North Indy Magazine May 2023

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EPISODE 2: TRAVIS CARPENTER, TEAM CAPTAIN WITH THE INDIANAPOLIS ALLEYCATS

EPISODE 3: DOUG MORRIS, PROGRAM DIRECTOR AT MLK CENTER AND OWNER OF OLD SOUL ENTERTAINMENT

4 REVVED UP Rev Indy Celebrates 10 Years With Record-Breaking Success

8 GOING SWIMMINGLY Aqua-Tots Swim Schools Is Making a Local Splash

12 THIS IS 46TH STREET Original Art by Nick Badman

14 HIDDEN GEM

Handpicked Selections Set Lola Blu Boutique Apart

19 FARM MINDED

You’ll Find Freshness and Flavor at Public Greens

KEY CONTRIBUTORS

ALESHA MCCARTY / RENEE LARR / SARAH BROWNING / NICK BADMAN HEATHER HOURIGAN / JOHN OVERTON / DANIEL WOODY / EMMA KNUTSON CLAUDIA HESS / STEPHANIE DUNCAN / LOGAN WOOD / HOLLEH MOON

Recorded at Round Table Recording in Broad Ripple Village Sponsored by The Vogue, The Box Media & Production Space and the Indianapolis Alleycats

LOCAL SPOTLIGHT

Carol Howard, Rev Executive Director

Rev event held at the Gucci store in the Fashion Mall on March 16, 2023

REVVED UP

REV INDY CELEBRATES 10 YEARS WITH RECORD-BREAKING SUCCESS

Writer & Photographer / Stephanie Duncan

It’s time to get revved up for May, Indy! Race season is quickly approaching, and the Indianapolis 500 is already on the minds of Hoosiers and race fans. But before the Indy 500 comes the much-anticipated annual Indiana University Health Foundation fundraising event, Rev Indy.

Over the years it has become a popular event to kick off race season, where you can meet and mingle with IndyCar drivers and celebrity chefs while enjoying food, drinks and entertainment at the track. This is the 10th anniversary of the event, and tickets for Rev Indy sold out in record time. While the response to this event has been well-received in the past, this year it sold out in less than a day, much to the surprise of Carol Howard, Rev executive director. “It was a huge surprise,” she says. “We went on sale at 8 a.m. that morning and by 1 p.m. we were done.”

Even though the main event isn’t until May 6, Rev Indy started its celebrations early and announced this year’s celebrity chef Kelsey Murphy on March 16 at the Gucci store in the Fashion Mall. The fundraising started early, with Gucci donating 10% of its proceeds raised that night to the IU Health Foundation. Murphy addressed the packed room and expressed excitement for this year’s event. “We don’t get recognized very often as a food city,

and this is our time to shine and demonstrate what we have to offer and really get our name out there,” Murphy explains.

This year, Rev will feature a record 89 chefs from central Indiana’s favorite restaurants, plus over 20 artists and entertainment acts. “This is not only the start of the race season, but it’s an amazing representation of what our state has to offer to the rest of the country,” Murphy says. Winner of the 100th Indianapolis 500, Alexander Rossi, was also in attendance and joined in congratulating Murphy. Both Rossi and Murphy were gifted custom Gucci shoes hand-painted by local artist Leah Pinney. Even though she wasn’t in the spotlight, Howard, the event founder, was busy behind the scenes ensuring everything was running smoothly. She plays a crucial role in Rev’s overwhelming success.

Rev Indy is a fundraising party that supports IU Health trauma and critical-care facilities across Indiana, including the IU Health Emergency Medical Center located at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS). “It started as an opportunity to showcase the beautiful Indianapolis Motor Speedway property without cars going around the track,” Howard explains. “IU Health has had a relationship with the IMS since 1910, and at the time, the IMS was interested in finding ways to bring the community to the track, outside of race day.”

The idea to focus an event on the trauma center and critical-care needs of IU Health is because of the IU Health Emergency Medical Center’s location at the IMS. Any time anyone needs medical care out at the track, there is a staff of physicians who provide care, free of charge. “It’s the busiest medical center in the entire nation on race day, and it’s also the only track hospital that has a blood refrigerator, so they have blood on-site in case there’s a horrible accident so they can do blood transfusions on the track,” Howard says.

Rev has raised more than $6 million since its inception in 2014. Howard is proud of the reach and impact that the fundraising efforts by Rev have had on the state of Indiana. “It’s an amazing event from not only an experience standpoint, but it also touches so many people without them even knowing,” Howard says. Proceeds from the Rev Indy event have benefitted IU Health emergency transport, LifeLine, trauma education and training, physical therapy teams, and nurse training, all of which serve the entire state.

