Top 10 Overall Stories on LaPorteCountyLife in 2015

Top 10 Overall Stories on LaPorteCountyLife in 2015

We've counted down our top stories for LaPorteCountyLife.com through our individual sections - Business, Sports, Entertainment, Health, Features, Community, Video and Photos - and now we're looking to crown our absolute best stories of the 2015 calendar year.

Take a look below at our picks and leave a comment below with what the best good-news story that you read was this year!

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Michigan City Soul Steppers Show Up and Step Up the Competition
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The Michigan City Soul Steppers Drill Team celebrated their 15th anniversary with the Show Up and Show Out Competition, hosted at Michigan City High School on Saturday, July 18. This event, in conjunction with Michigan City’s Summer Festival, is the largest drumline and drill team competition in the state of Indiana. Teams from all over the United States stepped up their game and competed against one another for trophies and cash prizes.

The teams involved included Michigan City Soul Steppers of Michigan City, Ebony Illusion Dance Team of Des Moines, Iowa, Freestyle All-Stars of Birmingham, Alabama, Millennium Madness of Memphis, Tennessee and Metropolitan Youth Program of Rock Island, Illinois.

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Families and Friends Gather for Downtown La Porte's Summertime Movie Night
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On Friday evening, the Herald Argus Parking Lot was filled with hundreds of families as a part of Downtown La Porte’s summertime movie night series. The featured film, Frozen, attracted families and friends alike to enjoy a warm summer evening under La Porte's skyline and stars. The parking lot quickly turned into a place for grandparents, parents and their children to meet Princess Anna and Queen Elsa, to grab a bite and to watch a movie together. Children were also offered the opportunity to ride ponies, and jump in a Bump n’ Jump Playhouses bounce house.

The Downtown Movie Nights first began in 2005, as a result of a group that no longer exists called the Downtown La Porte Action Committee. Since then, three movies have been featured each summer, captivating the interest of hundreds of LaPorteans. All Friday Night at the Movies events are now products of the Downtown La Porte Main Street Association.

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NIPSCO Reveals Donation and Unveiling of Banner to Celebrate Michigan City Artspace's Road to Completion
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Artspace and NIPSCO were present at the historic Warren Building where renovation is currently undergoing to transform the building into a sleek and modern living and working space for artists, shops and restaurants, to present their donation of $25,000 to the Artspace project to help ensure that the project stayed on track for completion.

Along with the check presentation, Artspace was able to announce a planned 2016 date for occupancy.

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2015 Northwest Indiana Graduation Station
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Of all the events we see throughout the year, graduations and commencements are the ones that most embody our good news mission. To see all the hard work put in and out of the classroom by students, parents, teachers, coaches, families and friends culminate in one event, with everyone across the school celebrating the same thing, it's just awesome.

We will have literally thousands of photos from the Class of 2015, just like we did last year, and we couldn't be happier to share these shots of all of these thousands of Northwest Indiana's best and brightest students.

<pThe History of "The Big Guy": La Porte's Iconic Santa

Driving around downtown La Porte during the holiday season is like any other town - lights lit up on trees, holiday decorations up and down the main street. What La Porte has that many others don't is a historic Santa statue that has been a part of their community for decades. With Santa now up and waving to drivers down on Lincolnway, we decided to get a little history on this iconic landmark.

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Michigan City Welcomes New City Gem in North Pointe Pavilion
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Mayor Ron Meer proudly presented North Pointe Pavilion located on 6 On the Lake with a ribbon cutting ceremony on September 26, 2015. The brand new building offers a restaurant named Fire and Water, along with a large dock on the top floor for all to enjoy the million dollar view of Michigan City.

This new venue will bring people from near and far, and is designed for the people of the community whose hearts can’t leave the lake.

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2015 Made in La Porte County Connects Students with Local Manufacturing
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Over 50 businesses from all over La Porte County gathered at Space Center la Porte for this year’s Made in La Porte County manufacturing expo. Indiana does more manufacturing per capita than any other state so it encompasses a huge part of our economy. The Thursday, September 24th event gave students and other residents of the county a chance to see how critical manufacturing is to the workplace and what opportunities there are for them in the industry.

Greater La Porte Economic Development Corporation (GLEDC) Executive Director Bert Cook was one of three representatives of the community that spoke to the crowd. “Throughout our county,” he said, “there is a major effort afoot to better the communication between our schools and businesses; and in turn rediscover manufacturing.”

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United Way Of La Porte County Hosts Glamorous ‘Secret Agent Gala’ At Blue Chip Casino
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On Friday, the United Way of La Porte County filled the Stardust Event Center at the Blue Chip Casino to celebrate their annual Gala in style this year with a ‘James Bond’ theme. Tuxedos, black ties, and ritzy gowns were standard attire at the fundraising event that featured martinis, a James Bond look-a-like and a few Bond Girls who also provided the evening's entertainment.

“This year's Gala is the ‘Secret Agent Gala’,” said Kris Pate, Executive Director of the United Way of LaPorte County. ”We’re taking advantage of this being the opening of the new ‘Spectre’ movie and Belvedere is a sponsor for the event, and also in the new James Bond movie he asks for a Belvedere Martini. We have some of the Special Edition bottles here that light up and I gotta say it’s all really exciting.”

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La Porte County Family YMCA Officially Opens Michigan City - Elston Branch with Ribbon Cutting
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It’s been a while in the making but on Thursday night a ribbon cutting made it official - the Michigan City YMCA is now open for business. The La Porte County Family YMCA's newest addition to their group of YMCAs marks the return of a Y to Michigan City. Located at the former Elston Middle School, the previously abandoned building is now ready to be buzzing with families once again.

“Our staff has put a lot of hard work and elbow grease into cleaning the place up, so to see all of the pieces finally working together is so awesome,” La Porte County Family YMCA Cindy Berchem stated. “We’re thankful for the Michigan City School Board on working on this with us and after all of the time put into making Elston a YMCA, it’s great to see people now enjoying it. There’s still things to be added, but now everyone has the opportunity to be a part of a new Michigan City YMCA.”

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La Porte Hospital Foundation Hosts Traditional Holiday at the Pops
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Over 1,000 merry members of the community followed the sound of holiday music to the La Porte Civic Auditorium on Saturday night. For the 21st year, the Foundation in support of the IU Health La Porte Hospital successfully hosted Holiday at the Pops, providing guests with great music and an even greater cause to support.

For 37 years, the La Porte Hospital Foundation has supported health care and health lifestyles in its community. As the philanthropic arm of the hospital, the foundation hosts three main events each year. The Tour de La Porte raises money for cancer patients and a golf tournament is also hosted to raise funds for health care scholarships. Holiday at the Pops rounds out the year, benefiting the VNA services of the hospital.