#1StudentNWI: Summer concludes with hope and positivity in the air

#1StudentNWI: Summer concludes with hope and positivity in the air

What’s Happened?

For thirty-five years, New Buffalo has held the annual Ship N Shore Festival from August 9-11. This three-day festival is presented by the New Buffalo Business Association for everyone in New Buffalo to enjoy.

The community has farmer’s markets every so often, but this one trumps all the rest. Unique artists, both local and out of towners, gather to show off their best work. With food trucks and food tents featuring local cuisine, there is never an empty stomach present in the crowd.

To complement the wonderful food, the fest also features some of New Buffalo’s more gorgeous views like the horizon where the sky meets the lake just perfectly. Truly a striking event for summers spent in New Buffalo.

Of course, what’s a festival without live music? Bands and artists, local and nationally-known, come to entertain the festival-goers. Some entertainment you might recognize included Led Zeppelin 2: The Live Experience.

Another fan favorite feature of Ship N Shore is the annual Lighted Boat Parade. It started off being just a few boats from the Ship N Shore and NBBA to light up the lake, but has now turned into a huge event for anyone to join. The beauty of all the lit up boats is truly magical to see floating across the lake. 

Community Member Spotlight: Mary Brown

“What does success mean? How does one know when they’ve become successful?”. I asked Mary Brown these two questions and she simply replied, “balance.”

Brown is a mother of three and the business head of Hearthwood Custom Furnishing. The small business started in 1989 by her husband, Andrew Brown, when he started making intricate pieces of furniture out of driftwood.

Brown left to go back to the Midwest and landed in Chicago after completing her degree in art history at the University of Colorado Boulder. Fast forward to today, Now, as a mother, Brown noted that being a parent is a full time job. Her idea of balance did not come as easy as she hoped, but with time and lots of effort, she found her perfect balance raising her kids in a little town in Southwest Michigan, New Buffalo.

She pointed out that life in New Buffalo is beautiful, and she loves the way her kids grew up: just like her and her husband’s small company did.

“You need to find a balance in life. Find your priorities and stick to them. Finding balance doesn’t necessarily mean 50/50, however. My pull has always been towards my kids, but that has never gotten in the way of being part of a company and making it the best it can be.”

With her oldest son Caleb adding in, “I’ve never felt like my mom was ever absent from my life. She was working for us and with us, and in that, I believe she’s found her perfect balance.” 

What’s Coming Up?

School is slowly creeping up on the La Lumiere students, and the new international students are making their way, for the first time, around the school.

Welcoming these students is our Admissions Prefect, Emily Rohrbaach. For as many can remember, La Lumiere was known to be a boarding school. We welcome students from around the world to stay with us during the school year to further experience life in another country.

For the next few days, they will go on trips and excursions to get themselves acquainted the school and area. This includes a tour of Chicago, Norte Dame, La Porte, and Michigan City. The library at La Lu spans about thirty flags from countries that the school has had students from.

We stress the idea of making everyone in the community feel like a family despite where you are from, or what language you speak. It is a moment where we come together and make friends for a lifetime. 

Aameer Sahi, Forever Remembered

La Lumiere stresses that even once you’ve graduated from our school, your presence will always be engraved in our history.

This week, we’ve lost one of our most loved alumni. Sahi passed away earlier this week after battling against a malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor, a form of sarcoma cancer at the age of only 21.

The whole community has mourned his passing. We all knew him as a fighter who was never willing to go down without a fight. Videos and pictures have surfaced these past few days showing his fun, spirited self enjoying life even through his fight.

As many know, La Lu loves and cherishes the game of basketball. Sahi played basketball at La Lu and his family knew him as a “basketball junkie.”

As he moved on to college attending DePaul, he became the student manager for the team, keeping basketball in his blood.

As we celebrate his life, we must remember the light he was in our lives and the happiness he brought to each life he has touched. He had a goal to teach everyone around him to be happy and to be a strong fighter even during hard times when life throws us nothing but odds.

We remember him and his fight. #SahiStrong