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Peru Rotary Club, Lou's LaGrotto, Peru, IL (2026)

09/04/2026

This write-up is courtesy of Gene Vogelgesang

Five Fun Facts About Dogs used by Law Enforcement

Brian Zebron, the Peru Police Department’s school resource officer, talked about the dogs used by law enforcement when he presented the program at the September 4th meeting of the Peru Rotary Club at Lou’s LaGrotto. He was introduced by Rotarian Chadd Kreofsky. We learned:

• Haven, the Peru Police certified therapy dog, is a 145-pound St. Bernard who has a disposition like a couch potato. Zebron said the best therapy dogs are lazy and easy-going. Haven is 2 ½ years old and goes home with Zebron every night.

• Police dogs are the exact opposite of therapy dogs. They need to have high energy and be great sniffers whether they’re searching for drugs in a car or looking for a missing person. Peru Police are looking forward to the arrival of Turbo, a drug dog being trained at the FBI Academy

• Therapy dogs make abused children feel more comfortable and easier to talk to. “They bring out the best in a lot of these kids,” said Zebron.

• The Peru Schools have a Haven’s Heroes incentive program that rewards kids who demonstrate good behavior with Haven merch donated by a local women’s organization.

Officer Zebron is a certified professional dog trainer who has a private consulting business.

08/28/2026

This article compliments of Roelif Loveland

Today’s program featured relatively new IVAC Executive Director, Lucas Burris, as he gave the club a wrap-up of the many Chamber of Commerce activities. He was introduced by Rotarian Neal Knauf.

Burris grew up in Oglesby – attended LP High School – then graduated from North Central College with a degree in Broadcast Communication and Political Science. He came back to the area – and was most recently the Assistant General Manager and Voice of Pistol Shrimp Baseball.

“We create solutions for our members” he stated. The wide variety of programs and IVAC member benefits was outlined in his presentation. From manufacturers and contractors to retailers, healthcare providers, restaurants and family-owned companies, the success of the region depends on strong connections between business and community. For decades, the Illinois Valley Area Chamber of Commerce (IVAC) has played an important role in building and strengthening those connections.

Lucas highlighted two of the IVAC programs that have made the Chamber highly popular with their 422 members - including “Lemonade Day” and the Illinois Valley Community Leadership Academy. IVAC serves as a central connector for businesses across Peru, LaSalle, Oglesby, Spring Valley and surrounding towns. It helps to unify economic development efforts in a region historically built on manufacturing, transportation, mining, and agriculture. It also acts as a bridge between small businesses, major employers, schools and local government.

One of the chamber’s greatest strengths is its ability to bring people together. Through business “After Hours”, ribbon cuttings, leadership initiatives, Meet the Mayors Luncheon, educational programs, and community partnerships, IVAC helps create relationships that strengthen both commerce and civic life. In small communities like ours, personal relationships still matter greatly, and the chamber provides an important platform where business leaders, educators, public officials and entrepreneurs can collaborate.

08/22/2026

Article compliments of Gene Vogelgesang

Third grade students in schools belonging to the LaSalle-Peru High School district and elsewhere will again this year be getting free reference books thanks to the Dictionary Project, a program launched by Peru Rotary in 2008. Simon Kampwerth, who has chaired the project since its inception, talked about this year’s plans when he presented the program at Peru Rotary’s August 21st meeting at Lou’s LaGrotto.

The paperback dictionaries—which in fact are mini-almanacs that also have information about presidents, states, and other subjects—are purchased by the Peru, LaSalle, and Illinois Valley Sunrise Rotary clubs and then distributed to third graders at area schools. This year’s distribution day is set for October 28. Kampwerth said most schools allow Rotarians to enter their third-grade classrooms and hand out the book individually.

In a time when so much of our information is conveyed to us on screens, you may not be surprised to learn that printed reading materials are in short supply in many homes. “I’ve had kids say it’s the first book they’ve even been given,” said Kampwerth in talking about the need for the Dictionary Project.

