Back in the 70's, when popular comedian and actor S
teve Martin came on the scene, part of his brand was being referred to as "one wild and crazy guy". In some way, a little bit of that describes Pekin Rotary's own Steve Martin.
Born and raised in Pekin, Steve's professional life is one he defines as an "unorthodox career path". Like many others in our club, it is a life of challenges and adversity colored by a diversity of experience and personal growth.
After high school Steve went into a roofers apprenticeship program in Peoria until an injury ended it after a couple of years. He then became a machinist at Monarch Engineering in East Peoria. He held that position until he was a victim Caterpillar's cut-backs, brought on by the 1982 recession. While at Monarch, Steve was the lead singer in a pretty prominent area rock and roll band-"Sly Dog". Consequently with his machinist layoff the group decided to "take the show on the road." Traveling across the country in a black-painted school bus, Steve struggled through the grind it created. "I hated the road", he readily admits.
By 1984, Steve's wife Julie was attending ISU. To help pay for her schooling, he left the traveling side of his music career to sell cablevision- an industry then in its infancy. When Julie graduated, they relocated to Chicago where she began her career as a CPA. This allowed Steve to pursue his own education full-time, first attending Wright Junior College on Chicago's west side before moving on to Northern Illinois University. When Steve and Julie had their son Adam, the young family moved back to Pekin where Julie went into private practice, opening Martin and Shadid CPA's. Steve transferred his educational efforts to ISU where he earned his degree in Education.
He began teaching Social Studies in Pekin and Peoria schools. He soon discovered that he was teaching a number of behavior/disorder students and found himself drawn to it. This led to a role as a Summer Youth Counselor at Career link in 1993. Impressed with the job he did, they offered Steve a full time position and as he says "I've been here ever since." His progression and changing roles at Career link have been never ending, from Eligibility Manager to Case Manager to Performance Manager to Program Manager
. Today he serves as Executive Director of Career Link, overseeing the administration of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act in eight counties.
Sadly, Julie passed in 1997. On a happier note, Steve married Stacy five years ago and I'm sure he has been serenading her ever since.
Steve traces his Rotary roots back to 2010 where he attended our club as the feature speaker of a Blake Lippi program. Of course, Blake had one key question for Steve: "Will you join Pekin Rotary?"
When asked what he likes about being a member of our club, Steve will tell you that he likes our camaraderie. "I like the people and the causes we work for both locally and world-wide. It is a good organization to be a part of."
He expressed his final affection for the group with an answer that we'd all expect Steve Martin to give: "And of course, it's the singing." In that way he is, in part, our own "wild and crazy guy."
Gary Gillis
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