Smooth Sailing: Local Couple Overcomes Obstacles as Portside Marine Owners

Smooth Sailing

LOCAL COUPLE OVERCOMES OBSTACLES AS PORTSIDE MARINE OWNERS

Writer / Trisha Turner Photographer / Eli Beaverson

In May of 2019, Jarret Silagyi and his wife Lauren purchased Portside Marine Sales and Service in Cicero.

Within a year, a fire had destroyed the boat dealership, the Silagyis were battling serious injuries from a boating accident, and Jarret no longer had his corporate job.

That doesn’t count the pandemic that seemingly brought the world to a standstill earlier this year. home available for Portside Marine. That home that would allow the boat dealership to join forces with similar business a few miles away. The two boat dealerships have been serving the Morse, Geist and surrounding areas for over 75 years combined.

“A lot of people didn’t expect us to make it through the fire,” Jarret Silagyi says. “I look back and say, ‘Well, this wasn’t the easiest path, but here we are. And we’re happy to be here.’”

In June of this year, Portside Marine moved to the Lakeview Marina property, and the Silagyis own the separate businesses located on North Hague Road in Noblesville. And business is booming. As a statedesignated essential business, boat sales and service have been in high demand despite the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s been busier than ever,” Silagyi says.

However, the future didn’t look so rosy to Silagyi as he raced up Olio Road from his home in Fishers on October 14, 2019. He was heading to a flame-engulfed Portside Marine at its prior location in Cicero. He didn’t have to guess what he might find when he arrived. The billows of smoke, visible in the sky even as he traveled from miles away, told the story.

seeing smoke and knowing it was the dealership,” Silagyi says.

The fire, caused by a combination of an electric spark and fuel vapors in Portside’s service area, destroyed the business. Employees were safe, and Portside never closed. Another boat dealership owner, Jeff Lingenfelter, offered any help that his business, Lakeview Marina, could provide. Lakeview assisted with getting the word out about Portside’s plans to remain open, moving boats off Portside’s damaged property, providing extra tools, and even referring customers to Portside.

One year prior, Jarret had ended the limousine and bus company he’d owned while also serving as chief operating officer of a paper-shredding company. In the fall of 2019 he and Lauren were battling back after seeing their business go up in flames before their eyes, but bad luck wasn’t done with them yet.

On New Year’s Eve in 2019, a boating accident in Florida left the Silagyis with serious injuries that kept them in the area recovering for two months.

Then, in March of 2020 - right around the time the coronavirus pandemic kicked into high gear - the Silagyis found themselves searching for a new home for Portside, when state officials alerted them that they planned to use Portside’s property as the location for a bridge. Then Jarret’s corporate job ended.

A chance conversation with a friend helped the couple turn the corner. That friend said he knew someone who might be interested in selling his business. And that someone was Lingenfelter, who’d been such a good partner following the fire at Portside.

Portside had found a new home.

Today Portside Marine and Lakeview Marina each remain open. They both deal in new and used boats at the same Noblesville address, but the businesses are separate. Portside sells many

Owners Jarret Silagyi and his wife Lauren.

fiberglass boats, and Lakeview’s offerings include pontoons and personal watercraft.

“Hopefully customers will see a benefit to our being together, all on one property,” Silagyi says.

While the Silagyis own both businesses, the Lingenfelter family, who opened Lakeview in 1983, remain involved. Jeff and his wife Anita are retiring in August, but there are still five Lingenfelters among the Lakeview staff.

“Both businesses are long-tenured community businesses,” Silagyi says of Portside and Lakeview. “Both names deserve to continue on.”

Silagyi hopes this focus on family continues with his own twin sons, who are toddlers. After all, Jarret and Lauren both grew up in family businesses and as boating enthusiasts - Jarret in Pittsburgh and Lauren near Lawrenceburg, Indiana. “My wife and I are looking forward to having one focused, family business - something we can carry on for the prior owners and carry on to our own sons,” Silagyi says.

To learn more about Portside Marine Sales and Service, visit portsidemarinesales. com, or call 317-758-5500. For more on Lakeview Marina, visit lakeviewmarina. net, or call 317-773-6885. The dealerships are located at 20901 North Hague Road in Noblesville.

Visit Our New Location 20901 Hague Road • Noblesville. IN 46062 • 317-773-6885

LEARNING TO “ADULT”

WESTFIELD HIGH SCHOOL COURSE OFFERS STUDENTS REAL-WORLD PREPARATION

Writer / Christy Heitger-Ewing

For seven years, Julie McComb has taught an Adult Roles and Responsibilities course to juniors and seniors at Westfield High School (WHS). McComb starts the course by asking students to create a vision board that outlines their future goals and aspirations. For some, this includes going to college. For others it involves technical training or entering the work force.

“The great thing about this class is that it fits everybody’s needs,” McComb says. “We prepare our kids for the day after graduation, whatever that future may be.”

McComb has the students take two aptitude tests to find out where their natural abilities lie. This helps to determine areas in which they will be successful.

“If students can find something that they are interested in, are good at, are passionate about, and that can bring some good to the world, you’ve hit the jackpot,” says McComb, who speaks from experience.

For 15 years, she worked as vice president of a bank. Though she made a good living, she didn’t feel fulfilled.

“Something was missing,” McComb says. “It wasn’t until I became a teacher that I truly found my purpose.”

She has students complete a budget project based off of the major purchases they’ll be making once they are on their own. To personalize the exercise, McComb has students research what their first-year income would be in the position they desire.

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Based on that figure, students set up a budget for the remainder of the class.

Once students calculate their average income, McComb has them determine if they can afford to buy a house or apartment. They must use funds to furnish their home with basic necessities such as a bed and dishes. They also have to buy a car, and learn about the costs of registration, plates and insurance. McComb explains the difference between collision and comprehensive insurance, and the advantages of bundling for discounts. The goal of the exercise is to avoid exceeding budget projections.

Though it’s not a mandatory class, Lindsay Deck, a 2020 WHS graduate, calls it the most beneficial class of her high school career.

“It taught me more about the real world than I would have ever thought a high school class could,” Deck says.

The course even includes a wedding project, which guides students through a step-by-step template of what wedding planning looks like, as well as how to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form.

“Adulting is stressful,” says McComb, who also invites guest speakers to the class to offer first-hand perspectives on various industries. “Knowing that I’ve prepared these kids to make some of the most important decisions in their life is so rewarding. Once they have gone through this class, they have the necessary tools to be successful.”

Motivational speaker Rene Couto delivers an inspirational talk to the students that highlights the importance of never giving up on one’s dreams. He speaks from experience, as he always wanted to play college football but was told by players and coaches that he’d never make it due to his small stature. Couto prevailed and landed a full scholarship playing for the University of Louisville.

“Not only did he end up playing as a walk-on, but he played at the Fiesta Bowl and won,” McComb says.

Daniel Lauer, a 2020 graduate of WHS, says the course taught him that becoming an adult doesn’t have to be hard.

“I never knew how to balance a checkbook, weigh out different car and home insurance options, the importance of establishing good credit, what goes into buying a house, and how the bank qualifies you,” Lauer says. “After taking the class, I feel confident that I can now make educated decisions on all of these topics and more.”

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