Our community isn’t a stranger to big events, with yearly favorites being the bashes of July 4th, the Firecracker Dance and Halloween Hollow. All of them bring in crowds and are loved by villagers of all ages. However, turning back the clock of time, if one asks any Mokenian of a certain age what the most fun time of year was, the answer will be a resounding yes to the annual Homecoming celebration held in days of yore. It’s the granddaddy of them all, holding an unstoppable wave of nostalgia.
The very first two-day Homecoming and Harvest Festival was brainstormed up by the Mokena Civic Club, a new group of local do-gooders and “live wires” in the autumn of 1938. It was a heady time, one in which the air was filled with anticipation and high hopes as Mokena pulled itself through the waning years of the Great Depression, as our town newspaper The News-Bulletin proudly proclaimed that the fest was nothing short of “Mokena’s big moment” and “two of its most outstanding Red Letter days”, not to mention that it was widely acknowledged that nothing close to its size had ever happened in town. The center of the village was given over to the festivities on October 21st and 22nd, with the grounds around the Rock Island depot (in those days being located on the north side of the tracks) being built up with tents holding exhibits on corn, pumpkins, lima beans, potatoes, fruit and even flowers, to which ribbons would be awarded to the best entries. Not to be bested by agriculture, the Civic Club also displayed samples of local weaving and wood carving.
Music would also be in abundance from the Mokena Band, Frankfort’s “Hillbilly Band,” the Civic Club Trio and even “a genuine old time square dance with a caller and old time dance music.” To accommodate the latter, an open-air dance floor was leased from the Orland Park Fire Department that measured 18 by 20 feet, allowing “even Jitter Bugs to dance.” The length of Front Street from Gus Braun’s ice cream parlor on the northwest corner of Front Street and Mokena Street west to George Wannemacher’s grocery store was roped off and turned into a “great white way.”
Perhaps the biggest piece of that first Homecoming was the children’s bicycle parade down Front Street, in which Mokena’s kids and their decorated bikes showed themselves off to an adoring crowd.
A peek into Mokena of yesteryear: The children's bicycle parade down Front Street at the 1938 Homecoming, the village's first.
That very first Homecoming in 1938 was a huge success, and after it returned the next year for a second time, it became an annual fete and local staple. While the village-wide party was cancelled in 1943 and 1944 due to manpower and supply shortages in the Second World War, a scaled-down event dubbed Fall Fast was held in September of the latter year at Robinson Park on the site of today’s Anna Street. Homecoming came back bigger and better in 1945, a time that held special meaning, as the festivities that year were held on the heels of the euphoric Allied victory.
Over the years, as Homecoming became synonymous with days of mirth, it was the gala event of Mokena’s social calendar and an irreplaceable part of our community fabric. There was simply no topping it.
This decorated hayrack piloted by Dick McGovney (standing with tophat) and his team of horses was a highlight of Mokena’s first homecoming. Standing just to the left of McGovney is Col. Don C. Hall, one of the most recognizable faces in the village.
By the time August 1956 rolled around, Homecoming was a busy event and ran like a well-oiled machine. That year, the ultimate goal of the village-wide party was to raise money for the new Mokena park on LaPorte Road. Two parades were in store, for children and pets respectively, not to mention rides, games and a Homecoming queen contest, in which a young lady would win the crown based on the number of chances sold in her name. (The two local contenders that year being Sheila Bennett and Rosemary Dempsey) With all things considered, this Homecoming would be like none of the others before it. To this day, it lives on vividly in the memories of those who were there, for it was on Sunday, August 12th, 1956 that a storm of unusual strength and ferocity hit Mokena at the height of the merrymaking.
At the bare minimum it was a particularly severe thunderstorm, but it was never ruled out that a small tornado was at hand, with at least one news report describing the strength of the winds as “tornado velocity.” Chaos reigned supreme at the squall’s outbreak, which blew into town around 9 o’clock that evening, and in the words of the Joliet Herald-News, “swept a six-block area the length of the village.” The torrent made short work of an eight-inch thick, 15-foot-high brick wall that was under construction at Wolf Road’s Hunter Foundry, the same gale carrying a booth ran by the fire department into an excavation on Front Street for an addition to Mokena State Bank. Village resident and future mayor Eric Book was blown into the foundation along with the booth.
28-year-old Mokenian Les Oakley lost two cars to a falling tree, one of which, a brand-new 1956 model, he had just won at a church celebration a few weeks beforehand. Rudolph Kurnat of New Lenox was also the unlucky owner of a smashed car, when a tree behind Muehler’s Tavern crushed it. The wind gusts decimated Front Street, with anything not nailed down being whisked away.
