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12 | July 5, 2018 | The orland park prairie news opprairie.com FROM THE FRANKFORT STATION Culver’s employee featured in chain’s commercial Frankfort woman Brianna Alston, an employee of the Culver’s location in Frankfort, serves up custard to the nation in a recent television commercial that aims to inform customers of the product’s freshness. Culver’s launched the ad campaign after conducting research into how to improve guest experience. The commercial was filmed in Lincolnshire at a newer restaurant. Culver’s invited members of their team to submit a picture of their best Culver’s custard look. After moving forward through both rounds of the competition, the 23-year-old Alston was chosen from a group of employees representing more than 600 Culver’s restaurants. Alston has worked at Culver’s in Frankfort since January 2017. She said the the Culver’s “service with a smile” hospitality mindset goes beyond her work day. “It’s really who I am, not just who I am at Culver’s,” Alston said. Alston was chosen because of her passion and excitement for fresh frozen custard, as well as her knowledge and commitment to crafting the best possible product. “We have regular guests who come in and say, ‘We saw your commercial,’ before I’ve even told them about it,” Alston said. “New people come in sometimes and ask, ‘Are you the girl from the commercial?’” Reporting by Megan Schuller, Freelance Reporter. For more, visit FrankfortStation.com. FROM THE MOKENA MESSENGER Budget projects $1.88 million revenue increase After a monthslong process of discussion and planning, the Village of Mokena Board of Trustees voted 5-0 to approve the Village’s fiscal year 2019 budget. Trustee Debbie Engler was absent. The new budget year begins July 1 and ends June 30, 2019. Total revenue projected for the fiscal year 2019 budget is $27.35 million, which is an increase of approximately $1.88 million (7.39 percent) over last year. Total expenditures for FY 2019 are projected at $26.37 million, which is an increase of roughly $1.62 million (6.54 percent) over last year. The projected year-end balance for fiscal year 2019 is $52.33 million, up a projected amount of $979,000 from the beginning of the year balance of $51.35 million. Some of the notable increases for expenditures included personal services budgeted to increase by $194,000 for the hiring of an additional police officer, as well as pension payments for retiring officers; an increase of $128,000 for new holiday decorations for the downtown district and additional salt purchases; and an increase of $667,000 for road and infrastructure maintenance programs, as well as vehicle purchases. The budget also factored in changes — approved later in the meeting — to the water rates for residents. Reporting by Jon DePaolis, Freelance Reporter. For more, visit MokenaMessenger.com. FROM THE TINLEY JUNCTION D228 students save over $300K through program Bremen High School District 228 students took advantage of the district’s career readiness program, in 2018 saving an estimated $377,000 in future tuition costs by earning 2,601 college credits. The district, which includes Tinley Park High School, offers a total of 17 college credit courses that range from culinary arts and digital literacy to forensics and accounting. Additionally, 2,234 industry certifications were achieved by students that included emergency medical services, early childhood education, financial literacy, safe food handling, software programs and manufacturing. “The goal is to provide opportunities for real world experience by exposing kids to different things,” said Renee Mack, director of the career readiness program. “We encourage our students to learn about the world around them and how to make educational and occupational choices for their future.” Other career experiences in which students participated included job shadowing, listening to guest speakers in their interested career paths, and a career expo where district seniors could plan for what’s next and interview for various jobs. Mack said there has been more a push for pathways outside of higher education with the passing of the Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015. D228 students are introduced to the concept as underclassman and eventually crafted their personal interests through Career Cruising, a software program used by district career counselors to assist with curriculums. “High school students are one step closer to the real world,” Mack said. “And the dual credit — that’s a head start on college credit. Free college courses — that’s a big thing.” Reporting by Cody Mroczka, Editor. For more, visit