Mokena's Front Porch Podcast

 Matt has been researching the history of our Village for decades and has written two books about Mokena.  Mokena, Images of America and The 1926 Orland Park Murder Mystery. Matt has a passion for Mokena, its people and its history. He is a life long Mokenian. Matt also writes a history blog called, Matt's Old Mokena and contributes his extensive history research to our Mokena's Front Porch podcast. 

The idea for this podcast came about in the driveway of the historic McGovney-Yunker Farm. Mokena. Our town was built around the Rock Island Railroad and became a highlight along the railroad, with Mokena being the only stop between Blue Island and Joliet for a period of time. Today we reflect on the glory days of Front Street and the village, along with its amazing people and what they did to make our community stronger.  Our focus is history & community, as the two are so deeply intertwined!

Israel, along with his wife Mairim and son, Grant, have lived in downtown Mokena since 2016 and quickly fell in love with our Village. Israel is on the board of the Mokena Lions Club, active in the Mokena 159 school district and a lover of Mokena and its history! Being inspired by Matt's history blog, he started the Mokena's Front Porch podcast as a way to share and preserve the history of our Village, as well as encourage the sense of community that has made Mokena such a great place for so long!