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Classifieds.......B14 Community Calendar.... B14-15 Discover Roanoke .........A8-9 Teacher of the Happy Holidays ..B2 Year ....................B1
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November 6, 2015
Fantasy of Lights changes hands
Night of Lights to gleam on ‘Yesteryear’ windows By Garth Snow gsnow@kpcmedia.com
By Garth Snow gsnow@kpcmedia.com
Fantasy of Lights visitors will see two new creations in 2015, but will see little evidence of the organizational changes behind the scenes. Blue Jacket has accepted ownership of the Franke Park feature. The AWS Foundation launched Fantasy of Lights in 1995 and raised more than $600,000 through the first 20 years. Longtime director Dan Stuerzenberger will stay at the helm of the nighttime holiday showcase, and already has begun placing characters along either side of the park trail. Even the admission price will stay unchanged, at $5 per car. “We’re trying to keep things exactly as they ran with AWS,” said Natasha Kennedy, Blue Jacket’s events coordinator. “We’re not about Blue Jacket; we’re about the Fantasy of Lights and
PHOTO BY GARTH SNOW
Fantasy of Lights Director Dan Stuerzenberger stands beside a fixture featuring Snoopy the aviator, one of two additions to the 21st holiday celebration at Franke Park.
what it is to the community. So we’re trying to run things exactly the same.” Kennedy said AWS Foundation offered the
fundraising attraction to the service agency. “And obviously we accepted that happily. They just handed over the bulbs, if you will, to Blue Jacket,”
Kennedy said Oct. 26. Blue Jacket Executive Director Anthony R. Hudson said it takes See LIGHTS, Page A19
Fort Wayne visitors asked to see Yesteryear, and Megan Butler is working to make that possible. Butler launched a downtown window decorating contest. “We could easily be up over 20 [stores] and the goal was 15, so that’s fantastic,” said Butler, the events manager for the Downtown Improvement District. The windows will debut on the Night of Lights, Wednesday, Nov. 25. The public will find a gallery of windows on Facebook, and may vote through Dec. 14. The winner will be announced Dec. 16. “We went through the period when downtown was not the center of business anymore or the center of social life like it was in the ’50s and before. Visitors would talk about how beautiful downtown used to be when there was Murphy’s and Wolf and Dessaur’s [department stores] and they had their
great window displays,” Butler said. “I heard that enough times to know there was a great appetite for that. And I thought how relatively easy it would be to implement window decorating again. Some businesses will go all out, and some will go more modest. That’s fine. “What I want is for people to drive into downtown and just be surrounded by holiday spirit on all sides and just take the time to walk around and see the windows.” The theme of this year’s contest will be “Yesteryear.” For details, visit downtownfortwayne.com. The Embassy Theatre, which is known for its holiday windows that include restored Wolf & Dessaur’s figures, will act as a mentor. The Embassy even hired a decorator, who issued a list of tips. Butler said she definitely will bring her sons, ages 3 and 4, to look at the windows. See Night of Lights details, inside this edition.
Civic’s ‘Christmas Story’ adds song to classic tale By Garth Snow gsnow@kpcmedia.com
COURTESY PHOTO
Aimee Lackey as Mother and Todd Frymier as The Old Man have different opinions of a “major award” in Fort Wayne Civic Theatre’s production of “A Christmas Story — The Musical,” at the Arts United Center.
has become known in popular culture as “the leg lamp.” Ralphie’s younger brother Randy – whom Mother struggles to squeeze into his snowsuit – rounds out the family. “For the musical version they have created
an actual character of Jean Shepherd, and he tells the story from Ralphie’s perspective,” said Doug King, director, adding that the plot is very faithful to the movie. The core story has graced See CIVIC, Page A22
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The Fort Wayne Civic Theatre cast of “A Christmas Story – The Musical” says the audience will find a story of family, too. The musical version of the 1983 movie is filling the United Arts Center Stage through Nov. 22. That movie, in turn, is developed from Jean Shepherd’s stories of childhood in the fictional town of Hohman, Ind., and is set roughly in the 1930s or ’40s. Youngster Ralphie Parker wants a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. His father, known only as The Old Man, enters a crossword puzzle contest and wins a prize he describes as a “major award.” Mrs. Parker, known only as Mother, has a different take on the prize, which
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