When: Thursday, October 19, 5:00 pm to 7:30 pm
Where: Club Soda, 235 E. Superior Street, Fort Wayne, IN
More info: Urblink home page
Businesses promoting diversity in the workplace, professionals looking for a hip networking environment, and students trying to make connections for future employment can now find what they need in one place.
Urblink is Fort Wayne’s only professional networking event focused on diversity and downtown. The monthly events will be held in Northeast Indiana’s urban core to help the community’s downtown revitalization efforts.
FREE ENTRY, FREE FOOD, and FREE ENTERTAINMENT will be provided at each event.
Urblink's first Fort Wayne event is at the Upscale Club Soda restaurant.
Located at 235 E. Superior Street, this building brings a jazzy New York feel to the heart of the Summit City.
From 5:00 pm to 7:30 pm enjoy business networking with urban professionals. Free food, Free entry and free entertainment will also be provided.
Performers include local jazz bass guitarist Darren "Cookie" Moore and soulful singer Christa Denae. Also a surprise guest artist will perform. Don't miss out!!!
Urblink events are FREE to the public! All you have to do is click HERE to RSVP. Then bring a business card or a student ID.
Without a business card or Student ID the cost to enter is $3.
More info: Urblink home page
A group of technology professionals and enthusiasts in Fort Wayne, Indiana are gathering for an initial event appropriately named: Geek Dinner. The first Geek Dinner will be a meet and greet happy hour. This gathering is for you if you have an interest in operating systems, databases, programming, web design, mashups, have a blog, and are obsessed with Flickr. The Geek Dinners will help define a greater presence of the Web and IT in Fort Wayne. This is an open invitation, please feel free to bring your colleagues and friends.
Where: Club Soda, 235 E Superior St, Fort Wayne, IN
When: Monday, October 2, 2006, 6PM - until ?
More on Upcoming
ChanPractice.org promotes sharing the Buddhadharma and the practice of Chan (Zen), especially in Northeast Indiana and Fort Wayne. Visit ChanPractice.org or contact: Barry Wadsworth.
Are you looking for more current updates on being innovative, creating connections, crossing boundaries, working creatively and making a difference in Fort Wayne, IN? Check out these local and global blogs for information and inspiration:
February 3, 2006 at 6 PM.
Read more about the event and the discussion about Percent for Art programs and the potential impact on Fort Wayne at http://fortartists.blogspot.com/2006/01/february-3rd-night-for-artists-at.html.
For artists, businesspeople and community leaders!
Fort Wayne, Ind. – Mayor Graham Richard will lead the City’s second annual Greenway Summit from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Monday, November 14 at the River Lodge in Shoaff Park, 6401 St. Joe Rd. The Summit is open to the public. Citizens interested in greenways and trails are encouraged to attend.
The Summit will bring together elected officials, greenway and trail advocates, and the community to discuss the current trail system and plans for how trails will be improved and added in the City, Allen County and Northeast Indiana.
“Greenways and trails are valuable assets to our region. We must capitalize on this tremendous opportunity to make a positive difference in the lives of many,” said Mayor Richard. “We must be committed to better physical fitness and exercise. The greenway provides us with links to parks, schools and neighborhoods. It also helps us promote a Green City that’s more environmentally friendly. Businesses look to communities that have greenway resources. Greenways and trails can help us retain and gain jobs and stimulate economic growth.”
The City is investing in the Rivergreenway system. City crews are repaving the greenway and making landscaping and signage upgrades. The repaving of the entire greenway will take two more years to complete. The City and greenway volunteer groups plan to increase the miles of trails and greenways from 18 to more than 100. More than 40 Greenway Ranger volunteers help make the greenway cleaner and more user-friendly. The volunteers check a portion of the greenway system once a week to make sure there aren’t any serious problems. Earlier this year, the Fort Wayne Police Department began using bike patrols on the greenway.
At last year’s Summit, Mayor Richard announced a $2 million commitment to improve and add trails and greenways. The City’s financial support combined with other funding sources could bring the total to $8 million.
November 5, 2005
IPFW's Walb Ballroom
8 a.m.-3 p.m.
Shop for the holidays! You'll find many unique, one-of-a-kind gifts created by local artisans! Submited by jbzr@earthlink.net
September 10 and 11 from 11am to 5pm.
Advance sale tickets are $10 each (children age 12 and under are free) at the following locations:
Antiques on Broadway (1115 Broadway)
Neuhouser Nursery (8046 Stellhorn Rd.)
Neuhouser Garden & Gifts (4605 W. Jefferson Blvd.)
Umber's Ace Hardware stores
Tower Bank locations
Ticket sales on tour days are $12 at the following locations:
The Swinney Homestead (1424 W. Jefferson Blvd.)
St. Joseph Hospital plaza (700 Broadway)
for more information go to www.westcentralneighborhood.org/hgt.html
Aug 30 - Sept. 22
Frankenstein: Or The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley is this year's choice for the annual reading program, One Community, One Story. Join us downtown for a traveling exhibit that takes you even deeper into the scientific advances proposed by Mary Shelley. The display, created by the National Library of Medicine in collaboration with the American Library Association, proposes new questions about science and medical ethics while unlocking the secrets of an era gone by. Other special events include reading and discussion groups and screenings of the original 1931 movie with Boris Karloff , and the Mel Brooks comedy, Young Frankenstein. >Link
Northeast Indiana’s premier quarterly lifestyle magazine highlighting the best in upscale living in the region has announced a name change to better reflect its focus and personality.
Beginning with the August 2005 issue, the former Fortitude magazine will now be known as Fort Wayne Living.
“Fortitude has been successful since its inception,” explains Dan Copeland, publisher. “As the magazine has evolved, however, it has become evident that the name doesn’t quite fit. We believe Fort Wayne Living is the perfect name for a lifestyle magazine aimed at active readers throughout northeast Indiana.”
Since its first issue debuted in November 2003, Fortitude has published a lively and informative mix of riveting feature stories, colorful profiles of local and national personalities, travel recommendations, the latest in men’s and women’s fashion, the best in regional arts and entertainment, and much more. Such comprehensive offerings will only get better with Fort Wayne Living.
Fort Wayne-based Michiana Business Publications publishes Fort Wayne Living, along with its monthly business magazine, Business People; it’s semi-annual wedding guide, planning your wedding; and a number of annual and custom publications.
Issues of the latest issue of Fort Wayne Living (as well as Business People) are available at three Fort Wayne locations: Barnes & Noble in Jefferson Pointe; Borders on Coldwater Road; and the downtown Riegel’s on Calhoun Street.
Subscription and advertising information is available through the company’s Web site, businesspeople.com, or by calling (260) 497-0433.
Farm-fresh foods build commerce, culture, community
By Diane Conners
Great Lakes Bulletin News Service >Link
Julie Adams has a new Friday morning ritual, now that Petoskey has launched a downtown farmers market that's meant to help growers and local merchants alike.
The chef and co-owner of Julienne's Tomatoes café walks out her door and across the street to the market as soon as it opens at 9 a.m. By noon, she'll be serving eager customers scrumptious, fresh dishes based not on a preplanned menu but on what local farmers brought from their fields to the market that morning.
There might be salad with lettuce purchased from Bill's Farm Market in Petoskey, green beans from the Berg farm in Charlevoix, cherries from the Royal Farm in Atwood, smoked chicken from the Fleming Feirm in Levering, and savory dishes with basil from Real Food Blackbird Garden in Petoskey.
And it's not just the farmers who are making money. The Petoskey market brings customers to downtown businesses like Ms. Adams' eatery, too. In fact, the spin-off business and social buzz that farmers markets bring to downtowns threatened by suburbanization and big box malls is spurring municipalities, chambers of commerce, and downtown groups to sponsor a growing number of farmers markets across the country. There's a growing movement, too, among farmers market advocates to share ideas and lobby for public policy to strengthen both markets and the communities that host them.
Hot Markets
The number of farmers markets nationwide more than doubled between 1994 and 2004 -- from 1,755 to 3,700. And while national figures aren't available, in Michigan in 2004 nearly two-thirds of the state's 120 farmers markets were sponsored by governmental groups, chambers of commerce, or downtown groups like city-created downtown development authorities.
Travel to any professional conference for municipal and downtown officials, such as the Michigan Downtown Association or the National Main Street Organization, and you'll see seminars on farmers markets, said Becky Goodman, Petoskey's downtown director for the Petoskey Regional Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors the market there.
"It is an extremely hot topic right now," she said. "They're trying to attract people to downtown. The hope is someone will say, 'Oh my, I've never been in that shop before. Let's have a cup of coffee here.' It is an economic development tool."
And for Julienne's Tomatoes, it's working.
"One of our regular customers even commented a couple days ago about the traffic that came in the door on Friday, compared to the next day here," Ms. Adams said. "The customer's comment: 'Man, you ought to have a farmers market every day.'"
Ms. Adams' experience squares with a 2003 study by the nonprofit organization Project for Public Places. A full 60 percent of farmers market customers surveyed in eight very different markets across the country said they had visited or planned to visit other stores in the neighborhood the same day, and of that group 60 percent said they only visited those stores on market days.
Boosting Downtown Businesses
In Traverse City, which is south of Petoskey, crowds of farmers market customers rub shoulders and greet friends as they choose the ripest tomatoes and most succulent sweet corn. Rob Bacigalupi, the city's downtown director, said the city's market significantly increases downtown business. In a 2000 survey of customers at the Traverse City farmers market, 39 percent of the respondents said they typically shop downtown before or after visiting the farmers market; 24 percent said their visits to the market influence them to shop downtown on non-market days; and a whopping 77 percent said they would not be downtown at all if it were not for the market.
For Traverse City's Downtown Development Authority, which organizes the twice-a-week market, those percentages are important because, "you could surmise that these are folks who wouldn't be here in the first place," Mr. Bacigalupi said.
In fact, the "number-one benefit" of the market is that it "reconnects" people to downtown, Mr. Bacigalupi said. Many local residents, in particular, have come to believe downtown is just a haven for gift and t-shirt shops, he said. Once lured downtown by the farmers market, they see new restaurants, car repair shops, and places to buy groceries, moderately priced clothing, tires, and travel services.
"It is a nice tie-in with local merchants," he said.
Recipe for Success
It is a nice tie, but farmers market advocates across the country say this wave of popularity can fool too many communities into thinking that launching successful markets is as easy as choosing a time and place.
Too many markets founder if they rely excessively on volunteers -- who can burn out -- or because they don't have enough steady funding for costs such as site rentals, weather-protecting canopies, bathrooms, liability insurance, a paid and trained manager, highly visible signs, widespread publicity, and electronic devices to accept the cards that have replaced food stamps, said Chris Heitmann, project manager for Project for Public Spaces, a non-profit, community-building organization based in New York City.
"There are now 3,700 farmers markets across the country, and they are sort of exercises in passion," Mr. Heitmann said. "There is no system that is holding them together."
