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12 | January 17, 2019 | The Mokena Messenger news
mokenamessenger.com
FROM THE LOCKPORT LEGEND
Lockport library prepares for busy
year of events
If there was ever a library cheerleader,
White Oak Library District
Lockport Branch Manager Pat Jarog
would be it.
Wearing a STEM T-shirt during
a recent library event, Jarog expressed
her excitement about the
upcoming year at the library.
“I can talk all day about what
we have here,” Jarog said with a
laugh. “Residents at the Lockport
branch can look forward to another
fabulous Comicopolis coming
up on July 27 of this year. This is
the fifth annual pop culture festival,
which is our biggest event of
the year.”
Comicopolis, an all-day event, is
created and produced by the White
Oak Library District in partnership
with Zombie Army Productions,
Lockport Summer Art Series, and
Amazing Fantasy Books & Comics.
“We’re working very closely
with the Lockport Summer Art
series to bring more people into
downtown Lockport,” Jarog said.
“We bring in pop culture and comic
vendors to the library. They talk
to the visitors [about] what it’s like
to be part of the whole comic industry.”
For those who do not get into the
pop culture festival, there is a wide
variety of additional programs at
the library, including a new addition
this year.
“New this year, we are starting
an author tour,” Jarog said. “We’ve
invited author’s to our libraries,
which include Crest Hill, Romeoville
and Lockport. We are having
these author events every other
month, starting on Feb. 22 at the
Lockport Branch.”
For more information about the
library’s programs and to register
online, visit www.whiteoaklibrary.
org.
Reporting by Mary Compton,
Freelance Reporter. For more, visit
LockportLegend.com.
FROM THE FRANKFORT STATION
Frankfort Square Park District
keeps children active
In groups of three or four, children
tested their teamwork and coordination,
lifting the skis beneath
their feet by hoisting a rope tied to
them and shifting their weight.
“Left! Right! Left!” they shouted
to each other as they picked up the
skis and walked across the Mary
Drew Elementary School gym on
Jan. 3.
“The Day Off Escapades: Ring
in the New Year” program, a threeday
program for children ages
5-12, was one of several programs
the Frankfort Square Park District
held throughout winter break to
keep children active.
Cheyanne Hein, a Frankfort
Square Park District site supervisor
and facilitator, brought the group to
field trips in the morning and spent
the afternoons at Mary Drew Elementary
doing team-building exercises
and crafts.
Morning field trips took them
across the community to the Tinley
Park Bow, Space Golf and Pump It
Up.
“The kids have so much fun
with the field trips and structured
games that encourage active play
and working with the other kids,”
Hein said. “I enjoy watching the
kids interact. It’s a good feeling
to know that over a few days you
can see a change in them and know
how much they enjoy being here
because of you.”
Once back from the field trips,
the children played group games,
such as relay races, silent ball,
kickball, soccer, four square and
other competitive games that require
relying on others to achieve
a common goal.
Reporting by Megan Schuller,
Assistant Editor. For more, visit
FrankfortStation.com.
FROM THE NEW LENOX PATRIOT
Women’s March set to take place
in Village Commons Jan. 19
Some local residents have taken
it upon themselves to bring the
Women’s March to their own backyard.
A coalition of women from the
Southwest Suburban Activists, Action
for a Better Tomorrow, Arab
American Family Services, Chicago
Votes, Indivisible Illinois, Indivisible
South Suburban Chicago
and Moms Demand Action are to
host a Women’s March at noon Saturday,
Jan. 19, at the Village Commons
in New Lenox.
“The south suburbs [are] our
home, it’s our backyard,” said
Itedal Shalabi, co-founder and executive
director of Arab American
Family Services. “The unity and
the inclusivity, the diversity and the
leadership that has come together
is what we want to showcase to all
of our community members when
they come out for the Women’s
March.
“When women come together
and great allies come together, [it
shows] this is our neighborhood,
this is our suburbs. We want to
show the diversity that’s within,
but that we’re all working for the
same thing.”
The coalition landed on New
Lenox as the site for their march
as its where Emily Biegel, director
with Southwest Suburban Activists,
calls home. But there have
been mixed reactions from the public
about having the event in New
Lenox.
