Community leaders to be honored at Friends and Legends Reception
The Valpo Parks Foundation will host the 2024 Friends and Legends reception, a celebration honoring individuals who have made significant contributions to Valpo Parks, from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the Butterfield Family Pavilion at Fairgrounds Park, 645 Evans Ave, Valparaiso. This year’s honorees include: Art and Irene Malasto Legends Award – Nancy Bender; Legendary Friend Award – Matt Vessely; and Community Champion Award – Byron Smith III. The Friends and Legends reception will feature complimentary hors d’oeuvres, soda and water, with a cash bar service available. Admission to the event is free and open to the public. Donations to the Valpo Parks Foundation are gratefully accepted. The Valpo Parks Foundation would like to extend its gratitude to the following event sponsors for their generous support: Silver – Indiana Beverage; and In-Kind – Madewell Media, Adams Radio Group, Spare Room Studios, Aberdeen Manor and Coastal Valley Water Co. Reservations are at www.ValpoParksFoundation.org. For more information about the Valpo Parks Foundation or the 2024 Friends and Legends reception, visit the website or contact Tracy Betustak at 219-462-5144.
Walk With a Doc to focus on stress management
Tips on stress management will be shared when members of Franciscan Health’s Employee Assistance Program lead Walk With a Doc from 3 to 4 p.m. Thursday. The walk will kick off at the health department, 2900 W. 93rd Ave., Crown Point. Walkers will venture onto the Erie Lackawanna Trail before heading back to the health department. Walk With A Doc is part of a partnership between the Lake County Health Department and Franciscan Health made possible through funding provided by the Health First Indiana initiative established by Senate Enrolled Act 4-2023. Walk With A Doc continues Thursdays from 3 to 4 p.m. through Oct. 17. Each week will include a brief presentation before the walk begins. Registration is on-site only on the day of the walks and begins at 2:45 p.m. More information is with the Lake County Council at 219-755-3280, Ext. 411.
Valparaiso University Homecoming weekend events
The community is invited to celebrate Homecoming and Family Weekend at Valparaiso University Friday through Sunday. Events listed are free unless otherwise noted and require no prior registration. Friday events include Volleyball vs. UNI, 6 p.m., ARC. Tickets available at valpoathletics.com; Homecoming and Family Weekend kickoff with food trucks, lawn games, and hay rides, 6-9 p.m., Harre Union West Lawn; and Fireworks, 8:30 p.m., Harre Union West Lawn. Saturday events include: Robotic Football Game, 10 a.m., Hilltop Gymnasium in the ARC; Beacon Tailgate, $10 per car, 9 a.m., Tailgate Lawn next to Brown Field; Football vs. Drake, 12 p.m., Brown Field. Tickets available at valpoathletics.com; Valparaiso University Chorale and Orchestra Concert, 4 p.m., Chapel of the Resurrection; Healthy Kids Homecoming Carnival, 3:30 p.m., LeBien Hall parking lot; Valpo’s Lutheran Centennial Hymn Festival, 4 to 5:30 p.m., Chapel of the Resurrection; Volleyball vs. Drake, 6 p.m., ARC. Tickets available at valpoathletics.com; and Shakespeare under the Stars, 10 p.m., behind the Helge Center.
For a complete schedule of events, plus parking and accommodation information, visit https://www.valpo.edu/student-life/family-weekend/.
PoCo Muse offers guided tour of rural Morgan Township Cemetery
Porter County Museum invites the public to join a guided tour of historic Adams Cemetery in Morgan Township on Saturday. Participants are asked to meet at 2 p.m. at the cemetery’s gates at the intersection of County Roads 150E and 250S for an hour’s walk highlighted by stories of the many early residents buried there. The event is free of charge, and no reservations are required. PoCo Muse Executive Director, Kevin Matthew Pazour, will lead the excursion. Pazour is also the Porter County Historian. Assisting Pazour will be Steve Mockler, a local historian and Civil War expert, who is a member of the David D. Porter Camp No. 116 of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. Porter County Museum is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday at 20 Indiana Ave., Valparaiso. Admission is free. Free half-hour guided tours are offered at 2 p.m. every Saturday. For more information, visit pocomuse.org or find @pocomuse on social media.
League of Women Voters, Lakeshore Public Media to host candidate forum
The League of Women Voters of Porter County and Lakeshore Public Media will be hosting a forum for candidates running for Porter County Council At Large at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Woodland Park Sycamore Room, 2100 Willowcreek Road, Portage. Doors open at 6 p.m. The debate is open to the public and will be an opportunity for voters to hear directly from the candidates asking for their vote. Candidates also will be answering written questions from the audience. League policy prohibits campaign buttons, shirts, jackets, hats, etc, and campaign literature at this event. To learn more about the candidates running for office in Porter County visit the League’s nonpartisan voter education website, vote411.org.
