Health care workers thank Orland Park community for months of support
Also: Orland Park Village Board votes to extend curfew through Wednesday morning
Health care staff from Palos Health and their family and friends participate in a thank you parade Sunday, May 31, in an Orland Park neighborhood. The health care workers organized the parade to express their gratitude over the Orland Park community’s generous meal donations the past two months. JON DEPAOLIS/RICHARD FREE PRESS
By Jon DePaolis
ORLAND PARK, Ill. – The coronavirus pandemic has renewed a sense in Americans to thank those who work in essential services – in particular, for those who are in health care-related jobs.
A community in Orland Park decided to show their support for the health care staff who work the night shift intensive care unit at Palos Health.
Near the end of March and beginning of April, members of the tight-knit Creekside community began delivering meals for the health care workers. About 25 families banded together — including some who live in other Orland Park neighborhoods — to provide the weekly meals to the night shift. All Saints Lutheran Church also donated masks and meals.
Health care workers from Palos Health waved and thanked residents of the Creekside community Sunday, May 31. JON DEPAOLIS/RICHARD FREE PRESS
The gestures, which one nurse described as being “amazing,” did not go unnoticed or unappreciated by the medical workers. To show their gratitude, they participated in a parade through the community on Sunday May 31, tossing candy to children and delivering other tokens of appreciation to some of their biggest supporters.
The health care workers met in the parking lot of Centennial School in Orland Park and drove around the community, making stops along Exeter Court, Norwich Lane, Creek Crossing, Kingswood Drive, Green Valley Drive, Creek Crossing Drive, Creekside Drive and Oldham Drive.
A thank you message adorns a vehicle involved in the Sunday, May 31, parade through the Creekside neighborhood of Orland Park. JON DEPAOLIS/RICHARD FREE PRESS
Orland Park Village Board votes to extend curfew through Wednesday morning
By Jon DePaolis
ORLAND PARK, Ill. — A 9 p.m. curfew in Orland Park initially enacted Sunday, May 31, will remain in effect through early morning Wednesday, June 3.
The Village of Orland Park Board of Trustees voted 7-0 Monday, June 1, to extend the curfew two more nights — from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. — in an attempt to deter any acts of vandalism or property damage done by looters and rioters in other communities following protests over the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis.
Minor property damage incidents occurred in the southwest suburbs during the day on May 31, prompting Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau and local governments to issue curfews.
“Exercising the mayor’s emergency powers is not a decision I take lightly,” Pekau said during the June 1 meeting. “This action was taken to make it easier for our police department to keep people safe and to protect property, as well. By keeping it to these hours, it has minimal impact on our businesses, because almost all of them are closed by 9 p.m. or have very little business at that time on a Sunday night.”
He also said that the curfew’s timeframe would have little impact on residents’ outdoor activities.
Pekau said the curfew was only issued for one night so that the Village Board could vote on the matter the next day.
“This is the way emergency powers were meant to be executed — in a limited fashion for a limited time and only until a legislative body convenes and decides on a future action,” he said.
Trustee Cynthia Nelson Katsenes said she supported the curfew extension and was for anything that would help the Orland Park Police Department keep residents and businesses safe.
Trustee James Dodge also voiced support for the extension.
“This is about keeping the people of Orland Park safe,” he said. “Our highest moral obligation in our duty to serve is to the people of Orland Park. I think this is an extraordinary measure in extraordinary times.”
Three arrests were made in Orland Park on May 31 — two for an attempted burglary at a jewelry store and one for disorderly conduct at Orland Square Mall. Other nearby suburbs — including Tinley Park — had scattered incidents involving minor property damage.