Hop to It: Where to Find the Easer Bunny, Egg Hunts in Tinley Park, Oak Forest

The Oak Forest Park District and Downtown Tinley are holding two separate Easter events this weekend. Plus, find out more about an egg hunt for your dog.

Easter is just around the corner, which means time is running out to visit the Easter Bunny or participate in an Easter egg hunt. Check out these upcoming holiday events in Tinley Park and Oak Forest. SATURDAY MARCH 23 Kids can see the Easter Bunny and hunt for eggs throughout Central Park. The hunt is for kids up to third grade. Check Patch's Events Calendar to find out when the hunts for each age group begins. Meet at Central Park Pavilion at least 15 minutes before the hunt. When: The first hunt starts at 12:30 p.m. Where: Central Park, Oak Forest Cost: Free More info: Check the listing in Patch's Events Calendar. Kids aren't the only ones who can enjoy a good Easter egg hunt. This event is set up for your dog to have fun with eggs …

•  1 Comment
• Photos (2)

Business Comings 'n Goings

Business Comings & Goings: Odyssey Fun World Serves Up Holiday Light Show

New owners take over Rokwelz in Orland Park • Bears Hall of Famer Dan Hampton to headline holiday sports luncheon • Orland Chamber Holiday Party at Papa Joe's Dec. 3 • Center for Integrated Medicine in Tinley holding family day Dec. 1

Odyssey Fun World in Tinley Park is continuing a holiday tradition it started last year when it throws the switch on its Christmas Light Show. The amusement park strung 100,000 lights on the outside of its building last year, and played Christmas music that was punctuated by the lights dancing on and off. “We plan to have the lights in full swing by (today),” said Clint Paraday, Odyssey general manager. “We’ll have more songs this year, and added the Grinch.” The show will start each night at dusk and continue until about midnight through the first week in January. Motorists can pull over in front of the amusement park at Harlem and Oak Park avenues and listen to the music on 87.9-FM. Rokwelz Bar Meets Grill at 11265 W. 159th St. in Orland…

• Photos (2)

Circus Comes to Tinley (Photos)

The Kelly Miller Circus performed two shows Wednesday across from Odyssey Fun World. Take a peek at photos of workers putting up the big top.

UPDATED: 12:17 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 27 The Kelly Miller Circus was in town for one day Wednesday, Sept. 26, performing two shows in the vacant area across from Odyssey Fun World, next to its seasonal Odyssey Fun Farm.  Patch was out with the elephants, camels and zebras this morning, and we caught the crews putting up the big top for the event. Check out photos from this morning's set up in the media gallery and check in later today for video interviews and footage of the big top going up.   Two Ways to Stay Connected to Tinley Park Patch:

•  2 Comments
• Photos (11)

Business Comings 'n Goings

Comings & Goings: Odyssey Fun World Opens State’s First Mobile Zip Line

Berkot's Super Foods to open its 13th store on Thursday in Orland Park's Wolf Plaza at 159th Street and Wolf Road.

Odyssey Fun World at 19111 S. Oak Park Ave. in Tinley Park last week opened the state’s first mobile Zip Line ride. “It’s an extreme ride,” said General Manager Clint Paraday describing the ride that lasts only seconds but packs a wallop. “We opened it on Friday and the crowd response was phenomenal.” Paraday said the Zip Line tower stands 30-feet high and the line stretches out to 130 feet long. There is a 60-pound minimum weight and a 250-pound maximum. “The heavier you are, the faster you go,” Paraday said. The Zip Line is one of many innovations Paraday has brought to the amusement park in the past year including a corn maize last Halloween and a musical light show at Christmastime. “We’re trying to stay relevant,” he said. “We had 30,…

• Photos (4)

Odyssey Fun World Lights up Christmas

In the spirit of the season, the Tinley Park arcade is featuring a nightly musical light show.

Odyssey Fun World is shedding light on Christmas this year. Sorry, make that 100,000 lights. Starting last Friday, the Tinley Park arcade has been featuring a light show every evening at 6 p.m. on the the side of its building. The show will continue nightly —even if the fun world is closed—through the first week of January. READ: ‘Deck Your House’ and Win Money “We hope it will be the first Christmas lights display for many years to come,” said Clint Paraday, general manager of the business, which is located at Oak Park and Harlem avenues. The lights twinkle and dance to music as part of the show. It was designed by Nic Miele, who has been putting on light shows at his Batavia home for the past three years. The business will remain open as…

•  3 Comments
• Photos (1)
• Videos (3)

Photo Gallery: Capturing the Essence of Autumn

We stopped by Odyssey Fun World in Tinley Park to capture the spirit of the season.

