A Visit to Rolling Prairie by Paula Mchugh Okay, So It’S Just a Dot on the Map and Cars Headed More Than Adequate Back-Up Room to Pull Out
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Volume 18, Number 48 Thursday, December 5, 2002 A Visit to Rolling Prairie by Paula McHugh Okay, so it’s just a dot on the map and cars headed more than adequate back-up room to pull out. A to the Notre Dame game whiz by along Route 20 driver on Depot Street could probably do a u-ie with without giving the place a thought. But Rolling one easy turn of the steering wheel, but we did not Prairie and its tiny business district appeals to the test this idea because it came as an afterthought likes of us who yearn to escape the city bustle for awhile. long after we left for home. Crossing Depot Street on Unless you are in the market for new riding boots foot takes more than the usual amount of footsteps or a saddle, you won’t find much to shop for here. You and déjà vu comes with a vision of horse-drawn might say that the library, the post office, and the wagons avoiding dusty road-ruts and women in calico community center—and not to forget— a friendly and sunbonnets waving a greeting to a country café—more or less anchor the downtown. Or maybe neighbor. Maybe a few children rolling hoops with sticks, downtown is too big of a word. Depot Street, that’s it. not on the wooden sidewalks, but out on the packed- The library, post office, community center, and café earth street away from the hitching posts. anchor Depot Street. The wooden sidewalks are gone and Depot Street Depot Street is much wider than what we usually is paved. But the old brick or wood buildings with high expect of a main street. Cars park perpendicular to false fronts sorta make “downtown” Rolling Prairie the buildings and today’s minivans and SUV’s have look like a High Noon kind of western town. The absence of hitching posts marks progress. The absence of stoplights simply marks an observation by a city slicker that is accustomed to them. Townsfolk would laugh at the idea of a stoplight on Depot Street. No need for one. Rolling Prairie Continued on Page 2 The false front of one of Depot Streets buildings, Depot Street, Rolling Prairie. A boot and saddle shop, the community bulletin board, minus its awning, looks just like the 1912 version and the new post office built in 1997 are shown here. This photo, taken from the Michael Zieve painted in his mural. The building in the other side of the street where the elevated sidewalk is, gives an idea of how mural is identified as a storefront for the Oliver wide the main street of the business district is. The former United Methodist Chilled Plow Company of South Bend. Church, now the town library, is in the background. Page 2 December 5, 2002 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/ Published and Printed by 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 Subscription Rates delivered to public places in Michigan City, New Buffalo, LaPorte and Sheridan Beach. 1 year $28 6 months $16 3 months $10 1 month $5 Rolling Prairie Continued from Page 1 “Memory must be a pattern on the actual country, It is a fair-weather Saturday morning in late Not a cluster of relics in a museum or a written history. November and the hub of activity on Depot Street is The pattern of reminding is finally the country at the Post Office. Call it nostalgia, but small, one- itself, clerk post offices put a smile on my face. A happy smile. As the people who live there move over it, In a corner, two women who have finished buying their They are reminded of what’s happened before, holiday stamps stand over in a corner and catch up And that’s the way stories get told.” with talk of their children’s activities. Virginia, the “It is my hope that rather than just having sole clerk on duty, offers a friendly greeting and sentimental value, my murals cause people to reflect efficient service to one customer at a time. There on the way things have changed over the last 200 years, are no lines here, at least today. But it’s doubtful that what can be learned from the past, what is worth saving lines form longer than two or three people in the or returning to. And what a model of a sustainable rural small, sunlit lobby. Virginia says that this building community could be like,” Michael Zieve explains on is new, but it is made to look old. Beadboard wainscoting the plaque. The Three Oaks-based artist (with a BFA runs from the floor up to the murals’ lower border. A from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago) was stamped tin ceiling adds to the old-time atmosphere. commissioned by Gene and Debbie Jonas, builders of Wide-slatted blinds in the streetside windows streak the new post office, to paint the mural. Michael had shadow stripes across artist Michael Zieve’s painted enlisted the aid of numerous locals who shared their Depot Street, circa 1912. memories and helped with historical research. Using I have come to see the murals—-two large ones facing a W.P.A.