Still, Mayor Tim Baldermann
said it is his duty to uphold the coalition’s
First Amendment right to
freedom to assemble.
“It doesn’t matter who the group
is, they have a right to do that,”
Baldermann said. “Provided they
follow all the rules with the permit
process — which they are — we’re
going to uphold that right.”
Reporting by Erin Redmond,
Freelance Reporter. For more, visit
NewLenoxPatriot.com.
FROM THE TINLEY JUNCTION
Improv troupe Graffiti on The
Fourth Wall to host interactive
comedy show
Sarah Denton, a professional
improviser with Graffiti on The
Fourth Wall, an improvisation
troupe, said that her favorite part
about being in improv is being able
to make people laugh.
“I just love having the opportunity
to be on stage and perform,
because I’ve wanted to be a performer
literally my whole life,” she
said.
At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 19,
the Tinley Park-Park District is to
host a comedy improv show at the
Tinley Park Performing Arts Center.
Community members will be
able to see the professional comedy
improv troupe Graffiti on The
Fourth Wall from the My Covered
Bridge production company for $9
a person. There also will be a guest
appearance from Christina Halleran.
“We try to find some really
unique ideas to kind of bring onto
the stage,” Denton said, “We really
value our uniqueness as a troupe,
so we always are trying to look for
something different, and just expect
the unexpected.”
This interactive show is called
“Old Lang Signs,” a spin off of
the Robert Burns song “Auld Lang
Syne.” This title represents the use
of parodies during improv shows,
and this classic New Year’s song
should be a topic of discussion during
the performance.
“We always try to make each
show we do a little different, so
anytime you come to a Graffiti on
The Fourth Wall show you can always
expect something new,” Denton
said.
The Tinley Park Performing
Arts Center is located at 16801
S. 80th Ave. Tickets are available
online at www.tinleyparkdistrict.
org.
Reporting by Bella Zarlengo, Editorial
Intern. For more, visit TinleyJunction.
com.
FROM THE HOMER HORIZON
Homer native graduates from
naval officers school, begins
further education
Austin Mastela comes from a
military family.
His father, grandfather and great
uncle all spent time serving their
country in the United States Navy.
While getting his Master of Business
Administration at Lewis University,
he realized he wanted to
follow in their footsteps.
Mastela began in early September
at the United States Navy’s
Officers Candidate School in Newport,
Rhode Island, where he graduated
on Nov. 21. He became the
only member of his class chosen
to go into the Naval Supply Corps,
which deals with areas like supply,
logistics, combat support, readiness,
contracting and fiscal matters
for the Navy. He added this position
will fit him best because of his
degrees in marketing and business
administration.
Mastela came home to Homer
Glen for the holidays after his
graduation and was assigned temporary
duty at the Naval Station
Great Lakes off the coast of Lake
Michigan until Jan. 11.
On Jan. 13, Mastela went back to
Rhode Island, where he will now
attend six more months of school
and wait until the third month,
when he will be assigned a ship to
work on.
“I control everything going
on and off that ship; I control the
weapons, I control the food, I
control everyone’s pay,” Mastela
explained of what his job will be
once assigned to a ship. ”So, anything
going on and off the ship, it
goes through me first.”
Reporting by Bella Zarlengo, Editorial
Intern. For more, visit HomerHorizon.
com.
FROM THE ORLAND PARK PRAIRIE
Lego-lovers enjoy Robotics Camp
at Orland Park Public Library
A group of students grades 2-5
started off the new year with a renewed
resolve to explore the intersection
of math, science and imagination
during Orland Park Public
Library’s Robo-Kids: Lego WeDo
Robotics Camp.
The new program — held as individual
sessions on the afternoons
of Jan. 2 and Jan. 3 — encouraged
participants to build earthquake
simulators and Lego buildings that
could withstand occurrences high
on the Richter scale. The Wednesday
afternoon session found young
designers working together in two
teams to create architectural designs
from scratch.
Kara DeCarlo, Orland Park Public
Library school liaison, explained
how the Lego WeDo sets combine
education, collaboration and fun to
help kids learn the fundamentals of
several STEM subjects.
“The WeDos are really cool, because
it shows you how to build
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