To thrive past that first flush of infatuation, Mr. Heitmann and other advocates say, communities and markets across regions, states, and the nation need to share ideas, plan for financial stability, and build political clout for policies that strengthen market vitality.
Project for Public Spaces, for example, recommends market organizers bring a wide variety of leaders to the table to discuss ways to promote and invest in a community's market, including officials in chambers of commerce, economic development organizations, farm groups, neighborhood groups, transit agencies, arts organizations, and health care institutions.
Similar strategic planning should take place statewide, said Jim Bingen, professor of community, food, and agriculture at Michigan State University. State agriculture departments, for example, could document and track the economic impact and potential of farmers markets, he said, which could help more farmers decide whether to invest in direct marketing to consumers in addition to or instead of bulk commodity farming that currently pays farmers low prices. Agriculture and state tourism officials could coordinate efforts to promote farmers markets as vibrant parts of state economies. And they could explore regulatory issues, such as whether vintners should be allowed to sell bottles of wine at markets.
Currently, though, there is no unified voice calling on state officials to step up their efforts regarding farmers markets. This is so even with a recently released Iowa State University study about the economic boost farmers markets provide. The study charted $20.8 million in sales to farmers at 180 markets statewide, plus an additional $12.2 million in spin-off economic activity. Professor Bingen hopes to see a Michigan farmers market coalition in the future that can share good ideas and policy concerns.
It's More Than Money
Farmers market advocates also urge communities to recognize that markets have the potential to be both economic powerhouses and important cultural gathering spots that knit a community together. In fact, another key finding of the Project for Public Spaces study was that consumers said that, although they go to farmers markets to buy food, the biggest benefit is that such markets "bring people together." Most customers said that they shopped at farmers markets because of "place" and "people" rather than prices.
That's a critical lesson for village-, city-, or county-sponsored farmers markets, said Mr. Bingen. Often, a local government will put a farmers market under the supervision of the parks and recreation department because it manages the land where the market will be held. But those departments don't always think about programs that could help markets become places of community leisure activity, as well as commerce, Mr. Bingen said.
For example, many farmers markets are adding musical entertainment to draw people in, and the Zeeland Farmers Market in southwest Michigan even added a children's story time to entertain kids while their parents shop. Other markets are hosting chef tastings to teach people how to use vegetables that might not be familiar, like rutabagas or Chinese cabbage. And others hold events like pig roasts or corn roasts that draw people with their festival-like atmosphere.
"Farmers markets are becoming a place for people to go and stay and meet with people," Mr. Bingen said.
And that includes family-owned restaurant owners who are too busy with their own business to drive to individual farms to buy fresh products.
"There is a real sense of community," Ms. Adams of Julienne Tomatoes said about the market. "You need to buy from your neighbors. But with produce, none of the farmers has a delivery system. With the farmers market, it gives me the chance to get in touch with people who I otherwise might not know are there."
Diane Conners, a journalist and former farmers market master, coordinates the Michigan Land Use Institute's Taste the Local Difference campaign. Reach her at diane@mlui.org; visit for more information on the Institute's local food campaign.
Join the fun on the Landing, Wednesday, July 27th. From 5:00 to 7:30pm, join your Downtown neighbors and co-workers for a party in the streets - with free food, live music, cool beverages! Free parking in the City/County Parking Garage after 5pm.
Must be 21 or older.
Hosted by the Downtown Improvement District and the City of Fort Wayne
LIVE MUSIC provided by: Matthew Sturm Band
SPONSOR of the July Block Party: Baker and Daniels LLP
CATERED BY: Columbia Street West
Many thanks to the sponsor and caterer for their support. If you see these folks on the street be sure to thank them!
By Brandon Morley
from The Journal Gazette
Movie connoisseurs in Fort Wayne with an appreciation for foreign and independent films will be treated to a weekly film series starting Thursday thanks to a partnership between the Allen County Public Library and the Cinema Center.
The first film in the series is a Norwegian movie called "Buddy" and begins at 7 p.m. at Cinema Center, 437 E. Berry St.
"The library is a good place to find an obscure film. It's nice to put the Cinema Center crowd together with library patrons, hoping we'll start to frequent each other's facilities," says Leslie Lundgren, librarian of the art, music and audio-visual collection at the main library.
The new series is from Film Movement, a DVD-of-the-month club of award-winning independent and foreign films from some of the world's top film festivals, including Cannes, Toronto and Sundance.
The library bought a subscription to Film Movement, which sends one film each month and allows a free screening of that movie. After the movie has been shown at Cinema Center, it will be added to the library's permanent collection for residents to check out.
The program seemed a fitting situation for both the library and Cinema Center, officials said.
"We have the films, they (Cinema Center) have the space," Lundgren said of why the partnership was formed.
Film Movement fits in with the Cinema Center's mission, too.
"It's a great opportunity to see films as an art, showing movies that won't come to Fort Wayne any other way," said Catherine Lee, Cinema Center's director. "It's another opportunity for audiences to see something projected on a big screen, not a home screen. It's neat that Film Movement makes the opportunity to see them for free."
To kick off the series, five films will be shown with the hopes of continuing the series into the fall.
Lundgren says it's also planned to have speakers before or after each film to highlight some of the issues or themes relevant to the film.
Lundgren said this is a good way to give context to the film and add a little cultural education to the audience's movie-going experience.
By popular demand...the Downtown Block Parties will go on this summer! Mark your calendars for the last Wednesday of each month:
June 29th
July 27th
August 31
September 28
From 5:00 to 7:30pm, join your Downtown neighbors and co-workers for a party in the streets - with free food, live music, cool beverages!
All Block Parties will be held at Columbia Street - on the Landing
Free parking in the City/County Parking Garage after 5pm.
Must be 21 or older.
Hosted by the Downtown Improvement District and the City of Fort Wayne
Details of the June Block Party - one week from today:
Live Music provided by:
C-Street Acoustic Showcase featuring:
Matthew Sturm
Chris Dodds
Michael Conley
The Brown Bottle Band
Sunny Taylor
SPONSORS of the June Block Party:
Nakos Law Office
Drek's LTD
Urban Chic Designs
CATER:
Columbia Street West
Many thanks to the sponsors and cater for their support. If you see these folks on the street be sure to thank them and support their businesses.
The Downtown Block Party Postcard is attached. See you next Wednesday!
The Great American Spice Company invites you to join us at the Third Annual Spice Fest on Saturday, June 25 and Sunday, June 26, 2005. We have a whole weekend packed with great activities for the entire family including contests, kids activities, crafts, cook-offs and live music! This year, proceeds will go to benefit the Hoosier Burn Camp.
Entry to the Event is Free. Parking is $3.00.
Hours: June 25th: 11:30 - 9:00
June 26th: 11:30 - 7:00
www.spicefest.com
contact: ModelTBicycles@aol.com, visit: www.ModelTBicycles.com
Model T Bicycle Rentals is a new attraction that will be opening on June 1st at Headwaters Park. The grand opening event, called Model T Grand Opening Jubilee, will begin at 10 am with a press conference, followed by free Horseless Carriage rides, free cake and lemonade, free drawings for free admission to several Downtown attractions, and a free scavenger hunt for kids.
Every Tuesday & Thursday at 7:30PM
$4. General Admission $2 Students/Seniors
Downtown Fort Wayne
437 E. Berry Street
American Independent films of the '80's and '90's:
American Movie 5.17
Stranger Than Paradise 5.19
Blood Simple 5.24
She's Gotta Have It 5.26
Smithereens 5.31
Clerks 6.02
Swingers 6.07
In the Company of Men 6.9
Pi 6.14
Smoke Signals 6.16
Bottle Rocket 6.21
People interested in further discussion about the posts on this website may be interested in this new tool:
Conversate lets you create instant online discussion spaces. It's simpler, faster, more polite, and less annoying than group emails.
Conversate gives you your own online discussion space for any topic, with anyone you want to invite. It's totally free and ideal for talking about articles or websites and for organizing projects and events. >Link
Submitted by Jacqui Dowdell
The National Council of Negro Women is having a meeting and membership drive on May 21, 2005 at 2:00 p.m. at the Pontiac Library, 2215 South Hanna. Come meet with some progressive women in Fort Wayne. All ethnic groups are welcomed. Contact Clara Williams at 447-1117 for more information.
Submitted by Robbin Melton
If you crochet or want to learn how to crochet in a creative, fun atmospehere, join the Summit City Hookers, a pending affiliate chapter of the Crochet Guild of America (www.crochet.org). We are a new chapter seeking members. Our meetings are tentatively scheduled to be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., the second or fourth Mondays of the month at Cass Street Yarn Depot, 1004 Cass St. E-mail robbin12@aol.com for more information.
Submitted by Robbin Melton
The Spring Regional 2005 CGOA/TKGA conference convened in Valley Forge, PA and we are now accepting membership applications to establish an official affiliate chapter of the Crochet Guild of America in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Email robbin12@aol.com for an application and additional information.
The Fort Wayne Parks & Recreation Department is 100 years old! We are looking for old photos, stories, and anecdotes or history of your family's recreational experiences with the park system. No photo is insignificant and no story is too silly. The collection will result in a display that will be featured at an anniversary celebration at Salomon Farm in August. All original documents will be safely returned to you; we will copy any information we need. Volunteers are also needed in many capacities for this summer's celebration. Please call 427-6466 if you are interested in helping out or if you have any questions. Look for information in May on a complete list of Centennial Events that will be posted and plan to celebrate this year with us! >Link
Submitted by Sal DeSoto:
Friday, April 22, 2005
Avant-Garde Gallery
1301 Lafayette St.
Fort Wayne, IN
7:00 p.m. - 11:00 pm.
FREE ADMISSION
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
www.desototm.net
When we wonder at the so-called "red" and "blue" divisions of politics, we need look no further, some social observers say, than at the loss of what's been called "third places" — safe, neutral gatherings spots.The corner store, the local pub, the coffee shop that doesn't involve a long car ride. "Third places" cultivate deeper support and a broader range of ideas than you find at your first place (home) or second place (work).
"They bring you into contact with people who are different," says Seattle University professor Mara Adelman. "And if we don't expose ourselves to divergent points of view, we become very closed minded." >Link
Daylo is a new website where you can buy, sell and exchange all kinds of services in your local area. Some services are more traditional, like the ones you might find advertised in the yellow pages and classifieds. Other services are more unique and specialized, like the ones you might find offered in...well in Daylo Profiles. Daylo combines the immediacy of a real-time architecture with the accountability of a comprehensive Feedback system. The result is an innovative new way for buyers and sellers of services to find and communicate with one another. >Link
By Dan Stockman in The Journal Gazette
Fort Wayne's Rivergreenway system will soon get another extension as officials work to stretch the trail toward its counterpart in Aboite Township.
