The day after winning election as the new Mayor of Sycamore, Steve Braser appeared before the Sycamore Rotary Club. Braser is no stranger to city government having served as Ward 3 Alderman for twelve years. A local businessman, he operated Downtown Shoes in Sycamore for 30 years and currently manages the insurance division of Resource Bank. Braser said he came back to the area after college in 1980 for what he thought would be a temporary stay and never left, raising a family of four children with his wife, Beth. Braser also has a history of giving back to the community by volunteering with area business and human services organizations.
Braser pledged to retain the quality-of-life attributes that make Sycamore a special place to live and do business while adapting to changes that benefit the community. He noted how safe it was to walk through all parts of the city while campaigning and that the city has been growing responsibly while other towns in Illinois have been losing population. He said Sycamore is financially stable, including being one of the few communities in the state to meet fire and police pension obligations. But he acknowledged the downtown area is going through a transition as retail shopping patterns change. And he pointed out opportunities to reinforce collaborations because of new leaders at the Park District, School District, and choosing a new city manager.
Braser said he would like to come back to Rotary in six to nine months with a progress report on his tenure in office. He hinted there could be some significant development announcements coming soon. He also encouraged residents to call him with feedback on his job performance and with suggestions on how to maintain a vibrant City of Sycamore going forward.
Sycamore High School senior Ava Knapp is the April Student of the Month. Academically, she is fifth in her class off 275 students. She is a National Honor Society member and participates in the Spanish Club and Swim Club. Her outside activities include being a library volunteer and helping with the Feed My Starving Children food packaging event. She said growing up she developed a real passion for reading leading to her volunteer activities at the library. Ava plans on attending Illinois State University in the fall majoring in political science. She will be donating her $100 Rotary check to the Barn on Baseline Road pet shelter where she has fond memories of volunteering to help care for animals.
Rotary is a global network of 1.2 million neighbors, friends, leaders, and problem-solvers who see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change – across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.
Solving real problems takes real commitment and vision. For more than 110 years, Rotary's people of action have used their passion, energy, and intelligence to take action on sustainable projects. From literacy and peace to water and health, we are always working to better our world, and we stay committed to the end.
What We Do
Rotary members believe that we have a shared responsibility to take action on our world’s most persistent issues. Our 35,000+ clubs work together to:
Promote peace
Fight disease
Provide clean water, sanitation, and hygiene
Save mothers and children
Support education
Grow local economies
Our Mission
We provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through our fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders.
Vision Statement
Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change — across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.
April 8, 563 BC – Celebrated as the birthday of Buddah; an estimated 350 million people currently profess the Buddhist faith.
April 6, 1483 – Considered the architect of the Renaissance period of painting, the artist Raphael is born in Urbino, Italy.
April 10, 1847 – Newspaper publisher magnate Joseph Pulitzer is born in Budapest, Hungary. With his wealth he endows the journalism school at Columbia, University and the prizes annually given in his name for excellence in journalism.
April 5, 1856 – African American educator Booker T. Washington is born as a slave in Franklin County, Virginia. Self-taught to read at an early age, he becomes principal of the Tuskegee Institute with 30 students in 1881 and helps it grow into a modern university which today has 2,900 students.
April 9, 1865 – General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox effectively ending the Civil War.
April 6, 1896 – After a break of 1500 years the first Olympics of the modern era was held in Athens, Greece.
April 8, 1913 – The 17th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution was ratified requiring direct popular election of U.S. Senators instead of being chosen by state legislators.
April 4, 1968 – Civil Rights leader Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. is shot and killed by a sniper in Memphis, Tennessee. As head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, he had championed non-violent resistance to end racial oppression. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
