January 12, 2026 Local Stories in and Around St. Joseph, Illinois

10 things you don’t know about me… John Mills

Every week we ask an area resident to give us 10 interesting facts about themselves. This week it is John Mills from Travel by Beth.

This post is sponsored by the St. Joseph Dairy Queen.

• I am a lifelong resident of St. Joseph and I grew up on a farm just a mile from where I live now.

• I have 3 daughters, with my wife of 20 years, about to turn 18 years old.

• I have been a Paramedic for almost 30 years and was one of the first flight medics for Carle’s AirLife air ambulance service.

• I play drums for the praise band at CU Church in Champaign

• For 7 years I was on Indy Car’s (CART) Safety Team as a fireman/paramedic and travelled all over the world for races.

• My favorite travel destination is Jamaica.

• When I travel, I always have a buckeye for good luck that I got from my father-in-law.

• I love buffalo chicken wings and always try them at any new place I eat to see who has the best wings.

• I farmed for 7 years after college and retired from the Champaign Fire Department after 23 years of service.

• I tailgate at every Illini home football game with my family and our “Cousin Eddie Special” RV


in People
Banner
Related Posts

Booker to be honored tonight at fire station

October 12, 2023

October 12, 2023

When Ross Booker was 10 years old he went with his mother, Marita, to volunteer with their church group at...

Kids say…

August 26, 2019

August 26, 2019

Every week we ask students at local schools three questions related to farming. This week we spoke to students at...

Food pantry in need of donations

August 23, 2019

August 23, 2019

The shelves are almost bare at the St. Joseph Community Food Pantry. The pantry, housed in the St. Joseph Church...

‘He was the kind of person everyone was happy to see’

July 19, 2025

July 19, 2025

Sam Shonkwiler was full of life. He would walk in a room and people would call his name. He had...

Always Looking to Give Back: Short honored for volunteerism

June 7, 2022

June 7, 2022

Tim Short wants to inspire the younger generations. Short, who was honored with the SJO Friend of Education Award this...

Comfort Quilters honor veterans

August 8, 2019

August 8, 2019

In June, 14 veterans were awarded comfort quilts. Two more could be awarded tonight at the St. Joseph Festival by...

‘Having a trip on the books gives us something to look forward to’

June 4, 2020

June 4, 2020

It’s a crazy time in the travel industry, that’s for sure. While some news tends to lean towards the doom...

Wagle reaches out of her comfort zone

April 3, 2022

April 3, 2022

Alayna Wagle loves Halloween. So the Addams Family spooky motif is right up her alley. “I was pretty familiar with...

‘Girl Scouts is not all arts and crafts’

January 19, 2023

January 19, 2023

” Hannah Fox wanted to help feed her community. And for her Girl Scout Gold Award she attempted to do...

10 things you don’t know about me…. Katie May

July 17, 2019

July 17, 2019

Every week we ask a local resident to tell us 10 facts about themselves. This week we spoke to St....

Acklin goes the distance, earns induction into SJO Hall of Fame

September 27, 2019

September 27, 2019

Jim Acklin has dedicated his life to coaching and teaching. For that he is being inducted into the St. Joseph-Ogden...

10 things you don’t know about me Staci Potter

August 12, 2021

August 12, 2021

We asked St. Joseph-Ogden’s new district bookkeeper to tell us 10 interesting facts about herself. Meet Staci Potter. 1. My...

St. Joseph resident Lewis to star in ‘Frozen Jr.’

September 21, 2019

September 21, 2019

Hayden Lewis loves to act. The St. Joseph Middle School student is participating in the The Champaign Urbana Theatre Company...

10 things you don’t know about me… Rylee Sjuts

May 15, 2019

May 15, 2019

We asked St. Joseph-Ogden’s Senior Class President and graduation speaker Rylee Sjuts to tell us 10 things we didn’t know...

For Schmidt, hard work pays off

July 12, 2019

July 12, 2019

Sammi Schmidt isn’t afraid of hard work. The future Illinois State Redbird was awarded the Gary Butler award at St....

Comments
Leave a Reply