All tickets and volunteer positions are filled for this year, but there are a lot of ways to get involved with Rev Indy next year. Tickets go on sale on December 1 every year, so mark your calendars. Want to volunteer? Rev Indy accepts up to 350 volunteer positions. Registration for volunteers opens online in mid-February. To learn more about Rev or to join the wait list for this year’s event, visit revindy.org.

Chef Kelsey Murphy and Race Car Driver Alexander Rossi

Going Swimmingly

Aqua-Tots Swim Schools Is Making a Local Splash

Aqua-Tots Swim Schools has been a leader in swim instruction for children aged four months to 12 years since 1991. The international franchise brand has locations in 14 countries around the world including the United States, Canada, the Middle East, Mexico, Europe, Central America and Southeast Asia. Husband-and-wife Jake and Lindsay Thayer were considering opening a business together when they discovered Aqua-Tots.

“We opened our first location in 2016 in Lexington, Kentucky,” says Lindsay Thayer, franchise owner. “I grew up there, and there was nothing like Aqua-Tots in the community. In 2017 we decided to expand to the Indianapolis market. “My

Writer / Renee Larr

Photographer / Michael Durr

husband grew up in Michigan. Indy is conveniently in the middle of our two hometowns, and I graduated from Indiana University, so have a love for the Hoosier state!”

Fast-forward to 2023, and the couple is developing their sixth location, providing swim curricula in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. The Aqua-Tots swim journey consists of eight levels of comprehensive swimming lessons. Levels 1 and 2 are infant and toddler classes for children aged four months to 2.5 years old.

“Level 1 and 2 classes include a parent or caregiver,” Thayer says. “These classes focus on adjustment to the water.” Students learn survival skills such as rolling over from front to back and floating. They’re practicing safe submersion in water early in age.”

Levels 3, 4, 5 and 6 are geared toward children aged 2.5 years old and up, focusing on building swim skills for a lifetime of safe

water experiences. Thayer says students learn basic swimming and safety skills like confidence in the water, controlled movement, breath control and swim strokes. Kids move through each level based on their skill level and mastery.

Levels 7 and 8 are advanced swim lessons where students focus on fine-tuning their newly acquired skills and laser-focusing on technique. Those skills include the techniques of breaststroke, backstroke and freestyle. They also begin to learn the butterfly and flip turns. Thayer says AquaTots provides advanced swim instruction to children up to age 12.

Aqua-Tots provides specially tailored swim lessons for special-needs children through their Special Needs Aquatic Program. Thayer says instructors complete an intake program to provide customized programming for each individual’s unique needs. Those goals may include increased motor function, improved balance,

coordination and range of motion, and development of spatial awareness.

Thayer says she realized how life-changing and life-saving swim instruction can be when her four children enrolled at the school. She says drowning is the numberone cause of accidental death in children aged 1 to 4.

“This is preventable with action,” Thayer says. “As parents, we are the first line of defense, however, it’s also our responsibility to provide our children with the skills they need to be able to save themselves if there is an accident. Swim lessons reduce the risk of drowning in that same age group by 88% if enrolled in a formal, consistent program.”

Classes consist of one instructor and four students, to ensure a safe but social environment for children to learn. Thayer says it’s essential that each student receives sufficient time with the instructor. The small-group classes also provide soft skills

such as patience and support of other students. All Aqua-Tots Swim Schools water safety instructors complete more than 40 hours of intensive training online and in water. Each instructor is CPR certified as well. The water in the indoor pools is kept at a comfortable 90-degree temperature to foster a positive learning environment.

“The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends children should be in swim lessons by age 1,” Thayer says. “Here at Aqua-Tots we say any time is the right time to get them started. If parents want to get them started sooner to adjust to the water, that’s great. It’s a wonderful learning experience for the kids, and a great bonding experience for the caregiver and the child.”

The Indianapolis facility hones in on exactly what busy families need while participating in lessons. It provides parents with a calm, relaxing environment to wait while their kids are in the water. A fully stocked changing area provides detangling spray, hair ties and a bathing-suit dryer.

“One advantage to Aqua-Tots is that we provide feedback after every single lesson,” Thayer says. “Parents love the transparency and feeling like they know exactly what is happening if they’re not in the water. We also have an app that makes it super easy for parents to schedule and check in for classes. You can also track your child’s progress. We try to make the whole process easy on parents.”

