Growing Up in 1960's River Park

Growing Up in 1960's River Park

From Round the Bend Now and Then by Matt Emery

October 21, 2025 · 48 min · Episode 45

About this episode

Matt Emery interviews his father, Joel Emery, about growing up in River Park during the 1960s.

This episode is a special one in that I meet with my father, Joel Emery, as he shares his memories from growing up in 1960's River Park. Over the years, my parents have shared multiple stories about growing up in River Park - a neighborhood on the far east side of South Bend, IN. Their stories mirror what neighborhoods were like at that time in our country, absolutely bursting at the seams with kids - kids born in the tens of millions after solders returned from World War II: The baby boom. I’ve always planned on doing an episode about River Park, as there is SO much local history involved in its story. But it would take several episodes to really be able to tell the complete story of the neighborhood so I thought it would be neat to interview my dad and focus on just a slice of its history, growing up in River Park in the 1960s.    Thank you dad for your time and memories! _____________________________________________________ Thank you to the Portage Township Trustee's Office for sponsoring this episode! Thank you to Jason Critchlow and his team for ALL that you do in our community! Check out their website and Facebook below and discover ALL that the Portage…

People in this episode

Host: Matt Emery

Guest: Joel Emery

Topics covered

  • local history
  • baby boom
  • growing up
  • neighborhood stories
  • 1960s culture

Keywords

  • River Park
  • 1960s
  • South Bend
  • baby boom
  • neighborhood history

Sponsors

Portage Township Trustee's Office, Mishawaka Historical Museum

Mentioned in this episode

Places: South Bend, IN

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