MM_100616

8 | October 6, 2016 | The Mokena Messenger News
mokenamessenger.com
Celebrating 40 years of hard work, dedication
LWSRA throws party
in honor of its 40th
anniversary
Jason Maholy
Freelance Reporter
In 1976, an ambitious
20-year-old college student
home on summer break decided
she wanted to hold a
summer camp for youths
with special needs.
Sandy Robertson, who
was studying to be a special
education teacher,
scrounged up about $3,000
in donations from Lincoln-
Way entities from the area,
cobbled together a staff
consisting of fellow college
kids and held an eight-week,
half-day summer camp for
22 special-needs children.
There was music, sports,
arts and crafts, field trips
and walks down to the creek
toward the rear of the property,
which today is known
Lincoln-Way Central High
School.
Forty years later, the
Lincolnway Special Recreation
Association serves
some 350 youths and adults
ages 3 and older with special
needs and is among the
largest organizations of its
kind in Illinois. It boasts a
$4.5 million state-of-the-art
facility near Laraway and
Schoolhouse road in Frankfort,
which opened in June
2014, and stands as a beacon
representing what can be accomplished
by people who
love what they do, work for
the benefit of others and get
support from the community.
The LWSRA celebrated
its first 40 years with a
gala Sept. 25 at CD&ME
in Frankfort. The celebration
featured music, food –
and a lot of hugs – and the
Lincolnway Area Special
Recreation Foundation presented
the association with
Paul Manz (left) buys raffle tickets from Lincolnway Special Recreation Association Vice
President Nancy Osborne Sept. 25 during the organization’s 40th Anniversary Fundraiser
event. Photos by Julie McMann/22nd Century Media
$35,000 that will go toward
the future expansion of the
building. A few of the 22
youths who participated in
that summer camp 40 years
ago were among the more
than 250 people in attendance,
as was Lana Graser,
who served as director for
16 years and oversaw the effort
to construct the association’s
facility.
And it all started with
the dream of a college kid
from Frankfort. Robertson,
who went on to a nearly 40-
year career in education as a
teacher and administrator, is
humbled by what the association
has grown into over
four decades.
“It makes me feel incredibly,
incredibly proud,” Robertson
said in a phone interview.
“I’m honored to have
played a part in this program.
When I am at a parade
– at the Frankfort Fall Fest
parade or Fourth of July parade
in Mokena – and I see
the [LWSRA] truck go by,
I cry, and my whole family
cries, because they know the
blood, sweat and tears that
we put into this program.
The vehicles they have now,
the teams playing in Special
Olympics, the day-to-day
operations and that beautiful
building... it’s amazing
to see the difference from
that little camp that we started
with music and arts and
crafts.”
Robertson’s goal that
summer 40 years ago was
to provide something for
special needs children, who
she believed lacked the appropriate
representation and
programs within the community.
“At the time, it was still
very divisive how special-ed
kids were treated at school,
and I just felt like there’s
nothing for these kids, nothing
they can participate in,
and they’re really not welcomed
into the regular programs,”
Robertson said.
Robertson, who was
working for the Frankfort
Park District while on break
from school, called the park
district’s director and the
Marie Miller looks at one of
many gift baskets raffled off
during the event.
director of the special education
program at Lincoln-
Way High School and told
them about her idea for an
eight-week camp. She submitted
a formal proposal to
Marty McKay, then-director
of special education at Lincoln-Way,
and he told her if
she found the funding he’d
provide the space.
Please see
Anniversary, 13
LWSRA Secretary Scott Lorenz picks out raffle tickets.
Elvis tribute artist Michael St. Angel performs during the event
at CD&ME in Frankfort.