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12 | November 22, 2017 | The Homer Horizon NEWS
homerhorizon.com
FROM THE NEW LENOX PATRIOT
Scouts’ food drive donates
40,000 items to local
pantries
“Do a good turn daily.”
This is the slogan of the
Scouts and on one day in
particular,Nov. 12, local
Scouts exceeded this mission
by collecting, sorting
and donating truckloads of
items of food to local pantries
for the 15th annual New
Lenox Scouts Food Drive.
Lincoln-Way West served
as the central hub for all
of this generosity, as Boy
Scouts, Girl Scouts, Cub
Scouts, Brownies and other
volunteers came together
to organize approximately
40,000 items of nonperishable
food, good-heartedly
given by more than 11,000
area residents.
“We’re really excited,”
said the event’s organizer
Bill Thomson, who works
with Boy Scout Troop 755
out of New Lenox. “A lot of
these kids have been doing
this for many years. My kids
have been doing it for 12 —
and this is the 15th year, so
it’s a milestone event for us.”
More than 700 Scouts
joined forces to participate
in the New Lenox Scouts
Food Drive, and the event
was made even more special
by involving the entire community.
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Seeing the community
come together in such a positive
way is one of the driving
motivations for Troop 12
member and Lincoln-Way
West student Daniel Fish to
keep volunteering his time
year after year.
“I love seeing how the
whole community comes out
to help everyone,” he said.
“It’s really nice and helps a
lot of people, even people
outside of New Lenox. This
also is a great way for people
to get service hours for high
school and for Boy Scouts.”
Reporting by Laurie Fanelli,
Freelance Reporter. For more,
visit NewLenoxPatriot.com.
FROM THE MOKENA MESSENGER
Lincoln-Way East alumnus
performs in ‘Newsies’
production
From the stage of Lincoln-
Way East High School to the
stages of the Chicago area,
Liam Quealy always has
enjoyed putting on a good
show.
The Mokena native and
member of the Griffins class
of 2005 is a cast member in
the Marriott Theatre production
of “Newsies,” which
runs through Dec. 31 in Lincolnshire.
The Tony Awardwinning
musical is based
on the newsboys’ strike of
1899, in which newsboys, or
“newsies,” created their own
union to protest distribution
price hikes implemented by
two of New York’s major
newspaper publishers: Joseph
Pulitzer and William
Randolph Hearst.
Quealy has acted in a
number of Chicago area productions
— including roles
in “Tommy,” “Cats” and “A
Christmas Carol,” and has
credits with several regional
theaters — including Paramount
Theatre, the Drury
Lane Theatre in Oakbrook,
Mercury Theater, Chicago
Shakespeare Theater, The
Old Globe and Writers Theatre.
He also has performed
Off-Broadway in “Dear Edwina”
and participated in a
national tour of “Fiddler on
the Roof.”
What he loves most about
acting is the ability to have a
real impact on the audience,
he said.
“Being able to alter someone’s
life — even if it’s just
for the 30 seconds from
when leaving their seats to
getting into their car to go
home — being able to affect
people, it means a lot,”
he said.
Reporting by Nuria Mathog,
Editor. For more, visit
MokenaMessenger.com.
FROM THE ORLAND PARK PRAIRIE
708.326.9170 ext. 31
l.healy@22ndcenturymedia.com
Woman reportedly grabbed
knife teen held to her neck
during robbery attempt
A 43-year-old woman who
had a knife pressed to her
throat by a would-be robber
was able to grab it and force
the Park Forest teenager to
walk away at an Orland Park
drug store.
Officers responded shortly
after 6:30 p.m. Nov. 14 to
the Walgreens at 7960 W.
159th St. in reference to an
armed robbery, according
to a press release issued the
next day by the Orland Park
Police Department.
Jakhari Carrell, 18, of 3
Sauk Court, allegedly entered
the store, walked to
the rear of the building and
placed a knife to the woman’s
throat in an attempted
robbery. But she was able
to grab the knife and started
screaming, which caused
Carrell to walk away, police
said.
Carrell was accompanied
into the store by Sylvina
Marquez, 22, of 15616 Center
Ave. in Harvey, police
said. When the victim notified
a Walgreens employee
of what happened and police
were summoned, Carrell
gave the knife to Marquez,
who hid it in her purse, according
to the press release.
Upon their arrival, police
reportedly located both Carrell
and Marquez still inside
the store. While being held
in Orland Park lockup, Carrell
damaged a mattress in
the cell in which he was being
held, police said.
Carrell was charged with
one count each of attempted
armed robbery, a Class 1
felony; aggravated battery, a
Class 3 felony; and criminal
damage to property, which
is a Class 4 felony. Marquez
was charged with one count
of obstruction of justice,
which is a Class A misdemeanor.
Reporting by Bill Jones, Editor.
For more, visit OPPrairie.com.
FROM THE TINLEY JUNCTION
Student-athlete shows
passion for photography,
cinematography
Vejune Sidaugaite is a
middle hitter on the Tinley
Park girls volleyball team,
and she also plays on the
school’s girls basketball
team. But there are a couple
of things that are more important
to the multi-sport senior
athlete.
When she was 12 years
old, Sidaugaite got her first
camera.
“I made a short film with
my friends,” she said. “Immediately
after, I knew that’s
what I wanted to do with the
rest of my life. I took pictures
here and there, but not
seriously until last year. ...
I’ve been more [focused] on
photography right now, but I
do want to do filmmaking in
the long run.”
Her focus on photography
arose almost exactly a year
ago, when she and her sister
were dressed up for Thanksgiving.
“We were like, ‘Why don’t
we go take some pictures?’”
Sidaugaite said. “We just
drove around and took pictures,
and they ended up
being pretty good. I started
doing that more and more.”
But the senior felt that she
could be telling a greater
story with her newfound
photography ability.
“I kind of felt that I didn’t
have a purpose behind taking
the pictures, so that’s
when I started reaching out
to companies and brands,
and started taking pictures
for brands,” she said.
With some advice from
people who had made money
taking branded photos
before, Sidaugaite has since
been able to land side gigs
taking photos.
At 17, Sidaugaite already
is being paid for her passion.
Reporting by Tim Carroll,
Sports Editor. For more, visit
TinleyJucntion.com.
MADDY
From Page 9
What extracurricular(s) do
you wish your school had?
After talking with a few of
my friends, we think that a
ping pong and ultimate frisbee
team would be really fun
to have!
What is your morning
routine?
Every morning, I wake up
at 7:20 a.m. and shower. Followed
by getting dressed and
eating a bowl of my favorite
cereal, Lucky Charms, and
drinking a full glass of chocolate
milk!
If you could change one thing
about school, what would
it be?
Personally, I think having
events that get the entire
school together are very beneficial.
I wish we had more
events that gathered the student
body together to make
more memories and enhance
our school spirit!
What is your favorite thing
to eat in the cafeteria?
I have only eaten a few
times in the cafeteria, but if
I do get something, it is the
sandwich wrap or the chocolate
chip cookies.
What is your best memory
from school?
Freshman year, I had the
privilege of making the varsity
dance team with two of
my best friends, Brooke Bellair
and Ashley Doyle. My
dance team worked extremely
hard that year and we
were rewarded with making
it downstate with the famous
“Vampire” theme dance. I
will forever remember the
memories that were made
with my team that year and
weekend.
Standout Student is a weekly
feature for The Homer Horizon.
Nominations come from
Homer Glen area schools.