Tin leyJunction.com. FROM THE LOCKPORT LEGEND Steel plow inventor to be honored at John Lane Days Lockport’s history dates back centuries, with many key figures making their marks on not only the city but also the world. John Lane, who settled in Lockport, invented the steel plow in 1833. Today, his contribution to the farming industry is still recognized at the annual Historic John Lane Days. The Historic John Lane Farm, where the steel plow was invented, serves as an educational resource that will gather the community July 14 and 15 to raise money for a renovation of the barn on the property. “The reason we started having [John Lane Days] was to introduce to the public the farm, and the reason behind doing it was to promote the building that we have that has repurposed wood in it from the original John Lane building, and we want to save this barn and turn it into a community center and a museum for John Lane’s items and a meeting area for the public,” said Sylvia Zielke-Kuffel, president of the board of trustees at the farm. At Historic John Lane Days, children can hop on a train ride, experience a pedal car, play ring toss, participate in a bean bag competition, play Bozo buckets and more. This year, there are to be 30 vendors that are almost all brand new, according to Zielke-Kuffel. There are to be crafters, wood carvers, people who make handmade laptop cases or design hubcaps, and others. The farm is located at 16217 S. Gougar Road in Lockport. Reporting by Jacquelyn Schlabach, Assistant Editor. For more, visit LockportLegend.com. FROM THE NEW LENOX PATRIOT LWSRA receives $1,161 donation from estate sale The Goes family hosted an estate sale at its New Lenox home June 23-24 in preparation for a permanent move to Naples, Florida. And the family could not leave without giving back to the Lincolnway Special Recreation Association, an organization that provided a number of helpful programs for their 11-year-old son, Noah. The LWSRA provides adaptive services for individuals with disabilities. Noah has iatrogenic autism and needs specific sensory accommodations. The beach near their new home in Florida will provide just that. Noah’s mother, Lisa, said the Lincolnway Special Recreation Association needs to be recognized for doing things other special needs organizations are not. “Other programs might tell us that we are not a good fit for their program, but that was not the case with LWSRA,” Lisa said. “They are creating such a supportive environment, and that’s why we wanted to give back.” The estate sale attracted roughly 200 people. Over the course of the two-day sale, the family made a profit of more than $2,300, of which half was donated to the Lincolnway Special Recreation Association. LWSRA Executive Director Keith Wallace said the organization has plans to use the money to help build a sensory room. The room will be equipped with weighted blankets, fiber-optic lights, aromatherapy, bean bag chairs, music, interactive lighting and various other sensory tools designed to provide a comfortable space for the children to decompress. Reporting by Analisa Trofimuk, Freelance Reporter. For more, visit NewLenoxPatriot.com. FROM THE HOMER HORIZON Homer native, author releases TVinspired book Running from 1998-2004, HBO’s “Sex and the City” has had a continuing impact on today’s culture, according to Jennifer Keishin Armstrong, a 43-year-old Homer Glen native, television historian, entertainment writer and bestselling author. Armstrong makes her case for the effect “Sex and the City” has had in her latest book, titled “Sex and the City and Us: How Four Single Women Changed the Way We Think, Live, and Love.” On June 26, Armstrong visited the American Writers Museum in Chicago, where roughly 50 people gathered to discuss her third television show-inspired book. “It was really nice,” Armstrong said. “It was a good discussion, and the museum is amazing. I totally recommend going there, if people haven’t.” The book released June 5. Since then, Armstrong has been visiting various cities to promote it. Yet, coming to the Chicago area was a priority. “I always go to Chicago, because I’m from there,” she said. “I’ll have something in LA in a couple weeks, and [Washington, D.C.] in a couple more weeks. … We did stuff in New York the week the book came out. But I always go to Chicago, because that’s where my people are.” The new book is similar to her last, “Seinfeldia: How a Show About Nothing Changed Everything,” in that it analyzes the impact of a television show that remains prominent and has a continuing impact on American culture. Reporting by Amanda Del Buono, Freelance Reporter. For more, visit HomerHorizon.com.
