Indiana Dunes State Park hosts storytelling festival Oct. 12

From the Indiana Department of Natural Resources:

Join the Friends of Indiana Dunes and Northwest Indiana Storytelling Guild for world-class storytelling on Oct. 12 as they celebrate fall at Indiana Dunes State Park.

The 24th annual Northwest Indiana Storytellers Festival will stretch imaginations all day at the nature center.

Sessions will focus on different storytelling themes, including an open microphone time slot. Saturday night will also include a time for ghost stories, with a session for young children at 5:30 p.m. and a session for older children and adults at 7 p.m. The ghost stories will take place in Wilson Shelter.

All activities are free after the standard gate fee of $5 per in-state vehicle and $10 per out-of-state vehicle. Program support is made possible by the Friends of Indiana Dunes group. For more information, call (219) 926-1390.

Indiana Dunes State Park (stateparks.IN.gov/2980.htm) is at 1600 North 25 E. Chesterton, 46304.

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Photos by Glen Werling. Learn more about the game in the Saturday, Sept. 28, News-Banner. Meet the Fall Festival king and queen at our "On the Beat" blog.

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Bluffton High School junior Cody Harris, wide receiver and cornerback for the Tigers, talks about his two big plays and the Fall Festival victory. Learn more in the Saturday, Sept. 28, News-Banner. (Video by Paul Beitler)

Autumn Harvest Hoedown at Pokagon State Park Sept. 28

From the Indiana Department of Natural Resources:

Music and square dancing will highlight Pokagon State Park’s 29th Annual Autumn Harvest Hoedown on Saturday, Sept. 28.

Sponsored by the Steuben County Tourism Bureau, the hoedown is free and open to the public.

It will run from 7:30 to 10 p.m. in the South Beach parking lot. In case of inclement weather, it will be in the CCC Shelter.

Longtime “house band” The Prairie Fire String Band will provide music featuring banjo, string bass, guitars, fiddle, penny whistle, hammered dulcimer, mandolin and multi-voiced harmonies. Square-dance caller Marlin Whitaker also will be on hand.

No square dancing experience is required. In fact, none is preferred.

Angola Boy Scout Troop 125 will provide a cookout and snacks. A campfire will keep dancers warm.

Participants should bring lawn chairs or blankets for seating.

Although the program is free, the normal park entrance fee of $5 per in-state vehicle or $7 per out-of-state vehicle will be in effect.

For more information, call (260) 833-2012.

Pokagon State Park (stateparks.IN.gov/2973.htm) is at 450 Lane 100 Lake James, Angola, 46703.

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After playing its entire 2012-2013 football season on the road due to issues with the field, the Southern Wells Raiders returned to Carnes Field Friday, Sept. 6, and they won their homecoming game 19-6. As tradition, the football players rang a bell on the field to celebrate. Learn more in the Saturday, September 6, News-Banner. (Video by Paul Beitler)

CCC memorial at Ouabache SP gets boost from fraternal group

From the Indiana Department of Natural Resources:

A planned memorial to the Civilian Conservation Corps at Ouabache State Park received a boost recently from the Modern Woodmen of America.

The fraternal organization donated $2,500 to the Friends of Ouabache State Park group to help fund a bronze statue honoring the CCC, which helped build the park more than 80 years ago.

The MWA donation matched funds already raised through Bluffton businesses and the Wells County Historical Society, bringing the memorial fundraising account to around $5,000. The memorial is expected to cost around $21,000 and will be funded through donations.

Friends group president Myra Myrtle said she was inspired to bring a CCC memorial to the park so that young people understand the contribution of men like her 90-year-old father, Wayne Lydy, a CCC veteran.

“For so many young people today, when you say CCC, they don’t know what you’re talking about,” Myrtle said.

The CCC was a government work program that provided jobs to young, unemployed men during the Great Depression. The workers developed parks, built roads, trails and fire towers, planted trees and more.

Anyone wanting to make a donation can call Myrtle at (260) 273-1686.

Have a hoot at Ouabache State Park

The park is holding an Autumn Owls program Sept. 28. Click here to learn more.