Summer jobs in just about every aspect of the DeKalb Park District are open. Prospective employees are invited to learn about the openings at the park district’s community job fair, slated for 4-6 p.m. March 7, in the Terrace Room of the Hopkins Community Center, 1403 Sycamore Road, DeKalb.

COUNTY

History Center launches campaign for new facility

The DeKalb County History Center is trying to raise an additional $1.5 million for the public phase of its History Matters capital campaign for a new facility.

The center has raised $1.2 million so far to help build a 7,600-square-foot facility on the former Engh Farm property, 1730 N. Main St., Sycamore, which will accommodate the merge of the Joiner History Room and the former Sycamore History Museum.

Construction for the new facility continues, and completion is scheduled for the end of March.

The grand opening is scheduled for May 11, which will coincide with the Smithsonian exhibit “Crossroads: Change in Rural America.”

Donations can be sent to the DeKalb County History Center, P.O. Box 502, Sycamore, 60178.

For more information, visit dekalbcountyhistory.org or call 815-895-5762.

Community expo to be held March 28

The DeKalb Chamber of Commerce’s annual Community Expo will be held from 4-7 p.m. March 28, in the fieldhouse of Sycamore High School, 427 Spartan Trail.

The expo gives information about local businesses, nonprofit organizations, restaurants and other entities. Admission to this family-friendly event is free.

Businesses or organizations who would like to participate should go to DeKalb.org or call the chamber at 815-756-6306 to register. Matt Duffy is executive director of the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce.

DeKALB

Seasonal jobs open at park district

The DeKalb Park District will be hosting a community job fair from 4-6 p.m. March 7, in the Terrace Room of the Hopkins Community Center, 1403 Sycamore Road, DeKalb.

Employees for seasonal positions for the upcoming 2019 season will be hired for the following positions:

• Golf operations – seasonal maintenance staff (must be 18 years or older).
• Golf clubhouse – concessions staff (must be 21 years or older).
• Parks maintenance – seasonal maintenance staff (must be 18 years or older).
• Aquatic center – lifeguards and swim instructors.
• Day camps – camp counselors (must be 18 years or older).
• Sport programs – baseball and softball umpires, scorekeepers and athletic field supervisors.
• Customer service – pool admissions and front desk greeters.

Interested candidates are encouraged to view the job openings on the park district’s website, dekalbparkdistrict.com/employment-opportunities.

Healthy St. Patrick recipes topic of library lecture

Hy-Vee dietitian Lisa Brandt will share some tasty recipes incorporating good-for-you green foods to serve at upcoming St. Patrick celebrations when she speaks at 2 p.m. March 16, at the DeKalb Public Library, 309 Oak St., DeKalb.

This free program is part of A Healthy Mind in a Healthy Body, an initiative to encourage physical, mental, and economic health, as well as sustainable living, through a series of programs, lectures, tours, and activities for people of all ages. It is funded by the DeKalb Kiwanis Club.

Brandt received her bachelor of science degree in coordinated dietetics, food and nutrition at Purdue University and is a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the Illinois Dietetic Association. She has more than 20 years’ experience having worked as a nutritionist with the Women, Infant, Children program, as a college nutrition instructor and as a clinical dietitian.

For additional information, send an email to samanthah@dkpl.org or call 815-756-9568, ext. 1701.

NIU concert kicks off promotion of Berimbau musical bow second album

Grammy-Award nominated Projeto Arcomusical, a percussion sextet that plays Afro-Brazilian berimbau musical bows, is celebrating the release of its second album, “Spinning in the Wheel,” with three concerts in March.  

The ensemble will perform its new album in its entirety at 8 p.m. March 7 at the Northern Illinois University Music Building, 550 Lucinda Ave., DeKalb; March 10 at National Sawdust in Brooklyn, New York; and 8:30 p.m. March 17 at Constellation Chicago, 3111 N. Western Ave., Chicago.

Projeto Arcomusical’s artistic director is Gregory Beyer, director of percussion studies in the NIU School of Music. Every member of the ensemble was, or is, a student of the NIU Percussion program.

The musicians play the berimbau, a single string percussion instrument, described as a musical bow with African origins. It is the main instrument used to produce the complex rhythms in Brazilian music that accompanies capoeira, a Brazilian martial art.

The album also features composers Elliot Cole, group member and NIU alumna Alexis Lamb, Beyer, and group member and composer Kyle Flens. The album, which will be released March 8, explores new avenues of producing sound and expression, like sometimes singing or sometimes stomping their feet. The album includes seven works, six of which were written by Beyer, Lamb and Flens. The group will share music videos from the new album in the next few months on Facebook and on its website, arcomusical.com.

–DeKalb County News Briefs–