Long-time LaPortean Mark Schreiber has always sought to give back to his community ever since he experienced the La Porte recreational activities as a child. He believes in building a community based on service and is dedicated to making La Porte a better place. As a visionary and strong believer in the youth today, he works hard to provide a safe and fun environment for children, in hopes that the generation will grow up valuing La Porte and all it has to offer.
"Being from La Porte County, the thing I love the most are my friends and family. I grew up here; I played in the parks here and went to school here. To me, this is home, and I am surrounded by everybody that I care about," Schreiber said.
Schreiber has lived in La Porte his entire life. As a child, he attended Handley Elementary School, Kesling Junior High School and La Porte High School. After completing high school, he went on to Ball State University to study journalism.
Along with the people, he takes pride in the beauty of the area he calls home.
"I love the community spirit, and I believe that small-town people band together, especially when you need them. I love the beautiful parks here, and the lakes are such a tremendous asset as well. La Porte has always been home to me. I know the streets and the neighborhoods, and it is a comfortable place to be," Schreiber said.
Growing up, sports were one of his favorite pastimes. Whether it was playing or watching, he grew a love for the game of what soon became his favorite sport: baseball.
"Baseball was my all-time favorite sport. I also played football, wrestled and ran some track. I played as many sports as I could, and if that sport was in season, you played it. Football in the fall, basketball in the winter and baseball in the spring and summer," Schreiber said.
La Porte High School's Schreiber Field is named after his father, who coached baseball at La Porte High School for thirty-eight years. While his father was coach, the team won seven State Championships and held an outstanding record, winning over 1,000 baseball games.
"I am the product of a coaching family, so sports have always been close to me – baseball in particular. My dad coached football as well, and was also involved in several other sports, so it seems as if I was always at the stadium, always around older kids. He gave me a good background in seeing behind the scenes as to how programs are run," Schreiber said.
Schreiber has four brothers and one sister: Eric, who is a teacher at La Porte High School; Kim, who is a flight attendant for American Airlines; Doug, who is the head baseball coach at Purdue; Dan, who owns a series of sports bars; and Keith, who is a baseball coach at Glenn Oaks Community College.
Other than Mark, Eric and Kim are the only two that still live in town. Being raised in a small house, the family grew up tight-knit.
"I like to think that [our success] comes from being from a family that had good discipline and lots of love. My dad was known as a disciplinarian as a coach, he had high expectations set for his players and expected them to be fully committed to the program," Schreiber said.
In the 70's and 80's, Schreiber was raised in a neighborhood that was full of kids who would play outside with one another after school until the street lights came on. He spent most of his summers waking up early and going to the parks, either playing organized activities or pick-up ball games.
His love for outdoor activities set the precedent for the rest of his life.
He grew up with a natural inclination towards sports, but it wasn't until one of his high school English teachers made him realize that he had a natural talent for writing.
After college at Ball State University, Schreiber went on to pursue journalism. He spent two years working for The Herald Argus, three years working for The News Dispatch and then went on to own his own publication for four years.
His statewide newspaper, The Indiana Baseball Report, consisted of baseball feature articles and a column written by his father. This allowed him to become well known with people throughout the state and helped him broaden his journalistic skills. This job also helped him become more flexible, for he worked several weekends and nights.
After his publication ran its course, he wasn't quite sure what the future would hold for him.
Ed Gilliland, Athletic Director at La Porte High School, directed Schreiber's attention to a Sports Director opening at the YMCA.
Although the position was new to him, he had several years of volunteering experience from the Local Babe Ruth League. He also had coaching and event organization skills.
After a few years as Sports Director, he was promoted to Senior Program Director. He then gained heaps of experience and overlooked multiple departments. Although being a part of the YMCA family for about nine years helped him earn experience with children in sports, his heart belonged to the parks of La Porte.
Fortunately, a Recreation Director position became available to him in 2012. He was hired for the job and spent two years in that position. Since June, Schreiber has been the Parks Superintendent for La Porte. Overseeing operations going on in the parks is only one of his many duties.
"Our staff works very tirelessly to maintain our beautiful parks. One of La Porte's greatest assets is its parks, and we've inherited that. The previous generations have had the foresight to create and donate land for some amazing facilities, whether that is Soldier's Memorial Park, Fox Park, Kesling Park and an abundance of neighborhood parks. The Civic Auditorium is an incredible asset for a town of our size to have. We have enrichment programs such as ballroom dancing, yoga or photography classes and also several other programs for kids," Schreiber said.
The parks also provide programs such as youth baseball, softball and T-ball. The Parks offer a long-standing tennis program as well.
Schreiber is excited to add more programs in the future to meet the needs and wants of the public. One of his goals for the future is to utilize La Porte's neighborhood parks more. He would also love to see more children out in the parks, whether doing organized activities or passive recreation.
In addition to being Superintendent of the Parks, he is also the President of the Kiwanis Club of La Porte.
The Kiwanis Club of La Porte has been around for 90 years, performing several community projects such as delivering Meals on Wheels, supporting the youth with scholarships and volunteering for the annual Santa Parade. The driving force of Kiwanis Club is to raise money to help others in the community.
Although his presidency term is coming to an end, his biggest accomplishment as president was teaming with the Play for Jake Foundation, donating $10,000 to the organization.
"Teaming up with the Play for Jake Foundation was an outstanding opportunity for us to help with their mission of making sure kids are getting screened for heart defects. If we can go out and be part of that, and even find one or two kids that we can help, all of the screenings and associated costs are worthwhile," Schreiber said.
Schreiber is humbled to have more than 60 Kiwanians dedicated to giving back to the community through donation and service.
This will be his tenth year as a member of the Kiwanis Club.
A little over a year ago, he married his current wife, Marti. Schreiber also has one stepson, Josh.
He values family, and acknowledges the importance of healthy relationships with his parents and siblings. As a child, his father was definitively his father, but as he grew into adulthood, the two have grown closer, and have even formed a friendship.
In his spare time, Schreiber enjoys watching sports, playing golf and bowls with his wife on a couple's bowling league.
He hopes to make a lasting impact on the community, and would love to see more kids getting involved with sporting programs and events. By involving children in the area, he wishes to have this generation seek interests in preserving the sportsman-like values and the beauty of the parks.
"One of the reasons I wanted to work at the Parks is to make sure that this generation has the same type of experience that I had. I fully recognize that everything changes, and things won't always stay the same, but to me, it is important to implement programs and preserve our parks so that the kids that are in school now enjoy them and will want to come back and live in La Porte," Schreiber said.