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12 | February 22, 2018 | The Mokena Messenger news mokenamessenger.com FROM THE ORLAND PARK PRAIRIE Retiring Sandburg principal reflects on career dedicated to teaching, learning “It may take you a while to realize your dreams, but if it’s your dream, go for it.” Sandburg Principal Deb Baker shares those words of advice with her students all the time. At the end of this school year, Baker will retire from her more than 23-year teaching career, 17 years of which have been spent with Consolidated High School District 230. Though she always wanted to be a teacher, Baker did not immediately go to college for teaching after she completed high school, but she did not let that stop her from later following her dreams. “I graduated in 1973 and, even at that time, while feminism certainly existed, opportunities for girls were slow in coming,” Baker said. Baker got married in 1980 and started a family in 1983. After having two of her three children, she made the decision to enroll at the University of Illinois at Chicago to become a teacher. “There was no stopping me then,” she said. “I wanted to get my degree work done. After I earned my undergraduate degree, I went to get my master’s.” Baker was driven by a passion for teaching others. When she was in sixth through eighth grades, she was a reading tutor for first-graders. As a teenager, she coordinated a summer volleyball program for children, teens and adults that had roughly 360 participants and lasted for nearly 10 years in Canaryville. “To me, that was a form of teaching, making sure kids had something to do and were active in a positive way,” she said. Reporting by Meredith Dobes, Freelance Reporter. For more, visit OPPrairie.com. FROM THE TINLEY JUNCTION Recreating a priceless winter memory, 11 years later This was not the first igloo built in the Chicago suburbs by members of the Steele family. No, that was 11 years ago, when their two oldest boys were ages 7 and 9 — the same ages as their two youngest boys are now — in a different town, during a different blizzard. This time, during the weekend of Feb. 10 and now residing on Lilac Lane in Tinley Park, Paul and Tammy Steele enlisted the help of Brandon, 9, and Aaron, 7, to recreate a family tradition that made headlines nearly a decade ago. “You need the right kind of snow and enough,” Tammy said. “You can’t use the powdery stuff.” When the recent blizzard dropped approximately a foot of snow on the Steele’s front lawn, Paul took out his snowblower and began to form a mound toward the entrance of the house. He even plowed the lawn to add to the pile. After three separate ice baths, a 10-foot-high-by-20-foot-wide ice structure had been formed — stable and warm enough that four of the Steeles spent the night inside, where they slept on two queen-size air mattresses. “We made like an avalanche,” Brandon explains. Blocking off the entrances from the wind “made a huge difference,” Tammy added. Layered up in clothing and wrapped inside heavy sleeping bags — a small amount of heat generated from a three-wick candle — both Brandon or Aaron said they were not cold. Reporting by Cody Mroczka, Editor. For more, visit TinleyJunction.com. FROM THE LOCKPORT LEGEND Basketball tournament to raise money for after-school program When Bill Leach noticed that an area of Lockport was being underserved, he took the initiative to do something about it. A resident of Plainfield, Leach is a member and community leader of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in Lockport. When he became involved in the community, he found out about Fairmont and began researching the area to figure out what issues needed to be addressed, and how he could help. In 2014, Leach founded the organization Masses of Basketball and Academics that offers a free after-school program called Play for Rings. The Rotary Club of Lockport has partnered with MBA to host a basketball tournament fundraiser March 10 for the 100 students involved. “I was looking for some project to help improve the community in some sort of way, and Bill runs the Play for Rings program, and he spoke at one of our meetings, so I thought this would be a perfect fit to try to help some kids in the community by putting on a tournament and hoping to raise some money for them,” Lockport Rotary Club President John McNulty said. Play for Rings is held at Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. The inaugural Play for Rings Charity Basketball Tournament is to be held from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. March 