OP_110719

OPPrairiedaily.com sound off
the orland park prairie | November 7, 2019 | 17
Social snapshot
Top Web Stories
From opprairie.com as of Friday, Nov. 1
From the Editor
Listen, learn history this Veterans Day
1. 10 Questions with Ellie Watson,
Sandburg volleyball player
2. D230 officials address teacher
shortage with pipeline program
3. Orland Park Turkey Trot set to return
on Thanksgiving morning
4. Eagles volleyball team hoping hiccup
against H-F will help in postseason
5. Indoor Garage Sale benefitting
Village’s Special Rec program set for
Nov. 2
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Reacting to a story about Condolidated
High School District 230’s teacher
pipeline program, “PROUD SANDBURG
ALUMNI! Future high school teacher!
~Saint Xavier University. I wouldn’t want
to teach anywhere else but Sandburg. It
would be a privilege and an honor to give
back to my community that I was a part
of. My dream is to be an Eagle for as long
as I can! It’s been this way ever since I
graduated. Go Eagles!”
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“Who doesn’t love some good #DIY fall
decorations??”
@TheBridgeTC — Bridge Teen Center,
on Thursday, Oct. 31
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BILL JONES
bill@opprairie.com
Would you believe
me if I told you
there is even
more to our cover story on
Pages 6 and 7 this week? I
know we already dedicated
a cover and two full
pages to it, but William
“Bill” Nicholson’s stories
cannot be contained in a
mere 2,900 words — and
nfyn
From Page 16
RA Executive Director
Keith Wallace said, adding
that a specific allocation
has not been decided
yet. Gina’s Teardrop Cafe
donated sandwiches and
drinks for the event, and
DIY Sign Party led the
painting activities.
“We love getting organizations
that do fundraising
on our behalf,”
Wallace said, noting that
it lifts a weight off the
shoulders of LWSRA
staff. “It brings people together.”
Terrie Murphy, a codirector
of the New Lenox
Relay For Life, did a
similar fundraiser for the
American Cancer Society
recently and wanted
to do a similar event in
support of the LWSRA.
She teamed up with Gina’s
Teardrop Cafe owner
Gina Buck, whose son has
participated in LWSRA
programs for nearly 25
I can’t fit much more.
(I’m being serious.)
While it is fantastic
enough that Nicholson’s
life included work on the
Manhattan Project in the
Met Lab at the University
of Chicago, and his
stories of survival at
30,000 feet while flying
B-24 Liberator bombers
over Germany are harrowing,
Nicholson also
can talk for hours on his
experiences trying to do
business inside countries
like Romania under
Communist rule. He can
explain, in detail at the
age of 95, the work he
did to help the launching
of U.S. rockets when
America was desperately
years.
“Keith is a great guy,”
Buck said.
She said her son, who is
27, has enjoyed his experiences
with the LWSRA.
Reporting by Kyle LaHucik,
Freelance Reporter. For
more, visit NewLenoxPatriot
Daily.com.
FROM THE FRANKFORT STATION
Track helped LW East
twins adjust to 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,
trying to catch up with
the Russians following
the launch of Sputnik.
He also is happy to tell
people about the engineering
bug that has been
passed down through the
family, and the success
his children and grandchildren
have found.
He can speak to seven
decades-plus of a marriage
that endures to this
day. And he is more than
happy to give Chicago
Backflow Inc. a plug for
the kindness they have
shown him.
If given the opportunity,
anyone would be wise to
listen. Nicholson is of a
generation of World War
II veterans who are tooquickly
dwindling. More
than that, he is active and
his mind is still sharp, and
he is more than willing
to share his history with
others.
If you enjoyed his story
in this week’s paper, I
highly recommend tracking
down the video he
recorded for the Atomic
Heritage Foundation on
YouTube. After that, if
they’re willing, ask your
grandparents and parents
to share their stories with
you this Veterans Day.
I suspect you won’t
regret the time you spent
listening, only missing
out on the opportunity to
do so.
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.
Reporting by Steve Millar,
Sports Editor. For more, visit
FrankfortStationDaily.com.
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