MM_072017

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes 

Change orders continue for construction at 

Mokena Community Park District, Page 3 

Awards and rewards 

Village, chamber of commerce congratulate Fourth 

of July parade winners, parade organizer, Page 4 

A royal affair 

Disney royalty delight children at park 

district’s inaugural Princess Breakfast, Page 6 

mokena’s Award-Winning Hometown Newspaper mokenamessenger.com • July 20, 2017 • Vol. 10 No. 49 • $1 

A 

® 

Publication 

,LLC 

Mokena resident Mike Mendoza, 

a veteran who was wounded 

during military combat, is well 

on his way to breaking the 

Guinness World Record for 

most half Ironman races run in 

a single year. He completed his 

12th of the year in early July. 

Photo Submitted 

Veteran wounded in action attempts to break record for most half 

Ironmans, Page 5 

Expires 8/31/17 Expires 8/31/17

2 | July 20, 2017 | The Mokena Messenger calendar 

mokenamessenger.com 

In this week’s 

Messenger 

Police Reports................. 9 

Pet of the Week.............10 

Editorial........................17 

Faith Briefs....................20 

Puzzles..........................28 

Classifieds................ 32-41 

The Mokena 

Messenger 

ph: 708.326.9170 fx: 708.326.9179 

Editor 

Tim Carroll, x29 

tim@mokenamessenger.com 

assistant editor 

Amanda Stoll, x34 

a.stoll@22ndcenturymedia.com 

Sales director 

Lora Healy, x31 

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real estate sales 

Tricia Weber, x47 

t.weber@22ndcenturymedia.com 

Classified Sales 

Kellie Tschopp, x23 

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Recruitment Advertising 

Jess Nemec, x46 

j.nemec@22ndcenturymedia.com 

Legal Notices 

Jeff Schouten, x51 

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Bill Jones, x20 

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Amanda Stoll 


THURSDAY 

Senior Trip 

Deadline to register is July 

20. Trip will be from 10:30 

a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday, July 30. 

Trip departs from Frankfort 

Township building, 

11000 W. Lincoln Highway, 

Frankfort. Join the Frankfort 

Township for a senior outing 

to the Milwaukee German 

Fest. The annual tradition 

is held on the Summerfest 

grounds along the beautiful 

shoreline of Lake Michigan 

and is known for its authentic 

food, culture and entertainment. 

Cost is $45 per 

person and includes chartered 

transportation and admission 

into the festival. For 

more information and registration, 

call (815) 806-2766. 

Ribbon Cutting 

10 a.m. July 20, Huntington 

Learning Center, 11334 

W. Lincoln Highway, Mokena. 

Join the Mokena Chamber 

of Commerce for this 

ribbon cutting ceremony and 

free networking event. 

Yoga for ages 3-5 

10-10:45 a.m. July 20, 

Mokena Community Public 

Library District, 11327 W. 

195th St., Mokena. Space is 

limited. For more information, 

call (708) 479-9663. 

Table Top Adventures 

2 - 5 p.m. July 20, Mokena 

Community Public Library 

District, 11327 W. 195th St., 

Mokena. This program is for 

participants in grades 9-12. 

For more information, call 

(708) 479-9663. 

Planning Committee/Zoning 

Board of Appeals 

7 p.m. July 20, Mokena 

Village Hall, 11004 Carpenter 

St., Mokena. The 

Planning Committee/Zoning 

Board of Appeals is 

scheduled to meet. For more 

information, visit www.mo 

kena.org. 

Econmonic Development 

Commission Meeting 

7:30 p.m. July 20, Mokena 


St., Mokena. For more 

information, visit www.mo 

kena.org. 

Public Hearing 

7:30 p.m. July 20, Community 

Center, 7540 W. 

Braemar Lane, Frankfort. 

The Frankfort Square Park 

District will hold a public 

hearing during its board 

meeting to discuss matters 

of budget and appropriation. 


(815) 469-3524. 

Friday 

Happy Back Yoga 

10-11 a.m. July 21, Mokena 

Community Public 

Library District, 11327 W. 

195th St., Mokena. This 

class is designed to cultivate 

optimal spinal health and 

comfort. Sitting and carrying 

stress in the shoulders can 

lead to poor spinal health and 

chronic back pain. Alignment-based 

yoga postures 

are taught to create stability 

and space in the hips and 

spine, as well as relieve tension 

in the upper back, neck, 

and shoulders. All levels are 

welcome. Participants are 

encouraged to bring a yoga 

mat; however, mats will be 

provided for use during the 

class. Class size is limited. 

For more information and 

registration, call (708) 479- 

9663 or email tdomzalski@ 

mokena.lib.il.us. 

SATURDAY 

Buck’s Birthday Party 

10 a.m.-1 p.m. July 22, 

Old Plank Trail Community 

Bank, 20012 Wolf Road, 

Mokena. Old Plank Trail 

Community Bank will be 

celebrating their mascot 

Buck’s birthday this summer. 

Join them for games 

and birthday treats as well 

as Dapper Game Zone from 

10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. For 

more information, visit 

www.oldplanktrailbank. 

com. 

Meet a Horse 

11 a.m.-1 p.m. July 22, 

The Creamery, 19100 Wolf 

Road, Mokena. In honor of 

National Horse Day, Nova 

Quarter Horses will be offering 

free horse/pony rides in 

the back field at The Creamery. 

Parents will be able to 

walk with their children as 

they ride the horse. Waivers 

will be available and required, 

and helmets will be 

available. This event is for 

children ages two and older. 

SUNDAY 

Outdoor Flea Market 

8 a.m.-2 p.m. July 23, 

Main Park, 10925 W. La- 

Porte Road, Mokena. Sell 

old and new wares at this annual 

Flea Market. Fresh produce, 

new and used crafts, 

clothing, tools, and more 

welcome. Spend a day selling 

and swapping. Groups 

and organizations welcome. 

Concessions will be available. 

Free entry for buyers. 

Cost for vendors is $20 for 

pre-registeration by 4 p.m. 

the Friday before the event. 

Day of registration cost is 

$25. For more information 

and registration, visit www. 

mokenapark.com or call 

(708) 390-2401. 

Monday 

Summer Horse Camp 

9 a.m.- 3 p.m. July 24-27 

and July 31-Aug.3, Nova 

Quarter Horses, 0129 187th 

St., Mokena. Learning to 

ride a horse can be a wonderful 

experience and a lifelong 

passion. Two sessions 

are left for the 2017 Summer 

Horse Camp, and the 

July 24-27 camp is reserved 

for advanced Nova riders 

only. Cost for the July July 

31-Aug. 3 camp is $325 per 

camper and includes a t- 

shirt. Advanced week, July 

24-27, registration is $350 

per camper and includes a t- 

shirt. For more information 

and registration, call (708) 

479- 3696 or email nova 

quarterhorses1@yahoo. 

com. 

Get Moving Get Fit 

5:30-6:15 p.m. July 24, 

Comprehensive Cancer 

Center at Silver Cross Hospital, 

1850 Silver Cross 

Blvd., New Lenox. The 

Cancer Support Center 

and University of Chicago 

Medicine Comprehensive 

Cancer Center at Silver 

Cross Hospital collaborate 

to meet the needs of cancer 

survivors and their families 

by providing a new wellness 

program, offered at 

no charge. Registration is 

required by calling (708) 

478-3529. 

CPR Classes 

6-9 p.m. July 24, Mokena 

Fire Station #1, 19853 S. 

Wolf Road, Mokena. The 

Mokena Fire Protection 

District offers monthly CPR 

classes for the public. The 

cost covers books, materials 

and instructor fees. Students 

are instructed in adult, 

child and infant CPR and 

AED. Cost is $35 for community 

members and $40 

for healthcare providers. 

Register online at www.mokenafire.org 

or in person at 

Fire Station #1. 

Village Board Meeting 

7 p.m. July 24, Mokena 


St., Mokena. The 

Mokena Village Board is 

scheduled to meet. For more 

information, meeting agendas 

and minutes visit www. 

mokena.org. 

Frankfort Township Board 

Meeting 

7 p.m. July 24, Frankfort 

Township Office, 11000 W. 

Lincoln Highway, Frankfort. 

The Frankfort Township 

Board meets the second 

and fourth Monday of each 

month. For more information, 

agendas and meeting 

minutes visit www.frank 

forttownship.com. 

TUESDAY 

End of Summer Read Party 

1-3 p.m. July 25, Mokena 

Community Public Library 

District, 11327 W. 195th St., 

Mokena. Join the library for 

the End of Summer Read 

Party and enjoy Dale the 

Balloon Dude, candy art, ice 

cream and air brush tattoos. 

Winners of the Summer 

Reading program will be announced. 

Wednesday 

Senior Trip 

9 a.m. July 26, trip departs 

from Frankfort Township 

building, 11000 W. Lincoln 

Highway, Frankfort. Join 

the Frankfort Township for 

shopping at Farm & Fleet 

and Carsons in Bradley. Cost 

is $5 per person. Lunch on 

your own at Bakers Square. 

For more information and 

registration, call (815) 806- 

2766. 

UPCOMING 

Business After Hours 

3-6 p.m. Thursday, July 

27, ChiroOne Wellness Center 

of Mokena, 19636 La- 

Grange Road, Mokena. Join 

the Mokena Chamber of 

Commerce for a Health and 

Wellness open house featuring 

local wellness vendors, 

food and drink as well as a 

complimentary chiropractic 

evaluation. Meet Dr. Patricia 

Chen and learn how chiropractic 

can help with many 

common conditions. 

To submit an item to the 

printed calendar, contact 

Amanda Stoll at (708) 

326-9170 ext. 34, or email 

a.stoll@22ndcenturymedia. 

com. Deadline is noon 

Thursdays one week prior to 

publication.

mokenamessenger.com news 

the Mokena Messenger | July 20, 2017 | 3 

Mokena Community Park District Board of Commissioners 

Change requests continue as The 

Oaks construction nears its end 

Meredith Dobes 

Freelance Reporter 

Change orders remain a 

sticking point in Mokena 

Community Park District 

construction. 

Three construction change 

orders and one construction 

change directive were approved 

July 11 at a workshop 

meeting of the Mokena Community 

Park District Board 

of Commissioners for ongoing 

construction at The Oaks 

Recreation & Fitness Center 

and Yunker Farm. 

One change order, which 

was previously denied at the 

board’s June 27 meeting, 

was denied once more, as 

the board sought additional 

explanation for the request 

from Henry Bros. Co. for 

$2,958.84 to fix a plumbing 

error at the new splash pad. 

Scott Piper, vice president 

of SPM Architects, Inc., explained 

each of the requests 

prior to the board’s votes. He 

said there was confusion over 

who was responsible for water 

fill lines on the water tank 

at the splash pad, and neither 

the plumber nor the installer 

had it included in their scopes 

of work. He added that it is 

unclear on project drawings 

who is responsible, as well. 

Board Secretary Dennis 

Bagdon said the project manager 

should have known this 

and handled it months ago. 

Piper said the work did get 

done, but now the question is 

who should pay for it. 

Treasurer Bob Lindbloom 

said this work should have 

been included in the initial 

scope of work, and Vice President 

John Olivieri agreed the 

fill lines should have been included 

in plans. 

Commissioner Kevin Brogan 

asked why the park district 

would be liable to pay 

for the work, and Piper said 

he cannot say definitively 

that the district is liable. 

“This all happened before I 

was onsite,” he said. “There 

were no architects or engineers.” 

Lindbloom said Henry 

Bros. Co. needs to explain 

why the park district should 

pay for this. 

The board voted 6-1 

against the motion, with 

Commissioner George 

McJimpsey voting “yes,” and 

Piper said he would relay the 

vote to Henry Bros. and see 

if the company would like to 

explain the request. 

A $28,750 change order 

for general conditions delay 

costs for the month of June 

passed by a vote of 5-0, with 

Olivieri and Bagdon abstaining. 

Piper said this change order 

covers the cost of work during 

June, and approximately 

$20,000 pays for the supervisor, 

who worked on the 

project full-time during the 

month. He said the July costs 

will be less than half because 

of substantially reduced time 

spent on the project by the 

construction supervisor. 

A $1,152.80 change order 

for foundation expansion as 

well as a reconfiguration and 

repair of a plumbing line at 

The Oaks, to accommodate 

new bathrooms and a janitorial 

closet, was approved 6-0, 

with Olivieri abstaining. 

Piper said repair had to be 

done on the line because of 

the time period that work was 

done. He said workers had to 

use ice picks to get through 

frost to access the line. 

A $6,820 change order for 

the installation of a clay plug 

in a pond to ensure it could 

hold water to its fill line was 

unanimously approved. 

Finally, a construction 

change directive for July extended 

general conditions delay 

costs was approved 6-0, 

with Olivieri abstaining. 

Executive Director Mike 

Selep told the board the park 

district staff are spot-checking 

workers to keep track 

of hours being spent on the 

project. 

Preliminary FY 2018 budget 

discussion 

Most of the remainder of 

the board’s workshop meeting 

focused on a preliminary 

discussion of the fiscal year 

2018 budget for the park district. 

Superintendent of Finance/ 

Human Resources Patti Parli 

gave the board members 

handouts on a summary of 

fund balances, a breakdown 

of the park district’s main 

sources of revenue and expenditures, 

and a list of projects 

the park district hopes to 

fund in the FY 18 budget. 

Parli said she sent each of 

the district’s department supervisors 

a list of past, present 

and future expenditures, 

and asked them for their feedback. 

Based on their desired 

projects for the upcoming 

fiscal year, Parli talked with 

Selep to ensure the district 

was on the right path with the 

preliminary budget, she said. 

Selep said expenditures for 

a number of capital projects 

and capital equipment purchases 

are expected to be included 

in the budget. 

The Finance Committee 

will be the first to review the 

preliminary budget at its July 

meeting. The budget will then 

be presented to the board for 

initial review at its July 25 

meeting, will go on public 

display for 30 days and will 

then be up for a final vote at 

the board’s August meeting. 

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4 | July 20, 2017 | The Mokena Messenger news 


Village of Mokena Board of Trustees 

Trustees, chamber recognize Fourth of July parade organizer 

Jon DePaolis 


Mokena resident Cindy 

Gamboa may have been at 

the July 10 Village of Mokena 

Board of Trustees meeting 

to celebrate the accomplishments 

of those who participated 

in the annual Fourth of 

July parade. But it was her 

own accomplishments as the 

longtime chairwoman of the 

Mokena Chamber of Commerce 

parade that were on 

the minds of others. 

Gamboa was recognized 

with a plaque from the chamber, 

as well as a proclamation 

by the Village Board that 

noted her 20 years of service 

to making the Fourth of July 

parade a continued success. 

After the proclamation was 

read, Mayor Frank Fleischer 

thanked Gamboa for her efforts 

and commented on how 

smoothly the parade is run 

each year. 

“That doesn’t happen by 

accident,” Fleischer said. 

“That’s the work that you put 

in, and you’ve done a heck of 

a job over the years. I thank 

you, as well as the Village 

Board thanks you, for all the 

time and work you’ve put in.” 

Gamboa said her love for 

the parade began when she 

was younger. 

“The parade has been 

around longer than any of 

us know,” she said. “It’s 

been around forever, and it’s 

a great memory from my 

childhood. That’s why my 

whole family gets involved 

and works on the parade. We 

hope that it is a great memory 

for the generations to come, 

even after all of us are gone.” 

Before being honored, 

Gamboa did the same for the 

various businesses who won 

awards for their float entries. 

She also thanked the three 

judges of this year’s parade 

— Teri Buxbaum, Tony Kroll 

and Kelly Quigley. 

This year’s parade theme 

Round it up 

A brief recap of action and 

discussion from the July 10 

meeting of the Village of 

Mokena Board of Trustees. 

• An agenda item on a 

proposed adjustment to 

elected officials’ salary was 

tabled by the Village Board 

in a 6-0 vote. No discussion 

was had on the item. 

• Later in the meeting, 

Village Board members 

voted 6-0 to rezone the 

property at 11225 Front 

St. from C-1 (Traditional 

Shopping) to C-4 

(Traditional Downtown 

Commercial). As part of the 

consent agenda, trustees 

voted 6-0 to approve 

a Downtown Façade 

Improvement Grant for the 

same applicant. 

was “Celebrating Our Milestones,” 

and the winner of the 

Best Float award was Grace 

Fellowship Church. 

“Every year, we pick three 

different judges, and every 

year they are just three different 

people from the community, 

who come out to judge,” 

Gamboa said. “But every 

year, Grace Fellowship still 

wins Best Float. 

“This is their 10th year in 

a row for winning, so we’re 

going to have to give them a 

legacy award or something. 

They are a great bar to reach 

for, so I hope that everybody 

will reach for that, because it 

enhances all of our experiences 

with the parade.” 

Fleischer fired up 

Before the conclusion of 

the Village Board meeting, 

Fleischer brought up to the 

Village Board members that 

he intends to work over the 

course of the next year to 

penalize residents who light 

off fireworks in Mokena. He 

mentioned possibly ticketing 

individual residents or even 

Mokena Chamber of Commerce Fourth of July Parade 

Chairperson Cindy Gamboa (left) accepts a proclamation 

from Mayor Frank Fleischer and a plaque from the chamber 

to commemorate Gamboa’s 20 years of organizing the 

parade. The ceremony was held during the Village of 

Mokena Board of Trustees’ meeting Monday, July 10. 

Photos by Jon DePaolis/22nd Century Media 

2017 Mokena Chamber of Commerce Fourth of July 

parade winners 

• Judge No. 1 Choice: P.A.W.S. Tinley Park 

• Judge No. 2 Choice: LincolnWay Community Bank 

• Judge No. 3 Choice: John Boska 

• Chamber Executive Director’s Choice: Mokena Community 

Public Library District 

• Best in Keeping with the Theme: The Crowhurst family 

• Most Creative Advertisement of a Business: CrossFit Mokena 

• Best Float: Grace Fellowship Church 

locations where fireworks are 

being shot off. 

“Something has to be 

done with this, and it is 

getting completely out of 

hand,” Fleischer said. “My 

house is shaking three times 

a day, for God’s sake. The 

stuff that is being shot off 

is ridiculous, and it’s completely 

out of hand now.” 

Fleischer said he would 

keep the board members updated 

on progress, and that 

there had been a number of 

calls made to the Village 

about fireworks. 

“I want to talk to staff 

about the possibility of setting 

up a hotline,” Fleischer 

Mokena Fire Protection District Fire Chief Howard Stephens 

speaks about the parade during the meeting. The fire 

district was the grand marshal of the Fourth of July parade 

and has been celebrating its centennial all year. 

The Grace Fellowship Church float, which won the Best 

Float award, makes its way down Wolf Road during the 

Fourth of July parade. Photo Submitted 

said. “It’s not like it was years 

ago where you had a few firecrackers 

here or there. People 

are shooting off dangerous, 

dangerous fireworks. This is 

not a game. 

“If one of these fireworks 

landed in front of somebody’s 

child or by somebody’s 

house, someone could get really 

hurt. As dry as it was this 

year, we’re just lucky as hell 

that we didn’t have a fire. 

“Something has got to 

be done, because enough is 

enough.”



Semper Fi: Marine faithfully helps fellow wounded veterans 

Jon DePaolis 


The grenade hurled by an 

insurgent in Iraq couldn’t 

stop Mike Mendoza. So, 

a Guinness World Record 

should be a walk in the park 

— or, rather, a 70.3-mile 

swim, bike, run in the park. 

Mendoza, a Mokena resident 

and veteran of the United 

States Marine Corps, is attempting 

to break the record 

for most completed half Ironman 

races in a single year — 

all while raising money for 

the Semper Fi Fund, a program 

that provides financial 

aid to wounded veterans. 

It’s something that means 

quite a bit to the Purple Heart 

and Navy Cross recipient. 

After all, he too is a wounded 

veteran. 

Trouble arises in a combat 

zone 

From a very young age, 

Mendoza knew he wanted to 

serve his country. 

“That seed was planted in 

my head a long time ago,” 

he said. “It could have been 

from watching “Rambo” 

movies or playing G.I. Joe in 

the backyard.” 

Mendoza joined up in 

1997, attending boot camp 

and School of Infantry. He 

became “a grunt,” an infantryman 

and deployed to Okinawa 

and then to Thailand 

all before his 19th birthday. 

During those first few years, 

Mendoza enjoyed visiting 

and learning about other 

countries and cultures. 

But his time in the Marines 

changed dramatically after 

9/11. For troops, it stopped 

being about just training to be 

proficient at their jobs. Added 

to the mix was now being 

able to execute missions. 

“Lives were now on the 

line,” Mendoza said. 

In 2004, he was deployed 

on his first combat tour — 

sent to Fallujah, a city in 

the province of Al Anbar 

in Iraq. He stayed there for 

nine months. After returning 

home, he trained a reserve 

unit in Chicago for deployment. 

Then, he redeployed to 

Fallujah in 2006 — this time 

as a sniper. It was on that tour 

that his injury was sustained. 

Despite it being more than 

a decade later, he remembers 

it vividly. He was on 

the outskirts of Fallujah on 

a mission to find and counter 

improvised explosive devices 

and other bombs, as well as 

“finding bad guys.” 

At about 2 a.m., his unit 

was engaged by insurgents. 

“During the middle of the 

firefight, as a lot of bullets 

were flying, a grenade happened 

to land right next to 

me,” Mendoza recalled. “It 

exploded and hit me and two 

other Marines.” 

In the immediate aftermath 

of the explosion, Mendoza 

didn’t know he was hurt. 

“All I felt was the concussion 

of the grenade,” he said. 

“You feel the pressure. I was 

in a two-story building, and 

the noise just bounced off 

the walls. But I really didn’t 

know I was hurt. I was in a 

daze.” 

But minutes later, he started 

having difficulty breathing. 

