May 3, 2026 Local Stories in and Around St. Joseph, Illinois

5 questions with Brian Brooks

1. What is your favorite childhood holiday memory?
My favorite childhood holiday memories started each year at Thanksgiving. My mom had six other brothers and sisters, so she had a big family. We usually hosted Thanksgiving dinner and our whole family would come over. It instilled in me at an early age the importance of family, and kind of kicked off the holiday season for our family. 

And as a basketball junkie, I loved playing in Thanksgiving tournaments in high school. We played in a Thanksgiving basketball tournament at Lincoln and a Christmas tournament at Pekin while in high school. It created a love of holiday basketball tournaments for me of which I still enjoy going to today.

2. What is your favorite part of the holidays now?

Spending time with my wife and kids. Especially now having two of our kids be adults and living elsewhere. Great for Jen and I to have all 3 kids back home at same time. My favorite time of the year. (minus the weather!!)

3. What is your favorite Christmas song?

I don’t know that I have one. I enjoy listening to Christmas music in general during the holiday season. Especially the older/more traditional songs. I feel it helps remind us what truly matters in our very busy lives.

4. What is your favorite Christmas movie?

Christmas Vacation. We watch it as a family every year as a tradition.

5. What is your favorite holiday snack?

I don’t really have a favorite holiday snack. I probably need to stay away from all of them at this point!

Banner
Related Posts

“Performing in front of people can be very fun”

August 6, 2024

August 6, 2024

The Weldon Homecoming is going to be rocking n rolling. Owen Knap will be performing from 2 to 4 p.m....

Heritage dealing with illness at schools

February 9, 2026

February 9, 2026

The Heritage School District has enabled enhanced cleaning procedures to fight an illness that is spreading throughout the district. “We...

Village moves forward with TIF process

February 11, 2025

February 11, 2025

The Village of St. Joseph is moving forward with the process to form a TIF District. Tonight at 7 p.m.,...

Get to know our Little Princess Candidates: Annah Fiedler

August 9, 2024

August 9, 2024

What is your favorite part of summer?Favorite part of summer: riding bikes, going to the pool, and going boating at...

Live at St. Joseph-Ogden School Board, April 28, 2025

April 28, 2025

April 28, 2025

Mitch, Jim and Alicia just took the oath of office. Jim Rein was nominated for president again. (He won.)Vice president...

Q and A with SJO Hall of Fame inductee Bobbi Busboom

October 3, 2025

October 3, 2025

1. How does it feel to be inducted into the hall of fame? To be honest, I thought it was...

Talk of the Town with Mayor Ray Cunningham

August 25, 2019

August 25, 2019

Recently, Homer lost its grocery store and the Main Street Belly Deli. Mayor Ray Cunningham discusses how Homer is hoping...

Live at St. Joseph Village Board, Feb. 11, 2025

February 11, 2025

February 11, 2025

I am making my triumphant return after missing two meetings due to illnesses. The flu is no joke this year...

Senior spotlight Eric Poe

February 7, 2020

February 7, 2020

Every week we ask a St. Joseph-Ogden senior five questions. This week we talked to Eric Poe. Thank you to...

Mold issue being addressed at SJO

August 25, 2025

August 25, 2025

A mold issue in St. Joseph-Ogden High School is being addressed. Superintendent Brian Brooks said the mold was discovered last...

Get to know our Little Prince and Princess Candidates :Emmett Binder

August 10, 2024

August 10, 2024

What is your favorite part of summer?Getting to go stay at Grampa’s Riverhouse What do you want to be when...

Business owners thankful for community support after break-ins

January 25, 2022

January 25, 2022

Around 6 a.m. this morning the owner of Country Chics, Stacy Cast, got a notification. The notification told her that...

Kern, Cafarelli, Carter and Atwood help SJO golf team have continued success

September 20, 2022

September 20, 2022

The St. Joseph-Ogden High School golf team has established a pretty common routine this season. Jacob Kern or Ashten Cafarelli...

Get to know SJO volleyball manager Katie Oehmke

October 31, 2022

October 31, 2022

What do you think makes the team so successful? The atmosphere that is on the team What is your favorite...

Live at St. Joseph Village Board, Oct. 12, 2021

October 12, 2021

October 12, 2021

Thanks to MX electric for sponsoring our live blogs. Talking Splash PAD. I was late because I was shooting Oakwood...

Comments
Leave a Reply