A crowd packed into the Bass Lake Property Owner’s Association building, filling up the seats and taking up every space available in the parking lot to attend the Starke County Republican Lincoln Day Dinner. With a number of prominent community members in attendance, including government representatives at the county, state, and federal levels, including Congresswoman Jackie Walorski, those in attendance got a solid idea of what is happening legislatively.
02-11-13 – Henry F. Schricker Award Winner Dies
By Anita Goodan
The newly-named Henry F. Schricker Award winner has died.
Gene Blastic suffered through the effects of cancer treatment to attend the Schricker Award dinner on Jan. 17 to accept this prestigious honor. He passed away Friday night.
Blastic was honored for his “service before self” attitude and was active in many community programs including the Starke County Economic Development Foundation, Starke United, Starke County Chamber of Commerce, Starke County Right to Life, and countless others.
Blastic was president of the Starke County Economic Development Foundation Board for two years, having been a member for more than 10 years, and was nominated volunteer of the year for Starke United in 2003. Blastic was also recognized as the Older Hoosier of the Year in 2009 by the board of Community Services of Starke County in recognition of his lifetime of service to improve the quality of life in the community.
In recent years, he spearheaded talks about improving the status of downtown Knox.
Visitation will be Wednesday, Feb. 13 from 4 until 8 p.m. at M.C. Smith Funeral Home, with a wake service at 8 p.m.
A rosary service will be Thursday, Feb. 14 at 9 a.m. at the funeral home, prior to a 10 a.m. funeral mass at at St. Thomas Aquinas Church.
Burial will take place at the Rose Lawn Cemetery on Saturday, Feb. 16 at 12:30 p.m.
This year’s winner of the Henry F. Schricker Award was recognized last night during an award dinner at the Nancy J. Dembowski Community Center in Knox. This year’s recipient, Joseph Eugene “Gene” Blastic of Bass Lake, fit the exact meaning of Schricker’s motto of “Service Before Self,” having been active in many community projects and organizations including the Starke County Economic Development Foundation, Starke United, Starke County Chamber of Commerce, Starke County Right to Life, and countless others.
The man who initiated the talks on revitalizing downtown Knox was at last week’s Knox City Council meeting to listen to a plan of action to get the ball rolling. Gene Blastic was given the assignment to gauge interest from city officials and business owners in putting together a comprehensive plan that would address the deficiencies in the downtown area.
One of those deficiencies is the Starke County Economic Development building at the corner of Lake and Main Streets. The Foundation is considering plans to remodel or raze the century-old building at 2 North Main Street. Remodeling the building could cost in the range of $350,000 and that might not be in the best interest for the organization.
Trying to build on the enthusiasm generated by last week’s meeting to discuss downtown Knox, the Knox City Council will hear from Candice Bernier, a Downtown Planning Project Coordinator for the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns, who will be at tonight’s Knox City Council meeting.
Approximately three dozen people attended the first meeting called last night to gain ideas for improving downtown Knox.
The meeting was chaired by Mayor Rick Chambers and Gene Blastic from the Starke County Economic Development Foundation.
Many of the comments had to do with buildings that have fallen into disrepair. Knox City Councilman, Greg Matt, said it’s obvious the City Council is going to have to create ordinances with more stringent codes to force the building owners into action.
A public hearing will be held tonight from 5:00-6:30 p.m. CT at the Knox Community Center to discuss the condition of downtown Knox.
The hearing was called by Mayor Rick Chambers in response to an appearance by Gene Blastic before the City Council who represented the Starke County Economic Development Foundation. Blastic detailed options for the 114-year-old building that houses the offices of the Development Foundation. It was built in 1897 to house a drug store. More recently, there was an attempt to open a movie theater in the corner building that is located at the intersection Lake and Main Streets.
Blastic said the building might be rehabilitated or it might be demolished.
In the course of Blastic’s presentation, he suggested the City and the Development Foundation form a partnership to consider a Master Plan for downtown Knox.
The initial meeting will include the Downtown Redevelopment Committee, city officials, and others in the community who might be interested in helping to craft that plan.
Knox Mayor Rick Chambers and the Knox Redevelopment Committee will be holding a public hearing on Wednesday, November 2nd, to discuss the future of the the building at the corner of Lake and Main Streets which was home to Everett’s Drug Store and the downtown theatre.
Gene Blastic, a Board member on the Starke County Economic Development Foundation, came before the Knox City Council this week to discuss options concerning the old Everett’s Drug Store. The building, at the corner of Lake and Main Street, was for a short time a movie theater, and is owned by the Economic Development Foundation.
The annual Starke United Golf Outing is right around the corner.
“The Golf Outing will be on Friday, June 24th at Chesapeake Run Golf Course in North Judson,” said Executive Director, Julie Dessauer. “Registration starts at Noon and the start time is 1:00 p.m.”
