New owner of Sycamore State Theater Shares Plans. Makie Maratos and his family bring restaurant and theater background to historic site in downtown Sycamore.
Makie Maratos talks about plans to grow the impact of the State Theatre complex. Maratos says he wants live stage options at the theatre and expanded offerings at the authentic Greek restaurant his family opened at the site.
Our Wednesday meetings are now being held at St. Mary's Parish Activity Center (312 Waterman Street in Sycamore). We are no longer meeting at Blumen Gardens.
A lot is happening at the Sycamore State Theater and there is more to come according to new owner Makie Maratos who was this week’s Rotary guest speaker. Maratos, his wife, Kari, and his parents became the new owners of the theater about a year ago when the previous owners retired. He said his family was originally looking for a restaurant site but made the leap into the theater business after seeing the property and imagining its potential. Both Maratos and his wife studied theater in college and are excited about adding more live stage options to the three-screen venue.
The Maratos family has a restaurant background having operated several establishments in the Rockford area including several “Tom and Jerry’s” branches. Although his father just recently passed away, Maratos says he helped establish the authentic Greek menu in their restaurant which occupies a store front in the theater complex. Maratos sees a steady expansion of the restaurant business occurring as they develop more signature dishes and obtain a license to sell alcohol with meals.
The movie theatre will be celebrating its 100 th anniversary in 2025. It was originally a single 900-seat theatre which included vaudeville performances as well as movies. By adding a stage for live performances and arranging for more specialty films in addition to first-run releases, Maratos says his family hopes to bring an entertainment resurgence to the site. He sees the possibility for an expanded arts scene and community theater centered around the property as a way to help make an impact beyond selling movie tickets and popcorn.
The following Rotarians (in alphabetical order) have so far signed up to work shifts during the Drive Thru Dinner fundraiser in the St. Mary's Parish Activity Center parking lot on Thursday, June 23.
Posted by Kate Silver, Rotary International on Jun 16, 2022
Carol Rosenstein was watching her husband, Irwin, slip away inch by inch.
At one time he had been a brilliant lawyer, a lover of Broadway musicals, a world traveler. But after his diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease in 2006, he developed dementia, and slowly everything changed. His gait flattened to a shuffle. The sparkle in his eyes turned into a blank stare. His mood soured. Worsening matters, the medications he took caused hallucinations and extreme agitation. As communication grew more challenging, Carol felt the distance between them growing.
Then, in 2014, something happened. Irwin, who had been a gifted pianist since childhood, sat down at the piano and began to play. As his fingers floated through American classics like “Fly Me to the Moon,” “What a Wonderful World,” and “Try to Remember,” Carol saw his posture straighten. The sparkle returned to his eyes. The husband she once knew came back, bit by bit, if only briefly. “I could see this human being resurrect and start to reconnect with his environment,” she says, “just like I had given him a dose of medication.”
Mystified, she called his neurologist and asked what was happening. “He said, ‘Carol, you are watching the power of music, changing brain chemistry.’”
That statement would go on to change not only their lives but the lives of countless others.
Music, it turns out, is medicine for the mind.
While it’s tempting to search for a woo-woo reason why music resonates with us so deeply, it’s not necessary. For people like Concetta Tomaino, the effects can be explained by science and logic — even if there’s still a lot to learn. “I think I went past that magical, mysterious piece a long time ago,” she laughs. Tomaino is one of the pioneers in this area; she has been researching how music affects all aspects of neurologic function for more than 40 years. To her, the impact of music on the mind and body demonstrates how much of our makeup as human beings is based on rhythm, resonance, and perception, all of which connect us in a fundamental way to who we are. “Everything in the world is a vibration of some kind,” she says. “Music is an extension of who we are, and that’s why it helps us reach people who seem to be disconnected because of illness or a traumatic brain injury.”
Tomaino spent decades as a music therapist, pursuing evidence-based research around music and the brain before volumes of such literature existed. In 1980, she began working at Beth Abraham Hospital (now Beth Abraham Center) in the Bronx, New York, where she first met the consulting neurologist Oliver Sacks. By then Sacks had already written Awakenings, an autobiographical book (and later a movie) about a group of encephalitis lethargica patients frozen in trancelike states, whom he “awakened” using a new drug, along with music.
Donations are currently being requested for the Sycamore Food Pantry. Bring a bottle of laundry detergent...or $10 for Julie Sgarlata to purchase one. Money is easier to handle.
Personal hygiene items (bar soap, shampoo, etc.) are also being sought.
June 12, 1924 – 41st U.S. President George H. W. Bush is born in Milton, Massachusetts. Prior to assuming the presidency in 1989, Bush served as Vice President under Ronald Reagan and the Director of the CIA under Gerald Ford.
June 13, 1903 – “The Galloping Ghost”, Harold “Red” Grange, is born in Forksville, Pennsylvania. The University of Illinois star earned his nickname after a memorable game against Michigan where he returned the opening kickoff for a 95-yard touchdown, scored three more touchdowns in the first 12 minutes, scored a fifth touchdown in the second half, threw a touchdown pass, and had two interceptions while playing defense. After college he played professionally for the Chicago Bears helping legitimize the National Football League.
June 14, 1906 – Photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White was born in New York City. She becomes one of four original staff photographers of LIFE Magazine in 1936 and later the first woman to be an accredited war correspondent during World War II.
June 16, 1890 – Film comedian Stan Laurel of Laurel and Hardy fame is born in Ulverston, England.
June 14, 1834 – Isaac Fischer Jr., of Springfield, Vermont, is granted a patent for the mass production of sandpaper.
June 14, 1922 – Warren G. Harding becomes the first U. S. President to broadcast a message over the radio. The event was the dedication of the Francis Scott Key Memorial in Baltimore.
June 15, 1215 – King John set his seal to the Magna Carta guaranteeing certain rights of liberty. It becomes the foundation of modern democracies around the world.
June 18, 1815 – On the fields of Waterloo in central Belgium, 72,000 French troops led by Napoleon suffer a crushing military defeat from a combined army of 113,000 British, Dutch, Belgian, and Prussian troops.
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