Rooted in Morton: Community, Connection, and Service with John Cirilli

What makes a small town more than just a place to live? It’s the people who pour their hearts into it. In this episode of Morton Muse & News, we sit down with John Cirilli—a lifelong Morton advocate, local banker, and dedicated community volunteer. From his journey back to Morton after college to meeting his wife during Pumpkin Festival weekend, John shares his deep-rooted love for this town and why he’s stepping up to serve as a Village Trustee.

Join us as we talk about small-town values, local business growth, and the little things that make Morton feel like home. Whether you’ve lived here forever or are just passing through, this episode is a reminder of why community matters. Don’t miss it!

Transcript

 John Cirilli

John Cirilli

[00:00:00]

Ben: Welcome to Morton Muon News, where we bring you events, highlight the voices, and celebrate the unique charm of our community. From local happenings and business spotlights to heartfelt interviews with people who make Morton special. This is your go-to source for staying connected with all things Morton.

Tune in and let's discover what makes our town truly remarkable. One story at a time.

Okay, just about go time. Here at Morton Muon News, it is a Monday. It is the 17th, it's March. Weather's looking like it's fifties today. My last guest that I had in here was Jolynn and she is like a master volunteer. If you haven't had a chance to listen to that episode, maybe go check the show notes and see what you might have to hear from Jolynn.

Anyways, during that interview, she mentioned the next guests. And so John Elli, or is it Elli? Um, it's both. 

John: It can be both. I think most people will go with [00:01:00] Elli and that's probably how I. Traditionally pronounce it. Yeah, I see it on paper. IL though. Il. Yeah, I think that's more the Italian pronunciation.

Okay. But if you wanna get more Americanized with it, I think Elli is probably closer. John, how long have you been in Rotary? Oh gosh, rotary probably about six years now. Six years now. Yeah. Right before Covid. I, and then the group went through some transitions. Yeah. Yeah. And now it's starting to make a, comeback a little bit and I'm doing my best to get there every week.

Right, right. Uh, yeah, I would say, since joining Rotary, probably about six years. Yeah. 

Ben: And for the listeners who may or may not know this, I'm also a Rotarian and sometimes my circles intervene with, right. Um, all that to say though, too, I don't know John very much. I don't know you very well.

Sure. So only recently have I really had a chance to sit down with you at our last meal and Right. And get a chance to talk with you a little bit. And then when Jolynn called out your name, I was driving through the neighborhood and I was like, man, I wonder who my next. Guests should be.

Sure. And I'm not the kind of person who like looks out for signs and uh Right. And this is gonna be a really on the nose kind of joke here, [00:02:00] but it just so happened to also be the day that you were putting out your signs. Oh yeah. Sure. Your red sign with your name on it. And I was like, dang.

Right. If there's ever gonna be a sign that I should have this guy as my next guest, there's 20 of them all over the neighborhood. Right. So, welcome to the show. Have you ever been to Muse? I have not. I, this is my studio side here. This is where I. Make my sculpture, art stuff. Yeah. And I'm not an 

John: artist.

But I think it's really cool. Yeah. Like people that, you know, it's got a dirty vibe to it. Right. A little bit and put their passion into, something and creativity. I wish I could do that, but obviously you have a Yeah, yeah, yeah. I try to, I try, 

Ben: you know, it's all just an effort. Right.

We're all just out here trying. Sure. So with that being said, I like to start just kinda with bio stuff. Give me your background. Yeah. For the people in town who may not know you or may not know you very well where were you born? Take it from there. 

John: Yeah, sure. And I'll just start by saying, I appreciate you, Ben.

Oh. And this is a really good opportunity for me to come and I actually like podcasts myself. And to be able to do one is actually cool and special. Yeah. So I do appreciate you. And it's St. Patrick's Day, so [00:03:00] Oh yeah. St. Patrick's Day, taking the time away to. Do that on today is pretty cool.

Yeah. Um, yeah, so, my background bio so I was actually born in Florida. Oh I was born in Fort Myers, Lee County. My parents were down there at the time and then when they were looking at, how are we gonna raise our kids, where is this gonna be? And originally my parents, my dad was from Canton area and my mom upstate New York.

But they. We're like, let's move 'em back to the Midwest. And so we moved back and we settled in East Peoria. Okay. And then from there around middle school they were looking, where do we want our kids to, really do the last section of their school. Right. And what's a great school district to put 'em through high school and then potentially college?

We ended up building in Morton. Okay. Uh, my parents chose Morton for a lot of same reasons that I am. Uh, but you chose Morton That I chose to be back here. Okay. So those are the same reasons my parents chose to be here. So about, sixth grade we moved to Morton and then I finished and graduated from Morton High School.

Ben: So started Morton Junior High? Yeah, Morton High School. Then graduated what year? Uh oh four. [00:04:00] Oh four 

John: out the door in oh four. 

Ben: So out the door in oh four. Was that like the slogan on the banners and stuff? That was the slogan. I got a T-shirt still. Yeah, that was our slogan. You got the T-shirt still. Oh man.

Those kinds of nostalgia t-shirts, they hang out in the closet. Absolutely. They never get worn. Yeah, but you never throw 'em away. Yeah, and I think I still have a freshman year track high school t-shirt. You got 'em. 

John: I think some people make the blankets out of 'em, you know, they get all their old T-shirts and get 'em out.

But I've seen those my high school years is something that I always remember. And this is, basically. Planted the seed for Morton for me and just like growing up here and a lot of my friends still okay. That I would, are my best friends are from Morton, even though oh four. 

Ben: How old does that make you, John?

John: I am 39. 

Ben: 39? 

John: Yeah. Okay. Brothers and sisters. I have a sibling. My sister also graduated from Morton High School and then she settled into Milwaukee area. Okay. Younger? Younger technically a year in school, younger, but about, a little more 18 months I think total. But she's got five kids and they they love Milwaukee.