Like it or not, fall is upon us.  The folks at Odyssey Fun World chose to celebrate the changing of seasons by hosting a "Fun Farm," across the street from their Tinley Park location. Among the activities are moon bounces, pig races, pony rides, tractor rides and one of the largest corn mazes in the state of Illinois. Looking for more seasonal news? Like us on Facebook

• Photos (15)

New Fun Farm Wants to Harvest Good Times With Corn Maze, Pig Races

'We're hoping to create a new family tradition,' says general manager Clint Paraday.

A year ago, the cornfield north of Odyssey Fun World was just that, a cornfield. Over the past several months, however, the 110-acre space has been transformed. "It's been a hectic three months because none of us are farmers," said general manager Clint Paraday. He benefited, though, from the collective wisdom of 300 farmers when he attended a corn maze convention in North Carolina last year. "All their trade secrets were handed out out," he said. "These are guys who do this for a living when their harvest is in." READ: Fresh Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables in Late September and October During the convention, Paraday connected with a Utah-based maze design company that was able to incorporate the Odyssey logo and mascot into the maze (…

•  5 Comments
• Photos (2)

Business Comings 'n Goings

Business Comings & Goings: Odyssey to Kick Off Halloween Season with Maze, Pumpkin Patch and More

A look at new businesses coming into town and a fond farewell to those that have, for whatever reason, called it quits.

The Halloween season in Tinley Park will officially kick off when Odyssey Fun Farm Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maize opens on Friday, Sept. 23, at 10 a.m., across the street from the Odyssey Fun World arcade at Harlem Avenue and Oak Park Avenue. The 15-acre corn maze and pumpkin patch will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Friday to Halloween. Admission will be $10 per person (children 1 year old and younger get in for free), which includes two corn mazes, unlimited hayrides, cow train rides, an inflatable Kids Zone, a petting zoo and pig races. Children under 12 who visit can get free ice cream cones at the Culver’s in Tinley Park, Orland Park, Frankfort, Matteson and Homewood, and a free kids meal at Chili’s in Orland Park, New Lenox…

•  2 Comments
• Photos (1)

Car Break-ins Squelch Fun Sunday for Visitors to Fun World

Three burglaries were reported at Odyssey Fun World.

Three out-of-towners' vehicles were ransacked Sunday afternoon at Tinley's Odyssey Fun World, where burglars made off with a touch-screen stereo, several credit cards, video games and cell phones. Victims told police that all three break-ins occurred between around noon and 2:30 p.m. in the Fun World parking lot, 19111 S. Oak Park Ave., according to the police report. Between 9 a.m. and 1:15 p.m., police said an employee at the business filed a separate robbery report, saying that someone snagged a cell phone from his belt clip. In one car burglary, a 30-year-old Peotone woman said two AT&T cell phones, a checkbook, three credit cards, an iPod Nano, a collection of about 50 CDs and a security card and $10 cash were missing. Police said her…

•  1 Comment
• Photos (2)

Odd Family Brings a World of Hurt to Odyssey Fun World

A high-speed dispute on the go-kart track turns into a scuffle between fun-park staff, a mom and her teen-age son, police say.

It was a family vs. Odyssey Fun World staff in a brawl after an employee told an 18-year-old Indiana man to slow down on the go-karts, police said. Romel Glover, 18, of the 700 block of Juniper Road, Valparaiso, Ind., was charged with battery, according to police, after starting a brawl at a Tinley Park Odyssey Fun World. After getting off the go-karts, Glover got into an argument with the worker who had repeatedly yelled at him to slow down, police said. Surveillance footage showed Glover shove a different staffer who was escorting Glover and his mother back to the party room, police said. After this, several Odyssey employees had to step in to separate Glover’s family from the staffer. A juvenile cousin was also charged, police said. The…

•  9 Comments
• Photos (2)

Catherine Sanders

6:45 pm on Saturday, December 15, 2012

Hey Raymond, DeMario is a child he is 12 years old and you're going back and fourth with a kid.....and he missed spelled My.....But you said He instead of Hey so what's the difference.....You're an idiot........   more ›