Last week was a bit of a surreal experience for me. While working at my new job at Ideas in Motion Media in Valparaiso, I am sometimes given an assignment to cover a story or event in my adopted hometown, Michigan City.
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But last week provided me a chance to work in my hometown not once, but for four consecutive days. It is also nice to see friendly faces that recognize me, and to have a basic knowledge of the area and the people that makes it a little easier to put together a story for Ideas in Motion.
It all started Wednesday morning with the meeting of the new Michigan City NOW group, a proactive group of motivated individuals who are dedicated to positive change in the city by the lake. The meeting featured guest speaker John Antaramian, former mayor of Kenosha, Wisconsin. Antaramian discussed involving the public as a vital step in making positive change. He spoke from experience, as Kenosha underwent a significant improvement during his tenure as mayor in the 1990s, demolishing abandoned buildings along the lakefront and opening up a beautiful downtown area that is visited by tourists worldwide.
Michigan City, although much smaller, is similar to Kenosha. A lakefront town looking to become a bigger draw, the city has already made some significant improvement, but now only needs to take some of those final steps, including opening up the area that currently separates the lakefront from the Uptown Arts District, which is a big hit every month during First Friday events.
Following a passionate speech about the rise of education in the city by our one-of-a-kind Superintendent of Schools, the fire alarm rang at the Blue Chip Casino declaring an emergency. Was very fitting for the meeting to end with the superintendent’s speech, but the emergency must have been a mis-communication.
It did, however, provide me a chance to be the only reporter as a press conference that included Antaramian, Michigan City Mayor Ron Meer, First Ward Councilman Richard Murphy, City Planner Craig Phillips and others who worked hard on putting on the event. With the Access La Porte County crews filming, I was able to conduct an interview with those mentioned on air. Although not expecting it, I believe my knowledge of Michigan City and Kenosha gave me a good opportunity to showcase my knowledge to the county viewers.
The fun week in Michigan City was only beginning, though, as the next night I saw a number of familiar faces at the Horizon After Hours Holiday Party for the Michigan City Area Chamber of Commerce. It was good to catch up with many people I spoke to numerous times while as reporter for The News-Dispatch and get to know new people who are affiliated with Horizon Bank, one of the top clients of Ideas in Motion Media.
Taking part in the Ugly Sweater Social organized by the NWI Leaders young professional network the next night was another fun experience. To my surprise, former co-workers Jessica O’Brien and Kelley Smith were there to make it sort of a mini ND reunion. It was very refreshing to chat with other young people about the future of the city and the importance of keeping young professionals in Northwest Indiana.
And to cap it off with a Summer Festival event, the Festival of Lights and Chili Cook-off at the Michigan City Senior Center was a perfect way to end the week on Saturday. Again, a number of familiar faces made the event a lot of fun and catching up with Joe Doyle, Summer Fest chair, is always a pleasure.
While my time in Michigan City has been reduced with my new endeavor, I am blessed to still be able to take part in the great happenings of this great American city on the rise.
