>> Narrator: Up next on "Friends & Neighbors".

(graphic whooshing) >> Bob: You found some of these guys who have had their cars 20, 30, 40, 50 years.

Yeah, someone with a vehicle that's been in a family for so long, they've been cared for so long by family, and to put it out on the street like that for us, I just, I'm speechless.

(graphic whooshing) >> Denise: All of us understand, all of us parents, no matter what their needs are, we're here, you know, to help them through it.

They're incredible.

(Denise laughing) No matter where they're at, they are absolutely incredible, and they have so much to offer and to give to the community.

(graphic whooshing) >> Kevin: The beauty of this place, or the magic behind this place, is the interaction with each other.

We look at how people can age well, it all comes down to socialization, and feeling a sense of community.

(graphic whooshing) >> Jeff: I wanna see great skate parks in our community, I wanna see safe skate parks in our community, and I never wanna see the dilapidated skate parks we had in the past.

So we said, "Let's show the towns that this has a true need, a real need, and something that should be funded."

So we started raising money for it to get the ball rolling.

We can make a place where all of these kids are gonna have something to do.

(graphic whooshing) >> Wes: So, on Thanksgiving day of 1919, the Canton Bulldogs of Ohio traveled across Indiana for an exhibition game against the Hammond Pros, and I don't think anybody realized the significance of that game because 12,000 people paid to get in to see this exhibition game.

>> Narrator 2: Centier Bank is proud to serve hometown community banking across Indiana.

For over 128 years, Indiana's largest private family owned-bank has been not for sale, and promises to keep it that way for years to come.

(bright upbeat music) >> Dale: Doing as much as you can, as quickly as you can, is important to me.

Life is short, and the earlier we get started helping our community, the better off our community will be.

(bright gentle music) (upbeat music) >> I have a very strong connection to other students.

Everyone makes an effort to help each other.

I'll remember the feeling of being here, the feeling that I was a part of a family.

(upbeat music) >> Narrator 3: Ivy Tech offers more than 70 programs with locations in Michigan City, La Porte, and Valparaiso.

New classes start every few weeks.

Ivy Tech, higher education at the speed of life.

To get started, visit ivytech.edu.

The Crossroads Chamber is transforming Northwest Indiana's business landscape, one connection at a time.

Experience the power of networking within our diverse community and forge lasting relationships that can drive your business forward.

(upbeat music) Additional support for Lakeshore Public Media and local programming is made possible by viewers like you.

Thank you.

(bright music) (upbeat rock music) >> I guess along the East Coast, in the early 1900s, they had a lot of car racing, and so Ira Cobe decided that he should bring car racing to the Midwest.

He wanted to go to Chicago, he didn't like that area, so he moved it into Northwest Indiana.

Most of them were dirt dusty roads back then, and he attracted drivers to bring their cars and come here.

The race ran from around the fairgrounds, it started down here in Crown Point, and the fairgrounds were not exactly where they are now, so it was closer to town here, passing Cedar Lake, and then into Lowell, and went down to what we now call the Nine Mile, it's 55, it runs right back into Crown Point.

>> There are some people that have, the car that they're having is been in their family forever, it never left their family, and those are the really cool stories.

>> As you had talked to some of the other car owners here, you found some of these guys have had their cars 20, 30, 40, 50 years.

Yeah, someone with a vehicle that's been in a family for so long, they've been cared for so long by the family, and to put it out on the street like that for us, I just, I'm speechless.

>> Susan: Whether we're going to cruisings, or car shows, people walk around, they don't know each other, or maybe they do, but a lot of times you don't know them, and you just start talking, and it's just, everyone loves to look at old cars.

And, I think that's what the comradery is.

So we take the proceeds of Cobe, and the proceeds from our car show, add 'em together, and then we donate, and this year, they're going to the Community Help Network here in Crown Point, it's grown so much because of people's donations into a, not only do they continue the buddy bags for one school, but it's many schools now, in the South Lake County area.

>> Bob: Oh, we can't do this alone, we haven't been doing this alone, and just the people who we deal with have been awesome, awesome to be around.

(lively rock music) >> Well, I've owned this for 54 years, and it's been completely taken apart and put back together.

