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18 | February 15, 2018 | The tinley junction News
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FROM THE ORLAND PARK PRAIRIE
Orland Park police officer
praised for going ‘above
and beyond’
An Orland Park police officer
was recognized Feb. 5
at the Village of Orland Park
Board of Trustees meeting
for going above and beyond
the call of duty in order to
help a resident.
During the recognition
portion of the meeting, Orland
Park Police Chief Tim
McCarthy presented Officer
Phillip Glecier to the board
members.
McCarthy said around 9
a.m. on a January morning,
Orland Park police received
a call from a senior citizen
about a “possible suspicious
person near her home … because
she saw some tracks
in the snow.”
McCarthy said Glecier
was dispatched to the home,
did an investigation and
checked the area. While he
did not find any signs that
would indicate criminal activity,
Glecier listened to the
woman’s concerns about the
lock on her storm door being
broken.
“Officer Glecier said he
might be able to come by
after work to fix that,” Mc-
Carthy recounted. “After
work, he did. He went out
and bought a lock for the
door and new parts at the
Home Depot. He came back
and repaired the door for
[the woman].”
The resident wound up
writing a letter thanking
the police department and
Glecier.
“We don’t pat our officers
on the backs enough
for those types of things, for
which we really do receive
a lot of letters,” McCarthy
said.
Mayor Keith Pekau said
he receives several of these
types of letters, but he noted
that this instance was
“above and beyond.”
Reporting by Jon DePaolis,
Freelance Reporter. For more,
visit OPPrairie.com.
FROM THE NEW LENOX PATRIOT
Pair teams up to take
over longstanding eatery,
expects to reopen in March
Ranch Frostie has been
delighting New Lenox residents
for nearly 50 years
with soft-serve ice cream,
hot dogs and more. And
while this spring will usher
in some changes, new owners
John Sestak and Jackie
Potocki want to make one
thing clear.
“We’re not changing
anything,” Sestak said Feb.
6, during an interview with
The New Lenox Patriot at
Ranch Frostie. “Everything
is going to stay close to the
same.”
Sestak said he and Potocki
have lived in the area
for close to 44 years. While
taking over the New Lenox
cultural hotspot will require
a learning curve, he
said they are going to be
ready for it.
“It’s honestly an honor
for her and I to keep this
place open,” Sestak said.
“And the support [from the
community] is unbelievable.”
More than 45 years ago,
Harold and Teri Hoyt purchased
what would become
Ranch Frostie and moved it
to the other side of Route
30, located at 1259 N. Cedar
Road.
In late 2017, Teri decided
it was time to move on to
the next stage of her life.
But while her time with
Ranch Frostie was nearing
its end, she wanted to
ensure the business would
live on.
When Sestak and Potocki
approached Hoyt about
taking over, she said she
felt good about it.
“I knew him and his connection
with New Lenox
and Frostie,” Hoyt said
about John. “With his business
in New Lenox and
having known him as a
child, I had really good
feelings.”
Reporting by Jon DePaolis,
Freelance Reporter. For more,
visit NewLenoxPatriot.com.
FROM THE MOKENA MESSENGER
Police: ‘Zero tolerance,’
wrecked vehicle leads to
teen arrest
Brooke E. Beveridge,
19, of 20141 S. Rosewood
Drive in Frankfort, was
charged Jan. 26 with causing
an accident with property
damage, failure to reduce
speed to avoid an accident
and illegal consumption of
alcohol by a minor, which
carries a separate charge of
zero tolerance for underage
drinking.
According to police reports,
an officer responded
to the 19300 block of Beaver
Creek Lane after 911
dispatchers received a call
where a voice could be
heard yelling for help and
requesting an ambulance
before hanging up the call.
Upon arrival, the officer
could see a male inside the
residence and heard yelling
coming from inside. Eventually
officers were able to
get one of the subjects to
answer the door, and Beveridge
and two other subjects
were found arguing
about an accident in which
Beveridge had been involved,
police said.
The officer then asked to
see the vehicle that was involved
in the accident and
reportedly found it in the
grass 15-20 feet from another
residence. The vehicle
had mud on the roof from
being flipped over; all the
airbags were deployed; the
back windshield was shattered;
and a tree had been
broken in half; police said.
The officer said he could
smell alcohol on Beveridge’s
breath and issued
several field sobriety tests,
all of which she reportedly
passed, but she was placed
under arrest for underage
consumption under the zero
tolerance law. Beveridge
later was found to have a
blood alcohol content of
.071, police said.
Reporting by T.J. Kremer
III, Editor. For more, visit
MokenaMessenger.com.
FROM THE HOMER HORIZON
Platinum Cheer Association
looks to empower youth
cheerleaders
Encouraging young athletes
to “Be Fierce. Be Brilliant.
Be Platinum,” Platinum
Cheer Association is
gearing up for its first year
of competitive cheerleading.
All eight board members
met at Front Row in Homer
Glen for their last meeting
before registration opened
Jan. 30.
Last year, the women
embarked on the opportunity
to create a new cheerleading
program that was
not connected to a football
program. Having an independent
program will allow
for a stronger focus on
cheerleading as a sport, giving
PCA athletes an edge as
they move into high school
cheerleading, the board
members said.
“We’re the first in the area
to do cheer on a recreational
level not connected to a
football program,” Homer
Glen resident Jen Wirth
said.
The board members and
founders all have children
who were previously involved
with another cheer
program. After discussing
the benefits their children
would receive from a cheercentric
program, they decided
to create their own.
“We knew we wanted
cheer to stand alone as a
sport,” board member and
Homer Glen resident Jill
Roberson said. “We had a
really strong program before,
but we saw athletes
looking to move to All-Star
levels, so we wanted to create
a program at the All-Star
level without the All-Star
price.”
PCA accepts cheerleaders
from anywhere in the area.
“We don’t want anyone to
feel excluded based on what
town they’re from,” Roberson
said.
For more information on
programs, events, pricing
options and fundraising,
visit www.platinumcheerassociation.com
or the program’s
Facebook page at
www.facebook.com/platinumcheerassociation.
Reporting by Amanda Del
Buono, Freelance Reporter.
For more, visit HomerHorizon.
com.
FROM THE LOCKPORT LEGEND
Lockport resident’s impact
on community lives on after
passing
The three ways Dan Niehaus
would best describe
his late father, Gary, are:
role model, cheerleader and
loving father.
“Gary was the dad who,
after coaching our basketball
team, would throw a
pizza party in celebration
of the year and give out
personalized awards to all
of the team members to recognize
their strengths and
make us feel great about
the season,” Dan said while
giving his father’s eulogy
Jan. 29.
The 68-year-old Lockport
resident died suddenly Jan.
27.
Gary lived in Lockport
for 13 years after moving
from Orland Park. He became
heavily involved in
the Lockport and Homer
Glen communities almost
immediately upon moving.
He was involved in 11 different
organizations over
the period of time from
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