Beach

BY FRANCESCA SAGALA

When Yvonne Farina said she and her husband, Joe, moved to the area after living in Chicago for so many years they fell so much in love with it, they decided to open not one, but three restaurants there.

“It’s a great place - I used to think, ‘I didn’t know this existed, but had I known, I would’ve been here a long time ago,” she said.

In Chicago, Yvonne said they worked in the restaurant industry for “a lot of great people.”

“It finally got to the point where we got married and decided: It’s time for us to have our own,” she said.

While Farina’s Supper Club (located in a 100-year-old building, the former Duneland Beach Inn) opened at 3311 Pottawattamie Trail in Michigan City last June, Yvonne said that they reopened it this past January after closing for remodeling.

Recently, they’ve opened Belly Flop, a groovy beach-shack restaurant located at 2411 St. Lawrence Avenue in Long Beach. By late summer or early fall, they hope to open Farina’s Café at 825 Franklin Street, also in Long Beach. Yvonne said that the building that houses Belly Flop has always been some type of café. When the owners approached them and asked them to take it over, she and Joe couldn’t say no.

“They didn’t want to let the community down by closing something they loved so much, so this has been our dream for the community - just making it more, making it better for everyone,” Yvonne said.

“Making it better for everyone” is no problem for Chef Joe: According to Yvonne, he’s the “most creative chef I’ve ever worked with.”

“Even though there’s a lot out there, he never comes up short on his ideas…It’s a lot of marketing ideas, there’s a lot of food with it, there’s maybe a little bit of novelty items he likes to bring into something – it could be old fashioned banana split bowls,” she said.

At Belly Flop, Joe said they serve donuts from Do Rite Donuts by Lettuce Entertain You out of Chicago on Saturday and Sunday mornings as well as bagels from Once Upon a Bagel out of Chicago’s North Shore. Different croissants, such as ham and cheese, chocolate and plain are also on the menu. For lunch, there’s Italian sandwiches made with bread from Bit of Swiss out of Stevensville. Vegetables for salads come from Hebron Farms, a local Michigan farmer.

Joe said they also plan on hosting food events for the community, such as a smoke out in the fall and an oyster social at the end of this month, with different sides and wine pairings. On Saturdays and Sundays, they also do a prime rib sandwich, where Joe said they roast off whole prime ribs “chill them down a little bit, slice them and serve them with au jus on a custom sesame roll (courtesy of Tim Foley from Bit of Swiss).

Gelato from Local Vero will be coming soon from Vero’s Caffe Gelato in Chicago. Joe said they plan on having a couple of their own specialty flavors that can’t be found anywhere else. Cupcakes and other different desserts will also be featured throughout the year. Beverages include coffee with almond, soy and oat milk, different wines and craft beers and lemonade and teas. For Farina’s Café, the couple is planning to serve homemade pastas, with Joe adding that they have a pasta machine that will be arriving soon from Italy, as well as different kinds of sauces and cuts and ravioli. To make the authentic Italian dining experience complete, they’ll also be doing 30 wines by the glass and several craft cocktails “The food will be more casual than the Supper Club – different salads, appetizers and really cool, hot sandwiches,” Joe said.

Yvonne said accommodating the community is one of her top priorities.

“The community has accepted our good and our bad and we’re fortunate to have the people to support us in all of our ventures so far,” she said.

Belly Flop is open Wednesday through Sunday, from 8 to 11 a.m. for breakfast and 11 a.m. o 6 p.m. for lunch. Farina’s Supper Club is open Wednesday through Sunday from 4 to 10 p.m.

Yvonne and Joe Farina welcome the community to their newest business venture, Belly Flop

The man responsible for Pioneer Land and how the 1800s type village at the LaPorte County Fairgrounds has touched the lives of countless visitors is going to live on.

Dick Reel, a retired Purdue Extension educator, passed away in February.

He was 74.

A likeness of his face made of bronze is going to be made and fastened to a plaque, said Carl Schultz, a longtime member of the Pioneer Land committee.

He said the plaque will also contain “special words” about Reel, the founder of the village, who has a soft place in the hearts of so many people, including young adults now bringing their own children.

Schultz said the recently ordered plaque should be completed in the fall and will hang above the mantle of the large stone fireplace inside the log cabin.

He said the plaque will be large enough for people to easily recognize and read.

“When people come three years from now, five years from now, 10 years from now they’ll be able to look up there and know that Dick was the father of Pioneer Land, the one who got it started,” he said.

Schultz was among the people who spoke about Reel during a brief ceremony in his honor prior to Sunday’s annual ham and bean dinner at Pioneer Land.

He said more than 700 people came to the dinner, which generates money for maintaining the village started in 1995 with construction of the log cabin.

A blacksmith shop, one room school house, general store and 10 other structures reflecting the time period went up in future years.

The cost was funded entirely with donations of cash, materials and labor.

More than 100 volunteers dressed in early 1800s style clothing work in the buildings and roam the grounds to bring Pioneer Land to life during the fair, which runs through Saturday.

The village is also open for school tours in the spring and fall and early during the Christmas season.

Old fashioned toys and games are also available for children and their families to play together during their stay.

A huge rocking chair big enough, perhaps, for a giant is also a major hit with Pioneer Land visitors.

Jamie Schenkel took pictures of her children, Harper, 4, and Brody, 2, sitting in the chair during the fair on Monday.

