The Region's Team Of Northwest Indiana

Thursday, July 26 will be Community Night at Oil City Stadium as the Oilmen celebrate the Whiting-Robertsdale community with friends and neighbors. All tickets to Thursday’s game against the Joliet Admirals will be available for $4. Community Night is a precursor to Whiting’s annual Pierogi Festival, which is one month away.

Community Night will be a great chance for fans to celebrate the community in which they live while taking in a baseball game at Oil City Stadium. In addition, it will be a special Dollar Night at the ballpark with Miller Lite draft beers, soda, water and hot dogs all available for $1.

Several community businesses will be recognized prior to the game for their dedication to the City of Whiting and Northwest Indiana. BP Whiting Refinery will receive a Community Recognition Award in grateful appreciation of outstanding dedicated service and commitment for over 100 years. Community Recognition Awards will also be awarded to Baran Funeral Home, Centier Bank and Whiting Flower Shop.

The Whiting Flower Shop has proudly served Northwest Indiana since 1900. Considered a quality-plus shop, Whiting Flower Shop is one of the top 1,000 shops in the United States. It is the premiere florist for 1-800-Flowers of Northwest Indiana. Since purchasing the shop 22 years ago, Connie Salas and her family have carried on the Whiting tradition.

“The city has been wonderful to work with,” Connie Salas of Whiting Flower Shop said. “We recently moved after 80 years in the same location. We made a move four doors down from where we used to be. Whiting has been a great home for our business.”

Baran Funeral Home will be recognized for 106 years of outstanding service to the city of Whiting. Owner and President George Baran is a third-generation operator after the funeral home was established by his grandfather in 1908.

“Many times, we still know 95 percent of the families that we’ve served on a first-name basis,” Baran Funeral Home Managing Director Martin Dybel said. “We’ve served them for generations. We do what we can to make their lives easier during a very difficult time. We’ve very fortunate to be a part of a place with the community-feel of Whiting.”

Centier Bank was founded in 1895 by Henry Schrage, also the founder of the city of Whiting. His family emigrated from Germany in 1954 when Schrage was 10 years old. Over the leadership of current President and Chairman Michael Schrage, Centier Bank has grown from its first bank location in Whiting to 50 locations in eight counties across Indiana. 

In May of 1889, John D. Rockefeller began construction of what is known today as the BP Whiting Refinery. Since it processed its first petroleum products in 1890, BP has helped bring Northwest Indiana and other Midwest areas into the new world of petroleum-based energy.

BP supports nearly 60,000 jobs in Indiana and Illinois and spends more than $3 billion annually with outside vendors in these two states. Tom Keilman, Director of Government and Public Affairs for BP's Whiting Business Unit, will accept the Community Recognition Award at Thursday’s game.