NL_071918

16 | July 19, 2018 | The New Lenox Patriot NEWS
newlenoxpatriot.com
FROM THE MOKENA MESSENGER
Resale shop opens in Mokena to
benefit local animal shelter
In addition to adopting, volunteering
or donating, locals can add
shopping to the list of things they
can do to help out NAWS animal
rescue in Mokena.
Resale for Rescues opened July
2 on Front Street, and the shelves
are brimming with secondhand
items awaiting a second chance.
The idea of saving things that
someone else did not want and finding
them a new home parallels the
mission of NAWS to find homes for
abandoned or stray animals.
Proceeds from the shop, after
paying for rent and utilities, go
directly to NAWS to support its financial
needs and those of the animals
it brings in.
Many times, the animals NAWS
brings in are in need of medical
attention, in addition to the food,
supplies and regular veterinary
care the animals also will need.
The store takes donations and
sells items such as furniture, clothing,
home goods, shoes, purses and
jewelry. It does not accept large
electronics, such as televisions or
large appliances.
Owner Connie George said the
resale shop has been a dream of
hers for years, but after her 50th
birthday she decided to drop everything
and do it for the animals.
“When we started this, I was volunteering
at NAWS,” George said.
“And this was like my dream ... to
have a resale shop that the profits
would go to for the animals because
they are so unheard. They
have no voice.”
For more information about Resale
for Rescues, visit nawsus.org/
new-resale-and-gift-shop.
Reporting by Amanda Stoll, Assistant
Editor. For more, visit MokenaMes
senger.com.
FROM THE FRANKFORT STATION
LW East ends summer baseball
season amid umpire situation
Things do not always go according
to plan.
They did not for the Lincoln-
Way East baseball team in the summer
state tournament this week.
East coach Eric Brauer planned
to coach in the second game of the
opening day of the regional portion
of the Illinois High School Baseball
Coaches Association Summer
Baseball Tournament on July 9.
Instead, Brauer was pressed into
duty as an umpire for an inning in
a game between Lemont and Lincoln-Way
West.
“That wasn’t in the game plan,”
Brauer said.
But it is what he did as the coach
of the host school. Brauer was
pressed into duty because the home
plate umpire collapsed with one
out in the top of the second inning.
While the ump reportedly never
lost consciousness, he was taken
by ambulance to a local hospital.
After at least a 30-minute delay,
Brauer had to fill in for the umpire
but called balls and strikes from
behind the pitcher. That lasted for
an inning, while a base umpire
changed into his gear to umpire
behind the plate. An accredited
umpire was at the game to watch
his brother play for LW West but
instead served as an umpire for the
rest of the game on the bases.
The good news was that the original
home plate umpire was released
later that evening and was back out
as an umpire in a regional semifinal
game at Lockport the next morning;
however, neither Lincoln-Way team
made it to the next day.
Reporting by Randy Whalen, Freelance
Reporter. For more, visit Frank
fortStation.com.
FROM THE LOCKPORT LEGEND
Lockport Citizens Police Academy
promotes partnership with
residents
The Lockport Police Department
is accepting applications for its
annual Citizens Police Academy,
which starts this September and
looks to continue building partnerships
with community members.
The academy is open to anyone
ages 18 and older who either lives,
works or goes to school in Lockport.
Participants are to meet at the
Lockport Police Department, 1212
S. Farrell Road, from 6-9 p.m. every
Monday starting Sept. 10 for
12 weeks.
There are already nine spots filled
of the 16 allotted for the program.
Participants are to not only get a
chance to learn about the various
aspects of the police department
through this interactive program,
but they also are to learn a lot about
the people behind the badges.
“So this course gives the opportunity
to the citizens of Lockport to
come into our world, I guess you
could say, and get to know us not
as the officers but as the people
who do the job and protect them,”
program coordinator officer Jeren
Szmergalski said. “And it gives
them a little sense of what we go
through as regular people in this
profession, how it affects us, how
it affects our families [and] what
mindset we’re in when we’re out
doing our various jobs.”
Szmergalski said having a relationship
with those in Lockport
helps the officers do their jobs effectively
by putting everyone on
the same team. The citizens of
Lockport are the eyes and ears of
the police department, preventing
crime and helping the officers
solve cases faster, he said.
Reporting by Jacquelyn Schlabach,
Assistant Editor. For more, visit Lock
portLegend.com.
