HH_110917

12 | November 9, 2017 | The Homer Horizon NEWS
homerhorizon.com
FROM THE NEW LENOX PATRIOT
Schmuhl School open house
provides blast from the past
New Lenox is not that
far removed from a time
when students would walk
2 miles in the morning to a
one-room schoolhouse. But
roughly 70 years has made a
world of difference, both in
terms of building construction
and the geography.
Those enamored by history
and the way things used
to be can still experience life
circa World War II by visiting
Schmuhl School.
The next Schmuhl School
open house is 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 11, at its current
location at 20733 S.
Schoolhouse Road in New
Lenox. Open houses typically
are held the second
Saturday of each month.
“There are people from
the historical society that are
there to answer questions
and talk a little bit about the
school,” said Carla Koepke,
a member of the New Lenox
Area Historical Society
Board of Directors.
The field trips include
books and recess toys from
the 1930s, as well as history
lessons on the schoolhouse.
“At the end of our history
lesson, we do some compare
and contrasting of how this
is like schools [now] and
how it is different,” Koepke
said. “Our goal is for kids
to enjoy history and to embrace
the school.”
Reporting by Jon DePaolis,
Freelance Reporter. For more,
visit NewLenoxPatriot.com.
FROM THE ORLAND PARK PRAIRIE
Police say senior citizen
robbed Orland bank on
Halloween morning
A man described as in his
late 60s to early 70s allegedly
demanded, received
and left an Orland Park bank
with an undisclosed amount
of money the morning of
Oct. 31.
Officers responded at
10:31 a.m. to a holdup alarm
at the Fifth Third Bank at
15330 Harlem Ave., according
to a press release issued
the same day by the Orland
Park Police Department.
The man reportedly entered
the bank, handed a teller
a note demanding money,
received cash from the teller
and exited. He never displayed
a weapon, and no one
was injured, police said.
He was described as
white, with gray hair, and
between 5-foot-10 and
6-foot-2.
Orland Park police reportedly
are investigating the
bank robbery in conjunction
with the FBI.
Anyone with information
about the alleged offender is
asked to contact Orland Park
police at (708) 349-4111.
Security cameras captured
images of the man who allegedly
robbed the bank.
The photos can be seen at
OPPrairie.com.
Reporting by Bill Jones, Editor.
For more, visit OPPrairie.
com.
FROM THE MOKENA MESSENGER
Mayor responds to
vandalism as more cases
appear
More vandalism was discovered
in Mokena Oct. 30
at Hecht Park, 9310 Birch
Ave., the same day Mokena
officials issued a press release
to address prior vandalism
from Oct. 22.
In an emailed statement
issued Oct. 30, Mokena
Mayor Frank Fleischer responded
to graffiti discovered
Oct. 22 on four public
traffic signs and one private
business sign. The private
business sign additionally
was tagged with a satanic
numeric reference. In theses
cases, swastikas were spray
painted on the signs.
In what originally was
described as “what appears
to be an isolated case,”
Fleischer expanded on comments
he made during the
Oct. 23 Board of Trustees
meeting, in which he would
not comment directly on the
matter of hate symbols being
drawn on Village signs,
because he did not want to
give the perpetrators “their
two minutes of fame.”
“I’m not going to talk
about some of the stuff, because
it is so stupid it doesn’t
even deserve comment,”
Fleischer said at the time.
In the Oct. 30 press release,
Fleischer said, “I’ve
never felt it appropriate
to attribute undue attention
to cowardly acts such
as this that are generally
performed for that very
reason: to give the promulgator
of the act his or her
two seconds of fame. That
having been said, let me be
very clear: The Board of
Trustees, the Village Clerk
and I in no way condone or
accept this type of behavior.”
Reporting by T.J. Kremer
III, Editor. For more, visit
MokenaMessenger.com.
From THE FRANKFORT STATION
Griffins fall to RedHawks at
sectional semifinal
The Lincoln-Way East
girls volleyball team found
out the hard way that
Marist is every bit as good
as any team in the state —
and practically any team
in the nation. The Griffins
saw an otherwise very good
season end with a 25-16,
25-18 loss to Marist Oct.
30 in the opening semifinal
of the Class 4A Andrew
Sectional.
The top-seeded Red-
Hawks (37-1) advanced to
the sectional final on Nov.
1 and played Marian Catholic,
a 25-21, 25-21 winner
over Sandburg in the second
semifinal, for the title.
East (26-11) completed an
otherwise good season with
its second straight regional
title and first SouthWest
Suburban Conference championship
in 11 years, when it
captured the Blue Division.
Reporting by Randy Whalen,
Freelance Reporter. For more,
visit FrankfortStation.com.
ASH
From Page 6
really complained about
any chest issues,” Matt
said. “She was a runner.
She ran a marathon in 2015.
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Lora Healy
We worked out all the time
together, and never complained
about anything.
“But she went to bed one
night and just didn’t wake up.
She went into cardiac arrest
and passed away in her sleep.”
Since her death, Matt has
worked with the doctors in
the cardiovascular genetics
group at Lurie Children’s
Hospital of Chicago and
Northwestern University to
perform genetic sequencing
on Ashley’s DNA.
“They find cases like this,
708.326.9170 ext. 31
l.healy@22ndcenturymedia.com
and they take the person’s
DNA, sequence it and see if
there are any specific genes
that are attributed to these
types of conditions,” Matt
said.
To help the doctors, Matt
started soliciting donations
through an email campaign
last year. He also started
working on other fundraising
opportunities.
For example, Ashley was
a teacher at McClure Junior
High School in Western
Springs. Every year, the
school holds a community
race around Memorial Day.
One of her colleagues put
together a walk to hold in
conjunction with the race to
benefit the hospital.
“We were able to raise
about $40,000 through donations
and the sale of T-shirts
and merchandise,” Matt
said.
This past summer, he also
decided to start a separate
foundation to honor his late
wife to make the fundraising
process easier.
“All the money we raise
will still go to Lurie’s for
the genetic cardiovascular
research,” he said.
Earlier this year, Matt and
a friend of Ashley’s were
floating ideas for fundraisers
for the fall. Ashley went to
the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign, and she
often went to barn bashes.
From there, the two started
working with Barn and
Company to set up the event.
Matt is estimating approximately
250 attendees,
but he said the goal will be
to get to 300. The event is to
feature a raffle and a silent
auction through the evening.
The silent auction items
include things such as tickets
to Bears and Blackhawks
games, signed jerseys by the
Blackhawks, and weekend
stays at cottages and condos
in Michigan and Florida.
“We’re going to have a
great turnout, and we want to
make it fun to honor Ashley
and generate a lot of funds to
send over to Lurie’s, so they
can continue their research
and hopefully find a cure
for this disease,” Matt said.
“Right now, ARV is very
hard to detect. Even when
they do, there are very limited
treatments for it. They
are hoping to find genetic
causes for it, so they can find
therapy and counseling for
families who are diagnosed
with this condition.”
Tickets for the event are
$75, and that includes drinks
and appetizers from 7-10
p.m. For more information
or to purchase tickets, visit
barnbashforash2017.event
brite.com.