"I was run over with a tractor." - Franklin Weber (Revisited)

On July 20th, 2026, we said goodbye to Franklin Weber—my grandfather, a local Manteno native, and the voice behind the pilot episode of This One Time in Kankakee.To honor his 93-year legacy, we returned to the original raw audio from our 2025 recording session to tell a fuller, deeper version of the story that launched this podcast. In July 1936, a three-year-old Franklin was run over by a 2,500-pound 1916 Fordson tractor on his family's farm in Manteno, Illinois.In this special tribute edition, we uncover the unreleased details behind that miraculous summer morning: how packed Midwestern dirt cushioned the blow of iron wheels, why his easygoing father Phil moved faster than cast iron to lift a multi-ton machine, and the lifelong physical sacrifice Phil made to save his son. It’s a story of Midwestern grit, historical mechanics, and the quiet, enduring love of a father that gave our family seven more decades together.Subscribe to This One Time in Kankakee on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. Have a story from the Kankakee River Valley? Email us at [email protected] us Fan MailWant more from the WVLI Podcast Network? Listen to the WVLI News Update with Rob West every weekday morning! Get the days local news from the greater Kankakee County, IL area in 10 minutes or less. Subscribe now on your preferred podcast platform: https://wvlinewsupdate.buzzsprout.comThe Voices You Trust, Beyond The Dial.