Photos and info by Mike Kellems

(Click on photos to enlarge)

Who’da thunk it? The groundhog hadn’t even decided whether to emerge, yet the LaPorte Slicers baseball squad took to the grass of Schreiber Field on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012.

Buried in a blizzard one year ago, this week the field is ready to take on practice grounders and fly balls.

Slicer baseball skipper Scott Upp said this is the first time that anyone could recall holding a pre-season workout outside on the first day in February.

The "three amigos" -- Don Tonsoni, Steve King and Greg Fruth -- stand outside the LaCrosse High School Gymnasium.

Story and photos by Mike Kellems

(Click on photos to enlarge)

The Jan. 27, 2012, south-county rivalry between South Central and LaCrosse not only delivered an exciting basketball game in a backdrop that was made for Hoosier basketball, it was the scene of a reunion of former LaCrosse teachers, a couple of D.A.R.E. officers, and an alumnus.

For those who have never been, the LaCrosse gymnasium — and the school, for that matter — look like they’re straight out of “Hoosiers.” The LaCrosse gym is a twin to the gym used in the movie. Legend has it that the LaCrosse gym was scouted for the movie, but wasn’t used because it didn’t have a parquet floor. (It does now!)

Walk through these doors and you'll step back in time ...

When you walk in the front door of the gym, take six tiny steps and you’re under the basket. The basket on the opposite side is just a few steps from a stage. The seating consists of six rows on each side. The capacity is just over 700; at Friday night’s game, the crowd was estimated at over 900. Not bad for a town whose population is around 600.

When you walk through those double doors, you take a step back in time. The place reeks of nostalgia. Until this school year, the school was still run by the township trustee, one of only two in Indiana not incorporated. The other unincorporated school in Indiana? Wanatah.

For the past few years a group of LaPorteans with ties to the tiny town near the southern tip of LaPorte County have talked about going to see a ballgame. The biannual game on Jan. 27 offered the opportunity. Greg Fruth, a longtime LaPorte High teacher (now retired), taught at LaCrosse in the 1970s and coordinated the reunion along with Norm Kleist, LaCrosse’s superintendent. Greg was joined by former 1970s LaCrosse teachers Don Tonsoni (currently LaPorte’s attendance officer) and retired LaPorte County Judge Steve King. Myself and John Boyd, both veteran officers of the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Department, taught elementary and high school Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) programs in the 1990s. To round out the group, Judge Richard Stalbrink, who replaced Judge King in LaPorte County Superior Court 2 and is a 1986 LaCrosse graduate, came along.

Not only did we have an opportunity to see a great ballgame, the prinicipal left the school doors unlocked — which afforded us a great chance to take a walk down memory lane. Judge King and Don Tonsoni walked us through their old classroom on the second floor; they joked that while at LaCrosse they were the “co-chairs” of the social studies department. (The inside joke was that they were also the only two teachers in that department!) Up on the fourth floor, better known as the Crow’s Nest, Judge Stalbrink discovered a box full of old record books and found the score book from his senior year on the basketball team.

I have to admit, it was a great history lesson as the tour came to a stop on the second floor and the group started rehashing memories of the old days; the names of the principals, teachers and staff, where they were now, how they came to teach at LaCrosse. And boy, has the world changed. We spent the better part of an hour touring and chatting; it turned out to be one of the best lessons I’ve ever had in a school building.

The basketball season is winding down, with only a few more weeks before the sectionals start. If you are any kind of fan of the game … if you have any love for history … if you want a great night of nostalgia and Hoosier Hysteria … don’t waste any time. Get to the LaCrosse Gym soon.

MIKE KELLEMS is a sergeant in the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Department, liaison officer at LaPorte High School, and a LaPorte School Board member.

Superintendent of Schools Norm Kleist (left) stands with Don Tonsoni, Steve King and Greg Fruth in LaCrosse High School.

Judge Richard Stalbrink (yellow shirt) shows Judge Steve King the basketball scorebook from his senior year at LaCrosse.

]]> http://www.whatsnewlaporte.com/2012/01/31/alums-thrive-on-hoosier-hysteria-lacrosse-style/feed/ 2 http://www.whatsnewlaporte.com/2012/01/24/45-years-ago-today-the-67-snowstorm-that-buried-laporte/ http://www.whatsnewlaporte.com/2012/01/24/45-years-ago-today-the-67-snowstorm-that-buried-laporte/#comments Wed, 25 Jan 2012 02:47:24 +0000 Staff http://www.whatsnewlaporte.com/?p=29095

"This photo was during the height of the storm," Howes wrote. "My neighbor, Terry Bowman, was in his father’s (Art Bowman's) Jeep and thought he could make it through the ever-increasing snow drifts. Wrong!" This photo, looking north down Holton Road from Waverly Road, shows the Jeep mired in drifts not far from the Howes and Bowman residences on Waverly.

