Philip Potempa – Page 19

Diners enjoy the lake breeze and menu options while seated “al fresco” on the terrace of Lighthouse Restaurant in Cedar Lake, which opened in 2009 and was sold in July 2025 to a new dining and hospitality management operation. (Philip Potempa/for Post-Tribune)

Of Notoriety: Lighthouse restaurant sold, ‘Late Nite’ fan lamenting, free Broadway concert Friday

July 25, 2025 at 12:17 p.m.

Chef Chris Pappas, owner of Crown Point’s Meraki Hospitality Group, is purchasing Cedar Lake’s Lighthouse Restaurant.

The opening credits of the Marx Brothers 1933 film “Duck Soup” stars four white live ducks bobbing carelessly in a soup kettle of hot water above a flame. (Paramount Film Archive 1933)

From the Farm: Duck Soup both a movie and recipe classic, served and savored at YOUYU

July 18, 2025 at 5:50 p.m.

There’s been much anger and lament (my own included) about government budget cuts for PBS radio and TV stations around the country.

Oddities and interesting anecdotes are included in “Secret Indiana: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful and Obscure,” a new 187-page paperback with color photos written by author Jamie Ward. (Reedy Press/provided)

Of Notoriety: ‘Secret Indiana’ and ‘Brothers’ books; May wine nets $25K for NWI Symphony

July 16, 2025 at 2:50 p.m.

New books and a fundraiser donation are all of note this week.

Borders and archways of green pickle-themed balloons line the fencing of six new pickleball courts opened at ValPlayso on Monday, July 14, 2025, with the Valparaiso mayor and more than 200 gathering to celebrate the unveiling. (Philip Potempa/for Post-Tribune)

Valparaiso Parks unveils ValPlayso pickleball courts as among first of 2025 parks upgrades

July 14, 2025 at 3:41 p.m.

What was a greenspace devoted to T-ball is now six courts devoted to pickleball at ValPlayso, part of $25 million in park upgrades.

Iridescent stones and minerals glow along the walls of an inner sanctuary in the hidden catacombs at the Carmelite Monastery shrine in Munster. (Philip Potempa/for Post-Tribune)

From the Farm: Carmelite Monastery includes a celestial nod with grotto celebration

July 11, 2025 at 5:20 p.m.

Bishop Robert J. McClory will be in Munster July 19 at the Carmelite Monastery and Grotto for the 75th anniversary of the Carmelite Fathers making Northwest Indiana home.

Morgan McCabe, left to right, Danielle Bilderback and Robert Reidy star in “Outside Mullingar” for a final weekend closing performance July 13, 2025, at Dunes Summer Theatre in Michigan City. (Tony V. Martin/provided)

Of Notoriety: ‘Newsies’ stage scoop, Festival of the Lakes, St. John Fest

July 10, 2025 at 4:22 p.m.

Entertainment news from around the region

Singer Pearl Bailey is shown in the studio paired with her animated owl likeness character “Big Mama” to record her musical number “Best of Friends” for the 1981 Walt Disney film “The Fox and the Hound.” (Walt Disney Archive/provided)

Of Notoriety: Disney casting near and far for new young talent for next project

July 9, 2025 at 4:31 p.m.

The folks at Disney Talent Casting are looking for their next young star for a new project, and they’ve asked me to help spread the word.

After 116 years in operation and founded by James McGill, McGill Manufacturing ceased operations and the factory at 909 N. Lafayette St. shuttered in 2021. The Valparaiso Parks Department has plans to possibly renovate and repurpose the 225,000-square-foot interior for an indoor sports and events center to open in late 2027. (Valpo Parks/provided)

Valparaiso parks ready for proposals for $20M new REC park project

July 10, 2025 at 8:40 a.m.

Valpo Parks is accepting proposals for transforming shuttered McGill Manufacturing into a $20 million recreation/event facility.

An artist rendering of Olthof Homes’ proposed Midwood Terrace neighborhood in Center Township illustrates the design of the 147 multi-family townhouse units included with the nearly 300 housing structures on the 80-acre area. (Photo courtesy of Olthof Homes)

Valpo Council approves new Midwood Terrace annexation despite concerns

July 7, 2025 at 8:22 a.m.

The Valparaiso City Council approved the annexation of an 80-acre parcel in rural Center Township as part of a project led by Lake Acquisitions, Inc. and Prairie Development, LLC.

Home diners eager for a taste of menu nostalgia, especially U.S. military veterans, immediately embraced a frozen food recipe variation of “creamed chipped beef” sold and marketed by Stouffer’s Foods starting in the early 1960s. (Nestle Foods Archive)

From the Farm: Forgotten creamed chipped beef on toast a wartime menu memory

July 4, 2025 at 2:17 p.m.

Creamed chipped beef was a menu item my siblings recall, as I do too, served on our school lunch trays in the 1960s and 1970s.

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