Okay. And it's a great, it's a great town as well. 

Ben: Okay. Yeah. So you [00:05:00] graduated from high school oh four. Yeah. You went to college in New York. I did. Okay. 

John: Yeah. 

Ben: Tell me a little bit about that decision making. 'cause that starts like junior year or if not earlier, right? Like, where am I gonna go to school?

Where do I have to apply? 

John: I think it should, I think kids nowadays take a bigger, like a hot worm. I gotta plan this out. Yeah. For me it was a little. Unplanned, so I actually attended Bradley University my freshman year. Really? Yeah. So I stayed local knew I wanted to do some business stuff and Bradley seemed like a great fit, which it was.

But then I had my sister who was right behind me. I was looking at schools and she was an architecture major. That's what she was gonna look to do. And Syracuse our families. Originally my mom is from oh, the Syracuse, Rochester area. 

Ben: So I find that interesting so that when your mom and dad decided to make this executive decision to take, pick up the family roots from Florida Yeah. And move back.

The initial part is going back to the Midwest. That's your dad's side? Yes. And then like graduates, school, not graduate school, but yeah. College. Sure. You and your sister. Yes. Is that what you're [00:06:00] suggesting? You both go out to Syracuse, New York. Well, where your par, where your mom's from?

John: Well, it's funny. Yeah. My sister was looking at schools and it Oh, okay. We happened to be, and I, it was a family trip for us to go back and, oh, we had gone back to. And I'll just make it easier just to the Syracuse region. Okay. Because they live in a small town up in upstate New York. But I, we usually would go out and snowmobile and do some different stuff.

So when we were, my sister went out, I was obviously along on the trip. I had been a freshman at Bradley and it was during the summer, but she toured Syracuse. I went along 'cause I was like, yeah, let's check this out. Yeah. I love the school 

Ben: real quick. You're like, okay. I was like, this is where it's at.

And my 

John: sister immediately, who's an introvert and doesn't like, big yeah, the school's gonna be too big for her or whatever. And it is a 

Ben: big school. I'm not familiar. 

John: Uh, it's a private school, but it's a bigger, on the private side. I think there's probably close to 20,000 undergraduate.

Ben: Okay. 

John: So not like your U of i Big, but big enough. Okay. And so we were on this architecture tour and my sister goes I already know I'm not gonna come here. She already knew. Yeah, she knew. But at that point in time you were kinda like, Hey, I like it. I was like, I was like, mom, [00:07:00] do we have like. You know, if we have a half an hour here, can we check out the business school?

Yeah. This school is really cool. They had a really good basketball team. Okay. So I was like, this would be really interesting. My mom told me if you can get in, which he's I don't know if you can get in or not. If you can get in, you can come. I'll help you, I'll support you to get in and or help you to support you to go to school there.

And turns out that I did get in and, alright. Made the transfer from Bradley out to Syracuse sophomore year. Sophomore year. 

Ben: Okay. 

John: Four years at college. Four years graduated with an undergraduate in marketing and entrepreneurship. 

Ben: Okay. Yeah. Then you came back. 

John: I did come back because you 

Ben: had to. I don't think so.

Okay. I think there was 

John: opportunity. I just loved the experience, but just culturally, most of the kids from Syracuse were going to New York City, Boston area. And I was like, I don't know if that's what I want for my life. But I loved the Midwest, I loved Morton. And my mom still lived here, so I was like, I'm probably gonna just head back and see what I could do back home.

Okay. So it brought me home. 

Ben: So what about the Midwest? I mean, there are some people who love it. Yeah. And you seem like you're one of 'em. What is it about the Midwest that brought you [00:08:00] back? You're in an area of the country that like. I would imagine my niece, would really, really love to go to, she lives in Santa Monica.

Right. But New York kind of metro area. There are people who it's almost like a personality trait, right? Sure. So what is it about the Midwest that aligns with like your personality? 

John: I think just the small town living family values. Uhhuh, I always knew I wanted to have a family someday and just the friendliness of people.

I'd love being able to just walk down and everybody's waving and you could talk to somebody who you may not know, like some more to us, man. Yeah, you can just start having a conversation. You have so much in common, but you people are more open to just. Neighborly and just having those conversations.

My time in New York was great and I loved it, but it is a different, it's a different vibe. There's not that they're, I don't want to like, but they're more that better or worse. Yeah. 

Ben: Yeah. More a tennis player and less like a soccer player, maybe. Yeah. I think tennis player, your one-on-one. 

John: I think that they have, that, they have that mentality. Of, you know, it's not as much team, it's about myself, right? And how am I gonna, propel myself, right? Instead of being like I want, I wanna surround [00:09:00] myself with other people.

Ben: And there's a way of thinking like, Hey, if everybody takes care of themselves, we all move forward, right? And then the other kind of rail of thought is like, well, if we're all kind of like picking up other people's. Interest in Slack and we all can move together in sync. Yeah. Kind of carrying each other.

John: Yeah. And it's so true. I believe those values and those things that you see in different, cultures, even in the, what is America I think is true. It rings true. There's a real Midwestern feel. Yeah. Especially when you go out and you experience something different and they're like, wow, I miss some of that.

Ben: I see it a lot in Morton graduates. Having this almost like quintessential I gotta get out of this town, right. Realization because I've been here my whole life. Sure. And there's this uh, almost like feudalist teenage angst, you know, of like, yeah. The last thing I'm gonna do is stay here.

Right. You know, and then they come back. So there's something about for some or not all? Sure. They leave and something out of an experience of contrast. They're like, they don't live in the small town anymore. They go to the bigger city and then they're like, oh, [00:10:00] they do this for four or five years.