FROM THE TINLEY JUNCTION
Tinley Park veteran relishes Honor
Flight trip
Tinley Park’s Jack “Whitey”
Hoffmeister was among roughly
100 veterans greeted with a hero’s
welcome at Chicago’s International
Midway Airport.
Hoffmeister, a longtime resident
nicknamed for his unmistakable
snowy hair, returned from Washington,
D.C., July 11 to a group of
family members and well-wishers,
including Gov. Bruce Rauner, who
thanked the Honor Flight Chicago
veterans returning from their day
trip. Founded in 2008, the nonprofit
provides veterans and one family
member with an all-expenses-paid
day of tribute that features stops at
war memorials and ceremonies of
appreciation.
Growing up in a Rogers Park
orphanage, Hoffmeister started his
career in the United States Navy
back in the early 1950s, serving in
Korea from 1952-1953 before ending
his military service in the U.S.
Marine Corps as a combat corpsman.
“It’s an honor, quite an honor,”
the 86-year-old Korean War veteran
said. “But it’s really for all the
guys who didn’t come back home.”
Those in Tinley Park probably
know Whitey from The Dairy Palace,
a homemade retro ice cream
shop he operates with the help of
some of his 10 grandchildren. He
also used to own and operate Whitey’s
Italian Beef and Sausage, and
later hot dog stands under the same
brand throughout the Chicago
area before purchasing the current
building on 167th Street and Oak
Park Avenue.
“We’ve been in business for 40
years,” Hoffmeister said. “The soft
serve comes from Green Bay, Wisconsin,
and the hard stuff comes
from Hershey, Pennsylvania, so
you know it’s quality.”
Reporting by Editor, Cody Mroczka.
For more, visit TinleyJunction.com.
FROM THE HOMER HORIZON
Be Greek for a Day adds third day
to annual festival
Over the last five years, Assumption
Greek Orthodox Church’s Be
Greek for a Day has grown from a
one-day event to three days of festivities
for the first time this year.
Greeks and non-Greeks alike are
invited to enjoy authentic cuisine,
listen to live music and spend time
together celebrating the culture.
This year, Be Greek for a Day is
to be held July 20-22, at the church,
15625 S. Bell Road in Homer Glen.
“We just wanted to try to go an
extra day on a Friday to open it up
and try something different,” said
the Rev. Sotirios “Father Sam”
Dimitriou, of Assumption Greek
Orthodox.
Included in the three-day lineup
is live band performances throughout
the weekend. On Friday, the
classic rock band Anthem is to perform
from 7:30-10:30 p.m., and the
Greek band Ormi is to perform from
5-10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
“It’s something different for us
here in our area, because, really,
when’s the last time we had live
Greek music in Homer Glen,”
Dimitriou asked. “And it’s something
for the people to experience
a live Greek band.”
There will be a $10 cover charge
on Friday, which includes one
drink ticket. Admission for the remaining
two days will be $2. Be
Greek for a Day returns from 5-11
p.m. Friday, July 20; 3-10 p.m. Saturday,
July 21; and 1-10 p.m. Sunday,
July 22.
Reporting by Jacquelyn Schlabach,
Assistant Editor. For more, visit
HomerHorizon.com.
FROM THE ORLAND PARK PRAIRIE
Sandburg grad Coyne is the only
woman in new pro hockey league
The Chicago Pro Hockey League
opened play July 11 with 143 men
listed on various rosters.
And one woman.
Sandburg graduate Kendall
Coyne, who earlier this year won a
gold medal for the United States in
women’s hockey, is the lone woman
in the first-year league, which
features more than 80 players from
the National Hockey League, the
American Hockey League and the
East Coast Hockey League, as well
as amateurs from colleges, junior
teams and Triple A programs.
Coyne, 26, had played with and
against boys when she was younger,
so this is not new territory for her.
She also is not the only player from
the area who will participate in the
league, which is to play its games
at MB Ice Arena in Chicago, which
is the Blackhawks’ community rink.
Nine players listed from Orland
Park are a part of the league.
“Knowing there are so many
NHL and pro players who live and
train in Chicago during the offseason,
we felt a summer pro league
with ties to local charities would be
great for the hockey community,”
said Anders Sorensen, player development
coach for the Chicago
Blackhawks and director of player
development with the Chicago
Mission. “Having coached and
worked with a lot of these players
throughout their youth and junior
development years, and now while
they are playing pro hockey, we
felt a summer pro league would be
really well received by the guys.”
Reporting by Jeff Vorva, Sports Editor.
For more, visit OPPrairie.com.