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20 | January 19, 2017 | The Mokena Messenger Faith mokenamessenger.com Faith Briefs St. John’s United Church of Christ (11100 Second St., Mokena) Blood Drive 8:30 a.m.-noon Sunday, Jan. 22, Christian Community Center (next to the church).St. John’s United Church of Christ in conjunction with Heartland Blood Centers is hosting a blood drive. Call (708) 479-5123 or visit www.heartlandbc. org to sign up. Walk-ins welcome. Pancake Breakfast 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29, St. John’s United Church of Christ, 11100 Second St., Mokena. Join the St. John’s Christian Preschool for an all-you-can eat pancake breakfast. Menu includes pancakes, sausages, applesauce, nice, milk and coffee. Cost is $7 for adults, $5 for children ages 7-12, $3 for children ages 3-6 and free for ages 2 and younger. For more information, call (708) 479-5123. Traditional Service 8 a.m. traditional mass, 9:45 a.m. contemporary & FUNERAL SERVICES DIRECTORY traditional music in a service of praise and reverence. Supervised childcare available. For more information, call (708) 479-5123. Garden Club 8 a.m. Tuesdays. For more information, call (708) 479- 5123. St. Mary’s Catholic Church (19515 115th Ave., Mokena) Church Service 5 p.m. Saturdays; 8 a.m, 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m. and 6: p.m. Sundays Adoration Wednesdays following 8:00 a.m. Mass in the Chapel until 6:45 p.m. Holy Rosary 7:30 a.m. daily; 7 p.m. Tuesday evenings Parker Road Bible Church (18512 Parker Road, Mokena) Worship Service 10:30 a.m. Sundays. Be sure to arrive early for our Sunday Worship Service to enjoy a hot cup of coffee every week at the church. Following the Christian Education Hour (9:15 - 10:15 a.m.), all beverages can be found just outside the sanctuary. Grace Fellowship Church (11049 LaPorte Road, Mokena) Narcotics Anonymous 7-9 p.m. Mondays. All those struggling or who have struggled with a narcotics addiction are welcome. All meetings are confidential. For more information, call (708) 479-0300. Spanish Church 12:30 p.m. every Sunday Junior High Youth Group 6-7:30 p.m. Fridays. For more information, email marleycommunitychurch@ gmail.com. Church Service 10 a.m. Sundays. Childcare is provided Sunday School 9-10 a.m. Men’s Group 6 p.m. Sunday nights in the church basement. All men are welcome. Kim O’Neil Golob Kelli Hartseil Mores Kelly Furlong Foresman, Secretary Colonial Chapel Family Owned Funeral Home edward damstra, owner Private On-Site Crematory Orland Park colonialchapel.com ADVERTISE YOUR FUNERAL SERVICES. Contact Jessica Nemec @708.326.9170 ex.46 www.22ndcenturymedia.com Worship Service 10 a.m. every Sunday. All are welcome. Women’s Bible Study 8:45-9:45 a.m. every Sunday and 2-3 p.m. every Tuesday Marley Community Church (12625 W. 187th St., Mokena) Senior High Youth Group 7-8:30 p.m. Wednesdays. For more information, email marleycommunitychurch@ gmail.com. In Memoriam Frank Haddon Frank Haddon, 68, of Mokena, died Jan. 11. He served in the U.S. Air Force and was a Vietnam veteran. He is survived by his wife, Cindy; daughters, Joni (Brian) Murphy and Molly (Scott) Long; grandchildren, Carly, Tegan, Olivia, Jack, Kyle and Georgia; and sister, Janice (Vince) Rizzi. Interment Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations to the American Cancer Society, www.cancer.org, would be appreciated. Nancy Jean Mitchell Nancy Jean Mitchell, 82, of Mokena, died Jan. 4. She was the original owner of Steamboat Hotdogs in Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church (10731 W. La Porte Road, Mokena) Contemporary Worship 5 p.m., Saturday Worship 9 a.m., Sunday Have something for Faith Briefs? Contact Assistant Editor Amanda Stoll at a.stoll@22ndcenturymedia.com or call (708) 326-9170 ext. 34. Deadline is noon Thursday one week prior to publication. Mokena. She is survived by her children, Lori (Bob DiLorenzo) Mitchell-Hill, Jill (Tim) McEldowney, Rene (George Lange) Bochenek and Robert J. (Stacy) Mitchell; eight grandchildren; and siblings, Edward (Arlene) Valliere and Arthur Valliere. Visitation was held at Kurtz Memorial Chapel. A funeral Mass was held at St. Mary Church. Interment St. Mary Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials to Friends of Sunny Hill would be appreciated. Have someone’s life you’d like to honor? Email Editor Tim Carroll at tim@mokenames senger.com with information about a loved one who was a part of the Mokena community.
