Kankakee parish festival returns to roots to build community

When a group of people decide to go back to its roots, few are quite as literal about the venture as the members of Kankakee's St. Teresa Catholic Church, at 361 N. St. Joseph Ave.

The effort begins this weekend with a community-building parish festival. It culminates in November when the Rev. Sunny Castillo will lead a contingent of his church family on a pilgrimage to France.

"We plan to visit Lisieux, and see the Carmelite monastery where St. Therese spent her years," he said. "It's located in Normandy, not that far from Paris.

"This will be our second pilgrimage. And I think it's good to find out more about what our church is all about."

Meanwhile, the festival — set for Friday through Sunday — is more about where the parish is heading.

"We had a 'dream Sunday' a couple of years ago and I asked [the parishioners] to tell me what they thought God wanted from us," Pastor Castillo said.

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Bradley wants to build Route 50 bike path

For the second year in a row, the village of Bradley is trying to build a bike path on Illinois Route 50.

The proposed path would stretch from Larry Power Road to North Street — a route the includes Northfield Square mall, the Interstate 57 underpass and businesses like Panera Bread, Target and Starbucks. It would also pass the four-way stop at Armour Road, the busiest intersection in Kankakee County.

But Bradley won't build the bike path without financial help. The village agreed again this week to apply for an Illinois Department of Transportation grant that would cover 80 percent of the cost of the $1 million project.

Last year, the village applied for the same grant but was denied.

"Our vision is to make Bradley very convenient to move around," said Lori Gadbois, chairwoman of Bradley's public works and parks committee.

Bradley's bike path wouldn't be the state's first bike path to run parallel to a major highway.

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