Longtime Kewanee journalist, broadcaster and community leader Dave Clarke was honored Tuesday at the Kewanee Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors Club’s annual Outstanding Citizen of the Year banquet.
Speaking at the banquet at Midland Country Club, Clarke said his work at WKEI Radio in Kewanee beginning in 1966 sparked an interest in keeping the community informed about local happenings. And a keen interest in history led him to become one of the leading authorities on the history of Kewanee and Wethersfield.
Clarke began his career in broadcasting; then worked for the Galva News and the Star Courier as a reporter, editor and columnist; and now covers local news for The Kewanee Voice and once again is appearing occasionally on the local radio station.
In his remarks to the assembled crowd at the banquet, Clarke recalled his days at the Star Courier with reporters and writers like Bob Westlund and Annette Murnan. He said the reporters at the newspaper had to spend so much time on the physical production of the newspaper that they had little time left for reporting and writing.
Now, as a writer for The Kewanee Voice, Clarke said, he no longer has to worry about the details of producing a newspaper. Instead he can concentrate solely on research, reporting and writing and believes he is now doing some of his best work.
He recalled Tuesday how, after he left the Galva News and wasn’t working in journalism, Star Courier Editor Rocky Stuffelbeam contacted him.
Stuffelbeam said he wanted to provide readers with “good news” stories to offset all of the grim news the paper carried.
The idea he proposed was that Clarke write an upbeat column on local topics which would be printed on the Star Courier’s front page.
Clarke agreed, and that led to his producing the “Around town” column from 1985 until he retired in 2017.
As former Star Courier reporter and editor Mike Berry recalled in remarks at the banquet, “Around town” was the most-read feature in the paper, eclipsing even the popular Ann Landers column.
The program for the evening pointed out Clarke’s community involvement. He has been president of the Saxon Cemetery Association for more than 40 years and is now president of the Frank H. Craig Wethersfield Alumni Association. He also received the Black Hawk College Agribusiness Club’s Friend of the Alumni Award and the Henry County Beef Association’s Friend of the Industry award.
Clark has also been active with the Lafayette Methodist Church, was named a Paul Harris Fellow by the Kewanee Rotary Club, was publicity director for the Knights Junior Drum and Bugle Corps and had been an emcee and photographer for the Miss Henry County Fair pageant.
One of the speakers at the banquet, BHE Foundation Director Danielle Williams, thanked Clarke for his “selfless and valuable” work with the association.
“Dave is a historian with a memory like no one I have met,” she said.
Dianne Packee, a friend of Clarke’s as well as the 2022 recipient of the Outstanding Citizen award, presented Clarke with a proclamation from State Sen. Neil Anderson and State Rep. Travis Weaver. She also read a letter from local historian Larry Lock citing Clarke’s interest in local history and saying he “admires Dave’s research and writing skills.”
Packee also noted that Clarke has received the Kewanee Elks Lodge’s Dedicated Citizen Award.