10 at Lockport Township High School’s Central Campus, 1222 Jefferson St. in Lockport. For more information, email lockportrotary@gmail.com. Reporting by Jacquelyn Schlabach, Assistant Editor. For more, visit Lock portLegend.com. FROM THE NEW LENOX PATRIOT Valentine’s Day-themed mystery solved at New Lenox Lions Club event Mysteries of the heart can be complex, but members of the New Lenox Lions Club cracked the case of how to have a wonderful Valentine’s weekend with a firstof-its-kind event. On Feb. 10, the organization hosted a Live Mystery Show & Dinner at Lions Community Center and was co-chaired by Lions Steve Kuyawa and Dan Fremgen that encouraged attendees to put their heads and hearts together to catch a jewel thief. While it can be difficult to solve a crime, the event uncovered clear evidence that community is key to hosting a successful fundraiser. Approximately 160 guests came together for the event — which replaced the Lions Blizzard Dance fundraiser — and Lincoln-Way Central LEO (Leadership, Education and Opportunity) Club volunteers donated their time to help with the set-up, serving, clean-up and everything in between. All money raised will go toward funding the many service projects of the Lions Club, such as its hearing and sight initiatives. Later in the night, House of Fools led attendees through a mystery that involved a church fundraiser, a curious cast of characters and $1.5 million in missing jewels. The troop’s director, Frann Carnivele, said she enjoys the collaboration fostered through live mystery shows. “It’s so fun to get the audience involved,” she said. “It’s fun to have them be a part of what’s happening, and the interaction is always a great way to involve the community with this type of show.” Reporting by Laurie Fanelli, Freelance Reporter. For more, visit New LenoxPatriot.com. FROM THE HOMER HORIZON Flowers by Steen Productions delivers more than 100 orders on Valentine’s Day Feb. 14 is a day of love. It is a day for significant others to celebrate each other. It also is a day when an abundance of flowers are seen in every corner of a store, on desks of co-workers and all over social media. Last Wednesday, Flowers by Steen Productions in Homer Glen delivered more than 100 flower orders after months of planning for Valentine’s Day. “We generally will, weeks ahead, we start to gather up inventory; that’s the start of it,” said Karen Steen, owner of Flowers by Steen and a Lockport resident. “Seeing how much ribbon we have in stock, how many vases we have in stock, all the enclosure cards, we take an inventory of balloons, and we also have to grab candy at times, so there’s just a lot going into it.” Steen orders the flowers that she and her staff will use to make arrangements at Christmastime. “It’s kind of hard to think about Valentine’s Day when you’re still in the midst of the holiday,” she said. On any given day, there are four full-time employees at the shop. On Feb. 14, there were 12 people working to prepare flower arrangements and deliver the flowers. “It’s very busy, but I love it,” said Lori Franze, a friend of Steen who helped out at the flower shop. Reporting by Jacquelyn Schlabach, Assistant Editor. For more, visit HomerHorizon.com. FROM THE FRANKFORT STATION Seniors share special moments at Valentine Luncheon For area seniors, the Senior Valentine Luncheon is an opportunity to celebrate Valentine’s Day with style. The annual Frankfort Park District event, which has been held each year since 2001, brought roughly 60 residents of Frankfort and surrounding areas to the Founders Community Center on Feb. 14 for an afternoon filled with friends, food and live music. The lunch — catered by Little Joe’s Famous Pizza and Restaurante in New Lenox — included foods such as chicken, pasta, mashed potatoes and salad. “This year, we did end up falling on Fat Tuesday; we do have paczki as our dessert,” said Cali DeBella, Frankfort Park District’s special events coordinator. “So that was just kind of a little special.” Seniors chatted at tables decorated with red and pink balloons, while singer Mike Valentine made the rounds, performing classic oldies tunes. “They’re just out to enjoy time with their friends, some music from the past and just enjoy getting ready for Valentine’s Day,” DeBella said. Her favorite part of the event is seeing how excited the seniors get, she said. “Depending on the time restrictions and when we have room, I like when they get up and start dancing,” she said. Reporting by Nuria Mathog, Editor. For more, visit FrankfortStation.com.
