Did politics play a role in the Orland Park Lion’s Club decision to toss the Jesse White Tumblers during a club-sponsored town festival last weekend?
The head of Orland Park’s Democratic committee says yes. White, the Democratic candidate for secretary of state, says maybe. Lions Club officials say no.
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White, the Cook County recorder of deeds who beat out Orland Park Police Chief Tim McCarthy for the party nomination, said his team was setting up mats Saturday night next to the Democratic committee tent when police officers told him the group could not perform.
White and Rich DellaCroce, Democratic committeeman for Orland Township, said they then met with Lions Club members, who told them the tumblers could not perform because they did not have proof of insurance. White said he told club officials he had insurance but did not have the paperwork with him.
White said that during the conversation, he heard someone, although he does not know who, say that allowing White’s team to perform would “be an affront” to McCarthy. White said he responded that the election was over and that McCarthy supported him.
“I’m not saying (McCarthy) had anything to do with it. All I can say is what I heard,” White said Sunday. “We’ve performed in hundreds of events around the country, and no one has ever turned me away over an insurance question.”
McCarthy could not be reached for comment, but Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin called the suggestions absurd.
“I talked to Chief McCarthy, and he said he had nothing to do with it and he said he is not happy that someone might be using his name this way,” he said.
DellaCroce said he did not hear a McCarthy reference. He said the move had more to do with Republicans, who hold much of the clout in the southwest suburb.
“The Democratic committee in Orland Park is an up-and-coming organization, and I think they wanted to make sure we didn’t get too much attention with the tumblers,” DellaCroce said.
Mario Fazio, a Lions Club member and chairman of the five-day Orland Days festival, said he knew nothing about the incident, although DellaCroce said it was Fazio who told the tumblers to leave. Fazio said that according to festival guidelines, only groups approved by the Lions Club can appear. The Jesse White Tumblers, Fazio said, did not have approval.