MM_071918

16 | July 19, 2018 | The Mokena Messenger news
mokenamessenger.com
FROM THE NEW LENOX PATRIOT
Historical society replaces stained
glass windows in 119-year-old
church
It has been an expensive year for
the New Lenox Area Historical Society.
It started with purchasing the
116-year-old railroad depot last
winter, and the resources spent to
save the structure from being demolished.
Then, there was also the
acquisition of the 119-year-old former
Methodist church after that.
“We depleted our budget this
year, but this is all important to us,”
said Dianne Ross, a member of the
historical society.
In addition to purchasing the
church, located at 112 Church St.,
the restoration efforts are another
expense. Last month, the historical
society repurposed three large
stained-glass windows that were
long overdue for being re-leaded.
The windows have not been releaded
since the church was built
in 1899. Ross said leading lasts 70-
80 years.
Ross hired Cathedral Crafts
Stained Glass Studio to re-lead the
windows, touch-up parts where
there was intricate painting, re-trim
the outside, clean and place a protective
covering to protect the glass.
“The gentlemen who owns the
stained glass studio took one of the
really bad ones out said, ‘I’ve never
seen one this bad,’” Ross said.
Restoring the three windows cost
$43,000, Ross said. The problem is
there are still roughly a dozen windows
that need to be addressed.
“It’s a very expensive project,
so we have to do it as we have the
money,” Ross said. “We did the
first three that were critical. They
had to be done because, otherwise,
we would have lost them, for sure.”
Reporting by James Sanchez, Editor.
For more, visit NewLenoxPatriot.com.
FROM THE FRANKFORT STATION
LW East, West end summer
baseball season amid umpire
situation
Things do not always go according
to plan.
They did not for the Lincoln-
Way East baseball team in the summer
state tournament this week.
East coach Eric Brauer planned
to coach in the second game of the
opening day of the regional portion
of the Illinois High School Baseball
Coaches Association Summer
Baseball Tournament on July 9.
Instead, Brauer was pressed into
duty as an umpire for an inning in
a game between Lemont and Lincoln-Way
West.
“That wasn’t in the game plan,”
Brauer said.
But it is what he did as the coach
of the host school. Brauer was
pressed into duty because the home
plate umpire collapsed with one
out in the top of the second inning.
While the ump reportedly never
lost consciousness, he was taken
by ambulance to a local hospital.
After at least a 30-minute delay,
Brauer had to fill in for the umpire
but called balls and strikes from
behind the pitcher. That lasted for
an inning, while a base umpire
changed into his gear to umpire
behind the plate. An accredited
umpire was at the game to watch
his brother play for LW West but
instead served as an umpire for the
rest of the game on the bases.
The good news was that the original
home plate umpire was released
later that evening and was back out
as an umpire in a regional semifinal
game at Lockport the next morning;
however, neither Lincoln-Way team
made it to the next day.
Reporting by Randy Whalen, Freelance
Reporter. For more, visit Frank
fortStation.com.
FROM THE LOCKPORT LEGEND
Lockport Citizens Police Academy
promotes partnership with
residents
The Lockport Police Department
is accepting applications for its
annual Citizens Police Academy,
which starts this September and
looks to continue building partnerships
with community members.
The academy is open to anyone
ages 18 and older who either lives,
works or goes to school in Lockport.
Participants are to meet at the
Lockport Police Department, 1212
S. Farrell Road, from 6-9 p.m. every
Monday starting Sept. 10 for
12 weeks.
There are already nine spots filled
of the 16 allotted for the program.
Participants are to not only get a
chance to learn about the various
aspects of the police department
through this interactive program,
but they also are to learn a lot about
the people behind the badges.
“So this course gives the opportunity
to the citizens of Lockport to
come into our world, I guess you
could say, and get to know us not
as the officers but as the people
who do the job and protect them,”
program coordinator officer Jeren
Szmergalski said. “And it gives
them a little sense of what we go
through as regular people in this
profession, how it affects us, how
it affects our families [and] what
mindset we’re in when we’re out
doing our various jobs.”
Szmergalski said having a relationship
with those in Lockport
helps the officers do their jobs effectively
by putting everyone on
the same team. The citizens of
Lockport are the eyes and ears of
the police department, preventing
crime and helping the officers
solve cases faster, he said.
Reporting by Jacquelyn Schlabach,
Assistant Editor. For more, visit Lock
portLegend.com.