Mendoza went to his 

radio operator and called for 

a quick reaction force, shortened 

to a QRF, and noted two 

wounded in action — a WIA. 

Soon after, the radio operator 

looked at Mendoza and 

said, “You got blood on you, 

bro.” 

Mendoza didn’t think it 

was his own, but he grabbed 

a flashlight, took off his shirt 

and saw that he was bleeding 

from his left side. The grenade 

blast and shrapnel had 

penetrated his skin and done 

serious internal damage. 

Mendoza said he went 

Mike Mendoza finishes a leg of one of his half Ironman 

races. The Mokena resident plans to complete 25 half 

Ironman races, which would break the current Guinness 

World Record of 23, in an attempt to raise $25,000 to 

donate to Semper Fi Fund, which helped his family when he 

was wounded in Iraq. Photo Submitted 

back on the radio and updated 

the situation — there were 

now three WIA. 

When the unit was extracted, 

Mendoza was taken 

to a casualty aid station to 

determine the extent of his 

injuries. 

“I remember them putting 

like an ultrasound over my 

chest and my stomach, kind 

of like they have for babies,” 

he said. “The [doctor] pointed 

at the screen and at some 

dark spots. He said, ‘That’s 

all pooling up. You’re bleeding 

inside somewhere.’” 

Next, Mendoza was put 

on a helicopter and taken to 

Baghdad for emergency surgery. 

“By then, I was really having 

trouble breathing, and 

they were having trouble 

intubating me,” Mendoza 

recalled. “I remember even 

praying for myself. I kept 

saying, ‘I couldn’t breathe, I 

couldn’t breathe.’ And I was 

trying to calm myself down, 

because if I could slow my 

heart rate down, I wouldn’t 

struggle as much.” 

In those moments, his 

mind focused on two things. 

First, he remembered a former 

captain of his getting hit 

in the same spot he was hit 

— right underneath the armpit 

on the side. The captain 

didn’t survive. 

Second, Mendoza remembered 

his friend, Eddie, who 

also had been seriously injured 

on a mission. Eddie 

said he was able to relax and 

calm his heart rate, and he 

lived. 

“There’s nothing much 

you can really do,” Mendoza 

said of that moment. “I can 

slow my heart rate down and 

think of positive things. But I 

also put my trust into the surgeons. 

That’s all you can do, 

pretty much.” 

Mendoza survived, but his 

journey was just beginning. 

Helping heal others’ wounds 

Today, most would not 

know that Mendoza is a 

wounded veteran — certainly 

not anyone watching 

him complete Ironmans and 

marathons. 

But under the surface, 

Mendoza does have his challenges. 

He still has shrapnel 

inside of him. 

“Every once in a while, I 

will feel something,” he said. 

“It feels like a cramp on my 

left side, but it’s not a cramp. 

It’s the shrapnel, which is 

surrounded by scar tissue 

— rubbing against my diaphragm 

and rib cage.” 

But Mendoza said he feels 

grateful, because some of 

his friends and other veterans 

sustained injuries much 

worse than his own. 

Mendoza also benefits 

from possessing a personality 

trait that doesn’t just let him 

sit around. For Mendoza, it’s 

all or nothing — whether that 

is his dedication to his service 

or his family, or how he 

approaches a sport or activity. 

That led him to success 

in high school as a threesport 

athlete (cross country, 

wrestling and track) at Rich 

South. Most recently, it has 

helped in his pursuits with 

the half Ironman races. 

He started doing those in 

2016 after a friend named 

Steve introduced him to the 

races. His first was in Chicago. 

“I ended up actually winning 

my age group,” said 

Mendoza, who also placed in 

the Top 10 overall. “Not bad 

for being a rookie.” 

And from that success 

came an idea. While recovering 

from his injuries in 2007, 

Mendoza was introduced to 

the Semper Fi Fund. The organization 

set up his wife and 

children with money to help 

with costs, as well as housing 

near the hospital. 

Even after he left the hospital, 

Mendoza said Semper 

Fi Fund checked in on him. 

“Even now, I remember 

getting a couple of Christmas 

ornaments [from them],” 

he said. “There is no way to 

explain the gratitude on my 

end.” 

Over the years, Mendoza 

reached out to the Semper 

Fi Fund to try and give back. 

Now, he had a way. The organization 

set up a webpage 

that he could use to raise 

money for the organization. 

“Every penny that is donated 

will go to a service member,” 

Mendoza said. 

And to help raise that money, 

Mendoza decided to go to 

the extreme. He was sitting 

at home one night last year, 

and he wondered aloud to his 

wife, Kelly, what the record 

was for most completed half 

Ironman races in a single year. 

It was 23. In order to raise 

money for Semper Fi Fund, 

he plans to complete 25. 

As of the interview, Mendoza 

had completed 12 races. 

His goal is to raise $25,000 

— an amount that sounds like 

a lot, but in terms of the cost 

for athletic appendages or cycling 

chairs for wounded veterans 

is actually quite small. 

Those devices can cost tens 

of thousands of dollars. 

“I always try to put myself 

in my buddies’ shoes,” he 

said. “I was very active when 

I was younger. If I lost one or 

both of my legs, I would still 

want to run.” 

For those interested in donating 

and following along 

with his quest to break the 

world record, Mendoza’s 

webpage is www.thepatrio 

tracer.com.



Inaugural Princess Breakfast gives families royal treatment 

Megann Horstead 


Singing, dancing and photos 

with princesses were 

among the activities at the 

Mokena Community Park 

District’s inaugural Princess 

Breakfast. 

A total of 60 people attended 

the event Saturday, 

July 15, at Yunker Farm in 

Mokena. 

“We have a Cinderella 

Ball, but I wanted to do like 

another smaller-scale event 

that was for little girls again,” 

said Rebecca Phetteplace, 

recreation supervisor of special 

events for Mokena Community 

Park District. “I just 

thought something like this 

would be perfect to interact 

with princesses.” 

The turnout for the inaugural 

event was nice to see, 

Phetteplace said. 

“It ended up being a really 

good turnout for the first 

year,” she said. 

There was no shortage of 

things to do, with the most 

anticipated being the meetand-greet 

session with princesses 

held in the adjacent 

community bandshell. Children 

scurried the grounds of 

Yunker Farm as they gathered 

to see Disney’s Ariel 

from “The Little Mermaid”, 

Belle from “The Beauty and 

the Beast” and Rapunzel 

from “Tangled.” Additionally, 

children and their families 

sat for breakfast, enjoyed 

crafts and listened as picture 

books were read aloud by 

princesses. 

“I think that you can definitely 

tell the girls are having 

so much fun,” Phetteplace 

said. 

Trisha Dorr, of Mokena, 

said she enjoyed all of what 

Princess Breakfast offered. 

“They did singing, and they 

read a book,” she said. “It was 

more than just like seeing the 

princesses. It was like they 

made an event of it.” 

Dorr’s 3-year-old daughter, 

Kennedy, donned a gown 

just like the one worn by her 

A total of 60 people dropped in Saturday, July 15, to experience the Mokena Community Park District’s inaugural Princess Breakfast, which featured three 

Disney princesses, at the newly opened Yunker Farm. Photos by Megann Horstead/22nd Century Media 

favorite princess, Belle, and 

said her favorite part was getting 

to meet her. 

Dorr said Kennedy was excited 

to see the princesses so 

much she was mesmerized. 

“Earlier, she said the princesses 

have to go back to 

their castles when we finish, 

right?” she recounted. 

Trisha said she is glad 

she learned the park district 

would be hosting its Princess 

Breakfast. 

“I’ve always been looking 

for something like this,” she 

said. 

Bre Pluth, of New Lenox, 

was standing in line with her 

6-year-old daughter, Hannah, 

for pictures with princesses. 

“We had no clue they were 

going to be here,” Bre said. 

“It was a nice surprise.” 

Hannah said she liked 

everything about Princess 

Breakfast. 

Bre said it’s wonderful 

“just seeing her happy with 

Disney’s Belle (left) strikes a pose with Isabela Roca, 6, at 

the Princess Breakfast. Many attendees dressed as their 

favorite princesses. 

her friend and dancing and 

getting all excited about the 

princesses and getting all 

dressed up.” 

Bre added that she would 

return if the park district decided 

to host another Princess 

Breakfast. 

“[It’s] just an excuse for 

[Hannah] to get dressed up,” 

she said. “She likes to do that 

at home, but it was nice to be 

able to do it amongst other 

little girls that dressed up, 

too.” 

The decision of whether 

to host the event again next 

year is still to be determined, 

Phetteplace said. 

“I was doing it based off 

feedback from this year,” she 

said. “During the week next 

week, I’ll send a survey [to] 

see people’s thoughts on it. 

Disney princesses (left to right) Ariel, Belle and Rapunzel 

meet with attendees during the breakfast. 

As of right now, my thoughts 

on it just right now, I would 

definitely say it’s something 

we’re going to host again. 

“A lot of sign-ups were 

actually nonresidents, so 

it’s about half-and-half,” 

Phetteplace said. “We had a 

few from Tinley Park, New 

Lenox, Lockport. So, we 

drew from quite a few different 

areas.” 

The hope, Phetteplace said, 

is guests will see the way the 

park district is striving to be 

responsive to the community’s 

interests. 

Phetteplace said it is important 

for people “to see 

what kind of different events 

they can bring [to Yunker 

Farm,] and then letting people 

know that we’re listening 

and then wanting to give 

them the events that they’re 

interested in.”

mokenamessenger.com mokena 


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Summit Hill School D161 Board of Education 

Following district dismissals, officials clash over need to seek legal opinion 



Summit Hill officials 

weighed in on whether the 

superintendent could seek 

written legal opinion regarding 

the dismissal — and 

rehiring — of three employees 

at the Board of Education’s 

July 12 meeting. 

Board action taken at a 

recent meeting was part of 

FREE 

Registration 

Don’t let your 

advertising cool 

down this summer. 

BE SMART. ADVERTISE IN 

CONTACT 

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LORA HEALY 

708.326.9170 ext. 31 l.healy@22ndcenturymedia.com 

the district’s reorganization 

process and subsequently 

met by concerns raised 

by the board’s two newest 

members, Joy Murphy 

and Jim Martin. During a 

closed-session meeting held 

in April, the board decided 

to honorably dismiss three 

employees. 

Board policy stipulates 

that educational support 

personnel can be cut by 

means of a reduction in 

force — which allows employment 

to be terminated 

only through resignation 

or retirement — a non-reduction 

in force dismissal 

or a reduction in force dismissal. 

“Given the choice of the 

three, the reduction in force 

and recall parameters applied 

as they’re laid out in 

the board policy,” Board 

President Rich Marron said. 

Related school code lays 

out a procedure for dismissing 

and rehiring employees 

if the discharge is honorable. 

If the district creates 

jobs they would qualify for 

within the next school year, 

those individuals have to be 

recalled. 

“I believe the board policy 

lays this out fairly clearly, 

and do not believe the 

legal opinion is necessary at 

all,” Marron said. 

The district is not facing 

any lawsuits in regards to 

its reorganization process, 

Superintendent Barb Rains 

said. 

Still, Murphy questioned 

the manner in which the 

district can dismiss such 

employees and said officials 

reduced the positions, but 

the staff wasn’t reduced. 

“There was three people, 

but one of those three people 

did absorb part of another 

job responsibility of 

somebody else,” Murphy 

said. “There’s three people, 

but he got another part of 

another person’s job. That 

salary did not decrease, that 

salary increased.” 

Marron said Murphy 

doesn’t understand the full 

picture. 

Rains said she recognized 

that employees may sometimes 

absorb the responsibilities 

of an individual who 

was dismissed, and said 

it’s based on many factors, 

though it’s not necessarily a 

typical occurrence. 

Murphy wanted to know 

what was known legally 

among board members. 

Board Member George 

Leonard said the board policy 

spells it out clearly and 

refuted the idea of needing 

to seek a legal opinion. 

“It’s better for an employee 

of an educational institution 

to be riffed,” he said. 

“It’s the right thing to do. In 

addition to that, it’s in the 

board policy.” 

Typically, when an employee 

is dismissed, their 

exit is equitable to being 

honorably discharged. 

A dishonorable dismissal 

presents the contrary. 

“It still doesn’t seem 

right,” Murphy said. “When 

we’ve reduced staff before, 

we had to reduce 10 percent 

of staff in order to [qualify 

as] reduction of force.” 

Marron said the 10 percent 

reduction in staff applied 

to certified teachers, 

not educational support professionals. 

Martin said he intends 

to use his ability to review 

previous closed meetings, 

and said it will help to “put 

this question to bed about 

the action that was taken on 

April 12.” 

“Making sense of [just] 

that, I just don’t understand 

why it was done,” Martin 

said. 

Marron took exception to 

Martin’s use of the board 

member comments section 

of the public meeting 

to announce the course of 

action he plans to take and 

suggested that he start by 

reviewing the audio for the 

open meeting and related 

minutes. 

“Our board policy — 

should you choose to read 

it — states that one should 

carefully consider why 

they’re listening to the 

tapes,” he said. “To listen 

to them because you don’t 

trust another board member 

about an item that you 

were not seated for, I think 

it is an affront, and I believe 

you are violating our board 

policy.” 

In a 2-4 vote, the board 

decided not to seek written 

legal opinion. Martin 

and Murphy cast dissenting 

votes. 

First look at 2017-2018 

budget 

The board took the first of 

three looks at the budget. 

Officials are projecting 

a $367,470 deficit in the 

district’s operations and 

maintenance fund and an 

estimated $900,000 deficit 

pertaining to the non-operations 

and maintenance fund, 

which includes education 

and transportation. 

The next review will be 

in August and followed by 

a final review in September. 

“The other thing to note is 

that on the revenue side in 

the transportation and education 

fund, we only budgeted 

two payments for the 

State-mandated categoricals,” 

said Doug Wiley, director 

of business and transportation. 

The district received its 

second State-mandated categorical 

payment for last 

Please see d161, 10



Police Reports 

Police: Man possessed 

opiate, amphetamine 

Scott A. Bogard, 38, of 19812 Glennell 

Ave. in Mokena, was charged June 30 with 

felony possession of a controlled substance 

after he allegedly was found to possess a 

substance that field tested positive for an 

opiate weighing 1.6 grams and a substance 

that field tested positive for amphetamine 

compounds weighing 0.6 grams. 

Police received a call about a potential 

hand-to-hand drug exchange at the Mokena 

Speedway, located at 19724 S. Wolf 

Road. According to the report, an off-duty 

Will County Sheriff’s deputy told police he 

observed Bogard and another suspect complete 

a drug transaction. Police later reportedly 

discovered four small bags of white 

powder and a small bag containing a gray 

“rock-like substance” on Bogard’s person. 

July 4 

• William E. Vahl, 58, of 1 Thornwood 

Mall in University Park, and Sherry F. Gomez, 

58, of 1328 Ridgewood Ave. in Joliet, 

were each charged July 4 with retail theft 

after Gomez allegedly exited a department 

store in the 11300 block of Lincoln Highway 

without paying for 17 cans of baby 

formula. 

After leaving the store, a loss prevention 

officer at the store reportedly observed Gomez 

enter a green Chevrolet Lumina driven 

by Vahl and attempt to leave the area. After 

police initiated a traffic stop, they discovered 

the cans of infant formula valued 

at $118.93 and a glass smoking pipe with 

burnt residue. Gomez was also charged 

with possession of drug equipment following 

the discovery of the smoking pipe. 

June 30 

• Ashley E. Wiziecki, 26, of 2315 E. Olive 

St. in Arlington Heights, was charged June 

30 with failure to reduce speed to avoid a 

collision, driving on a suspended license 

and causing a collision that resulted in personal 

injury after she allegedly caused a 

collision in the 19100 block of LaGrange 

Road. After arriving on the scene, police 

reportedly discovered that Wiziecki, who 

had been driving a black Jeep Grand Cherokee, 

had a suspended driver’s license. 

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Mokena Messenger’s 

police reports come from the Mokena Police 

Department. Anyone listed in these reports is 

considered to be innocent of all charges until 

proven guilty in a court of law. 

FROM THE FRANKFORT STATION 

Frankfort man wins taekwondo 

championship in special abilities 

division 

When Matthew Frame sets 

his mind to something, he gets it 

done. 

The 25-year-old Frankfort 

man recently kicked off summer 

by winning world championship 

titles for the third consecutive 

year at the American Taekwondo 

Association International’s Tournament 

of Champions, held June 

20-25 in Little Rock, Arkansas. 

Frame, who has autism, 

competed in the men’s special 

abilities division, in the 18- to 

29-year-old bracket. He won 

world championships in the Creative 

Forms and Sparring events. 

“I’ve been training hard and 

staying focused, staying cool 

without losing control,” Frame, a 

third-degree black belt, said July 

6 while at the Frankfort Black 

Belt Academy. 

Frame trains at the academy 

twice a week. 

“I’ve been here for nine years,” 

he said. “I love competing and 

[setting] goals, and learning to 

defend myself.” 

Reporting by Jon DePaolis, Freelance 

Reporter. For more, visit 

FrankfortStation.com. 

FROM THE NEW LENOX PATRIOT 

Tuminello brings talent, 

leadership to St. Norbert 

Providence Catholic cheerleading 

coach Laura Duesing 

remembers the first time she met 

Natasha Tuminello. 

It was roughly four years ago, 

when the teenager tried out for 

the squad her freshman year. 

“She made an immediate impression 

on me, just by the way 

she handled herself,” Duesing 

said. “We were just really drawn 

to her personality. She was very 

kind and humble, but you could 

tell that this was a person who 

was grateful for the opportunities 

that she was going to have.” 

But before Tuminello would 

go on to those successes — including 

three Top 4 finishes at 

state and two sectional championships 

— Duesing just had 

a feeling about the New Lenox 

teenager. 

“I had no doubt,” Duesing said. 

“I knew when I saw her that this 

was going to be someone who 

would go on to do very well, not 

just athletically but in all aspects 

of her life.” 

Tuminello — who just graduated 

from Providence in the 

spring — has committed to continue 

her cheerleading career at 

St. Norbert College in De Pere, 

Wisconsin. 

When it came time to start 

thinking about college, St. Norbert 

appealed to Tuminello for 

many reasons. For one thing, 

in addition to cheering for the 

school’s football and basketball 

teams, St. Norbert students also 

serve as cheerleaders for the 

Green Bay Packers. 

Reporting by Jon DePaolis, Freelance 

Reporter. For more, visit 

NewLenoxPatriot.com. 

FROM THE HOMER HORIZON 

Shady Oaks Camp celebrates its 

70th anniversary 

In 1947, some 50 parents 

of youths with cerebral palsy 

opened a camp in the woods of 

unincorporated Homer Township 

where their children could spend 

a few weeks together in summer. 

Situated on 35 acres they had 

purchased for $18,000, Shady 

Oaks Camp for Individuals With 

Cerebral Palsy, as it was then 

known, was literally in the middle 

of nowhere. The camp provided 

a quiet, secluded place for 

the children to enjoy a camp experience 

at a time when few services 

of the sort were available to 

people with disabilities. 

Fast-forward 70 years, and 

Shady Oaks is regarded as a oneof-a-kind 

summer camp, where 

campers, staff and volunteers 

continue to return year after year. 

Today’s version of the nonprofit 

camp serves people of all ages 

and with all disabilities, whether 

physical or intellectual, and operates 

on an annual budget of 

between $300,000 and $350,000. 

On July 9 Shady Oaks held its 

70th annual Open House on its 

property at 16300 Parker Road. 

Campers and their parents, along 

with staff members, donors and 

volunteers, took part in what 

was essentially an old-fashioned 

summer picnic under the oaks 

from which the camp gets its 

name. There was a DJ, a water 

balloon-tossing contest and 

a musical performance by staff 

members and campers. 

Reporting by Jason Maholy, 

Freelance Reporter. For more, visit 

HomerHorizon.com. 

FROM THE ORLAND PARK PRAIRIE 

Police seeking help in identifying 

armed robbery suspects 

The Orland Park Police Department 

is seeking the public’s 

help in identifying two suspects 

from an armed robbery that reportedly 

took place this past 

weekend. 

Orland Park police were dispatched 

at 3:16 p.m. July 8 to 

the parking lot near Macy’s at 

Orland Square for a report of an 

armed robbery, according to a 

press release issued July 10 by 

the department. 

Two women reportedly returned 

to a vehicle after shopping 

together. One placed her purse in 

the backseat as she entered the 

car, when a male described as 

black and wearing a hood opened 

the rear door of the vehicle and 

removed the purse, police said. 

The man then entered the passenger’s 

side of a green Ford 

Mustang that was nearby and 

occupied by an additional male 

described as black, who was 

driving, according to the press 

release. One of the women yelled 

to the men to stop, at which time 

she saw that the man who took 

the purse was holding a handgun, 

police said. 

The Mustang had been reported 

stolen earlier that same morning 

out of Tinley Park. 

Both men were described as in 

their late teens or early 20s. Farrell 

added that both men were an 

“average build for the age range 

given” but that he had no further 

description of them available. 

The Orland Park Police Department 

is requesting that anyone 

who can help identify the 

suspects in this case to call (708) 

349-4111. 

Reporting by Bill Jones, Editor. For 

more, visit OPPrairie.com. 

FROM THE LOCKPORT LEGEND 

Old-school barber shop brings 

clean cuts to Lockport 

There is a long pause as Angelo 

Roman Jr. thinks about which 

haircut he likes to style the most. 

“Let’s see,” said Roman — 

co-owner of the new Barber 

Capital in downtown Lockport. 

“Probably — it’s one of the most 

popular cuts and I like doing it 

because you can style it — the 

comb over.” 

He begins to flip through 

stylebooks kept at the new shop, 

showing the different comb over 

haircuts and how they can be 

done. Mood music flows through 

the shop, which Roman and his 

wife, Brenda, own together and 

officially opened earlier this year. 

