NL_110719

16 | November 7, 2019 | the new lenox patriot news
newlenoxpatriotdaily.com
FROM THE TINLEY JUNCTION
Creative Cakes decorators
take second place at
international competition
It was two days of intense,
fast-paced competition,
and Ashley Spitzer
and Robbyn Yuen proved
to their fellow cake decorators
that they deserved to
be there.
Representing Creative
Cakes in Tinley Park, the
duo placed second overall
out of six teams at the
The Pillsbury Bakers’ Plus
Grand Champion Creative
Decorating Competition
held Sept. 7-9 in Las Vegas
in conjunction with
the International Baking
Industry Expo.
This was the second
year that Yuen, a Tinley
Park resident, and Spitzer,
a resident of Midlothian,
competed together —
placing second last year in
Atlantic City.
During the first day of
competition, the pair made
a rolled fondant cake and
sculpted cake, and the second
day they made a wedding
cake and a “surprise”
cake, which was a threeteir
buttercream cake that
was announced to them
when they arrived the day
before.
As a result of their
scores, the duo won
$4,000 collectively, which
they split.
“We just want to really
build awareness of Creative
Cakes,” Spitzer said.
“I’ve worked here for 13
years and this is my place
and I couldn’t imagine
myself working at any other
bakery, honestly.”
Reporting by Jacquelyn
Schlabach, Editor. For more,
visit TinleyJunctionDaily.
com.
FROM THE LOCKPORT LEGEND
LTHS Marching Band
wins Class 6A state
championship in Normal
Sound the horns: the
winners of the Class 6A
2019 Illinois State Marching
Band Championship
are back in town.
The Saturday night
lights were shining on the
Lockport Township High
School marching band Oct.
19 at Illinois State University.
Competing in Class
6A, the division which
houses the largest schools,
the LTHS band and its 175
members claimed first,
along with supplemental
awards for General Effect
and Crowd Appeal.
The win marks their
third championship this
decade, with the two others
coming in 2013 and
2015. The 2019 group’s
show is called “Tribe,”
which features compositions
from Nick Phoenix
and Thomas Bergersen.
“Most of our shows before
were bright and colorful;
this year we went for
a darker and more unique
take on the music,” said
Rileigh Rubar, an alto sax
player in her third year
with the marching band.
Citing the leadership of
Covey, she said, “Our program
has become stronger,
and we’re far more unified.”
Reporting by Derek Swanson,
Editorial Assistant. For
more, visit LockportLegend
Daily.com.
FROM THE MOKENA MESSENGER
Multiple agencies
participate in simulated
train derailment exercise
The average daily ridership
across six counties on
Metra’s commuter trains
is approximately 177,000.
There are two Metra stations
in Mokena, at Front
Street downtown and the
Hickory Creek station on
the east side of town.
Now, imagine if one of
those trains derailed. People
are injured. The train
is heavily damaged and
could pose additional risks
to both passengers and
emergency responders.
How would emergency
personnel respond? What
protocols are in place to attend
to injured passengers?
What systems are in place
to quickly and efficiently
respond to such a hypothetical
disaster?
On Oct. 26, Village officials
teamed up with Metra
and Department of Homeland
Security Transportation
Safety Administration
officials at the Hickory
Creek station for a training
exercise based precisely
on those concerns.
The joint training exercise
included members of
Mokena police, fire and
other support staff from
the Village. And, according
to Mokena Police
Chief Steve Vaccaro, everything
went “seamless.”
Vaccaro said that all parties
worked well together
and that, from a preparation
standpoint, Mokena
“is prepared” in the event
of this sort of emergency
situation.
While the Village and
its partnerships with Will
County, Metra and neighboring
communities’
emergency responders are
strong, Vaccaro stressed
the need to continue these
sorts of training exercises
to ensure each department
is on top of the latest developments
in technology
to assist in emergency situations.
Reporting by T.J. Kremer III,
Editor. For more, visit Moke
naMessengerDaily.com.