What I like about it is they're fun to drive, 'cause you always get thumbs up and horn honks and stuff like that, but it's the members in the club, it's just like a big family.

The regional streeters take care of that, and they said that it's going to local charities, good enough for me.

>> My grandfather bought it brand new in West Lafayette, or Lafayette, Indiana, for $1,250.

It's a lot of fun, my older brother, who passed away, he drove it the last time.

We had fun, it's fun to drive.

It's nice to know that the money is going somewhere good.

>> Honestly, what it means to me is that I get to meet so many people and see so many older cars that I was not able to experience.

Everything that they did, along to get the car how it is now, is so cool to me, and I've really took so much from it that now I'm pretty confident that I can build my own car.

>> For me, you know, I grew up in the garage with four brothers, and Dad, we always went to US 30 Drag Strip, high school cars were, back in those days, you could buy one for 300 bucks and just swap around, work on 'em.

It kept us close.

Being able to teach Nico all the things that my dad and my brothers taught me, the comradery of classic cars, and the car shows, and the people, like he says, you know, you know, those are creating memories, not only for me, but for him.

(lively rock music) (car engines revving) (bright uplifting music) >> Your journey changes, and I started researching and trying to find something exactly what I wanted for my daughter.

Everything was just, it was not positive, the outcome for individuals with disabilities, and I found it really heartbreaking, it was actually shattering to me.

I didn't want that for my daughter, I didn't want that for any child with a disability.

So I started putting together different ideas, thoughts, of what kind of programs I would wanna offer, and then we built a village.

At Chasing Dreams, we don't charge for our programs, everything is free.

A lot of the parents were so ecstatic, because the different social programs that we offer here, a lot of the kids don't get that in school.

STEM, different, you know, the cooking classes, we try to make sure that everybody's needs are fulfilled.

When I built that village, everybody was expressing their thoughts, you know, they would like to have more programs to help our friends become more independent.

We could have a large group, and only have three or four volunteers, because we want the kids to learn, and if they're getting one-on-one care, you know, help assisting with all the programs, they're not gonna learn.

They're gonna learn that Mom does it better, or the volunteer does it better, so why not let them do it?

We challenge the kids with all of our programs, and that is one of the steps to becoming more independent, you know, is building that confidence, that self-confidence that the kids see, "Wow, I can really do this."

And they can, it's amazing the things that they can do.

(bright upbeat music) >> All the socialization somewhat in high school, when they age out or they graduate, what's the next step?

And, you know, for some individuals, like my two daughters, there really isn't much out there.

Some have the ability to maybe go on to college, some have the ability to maybe get other types of jobs, or some, you know, with disabilities can drive, and do those things, and that's right now not for either of them.

So, it's been huge in the fact that it's helped them grow and learn more, it's helped them with interacting with others, and each of the others in this group with Chasing Dreams, they all have their own disabilities, we all have some of the challenges, but learning to work better with each other and grow together is something, because of this organization, they may able to do more of that.

From the job standpoint, it was how to do a job interview, which could always be interesting, filling out maybe a job application, or looking at something beyond high school, beyond Chasing Dreams, and getting a job.

And both McKenzie and McIntyre, they do some work at the high school where they graduated, it gives them, again, sense of purpose, and a little more of accomplishment, but it also gives them maybe some building blocks that later in life, after a little bit more training, and a little bit of time goes by, all of a sudden, something clicks, and all of a sudden, they can do something they couldn't do before, and you kind of are thinking, "Wow, I never thought they'd be able to do that."

There are many parents who volunteer, who like to help and assist, they really go above and beyond, because the way that they come and help, and have such a cheerful demeanor, and how they help each of these kids feel important, that's all done voluntarily.

These are people who have a heart to do that, could always use, I'm sure, more volunteers, and that would be a big thing just to help, also as the organization grows.

>> We have volunteers, a lot of them are retired teachers.

We do have some that are doctors, people that worked in the corporate world, they wanna make a difference.

All of us understand, all of us parents, no matter what their needs are, we're here, you know, to help them through it.

They're incredible.

(Denise laughing) No matter where they're at, they are absolutely incredible, and they have so much to offer and to give to the community.