“We’ve thought about it for 

years,” Brenda continued. “It’s 

always been his dream since we 

met. … So, when the opportunity 

presented itself, we jumped on it.” 

Angelo grew up on the north 

side of Chicago, where his grandfather 

owned Luquillo’s Barber 

Shop in Humboldt Park. There, 

he started by sweeping the floors 

and later learned barbery, falling 

in love with the trade. 

“I had great respect for my 

grandfather,” Angelo said. “Everyone 

showed him so much love 

and respect. … I loved it. Every 

chance that I got, I wanted to be 

there.” 

This love turned into a dream, 

and the dream turned into a reality, 

when Roman and his wife 

opened Barber Capital. The new 

barber shop keeps it “old-school” 

with antique decorations, and 

provides a full range of services 

for clients. 

“What separates me from a lot 

of the other, newer barber shops 

is that I try to keep the old-fashioned 

vibe with a new vibe, as 

well,” Roman said. 

Reporting by Editorial Intern 

Claudia Harmata. For more, visit 

LockportLegend.com.

10 | July 20, 2017 | The Mokena Messenger community 


Frankie 

NAWS Illinois 

Humane Society 

9981 W. 190th 

Street 

Mokena, IL 

60448 

• NIGHTHAWK • 

Frankie is a 

19-month-old 

neutered male 

domestic long 

hair. He is very 

sweet and 

affectionate. 

He loves 

attention and enjoys being petted and held. He is 

silly and playful and loves his kitty toys. This sweet 

boy would make a wonderful addition to any family. 

To meet him, contact Wendy at (708) 478-5102 or 

wendy@nawsus.org. 

Want to see your pet featured as The Mokena Messenger’s 

Pet of the Week? Send your pet’s photo and a few sentences 

explaining why your pet is outstanding to Editor Tim Carroll 

at tim@mokenamessenger.com or 11516 W. 183rd St., Office 

Condo 3, Suite SW, Orland Park, IL 60467. 

OPENING 

SOON 

Dr. Aarthi Subram 

11600 Francis Rd., Unit D 

Mokena, IL 60448 

708.478.6482 

Visit nighthawkvet.com 

to request an appointment. 

Announcements 

Pomp and circumstance! 

Photo submitted 

Success calls for celebration. 

Congratulations to Sierra Cady for being 

[at the top of the] Lincoln-Way Central 

Class of 2017! 

After attending Lincoln-Way East for three 

Mike MCCatty 

AND ASSOCIATES 

708.945.2121 

mccattyrealestate.com 

years, she [was a leader] at Lincoln-Way 

Central. 

Sierra will be attending Ohio State 

University in the fall, where she will study 

neuroscience and Spanish. Her older 

sister, Sedona, also attends OSU. 

Sierra’s accomplishments include 

being the saxaphone section leader 

in the marching band, the pitch piper 

in Madrigal Singers and earning the 

Seal of Biliteracy for Spanish. She also 

participates in vocal jazz, pit orchestra, 

pep band, honors band, honors choir and 

lifeguarding. 

Her family wishes her the best and is so 

proud of all that she has accomplished. 

Love, 

Grandma 

Jeanine Gierut 

Make a FREE announcement in The Mokena 

Messenger. We will publish birth, birthday, 

military, engagement, wedding and anniversary 

announcements free of charge. Announcements 

are due the Thursday before publication. To 

make an announcement, email tim@mokenamessenger.com. 

CALL ME. 

I WON’T PLAY 

HARD 

TO GET! 

d161 

From Page 8 

school year toward the end 

of June. 

“Now that they’ve passed 

a state budget, we’re hopeful 

that we’ll get those in a little 

more timely fashion, but 

they’re still working on the 

funding formula, so there’s 

still some work to do,” Wiley 

said. “To be conservative 

and not to count on that 

money, we’ve only placed 

two of those reimbursements 

for each fund. So, really the 

only other thing to know is 

if we get all four payments, 

both the education fund and 

also the transportation fund 

would swing to a surplus, 

rather than a deficit that we 

currently project. It would 

be nice to get those two, but 

then again, you can’t really 

count on them.” 

Should the board want a 

balanced budget, the district 

has projects that officials 

could delay for a year, 

Rains said. 

The district is embarking 

on several improvement 

projects to address roofing, 

tile replacement and an 

HVAC system. 

“The [operations and 

maintenance] fund is running 

negative, showing a 

deficit for next year, but 

that’s planned because 

of the shingle work and 

[planned maintenance,]” 

Marron said. 

The operations and maintenance 

balance is significant 

because the district 

has received tax objections 

for excess collections the 

last two years, Marron 

said. 

If the district does not put 

to use its excess collections, 

the money will no longer be 

available. 

“We have to spend some 

of that money,” Marron 

said. “This is a planned 

deficit that we’re running. 

We knew we had to do repairs 

on these buildings, 

and we’ve been saving up 

our pennies in order to do 

that.”



Taking a walk on the safe side 

Officials hear 

Frankfort Square 

residents’ concerns 

over break-ins 



To help protect residents 

of Mokena and Frankfort 

from falling victim to the 

increase of car burglaries reported 

in the area, the Frankfort 

Square Park District and 

Will County Sheriff’s Office 

held a public meeting Thursday, 

July 13, to allow people 

to meet with officials to discuss 

and ask questions. 

Since Jan. 1, the Mokena- 

Frankfort area has reported 

an uptick of approximately 

20 car burglaries, according 

to the County. 

“The numbers are a little 

skewed, but I don’t think it’s 

that high,” said Dirk Obermayer, 

a patrol sergeant for 

Will County Sheriff’s Office, 

referring to the number 

of incidents classified as car 

burglaries or other related offenses. 

The numbers presented 

are comparable to communities 

across Will County, 

Obermayer said. 

Officials looked to clarify 

the concerns they have in the 

area. 

“Someone always has 

something [of] value in there 

—phone charges, GPS,” 

Obermayer said. “Sometimes 

people leave their wallets, 

purses, backpacks, laptop 

bags, workout gym bags. 

Those things usually get 

taken.” 

Typically, car burglaries 

are offenses committed by juveniles 

who do not belong to 

the community in which the 

crime occurred, he said. They 

enter the community through 

highways that lead into the 

Frankfort-Mokena area. 

Dan Kemp (left) asks Will County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Dirk 

Obermayer about the local crime in the area July 12 during 

a community forum in Frankfort Square. 

“As far as it being from in 

the community, [it happens] 

very rarely,” Obermayer 

said. “I think one juvenile 

which we did catch, he did 

ended up getting caught on a 

follow-up interview. He was 

from the area.” 

Many of these crimes occur 

from 3:30-6:30 a.m., 

Obermayer said. 

“Those are the new hot 

times for burglary of motor 

vehicles,” he said. “And, 

then when you start talking 

about burglaries, people 

think it’s the middle of the 

night. It’s not.” 

Jennifer Jurgovan, of 

Frankfort, was one of several 

people in attendance for 

the public meeting. She said 

she became a victim last fall. 

“I also did have my car 

broken into twice in one 

night, and my doors were 

locked,” she said. “[I] even 

went out a second time and 

locked them. You could see 

that they jimmied my door 

open.” 

Jurgovan added that no 

property was stolen as a result 

of the two early-morning 

break-ins. 

But many incidents involve 

unlocked cars. 

“Because you break a window 

in these neighborhoods, 

people are going to hear it,” 

Obermayer said. “It’s all just 

keeping those doors locked, 

and everybody’s guilty of it. 

We got to all try to remember 

if you keep valuables in 

there, you definitely have to 

lock it.” 

Reports from the Will 

County Sheriff’s Office 

show that car burglaries involving 

break-ins result in a 

pattern that differs from incidents 

that do not. 

“As far as the actual 

smash — people smashing 

your windows to get in — 

the numbers would be very 

small for burglaries to motor 

vehicles since January,” 

Obermayer said. “I would 

say probably even single 

digits of people that actually 

broken into [vehicles.]” 

Some attendees called into 

question the Will County 

Sheriff’s Office’s response 

time to incidents in Frankfort 

Square, as well as issues 

concerning manpower. 

Obermayer acknowledged 

the concerns raised and said 

that was more of an issue in 

the past. 

“We have more manpower 

east of Cedar [Road] 

than Frankfort and Mokena, 

combined,” Obermayer said. 

“We got deputies on call. We 

Jim Gribbin (left) talks with Will County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Dirk Obermayer during a 

community forum Thursday, June 13, on safety and crime in Frankfort Square. Photos by 

Julie McMann/22nd Century Media 

Jim Molloy speaks up during the meeting to agree with Obermayer. 

got our [tactical] units out 

and about. We’re definitely 

staffed. Manpower — that 

should never be a concern.” 

Obermayer credits the 

community’s responsiveness 

to help curb crime. 

“One great things about 

this neighborhood and this 

community is how tight-knit 

everybody is,” he said. “A lot 

of people know who belongs, 

what vehicles are there. We 

get so many suspicious calls. 

‘Hey, this car is parked down 

the street. It doesn’t belong 

here.’ All of this, ‘This red 

car has been in this lady’s 

driveway. One-hundred percent 

she doesn’t own that 

car. I don’t think they belong 

there.’ [They’re] very proactive, 

which we love.” 

Obermayer urged people to 

call the Will County Sheriff’s 

Office, and said there’s never 

a dumb reason to call them. 

“We much rather come 

out for a suspicious car or a 

suspicious person than have 

to respond to know that you 

guys have been victims of a 

crime,” he said.

12 | July 20, 2017 | The Mokena Messenger school 


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School News 

Simpson College 

Mokena native earns dean’s 

list recognition 

Taylor Simmons, of Mokena, 

was named to the 

dean’s list at Simpson College 

for the spring 2017 

semester. Students named 

to the Dean’s List earned a 

3.70-3.99 GPA. 

Simpson College is located 

in Indianola, Iowa, a short 

drive from Iowa’s capital 

city of Des Moines. Founded 

in 1860 by members of the 

United Methodist Church, 

Simpson College has approximately 

1,300 full-time 

undergraduate students and 

approximately 400 parttime 

students. Simpson also 

has campuses in West Des 

Moines and Ankeny serving 

primarily adult learners. 

Simpson offers 80 majors 

and minors, is a member 

of the NCAA Division III 

Iowa Athletic Conference, 

hosts eight Greek houses on 

campus and sponsors many 

extracurricular options for 

student involvement. 

School News is compiled by 

Editor Tim Carroll, tim@moke 

namessenger.com 

Suiting up for future success 

East students 

compete nationally 

Submitted by Lincoln-Way 

Community High School 

District 210 

On June 29, 10 Lincoln- 

Way East Future Business 

Leaders of America-Phi 

Beta Lambda students attended 

the four-day FBLA 

National Leadership Conference 

in Anaheim, California. 

The students representing 

Lincoln-Way East included 

Brooke Anderson, Ryan 

Braun, Raj Patel, Weston 

Dell, Ethan Rasmussen, Clio 

Spada, and Audrey Zenick. 

Weston Dell placed eighth 

overall at the conference, 

and Ryan Braun and Raj Patel 

placed among the Top 15. 

More than 12,000 of the 

best and brightest traveled 

to showcase their talents as 

Members of the 

Lincoln-Way East 

future Business 

Leaders of America- 

Phi Beta Lambda 

pose for a photo 

June 29 during the 

annual FBLA National 

Leadership Conference 

in Anaheim, California. 

Photo submitted 

future business leaders and 

participate in the opportunity 

to win more than $175,000 

in cash awards. 

Participants from across 

the United States, Canada, 

Puerto Rico and China came 

to the conference to sharpen 

their core business skills, expand 

networks and participate 

in more than 60 competitive 

events. 

“These events are extremely 

competitive, and I 

am so proud of their accomplishments,” 

Lincoln-Way 

East FBLA advisor Christine 

Ahearn said. 

“Through hard work and 

dedication, our students 

earned this opportunity to 

attend the national competition 

in Anaheim. This national 

competition is a great 

opportunity for students to 

network with business leaders 

and other members from 

across the world.”



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Old Plank Road Trail gets 20th anniversary present 

Submitted by the Forest 

Preserve District of Will 

County 

The new Old Plank Road 

Trail (OPRT) Bridge over Interstate 

80 in New Lenox is 

up and running, and the old 

bridge has been removed just 

in time for the path’s 20th anniversary. 

The modern, more aesthetically 

pleasing bow 

truss bridge was installed 

in two phases this spring. 

The Illinois Department 

of Transportation replaced 

the old bridge, which dated 

back to 1964, as part of its 

plan to improve and widen 

the I-80/Route 30 interchange 

sometime in the future. 

The bridge will make trips 

on the OPRT even more appealing 

to runners, hikers and 

bicyclists, said Ralph Schultz, 

chief operating officer for 

the Forest Preserve District 

of Will County, which owns 

and manages portions of the 

trail along with six other governmental 

agencies. 

The OPRT has been a 

popular path ever since the 

first 12-mile section opened 

two decades ago on July 19, 

1997. That first trail section 

stretched from Western Avenue 

in Park Forest to the 

Forest Preserve District’s 

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These two photos show the previous Old Plank Road Trail Bridge, which dated back to 1964, and the new one, which was 

installed by the Illinois Department of Transportation over Interstate 80 in New Lenox this spring. Photos Submitted 

Hickory Creek Preserve – 

Hickory Creek Junction in 

Mokena. Subsequent trail additions 

pushed the path west 

into New Lenox and Joliet. 

The most recent extension 

brought the trail a mile farther 

east to Chicago Heights 

for a total trail length of 22 

miles. 

Plans for creating the path 

date back to the 1970s when 

the Forest Preserve worked 

with 14 municipalities to try to 

gain ownership of the defunct 

Penn Central railroad line. It 

took around 20 years for the 

group to get the funding necessary 

to buy the rail route and 

there was opposition by some 

along the way. But trail proponents 

persevered and the 

OPRT became a reality. 

Success with the OPRT 

paved the way for other regional 

trails and trail conversion 

projects, Schultz said. 

“The OPRT was our first 

regional trail, our first rail-totrail 

conversion and our first 

project funded with federal 

transportation funding,” he 

said in a statement. 

The Forest Preserve went 

on to convert two other former 

rail lines into the Wauponsee 

Glacial Trail and the 

Joliet Junction Trail. But 

the OPRT project was the 

first in Will County to capitalize 

on a defunct rail line 

that dated back more than a 

century. 

“From 1855 until 1975 the 

Michigan Central Railroad 

ran freight and passenger 

trains along this route,” according 

to the trail’s website, 

oprt.org. “Before that it was 

a plank road and part of the 

Great Sauk trail that ran from 

Rock Island to Detroit.” 

Will County continues to battle opioid epidemic 

Federal grant 

extends to Year 2 

Submitted by the Office of 

the Will County Executive 

For the second year, Will 

County was awarded the 

Prescription Drug/Opioid 

Overdose Related Deaths 

grant by the Illinois Department 

of Human Services 

and funded by the Substance 

Abuse and Mental Health 

Services Administration to 

further its efforts in combating 

the opioid overdose epidemic. 

Will County is part of 

the Statewide Illinois Opioid 

Crisis Advisory Council. 

Kathleen Burke, the County’s 

director of substance use 

initiatives, said Will County 

has made significant progress. 

The grant-funded Narcan 

Distribution Program 

has trained 168 people between 

February and June. 

Each person trained received 

two free doses of Narcan. 

In 2016, all police departments 

in Will County were 

trained to deliver naloxone, 

the life-saving antidote that 

can reverse an opiate overdose. 

To date in 2017, naloxone 

has been deployed 16 

times compared to 16 times 

total in 2016. 

Burke said the Will County 

strategy against the opiate 

epidemic includes prevention, 

harm reduction, 

treatment and long-term 

recovery services. She is 

conducting an inventory of 

school programs offered in 

Will County and treatment 

services, including access to 

Medical Assisted Treatment. 

“To facilitate access to 

treatment, we have worked 

with five police departments 

across the county to 

establish a Safe Passage 

program, in which someone 

who struggles with an opiate 

addiction can come into the 

police department and ask 

for help without fear of prosecution,” 

she said. 

Despite all of these efforts, 

overdose deaths are increasing 

because of fentanyl — a 

powerful synthetic opioid 

that is similar to morphine 

but is 50 to 100 times more 

potent. 

“Drug dealers are mixing 

heroin with fentanyl, and 

people have no idea what 

they are getting,” Burke 

said. “It is so powerful, it 

often takes more than one 

or two doses of Narcan to 

revive someone who has 

overdosed from fentanyl or 

a fentanyl-laced substance. 

We have a lot of work to do 

to continue to educate about 

the dangers of opiates, train 

the public on the use of naloxone 

and expand access to 

treatment.” 

Will County Executive 

Larry Walsh praised Burke 

and the County’s efforts to 

address the epidemic. He 

said additional funding will 

be critical. 

“We are thankful to the 

federal government for recognizing 

the success of our 

efforts and the fact there 

is much more work to be 

done,” Walsh said. “This 

battle is on a grass roots level, 

and Dr. Burke has been 

very effective in building 

partnerships to help expand 

our efforts and save as many 

lives as we can. Will County 

remains fully committed to 

stopping overdose deaths 

and educating the public 

about the dangers of these 

terrible substances.”



Business Briefs 

Olivieri Brothers hired as 

property manager for Rialto 

Square 

The board of Rialto Square 

had a special board meeting 

in late May to consider hiring 

a property management 

company. 

Mokena-based Olivieri 

Real Estate and Olivieri 

Architects gave the board a 

114-page analysis and proposal. 

Board members voted 

5-1 to proceed with agreements 

for property management, 

real estate listing and 

architectural plans. 

Olivieri representatives 

are to meet with all the existing 

tenants, inspect the 

building and meet with 

building engineers to agree 

on a a three-to-five-year plan 

and a 15-year plan. 

Compiled by Editor Tim Carroll, 

tim@mokenamessenger. 

com. 

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Will County works to house homeless veterans 

Submitted by the Office of 

the Will County Executive 

The United States Interagency 

Council on Homelessness, 

the Department of 

Housing and Urban Development 

and the Department 

of Veterans Affairs has confirmed 

that the Will County 

Continuum of Care has effectively 

ended homelessness 

among veterans in the 

county. 

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“I am proud of the collaborative 

effort in Will County 

that is working towards ending 

homelessness for all of 

our veterans,” Will County 

Executive Larry Walsh said. 

“These veterans have made 

large sacrifices to protect 

our freedom and our nation. 

The very least we can do is 

assist them in finding permanent 

housing.” 

Matthew Doherty, executive 

director of the USICH, 

sent a letter to Will County 

officials acknowledging 

the success of the Joliet, 

Bolingbrook/Will County 

Continuum of Care in ensuring 

any veteran in Will 

County who is experiencing 

homelessness will receive 

help to find permanent 

housing. He praised the infrastructure 

and systems 

the continuum has built to 

ensure any veteran experiencing 

homelessness in 

Will County quickly gets 

the support needed to find a 

permanent home. 

“Through partnership and 

perseverance, Will County 

has become the 50th community 

in the nation to end 

veteran homelessness,” 

Doherty said. “The lessons 

we learn from communities 

like Will County are helping 

us end homelessness for 

veterans nationwide.” 

The Will County Continuum 

of Care is led by 

Will County Center for 

Community Concerns. The 

Continuum has a broad 

membership, including 

the following partners: the 

Will County Land Use Department, 

the Will County 

Veterans Assistance Commission, 

Catholic Charities, 

Diocese of Joliet, Edward 

Hines Jr. VA Healthcare for 

Homeless Veterans/HUD 

VASH, Family and Friends 

Grant and Per Diem, 

Grundy County Veterans 

Assistance Commission, 

Joliet Police Department, 

Joliet Public Library, Joliet 

Neighborhood Services, 

Kendall County Veterans 

Assistance Commission, 

Midwest Shelter for Homeless 

Veterans, Morning Star 

Mission and Cornerstone 

Services, Inc. 

In 2016, 59 Veterans were 

connected to permanent 

housing in the local community, 

averaging 58 days 

of homelessness. Since the 

beginning of 2017, 45 Veterans 

have been connected 

to permanent housing in the 

county. 

“This is a great example 

of leaders coming together 

around the right strategies 

to end homelessness among 

our veterans,” said Steven 

Braverman, director of Edward 

Hines, Jr. VA Hospital. 

“We truly appreciate 

the great work being done 

by our partners in the Will 

County Continuum to help 

solve this important issue.” 

“We at HUD are proud of 

the Will County Continuum 

of Care and community leaders’ 

achievement in effectively 

ending veteran homelessness,” 

HUD Midwest 

Deputy Regional Administrator 

James A. Cunningham 

said. “Communities around 

the country can now look to 

Will County as a model for 

ensuring that our nation’s 

heroes have a safe and stable 

place to call home. Through 

our ongoing collaboration, 

we can and must uphold our 

own duty to support all those 

who have answered the call 

of duty.” 

Officials (left to right) Merridith Montgomery, the homeless services director of the Will 

County Center for Community Concerns; Jennifer Rich, the director of communications 

with United States Interagency Council on Homelessness; James Cunningham, the deputy 

regional administrator of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; Will 

County Board Minority Leader Herbert Brooks Jr.; Kris White, the executive director of 

the Will County Center for Community Concerns; Will County Executive Larry Walsh; 

Dr. Steven Braverman, the director of Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital; and Will County 

Board Speaker Jim Moustis pose for a photo after Will County was praised for tackling 

homelessness among military veterans. Photo Submitted

mokenamessenger.com sound off 


Social snapshot 

Top Web Stories 

From MokenaMessenger.com as of 

Monday, July 17. 

