There’s still time to register for Fort Wayne’s inaugural cycling event — the Fort-4-Fitness Spring Cycle — which takes place Saturday, May 26.

The Spring Cycle is set to be the premier cycling event in the Fort Wayne area and comes on the heels of the successful and popular annual Fort-4-Fitness Health Festival in September, which includes a Half-Marathon, 10K, 4-Mile Run/Walk, Kids Marathon and Seniors Marathon.

The event starts at Headwaters Park in downtown Fort Wayne and features a competitive route and a family fun tour of the city. The competitive “Tour de Fort Wayne” offers cyclists distances from 19.7 miles to 35.2 miles to the longest route at 45.25 miles. A casual three-mile family bike ride called Bike the Fort, will follow.

The event will also feature a mascot race, bike rodeo and a pro cycling Twilight Criterium event, a race from late afternoon to evening which features multiple short track, multiple lap, high speed events. Outside of the biking events, there will be fun and activities for the entire family during the day of the event, including food, merchandise vendors, information booths and attendance by local biking club members.

Registration is available online now through May 24, and starts at $20 per individual for the Tour de Fort Wayne. Act now as rates increase May 15. Fort-4-Fitness is a non-profit organization entering its fifth year of events, focusing on the promotion of health and fitness through an active lifestyle.

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The Salomon Farm Fiber Arts Celebration is one of the most unique family-friendly events in northeast Indiana. How often do you have a chance to step back in time to the simple farm life of the 1930’s and immerse yourself in the texture, colors and sounds of that era? The sweet aroma of flowers, hay, and freshly turned earth is like no other.

This two-day celebration, Friday May 18 and Saturday, May 19, is filled with entertainment and hands-on demonstrations designed to promote and preserve our heritage of natural fiber production and traditional textile art. Most of the activities are free. Others may require a small fee for materials. Here are a few of the highlights:

Take part in hands-on demonstrations!

Hands-On Activities and Demonstrations: basket weaving, wet felting, tatting, card-weaving, crochet, rug hooking, sock cranking, spinning

Shopping: yarn, looms, soaps, fleece teddy bears, hand-made products, fiber for spinners and felters, tanned lambshide throws and rugs, raw fleeces, blown goose eggs, decorated gourds, finger puppets, food and beverages, and much, much more.

Children love all of the live animals!

Live Animals: Huacaya alpacas, Lincoln Longwool and Suffolk sheep, Romney sheep ewe with her lambs, goats, donkeys, sheep and chickens!

Salomon Farm Park is located at 817 West Dupont Road. For more information about Salomon Farm and the Fiber Arts Celebration, visit www.fortwayneparks.org.

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Join the award winners this June 1-3.

The 3^rd Annual Northeast Indiana Playwright Festival will bring together modern day Shakespeares on Saturday, June 1-3 at the Arts United Center.

The winning script was awarded to Athea’s Well by Ruth Tyndall Baker. Second place went to Hands Under the Table by Theron RD Steinke, and third place went to Spring at the Willowbrook Inn by Douglas C. Evans and Jonathon Van Dyke.

The winner was selected from 15 entries written from Northeast Indiana residents, from Auburn to Indianapolis.

Athea’s Well is written about Athea Wheeler who is a God-fearing woman struggling to hold her own against her abusive husband by praying to her personal God for strength. This morality play is set in post-depression Missouri where educated drifters are viewed with great suspicion – except by a God-fearing woman! The drifter finds his need for family met in Althea. In a theme that resonates in any decade, the heroine overcomes emotional and financial burdens to claim her own happiness.

The festival will feature the world premiere of Athea’s Well as well as readings of the 2^nd and 3^rd place winning plays. Also throughout the weekend there will be the Civic premiere of Alive and Dead in Indiana, a workshop, panel discussions, post-show discussions and a reception for the winning script.

Come to the Playwright Festival and enjoy these original works written in Indiana!

Schedule of Events:

Friday, June 1, 2012

• 8:00 pm Alive and Dead in Indiana

 Saturday, June 2, 2012

• 10:00 am Workshop
• 11:00 am Lunch break (on your own)
• 12:00 pm Spring at the Willowbrook Inn reading with post discussion
• 3:00 pm Civic hosted break
• 4:00 pm Hands Under the Table reading with post discussion
• 7:00 pm Dinner break (on your own)
• 8:00 pm Althea’s Well with post discussion, Post-show reception in the Ian Rolland Gallery

 Sunday, June 3, 2012

• 12:00 pm Panel Discussion
• 1:00 pm Box luncheon
• 2:00 pm Alive and Dead in Indiana with post discussion

Arts United Center
303 E. Main Street
(260) 422-8641

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Groenert's art is full of life!

Did you ever see a building and imagine it had a personality based on its owner? That’s the way Fort Wayne artist Diane Groenert looks at many structures. Diane specializes in home and business portraits. “I attempt to put a bit of the personality of the owner into the painting by playing with line, color, and perspective,” she said. “For that reason some buildings are more animated than others.”

Artist Diane Groenert’s work, totaling 35 pictures, are on display at Fort Wayne International Airport now through June. The colorful paintings are hung in the large gallery on the secured side of the terminal on the upper level near the air museum. They are also able for viewing in the small gallery on the non-secured side of the terminal near the ticket counters.

After having admired some of Diane’s work of downtown landmarks at the Visit Fort Wayne office at 927 South Harrison, I’m planning to catch this fun exhibition and buy her note cards of the Embassy Theatre, Coney Island, and Tiny Tim Diner to send to my far-flung kids. Hopefully, the note cards will remind them of good times we have had in those spots. The note cards are available for $2.25 each.

You can see more of Groenert’s work at her website: www.dagroenert.com.

Groenert’s display is part of an ongoing exhibition the airport sponsors under the “Art in the Airport” program. The airport does not charge artists to display their work nor does it take any commission on pieces sold.

If you would like to be considered for the “Art in the Airport” program, please send an e-mail to Michele Platte at mplatte@fwairport.com. Please include a short bio about yourself, your contact information, 3-5 photos of your work or a link to your website. Good luck!

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Are you ready for take off?

Up you go into the wild blue yonder! Yes, you!

If you’ve always wanted to experience the world of flight but didn’t know how to get started, you’ll have a chance during the annual Learn to Fly Day at Smith Field Airport on Saturday, May 19.

Coming from a family of aviation enthusiasts (my husband and son are both pilots), I can say it gets in your blood to be high among the clouds, looking down on creation and the world you live in.

Learn to Fly Day is arranged by Chapter 2 of the Experimental Aircraft Association. “We want to give people the opportunity to know what it’s like to fly in a small aircraft and think about becoming a pilot,” said Joel Pierce, organizer of the event.

The event will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. There is no cost to attend the event and look at the aviation displays. Complimentary food will be available. A 30-minute sample flying lesson in a 2-seater airplane is available for $59.00. A similar lesson in an aircraft that seats three people is $95.00.

Minors must have a release form signed by a parent. For more information, visit them online.

Smith Field Airport
426 W Ludwig Rd
Fort Wayne, IN 46825
260.267.5505

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