INDIANA SUMMERS are no time to slow down. True Hoosiers don’t spend their August weekends lounging in the sand, soaking up sun. We prefer to play in the dirt, kicking up clouds of dust beneath the Saturday and Sunday night lights. SPF? Try RPM. And the only “ray” you’ll see from behind your visor is the guy from two towns over trying to pass you on the back straightaway. Gender and age don’t matter as long as you can get behind the wheel and hit the gas. And whether your entry has a sharp color scheme plastered with sponsor decals or you just cobbled together a mess of steel and blank sheet metal, with a little luck, anyone can be a hometown racing hero for one summer night.

…

The Speedrome
Indianapolis

At the Speedrome, the racers of tomorrow start in junior Faskarts—go-karts with cages made to resemble the adults’ Late Models. But the glee of hoisting a trophy—like Koehan West, seated on the No. 33K kart at right—is the same no matter the age and is readily shared among friends. 

Alexa and Kenzie Hughes accompany Koehan in his car.

Billy Pittman is buckled in, gloves on, ready to drop the visor and stand on the accelerator in his junior Faskart.

Paragon Speedway
Paragon

The Saturday-night lights in Morgan County are shrouded in the dust kicked up by sprint cars, Bombers, Hornets, Late Models, and Super Stocks at Paragon Speedway. The high-banked, 3/8-mile dirt oval can barely contain speedsters like Dayton, Ohio’s Matt Freeman in his No. 90 Hornet.

Clayton’s Kenny Fields (with his daughter) in his No. 11F Super Stock.

Anderson Speedway
Anderson

The tight turns of the tiny 1/4-mile bullring short track at Anderson Speedway keep drivers leaning on the wheel, tapping on the brake, and wary of door-to-door traffic. It’s intense enough to wear out even the most energetic young drivers, like 12-year-old Ryder Van Alst, resting beside his No. 35 Late Model.

At small-town raceways, it’s all-hands-on-deck when it comes to dialing in the car during the scant amount of time between the qualifying heat and the late-night feature. Just ask driver Andrew Teepe’s daughter, pacifier in mouth, working the wrench on Dad’s stock car.

Lincoln Park Speedway
Putnamville

Built in 1968, Lincoln Park Speedway sits in the middle of downtown Putnamville. This is where race fans come to watch 410 non-wing sprint cars kick up the Putnam County clay. Without the top wing, these cars have less downforce and are therefore a little bit harder for the driver to control, especially when careening sideways through a turn in the dirt. Roger Arthur (standing) and Jimmy Arthur (kneeling) know the importance of traction on the dirt track.

Joe Boyll understands the value of letting off steam between events.

Megan Cavaness, a local who has been racing here since she was 11, always keeps at least one hand on the steering wheel.

Circle City Raceway
Indianapolis

A newcomer to Indiana’s race scene, Circle City Raceway opened on October 1, 2020, the result of a partnership between the Marion County Fairgrounds and Speedrome owner Kevin Garrigus. Just because the 1/4-mile dirt oval is fresh doesn’t mean the drivers are afraid to tear it up in front of 5,000 fans.

Mike Moody raced cars for 20 years before taking a break to go to college for mechanical engineering. Now retired, he drives a souped-up Monte Carlo “mainly for a good time.” 

A veteran of local oval and dirt tracks before the age of 20, driver BJ Shaw takes a pre-race break in his trailer. Shaw dreams of driving in the Indianapolis 500 someday.

Katie Grigsby, showing off her No. 54B ride at the Circle City Raceway, competes in both the Bomber and Super Stock races.

As the sun begins to set on another summer night, Elizabethtown’s Mike Bechelli climbs into the cab of his Crate Late Model, ready to race for the win. 

Bloomington Raceway
Bloomington

Opened in 1923, Bloomington Raceway has entertained fans for more than a century. Cutting the wheel, sliding sideways through each turn, and accelerating into the straightaway, drivers can’t help but get dirty in their pursuit of checkered glory. 

Logan Calderwood came all the way from Goodyear, Arizona, to take in the spectacle on a Hoosier tire between heats in his 410 Sprint. He’ll face Bowling Green’s Daylan Chambers (below), who’s not afraid to get dirty.

Kokomo Speedway
Kokomo

The Kokomo track has been lighting up the summer Sunday night sky since 1947. The 1/4-mile, semi-banked oval is a stop on several national tours for sprint cars, Late Models, midgets, and Auto Racing Club of America stock cars speeding toward that coveted checkered flag.

Garrett Jameson (in his No. 0 car) and his brother Bradley (below) spend their summers chasing one another in their Dirtcar Modifieds around tracks all over the region. They consider Kokomo their “home track” and relish racing in front of their hometown fans. While their cars may roll out of the double-decker trailer gleaming, they generally come back caked with mud from a hard-fought battle.

The post Photo Essay: Fast Tracks appeared first on Indianapolis Monthly.

MARTY DAVIS is known as “the butterfly lady.”  Every summer, she raises monarchs for a cause near and dear to her heart, the annual butterfly release on the last day of Camp Healing Tree, which is Sunday, August 18, this year. “Butterflies are such magical creatures, just beautiful, and there’s so much symbolism there,” Davis says.

The three-day camp is administered by Brooke’s Place, which provides counseling and support for children ages 7–17 grieving the loss of a loved one. Brooke’s Place is named for Brooke Wright, whose father Tom died when American Eagle Flight 4184 crashed in Roselawn, Indiana, in 1994.

Davis, now 67, knows the pain of traumatic loss. When she was 12, her father died by suicide. “I was a bereaved child,” she says. “I never had the kind of support the camp offers to children today.”