And then they're like, okay. I think. I'm just now understanding what I had before. Because now it's different. Sure. And so they, and then they inevitably come back. Yeah. Sometimes 

John: I think there's a lot of truth to that. Yeah. And it's things that, what shaped you in your youth and growing up, you, you were like, man, I, I.

I really want that. Yeah. For myself. And then also, if I'm going to have the next generation like this is where I want to be and do that. 

Ben: Let's talk about that next generation business. You're married, right? I am married, yeah. So you moved back in oh eight? Yeah. Oh, at the door in oh four.

Yeah. We gotta come up with some sort of a rhyme for back in oh eight. I don't have 

John: one for that, but, 

Ben: Getting back in town in oh eight. Yep. Did you start with better banks right away? No, I did not. 

John: Okay. Yeah, so I come back and my mom was an entrepreneur. I went to school for entrepreneurship.

Okay. I really thought I was gonna jump into small business and own my own businesses someday. I thought that was something that I was gonna do. Pause. What was that small business gonna be? That's a good question. I don't know if I ever had anything that was like, here's my idea and this is what we're gonna run with.

I think it was more [00:11:00] of the. Ability to control and grow your own thing. Okay. I think it was, and I think it maybe was searching for what that was gonna be, and maybe that's why I never did it. 

Ben: What was your mom's thing? I. 

John: She got, so my mom was a respiratory therapist by trade, and then she got into home healthcare.

Okay. Worked for and started her own home healthcare business and grew that into some other small retail stores. 

Ben: Cool. 

John: One of which was the back store, which focused on Yeah. Like specialty stuff for your back and Yeah. Grew those out to about eight store total stores across wow.

The Illinois region. And she, uh, got outta that and retired after that. Okay. But I really thought, like, well, I came back and was like, I'm gonna work for her. And then see what's, see what's next for me. 

Ben: And then at what point in time did the bank come in line with that? 

John: Yeah. So I think maybe knowing that I I'm not gonna do this myself.

What's a good way to commun work with people? Yeah. And banking seemed to make sense. I had always gotten into business. I'd love numbers and finance. I, my career started here in town and more Jim Retailer at. PNC. Okay. Who was a manager at the [00:12:00] time hired me to be a teller at PNC Bank in Morton.

Okay. And I guess my banking career took off after that. Actually went over to Washington and worked as a banker for PNC. Okay. And then I. Better banks at the time was, which about eight years ago, was going to start their location in Morton. One of their additional locations was gonna be here in Morton.

Okay. And they were looking for people to come in and run, take off with the bank here. Yeah. With that launch. Launch. Yeah. Luckily enough they saw that I'd be a good fit. Yeah. And it gave me the opportunity to manage the branch here in Morton. 

Ben: Okay. And how long have you been manager?

John: Eight years. 

Ben: Okay. I'm sure at some point in here we gotta probably rewind a little bit 'cause there's a lot going on all at the same time. I know. Still wanna make sure that we cover the grounds of Yeah. You as a person. We've talked about like high school, college, graduation. I know wife and kid, or no.

Wife and kid. I. Your 

John: wife? Yeah, my wife. Okay. Kelsey. Kelsey she's from Morton. Okay. Graduated from Morton High School about five years. So like I graduated and then five years later she would come on and graduate. Gotcha. So we met here [00:13:00] locally pumpkin Festival weekend. Actually. You met your wife at Pumpkin Festival.

It was not Ava, it was during Pumpkin Festival. Okay. Actually we met at Red Rock. Yeah. Local establishment here. Yeah. During pumpkin festivals at Ingalls Place. Ingles, yeah. Bill and Christie, I think Bill and Christie. Yeah. We, when that was going a lot of my friend groups, we would go to Red Rock and Okay.

Hang out. And during Pumpkin Fest, a lot of people come back. Okay. So it was just gonna be a fun night. And I met my wife there that night, aw. 

Ben: That's 

John: sweet. And so she's five years younger. She is. 

Ben: Okay. Okay. And you guys live here in town? 

John: We do. 

Ben: Okay. 

John: Yep, we do, we live here in town. Pretty much have, since I've been back, Morton has been the place.

I'm like, I'm not gonna go anywhere else in central Illinois. I'm gonna live here in Morton. So, 

Ben: yeah. You're pretty much settled then, right? Like that? That's it. I would say so. And yeah. Unless something, yeah. Crazy happens, right? And 

John: we're blessed with two little girls, so I have two daughters.

Ben: Oh, okay. You do have two kids then? I do, yeah. 

John: Okay. Hazel and Ivy, Hazel's eight and Ivy Spot. Oh, good 

Ben: names. Good names John. 

John: Yeah. Yeah. With us, I'm a little 

Ben: judgy on the names sometimes 

John: there. Yeah. Hazel. Yeah. Traditional strong [00:14:00] names, so, yeah. Okay. And we're gonna be here, we're gonna raise our kids here and Yeah.

Uh, after that, who knows as far as we know what's next, but definitely until then we'll be here for sure. 

Ben: What's it like being a dad to two girls? They're both under, what, 10 

John: right? Yeah. 

Ben: Okay. They gotta be. 

John: Yeah. No, they're, it's amazing. Pretty young. Okay. Yeah, I think favorite thing about being a dad.

I, I think he's watching them grow. Yeah. And just how much you really impact your kids. Is it a 

Ben: struggle 

John: in any way for you or 

Ben: has it come, come to you pretty 

John: naturally? No, absolutely. It's a struggle. 

Ben: Okay. Yeah. 

John: It's probably let's do an ounce 

Ben: of struggle for an ounce of praise. Yeah. It's beautiful watching those kids do the things right, but like, where's the struggle at?

John: Yeah, no it's probably the most rewarding job, but also the hardest job I've ever had. You think 

Ben: That comes hand 

John: in hand, right? Oh, absolutely. It's gotta be, it's yeah. But no, it comes with absolute struggle and I think. Me and Kelsey think we're probably failing most of the time, but 

Ben: Yeah.

