Court Supervision: Surprise Witness!

A surprise witness in the Mokena coma punch case turning the trial upside down was just one of the things going on in court this week.

The week finished up with a bang when a surprise witness dropped explosive testimony on the Mokena coma punch case. With Joseph Messina of New Lenox facing felony aggravated battery charges for allegedly beating Eric Bartels of Joliet into a coma in July 2009, witness Steve Raymond of Frankfort came out of nowhere and testified that he saw another man throw the fateful punch. Raymond explained that he kept quiet for years because he expected close friend Mike Glielmi to come clean about punching Bartels. That didn't happen, and Raymond, who is also close friends with Messina, told how he empathized with Bartels' family after his own sister suffered severe brain injuries in a July 2011 motorcycle accident. It was only a year or so after the…

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Scouts Collect 42K Food Items for New Lenox Pantries

Patch and other volunteers helped sort mountains of food Monday at the New Lenox Township office. New Lenox scouts collected about 42,000 food items to donate to the three local food pantries.

Every year in New Lenox, the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts execute an incredible effort to help feed local families. On Monday, I got to see the result of their work in action. I got to volunteer at the New Lenox Township food pantry along with many others to check for expired food, sort certain types of food and move boxes around. There were 60 volunteers who signed up to help sort the food—and there was A LOT of food. According to food drive director Bill Thomson, the scouts collected about 42,000 food items this year.  That's slightly down from last year's record haul of about 48,000 items, but still an incredible amount that will help feed many people in the community. Especially when you see it stacked in boxes floor to ceiling, and …

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Scouts Celebrate Fitness and Veterans

Dash for Scouts--a 5K Run--starts at 9 a.m. today at the Village Commons.

Filling the Bag for the Scouts-Sponsored Food Drive for New Lenox Pantries

The Scouts in New Lenox are going door-to-door until Nov. 6 to deliver grocery bags that need filling for the three local food pantries. Filled grocery bags are scheduled for pick up Nov. 11.

For two more days, the New Lenox Scouts will be delivering grocery bags they hope will be filled with donated food items. Their aim is to collect enough donations to stock the food pantries for the holidays and beyond. The goal is to collect 50,000 food items. They'll stop back on Nov. 11 to collect the donations of non-perishable food. All items will be delivered to the designated sorting and distribution site. From there, everything is expected to be divided up and delivered to three food pantries in town: About 400 Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Brownies and Girl Scouts are participating in the food drive, said Bill Thomson, director of the Scouts' food drive. The Scouts expect to hand out 9,500 bags, which were donated by Central Grocers, Inc…

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Scouts Aim to Fill the Food Pantries

As the cost of home heating rises in the winter, there's less money for groceries. New Lenox Scouts are taking up the cause and fighting hunger with the 10th annual food collection

The New Lenox Scouts are expected this week to fan out across the town delivering grocery bags they hope will be filled with donated food items. Their aim is to collect enough donations to stock the food pantries for the holidays and beyond. The goal is to collect 50,000 food items. Be on the look-out for clusters of youngsters toting brown grocery bags and delivering them door-to-door from Nov. 1-Nov. 6. They'll stop back on Nov. 11 to collect the donations of non-perishable food. All items will be delivered to the designated sorting and distribution site, Lincoln-Way West High School, 21701 Gougar Road. From there, everything is divided up and delivered to three food pantries in town: About 400 Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Brownies and Girl …

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Look Up Boy Scout Leaders Expelled in Illinois

Almost 300 Illinois records are included in the Boy Scouts of America's once-secret "perversion files." Search for your town or troop number.

Patch's searchable database allows you to search by cities in Illinois. Information gathered by the Los Angeles Times shows the leaders of the Boy Scouts of America who were expelled between 1947 and 2005 on suspicions or confirmation of sexual abuse. If a troop is listed, a case file exists. At this time, not all case files are available online. As new documents become available, Patch will update this database.

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Have an Old American Flag? Boy Scouts Will Properly Dispose It

Boy Scout Troop 49 is collecting worn-out American flags now through June 25, when they will hold a retirement ceremony.

Person of the Year: Bill Thomson, Food Drive Organizer

With Bill Thomson's leadership, the New Lenox Scouts food drive has grown each year, providing a great service to the community and educational experience for local children. He was voted by Patch readers as 2011's person of the year.

Like many good leaders often do, Bill Thomson credits the people around him for his success. The organizer of the annual Boy and Girl Scouts food drive in New Lenox has led an effort to increase collections each year, with the Scouts hauling in nearly 50,000 items in 2011. Thomson was voted the 2011 Person of the Year by Patch readers. Thomson moved to New Lenox seven years ago with his wife and two sons. His kids joined the Scouts, and Thomson volunteered to help where he could. "I thought it’d be a good program for my kids and good opportunity to spend good, quality time with them," Thomson said. "It's a good program for teaching community service and character building." When Thomson took over the food drive, he remembers about 50 kids …

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Scouts Haul in Record Amount of Food Items

The annual New Lenox Scouts food drive collected nearly 47,000 items of food to be distributed to the three local food pantries.

The New Lenox Township food pantry was overflowing with donated items Monday, as well as volunteers helping store it away for needy families. Local Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts collected a record 46,954 food items this year, director Bill Thomson said. That about 3,000 more items than last year. The food will be split evenly among the three local food pantries:  Scouts delivered about 9,000 grocery bags to New Lenox homes and collected ones filled with donated food Nov. 13. Kathy Johnson, the family services director at the New Lenox Township, said this haul could last the township for an entire year, at least on some items. "That frees up money that's donated to go toward other food items that go quicker," she said.  There was so much food …

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Scouts Food Collection is Sunday

The New Lenox Scouts will be delivering grocery bags to homes this week and collecting them Nov. 13. The goal is to raise 50,000 food items.

Local scouts will deliver brown bags to New Lenox homes starting this week, marking the start to their massive annual food drive, which continues to grow. Residents are asked to fill the grocery bags with food items that will be donated to the village's three food pantries. Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts all participate and will collect the grocery bags Nov. 13. Director Bill Thomson talked about how proud he was of the growth of the event over the last couple years. He spoke at a Village Board meeting last year when the scouts were honored for their work. "Last year I was talking about how proud we were and I think we had 15 kids here," Thomson said. "You can see how the program has grown."  In 2010, the scouts put bags on 6,750 …

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