Fantasy Ride-Towne House Bowling Alley

A few weeks ago I had to drive north into Whiting, Indiana and shop at Strach and Van Til’s, on 199th Street and Calumet Avenue. Somehow I remembered that the site of the store used to be the site of of Towne House Bowling Lanes back in the ’50’s and ’60’s into the ’70’s. I used to bowl there sometimes with friends as a diversion to being bored. I wasn’t a very good bowler, but at least it was a sport I could do without too much shame.

My dad, however, was a good bowler. In fact he once won a tournament at Towne House lanes in 1962, I believe. I don’t remember what his series score was, but he pretty proud of the achievement.

Over the years, my Dad developed a lot of friendships and such at that bowling alley. In the late ’70’s (1978, I believe) the bowling alley burned down one cold morning in late fall. When my Dad heard the news he rushed out to see the smoking ruins of the fabled bowling establishment. It was a total loss: nothing but ashes and twisted steel. His home away from home for him and his cronies gone forever.

He and his friends gathered aroud to mourn the loss of their old stomping grounds. They lost balls, shoes and other equipment in the lockers they rented at the place. Most of all they lost a place to meet and carry on their friendships. There are not many places where a guy could feel comfortable and enjoy the comraderie of their fellow bowlers.

Many scattered to other bowling places. I don’t know if all the friendships survived in the loss of the Townw House, but I kind of think of my Dad and his buddies when I’m shopping in the cereal section. It should be about the middle of the 15th lane. A lot of pins were knocked down there, now a lot of cereal is bought there.

Most important, a lot of friendships were made back then, You can still hear the pins falling and the conversations taking place if you havve an imagination and a vision of a time passed by.

Calumet College Grows Up

My old college sure is growing up. Calumet College just  added a Student/Athletic center to its Whiting Campus. With its six story academic building, it has come a long way from its storefront image back in the ’60’s and ’70’s.

graduated from Calumet College back then (1975). Whule the college these days has a better image then back when I studied on the East Chicago campus. I enjoyed my time at the old campus. It had an attitude as a rough place, sort like the area that it was located in. If you could survive there, you could survive anywhere, at any job.

For the most part, we did. Many of us made it in the working world. We had dedicated professors there and  tough as the campus.

It wasn’t much, just a little piece of hell turned into heaven. No basketball, soccer or baseball team. We didn’t have student athletes. Just working class stiffs that wanted to get a college education- and that’s what we did.

Calumet College is different. Better? Perhaps. I won’t knock it. It’s just different, that’s all.  Growing up today I still might like it. But I had a heck of a good time then and yes, I got educated too.

If You Build it They Will Come- St. Victor Parish Handicapped Lift

Usually I don’t mention anything religious on my blog. Not that I am not spiritual, but I tend to avoid it in a blog that is seen by many others who may not hold the same beliefs as myself.

This day I will deviate from that and mention what my parish is doing these days. St. Victor Parish in Calumet City, Illinois is becoming accessible. A lift is being built for those who are in wheelchairs and for those who cannot walk the many steps to the main part of the church. This lift will also make the churh hall accessible.

This has been a dream of many people, including myself, in the parish for many years. Finally and gladly their work and dreams are paying off. As one who has been involved in this project for much of that time, I am especially pleased that the church is being made accessible.

The project is slated to be in operation the weekend of June 27 and 28, according to Pastor Fr. Len Dubi.

Along the same line, after years of stalemate, the parish is in a midst of a small revival. Though it may not become the kind of large parish that it once was in the 1980’s, it has a small group of dedicated parishioners that are working hard to bring community to the area and parish.

If that is the kind if parish that you would like to be a part of, especially if you are Catholic, I would recommend that you go there and see what is happening there. You may be pleasantly surprised. I am just happy that the parish is getting beck to what it once was years ago. The lift was a part of that dream. I’m glad that it is being completed.

Saving What Is Left of the Masonic Temple

Last year, I wrote about the pending demolition of the Masonic Temple in Downtown Hammond. Seems like it never came to pass. The reason. Some wanted the highly decorated fresco preserved before the building would be torn down.

Finally, an agreement was reached that would save the artwork. Where it will go, once saved is anybodies guess, but I am glad it will be saved.

Maybe the Hammond Public Library will save it like it did to the old Goldblatts Clock that now hangs over the stairs in the library. Maybe the Jean Sheppard center could find a place for it. Or the Visitors Center off the expressway.

Anyway, it’s a valuable piece of Hammond’s past and I’m sure it will be saved and put in an appropriate place for all of us to enjoy, long after the rest of the building is torn down, later this year.

Another Fantasy Ride

I had to head out to Valporaiso, Indiana last week and took the easier but longer route down U. S. 30 to get to where I wanted to go. While it was cloudy, it wasn’t rainy and I sort of enjoyed the trip, despite the early hour.

It had been years since I had gone out that way. When I was younger, my family went out to Lake Eliza this way and it was interesting for me to see the area almost 40 years later.

I thought the whole way would be filed with stores and restaurants as I traveled the way. Yet, believe it or not, it wasn’t.  Sure, the area around the I-65 corridor was congested, but the nearer I got to Valpo, the less congested it became. Apparently it’s still the land that time, and progress has forgot. I’m glad in away. As I got to the open area, I became more relaxed and enjoyed the ride more.

