Northwest Quarterly Magazine

10/14/2026

Galena turns 200 this December. Much of its past survives because people like Alfie Mueller spent a lifetime rescuing photographs that downtown businesses threw away.

(Top left: Alfie Mueller Collection) Alfred Mueller had known Steve Repp for nearly 20 years when, in the late 1990s, he started asking him the same two questions every six months or so. Did Repp like Galena? Was he planning to stay? Repp said yes, every time. It took a few visits before he

10/13/2026

Have you gotten your hands on the Fall Issue of the Northwest Quarterly Magazine? We are excited to be featured on a couple of pages in the magazine!

Stop by any one of our six offices to pick up a copy today. Happy reading! 😀📕

10/12/2026

Few things complete a community quite like a local bookstore. In Rockford, one shop's chess club beat the public library's team, and the trophy sits in the window.

Few things complete a community quite like a local bookstore. We explored a few of our region’s independent bookstores and spoke with the folks behind the counter. Step inside, browse the shelves and discover where to find your next great read. Maze Books, 406 E. State St., Rockford When D

10/09/2026

Every weekend, 640 Meats in Loves Park smokes tri-tip and salmon that go fast. Our Fall Dining Guide has the details, plus the Pollo Acapulco at Chavez Mexican Restaurante in Rockford.

640 Meats • 6410 E. Riverside Blvd., Loves Park, Ill. House-Smoked Tri-Tip and Salmon Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Pete Lentz fires up the Big Green Egg grills outside his Loves Park shop. The smoked tri-tip, known for its tenderness and rich flavor, is sliced thin and piled onto san

10/07/2026

The Dallas Cowboys cut Rockford's Brock Spack, and his position coach suggested he try out again the next year. He had other plans.

Brock Spack just sounds like a football name – the kind that belongs to a no-nonsense, hard-hitting linebacker who could make opposing players lose sleep. That fit Spack throughout his playing career at Rockford East High School and Purdue University, long before he built a successful career as a

10/05/2026

Galena turns 200, a vanishing tallgrass prairie gets a second chance and the Beloit Farmers Market celebrates 50 years. It's all in the Fall 2026 issue of Northwest Quarterly, out now.

09/29/2026

Tom Shook, founder of 815 Paws, regularly brings his therapy dog, Mya, to the Winnebago County Courthouse. Kathleen Fink, executive assistant to the chief circuit judge, says the court’s therapy dog program, one of only a few in Illinois, helps to ease stress for visitors and staff. Sometimes, a

09/21/2026

Hana has a winner! Congratulations to Linda Bartelt, who sniffed out our Director of Corporate Happiness and earned a gift certificate to Tavern on Clark Restaurant & Bar.

Now Hana has wandered off again, somewhere in the Fall 2026 issue of Northwest Quarterly. Find the page where she's hiding and enter by Oct. 16 for a chance at a $100 gift certificate to Tavern on Clark.

09/18/2026

When Black Hawk's warriors rode on Apple River Fort, most of the men were "away on business" in Galena. A cattle herder named Elizabeth Armstrong got the women loading muskets and the children making musket balls.

Settlers built a second story to an old cabin at Apple River Fort, leaving holes to aim their ri**es (Chris Linden photo). It was already a faint trail, but the gusting snow made it impossible to see. Except for the oak groves and brush, there was little else 13-year-old John Thurston spied on th

09/16/2026

Therapy doesn’t always have to happen in an office. At Willow Creek Counseling, clients can find support through traditional counseling as well as nature, animals and equine therapy.

Julie Rylatt founded Willow Creek Counseling in Rockford in 2020. Since then, the practice has grown to 22 therapists who treat clients of all ages. Life can be tough. Sometimes, even the strongest among us need a little boost to get through a bout of depression or anxiety, or to talk through a c