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newlenoxpatriot.com news
the New Lenox Patriot | July 21, 2016 | 11
Freedom Ride travels
through area to raise funds
for TLC Animal Shelter
New Lenox 14-year-old stars
in Lockport native’s film ‘The
Adventures of Kitty Zombie’
Save tH e d ate
22nd CE ntury ME dia prE s E nts
New Lenox resident
organizes event
Jessie Molloy
Freelance Reporter
A large group of bikers
rode together on a Sunday
morning with a sole objective
— helping animals.
Homer Glen’s Tender
Loving Care Animal Shelter
held its inaugural Freedom
Ride motorcycle fundraiser
July 10, which began in
Lockport.
“I’ve always wanted to do
a summer fundraiser,” said
Tracy Lesmeister, a TLC
volunteer from New Lenox
and the event’s organizer.
“I’ve done bingo nights and
comedy shows for the shelter
before, but nobody wants to
do indoor events this time of
year, so this year I came up
with the motorcycle ride.”
The ride kicked off at
Jackie’s Pub in Lockport
and traveled to Ryan’s Pub
in Frankfort, Country Place
in Peotone and Gallagher’s
Pub in Manhattan before
heading to an after-party at
the Harry E. Anderson Veterans
of Foreign Wars Post
9545 in New Lenox.
“We called it the Freedom
Ride because at TLC we go
every week to other highkill
shelters and take in dogs
that are running out of time,”
Lesmeister said. “We call
their rides from those shelters
to ours freedom rides,
so that’s where I got the idea
from.”
Before the ride, Lesmeister
said she would have been
happy to have had 25 riders
for the event but was hoping
for more.
The event surpassed her
expectations, as 140 people
on approximately 90 motorcycles
congregated at Jackie’s
Pub for the start of the
ride. Registration cost $25
per motorcycle and an additional
$10 per passenger.
“I was stunned by how
many people showed up,”
Lesmeister said. “It was
wonderful.”
The ride ended with an
after-party that featured 25
local vendors who paid a
Please see ride, 17
Felicitas Cortez
Freelance Reporter
Never mind human flesh
and blood; Cooper Lyke’s
favorite living dead prefers to
feast on sugar.
Lyke, a 14-year-old New
Lenox resident, is one of stars
of “The Adventures of Kitty
Zombie,” a short film revolving
around the adventures of
a group of children and their
candy-loving zombie.
Local Z-heads were treated
to a family-friendly version
of the zombie genre during
the movie’s premiere Thursday,
July 14, at Taft School in
Lockport.
“It was a lot of fun to shoot
the movie,” said Lyke, who
auditioned for the role of Ty
Kinkley nearly two years
ago.
A longtime student of the
Second City Kids Program,
Lyke honed his acting skills
through classes in improvisation,
physical comedy and
script writing. Lyke, with
help from his father, Matt,
uploaded an audition to director
John LaFlamboy, and
the rest was movie history.
“John liked what he saw,
and I got the part,” Lyke
added.
Lyke admitted being a
huge fan of the zombie genre.
“I saw the ‘Night of the
Living Dead’ when I was 10
years old and loved it,” he
said. “I also watch other zombie
shows like ‘The Walking
Dead.’ I think [these shows]
are so much fun to watch, and
I’m excited to now be part of
a zombie movie.”
The title’s namesake is
Kitty Zombie, the result of
a military experiment gone
wrong. Instead of a terrorizing
monster, Kitty Zombie
morphs into a gentle giant
with “a body of a soldier
with a mind of a puppy.” The
children hide Kitty Zombie
in their neighborhood secret
tree house, away from the
evil scientist who created
him.
The movie — Kickstarter-funded
and edited as
a 24-minute pilot — was
filmed almost entirely in the
city of Lockport, according
to LaFlamboy.
For more information
about the film, visit kittyzom
bieadventures.com.
Saturday, aug. 13
9 am-2 pm
tinley park cOnventiOn center
18451 cOnventiOn center drive
tinley park
FREE
PARKING!
FREE
ADMISSION!
*Gift bags are given to the first 500 attendees
FREE
GIFT BAG!*
• Vendor booths
• Back-to-School Fashion Show presented by The Leading Image
• Appearances scheduled:
Snow White (9:30-11:30 am)
The Little Mermaid (9:30-11:30 am)
Ice Queen (11:30 am-1:30 pm)
Ice Princess (11:30 am-1:30 pm)
Joliet Slammers Spikes the Mascot (10-11 am)
• Face painting
• Paul Bunyan’s Tall Tales presented by Histories for Kids
• Balloon artists
• Appearance and presentation by Mrs. Illinois International
Nicole Laha Zwiercan
• And more to come!
For more inFo, ContaCt:
(708) 326-9170 or visit
22ndcenturymedia.com/events
22CMEvents
The Rev. Mark Fracaro, of St. Dennis Parish in Lockport,
blesses bikers with holy water prior to the Freedom Ride
July 10 outside Jackie’s Pub in Lockport.
Laurie Fanelli/22nd Century Media
“10”
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