1. Village Board, chamber recognize Fourth 

of July parade organizer 

2. Central basketball star to develop further 

at Hope College 

3. Provi baseball heat up after three innings 

for win over Andrew 

4. Former D210 board member 

remembered for public service, family 

5. Mokena Fire Protection District 

celebrates 100th anniversary 

Become a member: mokenamessenger.com/plus 

“Be sure to join on us July 20 at 10 a.m. 

at Huntington Learning Center for a 

Grand Opening Ribbon Cutting Ceremony! 

#MokenaChamber #ChamberMember 

#RibbonCutting” 

Mokena Chamber of Commerce shared 

this message on its Facebook page July 11 

Like The Mokena Messenger: facebook.com/ 


From the editor 

Creating positives from 

difficult situations 

Tim Carroll 

tim@mokenamessenger.com 

It is not an easy task to 

take a painful, difficult 

situation and turn it into 

an unequivocal positive. 

But that is what Mokena 

resident Mike Mendoza has 

done. 

The Marine was wounded 

while serving in Iraq, and 

he has taken that experience 

and turned it around into an 

opportunity to help other 

veterans and their families 

(Page 5). 

That is almost unthinkable 

to me, and Mendoza’s 

story is about as inspirational 

as it gets to change one’s 

attitude. To be able to not 

only recover about as well 

as expected, but to go the 

extra mile to help others is 

exceptionally impressive. 

I cannot even imagine 

being wounded in combat. 

I think it is even more 

difficult to imagine going 

through the recovery process. 

I fear that I would be 

someone who would begin 

to feel sorry for myself. 

That is why almost immediately 

thinking of others 

seems like such an amazing 

idea. 

To do such a thing would 

have to mean an unfailingly 

positive and selfless outlook 

on life. It is an inspirational 

story, and not just because 

there is no way on earth I 

would be able to complete 

a half Ironman race; the attitude 

is even more impressive 

and inspirational than 

the athletic accomplishment, 

and in no way do I mean to 

lessen the impressiveness 

of the athleticism Mendoza 

is showing on his way to 

completing 25 half Ironman 

races this year. 

More than anything — 

yes, even more than the 

lesson that I really need to 

start getting in shape — I 

think the largest takeaway 

from Mendoza’s story is 

that the human spirit is, 

or at least can be, so very 

strong. Even though I will 

likely never run Ironman 

races of any fraction, I 

can do my best to emulate 

Mendoza’s positive attitude 

and generosity. 

I hope never to have to 

go through what Mendoza 

suffered, and I hope that 

none of the rest of you do, 

either. But even in smallerscale 

difficult situations, I 

hope to be able to respond 

positively. And if I can 

make it a positive for not 

only me but others around 

me the way Mendoza is 

doing by raising money to 

donate to Semper Fi Fund, 

even better. 

Here is to Mike Mendoza, 

and here is to the rest of 

us taking a page out of his 

book and trying to make 

things better for everyone. 

Sound Off Policy 

Editorials and columns are the 

opinions of the author. Pieces 

from 22nd Century Media are 

the thoughts of the company as 

a whole. The Mokena Messenger 

encourages readers to write 

letters to Sound Off. All letters 

must be signed, and names and 

hometowns will be published. 

We also ask that writers include 

their address and phone number 

for verification, not publication. 

Letters should be limited to 400 

words. The Mokena Messenger 

reserves the right to edit letters. 

Letters become property of The 

Mokena Messenger. Letters that 

are published do not reflect 

the thoughts and views of The 

Mokena Messenger. Letters can be 

mailed to: The Mokena Messenger, 

11516 West 183rd Street, Unit 

SW Office Condo #3, Orland 

Park, Illinois, 60467. Fax letters 

to (708) 326-9179 or e-mail to 

tim@mokenamessenger.com. 

www.mokenamessenger.com. 

DRIVE 

CAR 

BUYERS 

TO YOUR DOOR 

WITH A CLASSIFIED 

AUTO AD 

“Huge thanks to @bigEpanfil for talking to 

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@LWCFootball posted this photo to its 

Twitter page Thursday, July 13 

Follow The Mokena Messenger: @mokenamessenger 

Letters to the Editor 

Mokena must limit 

fireworks 

John McGivney couldn’t 

be more right [in his July 

13 letter to the editor titled 

“The case for a fireworksfree 

Mokena”]. 

This year, the fireworks 

were the worst. Five days of 

noise. It was like bombs. 

Village of Mokena, what 

are you going to do? Nothing? 

Tom Geldmyer 

Mokena resident 

Call Today At 

708.326.9170

18 | July 20, 2017 | The Mokena Messenger mokena 


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the mokena messenger | July 20, 2017 | mokenamessenger.com 

Beyond the music 

Mokena native helps bring music to 

children’s lives with Boys and Girls 

Club of Joliet music program, Page 21 

Taking on a B-attitude 

After decades of quick-service work, Ed 

Karayanes finds happiness in Burger 21 store 

he brought to Orland, Page 27 

Mokena residents, designers of rugs for Prairie School homes celebrate Frank Lloyd Wright’s 

150th birthday, Pages 22-23 

Jerry (left) and Laura Krull inspect rugs they designed for Prairie-style homes to ensure their quality before sending them to their clients, which are all across the U.S. and a 

few around the globe. This rug was made as a color sample for potential clients to observe. Kyle LaHucik/22nd Century Media

20 | July 20, 2017 | The Mokena Messenger faith 


Robin’s Nest 

How to avoid daily dying and begin truly living 

Robin Melvin 

Contributing Columnist 

In one of my favorite 

comedies “What About 

Bob?” 12-year-old Siggy 

befriends his father’s psychiatric 

patient. Terrified of 

death, he tells Bob, “We’re 

going to die. We’re all going 

to die.” Then, we see Siggy 

at the edge of a boat dock 

clad in black T-shirt and 

swimming trunks. He wants 

to dive but fear keeps his 

feet riveted to the dock. 

As believers, we can 

overcome fear of death, because 

we know it is merely 

a step into Jesus’ presence. 

But this daily down-to-earth 

stuff is trickier. Dying to 

unhealthy fear and thought 

and behavior requires us to 

be vulnerable. And that is a 

tad scary. 

We wonder what our 

family and friends will 

say if we start thinking for 

ourselves and stop doing 

what sucks the life out of 

us. Will we stay addicted to 

their approval? Maybe we 

dabble in gossip or think too 

low of ourselves. They have 

become habits we cannot 

break on our own. 

We often shrink from 

God’s best because we fear 

we will not measure up. We 

do not want to ask for help, 

make promises and fail 

again. 

My friend, there is no 

expiration date on God’s 

help and mercy. His love is 

unwavering and unconditional 

and always available. 

Remember, grace is free. 

We are enough. As is. To 

ask, to seek. 

But fear, pride and shame 

keep us on the dock. Yes, 

change is hard, but free is 

the most refreshing, exhilarating 

place to be. 

We will not get there 

until we are honest with 

ourselves. Owning our faults 

and admitting we need help 

is not a sign of weakness. It 

shows we are ready to know 

better and be better. We are 

strong when we take charge 

of our health and happiness 

and face challenges head-on. 

We are all broken. No one 

has it all together. Except 

for maybe my alter ego, 

Wonder Woman. Though 

I no longer try to be her, I 

keep the attitude, because 

we do have something in 

common: 

When we get mad at evil 

and fight with our Godgiven 

strength and wisdom, 

we discover our full power 

and our true destiny in this 

scary, beautiful world. This 

princess warrior is not quitting. 

I am fighting for all 

God has for my life and for 

yours. 

Again, we see two imperfect 

people wrestling fear 

but tired of standing on the 

dock. As 12-year-old Siggy 

leans over the water, Bob 

grips the back of his shirt. “I 

got ya. I got ya.” And Siggy 

dives in. 

Change is risky. Change 

is scary. But in this daily 

dying, we find our true self, 

truly living. 

If you need a safe place 

to find support from others 

who are ready to be real 

with hurts, habits and hangups, 

contact me for more 

information. 

Love and courage for 

your journey, my friend. 

For more with Robin, 

visit www.robinmelvin.com/ 

contact or on Facebook, 

Robin Melvin, Author. 

The thoughts and opinions 

expressed in this column are 

those of the author. They do 

not necessarily represent the 

thoughts of 22nd Century Media 

or its staff. 

In Memoriam 

Janet Ruth Moll 

Janet Ruth 

Moll, 73, of 

Longmont, Colorado, 

and formerly 

of Mokena, 

died July 9. She 

was a registered 

nurse and worked Moll 

in hospitals until 

her children were born, and 

then returned to the workforce 

in the 1990s until her retirement 

in 2010. She is survived by her 

son, Rob Moll; daughter, Tami 

(Brian) Carter; grandchildren, 

Kevin and Justin Carter and Jacob 

Szypulski; brothers, Steve 

and Mark; and sisters, Rachel 

and Ruth. A memorial service 

was held at Good Shepherd Lutheran 

Church. In lieu of flowers, 

memorial contributions to 

the Good Shepherd Lutheran 

Church, 177 Luther Lane. 

Frankfort, would be appreciated. 

Do you have someone’s life you’d 

like to honor? Email Editor Tim 

Carroll at tim@mokenamessenger. 

com with information about a 

loved one who was a part of the 

Mokena community. 

Faith Briefs 

St. John’s United Church of Christ (11100 Second 

St., Mokena) 

Vacation Bible School 

6-8:15 p.m. Sunday, July 

23-Wednesday, July 26. Join St. 

John’s for “Passport to PERU: Discovering 

God’s Good Gifts.” Cost 

is $15 per child or $40 for a family 

with three or more children. For 

more information and registration, 

visit www.stjohnsmokena.org. 

Traditional Service 

8 a.m. traditional mass, 9:45 a.m. 

contemporary & 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. 

Cards for a Cause 

7 p.m. the second Monday of 

each month. Bring your tape, scissors 

and colored pencils — if you 

have them — and plan for a creative 

evening with lots of fun. 

Bundles of Love 

7 p.m. the second and fourth 

Monday of each month. Enjoy fun 

and fellowship while making baby 

quilts for infants baptized at St. 

John’s and lap quilts for shut-ins. 

Mokena United Methodist Church (10901 LaPorte 

Road, Mokena) 

Service and Sunday School 

10:15 a.m. Sundays. Church 

service and Sunday school will be 

held. For more information, call 

(708) 479-1110. 

Bible Study 

7 p.m. Tuesdays 

Breakfast 

9 a.m. every third Saturday of the 

month 

Walking Club 

7 p.m. Mondays 

Weight Watchers Wednesday 

Weigh-ins take place at 6:30 p.m., 

while the meeting is at 7 p.m. 

Marley Community Church (12625 W. 187th St., 

Mokena) 

Senior High Youth Group 

7-8:30 p.m. Wednesdays. For 

more information, email marley 

communitychurch@gmail.com. 

Junior High Youth Group 

6-7:30 p.m. Fridays. For more 

information, email marleycommu 

nitychurch@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. 

Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church (10731 W. La 

Porte Road, Mokena) 

Preschool Registration 

Registration is open for the 

2017-18 school year at Immanuel 

Lutheran Preschool. Classes are offered 

for children from 2 1/2 to 5 

years old and they must be toilet 

trained. Only three-day afternoon 

classes are still available. For more 

information, call (708) 479-5600, 

email ilpmokena@gmail.com, or 

visit www.immanuelmokena.org/ 

preschool.html 

Contemporary Worship 

5 p.m. Saturday 

Worship 

9 a.m. Sunday 

God’s Kids Club 

10:15 a.m. Sundays. This club is 

open to those between the ages of 

4-17. 

Adult Bible Study 

10:15 a.m. Sunday 

Mokena Baptist Church (9960 W. 187th St., Mokena) 

Summer at the Steeple 

11 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesdays in 

July. This year’s theme is “Gone 

Camping.” Activities at this event 

include games, crafts, food, and a 

Bible lesson. There is no cost for 

this event. For more information 

and registration, visit summeratthesteeple.com. 

Sunday Services 

11 a.m. and 5 p.m. For more information, 

call (312) 350-2279. 

Sunday School 

10:15 a.m. Sundays. Mokena 

Baptist offers Sunday School 

classes for all ages. For more 

information, call (312) 350-2279. 

St. Mary’s Catholic Church (19515 115th Ave., 

Mokena) 

Church Service 

Please see faith, 26

ing the program to them and 

changing it constantly to 

keep up with their interests. 

For Narcissi, the class 

was an extension of out- 

mokenamessenger.com life & arts 


Area musicians bring harmony to Boys and Girls Club 

Amanda Stoll, Assistant Editor 

With hardly enough 

drumsticks and recorders 

to go around, fewer than a 

dozen junior high-aged children 

met for a music lesson. 

Soon, however, their 

drumsticks will be practicing 

on a real drum set instead 

of the table. 

A drum set is just one of 

many things to come for 

the music program at The 

Boys and Girls Club in Joliet, 

where John F. Narcissi, 

a Mokena native, and Jeff 

Redmann, a New Lenox resident, 

are working to bring 

music where it’s scarce. 

Narcissi and Redmann 

met through Providence 

Catholic High School in 

New Lenox where Narcissi 

was involved in numerous 

musical programs, including 

concert band, choir, jazz 

band, drum corps, marching 

band and the bagpipe corps 

while Redmann was teaching 

and helped start the pipe 

corps. 

After graduating high 

school, Narcissi pursued 

the study of music at Illinois 

Wesleyan University 

in Bloomington for a year 

and a half before attending 

Joliet Junior College, where 

he continues to study music 

with a focus on composition. 

The two recently met 

up again, but this time as 

teaching partners. 

With experience teaching 

at five high schools and 

teaching private lessons 

throughout his music career, 

Redmann mainly takes 

up the teaching aspect of the 

class, but he said it’s very 

valuable to have Narcissi 

there to demonstrate and 

keep the children engaged. 

The two meet up at the 

Boys and Girls Club in 

Joliet two or three times 

a week for a small group 

music lesson with some of 

the boys and girls from the 

club. Sometimes their class 

times coincide with the normal 

club hours. However, 

sometimes they meet afterwards, 

which can pose some 

attendance challenges with 

pick-up and drop-off times. 

With time, Narcissi said 

he thinks attendance will 

become more consistent — 

once parents realize how 

much their children are enjoying 

the program and become 

as committed to their 

attendance. 

While the two don’t have 

much control over parent 

pick-up and drop-off consistency, 

what they do have 

control over is what material 

and activities they do 

during the hourlong classes 

each week. 

On July 12 the group met 

for once such class, where 

they covered music from 

vastly different genres and 

used different instruments 

— including their voices. 

“[Voice] is an instrument 

everybody is born with, 

and they carry it with them 

throughout their life,” Narcissi 

said. “Whereas a guitar 

or piano you can’t really 

carry around with you everywhere.” 

However, the children 

did get a chance to try their 

hand at the recorder, as they 

accompanied Narcissi in a 

rendition of the theme song 

for Spongebob Squarepants, 

with Narcissi doing humorous 

back-and-forths of, “I 

can’t hear you” and “Aye, 

aye, captain!” with the children. 

Also in the bag of supplies 

Redmann brought 

were about 10 pairs of 

drumsticks, so the children 

could practice simple quarter, 

eighth and sixteenth 

notes and triplet rhythms on 

the table. 

During class, Redmann 

told them that they will 

soon have a real drum set 

to practice their bass drum 

beats, snare taps and high 

Children participating in the Boys and Girls Club of Joliet’s music program do some drumming on the table during a 

session July 12. Photos by Amanda Stoll/22nd Century Media 

hat hits. Those, along with 

computers for musical composition, 

are being provided 

through program sponsors 

Comcast and AT&T, which 

Redmann said have been 

generous in their donations 

to the class. 

The class also participated 

in singing “Here Comes 

the Sun” by The Beatles and 

“All Star” by Smash Mouth, 

both of which were popular 

with the children because of 

their appearances in movies 

like “The Bee Movie” and 

“Shrek.” 

“They’re getting a sense 

[that] there’s more music 

than what we’ve come to 

know just in our little area 

that we’re comfortable 

with,” Narcissi said. “We’re 

trying to expose them to 

older pieces of music and 

newer pieces of music that 

are outside of the R&B, rap 

and hip-hop sections.” 

One of the biggest challenges 

– as far as the curriculum 

is concerned – is 

figuring out what will keep 

Mokena native John F. Narcissi accompanies the students with guitar. Narcissi will be 

performing at the Frankfort County Market with a little help from the children July 30. 

the children engaged, taking 

into account their tastes in 

music and the ever-changing 

popularity of some 

songs. 

“Figuring out who the 

kids are here and the typical 

kid that’s taking part of the 

Boys and Girls Club was 

the first thing I set out to 

do,” Redmann said. 

Once they started to see 

what the children enjoyed, 

he said they began tailor- 

Please see music, 26

22 | July 20, 2017 | The Mokena Messenger life & arts 


need a Doctor? See a 

DoCtor! 

EVErYDaY 

7 AM – 11 PM 

LA PORTE RD 

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Jerry (left) and Laura Krull work together to create a custom-made rug design for a client. 

The husband and wife duo started Aspen Carpet Designs, Inc. — which has a Frank Lloyd 

Wright- and Prairie-style niche — as a side business 23 years ago out of their home studio. 

Photos by Kyle LaHucik/22nd Century Media 

Prairie-style designers 

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Mokena business 

celebrates Frank 

Lloyd Wright’s 150th 

Kyle LaHucik, Editorial Intern 

A young Frank Lloyd 

Wright came across a house 

design in a magazine and 

ended up putting his own 

spin on it. He kept the house’s 

footprint, but moved around 

the interior walls. 

“And it’s like right then, the 

light bulb went off for what 

Frank Lloyd Wright wanted 

to do for home designs,” said 

Jerry Krull, of Mokena. “To 

me, that’s what Frank Lloyd 

Wright was a genius at. He 

could look at something and 

say, ‘There’s a better way to 

live. People don’t have to live 

in boxes and rooms.’ 

“That’s what interested me 

–– like, oh, wow, he could 

see something and make it 

better.” 

Wright, a world-famous 

architect with roots in Oak 

Park, has been an inspiration 

for fellow architects, designers, 

urban planners and others 

all across the globe. This year, 

in recognition of Wright’s 

would-be 150th birthday, 

museums and organizations 

across the United States are 

hosting special exhibits and 

events. Two of the designers 

he influenced — and two 

of the people celebrating his 

would-be 150th birthday — 

are right here in Mokena. 

A new father at the time, 

Krull saw an ad in a local 

newspaper in 1994. The ad 

was for informational lessons 

on how to make custom 

rugs. Krull and his wife, 

Laura Krull, had been debating 

starting a side business 

so Laura could make a living 

while being a stay-at-home 

mother and Jerry could have 

something to do outside of 

his full-time job. 

After watching some of 

the instructional videos and 

learning how to carve and 

glue together the rugs, Jerry 

began making his own rugs. 

The first one he made was 

based on a Frank Lloyd 

Wright-designed window. 

In due time, Aspen Carpet 

Designs, Inc., was born in 

the basement of the Krulls’ 

home, which was in Frankfort 

until the early 2000s. 

The 23-year-old family business 

–– both Krull sons have 

taken part in the venture –– 

focuses its efforts on designing 

rugs with a Frank Lloyd 

Wright niche. 

Jerry said he never would 

have guessed an interest in 

the Prairie School architect 

who designed such widely 

recognized buildings as Fallingwater 

(Pennsylvania), 

Unity Temple (Oak Park) and 

the Solomon R. Guggenheim 

Museum (New York) would 

become the basis for his 

business. But an introspective 

look at his ties –– loose 

as they may be –– to Frank 

Lloyd Wright gives some insight 

into how Aspen Carpet 

came about.



He recalls his father, an electrical 

engineer, designing his family’s 

home when he was younger. 

“I wouldn’t say that he was influenced 

by Frank Lloyd Wright, but 

once I started the business and started 

showing him what [Wright] designed, 

he says, ‘Oh yeah, those are 

the kind of houses I really liked,’” 

Jerry said. 

Years later, Jerry was working for 

a small software company in Chicago, 

and he learned that his boss grew 

up in a Wright-designed home, the 

Coonley House in Riverside. After 

talking about their shared intrigue 

in Wright, Jerry became influenced 

by his boss’s stories of living in the 

house and of his inheritance of the 

house’s spare, original art glass windows. 

Those windows would be the 

creative inspiration behind Jerry’s 

first self-made rug. 

One of the first steps after creating 

their business was to make a 

website and get it listed on search 

engines and in design magazines. 

Jerry coded the website himself. 

Within the first week of submitting 

their business for listing on the web, 

Jerry said they received an email 

from a client in Belgium, and other 

places, too. 

“[The Belgian client] said, ‘I’m 

very interested in Prairie-style designs. 

Tell me what kind of rugs 

you can do,’” Jerry recalled. “Right 

then, I knew the power of the Internet. 

This was 1994, 1995.” 

Since then, Jerry said the business’s 

niche has allowed them to 

“stand out.” 

“The fact that I can go in and talk 

about Frank Lloyd Wright, George 

Grant Elmslie and Walter Burley 

Griffin and all these other [Prairiestyle 

architects], I don’t think it’s 

impressive, but these other people 

who know these homes and know 

these people do,” Jerry said. “They 

talk to furniture designers. Most of 

them don’t know the history and 

the architects that are involved, so 

I think that makes them feel a little 

bit more comfortable with me talking 

about it.” 

Coupled with his knowledge of 

and passion for Wright and other 

Prairie-style architects is Jerry’s entrepreneurial 

spirit. 

“He loves business,” Laura said. 

“His mind is always going.” 

Jerry also had the physical craftsmanship 

to start the business and 

keep it going for its first few years, 

The Krulls inspect all of the rugs they design after they are woven in Nepal. 

when he would hand make the rugs 

in his business. For a while now, 

though, the Krulls have been working 

with weavers in Nepal, ever 

since they reached out to Aspen Carpet. 