FROM THE TINLEY JUNCTION
Tinley Park veteran relishes Honor
Flight trip
Tinley Park’s Jack “Whitey”
Hoffmeister was among roughly
100 hundred veterans greeted with
a hero’s welcome at Chicago’s International
Midway Airport.
Hoffmeister, a longtime resident
nicknamed for his unmistakable
snowy hair, returned from Washington,
D.C., July 11 to a group of
family members and well-wishers,
including Gov. Bruce Rauner, who
thanked the Honor Flight Chicago
veterans returning from their day
trip. Founded in 2008, the nonprofit
provides veterans and one family
member with an all-expenses-paid
day of tribute that features stops at
war memorials and ceremonies of
appreciation.
Growing up in a Rogers Park orphanage,
Hoffmeister started his career
in the United States Navy back
in the early 1950s, serving in Korea
from 1952-1953 before ending his
military service in the U.S. Marine
Corps as a combat corpsman.
“It’s an honor, quite an honor,”
the 86-year-old Korean War veteran
said. “But it’s really for all the
guys who didn’t come back home.”
Those in Tinley Park probably
know Whitey from The Dairy Palace,
a homemade retro ice cream
shop he operates with the help of
some of his 10 grandchildren. He
also used to own and operate Whitey’s
Italian Beef and Sausage, and
later hot dog stands under the same
brand throughout the Chicago
area before purchasing the current
building on 167th Street and Oak
Park Avenue.
“We’ve been in business for 40
years,” Hoffmeister said. “The
soft serve comes from Green Bay,
Wisconsin, and the hard stuff
comes from Hershey, Pennsylvania,
so you know it’s quality.”
Reporting by Editor, Cody Mroczka.
For more, visit TinleyJunction.com.
FROM THE HOMER HORIZON
Be Greek for a Day adds third day
to annual festival
Over the last five years, Assumption
Greek Orthodox Church’s Be
Greek for a Day has grown from a
one-day event to three days of festivities
for the first time this year.
Greeks and non-Greeks alike are
invited to enjoy authentic cuisine,
listen to live music and spend time
together celebrating the culture.
This year, Be Greek for a Day is
to be held July 20-22, at the church,
15625 S. Bell Road in Homer Glen.
“We just wanted to try to go an
extra day on a Friday to open it up
and try something different,” said
the Rev. Sotirios “Father Sam”
Dimitriou, of Assumption Greek
Orthodox.
Included in the three-day lineup
is live band performances throughout
the weekend. On Friday, the
classic rock band Anthem is to perform
from 7:30-10:30 p.m., and the
Greek band Ormi is to perform from
5-10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
“It’s something different for us
here in our area, because, really,
when’s the last time we had live
Greek music in Homer Glen,”
Dimitriou asked. “And it’s something
for the people to experience
a live Greek band.”
There will be a $10 cover charge
on Friday, which includes one drink
ticket. Admission for the remaining
two days will be $2. Be Greek for a
Day returns from 5-11 p.m. Friday,
July 20; 3-10 p.m. Saturday, July
21; and 1-10 p.m. Sunday, July 22.
Reporting by Jacquelyn Schlabach,
Assistant Editor. For more, visit
HomerHorizon.com.
FROM THE ORLAND PARK PRAIRIE
Sandburg grad Coyne is the only
woman in new pro hockey league
The Chicago Pro Hockey League
opened play July 11 with 143 men
listed on various rosters.
And one woman.
Sandburg graduate Kendall
Coyne, who earlier this year won a
gold medal for the United States in
women’s hockey, is the lone woman
in the first-year league, which
features more than 80 players from
the National Hockey League, the
American Hockey League and the
East Coast Hockey League, as well
as amateurs from colleges, junior
teams and Triple A programs.
Coyne, 26, had played with and
against boys when she was younger,
so this is not new territory for her.
She also is not the only player from
the area who will participate in the
league, which is to play its games
at MB Ice Arena in Chicago, which
is the Blackhawks’ community rink.
Nine players listed from Orland
Park are a part of the league.
“Knowing there are so many
NHL and pro players who live and
train in Chicago during the offseason,
we felt a summer pro league
with ties to local charities would be
great for the hockey community,”
said Anders Sorensen, player development
coach for the Chicago
Blackhawks and director of player
development with the Chicago
Mission. “Having coached and
worked with a lot of these players
throughout their youth and junior
development years, and now while
they are playing pro hockey, we
felt a summer pro league would be
really well received by the guys.”
Reporting by Jeff Vorva, Sports Editor.
For more, visit OPPrairie.com.