-style modeled on the work of Thomas Hart each other across the width of the post office lobby. Benton, Michael did most of his work in a barn studio The murals were dedicated in 1998. Virginia tells me in Springville, later hanging the canvases on the to be sure to read the dedication plaque on the far wall post office walls to complete them on site. Michael tells for an explanation of the two landscape murals. The us that Debbie Jonas was so moved over Michael’s whole idea and purpose of the mural project is summed painting of the murals that she began to cry. Debbie, up nicely in a Wendell Berry quote at the bottom of an amateur historian, helped write the history that the plaque: accompanies the plaque. Michael Zieve has painted a scene of the territory settled by Provolt on the south wall mural. Covered wagons traveling a road that later became US 20, the Plum Grove orchard, and farmers using bygone tools to cultivate and harvest the rich farmland are all part of the 26 by 32-foot mural. December 5, 2002 Page 3 “Tracing the history of Rolling Prairie is to trace the history of Middle America through the 20th century,” Open ‘til 6 p.m. Michael says. “I was so pleased to work on this pro- Evenings ject. The Jonas family made a great gift to the town in doing this.” Each of the murals measures 26 by 32 feet. The mural on the south wall shows the rolling terrain with rich farmland. The area’s first settler, Ezekiel Provolt, www.littlehousefashions.comElegant Apparel for the stands near his cabin talking with some of his [email protected] Conscious Woman Potawatomie Indian friends. Nearby, several figures Women’s Apparel are shown in a fruit orchard, Plum Grove. Covered wagons travel along a trail that later became US THE LITTLE HOUSE PRESENTS… 20. A farmer walks a field using a hand plow; anoth- er hand-cuts the wheat, and in another field, a work- The Twelve…Oops! er uses a steam-powered thresher to harvest the crops. The south mural encompasses the history of the Seventeen Days of Christmas Sale! early settlement and agricultural history of the land that was first called Nauvoo, then Portland, and December 5th - December 24th, 2002 finally Rolling Prairie. ONE DAY ONLY SALES! Rolling Prairie Continued on Page 4 Thursday December 5th Koret & Graff Coordinates 25% Off Friday December 6th Cuddl Duds 25 % Off j Saturday December 7th Jewelry 50% Off Monday December 9th Dresses 30% Off Tuesday December 10th Coats 30% Off Wednesday December 11th Bleyle 30% Off k Thursday December 12th Denali Polar Fleece Blankets 25% Off Friday December 13th Philippe Marques 30% Off Saturday December 14th Sak Purses 25% Off Monday December 16th Holiday Velvet and Velour 25% Off The mural on the south wall shows the rolling terrain with rich farmland. The area’s first settler, Ezekiel Provolt, stands near his cabin talking with Tuesday December 17th Heritage Lace 30% Off some of his Potawatomie Indian friends. Wednesday December 18th Pendleton 25% Off Thursday December 19th Christine Alexander 30% Off Friday December 20th Novelty Jackets 30% Off Saturday December 21st David Brooks Coordinates 25% Off Monday December 23rd Patriotic Apparel 25% Offl Tuesday December 24th Karen Neuburger Sleepwear 25% Off 15% Off Storewide Sale thru December 31st, 2002 Sale good on regular priced merchandise only. Sale good on specified day ONLY. Sale prices not applicable on previous purchases. Sale good on in-stock merchandise only. Sale will not be applied to special orders. 409409 AlexanderAlexander StreetStreet LaPorte,LaPorte, IN IN 326-8602 On Hwy 35 - 5 Blocks South of Lincolnway The territory first called Nauvoo, then Portland, then finally Rolling Prairie. On Hwy 35 - 5 Blocks South of Lincolnway TTurnurn RightRight on Alexander To the right, a farmer uses a steam-powered thresher, which was in use Monday - Friday 9:30 to 7 Saturday 9:30 to 5 after the Civil War.