SYCAMORE, Ill. — A Sycamore company known for taking on big tasks is taking on their biggest yet.
“I think we were one of the first industries to come to a screeching halt,” said John Huddleston Director of Live Events for Upstaging. “We’re a live event company. We do concert tours. We do corporate events — acts like The Rolling Stones, Pearl Jam, Billie Eilish and Paul McCartney,” said Huddleston.
The Billie Eilish tour was in full swing when the concert cancellations began. But with a warehouse of equipment, a fleet of semis and employees to fabricate product — an opportunity emerged.
“We’re pivoting to whatever’s in demand,” said Huddleston. They’re now making plastic room dividers that can be easily cleaned and other medical devices.
“This is the mask that we’re currently manufacturing. We got an order from the state of Illinois for 7,200 pieces and that’s just the beginning,” said Huddleston. Huddleston’s sentiment of helping the community was shared by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker Monday when he announced the Essential Equipment Task Force and called on talent and manufacturing in the state to produce what they could. “Trying to stay local within our city, county, northern Illinois, Chicago area, midwest. So that’s what we’re targeting,”Huddleston said.
In addition to equipment, Upstaging can also take raw space — like a warehouse or arena — and convert it into a hospital setting in days. “We’re strangely well-equipped to do emergency services here and that’s what we’re going to do until we can get together and do live events again. The bottom line is: Let’s keep people working here in Illinois and at our company.”
I'd like to remind/challenge our members to send out "Thinking of You" cards, notes, letters, etc. to their kids, grandkids, friends, former neighbors, co-workers, etc as a way for us all to stay connected and to help with some of the loneliness that some have! Sometimes people have cards from charities that they support and this would be a good use of some of those cards, but personal notes are super too...everyone wants to hear "I Love You/Thinking of You" from their families!!
If it helps, free clip art can be found by Googling that topic...a website for free clipart is: https://classroomclipart.com.
When this is over, may we never again take for granted:
A handshake with a stranger
Full shelves at the store
Conversations with neighbors
A crowded theatre
Friday night out
The taste of communion
A routine checkup
The school rush each morning
Coffee with a friend
The stadium roaring
Each deep breath
A boring Tuesday
Life itself.
When this ends, may we find that we have become more like the people…
We wanted to be
We were called to be
We hoped to be.
And may we stay that way – better for each other because of the worst.
Laura Kelly Fanucci is a writer and the director of the Communities of Calling Initiative, housed at the Collegeville Institute at Saint John's University. She earned her Master of Divinity from Saint John's School of Theology and her BA from the University of Notre Dame. She and her husband live in Minnesota with their four sons. You may view her website at https://laurakellyfanucci.com/
1. TED Talks: "non-partisan non profit devoted to spreading ideas usually in the form of short, powerful talks".
2. The Khan Academy: "non profit educational organization with a goal of creating a set of online tools that help educate students thru short lessons in the form of videos".
What are Rotarians doing while home (or while we have a covida-pocalypse). I am curious what everyone is doing. Share with Tim Neubert, Editor of The Spoke, at timneubert@sbcglobal.net.
"Eye of the Needle": Suspenseful, fast-moving movie: Donald Sutherland as a German spy in WWII in England.
"3 Days of the Condor": Robert Redford as a CIA Reader who discovers a hidden plot in the US government's spy agency.
"Saving Private Ryan": During WWII Normandy invasion, Tom Hanks gets orders to locate the last living Ryan brother in the middle of the invasion.
"Funny thing Happened on the Way to the Forum": Zero Mostel in a classic screwball comedy farce. You'll laugh til you pee!
"Legend of Tarzan" updated story of Tarzan's return to the jungles of the Congo.
"Going my Way": Bing Crosby plays an Irish parish priest in a tough, poor NYC neighborhood needing his help.
"The Full Monty"": Hilarious...6 unemployed men decide to make a small fortune by putting on a striptease show of their own.
"Rear Window" Alfred Hitchcock's suspenseful story of Jimmy Stewart stuck in his apartment due to a broken leg and the possible murder he witnesses out the back window. Girlfriend Grace Kelly is gorgeous!!
"The Natural": Robert Redford classic baseball redemption.
"Key Largo": Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall star in this post-WWII Florida Keys gangster movie with Edward G. Robinson as the real bad guy!
1775 - Patrick Henry ignited the American Revolution with a speech before the Virginia Convention - "...give me liberty or give me death."
1934 - President Franklin Roosevelt grants independence to the Philippine Islands after nearly 50 years of American control.
1979 - The Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania, nuclear power plant accident occurred when the reactor core overheated after a pressure relief valve stuck and operators misunderstood what was happening.
1989 - The oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska, leaking 11-million gallons of oil and impacting a 45-mile stretch of coastline.