That's pretty natural. I know. I think if you have that feeling, you're, it's probably an indicator that you're doing okay. I 

John: think so. 

Ben: You slather on a good, healthy dose of guilt. Yeah. Every morning you're like, okay, let's get out the door. 

John: Yeah. Yesterday [00:15:00] wasn't the best, but we're gonna make it better today.

So, uh, 

Ben: yeah. That reminds me of having my, I got two kids as well and they're getting a little bit older now, so there's more of this independence and sometimes attitude, sure. Opinions and all those kinds of things. But yeah, that, that does remind me of, that feeling of like, well, man, kinda like a reflection at night.

That wasn't the best version of me. Yeah. 

John: As a way of just really breaking you down to your core and being like, wow, like but it's also the most important job, like I said, we'll ever have. Absolutely. Making sure that our girls are supported and loved and that they have a future, so, absolutely.

Did you see your wife works in the schools? Yeah. Uh, Kelsey always knew she wanted to be a teacher. That was like her lifelong passion. And so she went to Olive Nazarene University to schedule, study elementary education and came back and actually was, she went to Jefferson School as a kid. Okay.

And then she was like, my dream would be to teach kindergarten and Jefferson school. And is that what grade? Kindergarten. Kindergarten, sorry. Okay. And so she came back and was a [00:16:00] full-time kindergarten teacher here at Jefferson. Oh, man. For about five years. Until we had our kids, she stayed home for a little bit.

Okay. And got back into teaching. She's currently at the junior high. 

Ben: Okay. Yeah, she's at the junior high. 

John: Yes. Oh. What does she teach at the Junior High Future Readiness? It's a encore class. 

Ben: Okay. So 

John: preparing, not familiar with 

Ben: that. 

John: Yeah they've changed up a lot of the curriculum. Lots curriculum's gotta change.

Ben: Yeah. Times are changing. A lot 

John: of focus in, what does it look like for you in the future. Yeah. But future readiness is. 

Ben: I think we've all had that realization at some point in time in our lives. We're like, why didn't I learn this in school? 

John: Yeah. This would be the class that you're like, if I could learn anything, like this is the one teaching a lot of the, what do you wanna do in the future?

Social, emotional. Yeah. Handling your internet environment, uh mm-hmm. What it means to be socially out there on social medias. Like just stuff that's like really, really good for kids stuff 

Ben: that's on the cusp too. 

John: Oh, absolutely. Yeah. 

Ben: Not just for society as a whole, but for kids. Yeah. 

John: Like your social footprint is there even at Yeah.

14 years old. Right. So, so you gotta make sure you [00:17:00] protect that. 

Ben: Jolyn had been in here just a couple of weeks ago. She's talking about volunteering. I hear that you have experience with that. Yeah. Okay. What are your roles and tell me a little bit about that. 

John: Yeah, so I, I, I think it's, I have a, the fortune to be able to serve so much in our community.

I really believe in it. But I got heavily involved with the Morton Chamber of Commerce probably around the same time I joined Rotary around the six years ago after starting the branch here in Morton. Okay. I'm currently an ambassador as Jolene is as well. Okay. So the ambassador program just kinda highlights what the chamber's doing and connects with local businesses and organizations.

I'm also 

Ben: Both established and like newly developed. 

John: Absolutely, yeah. Where they're trying to grow, promote as well as maintain the established businesses that are in town. In our local area. Doesn't have to just be in Morton as well. I think that's we have businesses outside of Morton, in the Morton Chamber of Commerce as well 

Ben: okay. So you said Rotary Chamber of Commerce. Yep. Something else. Anything else? 

John: I'm a pumpkin festival chair. That's more chamber still. Okay. But heavily [00:18:00] involved. I just, that set up and tear down and getting the festival off the ground. I try to make sure that I'm heavily involved in some of that stuff as well.

Ben: I read something about Volunteer of the year. Was that you that Yeah. 2023 

John: humbly. Yeah. All right. All right. I was honored the chamber, names, uh, whoever excelled and was the, what they would consider the person out there volunteering.

And they granted me with that and last year's very cool annual meetup. So I was like blown away that I had won an award. 

Ben: So what's the, where's that come from, that calling to serve you said, I just feel like it's part of my responsibility. Is this something that you observed in your parents, or is this just something that you have inside of your heart and your mind that you know what, I just have to do it?

Or was there a single incident? Tell me about that. 

John: That's a good question. I don't know if I ever saw myself as involved as I, I am. I think in national, so like 

Ben: high school, you would be looking 

John: at you now 

Ben: being like, 

John: whoa. Yeah. I think people even probably that's a lot. This guy. Like I, he is not the same.

But I don't know. I think a lot of it starts with my. Faith in God. And I think that leads me to, want [00:19:00] to serve as we're called to serve. And then from there it's just, as you get involved you see how much impact and opportunity there is and the great people that I'm able to serve around.

And so it's yeah, when given the opportunity, I just always kinda say, yeah I'll do that. Always say yes. You end up as a, if you get in this position and you're a volunteer, you are gonna get at and there it's more the time. Yeah. If you say yes a lot, you're gonna do a lot of, lot service work.

Yeah. 

Ben: What's the, there's gotta be a tremendous upside to that. What are some of the upsides to volunteering for so many things? 

John: You get to know a lot of people. I think that's one of the greatest thing I take away is I volunteer with some of the most amazing people here in Morton that own businesses and organizations and people.

You'd be like, I didn't, I don't that they do that. I see them as the volunteer. So you 

Ben: otherwise maybe would've never met 'em. 

John: Probably not. Yeah. I think it does let you get out there and see. It also lets you see how great your community is and how many cool things we have going on.

And it's endless the amount of service. Yeah. Charitable impacts that people have that, that live here and work here, more. Yeah. You can't measure it that way. 