Before the finalized designs get 

to the Nepalese weavers –– workers 

whom Jerry said do not practice 

in child labor, something he made 

sure to research and ask about before 

partnering with them –– Laura’s interior 

design knowledge and taste for 

fashion and style come into play. 

“I just have always loved it,” 

Laura said about design. “I joke I 

used to get in so much trouble as 

a little girl. My mom would come 

home from work, and I’d have the 

whole house rearranged. … And I 

just remember being just really little 

and going into people’s houses and 

thinking ‘Oh, that would look better 

over here.’” 

Laura said she didn’t realize being 

an interior designer was a viable 

career option when she was growing 

up, so it wasn’t something she 

got into. But, with her background 

working for Aspen Carpet and a 

nudge from her husband, Laura enrolled 

in Joliet Junior College in the 

mid-2000s and got a degree in interior 

design. 

With an ability that she says always 

came naturally to her, Laura 

is the one in the family business 

who works with clients — often via 

email and Skype because of Aspen 

Carpet’s national and even global 

reach — to fill in the custom rug designs 

with colors that fit the client’s 

desires, but also match the aesthetics 

of motifs and other accessories 

or pieces of furniture in the room. 

Then, the designs get sent to 

the weavers, who spend weeks to 

months making the rugs, by hand. 

Once they are shipped back to the 

United States, Laura and Jerry inspect 

them in their home, which is 

where their one-room design studio 

(consisting of a couch, computer 

and quaint library of Frank Lloyd 

Wright, Prairie-style and architectural 

design books and magazines) 

is located. 

Finally, the rugs are shipped to 

their clients. Sometimes, they are 

delivered personally by the Krulls. 

This happens only for local clients. 

The nearest client, from what they 

can recall, is a homeowner in Orland 

Park’s Crystal Tree gated community. 

Another nearby client was 

a family in Elmhurst, which was a 

two-part project and was featured 

on a television design show. 

Laura has also done interior design 

consulting for a jewelry store 

owner friend in Frankfort. 

Though they don’t recall the exact 

number of clients they’ve had, 

Jerry estimates it at close to 1,000. 

A steel company in Saudi Arabia is 

the most interesting one of all, and 

the biggest project took two years of 

planning and included 20-25 rugs. 

In the first few years of Aspen 

Carpet’s existence, Jerry traveled 

to Spring Green, Wisconsin, to 

attend a special event at Wright’s 

Taliesin estate for his would-be 

130th birthday. The Krulls haven’t 

yet been to any events this year 

for the 150th celebration, but Jerry 

recalled the 130th by admiring 

Wright’s architectural vision and 

innovation: 

Wright didn’t want anything 

blocking the view from one of the 

house’s windows, but he wanted 

the window to form a corner without 

anything in between the two 

panes. At that time, there were no 

construction methods to make it 

a reality. So, instead, Wright left a 

gap in between the two windows. In 

Wisconsin. 

Back home, in Mokena, the Krulls 

have an unobstructed vision of 

their future. Come retirement, Jerry 

and Laura will be heading west to 

Arizona. And they plan to take their 

business with them. 

“[It’s an] easy business to move, 

because we don’t have inventory,” 

Jerry said. 

Maybe they’ll end up close to 

Scottsdale, an ideal setting considering 

that one of Frank Lloyd 

Wright’s former homes, Taliesin 

West, is located there.



Musicpalooza hits Mokena 

Firecracker Festival plays host to youth talent showcase 

Abbie Paczesny adds a little rock and roll to the event by playing “Rock Around the Clock” 

on the keyboard. 

Grant Briscoe plays “Imperial March” on guitar during All About Music & Children’s 

Theatre’s Musicpalooza, hosted at the Font Street Metra station Friday, July 14, during the 

Mokena Lions Club’s 30th annual Firecracker Weekend. Photos by Paul Bergstrom/22nd 

Century Media 

Ava Lord begins her vocal performance of “My Favorite Things.” The Firecracker Weekend 

also featured a car show and market Saturday, July 15. 

Brianna Brusokas sings “Tell Me Why” during the performance. 

With a little inspiration from the British Invasion, Cassidy Lloyd plays guitar and sings 

“Twist and Shout.”



Striking a chord 

Lincoln-Way Youth Strings performs during 

park district concert 

Angelina Platos plays violin with the Lincoln-Way Youth 

Strings. 

Beginner cellist Hunter Williams performs at the concert. 

Michelle Freeland, director of the Lincoln-Way Youth 

Strings and Lincoln-Way East High School Orchestra, 

directs the beginners June 29 during a free community 

concert hosted by the Frankfort Square Park District. 

photos by Laurie Fanelli/22nd Century Media 

Mike and Ella Fisher of Tinley Park pose for a photo during 

the concert, which was moved indoors to Lincoln-Way East 

High School due to the rain. 

Frankfort residents (left to right) Stephanie Davis, Sydney 

Davis and Tavionna Robinson brought their blanket inside to 

watch Savannah Davis perform with the Lincoln-Way Youth 

Strings. 

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"BEST FUNERAL 

HOME" 

708.326.9170 ext. 31 

l.healy@22ndcenturymedia.com 

©2006 Copyrighted Material 

music 

From Page 21 

ADVERTISE 

YOUR 

FUNERAL 

SERVICES. 

reach efforts he had done 

in the past by performing 

at area food banks and recently 

at the Boys and Girls 

Club in Joliet. He said taking 

the next step to teaching 

there was easy to get on 

board with from the beginning, 

and he said he enjoys 

bringing music to children 

there. 

“Music has been my life 

since I was in first grade, 

so when it comes to music 

it’s literally in my blood,” 

Contact Jessica Nemec 

@708.326.9170 ex.46 


Narcissi said. “It’s what I’m 

meant to do.” 

Eventually, he said he 

hopes the program they’re 

spearheading can become 

a national program through 

the Boys and Girls Clubs 

of America. Narcissi said 

beside being a great opportunity 

for fun and 

learning, it’s helping the 

children with their self-confidence. 

“It goes to show that 

not everybody is wired the 

same way, so we want to 

broaden the outlook of the 

Boys and Girls Club, as 

well,” he said. “I mean, kids 

will love to play games, 

kids will love to play video 

games, play basketball, 

swim, do arts and crafts and 

all that stuff, but what about 

those kids who have a genuine 

interest in music? And 

that’s what we’re trying to 

tap into.” 

For their first stage experience, 

Redmann said it 

was important that the children 

don’t perform in front 

of their peers, which could 

faith 

From Page 20 

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, complimentary 

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. 

make the young performers 

nervous about the perceptions 

of their friends. 

Instead, the group will perform 

onstage at The Frankfort 

County Market on Aug. 

11, where they will have the 

opportunity to perform for a 

friendly crowd. 

“Every musician is afraid 

of what are people thinking 

about me. I’m putting my 

heart and soul on my sleeve 

for people to judge me,” 

said Narcissi, who said although 

that can eventually 

help a musician grow and 

flourish, it can also initially 

be a negative influence for 

young artists. 

Redmann said he hopes 

the program, along with 

the mission of the Boys and 

Girls Club, can help students 

reach their potentials 

while continuing to give 

them positive role models 

and room to grow their 

dreams. 

“They’re all packed in 

here, just growing up and 

having a good time with 

friends,” Redmann said. 

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. 


(708) 479-0300. 

Spanish Church 

12:30 p.m. every Sunday 

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 

Have something for Faith 

Briefs? Contact Assistant 

Editor Amanda Stoll at 


or call (708) 326-9170 ext. 34. 

Deadline is noon Thursday one 

week prior to publication.

mokenamessenger.com dining out 


The Dish 

Quick-serve roadblock paved partner’s path to Burger 21 

Ed Karayanes 

opened Orland spot 

after decades in 

food service 

Bill Jones, Managing Editor 

The Bananas Foster signature shake is $4.49 for a small, 

$4.99 for a regular. 

When Ed Karayanes was 

just 17 years old, he got a 

job with a quick serve restaurant. 

And for years, that was the 

only chain for which Karayanes 

— now a 53-year-old 

resident of Elk Grove Village 

— ever worked, ultimately 

earning his way to partnership 

in eight locations. 

Then, he hit a roadblock. 

His partner was downsizing 

and making retirement 

plans. And despite more than 

three decades Karayanes invested 

in the company, the 

opportunities for advancement, 

at least on a local level, 

just were not there. 

That is when he started 

doing research and found 

Burger 21. 

“I just love their concept 

and their menu,” he said. “It 

was refreshing, what they 

were serving.” 

Burger 21 was born in November 

2010, when the owners 

of The Melting Pot restaurants 

opened the chain’s first 

spot in Tampa, Florida, with 

a focus on high-quality, fastcasual 

burgers in a hip environment. 

The chain made a 

pledge to use always-fresh, 

never-frozen patties in what 

it proclaimed the “beyond the 

better burger” realm. 

“It’s like a scratch kitchen 

back there,” Karayanes said. 

The chain features chicken, 

turkey and seafood burgers 

for those looking to get away 

from red meat, if only for a 

night. It also offers a slate of 

decadent shakes — featuring 

Ghirardelli products and 

a proprietary ice cream — as 

well as nearly a dozen condiments 

(roughly half of them 

created in house) for the 

burgers and fries in Burger 

21’s famous sauce bar. 

The chain also features 

special washing stations on 

the main floor for children, 

so parents can keep an eye on 

them. And it actually encourages 

its employees to spend 

time talking to and learning 

about customers. 

Karayanes could not resist 

it. He and business partner 

Art Chimel first drove around 

the country, checking out 

many of Burger 21’s other 

locations. 

“We wanted to make sure 

it was the right decision,” Karayanes 

said. 

Karayanes reached out by 

email to explain his career 

to the owners and express 

his desire to work with them. 

He went through a six-month 

process that included writing 

an essay about himself, 

Burger 21 

14650 S. LaGrange 

Road in Orland Park 

Hours 

• 11 a.m.-10 p.m. 

Sunday-Thursday 

• 11 a.m.-11 p.m. 

Friday-Saturday 

For more information ... 

Web: www.burger21.com 

Phone: (708) 737-7952 

and ultimately was granted 

the opportunity to open the 

chain’s first and only existing 

Illinois spot, in Orland Park, 

with Chimel. 

It opened on Jan. 25, 2016, 

and Karayanes said Burger 

21 was “fortunate” to catch 

only the tail end of LaGrange 

Road’s massive construction 

project. The major thoroughfare’s 

high traffic counts have 

helped to make the location 

an immediate success. 

The BBQ Bacon Burger ($7.99) at Burger 21 in Orland Park features applewood smoked 

bacon, cheddar cheese, onion strings, hickory BBQ sauce, a beef burger, lettuce and 

tomato on a brioche bun. It holds the honor of being the location’s most ordered burger. 

Photos by Bill Jones/22nd Century Media 

Kyle Palanca, of Tinley Park, torches sugar atop a cross section of a banana to caramelize 

it for the Bananas Foster signature shake at Burger 21 in Orland Park. 

“I think it went very well,” 

Karayanes said of the opening. 

“And we’re going to 

continue to grow strong in 

this market. ... We’re happy 

with it.” 

Karayanes said Burger 

21 always has a strong contingent 

of regulars, but after 

a year and a half of getting 

comfortable with the new 

digs, and playing into the 

company’s culture by donating 

10 percent of proceeds on 

the 21st of each month to a 

local charity or school — so 

far, the Lions Club and Orland 

Township Food Pantry 

have been among the beneficiaries 

— Karayanes is ready 

to do more, especially on a 

local level. Burger 21 has 

been getting involved with 

more area events and is to 

debut at the Taste of Orland 

Park this summer. 

“We think that’s really 

going to help us get our 

brand out there,” he said. 

“You hear from a lot of 

people who thought it was 

going to be ‘another burger 

place.’ It’s not.”

28 | July 20, 2017 | The Mokena Messenger puzzles 


crosstown CROSSWORD & Sudoku 

The crosstowns: Frankfort, Homer Glen, Lockport, Mokena, New Lenox, Orland Park, Tinley Park 

Crossword by Myles Mellor and Cindy LaFleur 

Across 

1. Baseball bat wood 

4. Alain of Formula 

One 

9. Standout girls 

soccer player with 

Andrew, Brooke ___ 

14. Motor-oil can 

letters 

15. Hawaiian veranda 

16. “Dallas” matriarch 

17. Personal statement 

intro 

18. Distasteful 

20. Notes that are 

almost as easy as A, 

B, C 

22. Tablet 

23. Founded, abbr. 

24. Resting place 

27. Not without my 

__ 

29. Actor McKellen 

32. Set straight 

35. Resentment 

38. Oz greeting 

39. Corporation type 

42. Tinley Park summer 

event, goes with 

64 across 

44. Berlioz’s “Les 

nuits d’___” 

45. High school subj. 

47. Transplant 

48. Dixie drink 

50. Rough-hewn 

51. ___ slipper (orchid 

type) 

56. Qatar’s capital 

58. Purple-hued root 

59. Sainted Norwegian 

king 

62. Brickyard 400 

org. 

64. See 42 across 

69. Before, to a sonneteer 

70. Hedge plant 

71. Studio sign 

72. ___ quandary 

73. Gray roof piece 

74. Smart-mouthed 

75. “’Tis a pity” 

Down 

1. Digressions 

2. Fried turnover 

3. Robust 

4. Most desirable thing 

5. Indian queen 

6. ___ roll 

7. Seven-time NFL Pro Bowl 

tackle, Warren 

8. Dwelling, var. 

9. Person with a cause 

10. Expressing future intention 

11. 551, in old Rome 

12. Freudian article 

13. Fraternity party staple 

19. Common street name 

21. Time workers 

25. E-mail address ender 

26. Bad-mannered 

28. Heavenly body 

29. Interior 

30. Ghanaian port 

31. Not at all 

33. Finish off 

34. Hair coloring 

36. ___ Lingus (Irish airlines) 

37. ___ Speedwagon (“Keep on 

Loving You” band) 

39. White House initials of the 

1960s 

40. Lucy of “Charlie’s Angels,” 

2000 

41. Unresponsive 

43. Letters on a Cardinals cap 

46. DiCaprio, to fans 

49. One of the friends on 

“Friends” 

52. “Six-pack” muscles, briefly 

53. Cheating 

54. Desires 

55. Fashionable hair color 

splash 

57. State on the Gulf of 

Mexico, abbr. 

60. Admit frankly 

61. “___, vidi, vici” 

62. Ravel’s “Gaspard de la ___” 

63. High-altitude habitation 

64. Old spy grp. 

65. Ice hockey org. 

66. ___ la la 

67. Ending for a pizza chain 

68. A Turner 

MOKENA 

The Alley Grill and Tap 

House 

(18700 S. Old LaGrange 

Road, Mokena; (708) 478- 

3610) 

■9 ■ p.m. Tuesdays: 

Karaoke 

Fox’s Restaurant and Pub 

(11247 W. 187th St., 

Mokena; (708) 478- 

8888) 

■6 ■ p.m. Thursdays, 

Fridays and Saturdays: 

Performance by Jerry 

Eadie 

Jenny’s Southside Tap 

(10160 191st St., 

Mokena; (708) 479-6873) 

■6 ■ p.m. Tuesdays: Acoustic 

Avenue, Psychic 

night - second Tuesday 

every month. 

■9 ■ p.m. Thursdays: 

Karaoke 

■Fridays ■ and Saturdays: 

Live bands 

NEW LENOX 

Little Joe’s Restaurant 

(1300 N. Cedar Road, 

New Lenox; (815) 463- 

1099) 

■5-8 ■ p.m. Tuesdays: 

Piano Styles by Joe 

TINLEY PARK 

Bailey’s Bar & Grill 

(17731 Oak Park Ave., 

Tinley Park; (708) 429- 

7955) 

■9 ■ p.m. Wednesdays: 

Karaoke 

■7 ■ p.m. Tuesdays: Trivia 

■10 ■ p.m. Fridays: DJ 

Dance Party 

■9:30 ■ p.m. Saturdays: 

Live Music 

Cuzins Bar 

(177th and Oak Park Ave., 


1144) 

■Wednesdays: ■ 

Live Rock 

Band Karaoke 

Durbin’s 

(17265 Oak Park Ave., 


1000) 

■9-11 ■ p.m. Tuesdays: 

Open Mic 

■9 ■ p.m. Wednesdays: 

Karaoke 

■8-10 ■ p.m. Thursdays: 

Live music by Miguel 

Garza 

To place an event 

in The Scene, email 

b.kapa@22ndcenturymedia. 

com. 

answers 

How to play Sudoku 

Each sudoku puzzle consists of a 9x9 grid that 

has been subdivided into nine smaller grids of 3x3 

squares. To solve the puzzle, each row, column and 

box must contain each of the numbers 1 to 9. 

LEVEL: Medium 

Sudoku by Myles Mellor and Susan Flanagan


the Mokena Messenger | July 20, 2017 | 29

30 | July 20, 2017 | The Mokena Messenger local living 


Build and Move into Your New Home from the low $200s 

With Lincoln-Way Schools at Prairie Trails in Manhattan 

Distinctive Home Builders provides homeowners the 

highest quality home on the market 

Distinctive Home Builders 

continues to add high quality 

homes to the Manhattan 

landscape at Prairie Trails; its 

latest new home community, 

located within the highly-regarded 

Lincoln-Way School 

District. Many families are 

happy to call Prairie Trails 

home and are pleased that 

Distinctive is able to deliver a 

new home with zero punch list 

items in 90 days. Before closing, 

each home undergoes an 

industry-leading checklist that 

ensures each home measures 

up to the firm’s high quality 

standards. 

“Actually our last average 

was 81 working days from excavation 

to receiving a home 

occupancy permit - without 

sacrificing quality,” said Bryan 

Nooner, president of Distinctive 

Home Builders. “Everyone 

at the company works 

extremely hard to continually 

achieve this delivery goal for 

our homeowners. Our three 

decades building homes provides 

this efficient construction 

system. Many of our 

skilled craftsmen have been 

working with our company for 

Recently closed Prairie Trails Arbor Model 

over 20 years. We also take 

pride on having excellent communicators 

throughout our 

organization. This translates 

into a positive buying and 

building experience for our 

homeowners and one of the 

highest referral rates in the industry 

for Distinctive.” 

In all, buyers can select 

from 13 ranch, split-level and 

six two-story single-family 

home styles; each offering 

three to eight different exterior 

elevations. The three- to 

four-bedroom homes feature 

two to two-and-one-half 

baths, two- to three-car garages 

and a family room, all in 

approximately 1,600 to over 

3,000 square feet of living 

space. Basements are included 

in most models as well. Distinctive 

also encourages customization 

to make your new 

home truly personalized to 

suit your lifestyle. 

Oversize home sites; brick 

exteriors on all four sides of 

the first floor; custom maple 

cabinets; ceramic tile or hardwood 

floors in the kitchen, 

baths and foyer; genuine wood 

trim and doors; granite countertops 

and concrete driveways 

can all be yours at Prairie 

Trails. All home sites at Prairie 

Trails can accommodate a 

three-car garage; a very important 

amenity to the Manhattan 

homebuyer, according 

to Nooner. 

“When we opened Prairie 

Trails we wanted to provide 

the best new home value for 

the dollar and we feel with 

offering Premium Standard 

Features that we do just that. 

So why wait? This is truly the 

best time to build your dream 

home!” 

Distinctive offers custom 

maple kitchen cabinets featuring 

solid wood construction 

(no particle board), have solid 

wood drawers with dove tail 

joints, which is very rare in the 

marketplace. “When you buy 

a new home from Distinctive, 

you truly are receiving custom 

made cabinets in every home 

we sell no matter what the 

price range,” noted Nooner. 

Nooner added that all 

homes are highly energy efficient. 

Every home built will 

have upgraded wall and ceiling 

insulation values with 

Recently closed Prairie Trails Arbor Model 

energy efficient windows and 

high efficiency furnaces. Before 

homeowners move into 

their new home, Distinctive 

Home Builders conducts a 

blower door test that pressurizes 

the home to ensure that 

each home passes a set of very 

stringent Energy Efficiency 

guidelines. 

Typically a wide variety of 

homes are available to tour 

that include ranch and twostory 

homes. 

Distinctive is also offering 

a brand new home, the 

Stonegrove, a 3,000 square 

foot open concept home with a 

split foyer entry, formal living 

and dining rooms, a two-story 

great room, four bedrooms 

and an upstairs laundry room. 

Distinctive also offers Appbased 

technology allowing its 

homeowners to be updated 

on the progress of their new 

home 24 hours a day, seven 

days a week at the touch of a 

button. 

Prairie Trails is also a beautiful 

place to live featuring a 

20-acre lake on site, as well 

as direct access to the 22-mile 

Wauponsee Glacial Prairie 

Path that borders the community 

and meanders through 

many neighboring communities 

and links to many other 

popular trails. The Manhattan 

Metra station is also nearby. 

Besides Prairie Trails, Distinctive 

Home Builders has 

built hundreds of homes 

throughout Manhattan in the 

Butternut Ridge and Leighlinbridge 

developments, as well 

as thousands in the Will and 

south Cook county areas over 

the past 30 years. 

Visit the on-site sales information 

center for unadvertised 

specials and view the numerous 

styles of homes being 

offered and the available lots. 

Call (708) 737-9142 for more 

information or visit us online 

at www.distinctivehomebuilders.com. 

The Prairie Trails 

new home information center 

is located three miles south 

of Laraway Rd. on Rt. 52. The 

address is 16233 Pinto Lane, 

Manhattan, IL, 60422. Open 

Daily 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. 

Closed Wednesday and Thursday 

and always available by 

appointment. Specials, prices, 

specifications, standard features, 

model offerings, build 

times and lot availability are 

subject to change without notice. 