City park officials will conduct an information meeting next week to unveil plans for the Tow Path Trail, which will eventually link Fort Wayne's Rockhill Park with the Aboite New Trails system on Aboite Center Road.
Rockhill Park has been connected to the Rivergreenway only since last summer, when the 1.1-mile West Jefferson Trail opened between it and Swinney Park.
"This is one of the most important trails we're working on in the whole area because it will link to Aboite new trails," Greenway Coordinator Dawn Ritchie said. "This is a high-priority trail for us."
The trail will follow the route of the Wabash-Erie Canal and is named for the dirt paths that ran next to the canal for mules to tow canal boats.
The canal once linked the Maumee River to the Wabash River, enabling the flow of goods across the state of Indiana, but was made obsolete by the railroads. Now, most of it is known only by the historical markers that dot its course.
Next week, officials will unveil Phase One of the project, which will take the trail from Rockhill Park to the intersection of Ardmore Avenue and Taylor Street.
Officials have applied for a $150,000 state grant toward the estimated $180,000 cost of the .85 miles of trail, but will not know until the fall whether the grant will be awarded. That means construction will not start until spring 2006, Ritchie said. Officials hope to have the 3.5-mile project completed in three years.
Officials have applied for a similar grant to extend the trail north along the St. Joseph River from Johnny Appleseed Park to Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne and eventually Shoaff Park.
Most of the Tow Path Trail's Phase One already has existing sidewalk along its length, but it will be widened and upgraded. Later phases will take the trail down Country Club Road, across Covington Road, south of the Country Club and Canterbury High School to Engle Road, then west to Jefferson Boulevard.
The public meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Portage Middle School, 3521 Taylor St. Use either Entrance 2 on the east side or Entrance 3 at the rear of the school.
Submitted by: Robin Melton
All experienced and inexperienced crocheters are needed to establish a Fort Wayne chapter of the Crochet Guild of America. For more information, e-mail Robbin Melton at robbin12@aol.com.
Fort Wayne Area Artists is a searchable database of visual artists currently living, working, or exhibiting in Fort Wayne, Indiana or the surrounding communities of northeast Indiana and northwest Ohio. The Allen County Public Library created this database to provide information about local artists and our visual arts community. All entries are voluntary submissions by the artists. Therefore, the database does not represent a comprehensive list of area artists. Artists must be over 18 years old and live within a 50-mile radius of Fort Wayne, Indiana for inclusion in the database.
To join Fort Wayne Area Artists, simply fill out the form or call the Art, Music & Audiovisual Services department of the Allen County Public Library (260-421-1210).
There's a new site on the world wide web that focuses on Fort Wayne's Hip Hop culture. It's a place where people can come together to learn/share/discuss the local Hip Hop scene, including upcoming shows, etc. Visit www.fortwaynehiphop.com. Contact fwhiphop@comcast.net for more info.
Mayor Graham Richard marked the official opening of the City's new Three Rivers Trailhead.
The Three Rivers Trailhead provides a downtown location for citizens to park their vehicles and get out to walk or ride bikes on the rivergreenway. The trailhead area is located along Spy Run Avenue in front of the Citys Water Filtration Plant across from the Old Fort.
"I want to thank our hard working city employees for constructing an attractive trailhead for our community", said Mayor Richard. "Our greenway system improves the quality of life for our residents and helps us build a better city."
Last month, Mayor Richard announced the City will commit $2 million over four years to improve and add trails and greenways in the community. The City will leverage its support with matching dollars through other funding sources that will bring the commitment to $8 million.
Join us for a special evening featuring a silent auction of unique ORNAMENTS created by area artists, photographers, and architects. Objects to embellish your environment for the holidays - or any day. Artists will work in their chosen medium, including; painting, photography, mixed media, found objects, glass and more.
When: Sunday, December 5th 4:00-6:00 p.m.
Where: Cinema Center Lobby, downtown
sweet & savory hors d'oeuvres and beer and wine will be served.
$5.00 members / $10.00 non-members
More details to follow in an upcoming mailing, more e-mails, on display in the lobby and on our web site, cinemacenter.org.
You can make reservations for the ORNAMENT party by sending an e-mail to movies@cinemacenter.org or by calling 426-3456.
Cinema Center is excited and grateful to accept the generous support of local artists participating in this new project. If you are an artist and would like to create an ornament for this event, please contact Cinema Center, as noted above.
Participating artists include: Vicki Junk-Wright, David Krouse, Terry Ratliff, Jody Hemphill Smith, Mee Kyung Shim, Tim Brumbeloe, Rob Borel, Steve Vorderman, Suzanne Galazka, Denise Demarchis, Ron Dick, Rich Wismer, Rod Collier, Ed Welling, Lisa Vetter, Paul Siefert, Charlie Cummings, Terry Marquart, Laura Stine, Rich Hersha, Patrick Roberts, Diana Thornhill-Miller, Bill Lupkin, Julia Meek, Matt Kelly, Dan Mobley, Karen Moriarty, Matt Kelley (Yes, Matt Kelley w/ an e, as well as Matt Kelly) and others…..
Don’t miss this very special exhibit of one of a kind ornaments.
By Kenya Woodard The Journal GazetteFort Wayne and New Haven park officials broke ground Sunday on a project that will link the two cities by a greenway path.
The New Haven Greenway, a 10-foot-wide asphalt path that will include some boardwalks, will be almost 3 miles long and travel along Trier Creek and the Maumee River when it is completed by next summer, said New Haven Parks and Recreation Director Ken Wilkinson. >Link
The trail will begin at the eastern end of the Fort Wayne Rivergreenway at North River Road, and include a trail spur leading to the main entrance to Kreager Park. The path will continue east along the Maumee River to Landin Road in New Haven at Jaycee Park, then south across the Landin Road Bridge and along Trier Ditch to Rose Avenue, then east along Rose Avenue to Rufus Street.
The new river path will also connect two New Haven parks, Havenhurst and Moser. The $1.7 million project is financed by a grant from the Indiana Department of Transportation, Wilkinson said.
The trail will give residents more opportunities for recreation and fun and allow bikers and skaters to travel between the two cities safely.
"I know people will appreciate being out in the outdoors," he said. "They know they?re safe. They don't have to worry about cars."
New Haven joined Fort Wayne in an effort to improve or construct greenways. Last month, Fort Wayne Mayor Graham Richard announced plans to spend $2 million toward Rivergreenway development and renovations. Future greenway projects in Fort Wayne include new trails in Aboite Township, Shoaff Park and northwest Allen County that extend to the county line, said Fort Wayne Parks Director Dianne Hoover.
With the trail linking New Haven to the same road that winds through Foster, Tillman and Johnny Appleseed parks in Fort Wayne, the area will be a popular spot for recreation activities, Hoover said.
Construction is buzzing along for the new trail just north of Jefferson Boulevard that will connect Swinney and Rockhill parks.
Marilyn and Chuck Bash, who regularly bike on the Rivergreenway trail, are excited that the New Haven Trail will be near their Georgetown-area home.
"It will be tremendous for people in our area," Chuck Bash said. "People will be able to get on rural roads without going on city streets."
The worldwide Freecycle Network is made up of many individual groups across the globe. It's a grassroots movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. Each local group is run by a local volunteer moderator (them's good people!). Membership is free. If this sounds good to you and you live in Fort Wayne, join us and "recycle" unwanted items. One person's trash can truly be another's treasure! Have fun and keep on Freecyclin'!One rule: everything posted must be free. Whether it's a chair, a fax machine, piano, or an old door to be given away, it can be posted on the network (NO ANIMALS can be posted to the list, however). Or, maybe you're looking to acquire something yourself? Respond to the posting directly and you just might get it. After that it is up to the giver to set up a pickup time for passing on the treasure. Link to FtWayeFreecyclers, Link to Freecycle.org.
Prepared by: Jack L. Stark, Greenway Coordinator, Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation Department
In late June and early July, 2004, the Greenway Coordinator and members of the Greenway Consortium conducted a series of inspections of the RiverGreenway system. This report is based upon the results of those inspections and makes recommendations for upgrading and improving the system. The general consensus is that the Greenway is not in good shape and needs significant upgrading. View the report at: http://www.cityoffortwayne.org/pdf/recommendations.pdf.
Be within walking distance from all of the things that you love to do! Downtown Fort Wayne offers living accommodation for those who crave the urban experience. Walk to work, dine in Fort Wayne's finest restaurants, visit the latest exhibits at the downtown museums and galleries, and enjoy a performance at the Performing Arts Center — all within seconds of your home. >Link.
Friday, October 15th, 2004
Starting at 5:30 pm.
Cinema Center Tech
The Andorfer Commons
Indiana Institute of Technology
1600 East Washington Blvd.
Save the date for Cinema Center’s big party to celebrate the opening of
Cinema Center Tech.
This party is free for all Cinema Center members, but please RSVP by e-mail or phone.
You can make a reservation for this party if you are not a member, but are planning to become a member the night of the party. Yes, we’ll make you pay membership dues before you see the new theater, but trust us, you won’t be sorry. Cinema Center Tech is a gorgeous, modern theater.
The party will be upstairs from the box office in the balcony lounge area.
We will be showing trailers from Cinema Center favorites from the past and previews of what is coming to both theaters, Cinema Center downtown and Cinema Center Tech.
There will be a silent auction of celebrity items--- a “Monty Python and The Holy Grail” poster signed by John Cleese; donations from local businesses—a romantic carriage ride through downtown Fort Wayne; movie posters—an “O Brother Where Art Thou” from Czechoslovakia; and more!
Silent auction closes at 7:30pm
Members are welcome to stay for the movie at 8:30PM. Film to be announced.
Refreshments courtesy of Roly Poly and Puccini’s.
If you have questions or want to make a reservation, contact us at 426-3456, or at movies@cinemacenter.org.
Trail expansion gains pledge of $2 million
By Benjamin Lanka
The Journal Gazette
Mayor Graham Richard on Wednesday promised to spend $2 million worth of city money in an attempt to generate a total of $8 million to improve the city?s Rivergreenway system.
?This is money that will help us build more trails, maintain trails and encourage connection within our system,? he said.
Richard made the announcement before hosting a meeting with several different groups committed to building trails in and around Fort Wayne.
Richard said beginning next year, the city will spend $500,000 each of the next four years, for a total of $2 million, toward greenway development and renovations. He said that money can be used to attract state and federal grants along with donations from foundations and private residents.
He said the priority for the money is to improve the existing trail system and make connections between city trails and other trails. The improvements to existing trails will include better signs around the paths to assist users and additional parking areas at trail entrances to allow residents to drive to the paths.
Mike Kelly, head of Northwest Allen County Trails, said Richard?s proposal will help his group tie into the city faster than expected.
?It brings it all together a lot quicker than what we thought,? he said.
In the next five years, the northwest group plans to build a 10-mile trail along an abandoned rail bed from Coliseum Boulevard to North County Line Road. Kelly said the summit of greenway groups will help coordinate plans and financing applications, especially because state representatives were in attendance.
