>> Presenter: This week on friends and neighbors.

>> Dan: I taught him how to build a couple paddles.

He just took it and ran with it.

>> Eric: We started posting pictures of it on Facebook and people wanted to order them.

I've had paddle orders throughout the Midwest, Canada, England, and New Hampshire.

I'm Eric Plath.

I am 13 years old and I am the founder of Plath Paddle Company.

>> Justin: This field is definitely more family oriented and beginner oriented.

We try to cater to the new players that have not played the game before.

I love playing against my kids and friends.

I love playing with them anywhere we go.

So we definitely try to cater to that family and beginner aspect of it.

>> Jonny: I would say it is a multi-faceted hobby that spans from putting models together and painting them, to lore books and video games, all the way to playing small, intricate little games, all the way to massive Titanic battles.

>> Doreen: We are a micro niche farm.

Our anchor is obviously lavender.

Lavender definitely can help you find your peace.

>> Cathy: Community is at my number one, passion.

I love Valparaiso.

We just love to support any community events that we can Valpo's, it's got a tight community.

I'm not sure that I would have that in any other town.

I really love the comradery here.

>> Ad Narrator: Doing as much as you can, as quickly as you can is important to me.

Life is short and the earlier we get started helping our community, the better off our community will be.

>> I have a very strong connection to other students.

Everyone makes an effort to help each other.

I'll remember the feeling of being here.

The feeling that I was a part of a family.

(uplifting music) >> [Female Ad Narrator] Shopping for fruits and vegetables in the Strack and Van Til produce department is a feast for the senses, with produce picked at the peak of freshness.

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(calm music) (water lapping) (peaceful piano music) >> I taught him how to build a couple paddles in the beginning and he just took it and ran with it.

>> We started posting pictures of it on Facebook and people wanted to order them.

I've had paddle orders throughout the Midwest, Canada, England, and New Hampshire.

I'm Eric Plath.

I am 13 years old and I am the founder of Plath Paddle Company.

(inspiring music) >> I helped start the Northwest Indiana Paddling Association.

I think he was actually in utero the first time we did a paddle and he's had his own kayak since he was three.

It's, you know, pretty much in his blood.

>> I just like how every paddle is a little different.

And each one is unique in its own way.

My grandfather was a carpenter and four of my uncles are carpenters too.

We've been just doing a lot of woodworking our entire lives.

>> My dad was an industrial arts teacher too, as well.

So Eric is latched on to it and taking it in ways that I'd never even thought we were ever going to.

So it's pretty neat.

Safety is a big part of it.

All this stuff generates a lot of dust.

So we have a dust control system and also a dust collector.

And we also have the kids all wear masks, but one of the first things we bought was what's called a SawStop.

It will sense the human touch and it will automatically throw a break on it.

So the worst he could ever get to maybe a tiny scratch.

The biggest thing is just training them and making them feel confident.

>> Eric: Katie, she is 11 years old.

My brother, Matthew, he is nine years old.

They both really enjoy working on the paddles, sanding it typically, also gluing together the shafts.

>> Dan: And varnishing and finishing.

>> Eric: Yeah.

>> Dan: We try to produce no waste or really minimize it, or also just trying to reuse things a lot.

>> Eric: The wood chips we use for our Guinea pigs for bedding.

>> Dan: We have probably the cleanest Guinea pig cage around with, with how much it produces.

They're in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.

And if they want to do something, it's up to them to pay for half of it.

And then I'll pay for the other half.

By having some ownership in it, they take better care of it.

It means a lot more than just handing them something.

When we decided that he wanted to go to Marquette, which you know, going to a school like that's not cheap, he wanted to do something to help contribute to his education.

>> At Marquette, you can earn an associate's degree in business while you're still in high school.

So I would like to do that.

I'm getting experience, not only in woodworking, but in sales, web designing, taxes, all that.

>> It's also interesting because you go in to a bank or a accountant and say, well, we've got a 13 year old who's starting a business and some said, this is dad's business.

I'm like, no, this isn't dad's business.

You know, he's building these paddles independently.

I, you know, I'm kind of quality control just to make sure that he doesn't miss on anything or if he needs some help learning a different tool or different technique for things, you know, Eric's about, running at about 95% of himself right now with, with everything.

So it's been for me, very inspiring.

>> Everybody is really loving them.

They say, they're too nice to use.

They're just hanging them in their houses as decoration and then occasionally they're gonna go out and use them in the water.