Please contact a Distinctive 

representative for current 

pricing and complete details.

mokenamessenger.com real estate 


The Mokena Messenger’s 

Sponsored content 

of the 

WEEK 

Talk about the family/town. 

This is a beautiful, custombuilt 

home on a large lot 

with a pool and a huge, 

extra garage/pole barn. 

What: Custom-built house 

with bedrooms on all 

three levels, two kitchens, 

three full bathrooms, five 

bedrooms, a large lot with 

a pole barn/garage with 

three doors and a pool. 

Where: 12222 187th St. 

Mokena 

June 5 

• 10708 Fintan Court, 

Mokena, 60448-7602 - 

Robert F. Hern to Daniel 

R. Almond Vahl, Jennifer 

L. Fazio, $409,500 

• 11657 195th St., 

Mokena, 60448-1203 

- Edward Kirsch to 

Christopher Bender, 

$287,500 

• 13060 W. Regan Road, 

Mokena, 60448-8788 - 

Richard Kopec to Eugene 

Sucharzewski, Geraldine 

Sucharzewski, $370,000 

June 6 

• 10140 Cromwell Court, 

Mokena, 60448-7957 

- Audrey B. Rodzak to 

Anthony W. Marinello, 

Nicole M. Marinello, 

$349,000 

• 20160 S. Woodland 

Circle, Mokena, 60448- 

9266 - Thomas W. 

Sikorski to Michael 

Rygiewicz, Stephanie L. 

Gates, $318,000 

The Going Rate is provided by 

Record Information Services, 

Inc. For more information, 

visit www.public-record.com 

or call (630) 557-1000. 

Amenities: This is a 

gorgeous, 2,500-squarefoot, 

custom-built house on 

a .80-acre lot in Mokena. 

This house features a 

first-floor master bedroom 

and second bedroom/ 

office. The entry way and 

family room have vaulted, 

two-story ceilings and a 

desirable open concept 

layout. The kitchen boasts 

custom cherry wood 

cabinets and eating area. 

There are two bedrooms, 

a loft and a full bathroom 

on the second floor. The 

walkout basement features 

a second kitchen, bedroom 

and a full bathroom. Live 

all summer like you are 

on vacation in the large 

backyard with a custombuilt 

deck surrounding the 

pool. The property has an 

additional huge, three-door 

garage/pole barn and 

tons of extra parking. This 

garage and parking area 

is ideal for a mechanic or 

anyone looking for a ton of 

extra storage. All closets 

have built-in organizers 

and all window treatments 

are custom-made, as well. 

Asking Price: $445,000 

Listing Agent: Julia 

Labuda, of Always 

Home Real Estate. To 

schedule a viewing or 

get more information, 

call (773) 732-5629, 

email jlabuda9@gmail. 

com or visit www. 

julialabudarealtor.com. 

Want to know how to become 

Home of the Week? Contact Tricia 

at (708) 326-9170 ext. 47.

32 | July 20, 2017 | The Mokena Messenger Classifieds 


CLASSIFIEDS 

Help Wanted · Garage Sales · Automotive 

Real Estate · Rentals · Merchandise 

Sell It 708.326.9170 | Fax It 708.326.9179 

Charge It | DEADLINE - Friday at 3pm 

LAWN TECHNICIAN 

Professional company 

located in Frankfort 

looking for reliable 

individual to apply dry 

fertilizer. Experience a 

plus, but not necessary. 

For interview call: 

(708)479-4600 

F/T Admin. Assistant 

Must have proficiency in 

Microsoft Office Suite. 

Competitive salary + 

benefits. Please call 

815.277.6929 

Automotive 

$52 4 lines/ 

7 papers 

Real Estate 

$50 7 7 papers 

lines/ 

Help 

Wanted 

1003 Help Wanted 

Help Wanted 

$13 4 lines/ 

per line 7 papers 

Merchandise 


lines/ 

Are you made for ALDI? 

Hiring Event 

We are looking for 

Casual/Store Associates 

and Shift Managers for the 

Tinley Park location. 

Casual Store & Store 

Associate-$13.00/hr 

(starting wage) 

Shift Manager-$17.50/hr 

first year when performing 

Manager duties. 

Please visit the following 

location on Wednesday, 

Aug 2, 2017 between the 

hours of 6 A.M. –6 P.M. 

to complete an application: 

ALDI 

16150 S. Harlem Ave. 

Tinley Park, IL 60477 

Tinley Park Safety Dept. 

looking for individuals to 

work with on-boarding 

driver applicants for 

Transportation Company. 

Candiate must have 

knowledge of Microsoft 

Office and possess good 

communication skills. Will 

train the right candidate. 

Please forward resume to 

recruiting@shipgt.com. 

F/T Landscape/Lawn 

Maintenance Foreman. CDL 

License req. Frankfort. 

ridgelandscapeservices@ 

yahoo.com 

815.277.2092 

708.941.9254 (Spanish) 

INSULATION INSTALLERS 

Spray-on & Blown Cellulose 

Need motivated, dependable 

individuals w/exp. or willingness 

to learn. $13-16/hr plus 

benefits. Call 815-693-1382 

1003 Help 

Wanted 

Junior Chef opening at THE 

STATION PUB & EATERY. 

F/T, $12/hr. Chef will prepare 

all food items, maintain a safe 

& sanitary work area, and 

ensure proper storage of food. 

Will only consider application 

if US citizen or permanent 

resident. Please email your 

confidential CV/resume to 

Scott MacKay: 

scott.mackay@tru-nor.com 

for more information. 

Part-time Telephone Work 

calling from home for 

AMVETS. Ideal for 

homemakers and retirees. 

Must be reliable and have 

morning &evening hours 

available for calling. 

If interested, 

Call 708 429 6477 

M-F, 10am - 1pm Only! 

NEED A JOB? WE PAY 

YOU TO TRAIN! 

AMERICAN SCHOOL 

BUS: 708.349.1866 

1021 Lost & 

Found 

Lost Yellow Lab Mix 

14 years old, fatty lumps on 

body. Wearing pink collar 

with rabies tag, not 

microchipped. 

Missing from 162nd Place & 

76th Ave in Tinley Park 

Missing since July 1st. 

Please DO NOT chase. 

Contact Owner (847)778-2446 

with any information. Any 

information is greatly 

appreciated, as owner is 

concerned. 

1023 Caregiver 

Caregiver Services 

Provided by 

Margaret’s Agency Inc. 

State Licensed & Bonded 

since 1998. Providing 

quality care for elderly. 

Live-in/ Come & go. 

708.403.8707 

Heaven Sent Caregivers 

Professional caregiving 

service. 24 hr or hourly 

services; shower or bath 

visits. Licensed & bonded. 

Try the best! 708.638.0641 

1025 Situations 

Wanted 

TTT IL AQ Chapter is 

looking for former TTT 

campers from Arbury School 

and/or families. We are 

planning a pizza/ice cream 

Camper Party. Please 

contact us at 

encoder422@comcast.net 

1037 Prayer / 

Novena 

Oh most Beautiful Flower 

of Mt Carmel, Fruitful vine, 

splendor of heaven, blessed 

mother of the Son of God, 

Immaculate Virgin, Assist 

me in this my neccessity, oh 

star of the sea help me .Oh 

holy Mary, Mother ofGod, 

Queen ofHeaven and Earth, 

I humbly beeseach you 

from the bottom of my heart 

to succor me in my necessity 

(make request) there are 

none that can withstand 

your power, oh show me 

herein you are mymother, 

oh Mary conceived without 

sin, pray for us who have 

recourse tothee (3x). Holy 

Mary, Iplace this cause in 

your hands (3x). Say this 

prayer for three consecutive 

days, you must publish it 

and it will be granted to 

you. PAB 

Oh most Beautiful Flower of 

Mt Carmel, Fruitful vine, 


mother of the Son of God, Immaculate 

Virgin, Assist mein 

this my neccessity, oh star of 

the sea help me and show me 

herein you are mymother. Oh 

holy Mary, Mother of God, 

Queen of Heaven and Earth, I 

humbly beeseach you from the 

bottom ofmyheart to succor 

me in my necessity (make request) 

there are none that can 

withstand your power, oh Mary 

conceived without sin, pray for 

us who have recourse tothee 

(3x). Sweet Mother, I place 

this cause in your hands (3x). 

Say this prayer for three consecutive 

days, you must publish 

itand it will be granted to 

you. JM 

Oh most Beautiful Flower of 

Mt Carmel, Fruitful vine, 


mother of the Son of God, Immaculate 

Virgin, Assist mein 

this my neccessity, oh star of 

the sea help me and show me 


1037 Prayer / 

Novena 


holy Mary, Mother of God, 

Queen of Heaven and Earth, I 

humbly beeseach you from the 

bottom ofmyheart to succor 

me in my necessity (make request) 

there are none that can 

withstand your power, oh Mary 

conceived without sin, pray for 

us who have recourse tothee 

(3x). Holy Mary, Iplace this 

cause in your hands (3x). Say 

this prayer for three consecutive 

days, you must publish it 

and itwill be granted to you. 

CB/AP 

Garage 

Sale 

1052 Garage Sale 

Barn Sale 

Frankfort, 22919 Scheer Rd. 

7/20-7/22, 9-4p. Antiques, 

furn, tools, pool supplies, patio 

sets, piano, clothes: wm tall, & 

RC planes. 

Frankfort , 19847 S. Edinburgh 

Ln. 7/22 &7/23, 8-2p. 

Home decor, high fashion jewelry, 

name brand ladies clothing 

sz 2-4P, housewares. Don’t 

miss this one. Please park on 

street. 

Lockport , 312 Madison St. 

7/21-7/22, 9-3p. Tools, furniture, 

kid’s clothing, toys. Everything 

but the kitchen sink!! 

Lockport , 318 Geissler St. 

Bonnie Brae Sub. Sat 7/22, 

9-3p. Silk flowers, vases, ribbon, 

floral tape, & misc items! 

New Lenox 763 Belot 7/20 & 

7/21 8-2pm Furniture, Ladies 

&kids clothes, toys, household 

items, tools & more! 

New Lenox, 2835 Daniel 

Lewis Dr. 7/21-7/22, 8-3p. 

Clothes, kitchen ware, enesco, 

DVDs, video games, holiday, 

tools, golf, toys, home decor, 

& more! 

New Lenox, 745 Wisconsin 

Rd. 7/20-7/21, 8-3p. Furniture, 

home decor, dirt bike, records, 

electronics, baby & much 

more! 

Orland Park 17138 Deer 

Creek Dr 7/21-7/22 9-3pm 

Home decor, small furn, gently 

used household items & more! 

1052 Garage Sale 

Orland Park, 13361 108th 

Ave. Fri 7/21 -Sat 7/22, 9-2p. 

Yard/lawn equiptment, household 

items, kids items &toys. 

Moving! 

Orland Park, 15251 Narcissus 

Ct. July 21&22, 8-1p. Large 

selection of plus sz womens 

clothes & many other misc 

items! 

Tinely Park 17719 Flannagan 

Ct. 7/21-22, 8 a.m. Moving 

house after 15 yrs. One huge 

sale. Everything from furn, 

pictures, hshld, Xmas items, 

toys, games, clothing, garden 

pots, tools and more! 

1053 Multi Family 

Sale 

Green Gardens Township 

26321 & 26548 S. 104th Ave. 

7/21 & 7/22, 8-4. 2 homes, 

multiple families. Antiques, 

vintage, collectibles &lots of 

stuff. 

Mokena 11010 Revere Rd 7/21 

9-4pm 7/22 9-3pm Antiques, 

household items and too much 

to list! Don’t miss this one! 

Orland Park, 16443 Nottingham 

Ct. July 20 & 21, 8-3p. 

Longaberger baskets, crystal & 

cut glass items, hshld items, & 

more! Moving! 

Tinley Park, 16620 Fairfax Ct. 

1block east ofOak Park Ave. 

7/21, 8-3p. 4 homes participating! 

1054 Subdivision 

Sale 

Brookside Glen Townhome 

Community Garage Sale 

80th Ave & 191st St in Tinley 

Park. Sat, July 22nd 8-4pm. 

1057 Estate Sale 

Frankfort 229 Pfaff. 7/21-22, 

9-3. Huge Estate/Barn Sale. 

Barn is loaded with everything 

for your home, garage, &yard. 

Don’t miss. Sat: 50% off! 

Oak Forest, 14816 Temple, 

July 21 & 22, 8-5p. Furn, art 

objects, kitchen ware & all 

sorts of general & wood working 

tools, nic-nacs, jewelry, durable 

medical equipt. & more. 

HIRE LOCALLY 

Reach over 83% of prospective 

employees in your area! 

CALL TODAY 708-326-9170 

www.22ndcenturymedia.com

mokenamessenger.com Classifieds 


CLASSIFIEDS 



Automotive 

1061 Autos Wanted 

Sell It 708.326.9170 

Fax It 708.326.9179 

Charge It 

DEADLINE - 

Friday at 3pm 

Automotive 

$52 

4 lines/ 

7 papers 

Help Wanted 

Real Estate 

Merchandise 

per line $13 

$50 

$30 

4 lines/ 

7 lines/ 

4 lines/ 

7 papers 

7 papers 

7 papers 

LOCAL 

REALTOR 

DIRECTORY 

1068 RV Trailers 

2012 TT Starcraft Camper 

(AR-One 18FB) $6,500 or 

best offer. Added extras: 4 

ceiling fans, marine battery, 

extra-long mattress, stabilizer 

jacks. Camper in A1 

condition, has been twice 

yearly serviced. If interested 

call (815)838-8245 

for appointments. 

2006 Harley Wide Glide, 

2,900 mi. Fuel inj. Exc. 

cond. $6,900. Call 

815.485.2831 

1065 Motorcycles 

DRIVE CAR BUYERS 

TO YOUR DOOR WITH 

A CLASSIFIED AUTO AD 

708.326.9170 

DRIVE CAR BUYERS 

TO YOUR DOOR WITH 

A CLASSIFIED AUTO AD 

CALL US TODAY at 708.326.9170 

Don’t just 

list your 

real estate 

property... 

Sell It! 

With a Classified Ad 

See the Classified Section for 

more info, or call 708.326.9170 

22ndCenturyMedia.com 

Contact Classified Department 

to Advertise in this Directory 

(708) 

326.9170

34 | July 20, 2017 | The Mokena Messenger classifieds 


OPEN 

HOUSE 

Sunday July 23rd 1-4pm 

18122 Edgar Place 

Tinley Park 

OPEN HOUSE 

SHOWCASE 

OPEN 

HOUSE 

Sat. July 22nd 12-3pm 

Sun. July 23rd 12-3pm 

10830 Minnesota Court, 

Orland Park 

(Eagle Ridge Subd.) 

CLASSIFIEDS 



1311 Office/Retail Space for Rent 

Frankfort 

1,000 sq. ft. signalized corner, 

7950 Lincoln Highway, no 

common area maintenance or 

real estate taxes (landlord 

pays), 2 months free rent, 

minimum 1year lease. Ample 

parking. 312-622-6300 

Advertise your 

RENTAL 

PROPERTY 

in the newspaper 

people turn 

to first 

CALL US TODAY: 708.326.9170 


Sell It 708.326.9170 

Fax It 708.326.9179 

Charge It 

DEADLINE - 

Friday at 3pm 

Automotive 

Real Estate 

$52 

4 lines/ 

7 papers Help Wanted 

$50 

7 lines/ 

7 papers Merchandise 

$13 

per line 

4 lines/ 

7 papers 

$30 

4 lines/ 

7 papers 

2004 Asphalt Paving/Seal Coating 

1322 Industrial Property for Rent 

Desirable Chestnut Ridge 

Townhouse 2BR, 2.5Ba, 

1,900 sq. ft, MUST SEE! 

Beautiful upgrades, loft, 

water view. Featured on 

Zillow $288,000. 

708-557-6945 

1221 Houses for 

Rent 

New Lenox 

2720 Lancaster 

New Lenox Schools- 

3bdrm’s, 2 baths, newer 

kitchen, deck, 2 car garage, 

$1,900/month. No pets or 

smoking. Agent owned. 

815-351-0366 

ReMax 10 

Professionally remodeled, 

brick 2BR, 2Ba, ranch townhome, 

new SSappls, cabinets, 

quartz top, double sink vanities, 

new floors &carpet. 2.5 

car garage. 630-336-5217 

Contact Classified Department 

to Advertise in this Directory 

708.326.9170 

Rental 

1225 Apartments 

for Rent 

Tinley Park 

Clean, modern 1BR 2nd 

floor, $770/month, 2BR, 

$860/month plus security 

&credit check, heat, laundry 

& AC, no pets. 

630-207-5994 

2003 Appliance Repair 

QUALITY 

APPLIANCE 

REPAIR, Inc. 

• Air Conditioning • Furnaces 

Refrigeration • Dishwashers 

Stoves & Ovens • Microwaves 

Garbage Disposals 

Washers&Dryers 

Family Owned &Operatedsince 1986 

Someone you can TRUST 

All work GUARANTEED 

BEST price in town! 

708-712-1392 

HIRE LOCALLY 



Business Directory 

...to place your 

Classified Ad! 

708.326.9170 

CALL TODAY FOR 

RATES & INFORMATION 

708-326-9170 


B-3 Asphalt Inc. 

43 years Experience 

Family Owned 

Residential Commercial 

Resurfacing Concrete & 

Old Asphalt 

Driveways 

Repairs Sealcoating 

Patching Excavation 

Free Estimates 

708 691 8640 

Owner Supervised 

Insured Bonded 

Place a garage sale ad & reach 

over 96,000 homes across 

the southwest suburbs! 

FOR $42 YOU’LL GET 

ASINGLE FAMILY AD 

4 LINES in 7 PAPERS 

CALL THE CLASSIFIED 

DEPARTMENT: 708.326.9170 

With the Purchase 

of a Garage Sale Ad! 


2006 Basement Waterproofing

mokenamessenger.com classifieds 

the Mokena Messenger | July 20, 2017 | 35



CLASSIFIEDS 



Sell It 708.326.9170 

Fax It 708.326.9179 

Charge It 

DEADLINE - 

Friday at 3pm 

Automotive 

Real Estate 

$52 

4 lines/ 


$50 

7 lines/ 


$13 

per line 

4 lines/ 

7 papers 

$30 

4 lines/ 

7 papers 

2090 Flooring 

2025 Concrete Work 

2032 Decking 

Sturdy 

Deck & Fence 

Repair, Rebuild or 

Replace 

Make It Safe - Make it Sturdy 

708 479 9035 

Advertise 

your 

RENTAL 

PROPERTY 

in the 

newspaper 

people turn 

to first 

CALL US TODAY: 708.326.9170 


Drywall 

*Hanging *Taping 

*New Homes 

*Additions 

*Remodeling 

Call Greg At: 

(815)485-3782 

2060 Drywall 

2070 Electrical 

...to place 

your 


CALL 

708.326.9170 

2120 Handyman 

Place a garage sale ad & reach 

over 96,000 homes across 

the southwest suburbs! 

FOR $42 YOU’LL GET 

ASINGLE FAMILY AD 

4 LINES in 7 PAPERS 

CALL THE CLASSIFIED 

DEPARTMENT: 708.326.9170 

With the Purchase 

of a Garage Sale Ad! 


SAMMSON 

CONCRETE 

Experts at All Concrete Flat Work 

Color & Stamped Concrete 

Licensed, Bonded & Insured 

815-469-1603 

708-259-5155 CELL 

Driveways • Patios • Shed Pads 

Garage Floors • Sidewalks 

EXPERIENCED 

ELECTRICIAN 

R E A S O N A B L E 

D E P E N D A B L E 

SMALL JOBS 

CALL ANYTIME 

(708) 478-8269 

Don’t just list 

your real estate 

property... 

Sell It! 

With a Classified Ad 

See the Classified Section for more 

info,or call 708.326.9170 

22ndCenturyMedia.com 

HANDYMAN SERVICE —WHATEVER YOU NEED 

"OVER 30 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE" 

Windows, Doors, Decks Kitchen & Bathroom Remodeling, Plumbing Interior and 

Exterior Painting Wall Paper Removal Professional Work At Competitive Prices 

Super Service Award Winners 

ALL MAJOR CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED 

www.sammsonconcrete.com 

2075 Fencing 

CALL MIKE AT 708-790-3416 

Frank J’s Concrete 

Stoops 

Curbs 

Colored & Stamped 

Patios 

Driveways 

Walks 

Garage Floors 

Over 30 Years Experience! 

708 663 9584 

Tinley Park Company 

Attention Realtors 

Looking to Advertise? 

REACH MORE THAN 96,000 

HOMES &BUSINESSES EACH WEEK! 

See the Classified Section for more info, 

or Call 708.326.9170 www.22ndcenturymedia.com 

HIRE LOCALLY 



MORTGAGE 

ALERT! 

LOCK-IN MORE BUSINESS. 

ADVERTISE LOCALLY. 