Augustus Berry, 37, of Fort Wayne, said he was grateful to have the greenway, but he wished it could be used to travel to work.
?The Rivergreenway is of no use except for recreation,? he said.
Berry said it was a good idea to connect trails across the county and hoped to get some businesses along the path that would cater to cyclists and pedestrians.
Richard said most of the city?s money will come from its county economic development income tax revenue.
?Our efforts to enhance the greenway system will help us build a better city and retain and gain jobs,? he said.
The mayor said he will present his plan for all of the city?s CEDIT dollars next week, including how much will be given to each City Council district. Some councilmen have expressed concern about losing district money they say enhances community-oriented government.
Richard said the specific projects to be completed with the money will be announced in the coming weeks. He said it will be up to the city?s greenway director to find additional money and appropriate projects for the money.
The council must approve creating a greenway director position, but no member has vocally opposed it for the 2005 budget. Jack Stark has been the greenway coordinator since June on a volunteer basis.
The meeting also allowed different groups to present their plans for new trails in the county and address questions from residents. Richard said the city?s 20 miles of trails could expand to 80 miles if each group?s plan comes to fruition. >Link
Wednesday, September 22 at 6:30 p.m., at Franke Park Pavilion #1, 3411 Sherman Blvd. The Summit is open to the public. Citizens interested in trails and greenways are invited to attend. The Summit is free but please RSVP to 260-427-6023. This is a very important meeting and it would be great to see you there!
On Thursday, Sept. 9th, Mayor Graham Richard joined First Lady Maggie Kernan to announce that the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) has awarded the City $496,000 in enhancement funds for sidewalk improvements in the downtown area.
The money will be used to launch the Fort Wayne Urban Trails Project, which will include improvements to public street spaces in downtown to make them more pedestrian friendly. The first phase of the project will connect the existing St. Marys Rivergreenway at Headwaters Park, with downtown via Barr and Calhoun streets.
These improvements will enhance the walks between the Greenway, Grand Wayne Center, Allen County Public Library and the Fort Wayne Museum of Art. Residents and visitors will be encouraged to walk rather than drive between points of interest downtown, and a consistent aesthetic theme will be developed for downtown. Walking routes will also create incentives for shops, restaurants and other businesses to locate along the new paths.
?We are building a better city by providing more opportunities for pedestrians,? said Mayor Richard. ?We are working to provide a great quality of life for our residents. The efforts being made will help us retain and gain jobs as we expand business opportunities and attract tourists downtown.?
Mayor Richard has committed $2.5 million of a $10 million capital improvement bond to downtown infrastructure upgrades. The total cost of the Urban Trails Project is $638,600. The City will fund the remaining $142,600.
The Fort Wayne Urban Trails Project is part of the recently completed Downtown Fort Wayne Action Plan ?Blueprint for the Future.?
Cinema Center Tech (the new one) is located on the Indiana Tech Campus at 1600 East Washington Blvd. Just down the road from the original.
The Life of Brian & The Door in the Floor
The Door in the Floor "Extraordinary in every way, from the pitch-perfect performances to the delicate handling of explosive subject matter, The Door in the Floor is also a model of page-to-screen adaptation."-Rolling Stone. "A thoughtful, melancholy story of love, loss, pain, betrayal and the lingering after-effects of tragedy."-Variety. "[I] t's so strong and the performance by Basinger and by Bridges and this young actor, there's such good work and there are some quiet moments of grief that really hit you ..."-Richard Roeper. "It's easily the most robust and compelling movie ever spun off from Irving's work."-Entertainment Weekly. 111 min. Rated R for strong sexuality and graphic images, and language. Friday at 6:30PM, Saturday at 8:30PM, Sunday at 2PM, Monday at 6:30PM, Tuesday at 6:30PM, Wednesday at 8:30PM, Thursday at 8:30PM
The Life of Brian "The more things change, the more we have to laugh if we are to have a prayer of remaining sane, and the Pythons are the best possible step in that direction."-Los Angeles Times. "The greatest work of religious skepticism ever put on the screen."-Boston Globe. "Blessed are the cheesemakers."--Flick Filosopher. 94 min., Rated R. Friday at 8:45PM, Saturday at 6:30PM, Sunday at 4:15PM, Monday at 8:30PM, Tuesday at 8:30PM, Wednesday at 6:30PM, Thursday at 6:30PM >Link
Cinema Center Downtown (the original) is located at 437 E. Berry St.
De-Lovely & Fahrenheit 9/11
De-Lovely "This elegant production beautifully captures a time and place that no longer exists -- and perhaps never did -- except in song."-CNN. "The movie contains more music than most musicals, yet is not a concert film because the songs seem to rise so naturally out of the material and illuminate it."-Roger Ebert. "Something dishy and rare: a biopic about a happy, and even enchanted, man."-Entertainment Weekly. 125 min., Rated PG-13. Friday at 6:15PM, Saturday at 6:15PM, Sunday at 2PM, Monday at 6:15PM, Tuesday at 6:15PM, Wednesday at 8:30PM, No Show on Thursday
Fahrenheit 9/11 Unlike Bowling For Columbine , which editorially often seemed something less than the sum of its sketch-comedy parts, Fahrenheit 9/11 makes its case carefully and clearly."-Toronto Star. A film every citizen of voting age in America should see."-Detroit News. "Moore has skillfully compiled many of the major allegations and charges brought against the Bushes... into one sweeping, blistering two-hour indictment."-Kalamazoo Gazette. 120 min., Rated R. Friday at 8:45PM, Saturday at 8:45PM, Sunday at 4:30PM, Monday at 8:30PM, Tuesday at 8:30PM, Wednesday at 6:15PM, Thursday at 8:30PM >Link
Where: Lawton Skatepark, on Fourth Street between Clinton Street and Spy Run Avenue
Directions: Enter Fourth Street through Spy Run; the entrance from Clinton Street will be closed Friday and Saturday.
What: 4 p.m. Friday ribbon-cutting
Who will be there: Dr. Skateboard, a professional skateboarder who uses skating as a teaching tool for physics, will give a demonstration. Representatives of Parkview Hospital?s safety-helmet program for children will sell bike and skateboard helmets, ranging from $7-$10. They?ll also be at the park Saturday.
On Saturday: 8:30-9 a.m. ? Dr. Skateboard is expected to perform. From 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., he will be giving demonstrations at Science Central, 1950 N. Clinton St.9-11 a.m. ? Members of the YMCA will host a beginner?s skateboarding workshop. Skateboards, pad and helmets will be available.
Skatepark hours: Daylight to 11 p.m. >Link
It is FREE to Start a New I-Neighbors Community for Your Neighborhood!Use I-Neighbors to:
- Meet and communicate with your neighbors.
- Find neighbors with similar interests.
- Share information on local companies and services.
- Organize and advertise local events.
- Vocalize local concerns and ideas.
Who is I-Neighbors for?
- Individuals
- Families
- Local Governments
- Tenants Groups
- Community Organizers
- Neighborhood Associations
Networking to Build Safer, Stronger Communities! >Link
Upcoming.org is a collaborative event calendar, completely driven by people like you. Enter in the events you're attending, comment on events entered by others, and syndicate event listings to your own weblog.As Upcoming.org learns more about the events you enjoy, it will suggest new events you never would have heard about. >Link
Saturday, August 14th, 8 PM-2 AM, 300 block Main St.
The crescendo of City Prototype week, Pop Filter is our incredible, all-ages multimedia art event — bigger and better than ever before. We're taking over the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, the Performing Arts Center, the FourthWave building (formerly NIPSCO), and, yes, even Main Street itself. Entertainment by local and national performers are headlined by singer-actress Eszter Balint (NYC) and writer Jonathan Goldstein of NPR's 'This American Life.' Admission at FWMOA: $10 advance, $15 DOS. >Link
Tuesday August 10th 11:30AM - 1:30PM - FREE!
Who says there's no such thing as a free meal? Join the History Center staff at the Barr Street Market for lunch Tuesday, August 10th from 11:30AM - 1:30PM. There will be fun activities for the entire family, including face painting, balloons, food sampling and musical entertainment! Meet members of the Fort Wayne Fire Department and tour a fire truck, win gift certificates courtesy of area hotels and restaurants and tour the History Center museum next door! Plus, fresh produce and fruits will be available for purchase!
The Market is located downtown on Barr Street, in between Berry and Wayne Streets. In case of inclement weather the event will be held on Tuesday, August 17th.
Here is some information on up-coming events at The Lincoln Museum
Contact: Mary E. Clements
Public Relations/Marketing Manager or visit TheLincolnMuseum.org
ART EXHIBIT - The Lincoln Museum Store presents a new art exhibit, An Increased Devotion: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln- Wendy Allen, contemporary artist
Exhibit Opening, Sunday, August 8, 2004, 2 p.m.
Connecticut artist Wendy Allen will be at The Lincoln Museum Sunday August 8, at 2 p.m. to open an exhibition of her Abraham Lincoln paintings. All paintings will be available for sale to the public through The Lincoln Museum store. She will present a program and will be available to discuss her work following the presentation. Admission is free to this program. The exhibit will be available through Spring 2005.
The Lincoln Museum is located at the corner of Clinton and Berry Streets in downtown Fort Wayne. The Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sunday, 1 p.m.-5 p.m. General admission is $3.99, seniors and children (5-12 years old), $2.99. Parking is free in front of the Museum. Phone 260-455-3864 for additional information. www.TheLincolnMuseum.org
Author Brian R. Dirck, Ph.D. to Speak at The Lincoln Museum
Tuesday, August 24, 2004, 7 p.m.
General admission. Museum members admitted free of charge.
Friends of The Lincoln Museum welcome Brian R. Dirck, Ph.D., author of Lincoln and Davis: Imagining America, 1809-1865. Dirck, an assistant professor of history at Anderson University, will speak at the museum, Tuesday, August 24, 2004, at 7 p.m. General admission will be charged. Members of The Lincoln Museum are admitted free of charge.
In his book, Lincoln and Davis: Imagining America, 1809-1865, Dirck discusses the two key leaders during the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln: the Great Emancipator, savior of the Union, and revered national hero. Jefferson Davis: defender of slavery, leader of a lost cause, and forlorn object of scorn. Both Lincoln and Davis remain locked in the American psyche as iconic symbols of victory and defeat. They presided over a terrible war that decided the fate of slavery and severely tested each man's resolve and potential for greatness. But, as Brian Dirck shows in the book, such images tend to obscure the larger visions that compelled both men to pursue policies and actions that resulted in such a devastating national tragedy.
Michael Burlingame, author of The Inner World of Abraham Lincoln, who recently spoke at The Lincoln Museum, has this to say about Dirck’s book, "A psychologically sophisticated, novel analysis not only of the two Civil War presidents but also of American nationalism broadly conceived.”
