Mary Compton

Army veteran Andy Avalos, of Orland Park, looks at World War II-era photos on the phone of Rich Olund, of of Palos Park last week at the monthly Blueberry Hill Café Veteran's Breakfast in Homer Glen.

Monthly breakfasts in Homer Glen unite veterans in friendship: ‘Most people don’t understand what war is. These guys do’

November 9, 2021 at 11:00 a.m.

Standing in the dining room of Blueberry Hill Café in Homer Glen, World War II veteran Rich Olund was serenaded by a platoon of former soldiers. The happy birthday song...

Zoe Voris recently returned to Lincolnway Special Recreation Association in New Lenox to show the bronze medal she won in September at the Paralympic Games in Japan.

Paralympics bronze medalist Zoe Voris returns to New Lenox to thank coaches, inspire younger athletes

November 5, 2021 at 6:10 p.m.

Born with spina bifida and clubfoot, Zoe Voris has had her share of trials both personal and physical. She lived in several places in Illinois while growing up, but one...

Mary Lucarini, of Chicago Heights, blows out candles on her 100th birthday during a party late last month at Balagio Ristorante in Homewood as her friend and neighbor Cesarina Planera, 94, looks on. About 100 friends, neighbors and family showed up to celebrate the milestone.

100 years on the Hill: Chicago Heights restaurateur Mama Mary celebrates a century of family, food and friendship

October 4, 2021 at 9:40 p.m.

As the Frank Rossi Quartet played the song "Tarantella" late last month in a banquet room at Balagio Ristorante in Homewood, Mary Lucarini blew out the 100 candles on her...

Keith Wallace, executive director of the Lincolnway Special Recreation Association, steadies the chair of Ellen Trainor, of Frankfort, as they practice recently at Leigh Creek South Park in New Lenox. Ellen, 4, is the youngest member of the LWSRA wheelchair basketball team.

In New Lenox, ‘a million dollar park’ prepares to welcome people of all abilities

June 13, 2021 at 1:00 p.m.

When Keith Wallace was young, he dreamed of being a professional baseball player. But life had other plans. "It wasn't in the cards for me," he said. But he ended...

Stephen DeFalco, director of Sand Ridge Nature Center in South Holland, holds a copy of "Juneteenth for Mazie" by Floyd Cooper, which is featured along the facility's Juneteenth Story Trail. Sand Ridge also will have its 8th annual Juneteenth Celebration on June 19.

‘It’s a time to celebrate’: Sand Ridge marks Juneteenth state holiday with Storybook Walk, ‘pomp and circumstance event’

June 10, 2021 at 8:29 p.m.

After reading about the Little Calumet Underground Railroad Project, Stephen DeFalco, the director of Sand Ridge Nature Center in South Holland, decided he wanted to bring more Black history to...

The crowd reacts to a skit Friday at The Roxy Theater in Lockport during a comedy show to raise money for Royal Family Kids Camp.

Comedians trade laughs for cash to fund camp in Lockport where foster kids ‘are treated like absolute royalty’

June 3, 2021 at 6:05 p.m.

Back in 2004, Dave Ebert was entertaining crowds as a professional wrestler named "Big Boy" Buddy Love. On Friday, he was back in the spotlight, but rather than doing battle...

Southland Jr Raptors, from left, Autumn Williams, Jayden Marshall, Zyon Floyd and Melani Horn are among the young athletes who will be showcasing their skills Saturday at Governors Trail Park in Matteson as part of the group's Community Day event.

In Matteson, a youth football and cheerleading program is teaming with police, library for first-ever Community Day

June 2, 2021 at 7:56 p.m.

On the surface, the Southland Jr Raptors are youth football and cheerleading program. But the group has evolved into much more, and now they want to foster community though a...

Riley Samp, a 7th grader at Southwest Chicago Christian School in Oak Lawn, tries to get his kite in the air Wednesday as students flew kites made by residents of the neighboring Grace Point Place Memory Care facility.

Kites provide intergenerational fun for Oak Lawn students and the memory care residents who live next door: ‘It reminds me of when I went to grammar school’

May 28, 2021 at 10:00 a.m.

Growing up in Mississippi, Betty Reed always loved to fly kites. On Wednesday, Reed and other residents of Grace Point Place Memory Care watched students fly kites she and others...

Family members of former Bremen Township Supervisor Maggie Crotty dedicate a walking path Saturday at the Senior/Youth Complex in Oak Forest, including Crotty's sister Katie Kunis Maier and Crotty's three sons, Keith Crotty, Mark Crotty and Kevin Crotty.

‘Maggie’s good friends’ gather to dedicate Oak Forest walking path to memory of former legislator Crotty

May 26, 2021 at 7:51 p.m.

Former state senator and Bremen Township Supervisor Maggie Crotty used to take strolls, greeting people with a "Hi, buddy!" So when a walking path behind the township's Youth/Senior Center in...

Renee Voss, of Orland Park, holds a photo of the Homer Glen family that adopted her and her husband as grandparents. For more than 20 years, the Jast family has included the Vosses in their holiday celebrations, birthday parties and their family's lives.

A girl asked a woman at church if she would be her grandmother. 20 years later, ‘she and grandpa have been with us for most of our history.’

May 10, 2021 at 12:06 p.m.

There is nothing like the love between a grandmother and her grandchildren. So it was all the better for Renee Voss when she gained eleven bonus grandchildren 20 years ago....

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