Full Beacher

THE TM 911 Franklin Street Weekly Newspaper Michigan City, IN 46360 Volume 32, Number 17 Thursday, May 5, 2016 Happy Mother’s Day! 3. 5. 4. 1. 2. 9. 6. 8. 7. 10. 14. 11. 13. 12. 15. Who are these lovely ladies? Turn to Page 20 to fi nd out! THE Page 2 May 5, 2016 THE 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.thebeacher.com/ PRINTED WITH Published and Printed by TM Trademark of American Soybean Association THE BEACHER BUSINESS PRINTERS Delivered weekly, free of charge to Birch Tree Farms, Duneland Beach, Grand Beach, Hidden 911 Shores, Long Beach, Michiana Shores, Michiana MI and Shoreland Hills. The Beacher is also delivered to public places in Michigan City, New Buffalo, LaPorte and Sheridan Beach. A Look at Red Arrow Highway — Past, Present & Future by William Halliar The news was potentially alarming — a depres- gan’s shores. Harbor Country boasts “Eight Great sion discovered in the famed Red Arrow Highway Towns” bordered by the magnifi cence of Lake Michi- and an 8-foot-wide sinkhole forming in the roadway gan. The highway is the asphalt thread that knits just south of Harbert, where these communities together, Lakeshore Road meets the high- and invites all to share the way near Cherry Beach Road. delights of this popular va- The cause is a crumbling, cation destination. Before 80-year-old culvert 40 feet be- Interstate 94, there was Red low the road’s surface. Would Arrow Highway — a ticket to the “gateway” and main route adventure. into Harbor Country have to be In 2016, it may be diffi - closed for months to affect need- cult to imagine that fewer ed repairs? What would the than 100 years ago, travel impact be to local businesses between communities in who garner 70 percent of their Northwest Indiana and yearly profi ts from trade during Southwest Michigan was dif- an average summer tourist sea- fi cult and often dangerous. In son? our day of smooth pavement, Red Arrow Highway is well- superhighways and GPS, known to residents of North- it takes a little imagination west Indiana and Southwest to conjure the challenges Michigan, as well as to visitors early travelers might have from throughout the Midwest. encountered. They followed It is the front door to Michi- poorly marked trails around gan’s Harbor Country and home swamps, dunes and shift- to artists, musicians, writers ing sand traps, often fi nding and free spirits. Along the themselves lost and stuck route, travelers can enjoy, in axle-deep trouble. The “shopping, dining, lodg- easiest way to travel was ing, antiques, festivals, by boat or rail, and, of art galleries, theaters, course, a horse could ne- wine, beer, trails, parks gotiate fairly rough ter- and beaches,” according rain without too much to Harbor Country Cham- trouble. ber of Commerce’s annual No one thought too Guide to Harbor Country. much about road im- During the summer, provement until the more than 5,000 cars a invention of the mod- day carry passengers on ern safety bicycle in the Red Arrow Highway to early 1880s and the sub- their favorite destina- sequent “wheel” craze in tions along Lake Michi- the days when Daisy was THE May 5, 2016 Page 3 SPRING INTO THESE SAVINGS! SPECIAL SAVINGS! Receive Up To $500 Off The Purchase of a New Furnace And A postcard from 1930 spotlighting Union Pier, one of the communities along Red Arrow Highway. Postcard provided by Mike Fleming Air Conditioning System. content to marry her swain and be swooped away Or Take Advantage of 12 Months on a bicycle built for two. Bicycles became easy and No Interest Financing! safe to ride, and everyone wanted to get into the act. In 1893, Civil War Hero Gen. Roy Stone, who Plus, Receive Up To $800 discovered the importance of good roads during the In Utility Rebates! great confl ict, was appointed special agent in charge And Take Advantage of of the new offi ce of Road Inquiry. His task was to promote new rural road development to improve 2016 Federal Tax Credits travel for wagons, coaches and bicycles on America’s Of Up To $500. many dirt roads. The real game changer for road development 219-874-2454 came in 1908 when Henry Ford introduced his COMFORT FOR LIFE 219-926-2550 tough little Model T, built affordable for the average www.MichianaMechanical.com family and designed specifi cally for the prevailing road conditions. People began to travel from town Some restrictions Apply. Rebates apply to qualifying equipment. See Dealer for details. Rebate Promotion & Special Financing Option. good through 6/30/2016. to town in the country, and out across the wilder- Not valid on prior purchases. Cannot be combined with