Dirck’s book is available in the Museum Store. He will be available to sign his book and talk to visitors following the program.
The Lincoln Museum is located at the corner of Clinton and Berry Streets in downtown Fort Wayne. The Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sunday, 1 p.m.-5 p.m. General admission is $3.99, seniors and children (5-12 years old), $2.99. Parking is free in front of the Museum. Phone 260-455-3864 for additional information. www.TheLincolnMuseum.org
Be A Tourist in Your Own Hometown
September 12, 2004. Join residents of Fort Wayne as they become tourists in their own city. Many local attractions, including The Lincoln Museum will be open free of charge. Tour the award-winning permanent exhibit Abraham Lincoln and the American Experiment. The Fort Wayne Dance Collective will present a program in the Museum auditorium at 3 p.m.
The Lincoln Museum is located at the corner of Clinton and Berry Streets in downtown Fort Wayne. The Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sunday, 1 p.m.-5 p.m. General admission is $3.99, seniors and children (5-12 years old), $2.99. Parking is free in front of the Museum. Phone 260-455-3864 for additional information. www.TheLincolnMuseum.org
Constitution Week - September 12-25, 2004.
Participate in the museum's annual "I Signed the Constitution" event. Receive a button and a copy of the constitution to take home.
The Lincoln Museum is located at the corner of Clinton and Berry Streets in downtown Fort Wayne. The Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sunday, 1 p.m.-5 p.m. General admission is $3.99, seniors and children (5-12 years old), $2.99. Parking is free in front of the Museum. Phone 260-455-3864 for additional information. www.TheLincolnMuseum.org
The Nineteenth Annual Lincoln Colloquium, Abraham Lincoln: Politics as the National Pastime-The Presidential Years
September 17-18, 2004.
The 2004 Lincoln Colloquium will be a stimulating day of scholarship as The Lincoln Museum presents an impressive program of speakers including Michael Bishop, Harold Holzer, Darrel Bigham, Joseph Fornieri, and Kenneth Winkle. The Honorable Frank Williams will chair a question and discussion period. Dr. Allen Guelzo will round out the activities that evening by presenting the R.Gerald McMurtry Lecture. An optional dinner and discussion session is offered Friday evening September 17th. The weekend’s events will close with the opening of the Museum’s latest temporary exhibition, The National Pastime in Black and White: The Negro Baseball Leagues, 1867-1955. Registration includes the McMurtry Lecture. Colloquium registration, $40, non-members, $35 members of The Lincoln Museum. Registration for the R.Gerald McMurtry Lecture only is $10 for Museum members. $15 for non-members. Registration deadline, September 10, 2004. Phone 260-455-6087. For a complete schedule of events and registration information, visit our Website at www.TheLincolnMuseum.org
Sponsors of The Nineteenth Annual Lincoln Colloquium are: Friends of The Lincoln Museum; Dunsire Family Foundation; Leland and LaRita Boren; Lincoln Financial Group Foundation; Morrill Charitable Foundation; Gilder Lehrman Insitute of American History; and the Abraham Lincoln Association.
Sponsor of The Twenty-Fifth Annual R. Gerald McMurtry Lecture is: Indiana Historical Society
The Lincoln Museum is located at the corner of Clinton and Berry Streets in downtown Fort Wayne. The Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sunday, 1 p.m.-5 p.m. General admission is $3.99, seniors and children (5-12 years old), $2.99. Parking is free in front of the Museum. Phone 260-455-3864 for additional information. www.TheLincolnMuseum.org
The National Pastime in Black and White: The Negro Baseball Leagues, 1867-1955
The National Pastime in Black and White: The Negro Baseball Leagues, 1867-1955 tells the story of the Negro leagues during segregation. The exhibition acquaints visitors with great athletes who were good enough, but not white enough, to play in the major leagues. These athletes didn’t wait for the door to “organized” baseball to open; they formed their own leagues and played the game with as much skill and enthusiasm as white players.
The Negro leagues provided a venue for black ball players and heroes for black fans, prior to the desegregation of major league baseball, which preceded the entire major civil rights landmarks of the 1950s and 1960s. This and other social aspects of the Negro leagues will be examined, such as the roles of teams and players in the communities, the importance of weekly black newspapers, barnstorming, and the impact of traveling black teams on rural, mostly white communities.
The National Pastime in Black and White will appeal to both baseball fans and museum visitors who are interested in this important chapter of American history.
Sponsors of The National Pastime exhibit are: Leland and LaRita Boren, Dunsire Family Foundation; English Bonter Mitchell; Morrill Charitable Foundation; Ian and Miriam Rolland Foundation; and Friends of The Lincoln Museum.
The Lincoln Museum is located at the corner of Clinton and Berry Streets in downtown Fort Wayne. The Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sunday, 1 p.m.-5 p.m. General admission is $3.99, seniors and children (5-12 years old), $2.99. Parking is free in front of the Museum. Phone 260-455-3864 for additional information. www.TheLincolnMuseum.org
Friends of The Lincoln Museum welcome Al Zacher, who will present The Presidential Second Term: The Campaign and the Challenge of Office
Tuesday, October 5, 2004, 7 p.m.
Alfred J. Zacher is the author of “Trail and Triumph – Presidential Power in the Second Term”, the only book written on the subject. It was published during Bill Clinton’s second term campaign, and received significant national recognition. Clinton referred to the book in his first press conference after his reelection which resulted in Zacher being on The Today Show and on C-Span’s Booknotes for the Inaugural. He also appeared on Chris Mathew’s Hard Ball for the campaign and on the night before Clinton’s impeachment trial. He has been interviewed on over 100 radio talk shows on the presidency. Zacher holds a bachelor degree from Antioch College and a masters degree in Economics from The University of Michigan. He is active in his real estate profession as chairman of the company which bears his name.
The Lincoln Museum is located at the corner of Clinton and Berry Streets in downtown Fort Wayne. The Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sunday, 1 p.m.-5 p.m. General admission is $3.99, seniors and children (5-12 years old), $2.99. Parking is free in front of the Museum. Phone 260-455-3864 for additional information. www.TheLincolnMuseum.org
Scott Bushnell to present, Making History at Second Base: Sol White in Fort Wayne
Sunday, October 17, 2004, 2 p.m., at The Lincoln Museum
General admission. Museum members admitted free of charge.
Fort Wayne has a prestigious baseball history, including being a member of the forerunner of the National League. The city's minor league teams included many future Major League stars and the community hosted the legendary women's team, the
Fort Wayne Daisies. But few know the history that was made in 1895 when a young African-American was recruited to play second base for the Fort Wayne team in the Western Interstate League. The young man was Sol White who went on to become one of the greatest players in Colored Base Ball, as it was called then. But White was more than a player. He later was a manager and historian. His History of Colored Base Ball, published in 1907, offers an important perspective on America and its National Pastime.
Scott Bushnell has researched White's career, particularly his season in Fort Wayne as segregation clamped down on baseball. In conjunction with The Lincoln Museum’s current temporary exhibit, The National Pastime in Black and White: A History of the Negro Baseball Leagues, 1867-1955, The Friends of The Lincoln Museum are pleased to welcome Bushnell, who will present Making History at Second Base: Sol White in Fort Wayne, Sunday, October 17, 2004, at 2 p.m., in The Lincoln Museum auditorium.
Scott M. Bushnell is a writer and member of the Society for American Baseball Research. He spent nearly 20 years as a reporter and editor, beginning his career as a sports writer in his hometown of Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Bushnell later was a reporter and state news editor for The Associated Press. He is now senior vice president-corporate communications for American Specialty Companies in Roanoke, Indiana. He is the co-author of Roanoke: The Renaissance of a Hoosier Village and has edited three other books.
The Lincoln Museum is located at the corner of Clinton and Berry Streets in downtown Fort Wayne. The Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sunday, 1 p.m.-5 p.m. General admission is $3.99, seniors and children (5-12 years old), $2.99. Parking is free in front of the Museum.
Phone 260-455-3864 for additional information. www.TheLincolnMuseum.org
The History Center's newest exhibit, "How We Learned: 100 Years of Education in Allen County (1820 - 1920)" opens Tuesday, August 3rd at 10AM. In celebration of the opening, the museum will be free to the public all day.
"How We Learned. . ." traces the history of education in Allen County from the first log school house to the schools of today. The exhibit highlights life in early classrooms, the first private, religious and township schools and the struggle to establish a free public school system. Visitors will see a recreation of a 1900's one-room school complete with period furniture, books and artifacts as well as photographs and early films of students, teachers and schools.
The exhibit and will be on display through November 7th. The History Center is open Tuesday - Friday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Saturday, Sunday from noon - 5:00 p.m. Private and group tours are available by appointment. Adult admission is $5, seniors and students $3, members of the Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society admitted free.
For more information contact: Julie Morrison 260-426-2882 ext. 307
Submitted by Vince Robinson
For the past several years, a small group of local music enthusiasts has been working to promote the enjoyment of a true American art form: jazz music. The non-profit Fort Wayne Jazz & Blues Festival, Inc. has announced plans for the 2004 Jazz & Blues Festival, which will feature national, regional and local jazz/blues performers. Hopefully, the community will rally around this effort to promote the arts and local talent.
The year's festival is scheduled for Friday, August 6 and Saturday, August 7 at Headwaters Park. The show will feature Huntington native Denny Jiosa, Better Than Chocolate and the Troolee Dangerous Blues Revue. Saturday's lineup will include national jazz recording artist Peter White, Big James & The Chicago Playboys, and Fort Wayne's own Ty Causey.
Fine dining will be available along with beer and wine.
For ticket information, visit www.fwjbf.org or call the Scottish Rite Center Box Office at (260) 423-2593 ext 1.
6 p.m. June 17, 2004 at the Pontiac Branch Library, 3304 Warsaw St., Fort Wayne, IN. All ages welcome. For information, call 260-421-1350.
Submitted by Karen Goldner
In addition to festivals at Headwaters Park (pretty much every weekend starting in June), the Downtown Improvement District's monthly block parties start May 26 and DIDFest is the first weekend in June. Plus remember the interesting museums, restaurants/bars/coffeehouses and stores downtown. Enjoy!
Check out http://www.downtownfortwayne.com/.
The Courthouse will be open to the public for tours on Sunday April 4, from 1:00 to 4:00. Tours last approx 1 hour, and run throughout the afternoon. Suggested donation is $2.00.
The History Center, Lincoln Museum and Artlink are also open that afternoon, all in this vicinity, and the Fort Wayne Museum of Art is open and FREE on that first Sunday of the month. Bring your family and make an afternoon of Fort Wayne attractions.
