Berkot’s to Hold Job Fair for Orland Store

By Bob Bong

Southland Savvy

Berkot’s Super Foods is fast remodeling the former Green Food & Produce at 11333 W. 159th St. at the Wolf Crossing Plaza in Orland Park.

The Mokena-based grocery store chain is ready to start hiring workers for the Orland store, which will be the company’s 14th location.

A job fair to find full-time and part-time employees for the Orland store will be held from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, March 31, at 11267 W. 159th St., which is a storefront in the Wolf Plaza.

“We’ll be interviewing people during the job fair,” Berkot’s spokesman Jeff Jackson said in a news release.

Prospective employees are invited to download and complete employment applications from the company’s website at http://www.berkotfoods.com/.

“We were very happy to hear that Berkot’s had chosen Orland Park as the location of their newest store,” Mayor Dan McLaughlin said in the release.

For information about the company and the job fair, visit the Berkot’s website or call the New Lenox store at 815-463-5046.

Final Days for Porter Gift Shop

This is the last week for the going out of business sale at Porter Gift Shop, 703 E. Ninth St. in Lockport.

“Everything is going,” said owner Don Bauer, who is pulling the plug after 41 years.

“We have had a lot of good customers over the years,” he said.

Bauer will not disappear from the Lockport business scene after Porter closes.

“I’ll be a part-time pharmacist at Corwin’s,” he said. “That’s what I did when I started Porter Gift’s.”

Southland Chamber Expo in Tinley This Weekend

A totally revamped Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce Business & Community Expo will fill the Tinley Park Convention Center on Friday and Saturday.

The Expo is free will run from 3-7 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. Parking is free.

The Expo will feature vendor booths and exhibits, entertainment including a balloonist, face painter and magician and a raffle for a free dishwasher.

There will be a food drive for area food pantries and electronics recycling collection area.

“Since so many of our members offer products and services, this will allow exhibitors to showcase their businesses to consumers,” Brenna Norder, vice chair of business activities, said in a release. “The community will have the chance to see much of what Southland offers and get some great convention deals.”

The convention center is at 18451 Convention Center Drive. For information, visit the chamber website http://www.chicagosouthland.com/ or call the chamber at 708-957-6950.

Whitley to Address Tinley Chamber

Illinois Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Doug Whitley will address the monthly meeting of the Tinley Park Chamber of Commerce at 8:15 a.m. Thursday, March 29, at the Odyssey Country Club, 19110 S. Ridgeland Ave.

Before joining the Illinois Chamber, Whitley was president of Ameritech Illinois. He served two years as director of the Illinois Department of Revenue under Gov. Jim Edgar, for 14 years he was president of the Taxpayers Federation of Illinois and before that was a legislative staff member for the Illinois House of Representatives.

Admission is free with a business card.

RSVP to the chamber at http://www.tinleychamber.org/ or at 708-532-5700.

Sleep Disorders Clinic Opens in Tinley

One of the bedrooms at the new Advocate South Suburban Hospital Sleep Disorders Clinic.

By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy

Have trouble sleeping? Counting sheep doesn't work?

Advocate South Suburban Hospital may have the answer at its new Sleep Disorders Clinic that moved into bigger and better facilities earlier this month at 16532 S. Oak Park Ave. in Tinley Park.

The state-of-the-art center has four beds and replaces an aging two-bed clinic at the hospital and a facility near Interstate 80 and LaGrange Road in Mokena.

“The new center has quite a lot of upgrades,” said Jim Munz, Director of Medical Staff Development for South Suburban Hospital. “We have more rooms and more beds.”

“The new location makes sense for our patients, who might not have wanted to go to Hazel Crest or Mokena,” said Munz. “It’s centrally located.”

The center monitors patients who have doctor-ordered tests to determine if they suffer from a sleep disorder such as sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome or narcolepsy. Their breathing, brain waves and muscle activity are monitored and the patients are videotaped while they sleep.

“Because the center is on the lower level, we have no windows, which cuts down light and noise,” said Munz. “The rooms are like staying at a 5-Star hotel, which creates less anxiety for the patient. There are bathrooms with showers and the patients get a continental breakfast in the morning.”

Dr. Raj Gupta, center medical director, said an estimated 50 million to 70 million Americans suffer from sleep disorders, and the number is increasing.

“Most go undiagnosed,” he said. “Sleep disorders can have serious health consequences including high blood pressure, heart failure, diabetes, attention deficit disorder and chronic fatigue syndrome.”

“Sleep disorders can affect how a person functions at work,” said Gupta, who has been at South Suburban Hospital for 30 years. “They can also make a person an unsafe driver.”

Gupta, who is board certified in pulmonary care and internal medicine, analyzes the results of the tests and determines a course of action with the patient’s primary care physician.

“The most common sleep disorder is sleep apnea, when the patient stops breathing for at least 10 seconds while sleeping,” said Gupta. “In serious cases, a person will wake up choking because he has stopped breathing and his body is telling him to wake up.”

The center is open daily and can accommodate all patients including shift workers who might normally sleep during the day.

“We can handle any situation,” said Munz.

The center accepts all patients with a doctor-ordered test, he said.

For information on the Advocate South Suburban Hospital Sleep Disorders Clinic, visit www.advocatehealth.com/SleepDisorders or call 800-3-ADVOCATE.

Wiley’s Grill to Open Saturday at Coyote Run Golf Course

By Bob Bong

Southland Savvy

Coyote Run Golf Course, 800 Kedzie Ave. in Flossmoor, will open its new Wiley’s Grill restaurant on Saturday replacing the Northwoods restaurant and its hunting and fishing motif.

Opening day will include Irish dancers, bagpipers, an Irish band and a dinner buffet featuring corned beef and cabbage.

“We did some remodeling,” said restaurant manager Martin Henry, who is running the restaurant for the Homewood-Flossmoor Park District, which owns the course. “We got rid of the dead animals. The moose head is gone.”

“We tore out the old bar and replaced it and added a community bar,” Henry said. “We improved the lighting.

“It has more of a golf theme now.”

Henry said Wiley’s is named after Wiley, the dog that romps around the course chasing away the Canada geese.

“He’s our mascot, so we named the place after him,” Henry said with a laugh.

Wiley’s will be open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. A halfway house will open daily at 10:30 a.m.

“We’ll have a basic bar menu to start, such as burgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches,” Henry said adding the menu will be more creative for private parties and golf outings.

“On weekends, we’ll have a grill outside on the patio, which has all new furniture,” Henry said.

For information, call Wiley’s Grill at 708-957-8774 or visit the golf course website at http://www.coyoterungolf.com/.

Palos Park Starbucks to Close

Coffee lovers will have to find a new source of caffeine when the Starbucks coffee shop at 13000 S. LaGrange Road in Palos Park closes at the end of business on Sunday. The shop’s employees will not lose their jobs and are being transferred to other Starbucks. In fact, about half are moving to the Starbucks at 143rd Street and LaGrange in neighboring Orland Park.

Free Fries at Burger King

The fast-food giant is giving away value-sized orders of French fries on Saturday and Sunday in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. No purchase or coupon is necessary. Customers will also get a sample of Heinz’s new St. Paddy’s Day sauce, which looks suspiciously like green ketchup.