Palos South Middle School

Last night I saw the Palos District 118 middle school performance of "The Wizard of OZ". I am here to report that it was incredible. The school's musical performance was moved to A.A. Stagg High School, District 230 in Palos Hills this year because they were no longer able to accommodate the huge audience that these performances were attracting. Ali A. of Palos Park, the student that played Dorothy did an outstanding job of both singing and performing. She has a bright future in High School Drama, I hope she chooses to use it. I would love the opportunity to watch her grow as a performer. She was accompanied by Paul G. as the scarecrow, Alyssa T. as the tinwoman, and Nick M. as the lion who were also outstanding. Tori L. played Glinda the Good Witch and Lizzy S. played the Wicked Witch of the East. The cast goes on and on, and each was as talented as the next. I can't imagine the difficult decisions that went in to casting such a talented group of students.

The people that were charged with these difficult decisions are all teachers in Palos 118. Katie McDonough, a Palos South resource and special services teacher was the Director. She was accompanied by Linda Frigo, the Palos East Art Teacher as Art Director and William Hansen, the Palos South Band teacher as the Musical Director. They did an incredible job with the play and also with adapting to the challenges of a much larger stage and theater than they have used in the past. They were assisted by Brandon Lewis, the Stagg theater director, a gracious host as always.

Accolades to everyone involved in this production. You were a credit to your school and the Palos community.

Palos Half Marathon

Excitement is building for the 1st Palos Bank and Trust Half Marathon. The race will be held Sunday May 4th, the day after the Palos Chamber of Commerce Health Fair and Expo on Saturday May 3rd.

A pasta dinner is also being offered at 7pm for $10.00. Our own local runner and owner of Running for Kicks, Mel Diab has been instrumental in getting this project off and "running".

The official website is www.palosbankhalfmarathon.com

Congratulations to everyone that is participating and thanks to everyone that has helped this incredible event become a reality.

Northpoint Development

A couple of weeks ago I attended the Palos Chamber of Commerce 'Fashionable Lunch Series' with many of my fellow Chamber members. Each of these meetings features a speaker that shares information relevant to Palos Heights and the Chamber members. The topic at this meeting was the Northpoint development at the corner of Harlem and Rt. 83, the site of the long gone car dealership. The presentation was extremely well done and the plans look beautiful, if not ambitious. The site actually includes property much farther east than is apparent now. It will offer diverse professional and retail business opportunities.

One of the highlights of the plan to me is the senior living facility that is included. I questioned why we need more space of this type when we are surrounded by similar facilities in Palos Park and Lemont, and Orland Park among others. I have recently been in need of information on senior living and visited Sunrise on LaGrange, Peace Memorial on 104th Ave. and a facility in Homer Glen. All of these facilities had availability, so my question; why do we need more? I was assured that the potential facility operators have done a thorough needs analysis and they want to provide a facility that the residents of Palos Heights will want to and will be able to afford to live in while staying in the community.

Some of the other highlights include a restaurant/banquet facility and an access point for the bike/walking trail that runs along the channel. There will be retail space and professional space. Whatever the final building design, it will be much better than the boarded and broken building that was recently demolished.