Veteran in line for Legion of Honor

A Wheeling war veteran was recently notified that he qualified for the French Legion of Honor more than 60 years after he fought in War World II.

Edward Serbin was a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps from 1943 to 1945, when France was still occupied and when Serbin was in his late teens to early 20s.

Serbin said he was approached eight months ago because a U.S. attorney for an awards commission discovered that he could qualify for the award.

The awards were given out in Washington, D.C., in October; however, Serbin couldn't attend that ceremony. He said another is scheduled through the French consulate in Illinois for later this month.

The Legion of Honor was founded by Napoleon Bonaparte and recognizes eminent service to the Republic of France.

Helping out down south: A Buffalo Grove Park District employee brought a little bit of Chicago to Waveland, Miss., in October.

Ryan Risinger, superintendent of recreation, said his brother Paul, who works for the village of Northbrook, was the one who got him involved with Karing, a Katrina relief group that focuses on Waveland.

Risinger said his brother asked for old sports equipment to donate.

"I talked to some staff here at the park district, and we were able to find some old stuff," Risinger said.

Along with T-shirts and arts and crafts supplies, Risinger also sent along some 16-inch softballs.

"Now 16-inch is really a Chicago sport, and they started playing it down there," he said. "They called it 'cabbage ball' because the ball looked like a cabbage to them."

Last month, Risinger went down to Waveland himself to help organize a 16-inch softball tournament.

"We had a bunch of the locals and a lot of the volunteers that are down there months at a time," he said.

While he helped organize the tournament, Risinger also worked to rebuild the mayor's home.

"They had a blast (during the tournament)," Risinger said. "I'll definitely go back."

For more information on Karing, visit karing.org.

Give blood: The village of Wheeling will hold a community blood drive from 1:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the fire station.

To schedule an appointment for the drive, call Beverly Slaby at (847) 229-4768 or e-mail at bslaby@wheelingil.gov.

The drive will also include gift certificate door prizes from Wheeling restaurants.

The fire station is at 255 W. Dundee Road.

Donations needed: Wheeling Township Elementary District 21 Community Partnerships is holding its coat drive through December.

The group is looking for coats, snow pants and winter clothing for children and young adults.

The district will also accept monetary donations, which will be used to purchase hats and gloves.

Any questions on the coat drive can be addressed to Staci Allan at (847) 769-9993 or Dana Vaselany at (847) 459-9262.

• Do you have any interesting Buffalo Grove, Long Grove or Wheeling story ideas? Pass them along to Nadia Malik at (847) 427-4489 or nmalik@dailyherald.com.