Backyard memories don’t just happen, they’re built over time. A Freeport business is helping families turn pools, hot tubs and more into spaces for connection, relaxation and lasting moments.

Nostalgia overload: Wind through the hills of northwest Illinois and southwest Wisconsin, from Scales Mound to Lead Mine, and there are scenic views and a time warp back to life – in the form of old-time stores and taverns – from many decades ago.

Teachers are asking the same questions on technology: What is changing, and how do we keep up? A Dixon educator is helping them find answers, even as the technology keeps shifting beneath him.

After 11 years leading Sauk Valley Community College, David Hellmich steps away, and leaves behind a legacy shaped far beyond its Dixon campus.

From basement walls to buildings across Illinois, a Polo artist is transforming ordinary surfaces into murals inspired by pop culture and local history.

From vision to woodwork: A Pinterest photo. A magazine idea. A dream kitchen. At Sterling Woodworks, those visions can become reality, and the custom cabinetry and design business is now bringing that creative process closer to Lake Carroll homeowners.

Keeping tradition fresh: Three generations. 84 years. A Rock Falls bakery still rises before dawn to keep a family tradition alive.

In 1926, Sterling and Rock Falls were full of ambition – some of it still thriving today, some of it long gone. A barber chair, a bold Coliseum dream, a vanished golf course, a future NFL player – a century later, the stories still linger in local memory.

Walk through the doors of a Lena business and you might walk into your childhood. With antiques, sweets and even lunch, its antique-loving owners have created a place where shoppers rediscover memories, sometimes in the most unexpected objects.