Magic, music and family fun will be abundant at Northern Rehab Physical Therapy Specialists’ 35th anniversary open house Sept. 12 at its oldest DeKalb location, 3266 Resource Parkway.

Northern Rehab has four offices: two in DeKalb, one in Genoa and one in Rochelle. Tim Dunlop, a physical therapist and one of the owners of Northern Rehab, said the business first started in 1978 with a facility on South Second Street. In 1982, Northern Rehab outgrew its facility and moved to a location on Health Services Drive. Dunlop said in 1991, the Rochelle location was opened, and in 1995 the Health Services Drive business was closed and moved to 3266 Resource Parkway, where it is still in business today. In 2007, the Genoa location opened, followed by the Lincoln Highway location in 2010.

Dunlop said one quality that sets Northern Rehab apart is the fact that it is independently owned.

“It’s small and specific to a relatively tight geographical circle,” Dunlop said. “Our Lincoln Highway location is a more convenient location to people on the southwest side of town, like NIU students, faculty and staff.”

Since the location offers such convenience, Dunlop said, it is easy for patients near NIU to come before or after work and school, or on their lunch break.

“Our Parkway office is convenient to people on the North side of DeKalb and in Sycamore,” Dunlop said. “Our Genoa office serves people in Genoa, Kirkland, Kingston and Hampshire, and our Rochelle office serves people in the Rochelle area.”

Dunlop said customer relations are key in running the business.

“When you come in, you’re greeted by someone who takes an active interest in you,” Dunlop said. “We communicate with your physician, develop a professional relationship with the patient. We ask about the patient’s history and how they see their problem.”

Dunlop said after assessing the needs of the patient, the physical therapist does testing with the patient to see how well he or she can move, how strong he or she is and how much endurance the patient has. Then, they work with the patient to establish goals and develop a home program.

“We represent the profession to patients and we can assess patients needs and respond to them correctly,” Dunlop said. “It’s good work, it’s fun, people are interesting and there are interesting problems we help solve.”

Deb Loitz, director of community relations for Northern Rehab, said this month’s open house is to thank the facility’s patients for providing a rewarding experience.

“We appreciate our customers,” Loitz said. “We want to show them that.”

Loitz said the open house, which will take place at Northern Rehab’s main office on Resource Parkway, is a family event and will feature magician and balloon artist Magic Matt, a live jazz band called Musha made up of Sycamore High School students, raffle and door prizes and more.