Look. Listen. Live.
These words are a part of a popular railroad safety campaign.
They also form the message Tiffany Davis said she hopes will strike a chord with her teenage friends.
Tiffany, 15, is the primary force behind Rocking the Rails, a battle of the bands concert fundraiser that will be held June 30 at Lions Park in Villa Park.
Eight bands, mainly emo and metal groups, are set to play, said Tiffany, a junior at Willowbrook High School.
The winning band will earn a spot to play at Villa Park’s Oktoberfest.
Money raised by the concert will go into a Villa Park residents safety fund that will be used to pay to repair old fences and install new fencing along North Terrace Avenue.
That fund was started with money raised at a car wash benefit in May, also organized by Tiffany.
Her activism was spurred by the memory of her childhood friend, Kristen Bowen.
In February, Kristen was struck by a train and killed as she tried to cross the Union Pacific tracks between Lombard and Villa Park. She was 14.
"She’s my motivation," Tiffany said.
Since Kristen’s death, Tiffany and other teens and adults, including Villa Park Village President Joyce Stupegia, have made improving railroad safety a priority.
"It’s something that needs to be kept in the spotlight," said Ray Zukowski, Kristen’s dad.
Illinois ranks fourth among all states in railroad shortcut crossing deaths.
Zukowski said efforts such as the concert and the car wash are reminders of how much Kristen was loved by her friends and survivors, who include her twin sister, Kendra.
It’s that love that keeps him and other families pushing toward the overall goal to place fences along the rails to prevent kids from trying to take shortcuts rather than walking to a designated railroad crossings.
That goal is the mission of Villa Park’s residents safety committee. Stupegia and Tiffany’s dad, John Davis, are members.
Along with fundraisers like the concert, Stupegia said the committee also is seeking grants and donor pledges to pay for what would likely be a 6-foot-tall, galvanized steel fence along North Terrace Avenue.
"That seems to be a heavy crossing area for children," she said.
That particular style of fencing, Davis said, would be an effective deterrent to dangerous and illegal crossing.
"Kids can’t climb it. They can’t graffiti it," Davis said. "There’s nothing not to love about it, except the price."
The fence would cost $60 a foot. It could run roughly 850 to 1,000 feet in the North Terrace area. That adds up to $51,000 at 850 feet and $60,000 at 1,000 feet.
It is not expected the community fundraising will cover the entire price tag for Villa Park’s steel fences.
However, with the support of civic and business groups, the May car wash raised $2,200.
Along with whatever money comes from the concert, Tiffany said, the event will also raise awareness about railroad safety and improve fencing along railroads throughout Villa Park.
Besides, she said, it’s just the beginning in a journey she intends to complete.
"It’s going to take awhile to get this done. I don’t think that it will happen that soon," Tiffany said.
But, she said, "I’m not going stop until we get there."
Reprinted with permission from the Daily Herald