Mokena's Front Porch Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Step back in time to a fateful summer night, as we conclude our tale of chaos and violence in 1864 Downtown Mokena.  As the smoke settled, a grim assessment of the days casualties began, revealing that the majority of the injured were Chicagoans. Newspaper accounts paint a vivid picture of the mayhem that unfolded. Yet, amidst the confusion and conflicting reports, one thing remai...

Send us Fan Mail Memorial Day, which began shortly after the Civil War, was called Decoration Day. On May 30, 1868, President Garfield spoke at Arlington National Cemetery and said, "I am oppressed with a sense of the impropriety of uttering words on this occasion. If silence is ever golden, it must be here, beside the graves of fifteen thousand men, whose lives were more significant than spe...

Send us Fan Mail In the early days of the not yet incorporated Village of Mokena, our Front Street saw its bloodiest day.  On August 15, 1864, As a group of Irish immigrants were returning to Chicago from a day of picnicking in Joliet, their train slowed to a stop in our town.  Tiring of waiting on the train, the Chicagoans' began to exit the train and find their way into the few businesses l...

Send us Fan Mail Carol Norton was the last of the McGovney family to live in Mokena. Though she was not a life long Mokenian and not even born in Mokena, she chose to move to Mokena and had a deep love and appreciation for the Village as well as the contributions that her family has made over the years. She was not only a McGovney, she was also a Hatch, from episode 13 where we discuss what is now...

Send us Fan Mail This episode covers one of Mokena's most controversial topics, the meaning and story behind our name! We discuss a few of the stories that have been going around for many years and try to debunk the ones we can. It is a fun episode that highlights again how unique our Village is. We are the only Mokena IN THE WORLD! Enjoy and please share with your family and friends! We woul...

Send us Fan Mail Since 1985, Little Al has been a presence on Front Street, serving beers and meals as well as a lot of laughs! Al Pizzato was born in 1939 and grew up in Roseland. He shares how in first grade he learned how to make change for a beer and a shot, which cost $.35 at the time. Little Al's Mokena Inn is one of Mokena's oldest building and Al is currently the 2nd longest owne...

Send us Fan Mail In honor of March being Women’s History Month, our newest episode shares the story of the Mokena Campfire Girls!  The first Mokena Boy Scout troop was established in Mokena in 1914, the young women of Mokena, not wanting to miss out on the fun, started a Campfire Girls “Camp” in 1915! In their short history, these young ladies, ages 15 to 17 years old, left a real mark on our comm...

Send us Fan Mail Downtown Mokena’s restaurant scene was ZAPPED with the addition of Zap Taco House on Mokena Street. As Todd and Jason (owners of Zap) are bringing food and entertainment to downtown we will share the story of this buildings beginning. In 1901 the building we know as Zap, was moved from an unknown location to its home today and John Hatch, a WW1 Veteran and Mokena’s First Village C...

Send us Fan Mail The morning of April 14, 1926, the Inland Steel payroll delivery was hijacked in Indiana Harbor. Later that afternoon, Will County deputy sheriff and Mokena resident and Front Street business owner, Walter Fisher died in a hail of gunfire at the corner of todays 143rd and La Grange Road in Orland Park. That night, the bullet-riddled body of Santo Calabrese turned up on a Broadview...

Send us Fan Mail Since the early days of Mokena, 11014 Front Street has been a place where the community has come together to conduct business and socialize. The now flattened, Dina's Barbershop, was the most recent inhabitant. For decades Mokenian's went to Tony Dina's for a trim and good conversation. If those walls could talk, the history of this town would be told with creativit...

Send us Fan Mail One of Mokena’s oldest buildings and a true gem of Front Street; 11008 Front Street has been host to numerous businesses and families over its 160+ years long life.  The property still stands today in all its glory, having been restored by local beautician and salon/home owner Laura Thiel! We discuss the rich history of this building and the blog post that Matt wrote about the and...

Send us Fan Mail One year after making his way by wooden ship from modern day Northern Germany,  18 year old Carl Hacker joined the fight to preserve the country that he and his brother, Christian,  had recently patriated to.    Carl returned from his service in the war to establish himself in early Mokena.  He purchased a home on McGovney Street in 1878 that stands to this day, looking over the t...

Send us Fan Mail In 1867, Lester Scheiks father came to Mokena at 8 years old. Lesters Grandfather built their farm on 30 acres at the corner of Wolf Road and 191st Street. Their house sat where Greased Lightning sits today. The Scheiks Dairy at one point provided milk to 95% of Mokena, serving about 400 customers a week. The Scheik family exemplifies the hard working spirit that built Mokena at a...

Send us Fan Mail This is a special Christmas episode with a few presents thrown in! A special guest introduces the episode and we end with a VERY special song by the Mokena Intermediate School's 4th & 5th Grade Beginning Band !  Matt shares his story, Yule of Yore: Christmas 1925 in Mokena which was originally posted on his blog on December 17, 2021. You can find that HERE!   The story te...

Send us Fan Mail As a follow up to our 5th episode about the McGovney-Yunker Farm, I sat down to talk with Jennifer Medema, who happens to be my neighbor! Jennifer is responsible for getting the Farm listed on the National Register of Historic Places , which was a four year journey that resulted in National recognition of the significance of the farm. Learn about what caused Jennifer to want to pu...

Send us Fan Mail The Historic McGovney-Yunker Farm is the only property in Mokena that is on the National Register of Historic Places. In this episode we discuss how this farm came to be and why it and its inhabitants are still so important to us today. Matt has again crafted the McGovney-Yunker Farm story in a way that brings to life this farm that has made up a significant part of our Village la...

Send us Fan Mail On this episode of Mokena's Front Porch we sit down with Mr. David Kropp, who's family history in Mokena goes back almost as long as Mokena! He is grandson to Reverend William "The Builder" Kreis, who is responsible for the building of the historic St. John's Church in Mokena. He is also cousin to Laverne and Edwin Yunker of the McGovney Yunker Farm.  Mr....

Send us Fan Mail In honor of the 100th anniversary of the St. John's Church building and the 160th anniversary of St John's Church, Matt Galik wrote a 12 page book about the church and the process this small congregation went through to place on our landscape one of the most significant building's in our town and region.   The churches of Mokena have always played a significant role...

Send us Fan Mail This is a special Halloween episode of Mokena's Front Porch! Gather the family and enjoy a true Mokena ghost story that takes place on Front Street in Kim McAuliffe's, An English Garden Flower & Gifts . This article was originally posted on Matt's blog, Matt's Old Mokena , on October 16th, 2020. You can read that by clicking HERE.   Thank you for listening...

Send us Fan Mail In our inaugural episode we talk about one of Mokena's oldest building and the longest serving bar in town; the building we now know as Little Al's Bar & Grill.  Learn about how this building has served as town hall, a hotel, and even a church, though today it claims to serve the best burgers in town!  This is the first of many episodes discussing and recording the h...