Ben: [00:20:00] No. 

John: Yeah. 

Ben: It's incredible. I mean, the, the downside obviously is the time, right? Yeah. And you're probably experiencing that more.

You got two younger kids as they get older. Yeah. It's gonna be harder. I would predict, to be like, ah I'll say yes to that one too, 'cause there comes a point in time in which you're like maybe I've got too much. I mean 'cause, because otherwise people would just like endlessly.

Or into that? 

John: I think so. And I think that's, or is that possible? Yeah, definitely. Definitely. I think you, you can be spread thin and you wanna make sure that your impact is being, like, you are able to give the impact that you want. So as you take on more, I think it's naturally to let go of some of it, right?

I think my wife would be one that be like, if she tells me when maybe Hey we're doing too much or, 

Ben: ah, 

John: to pull back she's 

Ben: able to see that better than you are? I think 

John: so. Okay. Yeah. That's a good balance. But she's also heavily, she's as evolved as in her things as well. We're just a very active, involved family, I think.

Ben: Yeah. Any teacher I know is wired that way. Yeah. 

John: You 

Ben: know, they're Yes 

John: people. Yeah. And she's she is the. Head varsity dance team coach for the Morton High [00:21:00] School, so Oh, okay. 

Ben: Yeah. 

John: And previously junior high as well. And I taught, I 

Ben: coached, I know that's, that's a, that's a lot.

It, it is. Sometimes you're gone from six in the morning until six 30 at night. Yeah, yeah, for sure. 

John: Yeah. So it's a balance. It's trying to create balance in your life. 

Ben: We brought all the way through high school, graduated in oh four College, Bradley University s Syracuse University. You came back, you got established with mom's business and then.

You transitioned into PNC banking and then got on with better banks. Yep. Met your wife at Morton. Pumpkin around Morton Pumpkin Festival weekend. Yeah. Sounds like you got a beautiful family. Let's talk about what's going on in the present day and moment for John, what's going on? Your signs are all over the town, so let's talk about trustee stuff.

John: Yeah. Obvious, obviously we just talked about my service. Mm-hmm. Um, this kind of naturally. Just flows right into that or what? No, it came, it did come fruition. So I am running as a village board trustee. Okay. So there are four. Four of us running for three spots. And there's, there's six [00:22:00] trustees total.

Ben: Are they on rotating 

John: Yep. Terms? Yep. So there'll be four year terms. They come up obviously every two years. You'll vote for another four year term okay. We have two incumbents, rerunning for their spots, and then we have a third spot. Ken Newman chose, he was done, he had run eight, he had served eight years and he was stepping down from the board.

Okay. So seeing that there would be a possible third. Spot available. And I had been, out and serving and my name had been brought up on the village side. It was through natural just progression. It was like, Hey, I think you'd be really good at this. Would this be something you'd be interested in?

Somebody 

Ben: approached you with 

John: that? It's not necessarily approach, but just through multiple different avenues in my life. So people that I'm close with, there is some connections at the village that, when it was brought up, they're like, yeah, I think you'd be great at this role.

So, okay. And, I never envisioned myself running politically for a spot, but just seeing the impact that could be made that, on the village side, it stirred me to say, yeah, I think if you guys need somebody in the village needs somebody, like I would consider a dorm a [00:23:00] hat in the ring.

What was that like when you told your wife? Uh, yeah, Kelsey's always very supportive and she's is this something you really wanna do? Yeah, we can get behind on this. Cool. But yeah, it's always something we have to talk about it, right? This is not, yeah. This isn't just a weekend gig. No, it's a big deal.

Yeah. There's some time involved.

Ben: Mm-hmm. Are there any limits on how many terms? No. 

John: No. Okay. There probably should be, but there are, I've always thought that too. There's no term limits on this, but obviously the public if you have the opportunity to vote out Yeah.

Or vote in, whatever you see fit. If there's somebody not doing their job or you don't like it there's an election that allows you to make a change there. 

Ben: So talk on some of the issues that you maybe wanna touch on. Sure. Yeah. You gotta be running on some sort of a, I don't wanna call it a platform 'cause it sounds too political, but some messaging.

Sure. 

John: I guess my run is I'm not really running, for me personally, I'm more running because I believe that we need good representation in these local community spots. Local government is probably where you'll see the most impact on yourself. Mm-hmm. Um, as a citizen. And so I am just [00:24:00] honestly running because I believe.

I believe in Morton. I believe that, we have a really good thing going here and we need good people to sustain that and then also push it into the future. That's a difficult thing to do. 

Ben: It's hard to stay close to the original version. Yeah. As well as recognize you can't stay original forever.

Yeah. There has to be some progress made in something somewhere. Yeah. Yeah. That's difficult to do, I think. Do you have any, you have any specific ideas? 

John: I think to, to your point there, I think as long as Morton keeps, the lens that is, what has made it so great for a lot of people is that, it is conservative that those family values kind of.

Mm-hmm. As long as we have the lens of that, I still think growth is possible. Yeah. But yeah, we always make sure that we. We keep what we really like and why most people are here. I would say that's probably the family values, it's safe, it's quiet. Right? You kind of have conveniences, modern conveniences 

things that are, that you can go and do and have things that are available to you, but also you have this small town. [00:25:00] Community feel. So I think having all that in the same lens is what makes us successful and would probably continue to make us successful.

Ben: I wanted to paint like a Venn diagram of your experience as like a manager at a bank. Yeah. And you see small town finances more broadly than I do. Not being involved in a bank and then you have this interest in v in volunteering and being and running for trustee. Yeah. What do you, how do you see that, those two, how does that become one of your strengths?

It has to be, right? Yeah. So what insight does that position give to you in the trustee position that you're running for? 

John: Being a branch manager bank, you absolutely get to meet a lot of different people, local people who come in for the bank, whatever, services they need.

