Picnic Under the Stars: La Porte’s Night to Shine

In the glow of soft lights and shared memories, the city comes together to celebrate the parks that make La Porte feel like home.

On Friday, November 21, the lights inside the Civic Auditorium will soften until the whole room feels like dusk. The ceiling glitters with strings of light. Guests lean in to greet one another, their laughter blending with the sound of live music and the quiet rhythm of anticipation. These are our neighbors, friends, and families who all share one belief: that La Porte’s parks make this city home.

The air will smell faintly of vanilla and cedar, a scent created by Nest #4 and inspired by Stone Lake Beach, the kind of scent that feels like memory. Along the walls, an art gallery displays photographs of La Porte’s parks: reflections on still water, leaves shifting in late-autumn light. Each image was captured by photographers from Corvilla, a nonprofit that helps adults with disabilities see and share beauty in their own remarkable way.

Near the gallery, two friends stop to study a photograph of Fox Park. One of them smiles and points. “That’s where I used to sit with my dad after work,” he says quietly. His friend nods, still looking at the image. In that small exchange, something unspoken passes between them — gratitude, nostalgia, maybe both.

When American Idol alum Marriani Fleming takes the stage, her voice fills the room, rich and steady, and for a moment everyone remembers why they came. The parks have always been more than open space. They are where we pause, where we reconnect, where we remember what matters.

This is the Picnic Under the Stars Gala, a night to celebrate La Porte’s people and the parks, playgrounds, and programs that bring them together.

For nearly forty years, the La Porte City Park Foundation has been the steady heartbeat behind the city’s parks and playgrounds as an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit that supports the City of La Porte Park and Recreation Department through fundraising, donations, and partnerships that keep the parks thriving. From the inclusive Orbit Spinner at Fort La Play Porte to the rebuilt playground at Hastings Park, the Foundation’s work has been quiet but unmistakable.

These are the hands that spread new sand at Stone Lake Beach, the hearts that helped restore a storm-damaged shelter at Soldiers Memorial Park, the vision that ensures a child in a wheelchair can reach the water’s edge without help.

And on this particular Friday, that same spirit of caring will fill the Civic like sunlight spilling across Stone Lake.

Guests will enjoy dinner and dessert from Downs Family Catering, the Golden Hour cocktail with 100 percent of sales supporting the Foundation thanks to Tito’s Handmade Vodka, and the chance to take home one of this year’s keepsakes: a maple-leaf ornament, a small, shining reminder that beauty grows from giving.

Throughout the room, more stories unfold: a couple posing for photos inside Beatrice the Photobooth, bouquets of dried flowers from Blue Family Farms brightening the tables and ready to purchase, volunteers trading quiet smiles as the music swells.

“Each detail was chosen with love,” said Emily Archambault, Foundation Liaison. “Every ticket, every candle, every ornament represents something bigger: the community coming together to care for what we all share.”

The Foundation proudly recognizes La Porte Seamless Gutter as this year’s North Star Sponsor, whose generosity helps make both the Gala and the Foundation’s mission possible.

Tickets are fifty dollars each, or take advantage of the Date Night Special with two tickets for seventy-five dollars, available now at lpparkfoundation.org. The RSVP deadline is Wednesday, November 12, though a few seats may remain for last-minute guests who want to be part of this special night.

Because if you have ever followed the winding trail at Kesling Park or watched the sun sink behind the water at Stone Lake, you already understand what this night is about.

When the lights dim and the final notes fade, the stars outside will still be shining over Stone Lake, bright, steady, and full of promise. And thanks to the people who gather here, the parks below will keep shining too.

And maybe that is the quiet truth at the heart of La Porte. That in a world that rushes forward, this city still knows how to pause, to gather, and to give. That the simple act of showing up, of sharing a meal under soft light, can build something that lasts.

The stars may belong to the night, but the light they cast belongs to us.