opprairie.com sound off the orland park prairie | July 5, 2018 | 13 Social snapshot Top Web Stories From opprairie.com as of Friday, June 29 from the editor Comments for those left behind 1. Police say man shot woman multiple times before killing himself outside P.F. Chang’s 2. News from Your Neighbors: Dead rabbit found in Tinley Park infected with rare disease, more 3. Former St. Michael School football standouts reflect on their dominant Widget season of 2011 4. Neighbor saves Orland Park home by reporting fire 5. Joey’s set to expand with pizzeria Become a Prairie Plus member: opprairie.com/plus The Bridge Teen Center posted the following note on June 26, “Thank you Justin Allgaier (Official Page) for stopping by and inspiring our teens with your stories and showing us your gear. Good luck this weekend during your race at Chicagoland Speedway!” Like The Orland Park Prairie: facebook.com/opprairie BILL JONES bill@opprairie.com I welcome feedback. And as much as one end of the spectrum may be easier to take than the other, I welcome feedback both positive and negative — so long as it’s constructive. Good feedback can reaffirm the work we put into a particular piece. It can help us better understand the impact we have on people’s lives. It, frankly, can give us an ego boost, if only for a limited time. And it can mean a lot to the subjects featured in our stories and photographs. “Bad” feedback can make us stronger. It can point out alternatives we may have been too focused to see. It can draw attention to mistakes we made. And as painful as all of that can be, it can help us “do better.” It can voice displeasure in a politician who said or did the wrong thing. Simply put, it can inform us and others, as we inform you. What I don’t particularly welcome is in the internet culture’s inherent desire to one-up each other with pithy comments, the people whose most creative achievements are the fake names they craft to send snide comments or mail sent without signatures. Whether you love what we do or hate it, a lot of work goes into these papers. More importantly, the people we featured often have entrusted us with their information and comments — their stories. We try to choose every word carefully, especially when dealing with sensitive topics such as the allegedmurder-suicide we have followed over the course of the last week-and-a-half in Orland Park (Page 4). We vet sources, we gather info, we try to translate raw information into something readable. We make decisions about what goes into a story, what doesn’t and how it’s all presented. And we try to do all of that while remaining sensitive to the subject matter and the people involved. Then someone makes a joke about the food because it happened outside a P.F. Chang’s. People debate what race the individuals were before photos hit the internet. Someone boils it down to an oh well, while another suggests we shouldn’t feel sympathy because of the circumstances. Thing is: The two individuals involved in this case aren’t going to read your comments. But their families might — families distraught over a complicated set of circumstances that ended tragically. Their friends and their co-workers, looking for more information, may come across your quips, your one-liners, your ever-sodismissive reactions to the deaths of two people. I’m sure your hot take is helping them through a tough time. Clever comment about the orange chicken. Would you be so bold as to pass those judgements in person, unflawed as you are? Tell those jokes? Even if they don’t see your “work,” do you ever ask yourself why before hitting send? And I know this does not apply to most of you. The overwhelming response to this particular incident was sadness and sympathy. The general response to our work is supportive and constructive. But after this past week, I’m just left exhausted by the outliers among you. Do better. Letters to the Editor Disappointed in the disappearance of Pandemonium I recently became aware that the Village cut or reduced some of the summer special events enjoyed by the residents of Orland Park. I understand that the family-friendly 5K obstacle course Pandemonium was terminated. My family and I are disappointed. I know there are other outdoor races sponsored by the Village, but none of them is … obstacle course. Is Orland Park demonstrating a “health and wellness”- conscious community when we are cancelling family-orientated outdoor events? “Lead learner @Prorok_Liberty sketching with the new Apple Pencil. #ISTE18 #AppleEdu #EveryoneCanCreate #osd135 #PatriotPride135” @MrsKash101 — Mrs. Kash, on June 26 Follow The Orland Park Prairie: @opprairie The Pandemonium was a unique way to be active with your spouse, your child or your friends. It was a great time to drop off a device and be active. As a conscious consumer, I am sure the Pandemonium was probably costly to coordinate. I wonder if there were options to make it less of an administrative burden. Swag bags, free shirts and other items could all have been eliminated and perhaps driven lower costs. It is possible that participants would have paid more to register for the event or perhaps corporate sponsors may have been interested in the event. Anyway, other suburbs will quickly fill the void left by the exit of Pandemonium. These types of unique, inclusive obstacle courses are on the rise in other suburbs and in the city. For example, there was a race in early June in the Cook County Forest Preserves (www.kidsobstaclechallenge. com), and there is an event in July in Chicago (www.mud factor.com). In closing, I am disappointed that just when Orland Park was cutting edge, it is cut. Ellen Bartolotta Orland Park resident 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 Orland Park Prairie 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 Orland Park Prairie reserves the right to edit letters. Letters become property of The Orland Park Prairie. Letters that are published do not reflect the thoughts and views of The Orland Park Prairie. Letters can be mailed to: The Orland Park Prairie, 11516 West 183rd Street, Unit SW Office Condo #3, Orland Park, Illinois, 60467. Fax letters to (708) 326-9179 or e-mail to bill@opprairie.com.
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