You're talking 

Ben: like home? Home loans? Business loans, yeah. Open 

John: everyday. Checking accounts, savings accounts. Stuff for their kids. Stuff for their kids, yeah. So I see a bunch of different people in the local community. I also work with small businesses. I think, again, back to my entrepreneurial spirit, yeah, that's one of, I love working with small businesses and I think this community, we have some great small businesses.

We have some great owners [00:26:00] of small businesses. And so I think, the trustee position allows, me to come in and, support those people in even a greater fashion. 

Ben: Right. I see you utilizing your strengths and your information. Your knowledge Yeah. About financing and lending.

To this position. 

John: Absolutely. Housing market, yeah. It's gonna be a big piece to the growth of Morton and what I see, the future looking like there. Just my overall financial sense, I think. The currently, there's nobody who works at a bank that's on the board.

Or who has, I'm sure they have financial background, but just a true understanding of finances to dive into the numbers, the budgeting. Yeah, the financial reporting that the village has to use when they make decisions. I think that's a, that's a strong point. That's an advantage. Yeah, for myself that, some of my qualifications can be taken in and used directly in my skills.

And just the overall growth, what does that look like for Morton? What should we be focusing on? And I would talk about growth for a little bit because I think it's easy to be like yeah, we just want exponential growth. Like we, we want new businesses. Precision Planting was a [00:27:00] great option and a great addition to Morton.

Springfield Clinic will also be building their new. State of the art head not headquarters, but state of the art facility here in Morton on Detroit Avenue. Really? Yep. So that's where it's, do you know, like police station across, yeah. Water treatment center. Yeah. They'll be going right in the field.

Okay. And the village has a lot of plans. So Detroit will, I think, be a big development piece here. Okay. In the near future for more. Yeah. 

Ben: I'd like to see some more development on the south side of the town, the south and the west side of the town. It seems like it's, for a while it was just going.

Like East. Yeah. All that stuff behind the Golds or the Titan Fitness and yeah. All that housing out there, I think. And then like in the field going down one 50. Yeah. All those new neighborhoods out there. 

John: And I think this is tough for the village. I think obviously the village would, we can have some control of who can come in, right?

And what businesses and where we could place them, where zoning works for them, all that stuff. Right? But at the end of the day, we're, who wants to be here and where it's basically a business coming and saying, I'd like to be in Morton, and then the village doing their best job of placing them in the best [00:28:00] spot that fits, not only for zoning, but also for the business.

So I think businesses. Have tended to, wanted to be out on North Morton Avenue. Most of the, we're talking about interstate traffic, restaurant retail. Yeah. Large retail, that's where they've gravitated towards. Yeah. I would love to see, and I, would work passionately to try to figure out and solve What is the field shopping center in, in?

Oh yeah. The south end of Morton. Yeah. Unfortunately it is on, it is owned, it's, there's, they have the ownership of it. And it's a, I think a group out of Texas. And so we are at the Mercy somewhat of 

Ben: Right. Whatever they decide to do. 

John: Yeah. And if they wanna put more money into it, or, you know, if they don't.

Yeah. Are they incentivized to do that? You know? Right. What does that look like? And so that's why it's important, if, if there are things that, do change hands that we try to do our best to get the right people in the right places. Right. Okay. But, and I think obviously the other piece, a lot of people and myself included that wanna see Morton grow would probably, what does that look like for downtown Morton?

Ben: Yeah. Because you really can't grow the downtown [00:29:00] very much. Not 

John: really 

Ben: talking a lot. 

John: Locked in. Landlocked. Yeah. I think just putting efforts and revitalization back into it, and I don't, Yeah. This is, blue sky thinking. Right. You know, what does it look like to redo, the look of downtown, redoing the roads or 

Ben: events, maybe, perhaps something like that. 

John: Bring some events in. Yeah. Support those local, and that's more general as well, is we have to be supporting these small businesses. Yeah. Shop local is a big initiative that the Chamber does and I think that it's important that if we want.

New businesses. We want, we gotta make sure, we gotta 

Ben: keep the businesses that we've got that are good, that you support our current ones have 

John: to be successful. And so it does take keeping your dollars here in Morton when you're looking to go out and spend, go out to eat, go out to mm-hmm. To shop.

Are there local businesses that you could do that here and keep your money here in Morton? Yep. Yeah. Very 

Ben: true. Yeah. Yeah. It broke my heart when the the forge. Yeah. Sold. And now Dax is there and I love Dax. Sure. But I'm, I'm always wanting to support, Dax as much as I can, Kemp, right up the street from there as much as I possibly can, [00:30:00] because I want them to stay.

Yeah, for sure. 

John: And yeah, anytime a small business, it doesn't make it, there's people behind that. Yeah. There's their life lives. Mm-hmm. And so it's, it breaks my heart too, but it takes us all, we all, it does, we all have to rally together as a community and Right. We do control at the end of the day, some of this stuff that we don't think we have any control over.

Ben: Very, very small, like each of us. Very small amount of responsibility. Yeah. Yeah. 

John: But it all equals into a larger positive impact. 

Ben: Something you said the other day about bikes and walking paths or walkability. Yeah. I can't remember exactly what that was about. 

John: So just when the I was asked we were asked, you know, some issues that we saw for the Village of Morton.

Okay. And I took issue. I was like things that I think we could, maybe even do better at. And I think that's walkability and bikeability. Okay. And I think this is one of the most active places I've ever seen is just. If you Nice. In the last like two weeks in the night when the nice weather comes, everyone is out there.

Yeah, everybody's out there. Strollers, dogs. Yeah. We just are an active place and so how can we support, [00:31:00] we have a lot of young families and people wanna bike ride, they wanna walk, they wanna get out. Not that we haven't done well at this, but I think we, every project that comes up, every time we're redoing a road, how can we.

