MM_022119

12 | February 21, 2019 | The Mokena Messenger news
mokenamessenger.com
FROM THE ORLAND PARK PRAIRIE
Beacon Hill Antique Shop to mark
end of an era on Feb. 27
After nearly four decades, Beacon
Hill Antique Shop is turning
off the lights.
Rising real estate taxes became
too much for owner Kay Shelander.
And after a tenant who rented
the space upstairs retired, Shelander
decided it was time to close Beacon
Hill’s doors at 14314 Beacon
Ave. The last day of business is to
be Wednesday, Feb. 27.
“Everybody hates to see it go —
and me, too, I hate to see it go,”
Shelander said. “It’s definitely an
institution around here,”
Shelander and her husband
bought and opened their first antique
shop at 14316 Beacon Ave. in
1980 — and she still owns it today
and operates it as a consignment
shop, Kay’s Old Orland Marketplace.
They purchased their second
property — 14330 Beacon Ave. —
later that year and purchased Beacon
Hill in 1982.
“I used to own all the buildings
[on Beacon Avenue]; I owned every
single one of them,” she said.
“My late husband and I developed
the entire block.”
The antique shop has been home
to history in Orland Park for 37
years. And while Shelander will
continue operating the consignment
shop, she still feels a pang in
her heart knowing Beacon Hill will
soon be history.
“[I want to say a] profound thank
you for being loyal to us all these
years and for following us all these
years,” Shelander said. “We appreciate
it very much. Good customers
are a great value, and it’s much
easier to keep an old customer than
to develop a new one.”
Reporting by Erin Redmond,
Freelance Reporter. For more, visit
OPPrairie.com.
FROM THE HOMER HORIZON
O’Reilly Auto Parts the second
business to open its doors in new
plaza
Customers now can shop for
auto parts in Homer Glen’s newest
plaza.
O’Reilly Auto Parts became the
second business to open in the
Homer Glen Bell Plaza development
on the southwest corner of
143rd Street and Bell Road. The
business opened its doors Feb. 2
and had a ribbon cutting with Village
of Homer Glen officials Feb.
13. Dollar Tree opened in the plaza
last month.
According to Amanda Cardoza,
O’Reilly store manager, business
has been steady especially over
weekends so far, as shoppers this
time of year pick up things like
salt, deicer and other winter items
for their vehicles.
“We are looking to help out the
community, and we’re excited to
be here in Homer Glen,” Cardoza
said. “We have knowledgeable
staff who are confident and professional
and will help the customers
get what they need.”
Cardoza pointed to a rewards
program, as well as weekly and
monthly sales, as perks for customers.
O’Reilly Auto Parts also plans
to host a grand opening sometime
in April that will likely include
food, music and other customer appreciation
initiatives.
“There is a lot of potential for
growth her in Homer Glen, and I
think [O’Reilly Auto Parts] knew
within a couple years Homer
Glen would be a lot bigger than
it is now,” she said. “I think that’s
where they were looking at, the
big picture. So, I think that’s what
they had in mind when putting up a
place here.”
Reporting by Thomas Czaja, Editor.
For more, visit HomerHorizon.com.
FROM THE LOCKPORT LEGEND
Lockport resident starts nonprofit
to assist single parents
A Lockport resident inspired by
her decades of community service
in Chicago has made it her mission
to give a sense of community to
struggling individuals and singleparent
households in Will County.
Director of the nonprofit organization
Ten Thousand Girlfriends
and the online magazine Rise,
Alexis Leslie has created a platform
that provides information for
single parents in hopes it will help
them move forward, gain stability
and make positive changes in their
lives.
The nonprofit, which Leslie refers
to as the “third act” of her life,
was inspired partly by a childhood
experience she had when her mother
became ill and was hospitalized.
Mothers who lived in the neighborhood
each took part in helping
to take care of Leslie and her two
younger sisters while their father
was at work.
A question that has come to Leslie’s
mind is, “How do you help
somebody who, when she got married,
she didn’t think she was going
to end up being the sole supporter?”
She would like to do her part
in guiding individuals who might
be struggling as a single parent.
Through outreach and making
connections with shelters and organizations,
Leslie hopes to broaden
the resources she has available on
the magazine’s website and to increase
funds donated to Ten Thousand
Girlfriends.
