Father, son run for Fox River Grove trustee
A father and son are running for seats on the Fox River Grove village board, although they’re not in competition and rather are doing so as a team.
Michael Olencheck, 27, is challenging incumbent Suzanne Blohm for a 2-year term. Chester Olencheck, 55, is running for one of three, 4-year terms against Trustee Steven Knar, Parks Commission member Joanna Susan Colletti, Planning and Economic Development Commission Chairman Michael G. Schiestel and resident John D. Gagliano.
The Olenchecks are going to use the slogan “Vote for O” and will be knocking on doors together when they start campaigning in the next couple of weeks.
Michael works as a part-time firefighter/EMT and rescue recovery diver for the Fox River Grove Fire Department. Chester is a part-time postal worker for the Fox River Grove Post Office, as well as post offices in Elgin, Carpentersville and Crystal Lake.
The pair said they had been thinking about running for office on and off over the years, and finally the right time came.
“I would tell him, ‘Why don’t you run?’ and he would say, ‘Why don’t you run?’ and back and forth, so we just decided to run together,” Chester said.
“There was nothing special that happened, it was just time,” Michael said.
Both said they want to work to improve the village, a place they made their home about seven years ago.
“This village has been so good to me and my son, I feel I need to give back,” Chester said.
“We both feel that the town needs a little bit of change,” Michael said. “In Chicago, where we’re from, you have to know someone if you run, but we figured in a small town, people always have the chance to do it.”
The Olenchecks moved to Fox River Grove from Chicago after Chester followed a former co-worker’s advice to check out the area.
“(My father) drove around, saw a house he liked, and just bought it,” said Michael, who decided to leave his mother’s house in Chicago to come live with his dad.
Father and son have been living together since. Michael, who is engaged to be married, bought his own home and is in the process of renovating it before moving in.
Both say they get along really well, and when they disagree, they usually just agree to disagree. “We have always been a team,” Michael said.
Their shared passion is drag racing, with Michael at the wheel of his ’82 Ford Fairmont and Chester acting as crew chief. Chester also owns a race car, a ’74 Ford Mustang II that he has been working on for about a decade.