Loving History: Egyptian Theatre preservation group celebrates 30 years

It's love for the historic Egyptian Theatre and pride in the DeKalb landmark that motivate Rochelle resident Mary Brown to volunteer there 20 hours each week. “It makes me feel good when people come in and say, ‘This place is nicely kept,' or ‘It's beautiful,'” she said. “I do it for other people.” Brown is vice president of the theater's board of directors and volunteer coordinator for the 100-member group Preservation of the Egyptian Theatre. The volunteer group, which maintains the historic building, celebrated its 30th anniversary Saturday, commemorated by Mayor Frank Van Buer as Preservation of the Egyptian Theatre Day. PET members maintain the 79-year-old structure, which hosts 75-100 events each year. Volunteers can be found doing ev