What’s recently happened?
Before school comes back into full swing, festivals, carnivals, and community events are at an all-time high. Every July, the Porter County Fair is hosted, ending summer on a high note. With plenty of games, food, live music, and rides, the fair attracts people of all ages.
The fair began on July 18, concluded on July 27, and was held at the Porter County Fairgrounds in Valparaiso. The 10-day event had a packed schedule, each day consisting of animal shows, competitions, and live music performances of all different genres. This year’s biggest musical performances came from Old Dominion and Nelly.
Each day, the fair opened bright and early at 8 a.m., beginning the day with various 4-H events. These events consisted of different entertaining animal shows for everyone to come and watch. Later in the day, food vendors would open their stands and general admission gates would open and charge $10 per person anytime after noon.
At 1 p.m., the carnival rides would open up for the day. Visitors would purchase wristbands to gain access to all rides during the day or buy individual tickets to use for each ride. The Porter County Fair has rides for all ages and even had a section of children’s rides so all fair-goers had a great time!
Jessica Myers, a Chesterton resident and fair-goer, looks forward to the Porter County Fair each year for the food and the people.
“I think my favorite thing is seeing familiar faces. It seems to be something that most people look forward to enjoying every year. It being such a small community you are guaranteed to run into people that you know at the fair. I also always look forward to the fair food, mostly fried oreos and a lemonade shake-up. I get them once a year at the fair,” Myers said.
What’s coming up?
This August, the upcoming Chesterton Art Fair will be hosted at Dogwood Park. The fair is a wonderful opportunity to shop small and meet local artists. The Art Fair will host over 50 artists this year with different mediums ranging from jewelry, photography, pottery, sculpture, painting, and more.
This annual fair is hosted the first weekend of August and is open for two days only. On August 3, the fair is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on August 4 its hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Art Fair will have live music and food vendors during the day and offer free parking for all visitors.
This year, the Art Fair is offering prizes for the best three featured artists. $500, $300, and $200 awards will be given out. The winners will be determined by The Chesterton Art Fair juror on August 3 upon opening. Any proceeds from this event will go to support the Chesterton Art Center, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to spotlighting local artists and bringing the community together.
David Arreola, owner of Duneland Pottery, is very enthusiastic about the opportunity of being a new vendor for the Chesterton Art Fair this year.
“I am excited to announce this is my first year participating in the Chesterton Art Fair. It is really exciting to be in an exhibit and art fair that hosts artists of many different mediums,” Arreola said.
For his first year, Arreola is looking forward to engaging with new customers and bringing more attention to his brick-and-mortar studio in downtown Chesterton where he offers classes and workshops.
“The Art Fair is a great place to present myself as an artist and potter. I hope to engage new potters into my studio space and launch my next schedule of classes and workshops. I am truly blessed to be an artist at this event,” Arreola said.
Community member spotlight:
Brother, baseball player, umpire, orchard worker - Vince Fox is a busy member of the Chesterton community.
Fox is a recent Chesterton High School (CHS) graduate and is headed to Indiana University (IU) Bloomington this August. Throughout his whole life, Fox has been a baseball player.
“I started baseball when I was about 3 years old. I always pitched and played shortstop. I also sometimes played in the outfield because I was fast. As I got older, I transitioned to a centerfielder because I was good at tracking fly balls and I was quick,” said Fox.
During his senior year, Fox played on the varsity baseball team for CHS as a center fielder. The team was fortunate to advance to Regionals where the group played at the Gary Railcats Steelyard this past June. Unfortunately, the team played their last game which ended in a loss, 2-0.
“It was a bummer that we couldn’t get the win, but overall the team had a great season. We had the longest winning streak in our school history at 11 games. Having the opportunity to play at a field like the Steelyard was a great experience,” said Fox.
Throughout the summer, Fox has played ball for a summer league located in Valparaiso. He was a jack of all trades on this team, playing in almost every position.
“I pitched, played middle infield, third base, and everywhere on the outfield. I liked playing shortstop the most because it was like playing infield as a kid again,” Fox said.
Outside of baseball, Fox has kept himself busy working as an umpire for the Duneland Diamonds Babe Ruth League and tending to his grandparent’s orchard, Bonaterra Orchards.
“I’m really glad I got involved in umpiring because I played in the Duneland Diamonds when I was in middle school and it was cool to be involved in the game of baseball in a different way than what I was used to. As far as the orchard goes, I have been helping my grandpa at his apple orchard since I was 11. Picking apples, making cider, and maintaining the trees are just some of the things I do,” said Fox.
In just a few weeks, Fox will begin a new chapter of life as a college student.
“IU has a beautiful campus that I have been fortunate enough to explore already. I am very eager to get involved with different clubs and activities that they offer, such as intramural sports. I’m excited about being in a new environment, meeting new people, and living on my own,” said Fox.