Wednesday, 3/3: The Triplets of Belleville 6:30; 21 Grams 8:15
Thursday, 3/4: The Triplets of Belleville 7:00; 21 Grams 8:45
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fort Wayne Cinema Center Movies for 3/5-3/11
The Triplets of Belleville, 21 Grams, To Be or Not to Be
& Sneak Preview of Red Betsy
--Coming Soon
Girl with a Pearl Earring – Opens Friday, March 26th
21 Grams
--2 Academy Award Nominations
Benicio Del Toro - Best Supporting Actor, Naomi Watts - Best Supporting Actress
--Number 4 on the National Board of Review's Top Ten Films of the Year
Friday at 6:15PM, Saturday at 4PM & 8:30PM, Sunday at 1:30PM, Tuesday at 8:15PM, Wednesday at 6:15PM, Thursday at 6:15PM
The Triplets of Belleville
-2 Academy Award Nominations– Best Animated Feature & Best Song
"A truly out-there piece of comic animation, the most outlandishly visual film of the year, this 80-minute French treat takes us into a world that can barely be described, a world unlike any we've seen before." – Los Angeles Times. "Comic, touching and a visual knockout." – Rolling Stone. "Impossible to describe, impossible to forget."—San Francisco Chronicle. "Most of the magic of this unusual movie comes from the freshness, imagination and sweet spirit of its animation, which is blissfully its own thing and does not show the influence of any of the reigning forces in the art form." – Seattle Post Intelligencer. 80 min., Rated PG-13.
Friday at 8:45PM, Saturday at 2:00 & 6:30PM, Sunday at 4PM, Monday at 5:15PM, Tuesday at 6:30PM, Wednesday at 8:30PM, Thursday at 8:30PM
Fort Wayne Cinema Center & the Fort Wayne Jewish Federation present:
Shtik: Jewish Humor in American Film
--Admission to this film is $4.00 General Admission, $2.00 Students, Seniors & Members
To Be Or Not To Be Monday, March 8 7:00PM
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, 1942’s “To Be Or Not To Be” is a masterpiece of satire and one of the most controversial films of its time. Jack Benny and Carole Lombard play vain Polish stage actors caught up in anti-Nazi spy games. The film lampoons the Nazis and the vanities of actors while raising serious issues of patriotism, loyalty and censorship. The film was also Fort Wayne native Lombard’s last -- and arguably her best – film. USA; 1942; 99 min.; Unrated
21 Grams
Like "Mystic River," "21 Grams" is a grim, compelling and exceedingly well-acted meditation on life, death, guilt and redemption, starring a superlative Sean Penn. Clint Eastwood's traditionalist masterwork dealt with three childhood friends haunted by a long-ago event; "21 Grams," directed by Mexico's Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, making his English-language debut, uses a radically different style to focus on three strangers brought together by a new and terrible act of fate. Penn plays Paul, a math professor dying of coronary disease who gets a new lease on life, thanks to a heart transplant from a man (Danny Huston) who was cut down with his two young daughters in an automobile accident. Paul's nagging sense of guilt compels him to track down and - without revealing their link - try to help the man's widow, Christina (Naomi Watts), a former party girl who has resumed her cocaine habit following the tragedy. They become lovers and together decide to seek vengeance against Jordan (Benicio del Toro), a born-again ex-convict whose determination to stay straight with God's help was challenged when his truck accidentally plowed into Christina's family. In less talented hands, the screenplay by "Amores Perros" writer Guillermo Arriaga might seem like a glorified soap opera - the borrowed-heart trope is especially well-worn - but with this cast and director, you won’t want to miss a moment. That's not only because it's solid adult drama, but because Inarritu has eschewed a straight-line narrative in favor of a challenging, non-linear structure that sketches the basic story in the first few minutes, then keeps going back and forth to fill in more and more key details. Penn, del Toro and Watts create some of the year's richest, most wrenching characters, ably supported by Charlotte Gainsborough as Penn's estranged wife and Melissa Leo as del Toro’s stricken spouse. Stunningly photographed, largely with a hand-held camera, by Rodrigo Prieto (another member of the "Amores Perros" team) on gritty locations in Memphis and Albuquerque, "21 Grams” is also a visual tour de force - and a rare Hollywood product depicting class differences with any kind of honesty. The title refers to the weight - perhaps the soul - the body is said to lose at the precise moment of death. But "21 Grams" has no shortage of soul, wit or intelligence. 125 min., Rated R (violence, profanity, sex).
The Triplets of Belleville
"The Triplets of Belleville" is a bizarre yet beautifully composed piece of nutty whimsy. Madame Souza lives with her dour grandson, Champion, on a hill in Paris where a train always goes rattling by. Since the one thing he enjoys is bicycles, she buys him one. By the time he's an adult, Champion becomes a cycling prodigy. While competing in the Tour de France, he's kidnapped by the local mafia, which leads Grandma and their melancholic hound, Bruno, on Champion's trail. The journey takes them across the sea towards the magical city of Belleville, where Madame Souza encounters a curious trio of '30s-era musical hall sisters that lend a hand in finding Champion. Director Sylvain Chomet is a wizard at letting his jokes quietly brew to the surface. His macabre wit combines the cartoons of Gahan Wilson with some of the playful jest of Jacques Tati and the enchanted drawings of Otto Messmer and Max Fleischer. In its pure originality and off-key sense of humor, "The Triplets of Belleville" is a captivating experience. "A truly out-there piece of comic animation, the most outlandishly visual film of the year, this 80-minute French treat takes us into a world that can barely be described, a world unlike any we've seen before." – Los Angeles Times. "Comic, touching and a visual knockout." – Rolling Stone. "Impossible to describe, impossible to forget."—San Francisco Chronicle. "Most of the magic of this unusual movie comes from the freshness, imagination and sweet spirit of its animation, which is blissfully its own thing and does not show the influence of any of the reigning forces in the art form." – Seattle Post Intelligencer. 80 min., Rated PG-13.
------------
Special preview of “Red Betsy.”
Director Chris Boebel and Charles Boebel will join us for this special preview.
Sunday, March 7th reception at 6PM. Film at 7PM. Q&A with the filmmakers after the screening.
Tickets are $10.00 general admission and $8.00 for Cinema Center members.
Cinema Center members can pre-buy tickets. Tickets will be available for sale in the Cinema Center office 10:30am-12:30pm Monday through Friday or during box office hours. The box office is open a half hour before show times.
Red Betsy will open at Cinema Center on Friday, March 12th.
Set in the rolling hills and farmlands of rural Wisconsin during the 1940’s, Red Betsy stars Alison Elliott (The Spitfire Grill, The Wings of the Dove), Leo Burmester (Lone Star, The Abyss), Lois Smith (Minority Report, Fried Green Tomatoes), Chad Lowe (Unfaithful), and William Wise (In the Bedroom, Thirteen Conversations About One Thing.)
“This is not the country postcard of Hollywood fantasies, but just a working farm in a district where there are few enough people that every personality seems back lighted."—Roger Ebert.
"Reminds us to treasure the not-so-distant past like it was a family heirloom." –Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The making of “Red Betsy” was a family project for Charles and Chris Boebel. Charles Boebel was born in Wisconsin, where “Red Betsy” was filmed. He recently retired from Manchester College where he was a professor of English. His son Chris adapted his father’s story for the screen and directed the film. Chris has directed short films, the Ted the Head series of shorts for Nickelodeon, and is also the director of a documentary feature Containment: Life After Three Mile Island. Red Betsy is his feature film debut.
Red Betsy
Not since "The Straight Story" has a film done as fine a job of capturing a Midwestern sensibility as "Red Betsy." Lots of movies are set in the "Midwest," which, as far as Hollywood is concerned, means they are shot somewhere outside of Toronto where there's grass and a hill or two and it's 40 percent cheaper to shoot than the actual Midwest, even though it looks completely different. But "Red Betsy," filmed north of Milwaukee, not only captures the look of the place but it also nails the outlook: that combination of pride, reserve, hopefulness and suspicion that is common to many of us small-town Midwesterners. What they're suspicious of in the modest, winter-pretty "Red Betsy" is, oddly, electricity. But what they're really afraid of is change. It's 1941, and a number of tragedies have brought together two people who aren't fond of each other: pregnant Winifred (Alison Elliott, "Wings of the Dove") and her father-in-law, Emmet (Leo Burmester). The movie is set over a span of 10 years, during which tragedies and misunderstanding push Emmet closer to his granddaughter and away from her mother, who embraces change in a way that alarms Emmet. There's a lesson to be learned, of course, and it takes 10 years to learn it and it gets learned on Christmas Eve, which sounds corny, but "Red Betsy" isn't. There's a spareness to the storytelling and a genuineness in the acting that give the story real emotion without sentimentality. Nothing is overdone in this modest film, but the details are perfect: the forced sense of community a party line gave telephones, the affection with which a farm wife steers her husband's crabbiness toward humor, the way objects help us recall the departed. What it all adds up to is a story about how time could drive a wedge between people and about what small steps might be required to bring them back together. 98 min., Rated PG.
Submitted by Karen Goldner: Great stuff happening at the Parks Department... Tai Chi in the Botanical Gardens, Greenway, art classes.... etc. > Check it out!
Tuesday, 2/24: 21 Grams 6:15; The Cooler 8:30
Wednesday, 2/25: The Cooler 6:30; 21 Grams 8:30
Thursday, 2/26: The Cooler 6:30; 21 Grams 8:30
Last Shows for The Cooler!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Triplets of Belleville & 21 Grams
21 Grams
--2 Academy Award Nominations
Benicio Del Toro - Best Supporting Actor, Naomi Watts - Best Supporting Actress
--Number 4 on the National Board of Review's Top Ten Films of the Year
Friday at 6:15PM, Saturday at 4PM & 8:30PM, Sunday at 4PM, Monday at 6:15PM, Tuesday at 6:15PM, Wednesday at 8:15PM, Thursday at 8:45PM
The Triplets of Belleville
-2 Academy Award Nominations– Best Animated Feature & Best Song
"A truly out-there piece of comic animation, the most outlandishly visual film of the year, this 80-minute French treat takes us into a world that can barely be described, a world unlike any we've seen before." – Los Angeles Times. "Comic, touching and a visual knockout." – Rolling Stone. "Impossible to describe, impossible to forget."—San Francisco Chronicle. "Most of the magic of this unusual movie comes from the freshness, imagination and sweet spirit of its animation, which is blissfully its own thing and does not show the influence of any of the reigning forces in the art form." – Seattle Post Intelligencer. 80 min., Rated PG-13.
