They are good at what they do! Also, you'll find them at festivals, street fairs, summer days, and…read morethe county fair for your emergency medical needs. They have a lot of outreach, which is great! I got CPR certified here, quick and painless.

If you like ole town charm, old gold décor mailboxes, great smiles and welcoming customer…read moreservice...this is one of the places to go to ALMOST escape from it all; otherwise if you really wanna escape go South West texas or NM. Greg & ???can t remember were courteous and joyful to be around and got the job done. I will continue to go here. and remember they are closed for lunch! WHY? b/c its a SMALL TOWN and I grew UP in a SMALL TOWN~John Mellencamp

Coordinated Harassment? Utility Dept was a no call, no show for die test to determine if my vacant…read morelot is connected to sewer. In the mean time the Building Dept. says they don't show it as having sewer connection on the day of the scheduled die test I was told the 2nd time. The person even called the utility dept. to inform them in my presence. She was asked "what I was doing in their office?" This means if you are not interested in knowing for sure the details they certainly could careless about accuracy. My experience with them is you keep talking to the and nothing gets resolved. I scheduled and appointment and kept my end of the agreement - why didn't the South Bend Municipal Utilities show up? Now they sending a bill - unitemized and it cannot possibly reflect the charges from my time of ownership...

I lived in South Bend for almost two years at the beginning of the century, and I have visited at…read moreleast once a year (usually twice) every year since then, with the exception of 2020. I've seen South Bend change for the better and worse over that time, and while I don't spend enough time here truly to know its daily inner-workings, I have very civically engaged friends who have lived here for more than fifty years, and my regular visits show me a lot, kind of like how a person you see only a few times a year will probably notice how much weight you've lost (or gained) more than the people you see every day. It's a difficult place to describe if you're not familiar with midsize Rust Belt cities. Its glory years are long behind it, but it has spent the better part of the past four decades trying to figure out what it wants to be. It still doesn't know, but it has thankfully stopped chasing its past. Downtown is still underutilized, but it's getting better. Downtown is almost gentrification-proof, so almost any additions to it are welcomed by most. (The same cannot be said for my dear old Northeast neighborhood, which has gentrified beyond recognition, sadly.) But you'll always be disappointed in Downtown South Bend, even if you're pleasantly surprised by not being as disappointed as you expected to be. South Bend does parks really well, and the recent addition to Leeper Park and especially the rebuilding of Howard Park are reasons to visit all the parks around town. Contrary to popular opinion, the University of Notre Dame isn't actually within the city limits of South Bend; Notre Dame is in an unincorporated portion of St. Joseph County called Notre Dame, Indiana, and it controls its area with an iron fist. Sadly, while Notre Dame has benefited in myriad ways from South Bend being just across Angela Boulevard from its campus, the same cannot be said honestly for South Bend. South Bend gives and gives and gives to Notre Dame, and Notre Dame, like the rich neighbor it is, throws some crumbs South Bend's way while it pats itself on the back for its miserly contributions. Most students who move off campus now live east, north, and northeast of campus, which is to say not in South Bend. South Bend used to have a real college-town student-townie relationship with Notre Dame, but even that unequal relationship is rarer these days. The South Bend Police are generally rude and unhelpful, in my personal experience. The public-transportation options, the few that exist, are uniformly dreadful. (It wasn't until recently that the buses ran on Sundays!) It has a cute airport that doubles as the terminus of the South Shore Line, which is fun to take to Chicago, but if you live here, you're probably going to need a car. The weather is awful, but if you didn't know that, that's kind of on you. Yes, South Bend gets tons of lake-effect snow, and its winters are cold, long, and dismal. The springs can be magical, and the beginning of summers too. But I hated the summer humidity--I know, I'm a wuss. The very best season, though, is autumn, and not just because of Notre Dame football and hockey and basketball. The city services that I dealt with seemed competent but not particularly friendly or customer-service-oriented. They have some nice musical and theatrical events Downtown, but Notre Dame tends to have more, so if you live in South Bend or anywhere in Michiana (the name of the region), you'll have access to more things than in most random Rust Belt cities. In most cases, a city is defined by its people, and while many South Bend residents don't stick around long because they're chasing academic and professional opportunities elsewhere--or just buying cheap land in Granger because they've made a lot of money and want to pay fewer taxes--there is a remarkably large population that sticks around and makes the city the welcoming place that it is. Many of the city's poor wouldn't be able to afford to move elsewhere, but there are also middle- and upper-class residents who moved to South Bend at one point and chose to make it their permanent home. Part of this group of (mostly) graying do-gooders is particularly interested in resettling refugees throughout Michiana. Yes, there are quite a few refugees in Michiana, but you'd never know it, because most refugees tend to settle with their countrypeople. It's almost the opposite in South Bend; refugees who are resettled through, for example, Catholic Relief Services are from all over the world, and they're not necessarily Catholic. Because of its ties to Notre Dame, South Bend has at least indirect access to speakers of many languages and international scholars to boot. So it's more melting pot than cloistered community, and all the good and bad that comes with that distinction.

