Palos Heights joins Crayon Initiative
Palos Heights City Hall has joined with The Crayon Initiative to bring new crayons to children who have been hospitalized.
Area residents are invited to bring unwanted crayons during business hours – 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays – to City Hall, 7607 W. College Drive. A collection box has been placed there and items may be brought to the front desk.
Collected crayons eventually will be brought to The Crayon Initiative to be recast into new crayons sent to children in hospitals across the country. There is no end date for the collection of crayons.
English as a Second Language class planned
The Midlothian Public Library and South Suburban College have teamed up once again to offer a free English as a Second Language class from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturdays, Sept. 19 through Dec. 12, at the library, 1401 Kenton Ave.
Registration is by appointment only in room L233 at the college, 15800 S. Halsted St. in South Holland. Signups are taken at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Aug. 17-19 and 31 and Sept. 1 and 2.
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To make an appointment, call 708-596-2000 Ext. 2408 or 2410.
SWIFT picnic draws interfaith crowd in Palos Park
South suburban residents representing three of the world’s major religions gathered Sunday at Peace Memorial United Church of Christ in Palos Park for the SouthWest InterFaith Team picnic.
An annual event hosted by the 22-year-old group, the SWIFT picnic drew a crowd of 75 Muslims, Christians and Jews from from several houses of worship in the south suburbs for fellowship, fun and good food.
Guild’s first Summer Storefront show set
The Beverly Theatre Guild presents “The Lifespan of a Fact” at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 14 and 15 and at 2 p.m. Aug. 16 at Morgan Park Academy, 2153 W. 111th St. in Chicago.
It’s the first in the guild’s Summer Storefront productions, “launched to give a space and opportunity for smaller shows that address important topics, diverse voices, and new material,” per a news release. It’s further set off with cabaret-style setting in the academy’s gallery.
The show tells the story of a new Harvard graduate who is assigned to fact-check an essay by an acclaimed writer. It was written by David Murrell, Gordon Farrell and Jeremy Kareken based on a book by Jim Fingal and John D’Agata.
Tickets, $20 per person, are sold in advance at beverlytheatreguild.org/btg-tickets or by calling 773-284-8497 or can be bought at the door starting an hour before the show. Tickets bought with credit will have a $2 fee added.
MVCC speech team captain makes history
Aaron Lopez, captain of Moraine Valley Community College’s speech and debate team, made history for the program by winning the 2026 Interstate Oratorical Association tournament.
The Bridgeview resident not only took that championship but also was the first student in the college’ s history to qualify for the tournament and the first community college student ever to compete in it.
Only two students from each state are accepted to compete in the tournament, which focused on persuasive speaking and took place at the University of Florida this spring. To qualify, students must place first or second in the university division of persuasion at their state tournament.
“There is no greater feeling than seeing your student be the top persuasive speaker in the entire nation,” team co-coach Damian Samsoniwicz shared in a news release.
The speech and debate team won third place at the Phi Rho Pi National Speech & Debate Tournament in Maryland, where Lopez was named champion in Persuasive Speaking. He also took silver in Communication Analysis and bronze in Informative and Speaking to Entertain; Palos Hills residents Karoline Granda won bronze in Persuasion and Tuana Ozbir took silver in Informative Speaking; Javier Ramirez, Alsip, bronze in Speech to Entertain, Communication Analysis, Persuasion and Dramative Interpretation; Magali Garcia, Summit, Dramatic Interpretation; and Laura Galindo, Burbank, bronze in Speech to Entertain. Attendees were Andrew Banaczak, Bridgeview; Ale Zepeda, Summit; and Aya Mustafa, Palos Heights.
Olympia Fields Hospital earns AHA award
The American Heart Association has given its Get With The Guidelines – Stroke Silver Plus quality achievement award to Olympia Fields Hospital for its “commitment to ensuring people experiencing stroke receive timely, appropriate treatment based on nationally recognized, research-based guidelines, ultimately helping to save lives and reduce disability,” according to a news release.
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The hospital, a member of Prime Healthcare, also earned the association’s Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll award. The program works to ensure people with Type 2 diabetes receive care when hospitalized because of a stroke.
“Olympia Fields Hospital is committed to improving patient care by adhering to the latest treatment guidelines,” shared Dr. Sunil Patel, regional chief medical officer for Prime Illinois, in the release. “Get With the Guidelines helps our teams put proven science into practice every day. Research shows this approach supports better recovery, with the ultimate goal of helping people throughout the south suburban Chicago region live longer, healthier lives.”
Evergreen Park K of C gives out scholarships
For the 17th year, the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Council of the Knights of Columbus in Evergreen Park has awarded four $600 scholarships to graduates of four area Catholic schools.
Past Grand Knight Anton Iberle presented the awards to Joseph Tassone of Most Holy Redeemer in Evergreen Park, who will attend Brother Rice High School; Anna Lugowski of Queen of Martyrs in Evergreen Park, who will go to St. Laurence High School; Holly Mueller of St. John Fisher in Chicago’s Beverly-Morgan Park neighborhood, who will attend Marist High School; and Rachel Krapec of St. Catherine Alexandria in Oak Lawn, who will go to Mother McAuley High School.
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