Friday at 8:45PM, Saturday at 2:00 & 6:30PM, Sunday at 2PM, Monday at 8:30PM, Tuesday at 8:30PM, Wednesday at 6:30PM, Thursday at 7PM
21 Grams
Like "Mystic River," "21 Grams" is a grim, compelling and exceedingly well-acted meditation on life, death, guilt and redemption, starring a superlative Sean Penn. Clint Eastwood's traditionalist masterwork dealt with three childhood friends haunted by a long-ago event; "21 Grams," directed by Mexico's Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, making his English-language debut, uses a radically different style to focus on three strangers brought together by a new and terrible act of fate. Penn plays Paul, a math professor dying of coronary disease who gets a new lease on life, thanks to a heart transplant from a man (Danny Huston) who was cut down with his two young daughters in an automobile accident. Paul's nagging sense of guilt compels him to track down and - without revealing their link - try to help the man's widow, Christina (Naomi Watts), a former party girl who has resumed her cocaine habit following the tragedy. They become lovers and together decide to seek vengeance against Jordan (Benicio del Toro), a born-again ex-convict whose determination to stay straight with God's help was challenged when his truck accidentally plowed into Christina's family. In less talented hands, the screenplay by "Amores Perros" writer Guillermo Arriaga might seem like a glorified soap opera - the borrowed-heart trope is especially well-worn - but with this cast and director, you won’t want to miss a moment. That's not only because it's solid adult drama, but because Inarritu has eschewed a straight-line narrative in favor of a challenging, non-linear structure that sketches the basic story in the first few minutes, then keeps going back and forth to fill in more and more key details. Penn, del Toro and Watts create some of the year's richest, most wrenching characters, ably supported by Charlotte Gainsborough as Penn's estranged wife and Melissa Leo as del Toro’s stricken spouse. Stunningly photographed, largely with a hand-held camera, by Rodrigo Prieto (another member of the "Amores Perros" team) on gritty locations in Memphis and Albuquerque, "21 Grams” is also a visual tour de force - and a rare Hollywood product depicting class differences with any kind of honesty. The title refers to the weight - perhaps the soul - the body is said to lose at the precise moment of death. But "21 Grams" has no shortage of soul, wit or intelligence. 125 min., Rated R (violence, profanity, sex).
The Triplets of Belleville
"The Triplets of Belleville" is a bizarre yet beautifully composed piece of nutty whimsy. Madame Souza lives with her dour grandson, Champion, on a hill in Paris where a train always goes rattling by. Since the one thing he enjoys is bicycles, she buys him one. By the time he's an adult, Champion becomes a cycling prodigy. While competing in the Tour de France, he's kidnapped by the local mafia, which leads Grandma and their melancholic hound, Bruno, on Champion's trail. The journey takes them across the sea towards the magical city of Belleville, where Madame Souza encounters a curious trio of '30s-era musical hall sisters that lend a hand in finding Champion. Director Sylvain Chomet is a wizard at letting his jokes quietly brew to the surface. His macabre wit combines the cartoons of Gahan Wilson with some of the playful jest of Jacques Tati and the enchanted drawings of Otto Messmer and Max Fleischer. In its pure originality and off-key sense of humor, "The Triplets of Belleville" is a captivating experience. "A truly out-there piece of comic animation, the most outlandishly visual film of the year, this 80-minute French treat takes us into a world that can barely be described, a world unlike any we've seen before." – Los Angeles Times. "Comic, touching and a visual knockout." – Rolling Stone. "Impossible to describe, impossible to forget."—San Francisco Chronicle. "Most of the magic of this unusual movie comes from the freshness, imagination and sweet spirit of its animation, which is blissfully its own thing and does not show the influence of any of the reigning forces in the art form." – Seattle Post Intelligencer. 80 min., Rated PG-13.
Here's an invitation to join in the 4th Anniversary Celebration of the African / African-American Historical Society.
Musical Migration - From Africa to America
Presenting: South Side High Jazz Band
Vocallus & SheeKriStyle Academy of Dance
Where: South Side High School Auditorium
When: February 28th, 2004 7:00pm
Tickets: Adult $15, Children $7
For additional information call (260) 420-0765
From Neal Peirce's syndicated column on urban affairs for the Washington Post Writers Group:
By Neal Peirce
PLYMOUTH, N.H.-- Steve Rand, owner-manager of the hardware store his grandfather founded in 1908, figured from the start that stopping the proposed Wal-Mart Superstore on the commercial highway outside Plymouth would be a losing battle.
“Plymouth is at a crossroads of major roads,” he said. “Wal-Mart looks at a map, decides it wants its store here, not some competitor’s. That’s how they dominate. We’re just one move on their huge chessboard. But stop them? They’re too large a Goliath for this David.”
Only a regional impact economic study, Rand figured, could have tripped the Wal-Mart project. But New Hampshire, like most states, leaves every town to fend for itself. Even if Plymouth had turned Wal-Mart down, neighboring towns would likely have welcomed the store and its tax base.
So now Wal-Mart has arrived and Steve Rand is closing an outlying branch he’d had for 33 years store near the Wal-Mart site -- one of the thousands of small-town retail outlets extinguished by the Goliath from Bentonville.
Still, walking around downtown Plymouth with Steve Rand -- he won’t even bother with a coat on a winter day -- you discover he has a survival strategy rolling.
His own downtown store, Rand explains, is solidly profitable. It sells specialized hardware and paint items acquired at attractive prices through a cooperative. It’s staffed by employees with extensive knowledge of customer needs. To meet the new competition, the store is now open seven days a week.
We pause at Plymouth’s handsome brick post office, facing directly onto the picturesque town common. It has a plaque commemorating its dedication in 1936, when James A. Farley was Postmaster General. But in the mid-’90s, U.S. Postal Service bureaucrats decided they’d like to move operations out of town to a one-story, one-stop facility, convenient for trucks.
Rand and his friends hit the panic button, contacting any- and everyone they knew in the political world, and got the decision reversed.
They did the same when a local selectman suggested moving Plymouth’s town offices to a single-story building, with lots of parking, far from Main Street. Rand & allies argued hard to renovate the historic courthouse building, also facing the town common, for town offices. They prevailed. Instead of becoming a pile of bricks, the courthouse underwent handsome redesign. We chat with one of the clerks; it’s clear she takes immense pride in working there.
Plymouth, it should be noted, isn’t just any old town-- it’s home to thriving Plymouth State University and its cultural arts center, where the New Hampshire Symphony plays and many theatrical performances are launched each year.
Still, a number of Main Street stores have struggled. Rand explains the history of each, how ugly post-World War II facades are being replaced and strategies developed to fill gaps. It’s no surprise to discover this is one of New Hampshire’s 19 officially designated Main Streets, with a full-time director and well developed strategy. (Nationally there are some 1,600, reports the National Trust for Historic Preservation, founder of the program.)
Flower barrels on Main Street, a jazz series on the Common, a Hallowe’en festival, a welcome day for college students and their families, merchants’ forums, a downtown cleanup day-- all are results of Plymouth’s Main Street program, now five years old.
I ask Rand who the principal supporters are and he replies, to my surprise, that they’re not predominantly merchants -- retailers are often “the last to see the forest for the trees.” Instead, Main Street’s most prominent rooters are regional institutions -- the local hospital, the university, a private school. The hospital and university, for example, have recruiting issues: their prospects of attracting a physician or professor are enhanced, notes Rand, when “downtown is a community--not a black hole.”
Put another way, Main Streets, like big city downtowns, are calling cards to the world, often important for a whole ring of communities. They’re the antithesis of the big box retail store -- constructed one month, open the next, easily vacant a few seasons later as the market shifts.
Successful Main Street programs, Rand notes, take years to mature -- four or five years to change attitudes and build initial confidence, five to ten or more years for owners to start reinvesting seriously, 15 or 20 for the full recovery and new growth to take solid root.
Such patience sounds a world away from the globalized world of the big chains -- Wal-Mart, for instance, with its expectation of opening hundreds of stores, hiring 160,000 more employees worldwide just this year.
And virtually no one foresees a time when Americans’ big-time retailing will focus again on Main Streets.
Yet as Plymouth shows, town history matters. And there can be a very real niche for community-based, smaller specialized stores, the places we know and are known when we go in. The rewards, for towns that care enough to nurture and patronize their own, can be immense.
Tuesday, 12/30 Pieces of April 6:30, Veronica Guerin 8:30
Wednesday, 12/31 Pieces of April 5:00, Veronica Guerin 7:00, The Station Agent 9:00
Thursday, 1/1 The Station Agent 2:00, Veronica Guerin 4:00, Pieces of April 6:00
A special plea to Cinema Center supporters: Calendar Girls opens at Rave this week. If you cannot wait to see it, go and enjoy! But if you can wait, please do. Cinema Center will bring Calendar Girls as quickly after it closes at Rave as we can. Seeing it here supports us and saves you money!
Also, if you haven’t seen The Station Agent, ask anyone who has & they’ll tell you not to miss it!
Thanks for your support.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Masked & Anonymous, The Station Agent & The Runaround
Masked & Anonymous
"The music is great. Dylan and his band do a half-dozen songs that crackle with energy."— Philadelphia Inquirer. "A fascinating, vexing, indulgent, visionary, pretentious, mesmerizing pop culture curio."—Washington Post. “A strange and convoluted film that is as rewarding as a Dylan song, and just as perplexing."—Seattle Post Intelligencer. “An exhilarating and sometimes puzzling jumble that explores the dangers of power, the nature of Americana and the Bob Dylan myth, among many, many other things."—Salon.com. 112 min., PG-13.
Friday at 8:30PM, Saturday at 8:30PM, Sunday at 3PM, Monday at 8:30PM, Tuesday at 8:30PM, Wednesday at 6:30PM, Thursday at 6:30PM
The Station Agent
“A movie with an intellectual existence both on and off the screen, as well as an emotional resonance that is difficult to shake."--Newsday. "A masterful film and a bracing movie experience."--Hollywood Reporter. "Yes, this is a comedy, but it's also sad, and finally it's simply a story about trying to figure out what you love to do and then trying to figure out how to do it."--Roger Ebert. "The best advice to filmgoers who appreciate smart, mature, humanist movies is, simply, Go."--Washington Post. "A delicate, thoughtful and often hilarious take on loneliness."—New York Times. "Dinklage's face and demeanor, his sense of solitude, ballasts some of the film's loonier episodes. There's always something on his mind, and you're always wondering what it is."—Boston Globe. 90 min., Rated R. (for language.)
Friday at 6:30PM, Saturday at 6:30PM, Sunday at 1PM, Monday at 6:30PM, Tuesday at 6:30PM, Wednesday at 8:30PM, Thursday at 8:30PM
The Runaround
This locally produced independent film, which was shot in Fort Wayne last winter, was written, directed, and produced by Fort Wayne native Nathan Gotsch, and stars Michael Oberholtzer, also a former resident of the Summit City. The Runaround is a 34-minute action comedy starring Oberholtzer and Mike Mauloff, who recently made his national television debut on PAX-TV’s It’s A Miracle, hosted by Roma Downey (Touched by an Angel). The two play cash-strapped roommates Jason Hollopeter and Chad Ellis, who agree to make a delivery for Jason’s former little league coach (Robert Rouse) in exchange for a large sum of money and, in the process, become entangled in a seamy criminal underworld populated by mafia stool pigeons, burly foot soldiers, and a deceptively sadistic mob boss, played by former Broadway star Harvey Cocks. Culminating in a dramatic meeting between Jason, Chad, and the mob boss, The Runaround features a frenetic car chase through the streets of downtown Fort Wayne and showcases locations throughout the city, including Club Soda and the historic Fairfield Apartments.
