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18 | February 7, 2019 | The Mokena Messenger life & arts mokenamessenger.com Facebook page for dress sharing bursting at the seams T.J. Kremer III, Editor When The Messenger first published an article back in January 2018 about three local women who started a Facebook group to help women receive dresses for special occasions and inspire kindness toward other women with similar circumstances, one could be excused for thinking that was the end of the story. What a difference a year makes. All About the Dress is still around and is bursting at the seams. The Facebook group — or, more of a community of likeminded happiness spreaders — is now incorporated, has filed paperwork to become an official nonprofit group, is more than 7,000 members strong and has more than 300 wedding dresses stashed in the bedrooms, closets and garages of the three women who run the group: Tammie Key Holley and Cheryl Weiss, both of Mokena, and Alicia Campbell-Mohring of Tinley Park. Yes, that’s right: more than 300 wedding dresses. And that number doesn’t include the scores of prom, homecoming, bridesmaids and other special occasion dresses. Last year, it was Bella Sposa in Tinley Park that donated around 150 dresses. Just this past November, Eva’s Bridal in Oak Lawn closed down and donated 250 dresses via one of the group’s members, Diane Zandman. None of the group’s founders anticipated it growing so large so fast, which has created a bit of a problem: where to store, inventory and keep an accounting of all those dresses. When All About the Dress started on Facebook, with the help of Mokena resident Shannon Weiss (left) and Kelsie Hannigan pose wearing two of the dresses that will be available soon for sharing. Photo submitted Timothy Dragoo, the founders knew they wanted it to eventually be a nonprofit to offer even more help to women in need. Well, eventually came sooner than expected. “We’re just too big for Facebook at this point with the number of dresses,” Weiss said. “So tracking them all over our Facebook page is a nightmare.” The group is actively looking for storage space and still wants to develop a website dedicated to All About the Dress to make it easier to control the sharing and resharing of dresses. “With a website it would be much more organized,” Campbell-Mohring said. “That’s the thing on Facebook is that I lose so many messages because I contact tons of people a day so they get buried and I can’t remember all these names.” But, in the interim, the group is focused on expanding the pay it forward mentality through new requirements for its members who receive dresses. “Now, not only do you need to pay it forward and put it back, you need to do something — volunteer, something to pay it forward in your community,” Key Holley said. “So it’s just a little added extra to what we’re doing, and I think it’s caught on.” Moderating a group of more than 7,000 people and keeping track of hundreds of dresses can be taxing, but bringing joy to others makes it all worth it for the women who run the group. “For me, it’s not about me or us. It’s about helping other people and the joy they get out of it and the benefit that they get out of it,” Campbell-Mohring said. “[For me], it’s the stories. I can’t get past the stories,” Weiss said. “When I find out about a young girl who wasn’t going to prom I do cry. When I give the dresses away I cry because I have an 18-year-old daughter, Pictured are some of the 250 dresses donated by Eva’s Bridal to All About the Dress, a Mokena-based group that shares dresses with women in need. T.J. Kremer III/22nd Century Media Members of All About the Dress meet for a photo shoot to celebrate the group’s success. Photo submitted and she’s been very lucky to not be in that situation. But, I know a lot of people who couldn’t buy those dresses. And to see those go on and these girls are like, ‘Thank you so much. You don’t know how you changed my life.’ “I don’t know how many times we’ve been told that we’ve changed someone’s life. And you think, ‘It’s a dress. How does it change someone’s life?’ But, if it’s a kid who’s been bullied, or the woman who never thought she’d get married or came from an abusive relationship and now she’s found that perfect person… This is my happy place to go.” And for Key Holley, it’s still all about paying it forward. “I was a single mom for 10 years. I had to borrow my daughter’s communion dress. It was very difficult. And I know how hard that can be. So, if I can make someone’s load a little lighter and help them with a dress, it may mean they can get something else.”