The LaPorte native came to Pioneer Land during annual field trips while she was in elementary school.

Schenkel, 32, has lived near Indianapolis since 2014 but comes to Pioneer Land every year during the fair.

She especially likes to watch the blacksmiths heating and shaping metal into various products.

Schenkel said she also very much enjoys talking to the people dressed as pioneers and getting a glimpse of what life was like back then.

She also takes her children for a glass of milk served at .25 a glass at the Farm Bureau Milk Cabin and to see the animals in the petting zoo.

“It’s just a good family friendly place to come and it’s something fun to do at the fair,” she said.

Reel was also very visible in his 1800s style clothing at the village, doing things like wood working and bringing out a pair of oxen for visitors to see.

Schultz said the cost of the plaque is not known but money is no object considering how much Reel meant to the community.

The expense will be paid by the Pioneer Land committee.

“I lost my best friend but the community lost a person that done so much. We don’t care what it’s going to cost. We just want to make sure we honor him,” Schultz said.

Pioneer Land founder gone, but lives on

BY STAN MADDUX

Small chicken is ‘Best in Flight’

BY STAN MADDUX

A10-year-old girl feels a good breakfast might be why her chicken easily outdistanced the “I thought other birds would have bigger wings to carry them further but this one just knew how to flap them,” he said. The 32 chickens in the contest other birds in the popular chicken flying competition at the La Porte County Fair.

“Jelly Bean,” a Black Langshan chicken, flew more than 51 feet in her first attempt then over 45 feet in the final round to take first place, Monday July 11.

An obviously thrilled Charlotte Jones was at a loss to explain her bird’s winning hang time.

However, she felt a healthy appetite for chicken feed just prior to the competition provided her bird the fuel she needed to keep her wings flapping at a high level.

“She probably built up a lot of energy to fly really far especially with how much she ate this morning,” she said.

The second-place finisher landed about 6 feet short of the top prize in each of her two flights.

Jones has more than 30 chickens on her family’s small farm, which is about 10 miles south of LaPorte.

The chickens are used primarily for eggs to sell to the public and showing during the fair.

Her father, Chris Jones, said he was thrilled for his daughter and surprised about Jelly Bean’s ability to fly considering her small size. flew as far as they could after being pushed from a 10-foothigh platform. The dozens of spectators were also entertained by chickens using their speed and quickness on foot to try and escape the show arena once they’d landed. The fleeing birds were chased by volunteers, who sometimes used nets to grab them. Carolyn Krause, chairperson of the longstanding 4-H competition at the fair, said the top distance this year was excellent considering that chickens are not the best flyers.

Agood sized number of chickens landed fewer than 10 feet from the platform.

Krause said children in the 4-H program are not allowed to enter their chickens in the flying contest until they prove they can properly take care and handle their birds.

For that reason, Krause said the younger children especially are turned away from the competition until the following year.

“The kids really enjoy it but we can let them all be in it because it’s a learning process,” she said.

SPORTS

From the Bleachers

COLUMN BY KURT MARGGRAF IN CHICAGO

Basketball took center stage

here in Chicago this weekend.

The WNBA held their All-Star Game in our fair city. Members of our team, the Sky, acquitted themselves admirably.

Women’s basketball is growing in popularity as the players’ skills improve by leaps and bounds. Not only are they getting better at basketball, but they are also getting better as teammates and seem to be more comfortable in their own skin. There are many “stars” in the league; however, in my mind, no one shines brighter than the Sky’s Candace Parker. Candace has won too many awards to list, including high school championships in Naperville, college championships in Tennessee, professional championships in Los Angeles, and, finally, back in Chicago last year. She is arguably the best woman basketball player ever – and, from all appearances, an even better teammate and human being.

The NBA’s summer league games began this past week. These games feature each team’s youngsters and new players who are on the fringe of the roster. The Bulls won the opening game with some last-minute heroics, but the Knicks beat the tar out of them on Sunday.

The good thing is that the games don’t count in the regular season standings, and I have a lot of confidence in the Bulls’ regular players. If they can stay healthy (and that’s a big if), I think the Bulls can compete with anybody. The “real” season doesn’t begin for a few months, so the team has plenty of time to make any tweaks they believe are necessary.

One of the brightest stars in the NBA has to be Steph Curry. Besides being one of the best shooters ever, Steph is a great teammate and champion. He can seemingly do anything he wants on a basketball court…and off the court, too. Steph, the NBA finals MVP, knocked in an eagle from 97 yards out in a celebrity golf match at Lake Tahoe on Friday. Could Steph show up at the MLB All-Star Game and knock one out of the park? That probably won’t happen, but I wouldn’t bet against it.

Speaking of the All-Star Game, there are a couple of really interesting things this season. The Contreras brothers are both starting for the National league. Brothers have not started an All-Star Game together in 30 years. Also, Shohei Ohtani of the Angels got selected for the game as a pitcher - and as an outfielder, too. “Shotime” became the first and only player ever to be selected as a pitcher and position player, too. The game will be played July 19. Tune in to witness history.

I found this quote by Winston Churchill particularly relevant in light of the present political climate: “You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they’ve tried everything else.”

Be careful out there. Talk to you next week. Peace, love, and happiness.

There is a magnet in your heart that will attract true friends. That magnet is unselfishness, thinking of others first; when you learn to live for others, they will live for you. — Paramahansa Yogananda