Most dramatic was the collapsing of a 50-foot exhibit tent, in which the story of unselfish heroism and staggering injury is highlighted. As the tent’s 400-pound support pole came crashing to the ground, 52-year-old Mokena building contractor A.S. Duncan bravely sprang into action to rescue a little girl who stood in its path. While the girl’s identity has been lost to time, Duncan’s bravery saved her from harm. He would not be so lucky. The contractor and two other men caught the pole, but their attempts to hoist it upright were all for naught due to the wind and the crushing weight of the wet canvas. Two of the men jumped out of its way in the nick of time, while Duncan was hit full on with the heft of the pole, pinning him to the ground. His left leg was horribly mangled, being broken twice below the knee and also about two inches above his ankle.
A.S. Duncan’s ordeal was nothing short of terrifying. Soaked canvas was suffocating him, and in the vivid words of The News-Bulletin, “a foot of water was tumbling down Front Street and pouring into the area where the exhibit tent was pitched. Duncan could feel the water rising.” Thoughts raced through his mind of suffocating under the canvas or drowning in the flood, to which soon was added the thought of being trampled to death, as unknown feet trod upon him and his broken leg from on top of the collapsed tent. Somehow, as if by miracle, he was able to get free and then succeeded in dragging himself about 10 or 12 feet, where his shouts for help were heard, upon which Mokena firemen found him and made him as comfortable as possible until an ambulance was able to arrive from Joliet. By and by, A.S. Duncan was borne to Silver Cross Hospital, where emergency surgery was carried out on his leg.
Meanwhile, at least two Front Street businesses, the taverns of the Muehler and Surovic families were thronged by stampedes of people who rushed their doors in order to get out of the biblical torrent. It would later be remembered that an inch of water stood on the floor of the Muehlers’ barroom, having streamed off the soaked refugees.
That night, Mokenian Phil Hacker supplied lights to help with the clean-up, while Donna’s Coffee Shop stayed open round the clock giving hot drinks to those sorting out the mess. In its post-storm reportage of the incident, The News-Bulletin gave all the credit to the Mokena Fire Department for saving the day. “They not only helped calm persons panic stricken by the suddenness and ferocity of the storm, but also freed some that were caught by flying canvas and then provided guards that remained in the area thruout the night and Monday afternoon to prevent pilfering.” Words of praise were also spoken by Mayor John Scarth, who told the paper “The village board joins with me in expressing our gratitude for the excellent work performed and community spirit displayed by the firemen.”
Over the coming days, as the rain and wind settled, it was estimated that there was about $8,000 in damage to the Homecoming, or close to $82,000 in today’s figures. To add further shock, no insurance was carried by either the Civic Association or the Mokena Lions Club, the organizers of the event, which could’ve proved disastrous for both of them, especially in light of Mr. Duncan’s horrific injury.
The effects of the storm continued to be felt. More than one Mokena youth saw dollar signs when rumors spread through town that paper money was blowing around the village. Indeed, tills in some of the booths were blown away, and a ten-dollar bill was found a block away from Front Street. The night after the deluge, several Homecoming committee members could be seen raking puddles in an effort to find any lost money. The good nature of Mokenians was evident, as more than a few dollars of the wind-strewn cash were turned back in to the Homecoming’s treasurer. Even local livestock felt the storm, as LaPorte Road resident Dick McGovney’s cow was freed by the gale, and proceeded to help herself to a plot of corn belonging to a family on Center Street.
After the colossal storm and disastrous end to that year’s Homecoming, the joint operating committee of the Lions Club and Civic Association found themselves staring in the face of financial ruin. To get back on their feet, they decided to throw a dance at Wolf Road’s VFW Hall on Saturday night, September 29th. All the unfinished business from the night of the storm would be completed at the dance, such as the awarding of prizes and the crowning of Homecoming Queen Sheila Bennett.
Alas, the festivities of 1956 would not only be remembered for their terrible climax, but for the fact that it would be the final year that Homecoming was held on Front Street. It was the end of an 18-year tradition, and also of an era. From this point, the gala would be held at the new park on LaPorte Road, but it was never quite the same after that, and it fizzled out not too long after. Thus the Great Storm of ’56 served in a way as the final curtain to the Mokena Homecoming. While over half a century has since passed, the momentous day has yet to be forgotten by our community.
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