Mokena Community Resource Guide 2018

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8 Welcome from the Mayor Mokena: Your Business “Sweet Spot” Location and partnerships equate to a good business climate, and Mokena has an abundance of both. Ideally situated just south of the Cook County line between Interstate 80, LaGrange Road, and U.S. Route 30 in Will County, our residents and businesses enjoy a multitude of convenient transportation options including interstate highways, commuter rail service, and two major airports within an hour’s Dr.. Interstate 80, which forms the northern border of Mokena, provides easy access to I-355, I-55, I-57, and I-294, and Mokena is also home to two commuter rail stations on the Rock Island District line offering quick access to the Chicago loop via Metra’s LaSalle St. station. Partnerships with local businesses and the Mokena Chamber of Commerce have been integral to growing our economy, which supports almost 900 businesses, including family-owned notables such as Ozinga (which recently celebrated its 90th anniversary) and Schilling Lumber. National and regional retailers such as Meijer and JCPenney have also located here over the past several years. Recent developments drawing visitors in from outside our community include Accelerate Indoor Speedway, Women’s Health of Illinois, Heart Care Centers of Illinois, and a Holiday Inn Express, all easily accessible off I-80. Interest in downtown Mokena continues to grow, with Tribes Beer Company recently opening a production brewery on Front St.. Moreover, the craft beer scene is alive and well throughout our community, with the addition late last year of Crafted Bottle Shop & Tap Room, and another brewery (Mokena Brewing Company) soon on the way near the intersection of LaGrange Road and 191st St.. All in all, our future is bright, and the Village Board and I stand ready, willing, and able to help businesses that locate in Mokena succeed and prosper. Whether it’s public or private, Mokena students receive an excellent education from top-notch K-8 schools. Mokena School District 159, Frankfort School District 157C, New Lenox School District 122, and Summit Hill School District 161, along with St. Mary School and Noonan Academy, are all options within Mokena’s boundaries. These schools consistently meet or exceed State education standards and feed into Lincoln-Way Community High School District 210. Ranked academically in the upper 10% of their Illinois peers, Lincoln-Way Community High School District schools have consistently been recognized for having one of the lowest perpupil expenditure rates among high schools located within the six-county metro Chicagoland area. There is no shortage of recreational and leisure facilities, programs, and opportunities in Mokena either. No matter what your age, the Mokena Community Park District offers a wide variety of programs. Our community also offers a diverse breadth of familyoriented festivals and numerous activities sponsored by local civic and charitable organizations. Situated in the heart of town is a beltway encompassing over 1,500 acres of public forest preserves lush with creeks, open space, hiking and biking paths, and plenty of natural amenities for you and your family to enjoy. Ease of transportation, quality schools, shopping, entertainment, recreational opportunities—you’ll find all these and more in Mokena. I invite you to visit and discover all Mokena has to offer. Best Regards, Frank A. Fleischer Frank A. Fleischer Village President LLC 7 Communicator & 2 Davey Awards (815) 464-5750 Now Home Based • Mokena Drop Box • Free Delivery otdprint@comcast.net • ontimedesign.com We Provide • Award Winning Design • Fast Turnaround • Quality Printing • Color Copies - Only 35¢ • Business Forms • Newsletters & Brochures • EDDM Postcards • Custom Invitations • Posters & Banners • Canvas Prints • Promotional Products And Much More! Creating Community Connections
