Five no-cost events, series kick off summertime fun
Fort Wayne, Ind. – Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry invites residents to discover downtown and our hidden treasures through a series of free, lunchtime walks. The Mayor also highlighted four other no-cost, family-friendly events and series that will span the warm-weather season. All of these activities are part of the Mayor’s Discover Fort Wayne initiative to help residents connect to their hometown, showcase our assets and build a more competitive community.
The City of Fort Wayne’s Discover Fort Wayne Walks will take place every Monday in June and July, with the exception of July 4. The guided walks will leave at noon from the center of the Courthouse Green in front of the Allen County Courthouse. The 40-minute, energized walks will feature natural and historic landmarks including the three rivers; the West Central neighborhood; Lawton, Headwaters and Lakeside parks; and the Three Rivers Filtration Plant. The walks will be about 2.5 miles long, with the group moving the entire time at a comfortable, but lively pace.
“Discover Fort Wayne is about shining the spotlight on all our community has to enjoy and appreciate,” Mayor Henry said. “These free walks combine a bit of exercise over the lunch hour with the intrigue of uncovering unique aspects of our city that may have gone unnoticed.”
ARCH, Fort Wayne’s historic preservation organization, will lead the first tour on Monday, June 6 focusing on key downtown landmarks including the Lincoln Tower, the Courthouse, the History Center, Embassy Theatre and the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. This tour will be repeated July 11. The other walks will be led by staff from the City’s greenways department, on these routes:
Rivergreenway along the St. Joe Pathway and St. Joe Boulevard Pathway from downtown to Tennessee Avenue and back;
Wayne and Berry streets from the Courthouse Green to Thieme Drive;
Rivergreenway along the Maumee Pathway from downtown to Lakeside Park and back along Columbia Street;
Rivergreenway along the St. Marys River; and
Downtown to include the one-third mile concourse at Parkview Field.
For more information about the walks, visit the Rivergreenway tab on www.fortwayneparks.org and click on the news/events section.
In other trail and active transportation news, Saturday is Fort Wayne Trails’ Get Caught on the Trails event. From 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., volunteers will be at sites throughout the trail network, giving away prizes such as t-shirts to walkers, joggers and cyclists who get “caught on the trails.” This is a National Trails Day event, part of the National Hiking Society. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/fortwaynetrails. Fort Wayne Trails Inc. is a non-profit organization that advocates, plans and raises funds to support multiuse trails in Allen County.
In addition to the noon walks, other weekly outdoor traditions are getting started for the summer this week, including the Downtown Improvement District’s Lunch on the Square and the Allen County Public Library’s Rock the Plaza series.
“No one in Fort Wayne can say there is nothing to do here. ‘Stay-cationers’ in the Summit City will find events to make any day a holiday,” Mayor Henry said. “Whether you’re looking for something to do with the kids or setting off for a night on the town, you can’t beat events that are both delightfully entertaining and free. You really can discover a side of Fort Wayne you may not have known through Rock the Plaza, Get Caught on the Trails or even by Dropping Your Avant Garde.”
Today is the first of the Lunch on the Square series from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at One Summit Square. The free series with live music will be every Thursday through August.
Rock the Plaza starts at 6 p.m. Saturday at the downtown library’s east plaza. The live-concert series featuring local bands and continues every Saturday until the end of August.
Saturday night is also the fourth Drop Your Avant Garde from the DID from 6 p.m. to midnight. This free event, modeled after a gallery hop, features local art and live music in restaurants, plus a pop-up gallery. The activities will take place along Calhoun Street between Wayne and Berry streets and Wayne Street between Calhoun and Harrison streets.
Discover Fort Wayne is a broad-based initiative to strengthen the ties that bind Fort Wayne residents to their city and all that it has to offer. Based on the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation’s “Soul of the Community report,” Discover Fort Wayne emphasizes three drivers of attachment, namely, community openness, aesthetics and social offerings. The research found a significant relationship between attachment and a community’s economic growth and development.
For more information on the above events contact:
Drop Your Avant Garde
Dan Swartz, 417-8446
Rock the Plaza
Norm Compton, 421-1246
Lunch on the Square
Frank Howard, 420-3266
Fort Wayne Trails
Lori Keyes, 969-0079