>> They're really kind of a functional piece of art.

It's been really outstanding to see him take this and run with it.

Been really fortunate because one of the things I've really tried to instill in all of our kids is that independence.

And when you have work, go towards the work, don't go away from the work.

Being lazy is not an option in our family.

(calm inspiring music) (energetic drum music) >> We were on a outdoor activity for paintball.

If you don't know what paintball is, it's 68 caliber balls filled with paint on it that shoots through compressed air guns.

Basically it's like a real life video game.

It gets people out and get them active, get them interacting with new people or their fathers, friends, family, mothers, dads, they all come out here and play, it's a good outdoor activity.

Playable property is about 20 acres.

Justin and Dave they're the two owners, decided that they wanted to do something different and they opened up the paintball field here.

We're in our 17th year.

So it was back in 2004 and they started it to do something together and had no idea it would grow into what it did today.

I started coming here probably 14 years ago and I started reffing out here and I started bringing my nephew to ref out here.

My son comes out here and ref and it just ended up being a good family experience that I can enjoy.

Helping people learn something new and spend time with my family.

We run a couple of different things out here on every basic weekend between March and December.

On the weekends, we're open for open play, private groups where you can come play.

You can come by yourself or you can come with a group of 20 and call ahead, have your own ref, your own pavilion, and bring a grill, coolers and hang out and do big outings.

We also have fundraisers that come out of here for companies as well.

And then we have four scheduled, big events a year.

I produce one game and we have another guy that produces the three other games here.

And they write a storyline for two day events and you get two commanders to go against each other.

And then they, their job is to go out and recruit people to get them to come here, to play.

And then we have a lot of walk-ons on it.

And we make a game format that everybody can be involved with, like capture the flag, hold missions, escort missions, props throughout there.

And then we points throughout the whole entire weekend.

And then whoever wins, with the most points at the end of the game wins.

(rock music) We have several different fields and theme fields in that.

And we try to make it so everybody like it.

One of our most popular fields right now is Shipment.

Anybody who's played Call of Duty, they know Shipment.

We built it off a replica, the same colors, the same shipping containers, the same placements.

We have another field called Orion, which happens to be my favorite one.

It's a three-story rocket ship.

It was based off of Mission Orion.

Most people don't know about it, but they're trying to send a rocket up into space.

And that's what it's off of.

It's made out of shipping containers, three stories, stairwells, different elevations.

It's got a plane hangers involved with it.

We also have an Old West town that has a saloon and a post office and a church, and a stable that takes you back to being, you know, the old country movies you enjoy watching.

And then we have, our newest field's called Alcatraz.

It's based off of the jail Alcatraz and its shipping containers.

And it's set up in a square with only certain entry points and certain escape points.

We have a Bermuda Triangle, where it's a bunch of wrecked ships everywhere with a big pirate ship in the middle.

That's very playable.

We have a POW camp which is several huts with this bridge that goes over the water with only two entry points from each side coming into it, very close quarter, very intense contact there.

And then we have Interstate 85, kind of based off The Walking Dead.

And it's pretty cool.

We have cars with asphalt going all one way with a big old road sign.

And then we have mannequins dressed up like zombies in these boxes like they're captured.

This field is definitely more family oriented and beginner oriented.

We try to cater to the new players that's not played the game before.

We want them to come out here.

We want them to enjoy.

We want to grow the sport, but we also want to grow family time.

So your kid, you come out here with your kid that you can't, you know, play basketball against Southern people with or play football with.

You can come out here and compete on the same playing field, the same level field with your family or against them.

However, that makes works.

I love playing against my kids and friends.

I love playing with them anywhere we go.

So we definitely try to cater to that family and beginner aspect of it.

(rock music) (upbeat music) >> We are a coffee shop and a cafe.

We also offer table space for people to play a variety of games, but most commonly we have space to play for Warhammer games.

And I've been playing Warhammer for about 20, 25 years.

Since I was about 12 years old, probably I would say.

Warhammer is best described as chess with more rules, that you also put your pieces together and paint them.

That's the easy way to sell it right off the bat.

It's usually one-on-one.

And imagine if every chess piece on the board had more rules, the knight does this and this also when they have a rule that if they do this, it benefits this.

So there's a lot of synergy.

If all the pieces had different rules, not just, hey, I can move two up and one over.

Originally, it was a board game, many years ago and it took off.

