2024 Friend of the festival –
The Family of Bart Desch
We are honored to announce the Family of Bart Desch as the 2024 Friend of the Festival. Bart Desch, long-time supporter of our community and of the Sycamore Pumpkin Festival, passed away on November 6, 2023, at the age of 58. His family will be representing him in the parade this year. Bart graduated from Western Illinois University in 1989. He first served as the recreation coordinator of the Joliet Park District, and also as the recreation supervisor of the Homewood-Flossmoor Park District from 1995 to 2000. He was then the facility manager at the Pleasant Dale Park District before coming to Sycamore. Bart arrived in Sycamore in 2003, where he served first as the program supervisor for the Sycamore Park District. He then became the Superintendent of Recreation in 2010. He served in that capacity until 2015. Notably, Bart was an Illinois National Guardsman from 1985-1990. In Sycamore, he was a dedicated volunteer for Pay-It-Forward House for many years. We are honoring him this year for his 15 years of dedicated service to the Sycamore Pumpkin Festival Committee, serving from 2007 to 2022.
