Oak Lawn Patch Tenth Anniversary: A Look Back

OAK LAWN, IL — Ten years ago, on Oct. 21, 2010, Oak Lawn became “Patchy” — and I became a south suburbanite after a lifetime on the North Side.

Oak Lawn natives warned me that life south of Roosevelt Road would grow on me. They were right.

Here is the real heart of Chicagoland.

Loyal Patch readers — even the curmudgeons, crooks and politicians who got on my nerves sometimes — showed me the beauty of this once foreign land one story at a time.

Thank you for putting up with this North Side interloper — and sharing your stories with me — all these years.

Because of you I’ve come to know the many charms of a parish carnival, that you can disagree in the board room but dance together on the roof of a parking garage to Barry White, and that a rogue, wire-chewing raccoon can trigger a major power outage.

Not a day goes by that I don’t think about the children who died on my watch — Tim Nikos, Kaylah Lentine, Sarah McElheny, Abby Wujcik, Emily Beazley and Anthony Pappalas, among them — and how so many good people donated their time and money in hopes that other parents might be spared the pain of losing a child.

Bringing Oak Lawn Patch to you every day has been a joy, a privilege and, honestly, sometimes, a royal pain.

In all ways, this is your tenth anniversary too, because Oak Lawn Patch belongs to our readers.

I have been the conduit from which your stories flow.

Oak Lawn Patch will stick with you — through quicksand, earthquakes and pandemics.

And God knows what ever comes next.

From the Eva’s Bridal fire and divine interventions to Chuck E. Cheese and the hundreds of lost dogs we helped find on social media, here is a look back at some of my favorite stories through the years:

Climbing From the Ashes—Bridal Salon Destroyed By Fire Reopens (2010)

Local Welders Handle 9/11 Steel With Respect (2011)

• Oak Lawn Never Forgets (dedication of 9/11 First Responders Monument - 2011)

Faces of Jesus and Mary Appear on Log (2011)

Illinois Soldier Surprises Family With Early Homecoming (2012)

Search for Bank Robbery Suspect Ends in Air Duct (2012)

ComEd Blames Rogue Raccoon for Sunday's Damaging Power Surge (2013)

• 'Going Rogue': Olejniczak Blasts ComEd's 'Raccoon Power Surge' Theory

An Engaging Evening At SIP: Marine Proposes to Girlfriend (2013)

Restaurant Owner Delivers Holiday Dinners and Toys to 3,100 (2014)

Cafeteria Angel Answers Sick Children's Christmas Prayers (2015)

Secret Santa Gives Fast-Food Workers $500 (2015)

Late Mom's Rosary Beads Give Cubs Needed Divine Intervention to Win World Series (2016)

1967 Tornado Remembered With Tears, Toasts and Tribute (2017)

• Voice of a Tornado

Homeless Dog Flies 5,200 Miles To Reunite With Army Major (2018)

Chuck E. Cheese Closes In Oak Lawn: ‘I Bring You Da Head of Da Mouse.’ (2018)

Pennywise Pranks Kids At Mr. Krickl's Halloween Garage Haunt (2019)

'I Want To Live': Senior Living Residents Find Hope In Lockdown (2020)

Missing 3 Weeks, Forrest Reunited With Grassano's Pizza Owner (2020)