Streator Grads do 'Amazing Things'

Former Streator resident Gregory Stanton didn't talk about himself Saturday when he accepted his Hall of Fame plaque at Streator High School.

Stanton, founder of Genocide Watch, discussed his father and what he did for civil rights in Streator.

He was one of five Streator High graduates inducted into the Dr. Worthy Streator Hall of Fame. Three of them were honored posthumously — Elmer Blasco (1938), Bruce Hart (1956) and George Tutko (1971). Larry Lampson (1954) lives in Arizona and did not attend.

Stanton was on hand to accept his award. A 1964 Streator graduate, he is the president of Genocide Watch and a research professor of genocide studies at George Mason University in Virginia. In 1992, he began his career at the U.S. State Department, where he helped create the International Crime Tribunal for Rwanda, which investigated genocide in the African country.

Despite his many accomplishments, Stanton focused on his father, Howard, a longtime local Presbyterian minister.

In the 1950s, he said African American residents lived on one side of the tracks, whites on the other. His father and church members wanted to end this practice and found much agreement among residents as long as their neighbors wouldn't mind.

They circulated a petition to end redlining, a practice in which banks and insurance companies refuse or limit services to the poor.

The petition worked.

"Redlining was over," Stanton said.

That was in the 1950s, before the landmark civil rights acts of a decade later.

In the early 1950s, residents asked his father to help raise money for a new swimming pool. He agreed, but then caught wind from his barber that the pool would be segregated.

"My dad said, 'If that was going to be the case, I won't raise money for the pool. I will denounce the pool from my pulpit,'" Stanton said.

The organizers backed down, and his father helped raise money for the pool.

"We had an integrated pool from day one," his son said. "That was the secret of his influence."

Stanton said people ask him why there are so many people from Streator who have gone on to do "many amazing things." Part of the reason, he said, is people get to understand their neighbors as "well-rounded" people.

"They aren't two-dimensional people," he said. "You learn to love them."

Tutko, who died in 2015, was a recording engineer who worked with a lengthy list of bands, including Rod Stewart, Kiss, Pat Benatar, Ozzy Osbourne and John Cougar Mellencamp. He was nominated for a Grammy for his work on a John Cougar album.

During his last 20 years, Tutko lived in Nashville, battling cancer for more than a decade.

Rock singer Kevin Chalfant, a 2012 Hall of Fame inductee, nominated Tutko and spoke during the ceremony.

"He was a Midwestern guy. That was what made him attractive. He was just a guy. He wasn't some snooty guy you couldn't work with," Chalfant said.

He said he grew up as neighbors with Tutko, but they never really knew each other until high school.

"He was a drummer," Chalfant said. "I got to be the singer."

Years after high school, Chalfant said he got to a point where he needed career help. He called Tutko, who quickly provided Chalfant a valuable connection.

"I never saw a guy work so hard in my life. He was passionate," Chalfant said. "He didn't boast about what he did. You had to pry it out of him."

Also honored at the ceremony:

— Larry Lampson, who founded Lampson Insurance Co. and later West Insurance Co., was known for working tirelessly to get clients.

Streator High counselor Brad Brittin told the audience that Lampson had given more than $400,000 for the high school foundation's educational endowment.

— Elmer Blasco was nominated for the award for his contributions in helping to establish Major League Baseball's Gold Glove award while working for Rawlings, which manufactured the gloves most major leaguers used. Blasco suggested a defense-specific award because most recognition went to offense. The award is still presented annually.

Rawlings representative Colin Sahli spoke at the ceremony, presenting a model of the Gold Glove award for the Hall of Fame display case.

"Elmer Blasco was one of the most forward-thinking employee in the sporting goods industry," Sahli said. "He went above what was asked of him.

— Bruce Hart and his father started Hart Realty in 1963. In Hart's 47 years as a real estate broker, it is estimated he sold more than 2,700 homes, including one house eight separate times.

In 1964, Hart and his brother, Craig, founded Heritage Manor Nursing Home and Senior Care. He was elected to the Streator City Council in 2007 and served in that position until his death in 2014. He was involved in local groups such as United Way.

His son, Todd Hart, accepted the plaque on his family's behalf.

"People knew his passion and love for Streator," Todd said.

During the ceremony, Streator High history teacher Rob Tyne said he got the idea for the hall of fame a few years ago. He said all the work for the event, including the research, is done by his Western Civilization students.

"I was tired of hearing how bad Streator was," said Tyne, a native. "I said why don't we do something about it with a hall of fame."

Since hall of fame started in 2012, it has touched only the "tip of the iceberg" of what Streator graduates have done, Tyne said.

He credited his students for the project.

"I've not done anything but stand in the corner and push them to do their best," he said.

The Worthy Hall of Fame is named in honor of Worthy Streator. The city was named after him.