FS_060117

18 | June 1, 2017 | The frankfort station News
frankfortstation.com
Police reports
Illegal ammunition
leads to arrest
A convicted felon without proper ID was
arrested after illegally possessing ammunition,
according to Frankfort Police.
Bradford Bennett, 26, of 8364
Brookhaven Drive in Frankfort was arrested
in the 8200 block of Callista Drive
at about 8 a.m. May 21 when police were
called to a residence about a suspicious
person in a front yard. A .32 caliber round
was located on the scene, according to
police. He was transported to Will County
Jail.
May 2
• Otis Banks, 22, of 51 Manor Drive in
Matteson was cited at South Wolf Road and
West Lincoln Highway for driving without
a valid driver’s license and speeding.
May 5
• Robert H. Moore III, 36, of 6547 W. 111th
St. in Worth was arrested at Speedway at
19730 S. Harlem Ave. for alleged retail
theft.
May 17
• Trenton J. Williams, 20, of 3424 Western
Ave. in Park Forest and one juvenile offender
were charged with retail theft of a
business in the 21000 block of South La-
Grange Road.
May 21
J • ames Judge, 53, of 864 St. Andrews Way
in Frankfort was cited at about 11 p.m. at
79th Avenue and Lincoln Highway for alleged
improper land usage, failure to signal,
DUI, having a blood-alcohol content over
.08 and driving with a suspended license
and without insurance.
• Items were reported stolen from an unsecured
vehicle in the 20400 block of Fallingwater
Circle at about 10 p.m.
May 22
• Three mailboxes were reported damaged
in the 1000 block of Prestwick Drive.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Frankfort Station’s Police
Reports are compiled from official reports
found online on the Frankfort Police Department’s
website or releases issued by the department
and other agencies. Individuals named
in these reports are considered innocent of all
charges until proven guilty in a court of law.
FROM THE NEW LENOX PATRIOT
NL geography teacher who died
receives award
Donald Tolen may have died
months ago, but his contributions
to the Illinois Geographical Society
were never forgotten.
Tolen received the 2017 Distinguished
Geographer Award for his
efforts with the organization for
close to three decades before he
succumbed to stomach cancer in
November 2016 — after a battle
of more than three years. His wife,
Phillys, daughter Dianna Perrico
and friends traveled to Champaign
to receive the award on his behalf
in late April, during the IGS annual
conference.
IGS member Ani Thompson-
Smith presented the award and
opened her speech by saying it
was bittersweet. The longtime
New Lenox resident attended the
annual conference for 28 consecutive
years before being too ill to attend
in 2016.
“He was known by most IGS
members, and if one were unknown
this gentleman would typically
introduce himself first and
start a conversation,” Smith said in
her speech.
IGS member and Tolen’s longtime
friend Joseph Kubal said
Tolen represented everything the
Distinguished Geographer Award
stood for. It is given to prominent
geographers in the organization
who have given up themselves
and have been dedicated to promoting
geography. Kubal was
part of the decision process for
the award. Although this award is
given annually, he viewed Tolen’s
recognition as a lifetime achievement
award.
“It was a longstanding contribution,
where he was always there to
help and he helped promote geography
any way he could, from
writing political letters to teaching
students and helping out at meetings,”
Kubal said.
Reporting by James Sanchez, Editor.
For more, visit NewLenoxPatriot.
com.
FROM THE ORLAND PARK PRAIRIE
The Bridge’s annual open house to
return June 3
Once a year, The Bridge Teen
Center opens its doors to community
members who are curious
about the services it offers to teens.
And this weekend marks 2017’s
open house for the facility.
For those not in the know, The
Bridge opened in 2010 and has
steadily grown not only in space
but in the variety of free programs
it offers.
“There is something like
30,000 different teenagers within
five miles of The Bridge Teen
Center, and we haven’t event
scratched the surface,” co-founder
Rob Steinmetz said. “Our goal
is just to make sure that as many
families as possible know that
we’re here, know that what we
do is free and that there is no cost
to them.”
The Bridge Teen Center is to
host a Community Open House
from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday,
June 3, for area residents who do
not currently know about what the
facility offers, and teens who are
old enough to sign up events.