Important Numbers 9 EMERGENCY . . . . . . . . . . . 9-1-1 Poison Control . . 800-222-1222 NON-EMERGENCY Mokena Police Department . . . . . . . . 708-479-3912 Mokena Fire Protection District . . . . . 708-479-5371 Emergency & Disaster Agency (ESDA) . . 708-479-3922 Will County Sheriff’s Department . . . . 815-727-8453 Will County Sheriff’s Dispatch. . . . . . . 815-727-8575 MOKENA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Mokena Chamber of Commerce . . . . 708-479-2468 MOKENA VILLAGE Village of Mokena . . . . . . . . . . . . . 708-479-3900 Building Department . . . . . . . . . . . 708-479-3930 Community/Economic Dev. . . . . . . . . 708-479-3930 Public Works/Engineering . . . . . . . . 708-479-3927 St. Department . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 708-479-3925 Water/Sewer Emergency . . . . . . . . . 708-479-3926 MOKENA PUBLIC LIBRARY DISTRICT Mokena Community Public Library Dist. . 708-479-9663 MOKENA COMMUNITY PARK DISTRICT Mokena Community Park District Admin. 708-390-2401 The Oaks Recreation and Fitness Center 708-390-2343 Our History MOKENA POST OFFICE . . . 708-479-9431 MOKENA PUBLIC SCHOOLS Mokena Public School District #159 . . 708-342-4900 Summit Hill School District #161. . . . . 815-469-9103 Lincoln-Way High School District #210 . . 815-462-234 FRANKFORT TOWNSHIP Frankfort Township Office . . . . . . . . . 815-469-4907 Animal Control . . . . . . . . . . . 815-469-4907 x3712 Dial-A-Ride . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 815-806-2767 Food Pantry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 815-806-2761 Highway Department . . . . . . . . . . . 708-479-9673 Nurse’s Closet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 815-469-4907 Senior Activities & Meal Programs . . . . 815-806-2766 Supervisor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 815-469-4907 Tax Assessor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 815-464-3180 UTILITIES AT&T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-244-4444 Comcast. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-594-1234 ComEd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-334-7661 J.U.L.I.E.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-892-0123 Nicor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 888-642-6748 NuWay Disposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 708-479-9555 To find the heart of a community, one must turn to its past. For centuries, the land upon which Mokena now stands was home to different bands of Native Americans, the Potawatomis and their wigwams having been documented near Hickory Creek in the early 19th century. The young family of John McGovney were the first brave pioneers to settle the neighborhood, the Ohioans having arrived in 1831. Their tough frontier life was soon interrupted by the Black Hawk War, which sent them temporarily fleeing to more densely settled parts. They returned in 1834 and soon found new neighbors in John Atkins of Vermont and Allen Denny of New York. With others, they broke the untamed prairie where Mokena would later prosper. With the construction of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad in 1852, Allen Denny subdivided several lots near Wolf Road along today’s Front and First St.s. To his small development he assigned the name Mokena, marking the first recorded usage of the name. Many theories have abounded as to what the rustic word could mean, although modern research indicates that it signifies “turtle” in the Algonquin tongue. Not long thereafter, John McGovney completed an addition to Denny’s subdivision. These first steps, along with the establishment of a post office in the winter of 1853, heralded the birth of our community. A stop along the railroad brought commerce; early business houses were an inn, a general store and a blacksmith shop. A schoolhouse was built in 1855. At this early time, the majority of Mokena residents were of Germanic heritage. The carnage of the Civil War years awakened the young settlement’s spirituality. The German United Evangelical St. John’s Church was founded in 1862, followed by St. Mary’s German Catholic Church in 1864. Shortly after the war’s end, the Methodists constructed a church building in 1867. All three of these congregations have withstood the test of time, remaining an integral part of Mokena to this day. By 1878, around 600 people lived in the little burg, which was known throughout Will County as a shipping and trading center for grain. In June 1880 Mokena was successfully incorporated by referendum vote. Having been elected by the town’s male voters, the newly formed village board selected Ozias McGovney as their first mayor. One of the board’s first acts was licensing of the numerous saloons that abounded in the village. Mokena enjoyed heady days until a sharp decline struck at METRA Mokena Station (Front St.). . . . . . . . . 708-479-2160 LaSalle Station (Chicago) . . . . . . . . . 312-322-6509 Metra General Information . . . . . . . . 