Editor's note: This column was originally published in January 2011 and has been edited to reflect the current year. For many of us, today means another day off of work, a day without mail or a day that kids weren't in school. But it's also to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. and his commitment to, as the King Center website puts it, the values of courage, truth, justice, compassion, dignity, humility and service. It's that last noble ideal that has more and more considering the holiday “a day on, not a day off." In honor of King's lifelong work toward a better country with equality through …

Earlier this year, I wrote about my experience last year with Sharefest. It's a community-wide effort to make a difference in various ways, including material donations, service projects and health/job fairs. Well, Sharefest has come, though isn't entirely gone. A new partnership with Lowe's Heroes Program and an upcoming Emergency Response course will keep the spirit of volunteerism alive and well in New Lenox. Once again I was privileged to be a part of the effort. I worked on an individual service project for a private homeowner last year, but this time around I participated with the …

Earlier this year, I wrote about how the planning was getting underway for this year's New Lenox ShareFest, a giant community service event that attracts volunteers from throughout the area. Just over three and a half months later, with just over three and a half months left until the big event, there have been several developments. The fifth-annual event, started in the late '90s by a group of religious leaders in central Arkansas, brings together the needs of the community and those wishing to serve those needs. This year's event will be held on Saturday, Sept. 10 (have you marked your …

She was only 14 years old when she passed in 2000. It was a mere three years earlier that she had been diagnosed with a brain tumor. She was Alicia DiSandro, of New Lenox. Her parents, Nick and April, with the help of Alicia's five siblings, keep her memory alive as well as cope with her passing while trying to find a cure by being the local organizers of the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life in New Lenox. This year's will take place Friday, July 15, at Lincoln-Way West High School starting at 6 p.m. and running through the night until 6 the next morning. Although New Lenox broke away …

“It's about respect—respecting the names of the people on this wall.” That, followed by a long period of reflective silence, is how Vietnam veteran Tom Burke summed up both the wall and his participation on the Honor Guard standing watch non-stop over the Vietnam Moving Wall. The wall is a half-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and it's on display at the American Legion post in New Lenox through Monday. The memorial honors the more than 58,000 Americans killed or missing in Vietnam. The names of the casualties are listed by date they were killed or went …

Athletes. They're often known for excellence on the field, but also sometimes trouble off the field. This seems to be the case at all levels, even high school (remember powder puff football in the northern suburbs?). And when those student athletes get into trouble? “There's so many programs for the kids that get in trouble, what about the good kids?” said Ted Robbins, Lincoln-Way West's athletic director. “Let's use what they already have and build upon it so that they can continue to expand that sphere of influence.” One way he's doing that begins on a Colorado ranch, with the end goal …

Sixty percent of ambulance calls in New Lenox involving slips and falls with residents over the age of 65 result in serious injuries*, according to Dan Martin, New Lenox Police Department Public Safety Division chief. “This sent up a red flag for us,”  Martin said. “That's a very high percentage of people falling down and some of these injuries can be quite serious.” With no other known programs covering this material, the Safe Communities America Coalition decided that this needed some instruction and other resources behind it. A program scheduled for May 18 is designed to help prevent …

Every so often, I will get forwarded an email from my mother-in-law or some other kind hearted person, and that email will be a warm story that carries a message of how to be good, appreciative or otherwise become a better person. Although I try to read some of them, and the message is often nice, it's rare that I am truly moved or inspired by one. The other day, however, I got an email parable that really did strike home for me; the subject line and title was “Thanks for your Time.” While I have written in the past about the value of doing something, anything to contribute spare time to …

Frankfort resident Jackie Ball smiled warmly and moved effortlessly among children screaming and laughing as they made new discoveries recently at the KidsWork Children's Museum in Frankfort. Ball is one of 11 volunteers that donate time and so much more to the museum. She said she's volunteered since the first day that the museum, which serves children from throughout the area, opened. "I had just retired and ... looking for something to fill my time,” she said. “I have a big family and just really enjoy kids.” She now comes in once a week for 3 and half hours at a time. As a volunteer, her …

In recent weeks, I've written about a number of opportunities to volunteer with youth such as coaching flag football and the new Gavel Club chapter of Toastmasters. Why? As Whitney Houston sings, “I believe the children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way...” Also, it has been famously said many times, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Although I was the beneficiary of great community involvement while growing up, it seems to me that opportunities for our youth of this generation are of even greater importance. With changing values across the nation combined with …

