At the annual Venice Heritage meeting and luncheon, members learned about Caspersen, Andrews, Blalock and other Venice pioneers behind the names of the places most of us enjoy regularly.
Irvin Lewin gave an interesting and informative presentation about the people behind the names.
The group learned James Blalock was the second mayor of Venice. He is credited with getting Venice through the Great Depression. Blalock Park is a popular place in town housing a butterfly garden and arboretum.
Monty’s Arboretum with its more than 100 trees is named for Monty Andrews. He got Venice named a bike friendly city and was instrumental in Legacy and Patriots parks. Nearly every day, one could see Monty’s white truck parked at the Arboretum while he was sprucing up some part of Blalock Park. These days the truck is not so visible.
During the holidays, Blalock Park hosts the Festival of Lights.
Bill Jervey was at the luncheon. His thumbprint is on the Venice Library, the Venice Train Depot and the Venice Theatre. Bill grew up in Hawaii.
The Caspersen Brothers emigrated from Norway.
Irvin Lewin is vice president of Venice Heritage and editor of their newsletter.
This year, Venice Heritage received the Organizational Achievement Award accepted by board member Jean Trammell. Dorothy Korwek received the Individual Achievement Award. Both came from the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation.
The group continues to work on the restoration of the Higel House. This year’s board members are Karen Midlam, president; Irvin Lewin, vice president; Dorothy Korwek, treasurer; Teri Troviak and Jean Trammell, directors.
Harry Klinkhamer and Ronnie Fernandez are ex officio directors.
Visit veniceheritage.org for information about events and membership.
One Of Our Best
The special person of this week is Irvin Lewin. He is originally from Detroit, Michigan and came to Venice via Cleveland and Cincinnati, Ohio.
He enjoys cycling. His love for the sport led him to volunteer and fundraise for nonprofits associated with cycling and to promote cycling as a healthy lifestyle.
His presentation at the Heritage luncheon was terrific. He led the group through information with visuals, personal stories and some humor. He kept the audience engaged.
Irvin enjoys Venice and walks in the park. Spending time with his wife and friends and the family dog are high on his list of important things to do.
Irvin Lewin is one of the men who makes Venice a great place to live.
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