Pumpkin Day celebrated in Rich Township
Students in the National Junior Honor Society at Huth Middle School in Matteson decorated pumpkins to donate to seniors at the Shirley J. Green Township Senior Center in Park Forest and participated in an exercise class with them.
It’s the third year students have decorated pumpkins for seniors as part of national Pumpkin Day, which was Oct. 26.
“It gives our students a chance to not only be a part of Pumpkin Day but to participate in community service,” Brenda Calvin, Huth’s principal, said in a news release. “And it brings the joy of Pumpkin Day to seniors in our community.”
Nali Catalan, 13, president of the Huth NJHS, said younger students can learn a lot from their elders. “I think all generations have a lot to learn from the other generations,” Catalan said. “The life experience that elderly people have can be shared with younger people.”
Mayme Buckley, director of Senior Services for Rich Township, said the exchange has been a wonderful experience for the seniors, who really enjoy the students’ creative designs on the pumpkins. “It brings a lot of joy and adds to the senior experience here,” she said.
Reavis names national Merit Semifinalist, Merit Scholars
Abraham Medina was named a national Merit Scholarship Semifinalist and Sean Harvey and Nicole Luba were named Commended Students in the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program. All are seniors at Reavis High School in Burbank.
They earned the honors for 2025 after taking the 2023 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.
The 16,000 Semifinalists across the country compete for nearly 7,000 National merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million. Finalists will be named in February. Scholars are selected based on their accomplishments, skills and potential for success in rigorous college studies.
Commended Students placed among the top 50,000 students who entered the 2025 competition and receive a letter of commendation.
Will County Health Department offers new COVID shots
The Will County Health Department is offering the updated COVID-19 vaccine at its immunization clinics.
The department has the Moderna (mRNA) vaccine for ages 6 months and older at its main office, 501 Ella Ave., Joliet, and its branch offices, 323 Quadrangle Drive, Bolingbrook, and 5601 W. Monee-Manhattan Road, Monee.
Vaccines are available to residents with Medicaid or Medicare, a news release said. Limited private insurance plans are accepted. Low-cost vaccines are available for the uninsured or underinsured.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a vaccine to protect against severe disease, hospitalization and death, the release said, adding that it is especially important for those at a higher risk of severe COVID-19, including anyone 65 or older.
Walk-ins are welcome but those who make an appointment by calling 815-740-8143 receive priority.
Quilters Plus Guild holiday boutique set
Quilters Plus Guild holds its annual holiday boutique from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Nov. 1 and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 2 at Faith United Methodist Church, 15101 S. 80th Ave., Orland Park.
Admission is $5, but children younger than 12 are admitted free. Homemade gifts for all seasons will be sold.
The guild, founded in 1979, is made up of quilters and related needle artists in Chicago’s Southland. It meets in Glenwood and has members from northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana. Information is at quiltersplus.com.
Franciscan Health offers pajama night at theater
Women are invited to put on pajamas and learn about cancer and heart health during PJs, Popcorn and Girl Talk on Nov. 7 at Emagine movie theater, 19965 LaGrange Road, Frankfort.
Attendees will receive popcorn and a soft drink, a Vera Bradley zip ID case, listen to a live women’s cancer and heart health question and answer session with physicians and watch the movie “The Preacher’s Wife.”
Check-in starts at 5:30 p.m. with the program starting at 6 p.m. Specialty Physicians of Illinois medical oncologist Dr. Andrea Amico and cardiologist Dr. Brittany Dixon, who both practice at Franciscan Health Olympia Fields, will serve as panelists.
Registration is required for the free event. Sign up online or call 708-855-7284.
New rector at Palos church
The Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration, 12219 S. 86th Ave, Palos Park is welcoming a new rector, the Rev. Hunter Farrow, and his wife, Elizabeth Farrow, who are moving to the church from Milwaukee.
Originally from Western Pennsylvania, the Farrows will be residing at the church rectory, and their first service will be at 10 a.m. Nov. 3 followed by a festive coffee hour.
Chicago Heights native moves up in National Guard
Michael Kowalski of Elmhurst, a native of Chicago Heights, was promoted to colonel in Illinois Army National Guard during a ceremony at Cantigny Park in Wheaton.
Brig. Gen. (Retired) Mark Alessia, former director of the Illinois National Guard Join Staff, officiated.
Kowalski, a data scientist who works for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Division of Complex Institution Supervision and Resolutions, is set to graduate next summer from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. He already has a master’s degree from the University of Chicago, an MBA from Clemson University and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Eastern Illinois University.
In the guard, Kowalski most recently served as commander of the 244th Digital Liaison Detachment and deployed to Estonia in March 2024 to support the NATO multinational exercise Austere Challenge 2024. He has served as executive officer of the 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team and as squadron commander of the 2nd Squadron, 106th Cavalry Regiment.
He enlisted in the Army in 2004 and was commissioned in 2006 as a second lieutenant.
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