CONTACT THE CLASSIFIED DEPARTMENT 

708-326-9170 

22ndcenturymedia.com 

CALL TODAY FOR 

RATES & INFORMATION 

708-326-9170 


CARRARAREPAIRSERVICE



2130 Heating/Cooling 

CLASSIFIEDS 



Sell It 708.326.9170 

Fax It 708.326.9179 

Charge It 

DEADLINE - 

Friday at 3pm 

Automotive 

Real Estate 

$52 

4 lines/ 


$50 

7 lines/ 


$13 

per line 

4 lines/ 

7 papers 

$30 

4 lines/ 

7 papers 

2132 Home Improvement 

2135 Insulation 

2140 Landscaping 

2132 Home Improvement 

Residential/Commercial 

“Design/Build Professionals" 

Kitchen & Bathroom Remodeling · Room Additions · Finished Basements · Decks/Pergolas 

· Screen Rooms/ 3 Season Rooms · Front Porches/Porticos · Commercial BuildOuts 

- We provide Design, Product, and Installation - 

Free Consultation: 

Showroom: 

Member 

HomerChamber 

of Commerce 

Visit Our Showroom Location at 1223 N Convent St. Bourbonnais 

...to place 

your 


CALL 

708.326.9170



2140 Landscaping 

2150 Paint & Decorating 

2170 Plumbing 

Ideal 

Landscaping 

Complete 

Landscaping 

Sodding, Seeding, Trees 

Shrubs, Pavers, Retaining 

Walls, Firewood 

Since 1973 

708 235 8917 

815 210 2882 

2145 Lawn Maintenance 

MARTY’S 

PAINTING 

Interior / Exterior 

Fast, Neat Painting 

Drywall 

Wallpaper Removal 

Staining 

Free Estimates 

20% Off with this ad 

708-606-3926 

Advertise your 

RENTAL 

PROPERTY 

in the newspaper 

people turn 

to first 

CALL US TODAY: 708.326.9170 


KASCH PLUMBING Inc. 

• Waterheaters 

•SumpPumps 

• Faucets 

Lisense #055-043148 

Complete Plumbing Service 

• WaterLeaks 

• RPZ Testing 

• Ejector Pumps 

•Disposals 

• Toilets 

815.603.6085



CLASSIFIEDS 



Sell It 708.326.9170 

Fax It 708.326.9179 

Charge It 

DEADLINE - 

Friday at 3pm 

Automotive 

Real Estate 

$52 

4 lines/ 


$50 

7 lines/ 


$13 

per line 

4 lines/ 

7 papers 

$30 

4 lines/ 

7 papers 

2200 Roofing 

2200 Roofing


mokenamessenger.com



2703 Legal Notices 

LEGAL NOTICE 

The Mokena Fire Protection District 

(MFPD) is seeking sealed bids 

for the purchase of Armor Express 

ballistic body armor ensemble per 

MFPD specifications. Detailed 

specifications for the proposed purchase 

are on file with the MFPD at 

19853 S Wolf Rd, Mokena, IL 

60448. Bids will be accepted until 

12:00 PM on August 3, 2017; after 

which time no additional bids will 

be accepted. The sealed bids will 

be opened atapublic bid opening 

at 1:00 PM on August 3, 2017 at 

19853 S Wolf Rd, Mokena, IL 

60448. The District reserves the 

right toreject any and all bids and 

is not required to accept abid that 

does not meet its established specifications, 

terms of delivery, quality 

and serviceability requirements. 

LEGAL NOTICE 

Prevailing Wage Notification 

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN 

THAT THE BOARDS OF EDU- 

CATION OF SCHOOL DIS- 

TRICTS #17, #30C, #33C, #70C, 

#81, #84, #86, #88, #88A, #89, 

#90, #91, #92, #114, #122, #157C, 

#159, #161, #200U, #201U, #202, 

#203, #204, #205, #207U, #209U, 

#210, #255U, #365U, #525, #843, 

WILCO AREA CAREER CEN- 

TER, LOCKPORT SPECIAL 

EDUCATION COOPERATIVE, 

AND SOUTHERN WILL 

COUNTY COOPERATIVE FOR 

SPECIAL EDUCATION IN THE 

COUNTIES OF KANKAKEE, 

KENDALL, AND WILL, STATE 

OF ILLINOIS, THAT CHANNA- 

HON SCHOOL DISTRICT #17, 

TROY SCHOOL DISTRICT 

#30C, HOMER SCHOOL DIS- 

TRICT #33C, LARAWAY 

SCHOOL DISTRICT #70C, UN- 

ION SCHOOL DISTRICT #81, 

ROCKDALE SCHOOL DIS- 

TRICT #84, JOLIET ELEMEN- 

TARY SCHOOL DISTRICT #86, 

CHANEY-MONGE SCHOOL 

DISTRICT #88, RICHLAND 

SCHOOL DISTRICT #88A, 

FAIRMONT SCHOOL DISTRICT 

#89, TAFT SCHOOL DISTRICT 

#90, LOCKPORT SCHOOL DIS- 

TRICT #91, WILL COUNTY 

SCHOOL DISTRICT #92, MAN- 

HATTAN SCHOOL DISTRICT 

#114, NEW LENOX SCHOOL 

DISTRICT #122, FRANKFORT 

SCHOOL DISTRICT #157C, 

MOKENA SCHOOL DISTRICT 

#159, SUMMIT HILL SCHOOL 

DISTRICT #161, BEECHER 

SCHOOL DISTRICT #200U, 

CRETE-MONEE SCHOOL DIS- 

TRICT #201U, PLAINFIELD 

SCHOOL DISTRICT #202, EL- 

WOOD SCHOOL DISTRICT 

#203, JOLIET HIGH SCHOOL 

DISTRICT #204, LOCKPORT 

HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT #205, 

PEOTONE SCHOOL DISTRICT 

#207U, WILMINGTON SCHOOL 

DISTRICT #209U, 

LINCOLN-WAY HIGH SCHOOL 

DISTRICT #210, REED-CUSTER 

SCHOOL DISTRICT #255U, 

VALLEY VIEW SCHOOL DIS- 

TRICT #365U, JOLIET JUNIOR 

COLLEGE DISTRICT #525, LIN- 

COLN-WAY SPECIAL EDUCA- 

TION COOPERATIVE #843, 

WILCO AREA CAREER CEN- 

TER, LOCKPORT SPECIAL 

EDUCATION COOPERATIVE, 

AND SOUTHERN WILL 

COUNTY COOPERATIVE FOR 

SPECIAL EDUCATION HAVE 

PASSED RESOLUTIONS RE- 

GARDING THE GENERAL PRE- 

VAILING RATE OF HOURLY 

WAGES FOR THESE DIS- 

TRICTS AND THAT THE PRE- 

VAILING RATE SHALL BE THE 

RATE AS DETERMINED BY 

THE DEPARTMENT OFLABOR 

OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS. 

THESE WAGE RATES ARE 

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AT 

EACH OF THE INDIVIDUAL 

SCHOOL DISTRICT OFFICES. 

THESE RESOLUTIONS SHALL 

BE EFFECTIVE IMMEDI- 

ATELY. 



PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT 

National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs 

Will County Regional Office of Education today announced on behalf of the Boards ofEducation ofSchool Districts #17, #30C, #33C, #70C, #81, #84, 

#86, #88, #88A, #89, #90, #91, #92, #114, #122, #157C, #159, #161, #200U, #201U, #202, #203, #204, #205, #207U, #209U, #210, #255U, #365U, and 

#843 in the counties ofKankakee, Kendall, and Will, State ofIllinois, that Channahon School District #17, Troy School District #30C, Homer School 

District #33C, Laraway School District #70C, Union School District #81, Rockdale School District #84, Joliet Elementary School District #86, 

Chaney-Monge School District #88, Richland School District #88A, Fairmont School District #89, Taft School District #90, Lockport School District 

#91,Will County School District #92, Manhattan School District #114, New Lenox School District #122, Frankfort School District #157C, Mokena 

School District #159, Summit Hill School District #161, Beecher School District #200U, Crete-Monee School District #201U, Plainfield School District 

#202, Elwood School District #203, Joliet High School District #204, Lockport High School District #205, Peotone School District #207U, Wilmington 

School District #209U, Reed-Custer School District #255U, Valley View School District #365U, and Lincoln Way Special Ed. Cooperative #843 announce 

their policies for free and reduced price lunch, breakfast, and after school snack for those students unable topay the full price for meals and 

snacks under the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs. The following household size and income criteria will be used for determining 

eligibility: 

ILLINOIS INCOME GUIDELINES 

(Effective from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018) 

Household Size FREE Household Size REDUCED-PRICE 

Annual Monthly Twice Per Every Two Weekly Annual Monthly Twice Per Every Two Weekly 

Month Weeks Month Weeks 

1 $15,678 $1,307 $654 $603 $302 1 $22,311 $1,860 $930 $859 $430 

2 21,112 1,760 880 812 406 2 30,044 2,504 1,252 1,156 578 

3 26,546 2,213 1,107 1,021 511 3 37,777 3,149 1,575 1,453 727 

4 31,980 2,665 1,333 1,230 615 4 45,510 3,793 1,897 1,751 876 

5 37,414 3,118 1,559 1,439 720 5 53,243 4,437 2,219 2,048 1,024 

6 42,848 3,571 1,786 1,648 824 6 60,976 5,082 2,541 2,346 1,173 

7 48,282 4,024 2,012 1,857 929 7 68,709 5,726 2,863 2,643 1,322 

8 53,716 4,477 2,239 2,066 1,033 8 76,422 6,371 3,186 2,941 1,471 

Each Additional 

Each Additional 

Family Member + 5,434 + 453 + 227 +209 + 105 Family Member + 7,733 + 645 + 323 + 298 + 149 

Children from households that meet Federal guidelines are eligible for free or reduced-price meal services. Complete one application per household for 

all children that attend the same school district. 

All meals served must meet the U.S.Department ofAgriculture meal requirements. However, if achild has been determined by a doctor tohave adisability 

and the disability would prevent the child from eating the regular school meal, this school will make substitutions prescribed bythe doctor. If a 

substitution isneeded, there will be no extra charge for the meal. If you believe your child needs substitutions because ofadisability, please contact the 

school for further information. 

Application forms are available at the principal's office in each school. To apply for free or reduced-price meal services, households must complete the 

application as soon as possible, sign it and return it to the school. Households should answer all applicable questions on the form. An application, 

which does not contain all the required information, cannot be processed and approved bythe school. Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) participants 

may be eligible for free/reduced-price meals and are encouraged to complete an application for meal benefits. 

The required information is as follows: 

FOOD STAMP/TANF HOUSEHOLDS: If you received a letter with an eligibility certificate for school meals, return the eligibility certificate to the 

school your child attends. You do not have to complete this application toreceive meal benefits. Households that currently receive food stamps or ‘‘Temporary 

Assistance for Needy Families’’ (TANF) for their child(ren), only have to list the child(ren)'s name and food stamp or TANF case number and 

sign the application. Applications listing LINK card number cannot be used for free or reduced-price meals. 

ALL OTHER HOUSEHOLDS: If a household's income isatorbelow the level shown onthe income scale, children are eligible for either free orreduced-price 

meal services. Households must provide the following information: (1) the names of all household members; (2) the Social Security number 

of the adult household member signing the application, or indicate if the adult does not have aSocial Security number; (3) the amount ofincome each 

household member received last month, how frequently it is paid, and where it came from (wages, child support, etc.); and (4) the signature of an adult 

household member. 

The information on the application may be checked by school or other officials at any time during the school year. 

Households may apply for benefits at any time during the school year. Households that are not eligible now but have adecrease in household income, an 

increase in household size or have a household member that becomes unemployed should fill out an application at that time. 

In certain cases, foster children are eligible for free orreduced-price meal services regardless ofthe household income. Households that have foster children 

living with them and wish to apply for free orreduced-price meal services for them should complete the application. Homeless, migrant and runaway 

youth are categorically eligible for free meals. Please follow instructions and return form to school. 

Households dissatisfied with the ruling ofthe official may wish to discuss itwith the school. Households also have the right to afair hearing. This can 

be done by calling or writing the following official: 

The Principal, Business Manager, or Superintendent in the school/school district in which you live 

In accordance with Federal law and U.S. Department ofAgriculture policy, all institutions are prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, 

national origin, sex, age, or disability. Tofile acomplaint ofdiscrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, 

SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 or (202) 720-6382 (TTY). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. 

MORTGAGE 

ALERT! 

CONTACT THE CLASSIFIED DEPARTMENT 

708-326-9170 | 22ndcenturymedia.com 

Want to 

See 

Your 

Business 

in the 

Classifieds? 

Call 

708-326-9170 

for a FREE 

Sample Ad 

and Quote! 

LOCK-IN MORE BUSINESS. 

ADVERTISE LOCALLY. 

CLASSIFIEDS 



Sell It 708.326.9170 | Fax It 708.326.9179 

Charge It | DEADLINE - Friday at 3pm 

2900 Merchandise Under $100 

Large tomato plants, last call 

ONLY $1 EACH! Black floormats, 

gel black, ft x3ft. $5 

each. Four alum downspouts 

strainers $2. New battery microracer 

play vehicle wireless 

$8. 708.460.8308 

Little Tikes work bench with 

tools, excellent condition $15. 

815.469.6554 

Maytag clothes dryer, natural 

gas driven, has auto sensor dry, 

like new $100. 708.429.6928 

Men’s 26” 5speed bike $50. 

708.478.8976 

New 12” Craftsman band saw 

with stand $80. 708.479.0193 

New Barbie Doll in box, circa 

1977 $18. Cross 10”H x5”W, 

new in box, made in Mexico 

$10. Solid marble new rolling 

pin $15. Ten can igloo cooler 

$12. Women’s magazines .50. 

708.460.8308 

PF product classic vintage retro 

wall telephone push dials $40. 

Vintage Coleman 2gal cooler 

jug $20. Rare CJ Jayes can 

company vintage 5gal gas can 

$25. 708.466.9907 

Queen size walnut head board 

& frame $95. Like new. 

708.403.5241 

Red wing shoes 8.5 D $55. 

Wood ladder 6 ft. $10. 

708.798.9755 

Slot car track, 5big full boxes 

of different car &train sets of 

all types $10 a box. 

708.349.6433 

Student desk &chair $35. Outdoor 

castle play house with 

slide $50. Hand made dollhouse 

$20 obo. 708.301.5071 

Two compact LCD Durka projection 

systems 800 x 600 

$100. 708.217.9722 

Vintage school desk, wrought 

iron sides, separe fold upseat 

& also afold upseat on front 

of desk. $95. 708.671.0696 

West Bend 2 wide slot 800 

watt toaster, new in the box 

$12. Ladder, Keller 6’ commercial, 

excellent condition 

$35 obo. 708.403.2525 

Wooden “Nilo” train table. 

Like brand new, $100 firm. 2 

wooden storage drawers available 

for addtional cost. Call 

(708)212-8142 for details. 

Automotive 

$52 4 lines/ 

7 papers 

Real Estate 


lines/ 

Help Wanted 

$13 4 lines/ 

per line 7 papers 

Merchandise 


lines/ 

1 HP Haywary pool pump. 

$75. Call Lou 708.448.9597 

2 headboards, twin, oak and 

side rails for each, Made in 

USA. $80 for both. 

708.280.7857 

20 inch boy bike, like new $20. 

708.403.5241 

8” Skil drill press $60. Craftsman 

5 drawer tool chest on 

wheels $45. 708.479.0193 

Abu Garcia spinning rod 61/2 

ft. Two piece medium heavy 

action, new, never used, makes 

excellent travel rod. Cost $100, 

selling $70. 708.301.0356 

Aluminum Delta truck tool box 

w/ locking latches $75. 

630.235.9381 

Box sale. Must downsize. 2 

boxes of good Christmas decorations 

$10 ea. 1 box of good 

Halloween decoations $10. 2 

boxes of McDonald stuff $15 

each. 708.349.6433 

Brown iron stone dinnnerware 

complete service for 16. Excellent 

condition $75. Matching 

bowls & pitcher $25. 

708.301.7778 

Central machiner, 12 ton shop 

press used once, great job, no 

longer need it $90. 

708.921.1784 

Craftsman electric edger/trimmer 

with spare blades $25. 2 

terra cotta strawberry planters 

$5 each. 815.463.1666 

Glass/metal dining set w/ 4 

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42 | July 20, 2017 | The Mokena Messenger sports 


Bumping up a level 

LWC volleyball players take fifth at national tourney 

Athlete of the Week 

10 Questions 

with Peyton Nigro 

Lincoln-Way Central senior 

Peyton Nigro will be a key 

cog in the Knights defense 

during the 2017 season. He 

earned first-team honors for 

the 2016 Team 22 football 

awards. 

An area team that consisted of Providence player Matt Russo; Lincoln-Way Central player 

Jack Yurkanin; and Lincoln-Way West players Ben Plustoka, Louden Moran, David Flores 

and Christopher Dargan recently took fifth place at the 2017 USAV Boys’ Junior National 

Championships in Columbus. Photo Submitted 

Illinois Crush 2018 Travel Baseball 

11U Navy Tryouts July 11 & 14 5-7pm Reed Elementary 

11u Orange July 10 & 17 6-7:30 and July 15 9-11am Reed Elementary illinoiscrushcoachm@gmail.com 

12U Cooperstown Team Tryouts July 12/13 6-8pm, July 16 11-1pm Reed Elementary School Brianmichaelholland@gmail.com 

13U JULY 15-16 11-1PM Oak Prairie Junior High r.pasco@att.net 

14U NAVY July 15/16 & 22/23 2-4pm Oak Prairie Junior High greg@citm.us 

15U NAVY July 22 11-1pm Bo Dome rms@htcflooring.com 

15U ORANGE July 22 10-12pm Lockport HS Freshman Field mschnell2@comcast.net 

16U ORANGE July 27-28, 5-8PM Lockport HS Freshman Field pharmacyed@hotmail.com 

17U NAVY PRIVATE TRYOUT ONLY (708) 467-4914 OR aj_hansen@comcast.net 

17U ORANGE JULY 29-30 11-1PM LOCKPORT HS FRESHMAN FIELD egeorge@northernproducts.net 

18U Navy & Orange PRIVATE ONLY (708) 431-0160 OR homercrushbaseball@yahoo.com 

CONTACT MARK TOMCZAK: 

HomerCrushBaseball@Yahoo.com • IllinoisCrushBaseball.com 

How did you get started 

with football? 

I started playing football 

when I was, I think, [in] second 

grade, because we just 

moved to Mokena, and my 

dad’s best friend started to 

work the league. 

Before a game, do you 

have and rituals or 

superstitions? 

Before every game, a superstition 

for me would be 

I wear the same cutoff [Tshirt] 

that we got from our 

team. It was one of the first 

shirts we got. I wear that every 

game, and then I eat the 

same sandwich every Friday. 

I have turkey, lettuce, mayo 

and I think cucumbers. 

What are your goals for 

your senior season? 

My senior season goals 

would be, I would like to 

have 10 interceptions, [be] 

all-state and [have] my team 

make it to the state championship. 

What are you working 

on for your final high 

school season? 

This year, I’m working on 

more of perfecting the run 

game. I think my pass game 

defense has been pretty 

good, but I think I just need 

to work on my run this year. 

What do you like the 

most about football? 

What I like the most about 

playing football is just the 

joy in being with the team 

and being part of such a 

huge family, where you have 

your brothers with you all 

the time. They’re always 

there, cheering you on no 

matter what. 

If you won the lottery, 

what would you buy 

first? 

If I won the lottery, I would 

probably buy my own outlet 

mall where I could shop at. 

I would buy the whole thing 

so I could pick out anything 

I want in the whole mall. 

Who is your favorite 

athlete? 

My favorite athlete is 

— this is a hard one — my 

favorite athlete is LeBron 

James. I really like the way 

he plays basketball. I’ve 

always been a huge fan of 

him. He’s the best player in 

the game, as of now, and I 

think that he has great character, 

and his athletic ability 

BURNS PHOTOGRAPHY 

is outstanding. He’s a freak 

of nature. 

What is a perfect 

postgame meal? 

Usually, me and my teammates 

will go out. We like either 

El Burrito Loco [in New 

Lenox] or Meatheads [in 

Frankfort], if it’s still open. 

I like Burrito Loco a lot, because 

I’m a huge burrito fan. 

What item or two that 

you own could you not 

live without? 

I can’t live without my 

car and my phone. My car, 

it brings me everywhere. 

I’m always driving my car. 

I’m always on my phone, 

either watching film or just 

staying connected with everyone. 

What is your dream job? 

My dream job would be an 

FBI agent. I’ve always been 

a huge law enforcement fan. 

That’s something I’d really 

like to do. I’m really into 

crime [prevention]. 

Interview by Editor Tim Carroll



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A different kind of state representative 

Mokena lacrosse 

player represents 

Illinois in national 

competition 

Kyle LaHucik, Editorial Intern 

Mokena resident Nick 

Cornfield was “shocked” 

when he was selected to play 

at this year’s Warrior National 

Prospect Invite, a twoday 

lacrosse showcase that 

NCAA coaches attend. 

But it’s not a shock for 

others. 

Cornfield is currently being 

scouted by 15 colleges, 

his dad said. Cornfield, a 

rising junior at St. Rita, will 

be one of 10 athletes (five 

boys, five girls) to represent 

Illinois at the national 

tournament held Monday 

and Tuesday, July 17-18, in 

Richmond, Virginia. 

To get to the national 

stage, Cornfield has committed 

himself to the sport since 

he was a fifth-grader. At the 

time, after being cut from a 

baseball team, he decided 

not to play sports for a little 

while. 

“I didn’t really want to 

play anything after that because 

I remember that,” 

Cornfield said. “And then my 

mom talked me into playing 

lacrosse. I thought ‘Why not 

just give it a shot?’” 

Since then, Cornfield has 

set his athletic sights on lacrosse, 

with an academic eye 

for political science, which 

he hopes to study in college. 

“So, I tried out for this club 

team, called True Lacrosse. 

I made the team there, and 

then I kind of just built my 

way up from there,” Cornfield 

said. “I just worked at 

it every day, I just got myself 

better.” 

Though the 5-foot 8-inch, 

140-pound athlete works 

hard and takes the sport seriously, 

Cornfield said it’s 

Mokena native and St. Rita student Nick Cornfield gets ready for action for his high school squad earlier this year. 

Cornfield represented Illinois as one of 10 players from the state chosen to participate in the Warrior National Prospect 

Invite Monday and Tuesday, July 17-18, in Richmond, Virginia. Photos Submitted 

Cornfield works on his game during a match with his club team, NXT. 

also fun, and the “love of the 

game” is what keeps him going. 

