general information about the services offered by YSB. The YSB serves youth and their families through a variety of counseling and social services. The club has supported YSB in the past by assisting with their annual bike auction fundraiser. More information is available at http://dcysb.com/.

The club was joined today by Brian Reis, Executive Director for the Ellwood House in DeKalb. Brian educated us about the history of the house, its current role as a museum and meeting space, and the many renovations being planned as a part of the Project 1879 initiative. The Ellwood House was originally built by Isaac Ellwood, an early investor in barbed wire. Eventually his investment bore fruit and his wealth enabled him to build this house, recognized as Distinctive Destination of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. More information on Project 1879 can be found at the website http://www.ellwoodhouse.org/.

Clint Scharff, Scout Executive and CEO of the Three Fires Council of the Boy Scouts of America spoke about recent changes in the organization including updating the Elgin camp, selling their camp property in Rochelle, and broadening scouting’s focus to appeal to scouts interest in social media and technology. He addressed the question of girls in Boy Scouts. Girls now have the option to earn Eagle Scout status, an honor not available to them in the Girl Scouts. He discussed scouting’s interest in meeting the needs of children coming from single parent and blended families and how they differ from traditional family units and also spoke about helping Scouts understand “failing” and how to respond at such moments.