Look at putting sidewalks in. Yeah. Then there's 

Ben: no finish line to, it isn't oh yeah, we got the bike trail in. Yeah. Done with biking stuff. Yeah. Want to continue to develop it and maintain that. Absolutely. 

John: And I think the park board also, we're saying we'd love to, they'd love to see that initiative as well.

So there's a partnership available between the village of Morton and the park district to continue the bike path. Okay. Currently it's Courtland. They built in some bike path. There it go. It goes nowhere. Oh. So we have some, we need to continue it, and I would like to see it come back through have some bikeability even through town like downtown Morton.

Yeah. However this looks, logistically, you know, there's a lot that has to go into it. Yeah. But making sure that, we are pro proactively finding solutions. Right. 'cause I think people want it. 

Ben: Kind of winding things down here. We've got I mean, a lot, a lot of area we can sit and talk [00:32:00] about.

Sure. Is there anything that you really wanna touch on? Um, 

John: I just, my overall candidacy, today my focus is probably in the next few weeks is, yeah. Running for this board. Yeah. And so just, why I am doing that? You know what I think we could, see here in Morton is this, what do we all want it to be?

And I think that Morton I think we all love, we're all here for a reason, and I think a lot of the things that we've already talked about are the reasons we're here. It's just, right. It's safe. It's, it's a nice community. Good businesses, good parks, good businesses, good parks. It's a great place to live.

And so when we look at, propelling that into the future, what does that look like? But I, for me, it's not, it's absolutely keeping the same things that we do very well. Mm-hmm. And then looking for small things that we can improve upon. And I think we're talking 

Ben: like just a small turn to the screw kind of thing, I think so. Up 

John: a little bit. I think so. I don't think we need, I don't think we need big changes. Yeah. I don't think you need somebody, or a whole group to say, Hey, we gotta change this whole thing up. I think that there's a lot of really good things. It's just, making sure [00:33:00] that Mor is accessible for, all the people that want to take advantage of what we have here.

And it's, it is some growth. I think growth isn't a bad thing. It's just, what does that growth look like? Right. Strategic, strategic growth. Yeah. And I think, we have a lot to sell from a business side of things there are, there is gonna be some attraction for, I think we, we can even do better at that and say, you know what businesses do we want here?

And I think we can go out and we can get those businesses to come and plant their flag. Whether that is retail restaurant mm-hmm. Entertainment or other, manufacturing like precision planning. And and Morton Buildings is a great, story for us. And logistics ca I mean, to think of the number of different businesses you have of the scale that we have in this little, we, yeah.

For a small 

Ben: town 

John: It's amazing and it's because we have so many great things that are going on here. And I'd just say to those that are listening. We are voting in a couple weeks and, 

Ben: yeah. Yeah, let's talk about that. 'cause I'm, I don't, you probably don't know this, but I'm not a Morton resident.

Oh, really? No, I didn't know that. I'm not Okay. So I'm sorry to say, but I can't, I know I can't vote, but people are gonna vote. Sure. April [00:34:00] 1st. April 1st. Yeah. That's a trickster day. Yeah. Yeah. They gotta pick, just do the second. 

John: I think it's 'cause it's the Tuesday. So they election. Oh, that is a Tuesday.

Elections love their Tuesdays. They love their Tuesdays. What's up with 

Ben: that? I have no idea. They want to go vote and get tacos, 

John: I guess. Yeah. Taco Tuesday. Uh, no, I, yeah, everyone I would just say. I encourage everyone to vote. Yeah. Where do they vote? So they're local polling place, so Okay. If they just voted in presidential, like it's the same place you go on April 1st.

Gotcha. If you're registered to vote and you can check with the taswell if you find out if you're registered or not and can't get registered. There are early voting, uh, opened, so they did a lot of mail in stuff early on, but, oh, that's already opened? Yes. Okay. And then you can vote in town today. Oh, okay.

So I think at those polling places, well, nope. So there's six locations. One in Morton is the Morton Township. The Morton Township Hall is where you could go and vote today if you wanted to. Okay. By the time this airs, we're probably getting close to April 1st, so then we're [00:35:00] looking at probably, that election day.

Yeah. Okay. But I would just encourage all you, you're never youth, I would say if you're young, like this stuff matters. Yeah. Practice it now. Yeah. And, and I, again, if some people feel like presidential, I don't have an impact. It doesn't matter. I, they're gonna select the president and my vote won't matter.

Right. This election, the, what you're voting for park village, library and school. And that's all in the ballot? Yeah. Park, park District library, school board, and the village board. So, yeah. These are local community people. You run into 'em at Walmart or whatever, and they're gonna impact what happens here in this town for at least the next four years, at least the next four years.

But decisions we make now will impact, into the next generation for sure. 

Ben: Depending on what happens. Yeah, yeah. Big things, right? Right. Big things. And then it's been really windy lately. Yeah. But those signs have been blowing around town. I lost, I lost a few. I bet. Yeah. Those things can't stay up in that way.

And that's, yeah. But it's okay. Yeah. Tough sign man. It's okay. Signs don't vote, people vote. So yeah, people, I like [00:36:00] that. Alright, John, thank you for coming. Any last final thoughts? Questions for me? 

John: I just, Ben, I appreciate you. I actually found this out. I think more people should know you do this completely free.

Oh yeah. There's no monetization to this. Yeah. This is just your time. You're actually caring about getting people a platform and a voice. And other local Morton people can understand about who these people are that are, they see it out and about in their community. So I just wanna say thank you to you.

Appreciate that this. Platform and this freedom of information and speech is huge. It's what makes America great and what makes our small town great. 

Ben: I like that it's become more accessible to the granular level. Like for. My whole life growing up news was on the tv Right? Or in a newspaper or something like that.