I would say is a multifaceted hobby that spans from putting models together and painting them to lore books and video games, all the way to playing small, intricate little games, all the way to massive Titanic battles.

It's not just dump out all the models and go, here we go.

It's a very intricate hobby, but it's also enjoyed by many people.

(upbeat digital music) There are two versions of this game, Warhammer 40,000, which has been going strong for about 30 years, but it is the 41st millennium.

And it is sci-fi fantasy.

AOS or Age of Sigmar, is the fantasy side of that game.

The rules are very similar, but it provides a definite casual environment as opposed to 40 K, which tends to draw more of the competitive crowd.

Age of Sigmar also has a really big army collection, anywhere from steampunk or Stormcast, Eternals, humans, wood elves, under the sea elves, you know, dinosaurs, let's not forget dinosaurs 'cause that's a really popular one.

I think the barrier to entry is probably just that initial first step.

If you are interested in it, I would say buy a kit.

It doesn't matter what it is.

Something that looks fun.

I always tell people to build an army based on the way something looks.

So if you were going to build a list based on just win tournaments, eventually you're not going to enjoy it anymore.

But if I want to build a list because I want to build Tree People, see, that seems fun to me.

Just Tree People army.

I'm like I'm in.

And that's usually the best way to start, but you can probably go from anywhere from there.

I mean, you can stop.

You can just read books about what army you want to build.

You know, even if nothing comes of it, at least you had fun putting that kit together.

It's always one consistent hobby that I've had, you know, always putting models together, painting, playing when I can, but most commonly putting models together and painting.

I really enjoy the creative aspect to it.

I've been playing a Space Wolf army from the Imperium of Man Space Marines, and I really enjoy just creating new and unique units.

So I may have multiple units that I convert, paint, make them look unique from one another and they may die within the first term, but I really enjoy putting them together and painting them.

And they all have their unique look to them.

I like adding little bits here and there to make everything look unique.

So where it's not just rank and file troops, but everything has its own characters.

Everything has its own fluff.

And I feel like that's what draws you in.

If playing an all giant army seems fun to you, let's do it.

But if you really like the idea of Space Elves that are angry, let's do it.

If you were interested in something related and you see people playing, ask.

You know, I feel like people are curious about it, but don't want to take that extra step and go what is that?

You know, it's always nice to see new people jumping in because I feel like that's how the community grows.

A lot of us have become friends through this game.

And a lot of us, you know, chat nonstop about it whenever we, you know, see each other.

And you know, I've talked to my friend a thousand times about this army and that army, but like, it's always nice to have a new perspective on something else that's out there or what they want to do with their army, because you see that little fire in their eyes and they're like, yeah, I want to build this army, and I'm like, I know you do.

I want you to as well.

(upbeat digital music) >> Doreen: Our whole business plan is that we grow things and then we do something with it that's lovely fragrant, delicious or good for you.

(peaceful music) >> We were actually getting ready for our son and daughter-in-laws wedding and Doreen found a gift she wanted to make for the, for the bridal party.

It was a, a small basket maid out of fresh lavender.

Well, it was late enough in the year, we found that we could not get fresh lavender.

She came to me and she says, you know, we should do this in our retirement years, we should grow lavender.

Two weeks later, I had a stroke and I lost my clear speech.

I'm sure that the only one that could understand me was Doreen.

Everything was clouded.

And my speech was very staggeringly haltering.

So, the day I got out of the hospital, she came to me and she says, you know, we're not promised anything.

We're definitely not promised tomorrow.

Let's dig our backyard up and grow lavender today.

So we did, we put 300 lavender plants in the ground.

And now this is, this is all I do is I grow lavender.

>> Everybody knows about lavender and how it helps a person relax.

So I think that that was really a good way to help Mike recover from his speech anxiety.

As he worked with the plants, he was able to relax enough to allow that healing to happen.

Plus there's lots of wonderful microbes in the soil that helped with depression and being in the sun.

It all kind of came together and really worked out very well for his healing process.

We are a micro niche farm.

Our anchor is obviously lavender, but we grow other botanicals as well.

We do herb blends and things like that.

I do grow some medicinals because I'm a certified herbalist.

And I want to regain that tradition of using food to make a healthier lifestyle for everyone.

One of our most popular medicinals is fire cider.

It's a wonderful immune boosting preparation, kind of a tonic, delicious.

>> But we also made a lot of culinary herbs, Herbes de Provence.