After being laid off by  a home inspection company, Frankfort resident David McMasters received food from the Frankfort Township food pantry for a year. But after recently starting to do home inspections on his own, he's been giving back whatever he can to the pantry. “I'm not saying a huge amount,” McMasters said. “Does it still hurt? Yeah. But I do it because there's others that are worse off than me. When my business took off, I just made it a point to give back. I'm not back to eating steaks like I was before, but I'm also not eating bread or doing without like I was at one point.” He …

Public speaking is said to be the thing that people fear most. For years, the New Lenox chapter of Toastmasters International has helped numerous members overcome that fear, and the group is now starting a Gavel Club to bring the benefits  to children throughout the Lincoln-Way area. With an emphasis on public speaking, the organization's focus is on building confidence and improving communication skills for anyone, from professionals to stay-at-home parents, students to retirees. “You can get a lot of things out of it,” Gavel Club Coordinator Beth Gordon said. “That skill will open up all …

About this time last year, I submitted my son's registration to play flag football in the Tikes division (5- and 6-year-old children) with the New Lenox Park District. Along with it, I hesitantly included an application to coach said team. Little did I know what I was in for. Now let me just say off the top that I love my children, yet they sometimes can be a handful. Add in another eight or nine? That was going to be a recipe for disaster. Also, though I was a sideline camera operator for Bears and other football games broadcasting at the network level on FOX, I still didn't (and, to this …

Passion. Goals. Routine. Discipline. Belief to get through it all. Those attributes, or at least some of them, are missing in today's youth sports programs, according to Nick Setta, one of the presenters at the upcoming “Sports as a Vessel of Virtue” presentation as part of the seventh annual Unity Breakfast on Saturday, April 2, at the Christian Youth Center in southeast Joliet. And Setta should know: As a high school kicker in Lockport, he set a state record for longest field goal (59 yards) and at Notre Dame, he had the second-highest number of field goals (46); since then he has played in…

Editor's note: The author is a volunteer at New Lenox Community Television. Volunteers for community television programs in the area have the privilege of seeing their villages through a different lens. “You meet a lot of interesting people and you get to go to a lot of interesting events, see a lot of things," said Dean Andersen, a longtime volunteer for New Lenox's Channel 6. "You always get a front row seat and you get to really see exactly what's going on, you get to see behind the scenes.” Those front row seats have included events such as New Lenox's Triple Play Concert Series and …

Although the event is still more than three months away, I received the first of what I'm sure will be several people asking for my donation for the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life in New Lenox. This year's New Lenox Relay runs from 6 p.m. Friday, July 15, through the following morning at 6 a.m. There is also a Relay For Life in Mokena at Lincolnway Central High School on Friday, June 10. Relay events in other locations can be found using the online search tool. Why overnight? “Because cancer never sleeps” as the Relay For Life website puts it. This year's event, the fourth annual …

People go bald, or close to, for a number of reasons—some by choice and others...not so much. I've known a number of family and friends who's hairlines have receded (or disappeared altogether) naturally. Some choose to be shaven clean by virtue of joining the armed forces or other public safety posts; a tight buzz seems the cut of choice for a lot of police academy cadets and fire fighter trainees. Then there are those who lose their hair because of cancer. It's one of many devastating side effects of both the illness and the treatment that victims must face. Unfortunately, I witnessed family…

Most people in their 20s or older know where they were on Sept. 11, 2001, but an event on that infamous day's ninth anniversary last year reminded me of the attitude that swept across the country in the weeks after 9/11, even if only temporarily: We came together to help others in our respective communities. That event, ShareFest, enters its fifth year in New Lenox, and various community leaders are starting to plan for the large-scale volunteerism event, which will be on Sept. 10 this year. The original ShareFest dates back to the late 90's with a group of religious leaders in central …

When I was about 11 years old, I joined the Boy Scouts. In addition to the outdoor adventures, the chance to wear a uniform (because all girls like a boy in uniform, right?) and all the other benefits of scouting, I learned first-aid and other disaster preparedness. I learned those things not just to earn more badges for my cool uniform, but also so I was ready to help myself and those around me in the event of an emergency. That opportunity presents itself again, this time in the form of the Community Emergency Response Team offered by the New Lenox Police Department. CERT has already …

Just as I was submitting last week's column, “The Great Blizzard of 2011” was getting underway. Late the next morning I (and later the wife with the kids) set about digging out from the Snowpocalypse/SnOMG/Snomaggedon. With our drive cleared and half of the public sidewalk in front of our house done as well, a young man with a gas powered snow thrower walked by. “Need a little help?” he said. Well, I'm a proud and strong man, but I'm not stupid. So the good Samaritan cleared the second half of our sidewalk. But this wouldn't be the last I saw of him. Now that my drive was done, it was time to…