Constructed in 1862 as a hops barn, this establishment was converted into a church in 1876. Then…read morere-sold in 1915 to a local farmer, the livestock barn existed on the site from 1915 to 1998 before it was purchased by members of the Pokagon United Methodist. Rev. George Bennard was visiting the area to take part in a series of revivals, and his famous hymn "The Old Rugged Cross" was first publicly performed in 1913. The hymn did not make Rev. Bernard rich. However, he sold the rights to the Rodeheaver Company of Winona Lake, Indiana, for $500, and the copyright was renewed years later for $5,000. The Old Rugged Cross Church is located on Vermont St. in Pokagon, about halfway between Dowagiac and Niles, where my partner's sister and I stopped off the beaten path before heading to Shipshewana.

My husband and I found out about this church by accident! We were simply searching for things to…read moredo in Niles, Michigan. We were determined to find something to do close to dark and finally found this on the Internet. The hymn, The Old Rugged Cross, was first performed in this church many years ago. The hymn is near and dear to our hearts because our grandparents used to enjoy singing this song and my husband has enjoyed playing it on the piano for our children. We decided to check it out! The outside of the church is stunning! We were not able to view the inside but if we ever make it back to this area of the country we will certainly stop to see it! You should do the same especially if you enjoy this old hymn!

Latvian camp is the greatest place on earth.read more

I was the cook there in 1995 for the summer and it was absolutely the best time I've ever had as a…read morecook today and I've been doing it for over 35 years

Running a little late...have a rented Mercury Marquis....V-6 baby...let's open her up....0-85 in…read moreabout 10 seconds...I loved it. BTW..the Mercury Marquis looks like a mafia car..think Buick from the old mafia movies. So back to the story.....85 on Interstate 80...I noticed the car behind me slow down dramatically...I speed up...then I see him...Indiana State Trooper in the opposite lane...in my rear view he busts a u-turn....I slow down to 70, but he pulls me over. I give him my license and he asks if its a rental...I say yes. My bro and father all start to argue about what we should do. My bro says we should shoot the shit with the cop...my dad says not to make a scene and DO NOT TELL MOM....the whole time they are arguing I keep saying in a calm voice..."We aren't going to get a ticket..I have a good feeling about this..." No one hears me. After about 10 minutes the cop comes back and tells us.... "So I noticed you guys are from San Diego..you going to the game?" All three of us in unison... "Yes" "Well although I live in South Bend. I HATE Notre Dame. You guys think you can pull it out?" All three of us in unison...."We'll give it our best shot!" "Sounds good...I'm going to let you off with a warning. Slow it down and raise hell tomorrow." All three of us in unison..."Thanks alot...GO STATE" Very professional and they are sneaky as hell! Keep up the good work gents!!!

Why do Indiana state troopers always have such an arrogant attitude? Also, I wish I could be as…read morelucky as the reviewer from San Diego. These assholes have ticketed me for going 6 miles over the speed limit and a gave me a seatbelt violation when I was moving my truck from a parking space 100 ft away to the front of a hardware store to load up bags of salt. This past weekend takes the cake dealing with these bozos. A foot of snow had fallen and we were still getting more and I needed to meet a coworker at the Notre dame toll road exit. I got accidentally stuck in some snow on the side of the road at the exit while i was waiting. This super cool state trooper drove over to me when he saw I was stuck. Did he offer assistance? Hell no. He used his loud speaker without getting out of his car to ask me why i got stuck in the now. Yes genius, I meant to do it and by the way, thanks for your help. He eventually left, I'm sure he had to get to the donut shop or get his crew cut trimmed up. The Indiana state police have never given me help when I needed and are always very rude with an arrogant attitude.

Have you ever heard of a library with a cat in residence? The Nottawa Township Library is one of…read moreonly about 6 libraries in the State of Michigan that are in the library cat program. His name is Caldecat ("Cal" for short) and he was a rescue cat before being adopted by the library. Kids and adults come from far and wide to meet Cal and snuggle up with a good book. If you're visiting Centreville, a visit to the library should be on your agenda. He's always happy to pose for photos.