After a little more than three years of designing and fundraising, the Citizens for Inclusive Playgrounds completed construction on their new community play area adjacent to South Prairie Elementary School. Fifteen Sycamore Rotarians were on hand for the ceremony including Marijo Schwartz, who originally conceived of the project and led the effort to see it completed. As the Special Education Coordinator for Sycamore Community Unit School District #427, Marijo is well aware of the needs for such a facility to serve students and residents with particular needs that are not currently met by available play spaces. Thanks to her efforts, more than $138,000 were raised from community organizations and citizens including a $10,000 gift from the Rotary Club of Sycamore. The playground is now open to all at 820 Borden Avenue in Sycamore, IL.

The August 21st Sycamore Rotary speaker, Circuit Court Associate Judge Joseph Pedersen, says he was already familiar with the DeKalb County Courthouse and many of its practicing attorneys when he started his new job the first of the month.  That’s because he spent half a dozen years as an Assistant State’s Attorney in DeKalb County before serving 17 years as a federal prosecutor in the Rockford Office of the U. S. Attorney for Northern Illinois.  Pedersen is a graduate of Northern Illinois University and received his law degree from the University of Iowa.  He and his wife, Liz, live in Malta.