Sycamore Rotary heard from its newest member, Garrett Payton Merboth, this week and during his Classification Speech learned about his introduction to Rotary as a youth along with his commitment to active club participation by being elected to the Board of Directors the same day.  And yes, his middle name is in honor of Chicago Bears star Walter Payton.  Merboth is the son of a Rotarian and was a student Rotarian honoree while in high school in LaSalle.  In high school, Merboth said he had a chance to attend a leadership conference in Washington, D.C., which instilled a focus on principles that align with those of Rotary.

 

After graduating from high school in 2020, Merboth said he considered pursuing an interest in aviation at the Air Force Academy but ended up going to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.  However, he concluded that aviation engineering was not the career path he wanted and came to Northern Illinois University (NIU) to pursue a major in business.  He was part of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity which Merboth says helped him focus on character and philanthropy.  Merboth also demonstrated his strong work ethic by taking on a full-time job at the Floor-to-Ceiling remodeling store while going to school. Since graduating from college in 2025, Merboth has stayed with Floor-to-Ceiling and is now a manager with sales, projects, and marketing responsibilities.

 

Merboth says outside of work he enjoys time with his fiancée.  He also takes part in shooting range activities and is still interested in aviation as part of a local flight club.  At some point Merboth says he hopes to own rental units to be part of his income portfolio.  Welcome Garrett Merboth to Sycamore Rotary!

May 18, 1897 – Hollywood director Frank Capra, known for “It’s a Wonderful Life”, “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”, and “It Happened One Night”, is born in Bisacquino, Italy.

 

May 19, 1930 – Playwright Lorraine Hansberry, whose work “A Raisin in the Sun” was the first drama by an African American woman to be produced on Broadway (in 1959), is born in Chicago.

 

May 20, 1908 – Academy Award winning actor James Stewart (The Philadelphia Story), is born in Indiana, Pennsylvania.  Stewart is also known for his portrayals in It’s a Wonderful Life, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and Harvey.  He was also a decorated World War II Air Force officer and remained in the Air Force reserves after the war, retiring as a Brigadier General.

 

May 22, 1859 – Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is born in Edinburgh, Scotland.

May 17, 1954 – The U. S. Supreme Court handed down a unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka ruling that racial segregation in public educational facilities is unconstitutional.

 

May 18, 1804 – Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of France by the French Senate.

 

May 19, 1980 – The Mt. St. Helens volcano erupts in Washington State, its first major eruption since 1857, sending steam and ash eleven miles into the sky.  It is the deadliest and most economic destructive volcanic event in U.S. history.  A total of 57 people are killed and 200 homes,47 bridges, 15 miles of railway, and 185 miles of highway are destroyed.  

 

May 20, 1927 – 25-year-old Charles Lindberg takes off in the “Spirit of Saint Louis” and becomes the first person to complete a solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean.  On this same date in 1932 Amelia Earhart would become the first woman to complete a solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic.