Brothers Nathan Formoso, 8, and Caleb Formoso, 11, of Highland found a fun game to play during the festival. (Sue Ellen Ross / Post-Tribune)
The recent Fall Sports Festival, organized by Purdue University Northwest (PNW) at Dowling Park, went far beyond the usual offerings, by featuring performances by the college’s current baseball, soccer and ice hockey teams.
“This is our sixth year for this event,” said PNW athletic director Rick Costello, as he greeted visitors. “We want to bring awareness of the great things going on at our campus.”
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First up on the day’s schedule was a baseball game — PNW alumni vs. the current PNW team.
“Once I found out about this game, I started texting our past players,” said PNW 2021 grad Hunter Thorn, as the Alumni team gathered in their dugout. “We’re excited to be playing against some of our former teammates.”
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The PNW Cheer and Dance team performed at the recent Fall Sports Festival. (Sue Ellen Ross / Post-Tribune)
Hundreds of visitors came to Dowling Park to take part in the festivities. In the crowd were many future college students, who enjoyed talking to current students to get their take about life on campus.
“I just heard about the new track and field program new to PNW this year,” said Paul Green of Calumet City, Illinois, who will be graduating high school next year. “That’s something I definitely would be interested in. I am planning an engineering career and Purdue is known for their successes in that area also, so the decision for me to come here seems to be a no-brainer.”
One of the booths at the festival found PNW engineering students displaying one of the race cars they designed and built.
“Wow, that’s amazing,” said visitor Tommy King, 16, of Hammond. “That’s what I want to do. It shouldn’t be that hard.”
Friends, from left, Mario Sanchez, 7, Ivan Martinez, 9, Angelo Martinez, 4, and Claudia Sanchez, 8, enjoyed the festivities at the PNW Fall Sports Festival. (Sue Ellen Ross / Post-Tribune)
The engineering students had a good laugh at this comment, explaining the work that went into their project, which was undertaken by 13 team members, done on their own time and took one year to complete.
Susan Hadley of Hammond usually spends weekends with her friend Carol Harris of Hammond.
“We are always looking for fun things to do, and when we heard about the Sports Fest we decided to come on over,” Hadley said. “We’re not Alumni but like to know what’s happening in our neighborhood. Purdue is always keeping up with the times.”
Those perusing the booths and watching the sports games also were pleasantly surprised with the free pizza, tacos, and Gatorade distributed throughout the day.
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“You can’t really ask for more,” said DeAnna Langford of Hammond, as her family finished their lunch. “It’s a beautiful fall day and we’re seeing what Purdue University is up to. It’s all good.”
For more information about academic and sports programs at Purdue University Northwest, call (219) 989-2400.
Sue Ellen Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.