By GLEN WERLING
It’s all about family intoned Larry Heckber after being named the Lance Hunter Memorial Humanitarian Award winner at Thursday night’s Ossian Days.
Heckber thought he might have gotten the award for spearheading the cleanup and revitalizing of the Old Ossian Cemetery — although he credited the willingness of his brothers as well as multiple members of the Heckber family to assist with accomplishing the herculean task as giving him the support to undertake the work to begin with.
“It’s been a real family effort to get that cemetery repaired,” Heckber said.
However, Ossian Days President A.J. Reynolds cited much more than just the cemetery cleanup in announcing why the Ossian Days Committee picked Heckber.
A lifelong resident of the Ossian area, Heckber was a 1965 graduate of Ossian High School. He owned Ossian Hardware for 20 years and is the primary developer for The Bridges, a major housing subdivision on Ossian’s southeast side. He is one of the principal members involved in The Bridges Association Independence Day Celebration, which is held annually at Ossian’s Archbold-Wilson Memorial Park. The event is open to the entire community.
Heckber has also been “incredibly active” in Ossian Revitalization, Reynolds observed. At Thursday night’s Ossian Revitalization Pork Chop Dinner, Heckber was so busy picking up trash and doing other odd tasks around the Ossian Days Event Tent that Reynolds had to track him down to give him the award.
“As a testament to his spirit, he is always looking for ways to grow and better the town of Ossian,” Reynolds said.
Heckber admitted he was stunned at receiving the award. “It makes me feel like crying,” he admitted immediately afterward. “The Lance Hunter Award for many, many years has been the most important award that anyone in the Town of Ossian could receive, so this is really a great honor to know that other people in Ossian are noticing what I, my family and friends are doing.”
glenw@news-banner.com