(bright uplifting music) >> The Banta Center's a historic building that has been owned by the Parks Department since 1978.

It was a previous school, owned by the Valpo Community Schools, but for us, it's a senior enrichment center.

So we have programs for adults 50 and over, and then we also have enrichment rooms for youth enrichment, and then a rental room for private parties, and other community organizations to use.

(bright upbeat music) The Banta Center has a monthly newsletter that comes out, and on that monthly newsletter, each day there's a list of activities that we offer, and our staff is responsible for putting that list together for the members to be able to join in, if they're so interested.

And so, a lot of those activities are repeat, weekly, but some of the most popular ones are our card games, we do a Tai Chi, fitness program, Pilates, we have a ping pong room, so we do ping pong, and there's a lot of really good competition there, they do line dancing.

Now the list goes on, and so I think our staff, one thing that we really empower them to do is to come up with new ideas, and some of those ideas actually come from the members.

And so they do a lot of listening, but also collaboration, and helping come up with the list of programs.

We have an exercise room here as well that the members can utilize as a part of their membership, and then any and every card game you can think of, they play here at the center, some of which I have never played before, but they're certainly very creative when it comes to what games that they wanna play.

Thursday mornings, we have a knitting group that gets together, and they knit items to then be given away and donated to those that are less fortunate.

And over the years, they've done some really great work, and given a lot of items away that have impacted other people, and so that group meets on Thursdays, and you know, they're a a special group of people that like to give back.

So we have a Ask a Nurse program, a nurse from Community Healthcare System comes to the Center for a couple hours, and our members are able to go schedule some time with her to talk about issues they might have, questions they might have with what's going on with their own health, as well as do some screenings for them, and so that's an important program for us to have that our members can take advantage of, and we're thankful for our partnership with Community Healthcare System, and allowing that to happen once a month here at the Center.

(bright music) >> My wife passed away, I had a stroke, and now I live in couch, and I just said to her, "There's nothing to do."

I couldn't drive anymore, so my oldest daughter brought me up here and walked me through, and she signed me up for six months and paid for it, and got her sisters to bring me, they got me a ride home.

So I come here three, four days a week, and I'd rather come here than just sit at home and not do anything, it gives me some place to do, when I get up in the morning, I got something to do.

And I come up here, play cards, today we played bingo, and I love to visit with people.

They treat you as independent, you get to do what you want, you know, they take good care of you here.

And there's a lot of things, you know, I look at some of the things that some of the people complain, but I sit here and I look at this, and I get involved, are there some things I'd do different?

I think yeah.

But I don't wanna do it.

I'm happy they're doing this, so I don't say anything.

(Brian laughing) So, we just leave it, go with that.

Overall, they do a good job, and they aren't gonna please everybody, but hey, it gives you something to do, and it's better than sitting at home.

(bright music) >> This community, similar to others around us, more older adults are either staying local, to be close to family, or they're moving back to be closer to family after having lived maybe somewhere warmer or somewhere south.

The population and the number of adults 50 and over is growing, and so providing a place for them to stay active, to socialize, to learn new skills, even at the age of 50 plus, we can still learn new things.

And so, this facility creates that opportunity for people to be able to do that.

We have two employees that work here throughout the day, Monday through Friday, and they are responsible for programming the facility.

So every hour, almost on the hour, there's a new program, there's a new activity that the seniors here can participate in.

And when you walk the halls, you can just see how much fun they're all having.

The beauty of this place, or the magic behind this place, is the interaction with each other.

We look at how people can age well, it all comes down to socialization, and feeling a sense of community, The Banta Center provides that.

(bright acoustic music) (upbeat music) >> What was happening during the day is that there were pockets of semi-pro football leagues, primarily around the Midwest.

The Hammond Pros was, by and large, a semi-pro barnstorming team, so players came and players went.

The players who competed for the Hammond Pros had jobs, day jobs, like most everybody else back in the day.

And, so football was a hobby, it was something that they had passion about, and they enjoyed playing, and they would do that on the weekends, and they played most of their games at what was called Cubs Park, which we now know as Wrigley Field in Chicago.

So, on Thanksgiving day of 1919, the Canton Bulldogs of Ohio traveled across Indiana for an exhibition game against the Hammond Pros, and I don't think anybody realized the significance of that game, because 12,000 people paid to get in to see this exhibition game.