Kampwerth said Rotarians have delivered 8,104 dictionaries to third graders at 14 area schools. Last year’s books cost the local Rotary Clubs $4.00 apiece. The price was $1.70 apiece in 2008.

“It’s been a very fulfilling project for our club,” said Kampwerth, who thanked club members for their help in transporting and delivering the dictionaries each year.

08/17/2026

This article compliments of Amy Toraason.

Luke Tomsha and Matt Rowlee of the Perfectly Flawed Foundation (PFF) recently updated Peru Noon Rotarians on the organization’s growing outreach efforts across 13 counties. The program was introduced by Rotarian John Hurst.

PFF works to reduce the stigma surrounding substance use by meeting people where they are through mobile outreach and a text line, providing a trusted, judgment-free connection to support, treatment and recovery resources.

With strong community support and funding from the Opioid Settlement Initiative, PFF’s mobile outreach program provides basic-needs and hygiene supplies, syringe exchange and safe disposal, wound-care supplies, connections to treatment and services, and rapid HIV and Hepatitis C testing. Led by people with lived experience, the program follows the principle of “Any Positive Change,” focusing on reducing overdose risk and improving health while helping individuals move toward treatment and recovery when they are ready.

PFF also demonstrated its new FTIR drug-checking program, developed in partnership with Northwestern Medicine. The technology uses an infrared spectrometer to analyze street drugs and pressed pills for dangerous substances, including fentanyl and veterinary tranquilizers such as xylazine and medetomidine. The information helps participants reduce risk and allows PFF to identify emerging threats and issue timely public health alerts.

In addition to its local work, PFF serves as a medical supply hub for similar programs throughout Illinois. Research cited by the CDC has found that people participating in syringe services programs are about five times more likely to enter drug treatment and three times more likely to stop injecting drugs. Thank you to Perfectly Flawed Foundation for giving Peru Noon Rotary an inside look at its innovative efforts to prevent overdoses, improve community health and connect people with needed support.

08/07/2026

This article compliments of Gene Vogelgesang

Jennifer Scheri, the dean of continuing education and business services at Illinois Valley Community College, talked about the role IVCC can play in helping area businesses grow and develop when she presented the program at the August 7th meeting of the Peru Rotary Club at Lou’s LaGrotto. She was introduced by Peru Rotarian Chris Jauch.

Scheri said she’s in charge of the non-credit section of IVCC, the part of the college that offers classes that don’t lead to an academic degree but rather help students who need to learn specific skills immediately to help them work better at their jobs. “We’re very diverse in what we do,” said Scheri. She said her department can customize classes to meet employer needs and do it more quickly than the time it would take to put a college credit course together.

Scheri said continuing ed classes generally don’t last for a full semester but instead can be covered in four- or eight-week or even shorter segments depending upon what is being taught and what the employer needs. As an example, she pointed to the Microsoft Excel classes IVCC has offered through the years. “As long as we can find someone to teach it, we’ll do it,” Scheri said, inviting business owners to call her office with suggestions for classes.

Scheri, who has worked at IVCC in various capacities for 33 years, said she is seeing a trend toward increasing student interest in the trades and technical programs. She noted the college encourages adult students who have been in the workforce for a number of years to ask what they need to do to receive college credit for learning they have received while on the job.

The Continuing Education Department at IVCC also offers numerous community education offerings that include classes in various aspects of painting, photography, holistic health, yoga, local history, conversational French, culinary skills (example: Sourdough Basics), curling (at the Waltham Curling Club) estate planning and survival skills (example: Making Fire by Friction) and many more. For a complete list, go online to ivcc.edu or refer to one of the 45,000 Continuing Education Center catalogs that were mailed throughout the IVCC district the week of August 2nd.

07/31/2026

This article compliments of Gene Vogelgesang

Kathy Casstevens, the long-time-but-now-retired-marketing-director at Starved Rock Lodge, talked about life, art, photography and joy when she presented the program at the July 31st meeting of the Peru Rotary Club at Lou’s LaGrotto. She was introduced by Peru Rotarian Tom Guttilla.

