For Adam Dach, Class of '87, the story of Byron isn't just a hometown memory; it's a living inheritance. He grew up here, left for a stretch of adulthood, built a life and a business in nearby Rockford, and still finds himself pulled back because the threads of this place run deep. His family is here. His roots are here. And now, looking at the town through the lens of a grandfather and business owner, he sees how Byron continues to shape every generation that comes through.

Dach Fence, the company Adam now owns, is more than a business; it's a family legacy stretching back three generations. His grandfather learned the trade in the Civilian Conservation Corps, serving for three years in the early 1940s. His father launched the family company in 1966, a few years before Adam was born. And today, Adam carries it forward, completing projects woven into the town itself—including the fencing around Byron's football field and the newly converted pickleball courts. "It was one of those jobs we had to get," he says.

Adam sees Byron differently than outsiders do—because he knows the full story. Yes, the nuclear plant brings revenue that other small towns envy. But Byron's heartbeat was established long before that. "There were hard-working people here who knew how to do what they had to do," he says. "And those people are still here." Add resources to that kind of character, and you get a community that knows how to turn opportunity into gold.

That perspective didn't come easily. Adam remembers arriving at Northern Illinois University to play football, surrounded by teammates from big suburban schools. "I always felt like uncultured, you know, lesser than," he admits. "I wish I could have gone to a big school." But time brought clarity. "Years pass. You're like, no, I'm thankful for small-town roots." In Byron, your football coach is also your neighbor—someone your dad knows from Rotary or church. If something goes wrong in your world, those people know it, and they're there for you.

That connection becomes especially visible on Friday nights in the fall. Adam has watched Byron football evolve from his own playing days—when Coach Everett Stine first began planting the expectation of championships—to today's era, where winning is built into the culture. His grandson, Dylan Dach, now plays cornerback and free safety on defense, running back on offense. This year's state championship has the whole family buzzing. "We're still talking about that game," Adam says.

In the mid-1990s, Stine told his players, "We're going to win a state championship." "And that was the magic piece," Adam recalls. "Mindset starts to change." You say it, you believe it, you prepare for it—and the extraordinary becomes routine.

Adam's family story mirrors that theme of connection. Between them, he and his wife share six children, with four still living locally. One daughter, Autumn, is in medical school.  His son, Kyle, works beside him at both Dach Fence and their second company, Huskie Exteriors. His daughter, Amber, who previously worked in Army counterintelligence, also owns a business, Huskie Contractors, which installs highway guardrail and fencing.  This morning, their conversation turned to leadership—the kind Adam learned without ever recognizing the lessons.

His father never preached work ethic. He simply modeled it. "Seven years ago, I bought my dad out," Adam says. "He was not healthy at the time, but he's coming into work every day." His father arrived at 5:30 a.m. without fail. If Adam didn't beat him to work, he'd get a look and the words: "Well, I won again."

Those principles still guide Adam's approach. "It's not what we say to our kids—it's the example we set," he says. "It's not the words, it's the actions." He talks with his son about clearing obstacles: "You've got to get rocks out of the way so the fish can swim upstream faster." In his companies, he emphasizes responsibility, accountability, and service. Both he and his son came from medical equipment sales, where competitive markets taught them what matters. "Products are all kind of similar," he says. Customer service is what wins.

And in that philosophy, Adam's story loops back to the community that shaped him. He’s an alumnus, after all, and Byron has always rewarded effort, character, and consistency. It has always been a place where people show up, give their best, and invest in something larger than themselves. Those values built Adam. They built the town. And they're building the next generation—on the field, in the workforce, and across every corner of this community he still proudly calls home.