‘Half-Marathon Man’

Michael Blaha, part-time religion teacher at St. Gerald’s Catholic Church, woke up one morning 20 years and decided to start running. He soon discovered that he had a knack for it and last year competed in his first Chicago Marathon. Inspired by a former student, John Peltzer, who was born with neurofibromatosis, Blaha has dedicated a year of half-marathons in John’s honor. “What was stunning to me is that NF is a more common hereditary disease than multiple sclerosis, Tay-Sachs, and Huntington’s,” Blaha told Patch.  Today (May 6), Blaha is running on behalf of Midwest NF in the First Midwest Bank Southwest Half-Marathon in Palos Heights.

Read more about Blaha’s “2012Run12 Campaign" on behlf of NF Midwest.

‘Dedicated to the Needs of the Community’

Oak Lawn Police Detective Brian Duffy barely mentioned himself when accepting the Oak Lawn Lions Club’s “Police Officer of the Year” award. OLPD Chief Bill Villanova dipped deep into Duffy’s personnel records, recounting a 1992 incident where Duffy ran three times into a smoke-filled garage to rescue an elderly gentleman who had suffered from a stroke. A 30-year veteran of the village police force, Duffy is a highly decorated and commemorated police officer.

Read more about Duffy’s top cop honors.

‘The Desire To Serve’

Lt. Vincent Griffin, a 19-year veteran of the Oak Lawn Fire Department never did anything that set him apart from his colleagues. Accepting the Oak Lawn Lions Club’s “Firefighter of the Year” award, Griffin said that firefighting “is a profession of teamwork.” He also threw a little fire and brimstone into his speech, calling the loss of firefighters by retirement or attrition a potentially “catastrophic shot to the department.”

Read more about Griffin’s top firefighter honors and what he said in his speech.