Photos by Ralph F. Howes

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Ralph F. Howes

Jan. 26, 1967, started out ordinarily enough. The day before, LaPorte County had enjoyed a balmy 65 degrees. As the 26th dawned, it was colder but still quite mild, and not much snow was falling.

Then Mother Nature decided to have some fun.

By midday, the snow was really coming down — thick and heavy — accompanied by wind. It didn’t stop for 36 hours. The storm ultimately dumped 28 inches of snow — 22.5 inches of that total on Jan. 26. LaPorte, and the entire region, were at a virtual standstill for several days. Workers were stranded at their jobs, school kids were taken in by residents in the vicinity where their buses got stuck, cars disappeared beneath drifts.

Many have vivid memories of the storm, but LaPorte attorney Ralph F. Howes has something better than that. He has color slides he took at the time, when he was a teenager. Howes recently acquired a slide-to-computer scanner and sent copies of the images to WNLP. We’re excited to share these glimpses of local history along with his recollections.

“My uncle, William Fleck, had always had the finest in photography equipment,” Howes told WNLP. “When I was about 15, he gave a Zeiss Ikon 35mm camera to me along with a wide assortment of lenses. It was an excellent camera but old technology. I had to use an external hand-held light meter and then had to adjust focus and f settings, but it took really good pictures. At the time I had a job after school that paid about $1 per hour, so taking slides was more within my very limited budget as opposed to negatives and prints.

“The storm was quite an event. I remember looking out the windows at LaPorte High School and seeing snow coming down like I’d never seen it before. I believe we were at lunch when they announced school would be closing and we needed to gather our stuff and go to our buses. My bus route went out to Orchard Avenue and then on Garden Street. The bus got bogged down in heavy snow about 100 yards from Waverly Road. The bus driver couldn’t go any farther so a group of us bailed out and made it to my parents’ home at Waverly and Holton roads. One of those in the group was my good friend, Norman Garwood, who ended up staying with us for maybe five or six days.”

A few days after the storm, “I remember my sister, Barbara, myself and Norman, not having much else to do, walking down Waverly Road and offering to shovel out driveways. Sometimes folks were so grateful for the service they would pay us as much as $5 or so!”

If you have memories and/or photos of the ‘67 blizzard, feel free to send them to wnlp@whatsnewlaporte.com and we will post them in future days.

A few days after the storm, as the digging out ensued, "we needed to go to Hinton’s grocery store (later Hickman’s, which stood where Taco Bell is now on Pine Lake Avenue) to get some food," Ralph recalled. He shot this scene at the corner of Pine Lake Avenue and Weller Avenue, looking east across Pine Lake Avenue. At left is the Bastian-Morley showroom (the LaPorte company made boilers and water heaters) and in the background toward the right is Allis-Chalmers.

Days after the storm, cars remained buried in the LaPorte High School parking lot.

Another shot of the LPHS lot.

Ralph removing snow from the roof of his parents' home on Waverly Road. The snow was so heavy that it collapsed some roofs.

The Plymouth Valiant belonging to Ralph's father, Ralph E. Howes, sits mired in the Crichfield School (then Johnson Road School) lot. The elder Mr. Howes was principal of the school at the time.

Ralph's friend Norman Garwood, his sister Barbara and himself outside the Howes home on Waverly. Norman stayed with the Howes family for several days until he could get home.

Firefighters went into the water and also used a floating sled to rescue a man (in background) who fell through the ice at Clear Lake.

Photos courtesy of Jason Ott

(Click on photos to enlarge)

Just last week, the LaPorte Fire Department practiced ice rescues at Stone Lake. The practice came in handy on Sunday evening, Jan. 22, 2012, after a man fell through the ice on Clear Lake.

A DNR spokesman said the man lived near Clear Lake and fell through into about 8 feet of water. Someone saw him and called 911.

For more on the story, click on the following link:

http://www.wsbt.com/news/wsbt-dnr-man-luck-to-be-alive-after-falling-through-ice-on-laporte-lake-20120123,0,793423.story

The man is carried on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance.