The twofold event is meant to
not only give more information
about what services the center offers,
but also give an important inside
look.
Reporting by Brittany Kapa, Assistant
Editor. For more, visit OPPrairie.
com.
FROM THE HOMER HORIZON
TLC Animal Shelter founder preps
for fundraisers
This summer may be one of the
busiest for Janine Carter.
Carter, one of the founders and
the coordinator of TLC Animal
Shelter, is gearing up for fundraisers
to benefit the four-legged
friends at the Homer Glen-based
organization. The shelter has a
plethora of pets awaiting their
“fur-ever” homes, but providing
care in the meantime can cost a tail
and a paw.
“They’ll come from Chicago,
Joliet — all over,” said Carter,
who has worked at TLC for 43
years. “We do transfer Saturdays,
and they usually come up from
Kentucky or Indiana from highkill
shelters.”
TLC aims to find all its animals
a home, but it needs funds to do so.
The summer of fundraisers is
to kick off at 9:45 a.m. Saturday,
June 3, with the annual Vasco’s
Walk for TLC. The first 100 entrants
will receive a walkathon T-
shirt, and all canine companions
get a doggie bandana.
Reporting by Erin Redmond, Assistant
Editor. For more, visit Homer
Horizon.com.
FROM THE TINLEY JUNCTION
Andrew High School seniors
encourage each other to ‘go into
the unknown’
“It’s the oldest story in the
world. One day you’re planning
for someday. And then quietly,
without you ever really noticing,
someday is today. And that someday
is yesterday. And this is your
life.”
Andrew High School senior
Auzin Sarnia opened her graduation
speech May 24 with these
lines from her favorite TV show
“One Tree Hill.”
In front of her family, friends
and her classmates, she shared
these words that meant so much to
her and mapped out her memories
at Andrew.
“That someday is today, and
we’ve learned to take the world by
storm ever since,” Sarnia said.
Fellow classmate Aubrey
Zwartz took center stage next, borrowing
themes from her favorite
Disney movies.
Equating freshman year to
“Finding Nemo,” Zwartz talked
about how she and her peers had
to figure out the waters of high
school. Eventually, they found
their way — “just [kept] swimming”
— until they reached their
sophomore year. “Toy Story”
served as the comparison for
sophomore year in finding friends
and a sense of community, and
Belle from “Beauty and the Beast”
taught Zwartz to “dare to be different.”
Finally, “Moana” closed
Zwart’s journey.
“Moana, both excited and
scared, found the courage to go
into the unknown, and now it’s our
turn to sail where the ocean meets
the sky,” she said.
Sarnia’s and Zwartz’s speeches
hit home for the audience, and
parents were quick to recognize
that this moment was bittersweet.
Reporting by Brittany Kapa, Assistant
Editor. For more, visit TinleyJunction.
com.
FROM THE MOKENA MESSENGER
Walkathon raises money for new
school playground
On Friday, May 26, Mokena
Elementary School students in
kindergarten through third grade
spent 30 minutes of their school
day by walking to raise money for
a new school playground.
Currently, there are dozens of
swings behind the elementary
school, but aside from the blacktop
area, there is not much else for
the students to do.
“The swings are very old and
need to be replaced anyway,”
Mokena Elementary School Principal
Anna Kirchner said. “We’re
spending a lot of money replacing
the chains for the swings and
things like that. They’re really, really
outdated.”
She said it does not make sense
to continue replacing chains on
the swings, because new chains
are expensive. The swings would
have to be taken down before
a new playground could be installed.
Kirchner said students love the
swings, and the proposed new
playground is to include swings
— just new ones.
A new playground, which is to
cost $60,000, would give students
more activities during recess, and
Kirchner said it would be good
for students who might not be interested
in playing a sport during
recess.
After the elementary school
students raised $20,000 for the
American Heart Association’s
Jump Rope for Heart this year,
Kirchner said she hoped they
could do a similar fundraising
event for a cause that would benefit
the school.
“I think the parents are happy
just to see that the funds will stay
here and go to something that
their student will be able to use
and access every day,” she said.
Reporting by Amanda Stoll, Assistant
Editor. For more, visit Mokena
Messenger.com.