On the hot summer afternoon of June 22, Purdue Federal Credit Union hosted its Family Day 2024 event at its Crown Point branch. The event, which was open to the public, featured an array of fun activities including a bounce house, a giant inflatable skeeball game, face-painting by Paint Time Fun, and cornhole. Camden Heide and Fletcher Loyer, two members of the Purdue Boilermakers men’s basketball team, participated in a meet-and-greet with attendees. The Lake County Corn Dogs baseball team were there and Chick-fil-A provided the food. A Kona Ice truck was on-site, ready to supply attendees with free frozen treats.
Matt Lerzak, chief experience officer at Purdue Federal Credit Union, appreciates the opportunity to connect with community members at the Family Day event.
“We’d like to show the community that Purdue Federal Credit Union is here for the long haul,” Lerzak said. “We opened our Crown Point branch in 2019 and we’ve had great success when it comes to growing our membership and serving our members up here. We just wanted to celebrate with the community and thank them for supporting us. We want to show them our gratitude by hosting this event. There’s a large number of Purdue alumni and Boilermaker fans up here in Northwest Indiana and it’s very cool to be a part of that.”
Attendees of all ages took pictures with the Corn Dogs’ mascot and a Chick-fil-A cow mascot sporting an “Eat Mor Chikin” T-shirt. Indiana 105.5 FM’s Mike “The Mullet Man” Summers and other members of Adams Radio Group mingled with attendees. A paramedic gave attendees a walkthrough of her Superior ambulance’s features and equipment. Attendees could also take free rides along Broadway in the Boilermaker Special VII, a miniature train that has traveled the country as Purdue University’s mascot since 2011. Matt Scheuer, account vp of business development at Purdue Federal Credit Union, says that the Family Day event is a reflection of Purdue Federal Credit Union’s core values.
“As a community-based credit union, we always love sharing the Purdue name with local residents,” Scheuer said. “We applaud the basketball team for their success this past season and we love having a close working relationship with both the Purdue West Lafayette and Purdue Northwest campuses. Watching everyone enjoy the weather and sharing the fun has been really great.”
During their meet-and-greet, Heide and Loyer chatted with their fans, posed for photos, and signed Purdue merchandise. Attendees were particularly excited about this portion of the event as Loyer, Heide, and their fellow Boilermakers have recently wrapped up a truly historic season. The Boilermakers won a total of 34 games this past tournament, a new record for Purdue. General Manager of Purdue Sports Properties Mark Walpole found the meet-and-greet to be both an enlightening and enjoyable experience.
“We’re grateful for the opportunity to help Purdue Federal Credit Union, one of our great partners, give back to the community,” Walpole said. “We wanted members of the community to feel engaged with our players, so we decided to bring Camden Heide and Fletcher Loyer out to do a meet-and-greet. It's been great hearing the stories that these fans share when they talk with the players. They’ll talk about how much they’ve enjoyed the season and even little kids have come up and told the guys that they’re their heroes. It’s been fun getting to stand back and hear just how much Purdue basketball has impacted their lives.”
Please visit purduefed.com/crownpoint to learn more about Purdue Federal Credit Union’s services and rates.