other offers. ness and vast expanses of the west. Sunday drives became popular, and the little towns in Southwest Michigan became places to visit. Early settlers came after the land was logged by SERVICE REPAIR large eastern corporations lured by the promise of good farmland. They were largely immigrants from Europe, with dreams of farming and prosperity. $25.00 Off Their dreams were called “blue sky” farms because Good on repairs over $50.00 they were more based on blue-sky thinking than reality. Often, these little communities were asso- Excludes Diagnostic Fee. ciated with specifi c ethnic groups. The Czechs and Not valid on prior service or with other offers. Offer good at Michiana Mechanical. Lithuanians settled in Union Pier, Swedes in Har- bart, Greeks in New Buffalo and Italians in Benton √ 100% Customer Satisfaction Guaranteed Harbor. These clever “blue Sky” farmers soon realized the √ Emergency Service Available soil was too sandy for traditional farming, but fruit Join Our Comfort Care Maintenance Savings and especially grapes grew well in the area. More √ than this, they began to realize they could make Plan & Save Up To 20% All Year more money renting rooms to visiting friends from √ Employees Background Checked, Drug Tested, Chicago than they could from farming. A mom-and- and Professionally Trained pop resort area began to grow. Between 1900 and 1930, Southwest Michigan became a popular resort area known to many as “Chicago’s Rivera.” In 1911, a private organization was created in 219-874-2454 Southwest Michigan to create a roadway between 800-789-2210 the little villages that grew along the eastern shore www.MichianaMechanical.com of Lake Michigan. The organization was dedicated Continued on Page 4 THE Page 4 May 5, 2016 During the fi ghting in France, the 32nd contin- Continued from Page 3 ued the tradition of the Iron Brigade and earned to promoting the construction of an improved road- the nickname “Les Terribles” from the French to way to encourage automobile traffi c into the area. honor their fortitude in advancing over enemy ter- The culmination of their plan was the creation of rain. They were the fi rst allied division to pierce the the West Michigan Pike. German Hindenburg Line of defense in September As the popularity of automobile travel grew, the 1918. The 32nd adapted a shoulder patch to com- federal government became involved in the devel- memorate the action; a line shot through with a red opment of improved roads. All across the country, arrow. people were becoming tired of the poor quality of Thus, the Red Arrow Highway was named for the nation’s roads and demanded improvement. this famous Midwestern fi ghting force, which be- The rallying cry of “Get the farmers out of the mud” came known as the Red Arrow Division. became the common sentiment. In 1916, Congress And now, nearly a century later, an 8-foot-wide passed the Federal-Aid Road Act that created the sinkhole has appeared in the pavement of this fa- Federal-Aid Highway Program. It made funds avail- mous roadway. For 80 years, buried in the sand able for state highway agencies to fi nance highway 40 feet below the highway, a concrete culvert has improvement projects. been carrying the diverted waters from one of Har- In 1917, the West Michigan bor Country’s many streams to Pike became a part of Michi- Lake Michigan. gan’s system of trunk line Over the years, a large sew- roads. It was renamed M-11. age line was incorporated into The federal government cre- the culvert structure, as well ated a standardized number- as a natural gas line, water ing system for highways, and and communication lines, in 1928, the Pike became U.S. which make this particular 31 and U.S. 12 in Southern culvert a complex system of Berrien County. Completed in major importance to the area’s 1922, the West Michigan Pike infrastructure. allowed motorists to travel The water of the stream from the Indiana state line running constantly over the to Mackinaw City on a newly concrete surface of the culvert paved road. for 80 years eroded the walls of Tourist trade in Southwest the structure over time. Cracks Michigan continued to pros- and holes began to appear in per, and it was soon realized the walls of the culvert and the a proper “super highway” was sand, in which it was buried, what was needed. The West began to seep into the holes Michigan Pike, though scenic, to be carried downstream and was just two lanes wide and fol- out into Lake Michigan. lowed a circuitous route along The crack that is of major Lake Michigan’s shoreline.

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