What with all the talk about Chicago possibly hosting a future Olympic Games, I got to thinking about racing and some of the most historic races held in the Calumet Region, keeping in mind that all races are not athletic events. Here are a few of the best:
1. John Hack, the first of many German settlers, bought a farm on Prairie West. It became "St. Johns," which survives today as a singular St. John community at the west edge of Lake County. One of Hack's subjects, John Scherer, spun off from the patriarch and established his own domain. In a hot incorporation race to Crown Point, Scherer beat Hack. His domain is now known as the Town of Schererville.
2. In about 1940, Arthur Markovich, whose reach always exceeded his grasp, challenged Hannah Chobonav (now Hana Ralich) to a footrace. While hundreds of prepubescent friends cheered them on, Hannah flew out of her starting block in a flash and zipped down the track so fast that a local farmer could have done early planting. Arthur, literally left in the dust, suddenly developed a terrible limp.
3. In an era when two-wheeled vehicles had become the rage - 1906 - Charles Blankenheim, on Whiting's famous Torpedo, brought home the winner's cup to Whiting, where it was prominently displayed. The second-place finisher was Charles W. Van Sickle, who later would become a national champion and a Hammond theater owner
4. Loretta June Shepertosky was the granddaughter of one of the pioneers of Indiana Harbor. She lived not far from Lake Michigan. Whenever a beau drew near to her and showed any machismo, June would take him out to the water intake at Indiana Harbor and race him to the peninsula (Plant 2) of Inland Steel. All of the challengers failed.
Later, when Wells Street Beach in the Miller area of Gary became popular, June would swim out to a middle-distance sandbar, take off her bathing suit and swirl it above her head as all of the boys in the neighborhood dashed into the water to reach her before she got her suit back on. She never lost, which means that none of the boys ever won.
5. During Prohibition, many tried to dash across the national border with good hooch. Some succeeded. Most did not. But no one ever caught Mark Savanovich, who might have been the best driver in all the nation. His destination was always the Bosnian community in Indiana Harbor. His grandson, George Vann, became a well-known judge in Kentland.
6. Danceland, at Five Points, hosted the "World's Champion Marathon Endurance Dance" on Sept. 21, 1928. The winning couple stayed upright on the dance floor in the ballroom for 1,000 hours, a new world record.
7. Sidmon McHie founded this newspaper, originally called the Lake County Times, in 1906. As a "stock broker," he owned a mansion on Fifth Avenue in New York, a villa in France, and a golf course in Illinois. In 1944, he lost a race with a train while going from Hammond to his golf course.
The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.