312-322-6777 WILL COUNTY General Information . . . . . . . . . . . . 815-722-5515 Animal Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 815-462-5633 Center for Community Concerns . . . . . 815-722-0722 Community Health Center . . . . . . . . 815-727-8670 Coroner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 815-727-8455 County Clerk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 815-740-4615 County Executive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 815-774-7480 Crisis Hotline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 708-479-1399 Forest Preserve District . . . . . . . . . . . 815-727-8700 Health Department . . . . . . . . . . . . 815-727-8480 Highway Department . . . . . . . . . . . 815-727-8476 Land Use Department . . . . . . . . . . . 815-774-3321 Planning and Zoning Division . . . . . . 815-727-8850 Recorder of Deeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . 815-740-4637 Senior Services Center . . . . . . . . . . . 815-723-9713 State’s Attorney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 815-727-8454 Treasurer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 815-740-4675 Veterans Assistance Commission. . . . . 815-727-8389 Will County Courthouse . . . . . . . . . . 815-727-8592 the end of the 19th century. Economic hardship due to the nationwide Panic of 1893, bad roads, and increased rail traffic to other nearby locales lead many residents and business to relocate. During the lowest ebb, the village counted a meager 281 inhabitants in 1900. The village experienced a slow but gradual comeback, marked first by the establishment of the Bowman Dairy’s milk bottling plant in 1907, and the opening of the Mokena State Bank in 1909. Gleaming electricity was first introduced to the town in 1913. The concreting of Wolf Road began in 1930 and finally ended in 1936, the long gap being due to a particularly intense property dispute. The champion of this much-needed civic improvement was William Semmler, a tireless Mokena booster as well as the editor of The News-Bulletin, the community’s trustworthy newspaper. Founded by Semmler in 1919, the publication existed until 1969. The small town weathered the Great Depression quite well, and overcame the desperate years of World War II through the bravery of at least 125 local heroes, who were bolstered by the sturdiness of Mokenians at home. A rich agricultural tradition characterized the life of Mokena from it’s earliest days until relatively recently. In the years after World War II, the village changed from a rural farm town to a suburb of Chicago. The subdivisions of Mineral Springs and Sunny Acres attracted newcomers in the first years after the war, while the opening of Interstate 80 in 1968 just north of Mokena simplified transportation to points farther afield. At the end of the 20th century, the community experienced a boom. In 1990, slightly more than 6,000 people lived within the incorporated limits, and in 2000, the population had more than doubled, counting approximately 14,000 residents. The 1990s also registered 23 housing developments, a number previously unseen in local history. The reputation for great living and friendly locals is still carried on in the 21st century. Mokena is not simply another village, but also a home. By Matthew T. Galik | Matthew T. Galik is a Mokena resident and author of the 2011 book Images of America – Mokena, Published by Arcadia Publishing. Copies of this book are available for purchase at the Mokena Chamber of Commerce Office, 19150 S. Wolf Road, Suite C, Mokena, IL 60448. 2018 Mokena Chamber Community Resource Guide | mokena.com
Page 1 and 2: 2018 Community Resource CHAMBER OF
Page 3 and 4: Category 3 SECURE DOCUMENT DESTRUCT
Page 5 and 6: Welcome from the Chamber 5 Dear Fel
Page 7: Your Chamber 7 As a new business ow
Page 11 and 12: Health and Wellness 11 Mokena’s e
Page 13 and 14: Category 13 FREE MARKET ANALYSIS! K
Page 15 and 16: Parks and Recreation 15 The Mokena
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Page 19 and 20: Churches 19 Faith and worship have
Page 21 and 22: Member Directory 21 Apex3 C.P.A. 10
Page 23 and 24: Member Directory 23 Culligan Water
Page 25 and 26: Member Directory 25 Hanco, Inc. 404
Page 27 and 28: Member Directory 27 MJM Restoration
Page 29 and 30: Member Directory 29 Same Day Tees 9
Page 31 and 32: Category 31 18445 Thompson Ct. Tinl

Mokena Community Resource Guide 2018

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