Firefighters Honor Oak Lawn History Librarian Tom Javorcic With Regulation Firefighter's Coat

OAK LAWN, IL — Oak Lawn history librarian Tom Javorcic was very surprised last week when he looked up to see 20 firefighters and the mayor assembling in the library’s local history room.

Since last April, Javorcic’s visual timeline honoring the legacies of the village’s fire and police departments has been viewed by thousands of residents and patrons at the Oak Lawn Public Library.

Javorcic created large, oversized panels, adding color to black and white historic photographs to create interest and drama. He drove out to interview family members of former officers. He alsothe toured Oak Lawn Fire Station Number One (the John P. McCastland Station) and the police squad room with Mayor Terry Vorderer. These interviews and connections helped Javorcic present the history from a more personal perspective.

The exhibit featured historical photos, uniforms and documents. Additional items of note, including a 1920s fire horn and an antique copper fire extinguisher, come together to bring the story to life.

In thanks for his hard work, Oak Lawn Fire Chief David Wheeler and firefighters surprised Javorcic with a regulation OLFD fire coat.

“I was very surprised. I was stunned because I was starting to take the exhibit down,” Javorcic said. “I was really honored.”

Mayor Terry Vorderer, a Vietnam combat veteran and retired Oak Lawn police officer, called the Oak Lawn Public Library's first responders exhibit a morale booster.

Oak Lawn firefighters peruse the library's first responder exhibit.

“It meant a lot in the sense that history is an important part of any organization,” the mayor said. “For the library to go back and research the history of the police and fire departments meant a lot. We really appreciated the work.”

Javorcic is dismantling the first responders exhibit for the next year-long exhibit, a timeline of the village’s earliest settlers of “Black Oak,” as Oak Lawn was first known, covering the 1800s through 1920.

“I didn’t grow up here, but I probably know more about Oak Lawn’s history than most people who did,” he said.

Does he plan to wear the coat when it rains?

“It’s really heavy because of all the fire-resistant materials. It weighs about 25 pounds” Javorcic said. “It's really cool because I wasn’t expecting it at all. It was a sweet thing.”

The early settler exhibit will have a soft opening on March 23, with a galley reception planned for 6:30 p.m. (tbd) on March 26. The reception will feature refreshments and a slide presentation and talk given by Jarovcic in the local history room at the Oak Lawn Public Library, 9427 S. Raymond Ave.