Her family is living the American Dream; Beata Palasiewicz says her family came to the United States from Poland when she was just three, and after years of work and struggle they saw each of their children graduate from college...and go on to successful careers.
She herself went to Northern Illinois University, after graduating from Somonauk High School and Waubonsee College; she went into banking, spending several years at what was then Castle Bank before a slight career shift -- as an assistant manager at Hy-Vee.
From there, she went back to the banking world through Resource Bank, but her task there refocuses her on its insurance division. She says Resource Bank is the last remaining fully locally-owned bank, and that has helped to breed an atmosphere of loyalty to, and from, its management.
Outside of work, she enjoys travel and sports; she often travels with her boyfriend -- who ironically was born in the same part of Poland where she hails from, only to meet her here nearly 30 years later.
Registration is now open for the 2018 Rotary District 6420 Conference, to be held at Faranda's in downtown DeKalb.
The weekend begins on Friday, April 27th, with the District Strategic Planning meeting in the afternoon and the Leadership Dinner in the evening.
The conference proper takes place on Saturday, April 28th; registration opens at 7:00 a.m. and presentations will be held throughout the day, The evening will be capped by dinner at 6:00 p.m. featuring guest speaker Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Illinois).
Registration for the entire weekend is $130; for the Conference on Saturday, $100; and for the dinner only on Saturday night, $50. Dinner comes with choice of three different meals.
Thursday, April 12th will see the formal launch of the Rotary Satellite Club of Sycamore/Oak Crest Area, a new satellite club of the Sycamore Rotary for persons in and around the Oak Crest Retirement Center.
Members of the newly-formed Club gathered on March 15th to learn the basics of how Rotary operates -- its history, its traditions and its ongoing effort to serve humanity in our own hometowns, and around the world.
While most of the initial membership is made up of Oak Crest residents, this club is open to any Rotarian wishing to attend or anyone interested in joining Rotary. The Oak Crest club will meet on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month, beginning at 11:45 a.m.
Sally Stevens will serve as the inaugural chairperson, with John Peterson as vice chair and Barry Schrader as secretary.
We will be needing Sycamore Rotarians to help out with our two major spring projects -- Rotarians at Work Days, and the District Conference.
Rotarians at Work will now be spread out over several weeks, in order to give our members the opportunity to chose one or more projects which fit their schedule. Work sites will include the Old North School on Brickville Road, Rotary Park at Sycamore Lake, the Pay it Forward House, Kishwaukee Special Recreation Association at Hopkins Park, and the Youth Service Bureau's bicycle auction.
We'll also need volunteer staff for the District Conference, to be held Saturday, April 28th at Faranda's in downtown DeKalb; Sergeants at Arms and registrars will be needed throughout the day.
Sign-up sheets will be made available over the next few weeks; for more information, please contact Jeff Petersen about the District Conference and Brian Adams concerning Rotarians at Work Days.
Paulette Renault has been nominated to serve on the Sycamore Rotary Club Board of Directors; if elected, she would join the Board beginning in July. She would serve as Club President in 2021-22.
Also nominated for new terms were Club Secretary Sally Bruch, and Club Treasurer Michele Jurkovic.
The election will be held during the March 28th Rotary meeting.
The Sycamore Rotary Club plans on having a booth at this year's DeKalb-Sycamore Chamber Expo; it will be held on Thursday, March 29th from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the DeKalb High School Fieldhouse.
This event is open to participation by all DeKalb and Sycamore Chamber of Commerce members; the B2B portion runs from 3:00 to 4:00, and the event is then open to the general public from 4:00 to 7:00.
This will be a prime opportunity for our Rotary Club to show the public who we are and what we do, and perhaps convince some of our friends and neighbors to consider membership in Rotary.
The Sycamore Rotary Club's annual Hula-for-Loota draw-down raffle will be held on Thursday, April 19th; it will be from 6:30 to 9:00 at Chapel in the Pines, located at 15165 Quigley Road.
This annual evening of fun and furious negotiating will include dinner, cash bar, raffles, prizes and our featured drawing; there will be plenty of giveaways throughout the evening, so even if you're eliminated...you can still win!
Tickets are now on sale; all proceeds will go to the Rotary Club's scholarship fund. Raffle prizes are also needed; contact Paul Michel for more information.
We are entering the second semester of the school year for South Prairie Elementary, which has hosted Rotarians each week as part of our Rotary Readers project.
Each Thursday, Rotarians come to the school with two book selections; one is read to the students, and both are donated to the library. Each Rotarian also comes prepared to discuss his or her occupation, and what reading has meant to them in their lives. Each visit runs from about 9:45 to 10:30 a.m.
For those signed up to read during this second half of the school year, here is the remaining schedule:
April 5 Sally Bruch
April 12 Chip Houdek
Apirl 19 MJ Schwartz
Apirl 26 Lavarre Uhlken
May 3 Sally Bruch
May 10 Sue Emberson
May 17 Michelle Jurkovic
Rotary Reader Tips:
Be sure to arrive early enough to have time to pick out your two books and rehearse the one book that you will read to the third graders.
Engage the children by asking questions of them during the time you are reading. Add your own personal comments to what is being read about the story or happening to the characters.
Jenny Ruff, wife of former Rotarian Phil Ruff and now Host Family Coordinator at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at NIU, shared with the Rotary Club about an opportunity to participate in and support the Youth Leadership Program run by NIU and sponsored by the US State Department.
The program is seeking families willing to host 2 students for one week (April 13-20). The Ruffs are great supporters of exchange programs and have hosted several of our exchange students in the past.
This is a great opportunity to learn more about Southeast Asian cultures with students who have been vetted by the government. Obligations would include transportation to/from NIU during the week (morning drop off and evening pickup).
They are also looking for local high schoolers who would be interested in being a part of the program to participate alongside the Asian students.
Guests of Members:Kazia Kinsbury (Paulette Renault’s granddaughter), Tim Neubert (Steve Kuhn) probable new member, and Madelyn Kuhn (Michael DeVito’s fiancé)