It's a classic herb blend, a using lavender of course.

The most popular thing that she makes, or we make, is her lotion.

She makes a lotion that is just like no other.

It's fantastic.

It feels good.

It smells good.

It's great for your skin.

>> And they kick you out of the Lavender Union if you don't make soap.

So, I of course make some handcrafted soaps.

(relaxing music) This particular planting is planted as a labyrinth.

So it's a five circuit labyrinth that you can walk the path meandering through to get to the center, have your respite time, peace, quiet, conversations, whatever.

And then when you're ready, wind your way back along the path out again, we found that it's a very enjoyable way to experience the lavender.

Not every day is a good day.

Come out, have that respite and let that day go away.

>> We love what we do and we love sharing it with people when they come out, it's, it's just that simple.

We really do.

(relaxing music) (upbeat music) >> My grandfather and my father both graduated from the University of Wisconsin in dairy science.

And my grandfather was living in Cicero of Chicago and worked several dairies in Chicago.

He always wanted his own place and was reading the Chicago Tribune one day and this place was for sale.

I've been working here since I was probably six years old.

I used to help the milk drivers when they'd come in from the route and help load their trucks and stock the front.

And my grandpa used to give me a quarter and I thought that was a lot of money back then.

By 1879, I graduated high school and came to work full time for my father and basically learned the whole operation.

>> I sort of married into the fam, the Brown family and Mike's grandfather, Herb Brown, bought this dairy in 1947 and it was Browns Dairy, and they made milk, cottage cheese, cheese delivered, milk, ice cream.

I can't express that it's a family business enough.

Our children are the fourth generation for Valpo Velvet.

At any given day, you can find my mom, his mom, our kids.

It's definitely a family operation through and through.

(upbeat music) As far as ice cream, we manufacture, like I said, in the back, usually two times a week, we make, I'd say about 60 flavors total of ice creams, sorbet, sherbet and frozen yogurt.

If I had to list favorite flavors of customers, I would say mint chocolate chip, butter pecan, cookies and cream and burgundy cherry and chocolate almonds.

Actually there's a lot.

The options are endless for us.

Right now, we're getting ready to make a vegan ice cream so we can kind of experiment.

>> We make two different ice cream mixes.

One is a white mix, which gives us about 85% of our flavors.

And then we make a chocolate mix.

So that gives us our six or seven flavors of chocolate.

So those are the two ice cream mixes.

The white mix, you know, which gives us vanilla, blue moon, butter pecan, basically all your white flavors.

And then the chocolate, of course, is a separate mix.

That process to make 500 gallon batch, it takes about five hours from start to finish.

Then the next day we'll freeze the ice cream.

So we pump it into our flavor vat, and then we'll add the flavor in there.

And then the ice cream freezer will draw the mix from the flavor vat and freeze it.

And that's where we fill our containers, pints, 48 ounce containers and our bowl three gallon flavors.

We're still processing the ice cream the same way my father taught me back in the late seventies, got some new equipment, but basically all the ingredients and the process is the same.

(upbeat digital music) >> So vegan ice cream has become a need that we need to address in the community.

We also try and do it with our, we have an extensive food menu here.

And my goal is to be able to have something to serve to every single person who walks in the door.

So whether they're dairy free or egg free or gluten free, we try and address that every day.

So vegan ice cream is something that we started making last year.

And it just, it's nice for people that are dairy free, that they don't always have to have a sorbet, which is, you know, fruit and water.

This, this flavor right now, because I have an ample amount of mint in my garden is going to be a chocolate mint vegan.

And it just makes me happy to know that everyone has a choice when they come here, especially kids that might be lactose intolerant.

They get to have an ice cream.

And that makes me happy.

The community is at my number one passion.

I love Valparaiso.

And I was always involved with the Park Departments.

I worked for the Park Departments when I was younger and I love to go out and help them with, you know, with our truck and stuff.

We just love to support any community events that we can.

Valpo's got a tight community.

I'm not sure that I would have that in any other town.

I really loved the comradery here.

(upbeat digital music) >> Ad Narrator: Doing as much as you can, as quickly as you can is important to me.

Life is short and the earlier we get started helping our community, the better off our community will be.

>> Almost every single professor I've had, I'm on a first name basis.

By building that relationship with faculty, I was able to get involved with research.

It's one thing to read about an idea in a book versus physically doing it and seeing results.

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(calm music) (upbeat music)