A firefighter uses a floating sled designed for ice rescues to reach the man.

Click on photos to enlarge

Carol Ott took these photos of a great horned owl perching on highway signs on Jan. 9, 2012. “He or she was on the side of the road and flew up on the signs. Awesome sight!” she e-mailed.

Photo by Mike Kellems

(Click on photo to enlarge)

Members of the Patriot Guard stand with their American flags in Oak Grove Cemetery near LaCrosse, IN, during the burial service for U.S. Army Spc. Robert Tauteris Jr. on Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. Tauteris, of Hamlet, was killed in action along with three other Indiana soldiers on Jan. 5 in Afghanistan.

According to a report from WKVI-FM, among the hundreds in attendance at Tauteris’ services were Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and Congressman Joe Donnelly. Daniels assisted in presenting the Purple Heart and Bronze Star to Tauteris’ family.

LaPorte Lions Club President Tom Ruda presents a check for $5,000 to Unity Foundation of LaPorte County President Maggi Spartz at the 2-acre site at 1010 Pine Lake Ave. in LaPorte. The money will be used to fund planning for the site. (Click on photo to enlarge)

Information by Sandra Provan

So how did the Unity Foundation of LaPorte County and its supporters seize a piece of prime Pine Lake property to restore?

Maggi Spartz, president of the Unity Foundation, explained how at a November 2011 LaPorte Lions Club meeting. Spartz described the almost 2-acre lakefront property at 1010 Pine Lake Ave., between the Blue Heron Inn and Fay’s Marina, the former site of Roskoe’s Restaurant.

According to the foundation, it all started when someone noticed the “For Sale” sign at the property and asked Unity what was going to happen there. Would it be something positive for the community?

The property, just under 2 acres with 400 feet of seawall and several easements and egresses, includes access from Pine Lake Avenue, a launch ramp, and the cinder-block “Lynda’s Landing” building with bathrooms.

Spartz showed the Lions Club a video of the property. It was the first presentation about the project that the Unity Foundation had made.

At the December 2011 LaPorte Lions Club board meeting, the board decided to give $5,000 toward plans for the property.

“The LaPorte Lions Club is proud to support the Unity Foundation of LaPorte County in its effort to promote access to Pine Lake and to preserve its natural beauty through the ‘Love Our Lakes’ program,” said Tom Ruda, president of LaPorte Lions. “As Lions, our mission is ‘To Serve.’ We strongly support efforts that enhance the quality of life in our community and that provide open space for all residents to enjoy.”

“Everyone wants this project to be awesome and we know professional design help is important,” said Spartz. “We are so grateful for the LaPorte Lions Club’s generous donation.”

The Unity Foundation plans a permanent endowment to maintain the property. “Development plans will influence future maintenance costs and Unity has already established a separate fund for this purpose,” according to the foundation’s website.

Susan Aaron is chairman of the committee for the project, joined by members Liz Bernel, Kim Sauers, Marti Swanson and Michele Thompson. For more information, visit www.uflc.net or call 219-879-0327. To see a video of the Pine Lake project, view http://uflc.net/2011/11/help-us-love-our-lakes-video/.

For more information about LaPorte Lions, visit www.laportelions.org or call Ruda at 324-0603.

Mom and Dad (Carolyn and Charles Reason) read the local papers, circa 1980s.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Ron Reason has designed and redesigned publications for top news organizations (as well as many smaller titles) worldwide. Based in Chicago, he is also a consultant and newsroom trainer. His website is www.ronreason.com, and his blog (on which this essay about his mom appears) is www.ronreason.com/designwithreason. He tells us that his mom was a regular reader of WNLP.

By Ron Reason

Ron Reason

LaPorte County newspapers may have lost their most faithful reader with the passing of my mom, Carolyn Reason, on Thanksgiving Day 2011. Sadly, crosswords will now go unsolved. Typos will go undiscovered. Comics, columns and coupons will go unclipped; the tomfoolery of local officials will not be remarked upon.

Yes, local editors, you can rest a little easier with one less reader to call and complain about an error, an unclear story, or worse, today’s edition showing up more than a half hour late in the paper box.

As early as I can recall, Carolyn had the Michigan City News Dispatch and/or the LaPorte Herald-Argus (or weekly Town Crier) in her lap, was awaiting their arrival or remarking on their contents. It was just a household habit – to get the paper, devour it, fight over the sections, talk about it. Even if it became a lament at times of “there’s nothing in this damn thing,” my parents have regularly received two or more regional papers for decades. It wasn’t unusual to see one or two other papers bought from the newsstand, lying on the family room floor or waiting to go into recycle, when I’d return home to visit. The South Bend Tribune was always added to the mix on Sundays.

