Hailing from three very different fields, the 2006 Lyons Township High School Hall of Fame program will welcome a jazz radio host, civil rights and community activist and an orthopaedic physician at a banquet on Friday, Nov. 3, at the LaGrange Country Club.

Ralph Nozaki aka “Rick O’Dell”

Ralph Nozaki, better known as “Rick O’Dell,” is a 1976 graduate of LTHS who is well-known as a radio personality in the Chicago area since 1981. Following graduation from high school, Nozaki attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, earning a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in speech communication.

Nozaki’s first professional radio opportunities were in Urbana and Champaign, where he worked on and off air at various stations. In 1981 he moved back to the Chicago area and spent several months playing Broadway music on WKDC-AM in Elmhurst. He then spent three years at WAUR-FM and news/talk WMRO-AM in Aurora.

In 1984 he started at WCLR-FM, where shortly after the first “Smooth Jazz” radio program, “Sunday Lite Brunch,” was launched with Rick O’Dell as its host. In 1989 he moved over to Smooth Jazz WNUA-FM and has hosted the midday show and the station’s “Sunday Brunch” since.

Nozaki was nominated for Smooth Jazz Air Personality of the Year in 2002 and 2005 by Radio and Records, a national industry publication. He is the president of SaxTrax, Inc., a company that specializes in out-of-print jazz recordings and CDs issued by radio station WNUA. A percentage of all profits made from the company go to the Anti-Cruelty Society.

Bernard J. Sims

Bernard J. Sims, a lifelong LaGrange resident, exemplifies a life of perseverance, service, leadership, and achievement in the community. Sims was born to the first African-American family in LaGrange in 1903. He attended St. Francis grammar school and then Lyons Township High School in 1921.

At LT, he was an outstanding athlete; he ran hurdles in track, played football and was baseball pitcher. After graduating in 1925, his career started as a runner for the Chicago Stock Exchange until 1929 when the market crashed. Determined not to fall into poverty following the crash, Sims founded a car wash and housecleaning business that steadily grew and provided jobs for local residents during the Depression.

He later received a real estate license and worked for years as a broker in town. He took a commanding role as a civil rights activist in the area by taking leadership roles in many different areas and thus became known as “The Mayor.”

Sims was a member of the Knights of Columbus, Toastmasters and served as president of the LaGrange Chapter of the NAACP in the late 1960’s. When serving as president, he encouraged the chapter to fight for a fair housing ordinance in LaGrange, which was passed in the early 1970s.

He participated in a sit-in at the lunch counter of a LaGrange drugstore after blacks were denied service. He also encouraged other LaGrange residents to expect equal treatment in businesses throughout the village. Sims served as LaGrange’s first black Republican precinct captain. He also volunteered at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church and the Southwest Suburban Center on Aging in LaGrange. Sims in passed away in 2001 at the age of 97.

Thomas P. Vail, M.D.

Thomas Vail graduated from Lyons Township High School in 1977, where he served as president of the junior and senior classes, was involved in the National Honors Society and Circus Club, was a member of the soccer team and lettered in gymnastics.

His academic career continued at Duke University, where he graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering and materials science. He then went on to medical school, attending Loyola University where he received his medical doctorate.

He is now professor of orthopaedic surgery and director of adult reconstructive surgery at Duke University. Vail is a recipient of more than 20 awards, including the Resident/Fellow Research Award, Harris Award, Paul Award and the Piedmont Orthopaedic Society Chairman’s Award.

Vail regularly presents at local, regional national and international meetings. He serves on many professional, editorial and education boards. Vail has written more than 50 full-length manuscripts, contributed to nearly one dozen textbooks, and continues his research in implant design and cartilage repair.

The deadline for purchasing banquet tickets is Monday, Oct. 30. Call the Community Relations office at LTHS for more information at 579-6471, or send your check made payable to LTHS Hall of Fame to: Hall of Fame Committee, LTHS 100 S. Brainard Ave., LaGrange, Ill. 60525. Indicate the number of tickets desired, at $30 each, and your choice of entree: chicken, Beef or fish. Tables of 10 may be reserved.

The LTHS Board of Education established the Hall of Fame to recognize the accomplishments of some 65,000 graduates, faculty and friends of LT and to provide role models to students. The Hall of Fame is organized by a volunteer member committee of alumni, faculty, staff, students and citizens.

