It's been a great year for positive, heart-warming and inspiring stories from the Portage community. From inspiration community members to hard working students, some incredible people and their stories were covered in 2015.
Do you have any positive news related stories to share with us? Don't hesitate to send an email to share@portagelife.com and we'll be sure to look into it!
It gives us great pride to share with you the Top 10 Features Stories in Portage for 2015!
A Portage Life in the Spotlight: Ed McCoy
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Army Veteran Sergeant Ed McCoy moved to Portage with his family at the beginning of this millennium. Since then it has been his home. No matter how far his travels have taken him or what adventures life has given him, his roots are here.
Watch it Big. Watch it Loud
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Films are meant to be big. By that, I don't mean big budget, but rather large screens and large speakers. Films projected on screens that reach to the ceiling and sound that rumbles your seat.
We have more ways than ever to watch our favorite films through a multitude of devices. As I sit here and write this, my phone sits in front of me. With my TV only a few short feet away. At any time, I can access both my Netflix and Hulu account and can instantly begin watching a selection of hundreds of films on a multitude of devices.
Part of Me is Missing... Which Doesn't Bother Me Much
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Life has a funny way of upending all of your plans. I am a novice runner, and I was really looking forward to the season starting up this year because I had big plans for myself. There were half marathons to be conquered. I also have a penchant for yoga. Twisting myself into a pretzel was getting easier and easier every day.
I knew that in order to keep myself from collapsing during mile seven or breaking my spine during a bow pose, I would have to practice. And I started to, but life intervened and said, “Nope. You’re going to get appendicitis instead.”
A Portage Life in the Spotlight: Nick Blue
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This Life in the Spotlight is one who's love of music and marching band is a huge influence in his life. This week's Life in the Spotlight is the Drum Major of the Pride of Portage Marching Band, Nick Blue.
"My primary responsibility with the band are to serve as the student conductor, so I'm the one that stands on the podium and gives the band the tempo," says Blue. "I also do a lot of different things with style, so I conduct differently depending upon what the music sounds like, or how loud it is, or how angry or cheerful it is."
#1StudentNWI: Spring News from Portage High School
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In order to promote student camaraderie and improve compassion within its halls, Portage High School has started its very own “Chain of Kindness.” The rules are simple: faculty members look for students doing good deeds; this can be as simple as holding the door open for someone or helping a teacher retrieve their fallen papers.
That simple act of kindness is written down on a strip of construction paper along with the person’s name. All of the strips are connected in a circular shape to create a chain. The goal is to hang up the chain in the hallways and try to connect the chains of the east side of the building to the west side of the building.
A Portage Life in the Spotlight: Noah Simmons
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When he was young, Noah Simmons’ grandfather told him, “Do what you love”. Since that time, Simmons, a 2015 graduate of Portage High School, has done exactly that. He feels right at home and truly loves his job as the Head Groundskeeper for the Gary Southshore Railcats.
Simmons got his start at the young age of 12 working as an Assistant Head Groundskeeper with the Schaumburg Flyers, now the Schaumburg Boomers, of the independent Frontier League. He was able to get the opportunity to work for the Flyers through a family friend who was also employed by the organization.
Czill: I Support Portage's New Downtown Development Project
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Since Portage became a city in 1967, there has not been a downtown that Portage can look to in order to spur development of small businesses and residential use. In the coming years, the dreams of many may come true. Portage will have a downtown.
Obviously, I am not old enough to remember a Portage where Willowcreek was a two-lane road, or a Portage where the High School was located at the corner of Central and Willowcreek. I am old enough, however, to remember that Portage has never had the traditional "downtown" that people would expect to find in a small, mid-western city. Our city has never been, nor ever will be, Chesteron at the corner of Broadway and Calumet or Valparaiso on Lincolnway.
A Portage Life in the Spotlight: Danny Hendon
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When Danny Hendon was told by his father that he was going to be a pastor when he was older, the sense of pride one usually receives from a father’s encouraging word was replaced by fear. Hendon was scared for the future.
“When I was told this, I was told that I would preach to tens of thousands of people, the huge pressure scared me and I spent the next few years doing the opposite of being a pastor, making poor life choices and running away from my future.”
It Takes a Team for Ideas in Motion Media to Win Awards
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Over the past six years working at Ideas in Motion Media, the question I’ve received more than any other has been, “What’s it actually like to work there?”
We have a high degree of visibility and people usually see us at events, luncheons, and networking groups, but there is a lot of hard work in sharing good news for the people, businesses and organizations serving Northwest Indiana. We’re in constant “growth” mode, and while that allows for a lot of creative thinking, it also means a lot of nose-to-the-grindstone work. The way we’re consistently able to grow, both in terms of our content reach and our client base, has been a reliance on teamwork. While everyone here has specific roles, everyone sees the same light at the end of the culture, and that has been reflected in some of the awards we’ve received over the years.
Portage is Truly a Port of Opportunity
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Portage is a great place to live, work and raise a family.
That is a phrase that I am very fond of because I find it to be 100 percent true. I have never seen a community as close and tight knit as Portage. The amount of friendliness I see between neighbors is immeasurable and the pride I feel knowing that I am a product of Portage will stay with me for the rest of my life.