For more information about Rise
and Ten Thousand Girlfriends, visit
www.ttgrise.com.
Reporting by Alex Ivanisevic,
Assistant Editor. For more, visit
LockportLegend.com.
FROM THE FRANKFORT STATION
Frankfort senior luncheon helps
residents celebrate love
Love was in the air at the Founders
Community Center.
As the snow fell outside the
building, musician Paul Strolia
kept the crowd at the Feb. 12 Senior
Valentine Luncheon entertained
by performing hit songs
from the Eagles, The Beatles and
Elvis Presley.
“Today, I’m here for the seniors,”
Strolia said. “It doesn’t matter the
occasion. I do this to make people
happy with my music. Today is the
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Valentine’s show, so I’m playing
songs about love — love that went
bad, love that is good, love that
survived and love that didn’t.”
Forty participants, dressed mostly
in red, came out to the event to
remember their love or dance with
their partners.
“We’ve had a rough winter so
far,” Strolia said. “Today, it’s snowing.
It’s nice to entertain people on
a day like today.”
Many of the seniors brought
their friends. One attendee, Frankfort
resident Mary Beth Collias,
has been coming to the senior luncheons
for four years.
“I am with my friend Marge today,”
Collias said. “I like to get together
with my friends, and these
luncheons are a way to do that. I
love listening to the music, as well.
It’s something to break the monotonous
winter.”
Reporting by Mary Compton,
Freelance Reporter. For more, visit
FrankfortStation.com.
FROM THE TINLEY JUNCTION
Tinley Park Historical Society
provides insight into tales of Tinley
A lot has changed since the Tinley
Park Historical Society was
founded in 1974.
Brad Bettenhausen, the historian
president emeritus at the historical
society and treasurer for the Village
of Tinley Park, has done his
fair share of research to learn more
about the place he calls home.
Over the years, he has discovered
quite a few interesting things
about Tinley Park he said no one
else knew.
After looking through articles
from The Tinley Park Times in the
1940s, he learned that the town celebrated
its 100 year anniversary in
1945 with a parade and the creation
of a temporary museum. It was
1845 that became the year known
as the beginning of Tinley’s local
history. Through Bettenhausen’s
own research, he later came to find
that in fact, 1845 had no relevant
significance, and the town was actually
started in 1854
“A few other things happened
in 1854, and it suddenly occurs to
me that that 1845 date was a simple
transposition of numbers that
should have been 1854 not ’45,”
Bettenhausen said.
To this day, in the Village Hall
council chambers, the Village seal
behind the mayor’s chair reflects
the 1845 year that was believed to
be the time the Village was founded
but really has no significant historical
value.
“We’ve got various clippings
from those papers that help us to
fill in some of the blanks of our local
history, and I will say there’s
still lots of area that we haven’t
even begun to dig into of our local
history,” Bettenhausen said.
Reporting by Jacquelyn Schlabach,
Editor. For more, visit TinleyJunction.
com.
FROM THE NEW LENOX PATRIOT
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
musicians, Grammy winner to
perform at Triple Play
Kenny Loggins is to return to
New Lenox for its annual Triple
Play concert series this summer,
after he could not perform for the
locals back in 2015 because of a
rainout.
Loggins is to cap off the Village’s
final concert of the summer
on Aug. 31. The two other headliners
announced by the Village are
Cheap Trick on June 8 and Joan
Jett & The Blackhearts on July 20.
Tickets are to go on sale Saturday,
March 30, at Village Hall for
$75 per ticket.
“We’re very excited to be able to
offer this caliber of entertainment
for the residents,” Mayor Tim Baldermann
said. “These are Rock &
Roll Hall of Fame and Grammy-
Award winning performers.”
Cheap Trick was first formed
out of Rockford in the 1970s. Jett
blossomed as a solo artist with
songs “Bad Reputation” and “You
Don’t Own Me,” among others,
and broke through when she joined
The Blackhearts, with the hit “I
Love Rock ’n’ Roll.”
Loggins’ music career spans
more than 50 years, with 21 of his
songs making the Billboard Top
100, including “Footloose” and
“Danger Zone.”
Reporting by James Sanchez, Editor.
For more, visit NewLenoxPatriot.com.