Israel and Matt met up with The Dock restaurant owner, Rick Trafton, to get to know him and his restaurant, which will be making its home on Front Street in the near future! This is the second tour of the property and there have been major changes since our first visit! There will be more updates to come as this historical treasure on Front Street is brought back to life after so many years.
Gigi On The Scene and her late brother, Levi Pitboxer, share through their humans, Andrea and Chuck, some of the most beautiful areas of Mokena with their followers near and far. Chuck and Andrea met and were married because of their dogs and they clear love their pups! It was great to hear their stories of coming to Mokena and finding each other here. They tell us some of their favorite parks and places to explore. I really enjoyed taking a walk with Gigi, Andrea and Chuck and I hope you will enjoy hearing some of their story too! You can find Gigi On The Scene on Facebook and Instagram!
On a beautiful April evening, Matt and Israel took a walk down Mokena's Front Street and talked history. Matt, as always, is a wealth of information about Mokena and this video brings to life so many of the stories that we have shared on the podcast over the years. We plan to do more of these walking tours, covering some of the different areas around us. There is an audio only version posted as well. Enjoy our walk down Front Street!
Mayor Joe Werner cared deeply about Mokena and its people. He served as both Village Trustee and Mayor and made many lasting contributions to Mokena. Sadly, Mayor Joe passed away on Christmas Eve of 2023 after fighting brain cancer. I am honored that we get to share some of Mayor Joe’s story and all he did to make our Village a better place.
After more than a decade sitting empty, this historic Mokena property is being brought back to life by property owner Gino Picciola and restaurant owner, Rick Trafton! Mokena was all abuzz this week with the news, so we called Gino, a good friend of the podcast and past guest, to ask for a tour! Enjoy this exclusive first look and watch for updates as the project comes along!
One of Mokena's most beautiful buildings was the 2 story Mokena schoolhouse that sat at the corner of todays Front Street and Schoolhouse Road. Today all that remains is the old bell that sat atop the school and beckoned many kids to school over the years. Along with Matt's great stories, this video shares a lot of great photos as well as a few videos of the old bell as it sits today. Enjoy!
I (Israel) am a Mokena Lion and an unabashed advocate for this awesome group that has been helping people in our community since 1952. This was a photo montage put together for the Mokena Lions Facebook Page. If you want to be part of the worlds greatest service organization, check out the Mokena Lions Club or a club near you! You won't regret it!
This is just a fun video from the repair of a minor gas leak in downtown Mokena in October of 2023. Its not too often you get to see below 110+ year old roads!
This is a production of Mokena's Front Porch.
Our Village was founded around the Rock Island Pacific Railroad coming through the middle of what is now downtown Mokena. In 1852 those tracks came through the north end of the McGovney (Yunker) farm. One of the significant motivators to incorporate was to take control of how many liquor licenses would be allowed and who those fees would be paid to.
There are still a few remnants and reminders around town of those first elected officials, including the Front Street home of our first mayor, Ozias McGovney and the location of the first official meeting place of the new board of trustees. Matt shares some great stories and interesting facts about the process and some of the first laws they passed. We hope you enjoy this episode about an extremely important event in our Village history!
Frank and Cyndi Grobmeier endured the unthinkable after the death of their daughter just after her 18th birthday. I had the opportunity to spend time with them in the Mokena office of their charity, The Maddog Strong Foundation. They have a mission to not only have people sign their donor card but to also have the conversation with loved ones as well.
They so graciously shared, at length, the story of their family before and after the loss of their daughter and what they have done and are doing to make something amazing out of their tragedy. This is a special episode and I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed our conversation!
The New Lenox Historical Society hosts an open house at the historic Schmuhl School, which is across the street from Lincolnway Central High School. The volunteers of the NL Historical Society were kind enough to let me record their tour and information about the house. I really enjoyed learning about this school building and its origins. We hope you enjoy our first video edition of the podcast! The audio only version will be available as well on our podcast!
The Bergmans have been staples of Front Street and Mokena since just after World War 2. Listen to Dave and Charlene talk about Mokena's days past and share why they raised their family here and the family is still one of Front Streets businesses.
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