INSIDE THIS ISSUE
darlington 吩's you
Business & Professional ....................................A0 Classifieds..........................................................B15 Community Calendar..................................B18-19 Dining & Entertainment.................................A8-9 Find It In Fort Wayne...........A10-11 Healthy Times ..............................................A17-19 Youth ...................................................................A15 Worship Briefs .....................................................A3
A Serving Southwest Allen County & Roanoke
SO JOIN OUR TEXT CLUB! TEXT HOLIDAY TO 46862!
November 2, 2012
www.FWDailyNews.com
A window to the past Nostalgia brings back longtime Fort Wayne tradition By Valerie Gough vgough@kpcnews.net
The first time Steve Wesner saw a holiday lighting display in downtown Fort Wayne, he was just a boy standing among a crowd of thousands outside the Wolf & Dessauer department store. Each year, a winter wonderland took over the storefront, a magical, moving spectacle depicting everything good about the Christmas season. People traveled from all over the region to see its big reveal. “It was just extremely fascinating and the crowd would be heavy. You had to wait and work your way up to the front of the line to get up to the windows. People would be standing there as deep as the sidewalk was wide,” Wesner recalled. Years later, he would stand waiting in similar lines as his own children marveled at the sight. Wolf & Dessauer’s display was a first-rate means to attract shoppers and lure them through its doors. But nothing lasts forever — eventually the lavish window displays were discontinued after the retailer was purchased by L.S. Ayers. For many, those department store windows are thought of as a beloved childhood memory. But over the past several years, a sort of revival has taken place to
Courtesy photo
Kathy James, event planner and decorator at Corner House Creations, dresses an animated Santa Claus figure in preparation for the Embassy Theatre’s Christmas window reveal at the old Indiana Hotel. restore the tradition so a new generation Festival of Trees, an eight-day festival at can make similar memories in Fort Wayne. the historic Embassy Theatre and old “I really wanted to see something that Indiana Hotel. But in 2008, James said she happened years ago at Wolf & Dessauer,” begged Dana Berkes, marketing director at said Kathy James, event planner and decoEmbassy Theatre, for a chance to pay rator at Corner House Creations. For years, homage to the former department store she has taken part in decorating the tradition.
Non-profits raise money with Magical Day of Giving By Nichole Hacha-Thomas nthomas@kpcnews.net
Times Community Publications
See GIVING, page A12
Courtesy photo
The giant Christmas tree at Jefferson Pointe Shopping Center will be lit during the mall’s Magical Day of Giving, which will take place Nov. 17. The tree-lighting will begin at 7 p.m.
ÎÎäÈÊ `i«i `i ViÊ À Ûi]Ê ÀÌÊ7>Þ i]Ê Ê{Ènän
Jefferson Pointe Shopping Center will host its Magical Day of Giving on Nov. 17 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. The event is a fundraiser for several non-profit organizations and includes exclusive discounts at the shopping center, a visit from Santa, holiday entertainment, a tree-lighting ceremony and door prizes. Tickets are $5 and available from several non-profit groups. Katrina Newman, marketing manager for the shopping center, said the event was designed to raise money for groups during the holidays. “We don’t touch any of the money,” Newman said. “Every year we have so many charities asking for donations, and this is our
“We are of that era. We’re old enough to remember Wolf & Dessauer’s windows,” James said. Since most Festival of Trees guests used street or garage parking off Harrison, they walked right by the old Indiana Hotel on their way to Embassy Theatre. James saw an opportunity. “There was nothing that would make you want to come to those windows. So I just said, let me do this … What I was thinking, I don’t know,” she said, laughing. Since then, she and her husband, David, have brought the windows to life, revealing them to the public each year during the Night of Lights. The event draws thousands to downtown Fort Wayne to watch various lighting displays turn on for the holiday season, including the former Wolf & Dessauer Santa and his reindeer, and Merry Christmas wreath displays. The James’ window designs were first inspired by a storybook Christmas tree at the Embassy’s Festival of Trees. “Our windows are a story line,” David said. “When you go to the big cities, each window is a story in itself. But this is like reading a chapter book. Each window tells you a little piece of that story.” Kathy and David have worked with local See WINDOW, page A6