With central Illinois on the cusp of spring, ready to emerge from the longest of winters in more ways than one, Kim Blickenstaff’s Sankoty Lakes Resort and Retreat is now taking reservations for lodging and other outdoor amenities.

PEORIA, Ill. – Entrepreneur, philanthropist, and founder of KDB development group Kim Blickenstaff is the recipient of the Peoria Historical Society’s Historic Preservation Award for 2020.

The award honors people, organizations, and businesses that demonstrate outstanding efforts to reclaim, rehabilitate and preserve the architecture, neighborhoods, and landscapes of the tri-county area.

With each passing week, Kim Blickenstaff’s Scottish Rite Theatre gets that much closer to completion. With a bit of cooperation from COVID and from the vaccine meant to defeat it, the historic, architecturally compelling building gets that much closer to opening.

Initially, it seemed like a mission impossible: how to wrestle the eyes and attention spans of two members of Generation Alpha away from their iPads and toward an awareness of the world around them.

Those two Gen Alphas – the generation born in 2010 or after, the first to exist entirely in the 21st century -- would be my grandsons, Mason and Carter.

Every year on October 5, Patty Atherton sits down to write a letter to her son, Dallas.

“If you knew how much I loved you,” she begins, “would you have said goodbye?

“I’ve never told anyone this … I don’t think he knew how much people loved him. That’s what makes me sad, that there are plenty of people in the world who don’t think they’re loved.”

More than 400 vehicles left virtually no room to spare in the parking lot at the 220-acre resort, a joint development between entrepreneur and philanthropist Blickenstaff and sportsman and contractor Dwayne Atherton.

In keeping with pandemic precautions, visitors were asked not to exit their vehicles, but that didn’t seem to dampen the enthusiasm for the event, as many honked their approval following the finale.

Blickenstaff, the central Illinois-born, San Diego-based entrepreneur and philanthropist who has made headline after headline locally for his investments in the Peoria area over the last two years, was recently honored as a 2020 Director of the Year by the Corporate Directors Forum for “outstanding performance in the boardroom and behind the scenes.”

That distinction earned him vaunted videowall status earlier this month at NASDAQ MarketSite, the iconic home of the NASDAQ stock exchange at 4 Times Square in Manhattan.

“Peoria does get some hard knocks. But … have faith in Peoria. We’re going to come back with a vengeance.”

You could say that landscape architect Theodore Hoerr of Manhattan comes to his newest assignment here in central Illinois with the rich soil of the Midwest under his fingernails and the plants that grow in it a part of his DNA.

Unofficially, Sankoty Lakes Resort and Retreat in Spring Bay just welcomed its tallest visitor.

It’s a safe bet, as at 7 feet, 1 inch on the tape measure, Meyers Leonard is the tallest visitor at quite a few places.

Work continues on Peoria’s Scottish Rite Theatre, which has had to contend with the curve balls tossed by COVID-19 like every other entertainment venue in central Illinois.

Central Illinois-born, California-based entrepreneur and philanthropist Kim Blickenstaff has invested in three start-ups with strong Peoria-area connections and is encouraging others to back promising local ventures, as well.

Professional fisherman Jeff Kolodzinski unofficially broke his own world record for most fish caught in a 24-hour period on Thursday at Sankoty Lakes Resort & Retreat in Spring Bay. Simultaneously, and most importantly, the angler also raised more than $20,000 for a charity that benefits children of military families and those from impoverished backgrounds, a cause near and dear to Kim Blickenstaff and Dwayne Atherton, the two men partnering on the Woodford County fishing and camping development.

Find out where KDB Group is at the onset of Summer 2020 in this interview with Founder Kim Blickenstaff, who discusses progress and updates on several active projects on both sides of the Illinois River.

Feeding people and providing meals at home. It’s the mission of Peoria’s Neighborhood House, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to a donation from local philanthropist, Kim Blickenstaff, the non-profit will be able to continue serving the community. Despite COVID-19 restricting programs, Neighborhood House continues to support those in need.

“It’s all meant to preserve some of these beautiful properties,” said Blickenstaff. “We want to have multiple venues for guests to experience all the options of outdoor life, be it creek fishing or seeing mink in the wild. It’s just an enhancement of what we have at Sankoty,” which is undergoing a dramatic transformation from former gravel pit to eco-tourism destination.