EP Resident Sent Off To Army Boot Camp With Patriotic Car Parade

EVERGREEN PARK, IL — A three-block-long line of cars drove past the home of an 18-year-old Evergreen Park resident who leaves Tuesday for Army basic training. Jack Novak is a 2020 graduate of Evergreen Park Community High School, where his father, Rob, is a math teacher.

Neighbors and friends staged at EPCHS before making the drive over to the Novaks’ house. Jack leaves Tuesday, where he will spend the night at a hotel near Rosemont, before boarding a plane for Fort Jackson in Columbia, SC. Jack’s great aunt, Lenore Goodfriend, a well known veterans advocate, teased Jack, telling him to pack lots of snacks because she heard recruits arent fed during processing.

“I’m more concerned about the food at basic,” Jack said.

Jack and his parents, Rob and Amy, twin brother, Charlie, and older brother, Dan, stood on the lawn in their shirt sleeves watching the parade. His high school pals teased him about getting his mop of red hair buzzed off. Toward the end, Jack was overcome with emotion by the friends who came out to say hello, and the enormity of leaving home.

The parade was a surprise and organized by friend and local photographer Brittney DeMik. Although word of the sendoff had been all over Facebook and other social media, Jack, who isn't a social media guy, was totally surprised.

"I had no clue," he said.

Be safe, young man. Good luck. We’ll be here when you come home.