mokenamessenger.com Life & Arts the Mokena Messenger | January 19, 2017 | 21 Lincoln-Way spinner soars to the big stage Lincoln-Way Marching Band spinner performs at All-American Bowl Jason Maholy Freelance Reporter Remember the Alamodome. A Lincoln-Way Central senior who performed at the indoor stadium earlier this month as a member of the U.S. Army All-American Marching Band will certainly do that, and she will forever carry with her the memories she made and the experiences she shared with fast friends during a week in San Antonio. Becky LiVigni, a color guard captain of the all-district Lincoln Way Marching Band, is one of 125 high school seniors from across the country named to the band, which performed during halftime of the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. The annual showcase of some of the nation’s most highly-recruited prep football players was played Jan. 7 at the Alamodome. LiVigni, of Mokena, said she will cherish the experiences that helped make her seven days in San Antonio the best week of her life. The halftime performance was all of six minutes – albeit probably the greatest six minutes of her high school “spinning” days – but it was the total experience, and the similarly-passioned people she met and with whom she shared food, laughs, hugs and tears that touched her to the very core. “It was amazing to do something with people [you] had met just six days before, but you felt so connected to,” LiVigni said. “I’ve never gotten so close to people in such a short amount of time, and I feel like I’m forever changed because of the people I met and because of this experience. “They’re like family to me now, and I feel like I’ll forever have this really deep connection with a lot of the girls and guys that I spun with and performed with.” LiVigni left for Texas from O’Hare International Airport the morning of Jan. 2, without her family but not alone, as she was in the company of two other U.S. Army All-American Marching Band members from Illinois. Upon arriving in San Antonio two hours later, she and her companions were greeted in the airport terminal by five uniformed soldiers from the Army and Marine Reserves. The military men whisked the trio away to the hotel where they would stay for five days, and where they were promptly fitted for uniforms. It was evident from the start that the experience would be unlike any other LiVigni had during her high school color guard days. As if being one of 125 students who would practice for 27 hours over the following four days before performing a new routine in front of 75,000 cheering fans was not exciting enough, camera crews documenting the students’ experience began following LiVigni and the other two Illinois youths almost as soon as they arrived the hotel. “Right away, we started being interviewed, and there were just cameras everywhere, at all times, constantly watching you and trying to capture the whole experience,” she said. “It was crazy. They were always getting in your face, and it was funny; you didn’t want to look at them. We kind of piqued their interest, I guess.” The first day and night featured a little hangout time, a welcome party, the band and color guard members introducing themselves to one another and a “super-cool” private concert by the Six String Soldiers. “It was very fast paced, and you were kind of just thrown into it,” she said. “I mean, it was just crazy the first day.” The action did not slow down from there. LiVigni had to be in the hotel lobby and ready to board a shuttle to practice at 7:45 the next morning. For the following 10 hours, the color guard members learned and rehearsed the routine they would perform in just four days. Lincoln-Way Central student Rebecca LiVigni takes a group picture with the other color guard members who performed at the All-American Bowl Jan. 7 in San Antonio. Photo Submitted “It was pretty intense,” LiVigni said. A sobering moment came when the instructor told the group that each one of the students there represented the best from each of their respective high school’s color guards – but as All-Americans, each would just be another member of the guard. The statement was not meant to discourage the students, but to emphasize how rare the opportunity is for one to be among the most talented and accomplished of their peers. “At first, I was very intimidated – I was with people who are doing this professionally,” LiVigni said. “I felt like just being in their presence, I became better. Everybody was so amazing. They were so dedicated and passionate. It really inspired me, honestly, being with them.” Practice the next day was six hours and marked the guard’s initial trip to the Alamodome and first rehearsal with the band with which they would perform. That evening, the members of the band, color guard and football teams gathered with soldiers at a restaurant, where chosen members representing each group participated in a Soldiermetric Challenge that featured pushup, situp and eating contests. LiVigni said meeting the soldiers was another highlight of her week. “They were so interesting, and they were just fascinating to talk to, and they seemed really interested in getting to know us, which was really cool,” she said. “And just hearing their stories, it really gave me a new perspective on the Army.” LiVigni met one soldier who at first didn’t seem to eager to talk, but she couldn’t help but query him about his experiences in the Army and the patches on his jacket. The man eventually opened up, and she learned he was a sniper who had served overseas. He earned another patch for a survivalist effort during which he went into the forest with only the clothes on his back. “They have to survive with just their brains and what they can find in the woods,” LiVigni said. “He said they slept in swamps, and that was the ultimate survival training. I couldn’t believe when he said it was the most fun he’d ever had – it was hard, but he really enjoyed it. I was like, ‘OK, if you’re into that.’” Game Day brought with it a sense of finality; for LiVigni and many other members of the band, it would be their final performance as members of a color guard. She was excited but not nervous about spinning in front of the largest crowd before which she would ever perform. Her mother, stepfather and sister were in the stands screaming her name, and friends of hers would be watching live on Facebook; but she was confident in herself and her bandmates, and she took comfort knowing the performance was a celebration and a showcase of their collective talents. “One of the things they stressed to us was that it’s not a competition, you’re not being judged,” she said. “The two main reasons we were there was because we are passionate about it and to celebrate in honor of the Army. There wasn’t much pressure to perform perfectly; it was just because you love doing it that you were there. We were just very excited to be there Please see American, 23
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