It's a Family Affair at Michiana's 4Th of July Parade
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Volume 16, Number 28 Thursday, July 20, 2000 It’s a Family Affair at Michiana’s 4th of July Parade Here comes the bike brigade! More Pictures on Page 34 Scott and Audrey Stiffle. rik Wagenaar. Isabel Soble and Lauren Yanow. Page 2 July 20, 2000 911 Franklin Street • Michigan City, IN 46360 219/879-0088 • FAX 219/879-8070 In Case Of Emergency, Dial e-mail: News/Articles - [email protected] email: Classifieds - [email protected] http://www.bbpnet.com/Beacher/ Published and Printed by THE BEACHER BUSINESS PRINTERS 911 Delivered weekly, free of charge to Birch Tree Farms, Duneland Beach, Grand Beach, Hidden Shores, Long Beach, Michiana Shores, Michiana MI and Shoreland Hills. The Beacher is also Subscription Rates delivered to public places in Michigan City, New Buffalo, LaPorte and Sheridan Beach. 1 year $26 6 months $14 3 months $8 1 month $3 Shipmates by George A. Bowie It was the same day I kissed the Blarney Stone which So stepping back in time was would make it a day in July 1971. done and not much change in Our little group of American relatives had an open buildings noticed and the grand day between visiting Irish relatives and since we view of the harbor intact with the were staying overnight in a hotel just downriver passing view of the morning ferryboat bound for from the city of Cork, we planned seeing the sights Swansea, Wales to provide appropriate action. thereabout with the possibility we might pick up on We had lunch at a restaurant in Cobh, a hearty soup some of the bits and pieces of history and culture which and slices of Ireland’s delicious brown bread with are scattered liberally throughout the region. slathers of creamy butter on them and a couple of “cup- My suggestion was to start the day visiting the town pas” of tea. of Cobh (pronounced “Cove”, meaning “haven”), some Then back to Cork City where our rental cars, 15 miles to the south and east and an “easy does it” parked near the railroad station, were ready to go the by train. five miles north to Blarney with its kissable stone. The literature about the town remarked on the loca- I don’t remember who among us had picked Blarney tion there of St. Colman’s Cathedral high above the as a place to visit but all of us had agreed it was worth harbor. It had taken a century to build and, given the the going just to have a look at the place where steep climb required to reach the church and the Cormack McDermot McCarthy had lived. He was horseshoe turns in the streets now leading to the the Lord of Blarney Castle whose title Queen Elizabeth entrance, one is amazed that it was ever construct- I fastened on what in some parts of the United States ed and equally amazed that anyone showed up for ser- is called “Sweet Talkin'.” vices before the age of the automobile. Sure and Seems that Lord Blarney kept assuring Elizabeth there would be little breath left for prayers after that he fully agreed with her on a bit of political such a trip on foot. business but whenever Elizabeth’s deputy, Lord The information in print also told that Daniel Carew, put pressure on McCarthy to perform his share of the arrangement, the Irishman was ready with O'Connell, known among the Irish people as “The some excuse for his stalling. Elizabeth told her Deputy Liberator”, attended school in Cobh and that a Father the excuses were “Just more Blarney,” and that she Matthew, a crusader against alcohol abuse, had died was fed up with listening to it. there. None of this would seem to explain that certain stone My reason for suggesting a visit to Cobh that high up in the wall of what remains of Blarney Castle morning had no connection with any tourist attrac- and the kissing of it while being held upside down, tion, not even with the advertised item that the old- but given the tendency of his lordship to stretch a point est yacht club on record, The Royal Cork, was orga- in a good cause it could have been his idea for a nized in the town. For me, Cobh was the seaport fundraiser. At any rate, I paid the current price and from which I had sailed to the United States in 1924 took my place in the line of stone smoochers. and again in 1952. It was no less a reason for my going After which we were off a short way south to the back to Cobh than to see again where I had on two seacoast town of Kinsale, eighteen miles east of City occasions