That I went on to make a career in newspapers and journalism education, visiting dozens of newsrooms around the world and teaching hundreds of journalists along the way, is in no small part due to my mom’s addiction to LaPorte County papers and their coverage of local affairs.

A veritable buffet of typos from a local paper that caught my mom's eye and she mailed, with joy, to me.

Her devotion to typo-hunting, I think, made us kids try harder on spelling tests or when taking our turn at a spelling bee. Her laughter at the latest Erma Bombeck column made us appreciate the wacky side of life, and made me try my hand at column writing. I tested the waters in my high school paper, then in the teen pages of the Westville Indicator, Herald-Argus, South Bend Trib, and later at the Indiana Daily Student, my college paper at IU-Bloomington. I got hooked.

Though my first real job took me to Florida, the distance was made easier for mom when she got acquainted with my employer, the St. Petersburg Times. She loved that paper and devoured it when they would come to visit. She made friends with my fellow editors and many other staffers. After my parents curtailed their Florida trips, they still read the Times daily online, even hectoring web producers from afar if something seemed unclear or amiss, and would share observations with me about what they learned. When she became sick from the effects of chemo this past summer, our dear friend Anne Glover, a Times website manager, sent a box of recent copies of the Times to distract her. It didn’t matter that the papers were a bit old – they were evidence of life as it happened, and she loved the idea of that, especially if presented well, and accurately, as do I.

Her favorite features included the obits, a bit of an obsession. It was the highest sin for a newspaper to screw something up in an obit – worthy of a call of complaint to the newsroom. She remarked in recent years how humbled she was to see so many people younger than she, featured in any day’s obits. I know this made her more grateful to reach the stage in life that she did. (Imagine my trepidation in tackling the writing of her own obit.)

Mom made the migration to online news, along with the masses. Her alerts expanded to informing us about what stories appeared in the online edition of one local paper, but not in the print edition of another. “Don’t these people know the stories they are missing?” she would lament. But her heart remained with the print editions. (Perhaps thanks to the coupons?) She delighted in informing family and friends of things found in the paper. As her friend Crystal White wrote on the online guestbook for her obituary: “I could always count on her for the most updated news of the day! I guess I will have to read the paper myself now.”

Even with all its inevitable faults (I often had to explain, “Mom, newspapers and websites are put together by human beings and we make mistakes”), there was something about a paper arriving at the house that she treasured. On the morning she died, she delighted that the papers showed up on a holiday.

The ritual of helping to go through her things was made bittersweet, but still sweet, with the discovery of numerous newspaper clippings: their wedding notice that ran nearly 20 paragraphs on Page 2 of the now-defunct Valparaiso Vidette-Messenger … clips of grandkids shown in photos of elementary soccer or softball victories … a yellowed copy of USA Today (or “the USA paper” as she called it), in which I was interviewed briefly for a story about college internships … recipes for linguine with clam sauce, her favorite, tucked into her cookbooks.

Mom and Dad's 50th anniversary portrait -- also published in the local papers -- four years ago.

Another faded clip is priceless. At age 9, Mom was interviewed by the Chicago Daily Tribune for its “Inquiring Camera Girl” feature, which asked kids on the street, “What are you going to do when you grow up?” “I’m not going to be an old maid.” (Check.) “I’m not going to have that new look either.” (Check.) “Ladies shouldn’t drink either, so I won’t.” (Her kids, grandkids, and my folks’ devoted drinking buddies from Hammer’s bar in Michigan City got a chuckle about how wrong that one turned out.)

The most poignant artifacts on newsprint, though, were the inspirational poems she saved and inserted into her address book, including “Don’t Grieve For Me For Now I’m Free,” probably clipped from Dr. Donohue or Dear Abby or another advice column. It was read at her services.

As newspapers “transition,” shall we say, I wonder what will become of these rites of passage? Certainly the sharing of Mom’s photos (not to mention the news of her death) has been instantaneous, healing, humorous and sorrowful — thank you, Facebook. But will families in the future read their loved ones’ favorite Tweets at their wakes? Will printouts of web pages featuring grade school soccer triumphs be circulated among mourners? Whatever traditions evolve, something tells me they won’t be as sweet, or as heartfelt.

