McCook hires a new police officer, holds Holiday Parade 

Santa and Mrs. Claus rode in a wagon drawn by two horses.

By Steve Metsch 

McCook’s newest police officer is doing something he’s wanted to do since he was a kid.

“Something I always wanted to do,” Jamie Calderon said after the village board unanimously approved his hiring at its Dec. 4 meeting.

“Helping others” is why Calderon wanted to be a police officer.

After helping McCook Mayor Terrance Carr turn on the village’s light display, 10-month-old Lorenzo Cernetig isn’t too happy with Santa Claus. 

“Now that I have the opportunity, I grew up a little bit, and my kids are a little older, I’m able to do that now,” he said.

Calderon, 30, and his wife have 7-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son.

Calderon said he spent the last year working as a police officer in Mundelein.

That’s far from his family’s home in Chicago. McCook is closer and he liked what he found there. That’s why he decided to apply for a job in McCook.

“I was exploring other options and I liked the way the McCook Police Department handles itself. It seems like a tight family here and I wanted to be part of something special,” Calderon said.

His first day on duty was Wednesday, Dec. 6.

In other business, the board approved payment on four improvement projects:

• The village will pay $62,165 to Lyons-Pinner Electric Company Inc. for the pumping station generator replacement project.
• $28,560 to M&J Asphalt Paving Co., Inc., for the 53rd Street resurfacing project.
• $132,554 to K-Five Construction Corp., Inc., for the Joliet Avenue resurfacing project.
• and $61,700 to M&J Asphalt Paving to repair the wall at the reservoir located north of the village hall.

The board’s next scheduled meeting is at 6 p.m. Dec. 18.

A cast of costumed characters helped with McCook’s Holiday Parade on December 4.