National Newspaper Week is coming up Oct. 6-10, and it’s going to look a little different at The Woodstock Independent this year. New editor, new feature (coming soon in Schools!), new stories. But one thing remains the same – our sense of community and our commitment to providing you reliable coverage of Woodstock. Perhaps some […]
“He was a good Catholic, a good family man, a good lawyer, and most of all, a really nice guy.” That’s how Jim Campion’s best friend, Jack Darby, described him last week. Jim died April 19, 2026. We was 79. Jack knew Jim well. He was the only nonfamily member asked to be a pallbearer […]
By Janet Dovidio This week, we celebrate the uniquely American holiday of Thanksgiving, a day whose centerpiece is the gathering of family and friends to share a special meal. I am a writer for The Woodstock Independent, but it is as a board member of the Woodstock Food Pantry that I write to express our […]
‘If you build it, they will come!’ Bill Dean blessed athletes, sports fans, and Woodstock Independent readers from June 1987 to March 1992. He was Woodstock Independent’s first sports editor. Bill was 92 when he died Nov. 2 in Clearwater, Fla., just six days shy of his 93rd birthday. As if it were yesterday, I […]
Peter Anderson would admonish me for writing about him instead of focusing this column on the start of the 2025 –’26 school year. But I will accept Peter’s scolding from on high and continue about him and his gifts to our community. Peter was Northwood Middle School principal from 1990 to 2000. He died July […]
Late last month, my family and I attended the Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture airshow event in Oshkosh, Wis. Twenty-three years ago, I never would have dreamed I’d still be going – every summer! I used to think it would be the same every year, but, much like the McHenry County Fair, it’s the people you […]
Jim Weith’s first day as a mail carrier for the U.S. Post Office in Woodstock was Jan. 5, 1987. At that time, Denise Graff Ponstein and I had plans to start The Woodstock Independent. Little did we know that Jim would be one of the mail carriers who would deliver the first Independents on April […]
For the past 35 years, The Woodstock Independent has been publishing articles about local educators who are retiring. We ran our first one in 1990, when reporter Lisa Kelly profiled Jim Foley. He had begun his 27-year career as a science teacher at the former Westwood Junior High, taught science at Woodstock High School, and […]
Writing this on the train from London to Edinburgh, Scotland, I feel I finally have a moment to catch my breath. During June, I made four work trips – three to London and one to Birmingham (United Kingdom) – a two-week trip to America to visit family and friends, and a trip with friends to […]
In my experience, Woodstock is a community that comes together. Our city has been through tragedy, political strife, a pandemic, growing pains, economic crises, and loss. Through it all, when people are involved, Woodstock largely puts aside differences and comes together. That is why Memorial Day has been such an important part of our city’s […]
Larry Lough is editor of The Independent and reports local news.
Janet Dovidio has been a freelance correspondent for The Independent for eight years.
Susan W. Murray wrote for The Independent, covering various beats, from 2005 to 2008.
Tricia Carzoli is a freelance writer and photographer that on community news.