waved farewell to Ireland and on each of those Cork. had vowed to return. I was keeping a promise to a very Irish author Sean O'Faolin commented that “Kinsale special place and looked forward to walking once is crawlin' with history.” more the same pier from which I had stepped aboard A town charter was granted the location by Edward the tender for the ride out to the ocean liners twice III. The name, “Tide Head” (Kinsale?), was acknowl- in twenty-eight years. Odd that both of those transat- edged and a later appraisal called it “The jewel of lantic ships were named S.S. America, but they were Ireland”. different vessels. July 20, 2000 Page 3 In 1601, Spanish military forces invaded Kinsale Open ‘til 7 p.m. and held it for more than a year despite being cut off Evenings from supplies and re-enforcements. Irish efforts to aid the Spaniards were not successful when the besieged invaders surrendered before help reached the scene. As a result, Kinsale became a totally English town. No Irish were permitted to live there for 200 years. In the 17th century, Kinsale became an important wwwElegant.littlehousef Apparelashions.com for the base for the English Navy. Docking facilities and [email protected] Conscious Woman Women’s Apparel shipbuilding yards were among its uses until the increasing size of warships made the anchorage too shallow to accommodate them and the harbor was aban- doned to become a fishing port with herring and SIDEWALK DAYS mackerel being the major catch. William Penn (Pennsylvania) was born in Kinsale and served there as a clerk of the Admiralty Court. RED Penn’s father, a British admiral, was governor of the town. However, in 1914 Kinsale was once more involved 20% off in naval action when the British ocean liner, Lusitania, enroute to her home port in England was torpedoed and sunk just off the “Old Head of Kinsale”. YELLOW And thereby hangs a shark. It is not every seaside hotel which has a six and a half foot blue shark strung up just outside the main 25% off entrance, and nobody around to prevent me from standing next to it while a traveling companion took our picture. BLUE Now it is said that a picture is worth a thousand words but I won’t need that many to explain that this picture is proof that the shark was quite dead, a cer- 30% off tainty I explored before posing so close to it. I am not accustomed to posing beside recently- All caught sharks but this one wasn’t an ordinary crit- ter at all. Summer While talking with a hotel staff person in the lobby Dresses & before the picture taking, I learned that the shark had Separates been caught by a guest who had arranged for his catch Sizes 4 Petite to to be hung and himself recorded as its conqueror on 22 Woman film. This had all been done before our arrival and now (Excludes Mother-Of Dresses) the carcass awaited removal to a cannery where it would be processed and packaged as cat food. I further learned that the local blue shark population $5 - $10 - $15 Racks was headquartered in the ocean bottom wreckage of the Lusitania. That meant the shark hanging out front and I shared a connection. Fifty-six years earlier, I was TENT SALE booked to sail to the United States on the turn- 75-80% off around voyage she never made. The possibility that the shark might well have recently been swimming in and out of my reserved space on board made it rea- Meet Us For Lunch And A Style Show sonable that we be pictured together. THURSDAY, JULY 20 - ROSKOE’S, LA PORTE Especially so when the character to my right (left WEDNESDAY, JULY 26 - RODINI’S, MICHIGAN CITY in the photo) offered no objection. 409 Alexander Street LaPorte, IN 326-8602 I had done the shark no harm at all, and besides, On Hwy 35 - 5 Blocks South of Lincolnway he wouldn’t have gotten into his predicament if he had Turn Right on Alexander Monday - Friday 9:30 to 7 Saturday 9:30 to 5 kept his mouth shut. Page 4 July 20, 2000 Are We in Toto Yet, Kansas? by Paula McHugh You mean you grew up in post office. Alas, that is long- Northwest Indiana and you’ve gone, too. And before Toto, never been to Toto? my friend the village was named Rye. asked a few years back. You’ve Somewhere in the sands of got to go at least once. time that name disappeared. Well, he piqued my curios- Rumor has it that famous ity. I made a mental note to put writer Frank Baum visited it on my list of places to visit, Toto while camping nearby and I have made the journey at Bass Lake.