Friday, October 7, 2016

Porter County Museum Cemetery Tours ~ Maplewood Cemetery

You might be thinking "A cemetery tour? Eeeww." But it was actually pretty cool. I already like going to cemeteries once in a while for a sense of history. I had been to this one before, when I lived in Valparaiso. The dates on some of the headstones amaze me. Life is much bigger than just the moment we live in, and there are so many stories to be known. When I wander in a cemetery, I wonder what life was like for those whose headstones I am reading. What was life like in our area in, say, 1898? 
A friend of mine, who was going to be speaking at the tour, sent me a Facebook invite. Since I lived in Valpo long enough to consider it my adopted home (I do not live there anymore, and I miss it) I thought It would be interesting, and it was. 

The tour was led by Kevin Pazour (executive director of the Porter Co Museum) and Steve Mockler (Sons of the Union Veterans member, and my friend). They took turns telling interesting stories about some of the residents of Maplewood Cemetery and their connection to Valparaiso and/or Porter County. There are quite a few Civil War Union soldiers in this cemetery and they were able to share a few stories of their lives with us. (Maplewood Cemetery is also part of the South Shore Civil War Trail. To learn more, click here). To be honest, my memory is too horrible to recall and share pieces of the stories, but hey, that just gives you reason to go to the next tour, right? The next tour is 2 pm on October 22nd at the Union Street Cemetery, the oldest cemetery in Valparaiso. I'm sure those stories will be just as interesting. 






















 The medallion in the photo to the right is a rare find and very old...




Steve Mockler telling the stories of three brothers that fought in the Civil War...



 Three flags, for three brothers..



The graves in the photo below have two headstones because the originals were kept.




Unsure of the origins of the stone bench, there was a bit of humor about LaPorte trying to troll Valpo...


While I don't remember the whole story, the deceased below registered a patent still used today. Something to do with hunting clothes, I think.


Something other than history that I love about old cemeteries, old trees...



For the Porter County Museum Facebook page

** ALL photos on this blog are property of Christi Bushby, copyrighted and protected as such by law. Please see my copyright page for details and/or permissions of use. 

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"The earth without art is just eh..."


Tuesday, July 26, 2016

"Livin' It Up" For Special Olympics





I couple of weeks ago, I attend my first Livin' it Up Music Festival, and what fun it was! Held at Zao Island in Valparaiso, this is an event that the entire family can enjoy! Live local music, a beer tent, food and plenty to keep the kids entertained!! PLUS, the $5 entry ticket was also a door prize ticket (with some pretty awesome prizes, like a White Sox package) and could be used later for a free round of mini golf at a later date!

This was the 6th year for the fundraising festival, founded by John King of the local radio station WVLP 103.1 FM in Valparaiso, Indiana. His daughter is special needs herself, and he wanted to help her to become more social while helping the community as well. And the festival was born...
This years theme was a British Invasion, concentrating on the music of The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. I personally have several musician friends, and it's just so cool that someone is always willing to step up and donate time for such a great cause.

This years line up of music was:

Mark Rongers & Phil Miller

Ripley Street

Beggars Banquet
(An Amazing Rolling Stones Tribute band from Illinois)

and

The Chris & Lou Band
(Renamed The Chris & Lou Beatles Experience, just for this event)

Enjoy the photos, and be sure to come to Livin' It Up next year!!













The man himself, John King...




Ripley Street...







































Next up, Begggars Banquet...

































Face painting fun...






















And last, but certainly not least, 
    The Chris & Lou Beatles Experience...



























































In a world full of daily negativity, be the love.... This was a wonderful sight... This was what is was all about.









Time to give away some prizes! (that I didn't win, lol)

























To learn more about Special Olympics, WLVP, the bands, or Zao Island, please visit these links:











** ALL photos on this blog are property of Christi Bushby, copyrighted and protected as such by law. Please see my copyright page for details and/or permissions of use. 

Please feel free to share my blog! There are social media buttons on the bottom left for your convenience!



Support local music and the arts!!

"The earth without art is just eh..."