Thank you, Mom, and thank you, all who have produced the newspapers she relished.

Brittany and friends in Chile.

EDITOR’S NOTE: LaPorte High School graduate Brittany Belkiewitz wrote this story about her recent mission work in Chile.

By Brittany Belkiewitz

Ever since my days of playing house and lugging around a pink, plastic suitcase, I have dreamed of traversing the globe. Jules Verne’s classic novel “Around the World in Eighty Days” captured my young imagination, as did reporter Nellie Bly’s 1889 record-breaking journey that emulated the feat of fictional character Phileas Fogg. I devoured guidebooks like “1,000 Places to See Before You Die” and became an avid fan of Anthony Bourdain’s travel show “No Reservations.” The thought of planes, trains and automobiles whisking me off to exotic locations has always held a certain allure.

So, after graduating early from LaPorte High School, I set my sights on South America. After some online research I discovered that, according to worldorphans.org, there are an estimated 163 million parent-less children scattered across the globe. The injustice of that statistic spurred me to find a program that would allow me to help such children.

I decided to travel to La Serena, Chile, through A Broader View Volunteer Corps to serve impoverished families. From Nov. 30 through Dec. 22, 2011, I volunteered as a caregiver at Hogar Redes, an orphanage that provides a safe, loving atmosphere for children ages 12 and under.

Upon my arrival at Hogar Redes, I was introduced to a group of extremely energetic toddlers. Jumping, spitting, pinching, hair-pulling toddlers. These were my charges.

After playing with a couple of these kids for less than an hour, it was very touching when they began referring to me as “Mami.” Here I was, a teenager who spoke little Spanish, and they were placing me on a maternal pedestal of glory. I had a lot to live up to …

I also experienced total cultural immersion by living with a host family. Gladys and Cristian Espinoza, my “mom” and “older brother,” warmly welcomed me into their home on Pasaje Los Abetos. The walk to the orphanage was about two miles from this location in suburban La Serena.

In the afternoons, I took Spanish lessons from a native tutor, Camila. Besides teaching me the local slang and fashion code, she showed me how to navigate the beach town. My terrific guide took me on tours of the bustling downtown, museums, stunning cathedrals, and all of the best places to buy ice cream. With Camila’s help, I was even able to master the art of catching a collectivo, a Chilean taxi!

The final days of my stay in La Serena were heart-wrenching, because I was all too aware that I would never see these children again. It was a most difficult task, parting from the kids with whom I had bonded for nearly a month. I would miss playing peek-a-boo with las gemelas, the twin girls, or growling, “Yummmm!” with baby Lorenzo after each big bite of food. We had shared smiles and laughs, tears and tantrums. We had cleaned up hundreds of toys, only to dump them all out on the floor again. We had even weathered smashed fingers and poopy diapers together.

I huffed and puffed the entire way to Hogar Redes on my last morning in Chile, determined to power-walk the two-mile stretch. By the time I had reached the dirt road marking the turn-off for the cluster of old buildings, my arms ached; they were heavily laden with brightly wrapped boxes and bags for los niños. My family and friends in LaPorte had filled my suitcase with small toys, soap, toothbrushes, combs, socks, and underwear to give to the children as Christmas presents. All of these gifts were gladly received, especially by the caregivers. After the toddlers tore open their presents, I made my way around the room, hugging each child and saying my final “ciaos.” With a deep breath, I walked out of the room.

On the long flight home from Santiago, I thought about what I had accomplished during my mission trip. Simply by showing up at Hogar Redes each morning with a ready smile and a willing heart, I felt I had made an impact on the lives and development of 20 toddlers. By the end, I had come to know and love each and every one of them.

My journey reaffirmed my ambition to study international affairs and Spanish while in college. It gave me a chance to discover my calling in life, strengthen my core beliefs, and effect positive change in the world. I felt that I had represented Christians, as well as Americans, as people willing to work for the greater good.

VISIT www.abroaderview.org to learn how you can serve needy communities around the globe. Or, if you want to help further ABV’s volunteer efforts in La Serena, mail a donation to the cause online. Just remember: A lot of small steps can change the world!

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A small group of local folks decided to do something different to bring in the new year, photographer David Malik e-mailed. So on Jan. 1, 2012, Megan McCulloch of LaPorte and some friends splashed into Stone Lake. “The word went out on Facebook and they got a few takers,” Malik wrote. “The temperature was 34 degrees with a wind chill of 23. Megan said they were going to do it again next year.”