Knox Mayor Encourages More Support for City Fireworks Display

 
 

Knox Mayor Dennis Estok says the city got tremendous bang for its buck from July’s Fun Day in the Park and downtown fireworks display.

“It was a lot cleaner, a lot more organized, and we just drew a lot more people into townI ,” Estok said during Monday’s town hall meeting with residents. “I met a couple guys from Rensselaer that were playing cornhole. Not in the tournament, but they were there, and they loved every bit of it. So they’re going to tell their friends you can go to Knox and have a good time.”

The mayor hopes to make next year’s event bigger and better. Estok says he would like to see greater support from business and industry in 2017.

“Our industrial park, which every one of them out there has got an abatement, we had one of them write a check to help. None of the others gave a dime.”

Estok adds the city sent more than 140 sponsorship letters to local businesses, as events like Fun Day in the Park are designed to help them.

Knox Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston says city officials do appreciate everyone who volunteered and contributed to the success of the inaugural Fun Day in the Park and downtown fireworks celebration.

“I just hope that everybody stays engaged, at least for the next few years with the fireworks, but also with other things that are coming up, like the Peppermint Parade,” Houston said. “If we can just kind of keep people engaged and not go one and done type of thing, because it really does take everybody.”

Anyone who would like to help with those or other events in Knox can contact the mayor’s office at 574-772-4553.

Houston adds the city actually broke even on the fireworks this year and has some money in the fund to start planning for next year’s event.

WKVI will present Estok’s town hall meeting in its entirety on Sunday, Aug. 14 at noon CDT on “Kankakee Valley Viewpoints.”