Casstevens has been on a journey of self-discovery since her retirement from work and the death of her father, for whom she had cared for 10 years. She talked about serving as the executrix of her father’s estate and the “invaluable valuables” she’d found when sorting through his possessions. One of the finds: an unopened bottle of vintage Wild Turkey wh***ey, which she sold for $1,850, using the money to then purchase an expensive Sony camera lens that she had always wanted to enhance her photography hobby. The lens led to a series of life-altering adventures during the past year.

Casstevens journeyed to Florida to visit her dad’s brother and found herself at the Palm Beach Zoo and Conservation Society, which cares for critically-endangered Malayan tigers. She took multiple photos of one particular tiger, Olan, and said the experience was “really a life changer.” A later visit to Florida’s Lion Country Safari produced photos of zebras, rhinos and pelicans that she was able to use artificial intelligence to digitally enhance into unique artwork. Later trips to see cheetahs at the zoo in Decatur, IL, and to the Animal Kingdom at Disney World (where she was entranced by giraffes) added to her animal photo collection.

You’ll be able to see Casstevens’ photographic art along with that of Paula Guttilla at an NCI Artworks exhibition at the Westclox building in Peru Friday, August 14, from 6-8 p.m. Casstevens is working on a photo book called “ABC’s Gone Wild.” She has already published a volume called “ABC’s of Starved Rock.”

In response to a question about using AI in photo editing, she noted that computers can’t do everything for you. “You don’t have anything if you don’t have content,” she said, meaning you still need a good original photograph with which to work. She also noted there are hazards in working with AI. “Every time you modify something with AI, you degrade the image,” she said.

Casstevens concluded by telling Rotarians she’s been living a happy and fulfilled life now that she’s retired and she left them with a final message: “I want you to find joy, rainbows and butterflies and manifest great things.”

07/24/2026

This article compliments of Gene Vogelgesang

The local team heading to the Senior League World Series in Easley, South Carolina, next week is the first area baseball team to make it to a national Little League championship series since Little League play began in the Illinois Valley 75 years ago. That’s according Shawn Zavsza, president of the Illinois Valley Baseball League, who spoke to the Peru Rotary Club at its weekly meeting July 24th at Lou’s LaGrotto. He was introduced by Peru Rotarian Betha Ghighi.

Zavsza said 16 players and three coaches will make the trip to the East Coast for the national Senior League championships. Senior League players are in the 15- to 16-year-old age group. Eleven of the players on the local team are LaSalle-Peru High School students and five attend St. Bede Academy. All four of the communities that comprise the Illinois Valley Baseball League—LaSalle, Peru, Oglesby and Utica—are represented on the team.

The local team advanced to the World Series by winning the Central States Tournament, which was played this week before big crowds at J. A. Happ Field in Peru. “I haven’t seen crowds like that in 10 years,” said Zavsza.

Zavsza said he’s learned the Senior League World Series will be televised on the ESPN Plus Network. The Illinois Valley team will go up against five other teams from the United States and six international teams.

The Illinois Valley Baseball League formed two years ago when four local leagues combined in an effort to combat declining player and volunteer participation. Zavsza said 496 kids played on league-sponsored teams this year ranging from T-ball to Senior League. He said that was a 20 percent increase in participation from two years ago.

Travel expenses for the team and coaches representing the Illinois Valley at the Senior League World Series are being picked up by the national Little League organization. Donations are being accepted to help family members travel to South Carolina to see the Illinois Valley squad play. For more information, call Zavsza at 804-572-3861.

07/17/2026

This article compliments of Gene Vogelgesang

If you’ve decided to become an organ donor, make sure to tell your family. That was the message LaSalle County Coroner Rich Ploch and Gina Martin, an educator for the Gift of Hope Organ and Tissue Network, gave to Peru Rotary when they presented the program at the club’s July 17th meeting at Lou’s LaGrotto. The pair was introduced by Rotarian Janette Glupczynski.

Many people elect to become organ donors when they are asked if they want to do so when they apply for or renew their drivers’ licenses at one of the Illinois Secretary of State offices scattered throughout the Land of Lincoln. Martin said this authorization makes your license a legal document and that complications can arise at the time of your death if you haven’t told your family about your organ donation wishes. “Please go home tonight and tell your family about your organ donation decision,” she said.

