The historic Old North Grove School on Brickville Road harkens back to a different time in education; children of different ages gathered in a single room, subjects were more basic but thoroughly covered, and teachers had to follow and enforce strict rules...while working around the needs of farm families
Jane Dargatz is with the North Grove School Association; they represent the last one-room schoolhouse in the state of Illinois which is still on its original site. Students from District 427 routinely go there to learn how their peers were taught decades ago, in a very different era.
Students back then were from rural families, and they often had to skip or take breaks from school to help out on their family farms; even when they were able to attend, they still have to do their farm chores...then take care of assigned chores at school...and then devote their days to study. Students from first through eighth grade shared the same room, with older students helping the teacher instruct or supervise the younger ones; teachers were responsible for the entire building, and were always firmly in charge of the students -- but also were restricted in their behavior, and had to resign if they chose to get married.
North Grove School Days will be coming up on June 23rd and 24th; the weekend will feature tours of the schoolhouse, along with old-time games, musicians and singers, period domestic chores and other attractions. The school will be open on Saturday, June 23rd from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Sunday, June 24th from noon to 4 p.m.
A tour of the newly-constructed wing of the DeKalb County Jail will be conducted for Sycamore Rotarians on Wednesday, May 23rd; it will be led by Joyce Klein from the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office, and will commence at 12 noon.
Since Blumen Gardens is booked for another event on the 23rd, we will be offering this tour as part of a make-up session; attendance is optional, and those on hand will get make-up credit towards their overall attendance. The tour should take about 45 minutes.
Due to various factors, The Spoke will not be published for the rest of May after Thursday, May 24th.
The May 23rd meeting has been switched to a make-up session; in addition, many Rotarians (including the editor of The Spoke) will be on vacation the week of Memorial Day. So there will be no new publication of our electronic newsletter at that time; regular production will resume on Tuesday, June 5th.
Balloting for this year’s John W. Ovitz, Jr. Rotarian of the Year Award will begin on Wednesday, June 6th; electronic ballots will be sent out via e-mail that day, and members of the Sycamore Rotary Club will be asked to select the one Rotarian they believe has contributed the most to our Club, and to upholding the ideals of Rotary, during the past year.
All members in good standing with the Rotary Club of Sycamore are eligible to vote, and all members are eligible for consideration – save for the incumbent President, the President-Elect and the five most recent recipients. Previous winners are eligible for consideration after five years.
Since the Rotary Satellite Club of Sycamore-Oak Crest Area is still in its formative stages, its members will not be participating.
Ballots are due by the close of the Rotary Club meeting on Wednesday, June 13th; for those who have not cast a vote via e-mail, paper ballots will be made available that day.
The Tabulation Committee, consisting of Club President Eric Jones, President-Elect Ray Dembinski and 2017 Ovitz Award recipient Brian Adams, will total up the ballots; the recipient will be announced at the Installation Dinner, to be held at the Sycamore Golf Course Clubhouse on Wednesday, June 27th.
The June 13th meeting of the Sycamore Rotary Club will be held at the brand-new Sycamore Park District Community Center, located on Airport Road.
Rotarians will be gathering there at the usual time; the afternoon will include lunch, and a tour of the new facilities...including the gymnasium, fitness center, exercise rooms and other locations.
Further information will be provided in the coming weeks.
The annual Sycamore Rotary Club Golf Outing is set for Wednesday, June 27th; it will be at the Sycamore Golf Club, as the featured event of three being held that day.
The afternoon and evening at the course will feature:
-- A make-up session at 12:00 p.m. in lieu of our regular meeting; attendance is optional, and lunch will be provided for everyone on hand
-- The Golf Outing, a four-player scramble team competition, beginning at 1 o'clock
-- The annual Installation Dinner at 5:30, immediately following golf; Ray Dembinski will be formally sworn in as Club President for 2018-19, and we will also announce the recipient of the John W. Ovitz, Jr. Rotarian of the Year Award
For those on the borderline with their attendance, this is also our annual "triple-witching" day; each of these events counts as a separate Rotary Club function...so those in attendance for the entire day can earn up to three attendance credits.
Sign-up information will be made available in the coming weeks.
The month of July marks the start of the new Rotary year, and the Sycamore Rotary Club will take advantage of a reduced schedule to plan out our objectives for the coming months.
We will begin on July 11th with a presentation by future President Ray Dembinski on the club's goals for 2018-19; this marks the 75th anniversary year for the Sycamore Rotary Club, and Pat Shafer will head up the planning for our observance of that occasion in the spring. We will also go over our other upcoming projects, and give committees time to get organized.
Then on July 18th, District Governor Kathy Kiwat-Hess will be making her official visit to the Sycamore Rotary Club; we will be one of the first stops on her journey around District 6420, and our Rotary Club will be among the first to hear her plans for the coming year.
Finally on July 25th, we will convene our formal Club Assembly; this annual meeting will be used to solidify our plans for the months to come, as the months of September through December are traditionally the busiest of the year for us.
All Rotarians are encouraged to attend these meetings, as we prepare to Be the Inspiration for our community...and the world.
A grassroots effort to bring an inclusive playground for children with disabilities to Sycamore has received a boost from the Rotary Club...which has pledged at least $10,000 to the effort.
Citizens for Inclusive Playgrounds wants to build the play area near South Prairie Elementary School; this is the school within Sycamore District 427 to which most children with special needs are assigned. The organization is seeking $130,000 towards construction of the playground; it will have equipment and play surfaces designed for students with mobility issues, and will be fenced in for safety. It would be available for use by all children, not just those with special needs.
Rotarian Marijo Schwartz works for District 427, and was grateful to the Rotary Club for its support; she says this has been a dream of hers for years, and the fundraising effort is bringing them ever closer to the goal. This pledge puts the fundraising campaign well over the $80,000 mark.
The Rotary Club may expand upon its pledge, based on future factors.
Your family can have an amazing international experience this coming year without a passport, airfare, or stuffing a suitcase. The international experience comes to you, when you decide to be a host family for an exchange student.
Exchange students are here to experience life in Sycamore, meet and make friends with Sycamore High School students, work on improving their English, and share their culture with the community. Host families need to live in the Sycamore School District.
All you need is a spare bed at your house and a willingness to share your normal family life with a high school age student for about 14 weeks. (Your family will be one of three families to share this unique experience.)
For school year 2018-2019 the Sycamore Rotary Club will sponsor a young man from Venezuela. He is a swimmer, loves books, and is looking forward to the personal growth this exchange year will provide.
For more details, call or text Bert Gray, Sycamore Rotary Club Exchange Coordinator, at (217) 521-0968 or e-mail rkgray1@sbcglobal.net
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