mokenamessenger.com sound off the Mokena Messenger | February 22, 2018 | 13 Social snapshot Top 10 Web Stories From MokenaMessenger.com as of Monday, Feb. 19 From the Publisher We are not through yet 1. Youth hockey team prepares for national title defense 2. Bodybuilding a reputation for success 3. Boys swimming: LW East wins recordshattering sectional, Central’s Murphy, O’Brien earn individual state qualifying honors 4. McGrath avoids charges after phone, alleged photo of boy vanish 5. Police Reports: Police report ‘Zero tolerance,’ wrecked vehicle leads to teen arrest Become a member: mokenamessenger.com/plus “This is what an awesome neighbor looks like. Thank you to Sonya for her hard work to keep her family and her neighbors safe.” Dawn Rutecki DeStefano posted this on her Facebook page Feb. 13. Like The Mokena Messenger: facebook.com/ mokenamessenger.com “@LWEGirlsBball Regional Champs! Great team win.” @LWEastAthletics posted this to its Twitter account Thursday, Feb. 15. Follow The Mokena Messenger: @mokenamessenger Joe Coughlin Publisher We have a lot in common. We both want and believe we deserve information that impacts the livelihood of our community. That includes everything from the reputation of our hometown and its institutions to, much more importantly, the safety of our children — our future. Over the past two months, a person of power and influence decided to put those things at risk when he chose to protect himself above the rest. The Rev. Richard Mc- Grath, longtime and former president of Providence Catholic High School, refused to surrender a cellphone that did not belong to him. The phone, which under his control was alleged to contain a lewd photo of a juvenile, belonged to Providence Catholic. But when police asked for it and the school demanded it, he walked out of the room. The cellphone has not been seen since. McGrath’s lawyer even told police not to bother looking for it; that would be a “huge waste of time,” he reportedly said. There is a lot to unwrap with this case, most contained within a police report released Friday, Feb. 16, that announced no charges would be filed against McGrath. There is a lot we just do not know at this point, and it would not be fair to any party to levy accusations without more information. That being said, we deserve more information. It appears it will not be coming from the longtime, entrusted leader in question, McGrath. So, from where will it come? How about from the New Lenox Police Department, which needs to answer questions about the disappearance of the phone and why it cannot do more? Or from Providence Catholic and the diocese, McGrath’s employer for 30 years, on why it did not or could not attain the cellphone and on if there have ever been any other concerns about McGrath’s behavior over the past three decades. This information has been sought by us, and I’m sure by other outlets, to little avail so far. Not that we are giving in by any means, but there is another group from which information can come. You, the public. Maybe this story is over, and there is no more to say Attention Realtors Looking to Advertise? REACH MORE THAN 96,000 HOMES & BUSINESSES EACH WEEK! — an allegation was levied, but no evidence exists to back it up, and there are no more allegations. That’s certainly possible. Then again, maybe the story is just beginning. No charges now does not mean no charges ever. New Lenox Police Chief Bob Sterba assured us that if new information came to light, it would be properly evaluated. If that information is out there, we challenge you to help us bring it forward. Our institutions — from schools to police departments — are used to handling aggressive reporters who request information. (Note: That will not tame our responsibility. We hope you can trust us to keep asking tough questions.) Historically, though, a passionate, concerned and courageous populace has been the backbone of innumerable light-shining crusades. While much easier said than done, the responsibility is on us all to hold the powerful accountable for their actions. If anyone has any information related to the Rev. Richard McGrath and the alleged illicit photo, call the New Lenox Police Department (Sgt. Micah Nuesse) at (815) 462-6100. We urge you to go to police with any information related to McGrath; however, if you would like to speak with anyone at 22nd Century Media, please feel free to call our lead reporter Amanda Stoll or myself at (708) 326-9170. You may not have information, but you should still be concerned — about the derailed investigation and about the disrespect elicited by McGrath. If you are, question police, question the school and the diocese, question us. McGrath is out at Providence, but if there’s more, it is up to us as a community to unite and say: We will not accept disappearing evidence. We do not condone a trusted leader who ducks his responsibilities. We will not be complicit. 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 tj@ mokenamessenger.com. www.mokenamessenger.com. See the Classified Section for more info, or Call 708.326.9170 www.22ndcenturymedia.com
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