Some highlights of 2020

 2020 will be remembered for Covid-19 and the lockdowns that state governments imposed in an futile attempt to stop it. The various stages of lockdowns resulted in the cancelation of many events including the Little Cousin Jasper Festival, Oktoberfest, and most of the Jasper County Fair. There were no theater productions for the Fendig Children's Theater or the Carnegie Players. The Airport's aviation career day was canceled. In March fear of the virus resulted in a run on toilet paper that left local shelves empty. Most of us had never heard of Zoom at the start of the year but many of us have spent many hours using the program during the year as both public and private meetings went from in-person to on-line.

There were several notable closings. Early in the year R&M shut its doors, as did Prairie's Edge. Later in the year the Charlie Roberts dealership, a ghost of its former self, also closed. The City announced that it would no longer use its power plant to produce electricity. There are probably closings that I did not notice and there may be businesses in 2021 that are pushed over the edge by the various Covid restrictions.

However, there were also openings. P&P Hobbies and Collectables opened in the former Dodge dealership building on North McKinley. D-1 Towing and Recovery opened a branch on Vine Street just west of the Amtrak station. The Covid virus helped Jasper County in one way. It prompted the opening of Indiana Face Masks in the former Greene Furniture property on SR 114. ASG Staffing opened late last year, but had its ribbon cutting ceremony early this year. And Genova quietly reopened with new ownership.

There were also some expansions. Smith Transport is building a very large facility east of Remington. The jail added a solar field, though it is not clear if it is operating yet. YNG expanded into what was once the Sears store in the College Mall. It introduced a 3-D printing machine that prints from the top down, which allows more printing with less human intervention. Fenwick Farms Brewing built a new brew house across the alley from its restaurant. The storage units on North Melville added a new building. Work continued on park improvements. The concession stand/announcers booth at the Blacker fields was finished, as were the field, a new path between fields, and a disc golf course. The fire department continued expanding its new training facility. 

Both portions of SR 114 and US 231 were repaved this past summer. The high school repaved the north parking lot. The Airport purchased another lot to its west, which may someday lead to runway capable of handling larger planes than the current north-south runway.

City and County buildings were closed for weeks or months as a result of the virus. The County began using the former youth center on Sparling, which I call the Sparling Annex, for meetings and that may become the permanent home for most public meetings. The prosecutor and the probation office left the annex that was once the REMC building and moved to the former PNC Bank building. In December the Health Department moved from the annex to the Sparling Annex. A major bit of business for the County was allowing DeMotte to extend sewer and water to the I65/SR 10 interchange. The November election will give the County Council two new faces for next year. A major change that the Rensselaer City Council made was to abandon the garbage sticker program and replace it with a monthly change on the utility bill. 

A few events managed to go on despite the virus. The annual car show and cruise night were bigger than usual. The Cemetery Walk may have been the only theatrical performance in Rensselaer this year. The Farmers Market did not have Tuesday afternoon entertainment, but otherwise was pretty much as in past years. Several dinners successfully transitioned to a drive-thru format, including the annual Firemen fish fry and the St. Augustine Bazaar. Mural week in late June into July had to do some substituting of artists, but it more than doubled the number of murals in downtown Rensselaer (though I think the 2019 murals are more impressive than the 2020 crop.)

There was a plane crash north of the Dollar General Store. Fendig Summer Theater moved into the former Episcopal Church. The Fairground canceled its July fireworks but the Bridge Church stepped in to give Rensselaer a fireworks display. The half city lot that burned in 2019 was cleared and there is now grass growing there. In 2021 it will become Filson Park.

I need a picture for this post. How about one of my accomplishments in 2020?

Yup, I tessellated toilets. There are people, though I am not one of them, that think this might be an appropriate picture for 2020.

As for 2021, it is beginning with freezing rain, the worst kind of winter weather. Happy New Year.