Southland choir group performs with South Shore Opera
The male ensemble from the Richton Park-based Southland College Prep Choir performed Sept. 9 at Chicago’s South Shore Cultural Center with the South Shore Opera Company.
Elizabeth Norman-Sojourner, choir director at the school and the first artistic director of the South Shore Opera Company, is the choir director at the high school in Richton Park. The concert, titled “Elizabeth Norman-Sojourner and Friends,” featured Norman-Sojourner and other artists such as tenor Christopher Joyner and the musical singing trio Tre Diva.
Stephen Ford, a Southland senior, performed “Nessun Dorma,” an aria from the final act of Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Turandot.” Ford, who has been a member of the choir since freshman year, performed the same piece and earned a perfect score in the Illinois High School Association solo competition last year. The 12-member Southland male ensemble performed “Agony” from the musical “Into the Woods” by Stephen Sondheim.
“As a little kid I didn’t think about being on stage,” Ford said. “But as you progress, you get more comfortable. You start to feel proud and accomplished about sharing your gift.”
Knights of Columbus welcome Honor Flight home
Members, spouses and friends of Father Perez Knights of Columbus Council 1444 in Chicago’s Mount Greenwood neighborhood joined an estimated throng of more than 1,000 at Midway Airport on Sept. 21 to welcome home 114 veterans who participated in the 105th Honor Flight Chicago.
Doug Meffley, director of communications for Honor Flight Chicago, noted that this was the first flight that did not include World War II veterans, and it was the largest and loudest reception since prior to Midway’s 2018 construction project.
The Father Perez contingent gathered to honor Past Grand Knight Rich Doyle, who was in the Army from 1966 to 1968 and in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968. Doyle, a 1965 Leo High School graduate, was overcome by emotion when he entered the baggage claim area along with his escort from Great Lakes Naval Station.
“The reception was beyond my wildest dreams. It is most certainly one of the best days of my life. I was amazed at the number of people who greeted us so enthusiastically,” he said. “They reminded me that there are and were many people who supported and prayed for those of us who served in Vietnam.”
Also on the honor flight were Jerry McGovern, St. Kilian Class of 1961, who served with the Marine Corps in Vietnam 1966-1967 and was awarded a Purple Heart, and 19th Ward resident Dennis Moster, McGovern’s classmate from St. Kilian who was with the 1st Air Cavalry in Vietnam April of 1968 to January 1969.
“Mini Monsters” clinic brings former Bear to Frankfort school
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Students at Grand Prairie Elementary School in Frankfort had the opportunity to train like the Chicago Bears during a “Mini Monsters” clinic Sept. 7.
Physical education teachers Barb Borden and Kris Vandenberg applied for the opportunity over the summer. During the clinic, students rotated through six stations, working on their passing, catching, throwing, jumping and running skills, and hand-eye coordination.
The 2nd graders also were visited by former Bears offensive lineman Chris Edwards.
Old Plank Road Trail section to close for repairs Oct. 4
A section of Old Plank Road Trail from Harlem Avenue to LaGrange Road will close Tuesday, Oct. 4, as asphalt repairs begin on the path.
Over the next three weeks or so, asphalt repairs will take place on a 7 mile section of the trail from Harlem Avenue in Frankfort to Schoolhouse Road in New Lenox Township. This section of the 22-mile trail is 25 years old and in need of repairs, according to a release from the Forest Preserve District of Will County.
Because the paving work will be a moving operation, path users are asked to use caution and to follow any signage that is posted, district officials said.
Homewood church collecting for asylum-seekers
St. Andrew United Methodist Church, 18850 Riegel Road, Homewood is a collection site for donated items for the more than 750 asylum-seekers from Central and South America who have arrived in Chicago on buses sent from Texas since Aug. 31.
The donations will be taken to the city to welcome and assist these migrants, according to a release from the church. A list of needed items and drop off times are available at homewoodsaintandrew.org, or by emailing [email protected] or calling 708-798-8904.
Franciscan Health Diaper Drive begins
Franciscan Health Olympia Fields seeks to ease a silent crisis that impacts many parents in the region with its annual Diaper Drive in October.
Last year’s Diaper Drive resulted in the delivery of 9,000 diapers to Southland families in need. This year’s Diaper Drive, which begins Monday, has a goal of collecting 10,000 diapers to be donated to local community organizations including Respond NOW, Aid for Women and Franciscan Health Family Birth Center’s patients in need, according to a news release from the hospital.
Donations of new and/or unused opened packs of diapers or pull ups can be dropped off at the Franciscan Health Olympia Fields main lobby, 20201 South Crawford Ave., Olympia Fields. Financial donations, which allow the purchase of twice as many diapers due to discounted hospital purchase rates, are accepted by calling the Franciscan Health Olympia Fields Foundation at 708-852-2430.
Send news to [email protected].