Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
NORTH WEBSTER - Larry Kinsey was named Person of the Year by the North Webster Chamber of Commerce Tuesday.
Kinsey, an active community volunteer, was surprised by the award.
"I only do what I like to do and I do it because I care," he said.
Kinsey is a Mobile Meals volunteer and is involved with the Lakeland Kiwanis Club, the North Webster Daycare, Senior Primelife Enrichment and the North Webster Community Center.
He is a 1954 Warsaw High School graduate and attended International Business College, Fort Wayne. He and his wife, Linda, have been married since 1969. The Kinseys moved to North Webster in 1970. They have one daughter, Mrs. Jeff (Rhonda) Morgan.
Lynn Stevens, the Chamber's 2004 Person of the Year, presented Kinsey his award. She said he was one of those people who make a difference in the community.
Bart's Water Sports was named Business of the Year with employee Mike Wilson accepting the award for owner Bart Culver, who was out of town.
Culver began selling water skis from a rented farm house at the corner of Epworth Forest Road and Ind. 13 in 1972. Today, the company mails 1 million catalogues around the world and has a state-of-the-art distribution center in North Webster.
Wilson said Culver met with full-time employees in the late 1980s and seriously considered moving to Bloomington.
"We worried whether or not we could make it in a community of this size, if we would have the services we needed," Wilson said. "In the final analysis, not that many full-time people wanted to move. The question was 'Do I want to be in Bloomington on a late summer night ... or do I want to be on the lake?'"
Chris Bruno is president of the North Webster Chamber of Commerce. The meeting was held at the American Legion Post.
