INSIDE
Festivals, fairs Community Calendar.........A14 ............................ A5 July 28, 2017
INfortwayne.com
WEARING THE PROUD, BLUE LION
PHOTO BY MEGAN KNOWLES
Demolition begins on the former Sports and Spirits Bar at 1723 E. Wayne St. on July 17. The owner of the property plans to put a memorial park in its place to honor those who were killed at the bar in September.
Creating beauty out of pain Pastor, businessman hopes bar’s demolition will promote healing and honor grandfather By Megan Knowles mknowles@kpcmedia.com
A group of local church leaders have seen a “problem spot” in the community removed and hope that the healing can now begin.
On July 17, the former Sports and Spirits Bar at 1723 E. Wayne St. was torn down following a remembrance ceremony. The bar was the source of more than 400 calls to police in its 10 years of
existence, according to a statement from Associated Churches of Fort Wayne and Allen County. One of those incidents was a shooting in September of See PAIN, Page A13
Filmmaking growing as part of arts scene Though the advent of the Hobnobben Film Festival has put a spotlight on the film industry in northeast Indiana, a lot has been changing and growing behind the scenes. “From what I’ve observed, compared to 10 or 15 years ago, even 20 years ago, there were little isolated projects that would pop up here or there but they felt pretty isolated. … But from what I see now, there are filmmakers and writers and producers who are staying here and really trying to build production companies here and really use Fort Wayne as a home base,” said John “Jack” Cantey, writer and director of web series “Lizzie Shea.” Spirit of collaboration “Lizzie Shea” producer
Courtney Hartman agreed. “What I’ve found here that my friends and family who don’t live in Fort Wayne have commented on is what a huge sense of community there is in Fort Wayne. People care about other people’s projects and they want to contribute,” she said. This sense of collaboration is what brought filmmakers Ryne Hastings and Adam King together to collaborate on “Dougherty Row.” While the two had attended Manchester University together, it was really the film scene in Fort Wayne that connected them. “I kind of give Hobnobben credit for that because [Adam] had a film in the Hoosier Spirit [exhibition] and I had a film in and afterward we kind of got together,” Hastings said. “He happened to have a
really good script and was ready to shoot.” “It was kind of a match made in heaven. After the fact, now we’re talking about future projects that we’re working on and trying to get things together,” King said. “At the end of the day all of us working together is probably best-case scenario for the best product to be put out there.” Telling local stories One of the catalysts for this environment of collaboration is a desire to tell the stories in this part of the world. For example, “Dougherty Row” was inspired by events in Bluffton. “I thought, maybe small town America’s a better place to show that,” King said. See ARTS, Page A13
INfortwayne Publications
mknowles@kpcmedia.com
3306 Independence Drive, Fort Wayne, IN 46808
By Megan Knowles
COURTESY PHOTO BY AMY HIRSCH
Keyontae Green charges the line in the Allen County Lions’ 36-0 victory over the Tri-County Raiders at St. Marys, Ohio. See page A2 for story.