Thayer says owning and operating AquaTots Swim Schools locations has been an incredible experience. It was essential to her and Jake that their concept works in a comfortable environment. She says her children have not only learned lifelong swim skills, but also gained confidence in themselves at the same time.

“There hasn’t been one regret along with way,” she says. “It’s a privilege for Jake and

I to have the opportunity to influence the lives of young adults too. We have a lot of staff who look forward to coming back each summer in between college classes. It’s also an incredibly positive culture and environment for them.”

Aqua-Tots is located at 4825 East 96th Street, Suite 1000 in Indianapolis. For more information or to enroll your child, call 317559-3210 or visit aqua-tots.com.

Hidden Gem

HANDPICKED SELECTIONS SET LOLA BLU BOUTIQUE APART

Writer / Alesha McCarty @twaindy

Original Art / Heather Hourigan @hhwatercolor

Photographer / Emma Knutson @ekphoto

Model / Claudia Hess @claudia_jaye

Lots of love - that’s what the little blue boutique just off the Monon Trail, and its owner Pamela Moosey-Light, hopes to bring to our community of Broad Ripple and all those who visit. She has been working in the merchant business since she was 19. She had always wanted to do something on her own that would be affordable and customer driven.

Previously, Moosey-Light owned a store in Broad Ripple for 25 years. She purchased

the small building as an investment space, fixed it up, and painted it a cheerful blue color to draw the attention of those in the neighborhood, and locals who use the Monon Trail adjacent to the building. She fell in love with the building and decided to pour her energy into creating a space that would empower other women. A friend helped her build a pergola and she added some landscaping, setting out to give the space character.

“The whole project was a labor of love,” she explains. In 2017 she opened the space as a small clothing boutique, now called Lola Blu Boutique.

The boutique features bohemianinspired clothing, sustainable lines, local jewelry, local candles, additional jewelry, fragrances, throws, bralettes, hats, scarves, purses, macramé keychains and other accessories. The lines and pieces are everevolving. Moosey-Light’s goal is to provide her customers with items that make them feel empowered. She’s drawn to the freespirited, bohemian style because the silhouettes are comfortable for customers of all shapes and sizes. She blends in vintage and classic pieces to create a timeless look that will sustain you throughout many years.

Lola Blu also carries the ever-popular Ambre Blends fragrance line. Ambre Blends

is an independent, women-owned business in Indianapolis. They have produced high-quality, organic body products since 2001.

All their products are made by hand, with 100% pure and natural vegan ingredients. Ambre Blends’ base for their product is amber oil, which reacts differently on everyone due to body chemistry, and other natural, organic ingredients. The mix of those ingredients produces a clean, sensual and addictive essence, developing a unique scent for each individual.

Lola Blu sometimes carries locally made earrings and Restored Creations candles, made by Wheeler Mission. The items are available during the holidays.

Some of Moosey-Light’s most interesting new items are their vintage kantha throws. The throws are made from recycled saris. They are usually made from colorful, whimsical fabrics and offer vibrancy to your space or look. The throws can be used in the home as blankets or tablecloths. The sari is also perfect as a scarf or belt to give a unique look.

Some of the most popular items are her lace bralettes, which are perfect layering pieces under lightweight shirts and sweaters. The bralettes offer a fun lace pop to outfits while providing comfort and support.

Local Model, Claudia Hess

Because the pieces Moosey-Light offers are comfortable and flexible, her clientele often constructs their experiences as generational shopping opportunities.“Grandmas, moms, daughters and granddaughters can all shop together and find pieces they like,” she says. With warmer weather approaching, their pergola will take on a new role as a space to host local artisan pop-ups throughout the year, hopefully until fall. She wants to encourage other women, and give them a space to show their products and reach people.

Customers rave about the positive and peaceful experience they have here. The space is cozy, with plenty of gems to wander through on the well-organized racks. The shop is surrounded by nature - ducks waddle about and squirrels playfully scramble by.

The shop is located adjacent to the Monon Trail and right next to the canal. It’s a serene space for customers to retreat to. The shop is also surrounded by plenty of local shops like Just Pop In! or Public Greens (both local,

women-owned businesses), so you can make a day of it with shopping and brunch.

Moosey-Light is grateful that customers have been good at word-of-mouth marketing, and always sending in friends and family. Shopping is an intimate experience for many customers. “I've made dear friendships with the people that come into the shop,” she says.