New gigs

Attila J. Weininger, director of human resources for Lyons Township High School District 204, has been named president of the newly formed Illinois Association of School Personnel Administrators (IASPA). The IASPA will provide human resource and personnel directors who work in Illinois public and private schools with a network of professional support. Launched Oct. 2, the IASPA’s members include over three dozen districts in Illinois.

Riverside resident and retired Army Reserve Major Gen. John Scully has been appointed the Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army (CASA) for Illinois. Scully also serves as a Riverside village trustee.

Nice job!

Loretta Alonzo, broker/owner of Century 21 Alonzo & Associates in LaGrange Park was named a recipient of the Illinois Association of Realtors 2006 Distinguished Service Award, which honors those who have made outstanding contributions and service to the Illinois Association of Realtors and their local communities.

Alonzo has been a Realtor for 30 years and has served as board president of the Multiple Listing Service of Northern Illinois since 2004.

The Riverside Police Department’s Senior Citizens Unit, consisting of Sgt. Claude Cima and officers Dave Krull, Marcus Yanez, Edwin Ruiz and James Lazansky, earlier this month received special recognition from Aging Well Community Service, which serves greater Lyons Township.

On stage

Riverside resident John Reeger will star in the upcoming production of “A Christmas Story” at the Theatre at the Center in Munster, Ind. from Nov. 25 to Dec. 17. Set in Northwest Indiana in the 1940s and told from the viewpoint of 8-year-old Ralphie Parker, the story mixes gentle humor, pathos and holiday cheer. Reeger will be starring as Ralphie’s father, aka the “Old Man,” who revels in his “major award” and battles valiantly with his Oldsmobile, furnace and the next door neighbor’s hounds. For ticket information, call (219) 836-3255 or visit www.theatreatthecenter.org.

Big winnersEleven North Riverside residents won prizes in the North Riverside Public Library’s annual Banned Books Week raffle.

Mary Mathews and Elaine Abbinante each won a Borders gift cards donated by the Friends of the Library; Janet Kosik and Erica Branch, WalMart gift cards donated by American Computer Supplies; Gayle Cisar, Banned Books Week T-shirt; Dino Kikouresis, desk set donated by Demco; and Danny Golub, Lee Tang, Debbie Santos, James Orth and James Goelitz, tickets to “World Goes ‘Round” donated by the North Riverside Recreation Community Theater.

During Banned Books Week, Sept. 23-30, each North Riverside patron who checked out one of the library’s “banned books” received one entry in the annual raffle. Observed since 1982, the annual event is a celebration of the freedom to read and reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted.

In addition, the North Riverside Public Library has announced the winners of its Adult Summer Reading Program raffle drawing, including Arthur Mathews, Helen Jonas, Kathy Shrutek, Martha Manfredi, Myra Tonini, Marilyn Dalton, Alice Kosek, Arlene Grosser, Pam Foy and Nancy Lewandowski.

Raffle prizes were donated by A1 Pizzeria, Caf Fresh Express, Mother’s Day, Target Superstores, Whole Foods Market and the Friends of the North Riverside Library.

On campus

Riverside-Brookfield High School students Stephen L. Drake, of Brookfield; Jana L. Ievins, of North Riverside; and Nick M. Claywell, Victoria L. Din, Edward Fielder, William C. Gangware, Joseph Kenahan and Conor B. Ryan, all of Riverside, have been named Commended Students in the 2007 National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

Commended students placed among the top 5 percent of more than 1.4 million students who entered the 2007 competition by taking the 2005 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

Brookfield resident Andrew Viscariello, a Latin major at Monmouth (Ill.) College, is the recipient of the 2006 Carole Ryan Award for college foreign language teaching majors. Created in 2002 to recognize college students who are preparing to become teachers of foreign languages, the award is presented to as many as five promising students enrolled in Illinois colleges and universities. Viscariello, a graduate of Riverside-Brookfield High School, is the son of James and Pamela Viscariello.

Brookfield resident Jamie N. Hadac and North Riverside resident Eugene J. DeRango were named to the dean’s list for the spring 2006 semester at Knox College in Galesburg. Both are graduates of Riverside-Brookfield High School.

Brookfield resident Timothy F. Egan was awarded a Bachelor of Music degree in jazz performance from Roosevelt University in Chicago during commencement ceremonies in May 2006.