And so in that, during that game, 1919, one of the players for the Hammond Pros was a guy by the name of George Halas, and George Halas, of course, went on to own the Chicago Bears.

And after the game, he wrote a letter to the owner of the Canton Bulldogs saying, "You know, we may have something here, maybe the time is right to sit down with those owners and see if there would be some interest in formulating a professional football league."

The American Professional Football Association was established, and they began their first season in a matter of weeks, began playing that fall of 1920.

There were 14 charter teams, of which the Hammond Pros was one of them.

George Halas, when he played for the Pros in 1919, actually left the Pros after that season, and formed, became the head of, what would be called the Decatur Staleys.

You had Halas' Decatur Staleys, you had Jim Thorpe playing with the Canton Bulldogs, and then you had a gentleman by the name of Fritz Pollard, and Fritz played for Akron, he was an African American player, he came from Brown University, grew up not far from here in Chicago.

The fact that he was African American made him a target on and off the football field, but he was a premier player.

He became the first African American head coach in the National Football League history.

And then his career, you know, moved around, he went to different stops, and come 1925, he found his way to Hammond, and actually set up something that was pretty impressive, as far as Hammond is concerned, because one of the primary claims to fame is that, it is the team's inclusiveness.

Of the nine or 10 African American players who played, six of them played for the Hammond Pros.

You know, I think it's a significant mark in the sense that the Pros played a part that is ultimately significant, in both the business dealings, and in the athleticism of what has become the National Football League.

(bright uplifting music) (upbeat rock music) >> Skate parks, skateboarding, biking, scootering, we are the one place where you don't have to kick kids outta the house and tell 'em to go practice.

The Driftwood Collective started six years ago, when the local skate parks in our area were failing.

The skate parks are one of the most utilized pieces of equipment of any town, you have more people at a skate park than you do your baseball field, than your football field, than your soccer field, but yet it gets some of the least amount of funding.

I wanna see great skate parks in our community, I wanna see safe skate parks in our community, and I never wanna see the dilapidated skate parks we had in the past.

So we said, "Let's show the towns that this has a true need, a real need, and something that should be funded."

So, we started raising money for it to get the ball rolling, I did a little basic research and just took a leap and started a 501(c)(3) organization, we said, "We're gonna raise money for the local skate parks."

At that time, we really didn't know how.

But then I got connected with some of the local skate shops and said, "You know what, let's host some events."

(upbeat music) The Illiana Skateboarding Circuit was first just a one-stop program, it was just a competition.

The first year we hosted it, over at Hammond, over 100 people showed up.

I said, "We got something here."

So we did that, we kept it going, we said, "You know what, let's expand."

Because if we travel across all the parks, and get all of these guys engaged, and get all of them connected, and all the skaters knowing each other, we can make something big here.

We can make a place where all of these kids are gonna have something to do, because what motivates you to play baseball?

It's not the practice, it's the game, so let's make the game.

So that's what we're doing, it's a five-stop circuit, it's a five-stop big game to where everyone can come out and they can actually compete, and keep 'em motivated throughout the year, keep 'em skating, and keep them accelerating.

(upbeat rock music) It's a five-stop circuit, they'll make first, second, and third in their division here, and they'll win prizes for it, and then they earn points for each place that they get is a certain point level.

All of those points get added up at the end, and the winner of the circuit gets a one year season pass to the Asylum Skate Park in Lake Bluff, Illinois.

That's a large indoor facility that has a large street section, it's got a bowl, mini ramp, vert wall, so that way these guys are skating all year long.

(upbeat rock music) Anyone that comes in, they register, anyone who buys a shirt, anyone who says they just wanna donate, all of that money goes right back to the public skate parks, 100 percent of that, and that's for their continued maintenance in support of the local skate parks.

Because if we show that we're caring for the parks, the towns are seeing it, and so then they start caring for the parks and they say, "You know what, there's a lot of youths, there's a lot of kids, there's a lot of people here that are really using this and enjoying this."

(upbeat rock music) Some of the other things that we do is we advocate for local skate parks.