mokenamessenger.com life & arts the Mokena Messenger | February 7, 2019 | 19 The Dish Love is in the air at Houlihan’s with an affordable four-course meal Specialty Valentine’s Day-themed cocktails also featured James Sanchez Contributing Editor It is getting close to that pressure-filled time of year when people start figuring out Valentine’s Day plans. It is a daunting task for some, a time at which overthinking is at a premium. But rightfully so. It is a night to convey to a loved one how much he or she means to the other. But Houlihan’s in Orland Park is helping Valentine’s Day planners ease their stress with a prix fixe menu featuring variety and the franchise’s fine-dining favorites. From Feb. 14-17, the restaurant is to offer a four-course meal for $50. And all of the dishes — as with everything at Houlihan’s — are made from scratch, according to Lisa Johannsen, marketing manager for the restaurant’s five Illinois locations: Wheaton, Naperville, Algonquin, Geneva and Orland Park. “This has been kind of a staple during Valentine’s Day at Houlihan’s, because this makes us unique,” Johannsen said. “This is somewhere couples can go if they’re looking to have a meal on a budget but still enjoy a great dinner.” The meal starts with the couple’s choice of one appetizer between the charcrusted ahi tuna, spinach dip and one of the restaurant’s hottest sellers: Houlihan’s Famous “Shrooms.” The last one on that list features giant mushroom caps stuffed Valentine’s Day Four-Course Menu for Two When: All day Feb. 14-17 Cost: $50 for two First course - Choose one • Houlihan’s Famous “Shrooms” • Char-crusted ahi tuna • Small spinach dip Second Course - Choose Two • Chicken tortilla soup • Baked potato soup • House salad • Caesar salad Third Course - Choose Two • Stuffed chicken breast • Meatloaf No. 9 • Grilled Atlantic salmon • Seared Georges Bank scallops (add four more scallops for $5) • Petite center-cut filet mignon (4 ounces) • Huge panko-fried shrimp All entrees have two sides, except seared Georges Bank scallops, which are served with risotto. Fourth course - Choose One • Brownie batter cake • Salted caramel gooey butter cake with a herb and garlic cream cheese, then battered and deep fried. Parmesan cheese and parsley are sprinkled on top of the fried treat for color, and they are accompanied by a horseradish cream sauce. “Absolutely guaranteed, on any fixed menu we have, you’ll find our ‘Shrooms,’” Johannsen said. “That’s one of our recipes in our menu that hasn’t changed since we opened in 1972.” The next offering is one’s choice of soup or salad. For soup, customers can either go the cream-based route with the baked potato soup, or tomato broth-based chicken tortilla soup, which Johannsen noted has a little kick to it. Houlihan’s house salad is more of a chopped salad, for which the lettuce is chopped finely. It has bacon, corn and croutons, or customers can ask for a traditional Caesar salad. The first two courses lead to the entree portion. Guests get to choose from six options. Five of them are served with the customer’s choice of potato (baked, fries or mashed), and either green beans or asparagus. The other one is the seared Georges Bank scallops, served with an asparagus risotto. The handful of scallops are placed on top of the bed of risotto, and garnished with baby arugula, a drizzle of basil-infused olive oil and a balsamic glaze. It’s one of Johannsen’s favorite dishes. “It’s very savory, but then you get a hint of sweetness with the balsamic glaze,” she said. “It’s a nice, refreshing dish.” The other dinner options are panko-crusted fried shrimp; 4-ounce center-cut filet mignon; grilled Atlantic salmon brushed with a dill-butter compound and The stuffed chicken breast, which is stuffed with a herb and garlic cream cheese, breaded, sauteed and finished in the oven, is one of the options for Houlihan’s Valentine’s Day Four- Course Menu for Two. Photos by Tom Czaja/22nd Century Media Houlihan’s 16153 S. LaGrange Road in Orland Park Hours • 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Sunday-Thursday • 11 a.m.-midnight Friday-Saturday For more information… Phone: (708) 364-7650 Web: www.houlihans. com/my-houlihans/ orland-park accompanied with a dill-caper sauce; breaded chicken breast that’s stuffed with a herb and garlic cream cheese, sauteed in a pan and finished in the oven; and the Meatloaf No. 9 is drizzled with a red wine mushroom gravy and topped with fried onion strings. Lastly, the couple gets to share one of two dessert options: a brownie batter cake or the salted caramel gooey butter cake that is topped with vanilla bean ice cream. Throughout the meal, Houlihan’s features two specialty cocktails for $5 during the four-day Valentine’s Day promotion: Adam and Eve Appletini (left) and Cupid’s Concoction. guests can enjoy Houlihan’s two featured cocktails for the three-day special at only $5 each. The Adam and Eve Appletini consists of an apple-flavored schnapps, homemade lemonade and a cinnamon-sugar rim. The Cupid’s Concoction has La Marca Prosecco and French vodka infused with organic blood orange juice, mango and passion fruit. Along with Mother’s Day and New Year’s Eve, Johannsen said Valentine’s Day is among the busiest times of the year for Houlihan’s, and its special menus have a lot to do with it. The dinner portion alone is enough to satisfy one’s appetite. “You’ll never leave here hungry,” she said. “The sooner you get your reservations in, the better. We do fill up pretty quickly.”
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