She operates the store on a low-pressure model. She wants the patrons to feel happy,

and to have a sanctuary to feel safe and supported. “Anything I can do to make an impact, no matter how small - that brings me joy,” she says.

Lola Blu Boutique is located at 6350 Cornell Avenue in Indianapolis. Call 317-426-2116 for more info. Visit them @lolabluboutique on Instagram and Facebook, where you can find information about the upcoming summer artisan popups and more.

Lola Blu Boutique Owner, Pamela Moosey-Light

Celebrate love this Mother's Day with flowers from lilly lane!

Locally owned & operated, lilly lane provides flowers for weddings, nonprofit and corporate events, as well as weekly home and office deliveries, a monthly Flower Club, prom and other special event florals.

Our team has been designing weddings & events since 2008, with over 1000 weddings and countless events completed.

We are located in the beautiful Broad Ripple Village, with bouquet home delivery throughout Midtown, Downtown and Indy's N & NE side.

Our customized approach is as friendly and collaborative as meeting with a close friend.

Let's chat and see how we can help you make your next event or special gift a memorable one.

Becky Ruby-Wojtowicz owner, lilly lane

lillylaneflowers.com

317.989.9936

info@lillylaneflowers.com

@homebylillylane

Uptown Carmel

2271 Pointe Parkway (116th west of Keystone)

Uptown Noblesville

809 Conner Street (On the Courthouse Square)

Uptown Indy

6404 Rucker Road (64th & Binford)

Sunrise Fishers

9767 E . 116th Street (116th & Cumberland )

Uptown Market

Enjoy our house-made items at home. Purchase breads, biscuits, muffins, rolls, salads, sauces, dressings, condiments, and more online at: www.uptowncafes.com/shop.

Angie Mercer Matthew Kubal Matthew Mundy

FARM MINDED

YOU’LL FIND FRESHNESS AND FLAVOR AT PUBLIC GREENS

Public Greens, which splits the Monon Trail in Broad Ripple, might be the best farm-to-table restaurant in the city. The onsite farm, welcoming team and radically different business model create something unique. They exemplify sustainability, provide the community with a school lunch program, conduct a teen development program and teach kitchen skills to the underserved.

They source from their on-site garden and other local farms for a seasonal menu. Some favorites are the Fried Chicken, which is terrifically crispy, or the Falafel Burger, a hardy, scrumptious veggie option. They pay special attention to dietary needs, so whatever you eat, they can likely serve you.

With spring just around the corner, their Veggies & Fromage Salad is a cheerful plate of bright, crisp asparagus, fresh peas that pop in your mouth, and peppery radishes swimming atop creamy, herby fromage, sprinkled with lemon.

The homemade sodas are truly special, made with Nelson’s Tea. Aromatic vanilla bean pods float throughout the root-beer flavor, which is perfectly balanced.

The french fries will always be my favorite - thin and crispy, tossed with savory fresh garlic and parsley.

End on a sweet note. Public Greens has a full coffee bar and simply scrumptious desserts. A Hubbard & Cravens bottomless drip, or a latte with homemade syrup, provide a perfect way to start the morning or recharge. I paired mine with a Cinnamon Bomb, a soft, chewy doughnut covered with cinnamon and sugar.

Find Me On Page 22

CONFIDENCE TO SOAR

At the Y, kids learn more than just sports skills. They learn confidence and character building.

NO JOIN FEE MAY 8-15

Use Code YSummer23

INDYMCA.org/Join

Writer & Photographer / Alesha McCarty

SHERMAN CRUSENBERRY

US Army

Served 1966 - 1967

Noblesville, IN

Image captured at The American Legion in Noblesville, IN on March 22, 2023

This May Monon Toys & Crafts celebrates its second birthday!

For the entire month, Indy’s beloved toy store will have surprises such as workshops, playgroups and special prices on their sustainable, beautiful and memorable toys and crafts.

Join them on Saturday May, 13th for a special day of games, art and treats!

ART MUSIC FOOD DRINK

Kick off festival season with the Indianapolis Art Center’s largest fundraiser of the year! GET

IndyArtCenter.org/BRAF

MONON TOYS

You can visit them online at monontoys.com and follow them on Instagram @monontoysandcrafts and on Facebook @monontoys for updates.

Monon Toys & Crafts

6510 Cornell Ave Indianapolis (317) 749-1567

monontoysandcrafts@gmail.com

YOU FOUND ME

Photos by Josh Gaal & Riley Hill-Cartel