Martin said a single organ donor can save eight lives. Organ transplant possibilities include the heart, lungs, liver, pancreas, kidneys and intestines. She said there are more than 100,000 adults and children on the national organ donation waiting list, adding that the usual wait for a kidney is five to seven years.

Unlike organs, a tissue donation does not have to be an exact match; in fact, tissue from one person can help up to 875 people, according to Martin. Bones, corneas, heart valves, skin, veins, cartilage and soft tissue for tendons and ligaments can all be taken from a single body.

Despite an organ donor’s best intentions, however, it is imperative the family know ahead of time what his or her wishes are. “If you die in a hospital, it is mandated they ask your family about organ donation,” said Martin.

“Please have this discussion,” emphasized Ploch. “Please share this with your family if you decide to be an organ donor.”

The coroner noted LaSalle County has about 1,200 deaths per year. Of Illinois’ 102 counties, he said LaSalle always ranks in the top 20 among counties with the most coroners’ cases.

07/10/2026

This article compliments of Gene Vogelgesang

You’ve probably noticed that there’s new construction underway at the Peru Hy-Vee store. Representatives from the store talked about what the workmen there are up to when they presented the program at the July10th meeting of the Peru Rotary Club at Lou’s LaGrotto. They were introduced by Rotarian Todd Gensler.

Store director B. J. Rissi said a drive-thru addition is being built on to the Hy-Vee building to make it easier for customers who have placed online orders to drop by and pick up their groceries. The store plans to institute what it’s calling a “Fly By” process through which customers can quickly pick up their groceries within 30 minutes of sending in their orders.

Rissi said Hy-Vee hopes to open the new drive-thru August 14th. The drive-thru building expansion will replace the pod on the north end of the store’s parking lot where customers who ordered groceries remotely began picking up their groceries during the Covid era.

Meigan Gensler, the Peru Hy-Vee’s ecommerce director, told Rotarians the store’s goal is to quickly respond to customer needs whether they’re shopping in the store, ordering online intending to pick up their groceries or ordering online and asking Hy-Vee to deliver to their homes. “It just depends on what your lifestyle is and what works for you,” she said.

Rissi said the Peru Hy-Vee has 400 employees, 108 of whom are full-time and receiving full benefits, including quarterly bonuses. He said the local store donated just under $700,000 in food and cash to local charities last year.

Headquartered in in Iowa, the Hy-Vee company has 298 stores in eight Midwestern states. Rissi said the Peru store leads all other Hy-Vee stores in sales of bakery items, Italian food, and seafood.

Rissi also said Hy-Vee has been named the number one grocery store company in the United States by USA Today and that recently Newsweek gave Hy-Vee an award for being what the magazine called “America’s Top Patriotic Company.”

06/27/2026

Article compliments of John Spencer

After serving Peru for 26 years as a Patrol Officer, Mark Credi has spent the last 2-plus years as the Peru Police Department’s Evidence Custodian. Mark is responsible for maintaining all items of evidence, preserving the chain of custody, transporting items to the lab for analysis, and fi***rm e-trace.

He also assists detectives as a Crime Scene Investigator (CSI), and helps with Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, all while retaining his 1st Responder certification, responsibilities as Child Seat Tech and more!

Credi says there are currently close to 3,000 pieces of physical evidence, and over 10,000 items of digital evidence in the Peru Police Department’s evidence lock up. Since he started his new position, more than 3,000 pieces have been purged. By Illinois law, evidence can be destroyed, held for department use, donated, or sold at auction with money going into the City of Peru’s General Fund. Credi estimated that to date auctioned items have generated around $14,000 of revenue for the city!

As the department’s Fi****ms Instructor/Range Safety Officer, Credi also shared information on gun laws, stating that all lost/stolen guns must be reported within 48 hours, and recommending that if you own a gun, you should make sure your spouse has a valid FOID card too.

Mark Credi was lovingly introduced by his older brother Ken Credi

Peru Rotary Club

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