FROM THE FRANKFORT STATION
Memorable track careers
helped LW East twins
adjust to life in America
When twins Ibukun and
Ore Ajifolokun moved
from Canada to Frankfort
before their sophomore
year in high school, they
decided to join the Lincoln-Way
East track team.
Showing up and earning
a spot with of the most successful
high school track
programs in the country is
no easy task, though, and
the twins were certainly
not naturals.
“In practice the first day,
they were getting lapped,”
East coach Brian Evans
said. “They struggled to do
pretty simple drills. They
couldn’t walk and chew
gum. We were just scratching
our heads, like, ‘What
are we going to do with
these two?’
“They had a lot going
on already, moving
to a new country, trying
to get things straight with
school because some of
their credits from their
old school did not transfer
over. Then you throw into
the mix joining the Lincoln-Way
East track team,
which is a pretty daunting
thing. We just figured they
weren’t going to last.”
The Ajifolokun twins,
who were born in Nigeria
and grew up in Canada,
found a home on the track
team. They were not about
to quit, no matter how difficult
it was.
Both twins earned All-
State honors this past
spring in Charleston. Ibukun
competed on the state
runner-up 1,600-meter relay
team, and the twins ran
together on the All-State
800 relay team.
Reporting by Steve Millar,
Sports Editor. For more, visit
FrankfortStationDaily.com.
FROM THE HOMER HORIZON
Make-A-Wish gives
Disney trip to first-grader
at Young School
After being diagnosed
with bone cancer in September
2018, Trevor Daley,
6, faced a long road to
recovery. He kept in good
spirits the whole time, his
parents said, and he never
asked for much — other
than to go on the trip of his
dreams.
Trevor, a first-grader at
Young School, got to go
to Disneyland this Halloween
season.
He went through nine
months of proton therapy
before officially being declared
as in remission.
“Through the whole
process of recovery, Trevor
stayed positive,” said
his father, John. “He never
let it get the best of him.”
A former teacher at
Young, Terra Nichele
is now involved in the
Make-A-Wish Foundation
and reached out to
Trevor and his family.
After beating cancer this
past June, Trevor’s wish
was granted. The Disney
trip was set in motion for
late October.
“Make-A-Wish came by
when he was still doing
treatment,” John said. “We
knew the trip was going to
come; we just wanted to
give it time after the treatment.”
In anticipation of Trevor’s
trip, students and
staff at Young planned a
special parade for him before
school on the morning
of Oct. 25. He was
picked up by police and a
SWAT armored truck from
his house and escorted
to school, where he was
greeted by his classmates,
teachers and a few special
guests, including Batman
and Mickey and Minnie
Mouse.
Reporting by Derek Swanson,
Editorial Intern. For more,
visit HomerHorizonDaily.
com.
FROM THE ORLAND PARK PRAIRIE
Scare today, gone
tomorrow: Custodian
transforms school
overnight for Halloween
When students at Liberty
School leave the building
on Oct. 30 every year,
they start to see hints of
what custodian Bill Pluta
has done there for Halloween
the past five years. It’s
not until Halloween morning,
though, that anyone
but Pluta truly understands
the scope of it. And by
Nov. 1, it vanishes as if it
was never there.
Pluta — on his own time
and his own dime — this
year outfitted the elementary
school with roughly
40 inflatables, which could
be found arching over each
entryway, in the multipurpose
room and around
the gymnasium/lunchroom.
Keeping in mind
the students there run from
grades 3-5, some of the
displays — which include
animatronics and ghosts
that zip on wires overhead
— provide little scares but
include no gore.
“I keep things fun,” Pluta
said.
The piece de resistance
is a graveyard scene
tucked into a corner near
the multipurpose room.
There, bat props hang
overhead, a vulture rests
on a perch, an inflatable
tree is haunted by ghosts,
and several other haunts
both spook and delight the
students who pass it.
“The graveyard is just
cool,” Pluta says with
pride.
Reporting by Bill Jones, Editor.
For more, visit OPPrai
rieDaily.com.