“It’s one of the best hobbies 

I ever did,” Cornfield 

said. “It’s just so entertaining, 

and you could never get 

sick of it. There’s never like 

a point where you just get 

sick of lacrosse.” 

While at Mokena Junior 

High School, Cornfield was 

approached by the St. Rita 

head coach Jim Jucinski. 

“I went over [to St. Rita] 

for the shadow visit, and I 

instantly fell in love with the 

school, because I felt like it 

was a second home to me 

there,” Cornfield said. “They 

all treated you good and everything.” 

Cornfield was approached 

by Jucinski because of what 

the coach saw in him. 

“Nick possessed great 

fundamentals and a high lacrosse 

IQ for someone of his 

age,” Jucinski said. 

That high IQ helped earn 

Cornfield a spot on the varsity 

team his freshman year. 

For his next and last two 

years of high school, Cornfield 

hopes St. Rita can win 

a state championship, and 

he will continue “trying to 

do the best I could on the 

field.” 

Jucinski looks forward to 

improvement in Cornfield, 

too. The coach said he wanted 

to see his young athlete 

“be more of a team leader 

both through on-field leadership 

and vocally.” 

The St. Rita coach isn’t 

the only person who coaches 

Cornfield. His uncle, who 

Cornfield said is in a few lacrosse 

hall of fames, is a role 

model for him. 

Cornfield goes to upstate 

New York every summer to 

train with his uncle and to 

play indoor lacrosse, which 

“helps get your stick skills 

better, which increases 

game.” 

Before he played at the National 

Prospect Invite, which 

had a rigorous selection process 

by college coaches who 

looked at videos of the athletes 

who applied, Cornfield 

will play at the Philly Summer 

Invitational for his club 

team, NXT Lacrosse. 

At the National Prospect 

Invite, Cornfield said 

he hopes to speak with 

the Benedictine and Naval 

Academy coaches. He has 

the potential to be scouted by 

coaches from many NCAA 

Division I and Division II 

colleges and will attempt to 

put his best foot forward as 

a long stick midfielder, the 

only player on a lacrosse 

team who is allowed to play 

the full field. 

Come fall, he might commit 

to one of the colleges. 

Cornfield’s dad said he 

would like to commit by November 

so they can be done 

with the recruiting process. 

And while his future 

athletic plans remain fluid, 

Cornfield plans to join the 

student government at St. 

Rita this upcoming school 

year, which will possibly 

give him a better idea of 

whether or not he wants to 

stick with political science 

wherever he continues 

his athletic and academic 

careers. 

For now, and at least the 

next six years, there is no 

doubt Cornfield will stick to 

lacrosse.

mokenamessenger.com sports 


Baseball 

Underdog Griffins earn summer regional win 

RANDY WHALEN 


A couple of weeks ago, 

the Lincoln-Way East baseball 

team didn’t know if it 

was going to be participating 

in the Illinois High School 

Baseball Coaches Association 

Summer Baseball Tournament. 

After all, the Griffins 

had only played three 

games as a team all summer. 

But this week, East played 

in the IHSBCA Phil Lawler 

Summer Classic State Tournament 

at North Central 

College in Naperville and 

Benedictine University in 

Lisle after winning the local 

tournament. 

Such is the odyssey for 

the Griffins, who tripled 

their summer win total in 

two days with four victories. 

That was capped off with an 

8-5 win over the host Porters 

on July 12 in the title game 

of the Lockport Summer 

League Regional. 

“We didn’t even play a 

game [the previous] week,” 

East coach Eric Brauer said 

of the week of Independence 

Day. “So we were not in the 

[IHSBCA] Tournament until 

late [that] week. We had 

played three games all summer 

and then we played four 

in 36 hours.” 

The summer regional 

championship was the first 

for East since it won the 

summer state tournament in 

2008. Lincoln-Way North 

won the IHSBCA Phil 

Lawler Summer Classic 

State Tournament in 2011 

and 2015 and Lincoln-Way 

— when it was still just one 

school — won the summer 

state in 2000. 

In past years, there was a 

requirement that the teams 

entered in the IHSBCA 

Tournament play 10 games 

in the summer. But due to a 

decreased number of teams 

getting involved in the tournament 

because of travel 

ball, that stipulation was 

dropped for this summer. 

That worked out perfect for 

East (6-1). Brauer, who was 

hired last month after leading 

Chicago Christian to a 40-2 

record and a third-place Class 

2A state finish this spring, put 

together the team in a short 

time and proved that next 

spring looks promising. 

“I was at football camp 

when all of the sudden I got 

a message to come out and 

play baseball,” East senior 

Jake Tencza said of a text he 

got in June when he didn’t 

know that there would be a 

Griffin summer league team. 

“So we just went out and 

played. 

“But we bought into the 

championship culture that 

coach [Brauer] brought. 

We’re just getting started 

and it feels great.” 

In the title game against 

the Porters (11-5), East 

took the lead for good with 

a four-run fourth. Senior 

Jake Slager’s sacrifice bunt 

turned into an errant throw 

that allowed two runs to 

score and tie the game. Junior 

Matt Watson (2-for-3) 

walloped an RBI triple to 

put East ahead for good and 

Tencza (2-for-3, 3 RBI) added 

an RBI double to give the 

Griffins a 5-3 advantage. 

“I hit the ball well,” Watson 

said. “It feels great to 

have beaten a top program 

like Lockport and win this 

regional championship.” 

In the fifth inning, East 

loaded the bases on a pair 

of walks and a hit by pitch. 

Then, with two outs, Tencza 

was also hit by a pitch to 

make the score 6-3. 

“I couldn’t do it without 

my teammates getting on 

base,” Tencza said of his 

success in the game. “We 

made the Lockport pitchers 

Julian Everett takes a swing during a game last spring. East won the Lockport Summer League Regional, which took 

place over two days last week, after defeating Lockport July 12. Julie McMann/22nd Century Media 

throw a lot of pitches and 

kept turning over our lineup.” 

Lockport left the bases 

loaded in the fifth, but did 

cut the lead to 6-5 when junior 

Collin Woulfe (1-for-4, 

2 RBI) hit the eighth pitch of 

his at bat to right field for a 

two-out, two-run single. 

But the Griffins added a 

pair of two insurance runs in 

the seventh on a wild pitch 

and an error. Chase Blatzer 

earned the save for winning 

pitcher. 

“I got both strikeouts on 

curve balls,” Blatzer said. “I 

don’t get nervous out there, I 

just go out do my thing and 

throw strikes in the key situations.” 

A two-out, two-run double 

by junior Jack Mladic (2-for- 

4, 2 RBI) capped a three-run 

first for Lockport, which 

scored the games first run on 

an error. The Griffins began 

their comeback when Tencza 

had a one-out RBI single to 

left in the third. 

Earlier in the day in the 

opening semifinal game, 

East had an incredible rally 

to defeat Minooka 10-9. 

Trailing 7-0 after one inning 

and 9-7 with two outs in the 

top of the seventh, the Griffins 

came back to win. 

“We never thought we were 

out of the game,” Watson said. 

“I went to the plate with the 

mindset to get the job done.” 

True to his word, Watson 

whacked a two-out RBI 

double to tie the game at 9-9. 

That came on the heels of a 

two-out RBI double by senor 

Jake VanderWoude. When 

junior Zack Jurgens (2 for 5, 

2 RBI) reached on an error, 

the go-ahead run scored. Senior 

left-hander Dan Sajewski 

pitched three scoreless 

innings in relief, allowing 

one hit to get the win. 

Minooka (12-4) was the 

No. 1 seed in the regional. 

In the second semifinal, 

Lockport defeated Plainfield 

North (10-3) 7-1. 

In the quarterfinals, which 

were all held on Tuesday, 

July 11, East edged Plainfield 

Central 8-7. Griffin 

senior Julian Everett annihilated 

a two-run home run 

that broke a 5-5 tie in the 

top of the sixth. Everett also 

doubled and Slager and Jurgens 

each added three hits. 

Junior Matt Clark got the 

win in relief as Central (8-5) 

couldn’t score in the bottom 

of the seventh. 

Earlier on Tuesday, the 

Griffins traveled to Plainfield 

South for a 10 a.m. 

game that was a makeup 

of the previous days opening 

round rain out. There, 

East defeated the defending 

IHSBCA state champion 

Cougars 3-1. 

Slager smacked an RBI 

triple and senior Brandon 

Petkoff poked an RBI single 

in the third inning for a 2-0 

lead. The Cougars (7-8) who 

only return two players and 

one starter from the summer 

state title team, scored their 

run in the bottom of the third 

on an RBI ground out. Petkoff 

added a two-out RBI 

single to right in the fifth for 

the final run. 

Cole Kirschsieper went the 

distance to get the win for 

the Griffins. The junior lefthander 

allowed only two hits, 

while walking two, hitting one 

and striking out 11 batters. 

“My curve ball kept them 

off balance and I wanted the 

complete game,” Kirschsieper 

said. “That was only 

our fourth game of the summer, 

but I like the chemistry 

between everyone and I expect 

us to go far in the playoffs 

next spring.”



On the lookout for a guy who’s hard to miss 

Former East 

offensive lineman 

named to watch list 

Jon DePaolis 


In the early 2010s, fans of 

the Lincoln-Way East football 

team could hardly miss 

Nick Allegretti on the field. 

The standout offensive lineman 

was a key player on 

some offensive juggernauts. 

But now, the nation may 

be catching up to what those 

around the Lincoln-Way 

East football squad already 

knew. 

Allegretti, a 2014 graduate 

of Lincoln-Way East and 

current offensive lineman on 

the University of Illinois at 

Urbana-Champaign football 

team, has been named to the 

Rimington Trophy watch 

list. The award recognizes 

the nation’s top center. 

“I don’t even have a lot of 

words for it,” Allegretti said 

of being named to the watch 

list. “It’s an awesome honor 

to even be on that list.” 

Though it is an award he’s 

kept track of since he was a 

teenager, Allegretti was unaware 

he was on the watch 

list until a former teammate 

reached out to him. 

“I don’t really have social 

media, so I didn’t even know 

about it,” Allegretti said. “I 

actually got a text from Joe 

Spencer, our old center, congratulating 

me. I had no clue 

what he was talking about.” 

From experience to 

leadership 

Allegretti is no stranger 

to success. He played a crucial 

role on the 2012 East 

football team that got to the 

Class 7A state title game. In 

2013, he was selected for the 

U.S. Army All-American 

Bowl after a season in which 

he had 56 pancake blocks in 

2013. 

After being redshirted his 

freshman year, he played in 

11 games in 2015. He mostly 

played at center and guard, 

but also on special teams. 

But Allegretti also showed 

his willingness to do whatever 

the team needed when 

an injury led to him playing 

defensive tackle. 

“I had not played defense 

since eighth grade,” 

Allegretti said. “It was a 

Tuesday or Wednesday of 

the week [leading up to 

the] Western Illinois game. 

One of my teammates went 

down, and we looked at our 

D-line, and we didn’t have 

many people left. We had 

no depth. Coach came up to 

me after practice and said, 

‘What do you think about 

playing D-line?’ I said, ‘All 

right, let’s go!’” 

Allegretti moved to the 

other side of the ball, and, 

on just two days of practice, 

he played as a rotational guy 

on the defensive line in the 

second half of the season. 

The following week, against 

North Carolina, he got 

thrown in on the defensive 

line during the first quarter. 

“It was a quick turnaround,” 

he said, laughing. 

“I hadn’t played it in about 

six years, and never really 

at a competitive level. But it 

was fun, and I got to experience 

something new.” 

For Allegretti, the willingness 

to switch sides of the 

ball was innate. 

“It’s just the way I was 

raised,” he said. “My mom 

and pops taught me to do 

whatever I could do to get 

onto the field and do whatever 

I could for the team.” 

Last year, however, Allegretti 

was able to get back 

to what he does best — protecting 

the quarterback. In 

2016, his sophomore season, 

Nick Allegretti, a redshirt junior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, started 

all 12 games last season for the Illini. His success led to him being included on the watch 

list for the Rimington Trophy, which is awarded to the nation’s top collegiate center. 

University of Illinois Athletics 

Allegretti started in all 12 

games — mostly at strong 

side guard. 

“Last year taught me that 

the more I know about the 

offense, the better I’d be,” 

Allegretti said. “I felt like 

last year was a huge opportunity 

for me. It was a blast.” 

He also got a taste of playing 

center again, starting at 

the spot in a game against 

Murray State when starter 

Joe Spencer was out with an 

injury. 

Allegretti credits Spencer 

and others for learning not 

only the physical aspects of 

college football but also the 

mental, more leadership-involved 

traits. 

“The first three years, I got 

to play under guys like Mike 

Heitz and Alex Hill, and 

Teddy Karras for two years 

and Joe Spencer,” he said. “I 

got to learn from all of those 

dudes. I think I’ve learned 

a lot about leadership from 

them.” 

And those leadership lessons 

were invaluable, especially 

considering the turnover 

the Illini have had on 

the coaching staff during Allegretti’s 

time at the school. 

“I got here, and the first 

three years we had three 

[different] head coaches,” he 

said. “It was tough, and not 

what I expected obviously. 

But after the last coaching 

change and Coach [Lovie] 

Smith came in, I feel like 

the whole team [thought] the 

athletic department found us 

a coach we can win with.” 

Allegretti said the biggest 

difference since Smith took 

over the program is the way 

the program is run. 

“It’s run like an NFL program,” 

he said. “We come 

in, go to film, get treatment 

and go to practice. It’s a very 

efficient program, and we 

don’t waste any time. If we 

are at the stadium, we are 

doing something productive.” 

Going into this season, Allegretti 

is slated for a bigger 

role on the offensive line — 

something he’s ready for. 

“The Big Ten is a tough 

conference, a physical conference,” 

he said. “No matter 

what team you are or where 

your program is at, if you 

want to win a single game in 

the Big Ten, it is going to be 

hard. 

“But I think we have the 

ability to go out there and 

win a lot of games this year. 

We have a lot of young kids, 

and a lot of kids who are 

stepping up.” 

He pointed to running 

back Kendrick Foster and 

quarterback Chayce Crouch, 

who he said has stepped up 

to be a leader on the team. 

“He’s a playmaker,” Allegretti 

said of the young quarterback. 

He said he also realizes 

with his age and experience, 

he needs to be a good example 

for his younger teammates. 

But he also has high 

expectations for the year. 

“The No. 1 most important 

thing we have to do 

is play hard and physical, 

no matter what,” he said. 

“If you go out there and 

have a brain freeze, come 

off the ball and still play 

hard. When we go back and 

watch film on Sunday, you 

can’t say, ‘I took that play 

off.’ We have the players we 

need and we have the talent. 

But if we take plays off, 

we’re not going to win the 

games we need to. We need 

every single player, 11 at a 

time, and everyone on the 

sidelines to be engaged and 

give 100 percent effort.” 

A bright future 

Allegretti recognizes his 

playing career at Illinois is 

winding down, but his goal 

still remains to play the 

game as long as he possibly 

can. 

“Whether it is another 

two, five or 10 years … 

whatever it is, I want to play 

as long as I can,” Allegretti 

said. “I absolutely love the 

sport. There’s nothing like 

competing at this level.” 

But that doesn’t mean it is 

his only option. He said he 

will graduate in December 

with an accounting degree, 

and he has his sights set on 

perhaps pursuing a master’s 

degree. 

“Whenever football ends, 

I’m really excited to get into 

the business world,” he said.

mokenamessenger.com sports 


fastbreak 

Baseball 

Celtics lose late lead in quarterfinal thriller 

22nd Century Media File 

Photo 

1st-and-3 

Players stepping up 

for Lincoln-Way East 

1. Julian Everett 

(Above) 

The senior smacked 

a two-run home run 

during the semifinal 

match of the Lockport 

Summer League 

Regional against 

Plainfield Central July 

11, breaking a 5-5 

tie. He also doubled 

in the game 

2. Jake Tencza 

The senior — who is 

also training for the 

football season — 

went 2-for-3 in the 

championship game 

against Lockport July 

12, in addition to 

adding 3 RBI. 

3. Cole Kirschsieper 

Kirschsieper’s pitching 

kept the defending 

IHSBCA state 

champion, Plainfield 

South, off balance. 

He struck out 11 batters 

and allowed just 

two hits during the 

June 11 game. 

Provi registers 17 

hits in game that 

combined for 27 

runs 

RANDY WHALEN 


Mokena native Jack Flynders laces a hit during summer league play for Providence 

Catholic baseball. 22nd Century Media File Photo 

Providence baseball coach 

Mark Smith doesn’t always 

put a lot of stock into his 

teams summer baseball season. 

But with so many returners 

expected back from last 

season’s squad, which was 

the first season in four years 

the Celtics didn’t win the 

Class 4A state championship, 

Smith admitted that he 

was looking forward to seeing 

what the guys could do 

this summer. 

“I honestly thought we 

could make a run,” Smith 

said of the Illinois High 

School Baseball Coaches 

Association Baseball Tournament. 

Instead the Celtics saw 

their summer season end 

abruptly in a 14-13 loss 

to Minooka on July 11 in 

a quarterfinal game of the 

Lockport Township Regional. 

Providence (7-8) blew a 

10-2 lead in the loss, which 

ended in such a weird way 

that no one immediately 

caught the fact that the winning 

run scored was a runner 

that was forced out on 

the play. But Smith refused 

to blame that and instead focused 

on his teams inability 

to hold the lead. 

“It’s disappointing,” he 

said. “We just can’t let that 

happen.” 

Still what happened in the 

bottom of the seventh was, 

well strange. After a leadoff 

out, the Indians loaded 

the bases on a pair of walks 

sandwiched around a single. 

Cherokee Lebeau then hit a 

sharp ground ball to senior 

third baseman Dylan Gorski. 

He tagged third for a force 

out, but trying to complete 

a game-ending double play, 

his throw to first sailed down 

the right-field line. 

Jack Stoner, who was on 

third, scored the tying run. 

But Hayden Laczynski (3- 

for-4, 2 RBI), who had been 

forced out, instinctively kept 

running and crossed the plate 

with what the umpires called 

the winning run. It happened 

so fast that neither Smith or 

Minooka coach Jeff Petrovic 

caught it. When informed 

of it afterward the coaches 

agreed that Luke Faifer (HR, 

sac fly, 4 RBI), who was on 

first, probably would have 

scored anyway. 

Gorski (3-for-4, double, 

RBI) had n RBI ground out 

in the top of the seventh to 

give the Celtics a 13-12 

lead. Providence seniors 

Logan Anderson (4-for 5, 

3-run homer, double, 5 RBI) 

and Nick Murphy (3-for-4, 

double, 3 RBI), along with 

junior Josh Mrozek (2-for-4) 

highlighted the Celtics’ 17- 

hit attack. 

Providence pitching, however, 

gave up nine walks. 

“We’ve got a lot of guys 

coming back and no matter 

how well we swing the 

bats, we can’t play defense 

or pitch the way we played 

[against Minooka],” Smith 

said. “This was a nightmare 

game. Our success in the 

past is because we pitched 

loose in games like this 

where there was pressure.” 

Anderson’s 3-run home 

run highlighted a 7-run third 

inning and made the score 

10-2. Minooka closed within 

10-6, but the Celtics scored a 

pair of runs in the sixth to go 

up by six. The Indians then 

tied it by scoring six runs in 

the bottom of the sixth. 

“The last time I was this 

disappointed in the result 

of a summer league game 

was in 2013,” Smith said. 

“We led Sandburg [1-0], 

and there were two-outs and 

none on for them in the top 

of the seventh. Then they 

just kept scratching out hits 

and ended up winning [4-1]. 

But look what happened after 

that, so hopefully we’ll 

be alright.” 

The Celtics won the first 

of their three straight state 

championships the following 

spring. 

The day before, July 

10, Providence traveled to 

Tinley Park and defeated 

Andrew 5-1. It was the 

only first round Lockport 

regional game played that 

day. The other three were 

rained out and made up the 

next day. 

Ben Vitas was the key 

to the victory for the Celtics 

with a complete-game 

pitching performance. Andrew 

(6-10) was also eliminated 

by the Celtics in the 

regional title game this 

spring and in the opening 

round of the summer regional 

last year. 

“Ben is going to be a 

sophomore and had a great 

outing against Andrew,” 

Smith said. “He’s a righty 

and made just 83 pitches. I 

expect him to be in the rotation 

next spring.” 

Minooka (12-4) blew its 

own big lead on July 12 in 

the semifinals. The Indians 

led 7-0 after one inning and 

were still on top 9-7 with 

two out in the top of the seventh. 

But Lincoln-Way East 

scored three runs to go ahead 

10-7 and then held on for the 

victory by that score. 

Listen Up 

“We bought into the championship culture that 

coach [Brauer] brought. We’re just getting 

started, and it feels great.” 

Jake Tencza — Lincoln-Way East senior baseball player on 

summer league success 

TUNE IN 

Girls volleyballl 

5:30 p.m. July 20 

• Two Lincoln-Way East teams compete in summer 

league volleyball against Stagg, Rich Central, Chicago 

Christian and TF South. 

Index 

42 – Youth volleyball 

42 – Athlete of the Week 

FASTBREAK is compiled by Editor Tim Carroll, tim@mokenamessenger.com

mokena’s Hometown Newspaper | www.mokenamessenger.com | July 20, 2017 

Summer 

Provi-ng 

ground Despite loss 

in regional quarterfinal, 

summer league proves 

successful for Providence 

Catholic baseball, Page 47 

AN underdog 

story LW East 

summer league baseball 

advances past regional 

with win over Lockport, 

Page 45 

Former East football standout named to award watch list for O-linemen, Page 46 

2014 Lincoln-Way East graduate and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign center Nick Allegretti recently was named to the Rimington Trophy watch list. University of Illinois Athletic

MM_072017

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