OP_100319

4 | October 3, 2019 | the orland Park Prairie news
OPPrairiedaily.com
Orland Fire’s
CERT training for
district residents
is to start Oct. 7
Submitted by Orland Fire
Protection District
2
The Orland Fire Protection
District is to host
a new Community Emergency
Response Team
class starting Oct. 7th.
The classes will be held
from 6-8:30 p.m. eight
consecutive Mondays. The
classes are held at the Orland
Fire District Administration
building, 9790 W.
151st St.
The class is limited to
district residents. The minimum
age to participate is
18 years old.
The district currently
has more than 52 active
community members and
is looking to add additional
volunteers to assist during
emergencies, such as
disasters and weather-related
emergencies. Experience
is not necessary. Participants
will be provided
with the training needed to
become an Orland CERT
team member.
Some of the training
provided includes safely
extinguishing fires in the
event of an emergency,
first aid, CPR, bleeding
control, assisting family
and neighbors with
navigating emergencies,
organizing and operating
search and rescue
duties, and coordinating
and working with first responders
during community
emergencies.
Submit completed applications
to the Orland Fire
Protection District (9790
W. 151st Street, Orland
Park, IL 60462) Monday
thru Friday from 8am to
4:30pm.
For more information,
call (708) 349-0074.
Some former students reunite inside
Orland Park’s one-room schoolhouse
Mary Compton
Freelance Reporter
Sitting around a large
table Thursday, Sept. 26,
former students told stories
and giggled about
their lives at the one-room
schoolhouse in Orland
Park.
“Today was a chance
to see a few people I
haven’t seen since grade
school,” said Leon Cooper,
of Orland Park, who
brought his wife, Betty,
to introduce her to a few
of his former classmates.
“I haven’t seen a few of
these people in more than
50 years.
Leon Cooper went all
eight years of grade school
at the one-room building
now located along 151st
Street at 88th Avenue,
which now houses the Orland
Park Area Chamber
of Commerce.
While the group
swapped stories of the old
times during the late September
reunion, memories
of their favorite teacher
came to the forefront.
Tinley Park
708-444-2101
Crystal Lake
815-444-1330
“I had the same teacher
all those years,” Leon explained.
“Carolyn Johns
was her name. … She was
an amazing woman. She
did everything from stoking
the fire in the furnace
to teach us.”
“For recess, she would
put sawdust on the floor,
and we would slide
through the classroom,”
Diane Blomquist Buis, of
Bloomington, said with a
laugh.
She and her sister Lois
Blomquist White, of Oak
Forest, went to the school
together. Both came to
the event to reunite with
classmates from the 1950s
and 1960s.
Leaning back in his
chair, Dale Cooper, of
Manhattan, told of Johns’
love of telling stories
“After lunch, you could
always count on her to
revel in the storytelling
from Tom Sawyer and
Huckleberry Finn,” Dale
said.
At one time, there were
12 students in the whole
school from grades 1-8.
“At that point, there was
talk of closing the school,”
Leon said. “My dad was
on the school board. He
was a farmer. He fought
to keep the school open
because he knew the area
was growing.”
As old photos were
passed around, the group
recognized themselves in
images from a time gone
by. And the group agreed
the building has the same
wooden floor that was
there back in the 1950s.
There were more hugs
and a few tears, as people
greeted one another and
took photos.
Former students from the one-room schoolhouse in
Orland Park get together on Thursday, Sept. 26, for a
small reunion inside the building that now serves as
the Orland Park Area Chamber of Commerce office.
They are (left to right, top) Ted Ebelig, Bob Cooper,
Leon Cooper, (middle) Wayne Rechkemer, Dale Cooper,
(bottom) Diane Blomquist Buis and Lois Blomquist
White. Mary Compton/22nd Century Media
Dale, who attended the
one-room schoolhouse
until 1959, organized
the reunion with Wayne
Rechkemer, of Mokena.
“We thought we’d get
everyone together, share
some laughs before too
many of us are dead, and
gone to bigger and better
things,” Dale said with a
laugh.
He added, “I became a
kid again when I came in
5
To view more
photos online,
visit www.
OPPrairieDaily.com
the front door today. It’s
fun to see to see older faces,
but I can still see the
kids’ faces in them. Today
is stepping back in time.
Besides going to school
together, we were a family
back then.”