In lieu of admission, moviegoers will be asked to make a $2.00 donation to Community Harvest Food Bank or donate three cans of food.
Sunday at 5:30PM, Monday at 5:30PM, Tuesday at 5:30PM, Wednesday at 5:30PM, Thursday at 5:30PM
Masked and Anonymous
The one thing that can be said with absolutely certainty about Masked and Anonymous: There's nothing else like it playing in theaters. It's the sort of oddity that used to turn up on art-house screens in the '80s -- those episodic indie pictures packed with quirky cameos and inscrutable dialogue, such as Alex Cox's Straight to Hell and Robert Frank's Candy Mountain. Bob Dylan stars as legendary but largely forgotten troubadour Jack Fate, who has spent years imprisoned in a sort of Third World version of contemporary America. Fate is sprung by concert promoter Uncle Sweetheart (John Goodman), who is putting together a benefit show and has been unable to line up a big star as headliner. As Fate makes his way to the concert, he encounters a variety of nutty characters, including a deranged animal lover (Val Kilmer), a revolutionary unsure which side he's fighting for (Giovanni Ribisi), and a ghostly minstrel (Ed Harris). When he arrives at the concert arena, he is dogged by a reporter (Jeff Bridges, in Big Lebowski mode) who relentlessly questions the mystique Fate has built up over the years. Confusing and enigmatic, Masked is clearly meant to be an allegory, but like many Dylan songs, it remains unclear exactly what it's an allegory for. It will certainly test the patience of many viewers, particularly non-Dylan fans, but there's a cracked integrity to the picture that eventually won me over. For some, however, the only saving grace of this film will be the live performances by Dylan and his touring band of many years, who turn in live-wire renditions of Cold Irons Bound and the standards Diamond Joe and Dixie. The absurdly loaded cast also includes Jessica Lange, Luke Wilson, Bruce Dern, Mickey Rourke, Angella Bassett, Cheech Marin, & Chris Penn. "The music is great. Dylan and his band do a half-dozen songs that crackle with energy."— Philadelphia Inquirer. "A fascinating, vexing, indulgent, visionary, pretentious, mesmerizing pop culture curio."—Washington Post. “A strange and convoluted film that is as rewarding as a Dylan song, and just as perplexing."—Seattle Post Intelligencer. “An exhilarating and sometimes puzzling jumble that explores the dangers of power, the nature of Americana and the Bob Dylan myth, among many, many other things."—Salon.com. 112 min., PG-13.
The Station Agent
An unexpected favorite at the Sundance Film Festival, where it was snapped up for distribution by Miramax and captured acting, writing and audience awards, “The Station Agent” is the gentle portrait of a tentative friendship among three quite disparate people. At four feet, five inches, Finbar McBride (Peter Dinklage) has been the object of curiosity and derision for most of his life. He has dealt with it by shutting himself off from most of the rest of the world. When his only friend and business partner dies, he inherits an abandoned train depot in lushly shot rural New Jersey and jumps at the chance to live there in isolation. It is not to be. He is immediately accosted by Joe (an infections Bobby Cannavale), who is bored to tears running the coffee truck nearby while his dad is laid up at home, and literally run off the road by painter Olivia (once again, the uber-talented Patricia Clarkson), who, estranged from her husband, is grieving the death of her young son. These chance meetings lay the foundation for solid friendships. “If you guys do something later, can I join you?” Joe asks Fin when he observes his budding relationship with Olivia. “We’re not doing anything later,” Fin replies. “But if you do,” Joe insists. The exchange goes on for comedic effect but also to intimate Joe’s desperation to make a human connection and Fin’s aversion to it. For Dinklage, particularly, this is the role of a lifetime. He is pitch-perfect as the monosyllabic conversationalist who is wholly satisfied to read about trains, watch trains and walk “the right of way” (along the train tracks) by himself. Yet he doesn’t truly enjoy the pastime without Joe and Olivia’s help, when he can finally chase trains in a car with a video camera. Clarkson, too, grapples with the complicated emotions of being friends with a man for whom she can be neither mother nor girlfriend. And Cannavale brings humor and energy to a storyline that could plunge into melodrama but doesn’t. Rarely has friendship--honest, genuine friendship--been portrayed so truthfully, with the gentle humor that belies real intimacy. (“I wanted to live near Joe,” Fin quips as the reason he moved into a deserted train station with no plumbing or electricity; “Can you come up here and talk?” Joe whines from the balcony where he is preparing dinner--he’s a great cook--as Fin and Olivia converse below. “Seriously, this sucks.”) And while theirs is a unique arrangement that they struggle with throughout the film, ultimately Fin, Joe and Olivia come to quite comfortable terms with it--their own. Running time: 90 min., Rated R.
Monday, 11/24, Whale Rider 6:30, The Human Stain 8:30
Tuesday 11/25, The Human Stain 6:30, Whale Rider 8:30
Wednesday 11/26, The Human Stain 6:30, Whale Rider 8:30
Closed on Thanksgiving
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cinema Center will be closed on Thanksgiving.
--Alien (The Director’s Cut), The Human Stain & Whale Rider
---be sure to check out our redesigned website at www.cinemacenter.org
Coming Soon –
Passionada, 12/5 (Cinema Center Party on 12/7!)
The Station Agent, 12/12
Alien – The Director’s Cut
"Twenty-four years later -- digitally spruced up, with some scenes shaved and others padded with previously cut material -- Scott's film still shreds nerves." – Los Angeles Times. "Turns out not to be one of those movies that improves in the memory, but actually is better than you remember, mostly because it puts its multitude of imitators to shame."—Detroit Free Press. "In space, the famous tagline went, no one can hear you scream. In Alien , you can hear lessons for the sci-fi future in a great milestone from the recent past."—Entertainment Weekly. “Four Stars!”—Roger Ebert.
117 min., Rated R.
Friday at 7:30PM & 9:45PM, Saturday at 6:30PM & 9PM, Sunday at 6:30PM, Monday at 8:30PM, Tuesday at 8:30PM, Wednesday at 8:30PM & Thursday at 8:30PM
The Human Stain
“3 & 1/2 Stars.”—Roger Ebert. "The movie is fully worthy of the book, and will reach many people who might not have enjoyed the delightful experience of gliding through Mr. Roth's trenchant and zestful prose on the human condition."-- Andrew Sarris, New York Observer.
106 min., Rated R (language & nudity.)
Saturday at 2PM, Sunday at 4:15PM, Tuesday at 6:30PM, Thursday at 6:30PM
Whale Rider
"A true crowd-pleaser that never panders to achieve its effects."-- Chicago Tribune. “3 & 1/2 Stars.” Roger Ebert. "A story that J.K. Rowling fans young and old will savor."—Minneapolis Star Tribune "A thoughtful, vivid spiritual coming-of-age story that transcends its particular cultural context."—Washington Post. 105 min., Rated PG-13.
Friday at 5:15PM, Saturday at 4:15PM, Sunday at 2PM, Monday at 6:30PM, Wednesday at 6:30PM
Alien – The Director’s Cut Opens Friday, November 28
"The perfect organism," the science officer coolly calls the beast stalking his spaceship. "Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility -- I admire its purity." Ash (Ian Holm) could be speaking of the movie that surrounds him. Ridley Scott's 1979 "Alien" is remembered as the film that not only fused the sci-fi of "Star Wars" with the splatter of "Halloween" but that helped launch the careers of Sigourney Weaver and, ultimately, directors James Cameron and David Fincher, who both oversaw controversial sequels. What's most unusual about the original 24 years later, though, is its elegant minimalism. Seven crew members, a rusting salvage ship 10 months from earth, and one ever-morphing, near-pornographic fiend -- that's all "Alien" has and all it needs to have. It's a movie that locates terror in silence and that has the unfashionable patience to wait good and long before it strikes. When it does -- in the now-famous dinner sequence in which crew member John Hurt suffers the worst case of indigestion in cinema history -- an hour has already elapsed and the audience's guard is down. That scene still has the power to shock in the director's cut of "Alien," which opens in area theaters today, even if you know what's coming and even if the larval monster that erupts from Hurt's chest looks a little rubbery in these days of digital effects. It's the randomness that's scary -- in seconds, the bickering, mundane world Scott and his cast have carefully established is shredded. For this re-release, the director has gone back to the edit bins and incorporated a number of scenes that were cut from the original "Alien." The most notable are a brief fight between crew members Ripley (Weaver) and Lambert (Veronica Cartwright) after the former balks at letting the infected Kane (Hurt) back onto the ship, and a climactic scene in which Ripley stumbles across the still-living Brett (Harry Dean Stanton) and Captain Dallas (Tom Skerritt), who have been hung up for use as alien incubators. Those scenes were available as separate outtakes on the 20th anniversary DVD version of "Alien," but Scott has put them back where they belong, and the film is better for it. He has also quickened the pace by trimming the fat from some scenes; say what you like about messing with the Mona Lisa, but this "Alien" is a leaner, meaner animal. It's still "Ten Little Indians" in outer space, and it still somewhat loses its grip toward the end-- do we really believe Ripley would try to save the ship's cat with that H.R. Giger-designed hellbeast on her tail? -- but it looks more like a classic than ever. One of the real pleasures of revisiting "Alien" is to watch the emergence of both Ellen Ripley as a character and Sigourney Weaver as a star. Scott keeps Ripley in the background for the film's first third -- she's just an attractive extra visible behind the character actors and Skerritt, who in 1979 was the movie's only "name." By the end, of course, she's a quick-witted survivor and well on her way to becoming the warrior matriarch of the sequels. The climactic scenes have her running around in a T-shirt and a pair of itsy-bitsy panties, but Weaver just juts her jaw and gets on with the business of saving the galaxy. She stoops to babe-itude this once, as if knowing she'd never have to again.
The Human Stain
Anthony Hopkins and Nicole Kidman play doomed, outcast lovers in director Robert Benton's "The Human Stain," and though they're an unlikely couple (even more so if you've read the Philip Roth novel), they're such superb actors that they pull you into the characters' private world, making you feel white-hot passion in New England winter. Hopkins portrays a famed 71-year-old New England classics professor and college dean Coleman Silk. Kidman plays his 34-year-old lover, Faunia Farley, a janitor at fictitious Athena College and the ex-wife of moody Vietnam vet Lester Farley (Ed Harris). The story is built around that odd triangle, but it's also about Coleman's unfair fall from grace and the world of lies finally revealed to the narrator, novelist Nathan Zuckerman (Gary Sinise), a continuing character of Roth's. Nathan listens as Coleman reveals his woes: censured by his colleagues on a trumped-up charge of racism, widowed when his wife Iris (Phyllis Newman) suf