But it came from some other place far away. Right. And then it came to me and I'm like, oh that's the news even of my small town, right? It came from somewhere far away. And so now I think with the technology and access to podcasts on people's smartphones and their smart speakers, they can get access to this stuff anywhere.

So it's it's for me, a little bit of a passion project. So I think it's, I appreciate you saying that. 

John: I think it's really cool [00:37:00] and I think more people, I hope more people find your. Your podcast. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then they will listen. I'm gonna know, I'm gonna share it out there, obviously.

I You've had some people on I've watched them, but yeah. Now that I've done this, I'm gonna, definitely spread the word here. We had, 

Ben: uh, Paul Gre, um, Scott Wittig. Oh yeah. Just the storytellers. Like, I love, uh, you ever listen to NPR, like Moth Radio Hour? I was like, yeah. That's just some of the great stories.

And these Tom Van Ness had a great, his great story about grief and Yeah. And Scott Wittig got real sentimental about his role in, in like turning grief into, oh man, he had a good line for grief into gratitude or something like that. Right. So yeah being witness to those things and then finding a way to kinda hold onto it and then cycle it back out to people. Yeah. At their leisure. Yeah. Rather than just saying, you have to tune in at this time, or You have to go here and pay at this, right. This paywall to get it. Like you could be sitting in the doctor's office, the dentist's office. In line at the Pumpkin Festival, this pumpkin festival listening to a podcast about your own small town 

John: Morton.

Yeah. And people, you may, you are like, [00:38:00] I know that person, but then you give them an opportunity to be like, oh wow, I didn't know anything about that. All that. Yeah. And so I think the, this type of information is gonna take off even more than it is now. And I appreciate you doing this. Yeah.

And I could look back and probably a few years and be like, Ben took off with this thing. Yeah, that'd be cool. That'd be 

Ben: cool. I think so. Awesome. Well, hey John, I have a gift for all my guests. You probably heard it on one of the last episodes too. Yeah. My favorite pen, being a bank guy, I know you probably have to have plenty of pens around.

These are not the kind to leave on the counter. Okay, but this is for your own little desk. You blue or gold? Uh, 

John: I'll go with the blue. The gold seems too flashy for me, but no this is awesome, man. Appreciate it. 

Ben: Yeah, I'm a big journal person, so, uh, yeah. Get real picky about my pens and 

John: yeah, I'll use it nerdy about my books, put right at my desk in Better Bank.

So. 

Ben: Well, my last question for you is the same question that I had for Jolynn. Who else do you think I should have on the show? 

John: Oh, wow. That's a great question. Yeah, if you're [00:39:00] looking there's tons of options. Yeah. I have so many things I could do. If you're looking for storyteller yeah, 

Ben: I want that.

I want the neighbor who lives behind you, who you hear him working in his wood shop. And he's got veteran plates and you, he just seems like an interesting guy. I don't know about, 

John: yeah, just from a community standpoint, somebody who I don't know if you've talked to, I don't know if Bill Morton, I don't know if you, I know Bill but what he's done with some of the projects, I know he's also trying to get off the ground our history as the pottery.

I 

Ben: I'm very familiar with that story. Yeah. Are you, I don't know if 

John: he, this would be a good spot for that. Katie and I 

Ben: owned Martin Pottery for about three years. 

John: Okay. So just his passion to do that. I mean, he has no real, this is just really, honestly, a passion is to try to make that, and also he just brought, made sure Butch's Pizza that was gonna stay here in town.

Okay. Uh, bill would be a good one. Obviously I have a lot of community leaders. Yeah. Yeah. Is what I'm doing, but I don't even, I don't know, 

I'll put Bill down as a note. 

I got some people that are interesting, but I don't know if you want 'em on your podcast, 

Ben: so you'd probably wanna talk to him first too.

Yeah. It'd be like, uh, sure. Before I start knocking on their door. 

John: Yeah. I'd be like, and yeah. But Jason Yardie would [00:40:00] be a good one. I don't know. The Turkey track and the Turkey stuff that he does out there. Yeah. Is, I didn't, I don't know anything about turkeys, but I got in a conversation with him recently and I was like, wow, this is so interesting.

Yeah. And a lot going on there and like a small farmer then. And then, you know how that, Ooh, 

Ben: I like this one. 

John: How that impacts our, how we get our food on our table. Yeah. Jason's got a lot of different stuff and he's got a lot of passions as well outside of that. But Jason's great. You could sit here, talk to him for a couple hours Yeah, probably.

And be entertaining. That one would probably 

Ben: be like a three parter. Yeah, three parts to that. If you wanna be 

John: entertained, I'd say Jason, you would be a good one. 

Ben: Okay. Yeah. Well, John, thank you very much. I hope you have a great rest of your day and I appreciate you coming in. 

John: Yeah. And please vote April 1st and I am on the ballot and I would appreciate your vote, everyone who's listening and everybody in town.

So thank you very much, man. 

Ben: Awesome. Thanks John. Have a good day everybody. Hey, this is Ben. Thanks for listening to this episode of Morton Muon News. I'm excited to share more stories with you, but I need your help to keep the content growing and engaging. If you know someone in our community with an interesting story to tell, or who's making a [00:41:00] difference, we'd love to hear from you.

Maybe it's a local business owner. Maybe a community volunteer or even a neighbor with a unique hobby. Send us their names and a little bit about why you think they'd be great for the show. You can find us by searching Morton Musen News on Facebook or by emailing me at B van D twelve@gmail.com.

B-V-A-N-D-E one two. Additionally, if you're interested in sponsoring our show or supporting our effort to highlight our wonderful community, we'd love to partner with you. Sponsorship not only helps us continue to produce quality content, but it also provides great exposure for your business and your organization.

Thanks for being part of the community and the show. Together, let's continue to celebrate the people and the stories that make Morton special. Until next time, keep making Morton [00:42:00] matter.