Joe & Darlene Holik
Even if you don’t know Joe and Darlene Holik, you’ve undoubtedly seen their work. Signs for Special Properties, Thrasher Opera House, Norton’s Dry Dock, Shoreline Boat Center, Outdoor Impact (trucks and signs), new Lake Street Marina, and more. Not to mention the many, many signs and banners that the Holiks have created and donated to Town Square through their company, Sign Palace.
If you don’t know them, you probably haven’t been around much. Joe and Darlene are what you’d call true community players, coming to events and classes at Town Square, shopping in the local shops, eating at the local restaurants. And yes, offering to make signs wherever they see a need.
“Here in Green Lake, when we give to Town Square, we can really see the impact of what we do. This is a small town, and Town Square is important. You need a central hub. You need an anchor.”
Here in Green Lake, when we give to Town Square, we can really see the impact of what we do. This is a small town, and Town Square is important. You need a central hub. You need an anchor.”
Their favorite parts of Town Square? Bingo. Yoga. The Farm Markets. The Parties. “It’s great to be able to think, for example, ‘Let’s go up to Green Lake Saturday night because we can go over and play bingo.’” explained Darlene.
Most recently, Joe and Darlene are creating new and professional signage for the Town Square campus--both inside and out, a vast project where their professionalism and experience make all the difference.
Joe first visited Green Lake the day after his high school Prom in 1976 with his then-sweetheart, Darlene, coming to the home that Darlene’s parents had purchased in 1966. Green Lake immediately became his second love---after Darlene, of course. “I grabbed a lawn chair, and sat looking at the lake and said to Darlene, ‘Someday, we will have a home here.’.”
One year later, Joe enrolled in the Institute of Lettering and Design and started his sign business at State and Adams in Chicago. It was fifteen years before the emergence of computers, and he was one of only three sign artists in the area. After just over a decade, Joe and Darlene bought their first home at Green Lake.
In business now for 43 years, Sign Palace is a thriving business, and thanks to Joe and Darlene, Green Lake is thriving, too.