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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!
This is the most in depth video recorded conversation with Mr. Yunker, the last owner of the historic McGovney-Yunker Farm, that we know of. If you never knew Mr. Yunker, you will feel like you know him after watching this video. If you knew him, you will probably remember how much you miss having him around. We want to extend a huge thank you to Brian Yunker, for sharing this video with us and allowing us to share it with you.
For our second walking tour with guests, we visited Mokena's St. John's Cemetery. Matt brings back to life these characters of our towns past with his stories. Listeners of our podcast will recognize a number of names that you hear Matt talk about, including the Semmlers and Ms. Blaser! We couldn't have asked for better weather! Thanks to everyone who was able to make it out to join us and thank you to St. John's for supporting us doing this and coordinating so we didn't interrupt the services
The Imagination Station was more than a playground, it was a community effort that brought our entire Village together. We have included a bunch of pictures, provided by Dr. Mark Cohen and the 159 School District. We are honored to present this living memorial to this Imagination Station and we hope that people remember all the fun was had as well as the effort that it took to get it built. Mokena was extremely fortunate to have this playscape. Enjoy!
It has been a busy couple of weeks, with fundraisers and petition filings! Get caught up on who actually filed their petitions to run in the April 1st election and how much money each of our mayoral candidates have available for their campaign. Be on the look out for our candidate interviews, you won't want to miss them!
Check out our LOCAL ELECTIONS page for more!
Israel explains the role that Mokena's Front Porch Podcast will play in the upcoming local elections on April 1, 2025. Local politics have always been a significant part of our historical records and the people who step up to run for these rolls are usually active in their community. Our podcast hopes to be a conversation point for these elections. This video explains more about that and also provides the first update on the election.
Check out our LOCAL ELECTIONS page for more!
I was proud to be asked to be a guest on Sheila White's podcast, Gifted! We talked about Mokena and it's history as well as what brought Matt and I together to start this podcast. It was a great opportunity to share about what we are doing with others! Sheila's podcast is out of Joliet, so we are practically neighbors! I was happy to share with her and her audience why I think Mokena is such a great town to live in! I hope you enjoy it! Here is a like to the episode! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-rich-history-behind-the-city-of-mokena-episode/id1559635750?i=1000664408214
If you are enjoying the Mokena's Front Porch podcast or have an idea of someone we could talk to or a story we should share, please send us a message! Click the button below or send us an email at podcast@mokenasfrontporch.com
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