I passed Lake Eliza. I would have stopped over and checked how things have changed in the nearly 40 years since I last was there. But this was March and I had a deadline to meet. The cold and dreary weather would not spark any summer memories of days gone by. The resort ws probably closed anyway.

Maybe I’ll take a ride this way again during the Summer and visit the area when it finally wakes up from the Winter Slumber. Maybe, I’ll be disapointed that the place hasn’t improved. Who knows what I’ll find. I only know now that the memories that I have will stay with me forever. That is something time cannot erase.

My New Book Is Out

OK! Listen Up! My newest book is out! It took a long time to do the editing on it as I have been busy over the last year. Mostly, taking care of my Mom who has not been well over the last year and all the changes that happened around that event. But finally I got the book put out on Lulu.com and it’s out for you to buy and enjoy.

The name of the book is ‘Space Pirates,’ and yes, it is a science fiction book. I wrote it for Nanowrimo back in 2007. Why science fiction, you ask? Well I always wanted to try my hand at writing something like that and decided to have some fun with the genre and write a book in that vein.

The story involves a scientist who once worked at SETI in search of contacting intelligent life in the galaxy. He never does until he meets a neighbor who lives next door to his parent’s farm in Iowa. If you want to know more, buy the book or download it at Lulu.com.

There are not too many from Northwest Indiana writing science fiction these days, as far as I know. So here’s your chance to help one if your own out.

Given the economy, I’ve tried to keep the price down on the book.

You can get my book here:

http://www.lulu.com/peaclver

Either that or just go to Lulu.com and search for ‘Space Pirates,’ and it will come up.

Hope you get a chance to pick it up!

Road Wreck

The streets of the Calumet Region are showing the effect of winter as the snow melts and the weather gets a little warmer. This is especially true of the side streets in Hammond. I had to travel o few of them over the last few days and found a few big potholes.

This is especially true around Baltimore and Torrence Avenue and 139 th Street. One pothole back of the Olympic Bowling Alley is a real cruncher. I thought I would lose my tire on that one. The whole road that sags into 139th Street i littered with pot holes.

There are a few by the South Shore Tracks on Hohman Ave. getting bad. Past downtown on Hohman gets better,but North Hammond is fairly bad right now.

I hope it get better as spring comes and the money from the stimulus plan get down to Hammond. It would be a start in saving and building up jobs.

Did You Miss The Snow?

While some of us mussed the last snowfall in the area, the folks in Valpo and Chesterton and other areas east of Gary got plastered with as much as 18 inches of the white stuff.

It snarled roads and closed schools and made life miserable for all the people living in the area. It also is a surprise for those going east on the toll road (other wise known as the highway robbery raod now that it’s privatized) and I-94. One second you are in sunshine and the next second you are in a blizzard.

I remember going through one of those a number of years ago. It was surreal. I was glad I got out of there when I did. These days, I try and stay out of Porter and the surrounding area during the winter. I’m not a great driver as it is. Going through snow like that is such a hassle.

Of course, once in a while we get a wind switch directly from the north and end up with the snow. Hammond got on of those January 20. I kept looking out the window and yelled STOP ALREADY! It finally did about 2pm that afternoon. I ended up shoveling 10 more inches of snow. We now have about 18 inches on the ground.

This weekend the weather will warm up to near 50 degrees. Now we will have to deal with flooding. No good thing goes unpunished. I’ll ne watching the basement and planning for seepage. I hope the sump pump works!

Northwest Indiana In A Deep Freeze

Here I am, sitting at home in Hammond, suffering through the coldest, snowiest period that we have had over the last few years. The last few winters certainly put me in a fools paradise. I haven’t shoveled so much or shivered so much in ages. The weather tonight doesn’t promise to be much better.

I’ve already shoveled three times this week. It seemed like I finally shoveled by the end of the day and in the morning, new blanket of snow waswaiting for me.

Now we have the cold. It’s not as cold as other times, but still, nothing is going to melt with the weather the way it is. Snow and cold, what a way to start the new year.

I’m sure it’s the same for everyone. At least I don’t work, so I don’t have to get out there. Yet, with the roads bad and icy (as I imagine they are), I can’t go out and see my Mom who is in a nursing home. I don’t want to take a chance of getting stuck somewhere. I’ll have to call the nursing home up and leave a message to Ma that I’m alright and will visit as soon as the weather breaks.

This is why I can’t wait for spring training and the start of the baseball season. When Spring Training comes along, I know the warm breezes of Summer can’t be far along.

And, I have a head cold, too.

The Stores Are Empty

This past week I finally went shopping a little on the way back from visiting my Mom at the nursing home. I stopped at Target in Munster fir a little bit a found that the stire shelves were a bit on the empty side.

I figure it’s the economy. The Company is keeping inventory low since people are not shopping any way. The amount of people in the store would indicate that keeping inventory low is a wise idea. Of course, that means fewer jobs. With less supplies to put away, less people are needed to put stuff away.

The Munster mall is now open. At least fro what I saw. Most of the stores on the north end , which got the worst of the September flooding are open. I guess people are surviving, even with the December rain and snow that caused some flooding after Christmas,

I got a chance to enjoy some of the holiday at the St. Victor Choir Concert yesterday. It is always a highlight of the season for me. The music was great and the crowd a nice size. I hope some of you will get a chance to see them in concert as they do a couple of them during the year..

Enjoy the empty stores. At least you can walk the shops in peace, even if you can’t buy much right now.