So whenever a skate park comes up in the region, I'm generally sending out the surveys, and getting the towns connected with the local skaters to get feedback on what obstacles and what resources they wanna see at the skate park.

So we send out all of those, we aggregate that data, so not only do we get the towns connected, but we help them figure out what exactly their skate parks should look like, and I help get them connected with different designers in the industry to build the skate park that they're looking for.

At the Driftwood Collective, we have around 20 volunteers each and every year, consisting of a lot of the parents of riders, consisting of people that just love skating.

Some of our judges have team riders for different organizations.

So, the Driftwood Collective is a group of people that all just come together to make these events work, to make it go, give these kids a place to be.

(upbeat rock music) There's a certain sense of freedom that you get when a skate park comes up, because a lot of these guys, they don't have a place to skate.

And if you are someone who, maybe team sports don't work for you, maybe you're a single parent household, maybe there isn't that type of financial ability to afford some of the other team sports that are around.

Skateboarding is a low barrier to entry, anybody can do it, you can do it at any time of day, as opposed to the baseball field to where, you know, they're gonna lock it up when they're done, and if you're not on the team, you're not playing.

Skate park's not like that, it opens a door for everybody, it doesn't matter what your age, it doesn't matter your gender, it doesn't matter anything, you come out, you skate.

(upbeat rock music) Every one of these kids, we know their name, we see 'em at the park every day, you get to know 'em, and there's no coaches at a skate park, but there's always the guy who knows the trick you don't know who's now your default coach, by defacto, we are helping each other out at all times, kind of exploring this new territory together.

There's no instruction book to skateboarding, there's no playbook, there's no, you know, guru, there's no nothing.

So, it's you and your friends out there, kind of discovering how to take this piece of wood on wheels and make it do something amazing.

(upbeat rock music) >> Narrator 2: Centier Bank is proud to serve hometown community banking across Indiana.

For over 128 years, Indiana's largest private family-owned bank has been not for sale, and promises to keep it that way for years to come.

(bright upbeat music) >> Dale: Doing as much as you can, as quickly as you can, is important to me.

Life is short, and the earlier we get started helping our community, the better off our community will be.

(bright gentle music) (upbeat music) >> Almost every single professor I've had, I'm on a first name basis.

By building that relationship with faculty, I was able to get involved with research.

It's one thing to read about an idea in a book, versus physically doing it and seeing the results.

(upbeat music) >> Narrator 3: Ivy Tech offers more than 70 programs with locations in Michigan City, La Porte, and Valparaiso.

New classes start every few weeks.

Ivy Tech, higher education at the speed of life.

To get started, visit ivytech.edu.

The Crossroads Chamber is transforming Northwest Indiana's business landscape, one connection at a time.

Experience the power of networking within our diverse community, and forge lasting relationships that can drive your business forward.

(upbeat music) Additional support for Lakeshore Public Media and local programming is made possible by viewers like you.

Thank you.

(bright uplifting music) >> Narrator 4: Did you know that you can find all of your favorite Lakeshore PBS shows online?

By visiting video.LakeshorePBS.org, you can stream a large selection of shows, including "Eye on the Arts", "In Studio" and "Friends & Neighbors".

Lakeshore PBS has taken great care to bring you the best in local content.

Not sure how to find local content?

Click on "shows" and sort by "only Lakeshore PBS shows", not only will you find local content on Lakeshore PBS, but you can also stream live TV right to your computer.

Click on "live TV", and get instant access to Lakeshore PBS, live, wherever you are.

Lakeshore PBS is full of wonderful content, created just for you.

Missed the last night's episode?

No problem, Lakeshore PBS has got you covered.

Search for your show, and find your episode, ready to watch anytime.

Visit video.LakeshorePBS.org to stream your favorite local shows.

>> Narrator 5: As you travel across Northwest Indiana and into Chicago, take Lakeshore Public Media 89.1 FM along for the ride.

With our newly expanded signal, we're with you from the southern corner of Michigan, and into Chicago, and of course across Northwest Indiana.

From the dunes at Lake Michigan, to the windmills of Walcott, Lakeshore Public Media 89.1 FM is along for the ride, wherever you call home.

(bright music) (bright upbeat music) (bright upbeat music continues) (bright gentle music)