Air Force pilot honored as outstanding graduate
Capt. Gina Stramaglio, a 1992 graduate of Prospect High School, was honored by her alma mater last Friday afternoon between the Homecoming soccer and football games as an alumna who has achieved outstanding things.
Stramaglio is a pilot in the U.S. Air Force who has flown 150 combat missions. After graduating from Loyola University, Stramaglio was accepted into medical school but instead, opted to become a pilot in the Air Force.
Based at Scott Air Force Base in Belleville, Stramaglio is deployed in the Middle East for the ninth time.
Because of her deployment, her mother, Karen, accepted the award on her behalf and read a statement of thanks from Stramaglio. In part, it read, "While we're taking care of business over here, I know you will be doing the same thing on the field tonight at Prospect."
The captain's picture, in her flight suit, along with her biography, will now become a permanent addition to the Prospect High School Wall of Fame.
Stramaglio arranged to have a combat mission flown last Friday in honor of Prospect High School's students and its principal, Kurt Laakso. The mission will be permanently recorded.
New pastor at St. Mark: St. Mark Lutheran Church, 200 S. Wille St., has a new senior pastor. Pastor Linnea Wilson arrived Sept. 2 to replace the former senior pastor, Lloyd Heroff, who remains at the church as an associate.
"I am so delighted to be here," said Wilson. "This is a terrific congregation that is enthusiastic and focused on what needs to be done to make the world a better place and that is wonderful."
Wilson came to Mount Prospect from south suburban Homewood where she spent the previous 15 months as an interim pastor at Faith Lutheran Church. The Chicago native and her husband, Lanny, have one newly married son, Luke.
Wilson has a master's in divinity from the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago and a master's in education from National-Louis University.
Although she said that she foresees no capital or other major projects at the church in the near future, Wilson said that long-term they will be working to define exactly who and what St. Mark is and what they can do to improve the world. They will also be encouraging members to "spread the good news" and Wilson encourages people looking for a new church home to stop by St. Mark one Sunday. About 250 people worship at St. Mark Lutheran each weekend, according to Wilson.
Seniors to receive emergency kits: Andrew Hoefert, son of Paul and Linda Hoefert and a member of Boy Scout Troop 23 based at Community Presbyterian Church, is concerned about the senior citizens of Mount Prospect. What would happen to them in the event of an emergency ranging from something as mild as a power outage to something as catastrophic as a terrorist attack?
So the Prospect High School senior chose to assemble emergency kits containing bottled water, nutrition bars, flashlights and other essentials as his Eagle project. All of the items in the kit have been donated by local businesses.
This Saturday Hoefert and members of his Troop will be distributing the kits to homebound seniors in the community. They will be inventorying the items with the seniors and answering any questions they may have.
And later in the month a distribution center will be set up in village hall to hand out kits to seniors who are not homebound. That date has not yet been finalized.
"We need to know that these valued members of our community have the necessities to take care of themselves in such a situation," Hoefert explained.