Anne Ryder, a former TV journalist who now teaches at Indiana University, is also “part of the club no one wants to be in.”  When Ryder was 15, her mother passed away.  Later, she lost her son at 5-and-a-half months gestation age.

Ryder has helped Davis raise butterflies for years and shares her own journey with grief during the camp’s closing memorial service honoring loved ones. “The message is, ‘It gets better,’ but there will be things that bring grief back,” she says. “It’s OK to cry and to look for signs everywhere that love never dies … and if you pay attention, you’ll find comfort, usually in nature.”

Camp Healing Tree director Val Hagerty says the closing ceremony, which includes reciting the names of participants’ loved ones before the butterflies are released, is powerful.  She says some of the butterflies land on campers before taking to the sky. “The emotion is like, This is my person coming to say hello or touch me,” Hagerty says. “It’s just a special moment to have that connection again with a person that’s gone.”

While the annual release usually includes anywhere from 50 to 100-plus butterflies, this year there are just 11. That’s despite Davis spending many more days in search of monarch eggs on milkweed plants, their only food source.  She can’t help but wonder if climate change has something to do with it.

Wendy Caldwell with the Monarch Joint Venture in Minnesota says it’s hard to know. While the International Union for the Conservation of Nature lists monarchs as “vulnerable,” Caldwell says the population can vary from place to place. “In my part of the world, we see monarchs daily and feel good about it,” she says. But she also notes that ongoing threats—including “the variables of climate change, pesticide use, and loss of habitat”—are real.

Davis says she’s done all she can to keep her 11 transitioning butterflies healthy and ready for takeoff. But whether it’s 100 monarchs taking flight or 11, there’s still power and hope in their journey.  

These monarchs belong to the migratory generation that will travel 2,000 miles to the mountains of Central Mexico, where they’ll winter, and return to the southern U.S. in late March/early April to breed, lay eggs, and die, providing life for the next generation.

It’s a journey not lost on those sending them off. These beautiful creatures are delicate and fragile but also strong and determined. Ryder says their transition from egg, to caterpillar, to chrysalis, and finally to butterfly is the perfect metaphor for death. The monarch “is in its darkest place before it busts out its wings,” she says, “which is the miracle of camp: busting down the doors that grief brings.”

The post The Butterfly Effect appeared first on Indianapolis Monthly.

I’m positive that by now, everyone has witnessed Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever in action. How could you not? Even the most casual sports fan can’t miss the impact Clark has on her sport. I say “her sport” because it is her sport right now, and everybody else is just playing in it.

It’s being called the Caitlin Clark Effect, much like the Michael Jordan Effect and the Larry Bird Effect. Whatever you call it, Clark reigns supreme in the public/media eye for now. And why not? There is even a name for the increased revenue she’s brought the WNBA— Caitlin-nomics.

Opponents love to see her come to town because their arenas sell out. Courtside seats cost in the thousands. Las Vegas set a new attendance record of 22,000 to watch Clark and the Fever get blown out by 20.

She is setting rookie records weekly and recently recorded the first ever triple-double for a rookie in a July home win over the mighty New York Liberty. The Fever were on a roll leading up to the break in their season for the Olympics. Clark led all players in fan votes (700,735) for the All-Star team. Teammate Aliyah Boston came in second (618,680).

But despite all Clark’s accolades, records, interviews, commercials, and shoe deals, one player does not a team make. Other Fever players are present on the court and, despite their lack of publicity, form the core of this WNBA team.

So, let’s start with fellow All-Star Boston. She is the Fever’s original building block. Her talent gave the fledgling team credibility during last year’s late-season push, and now her play contributes a solid inside presence and defensive stability.

The more I watch her and Clark work together on the pick and roll, with Clark dumping down to a rolling Boston for an easy deuce, I see why Boston was a No. 1 draft pick, a collegiate All-American selection, and Player of the Year when she was with the University of South Carolina. She is a powerhouse.

She’s much more effective scoring off the dribble, attacking her defender, rather than off the block. Plus, when given the time to line her feet up, she’s a capable 3-point shooter, at 40 percent, and is nearly a 50-percent shooter from the field. She’s not an automatic double-double yet but is working her way there quickly.

Then there is the third Fever All-Star, point guard Kelsey Mitchell, an exceptional scorer to say the least. This Ohio State grad and second overall pick by the Fever in the 2019 draft is a tough, gritty player who can fill up the hoop quickly. She came into this season as third in franchise history in points scored, third in field goals made, and second in 3-point field goals made.

Her outside prowess allows her to drive to the basket with ease, in part because of her ball-handling skills. In a recent road win, she singlehandedly brought the Fever back from the jaws of defeat by popping in 16 points in the second half after going scoreless in the first half. She raised her 3-point shooting from 40.5 percent to over 51 percent while leading the Fever in scoring at 16.6 PPG.

NaLyssa Smith was a 2022 No. 2 selection and lived up to the pick by making the All-Rookie team. She also participated in the WNBA All-Star Skills Challenge, averaging 13.5 points and 7.9 rebounds. She shot 41.9 percent from the field in the 22 games she started in as a rookie.

Smith is flourishing in her role as the team’s blue-collar worker. She’s a “do whatever it takes for the team to win” kind of player, which is a valuable commodity for any squad, currently pulling down eight rebounds per game and disrupting opponents’ inside plans with her defense.

Watching her play and on-court interactions with her teammates improve as the season progresses has been compelling; she has an uncanny ability to shed her defensive person and get “lost” in the offense, only to pop down the lane wide open for a pass from Clark and an easy two. Smith is also scoring well this season, averaging over 11 points per game and 1.3 assists.

Coming off the bench is veteran forward Katie Lou Samuelson, the 2019 fourth overall pick by the Chicago Sky. She has a well-traveled career so far, with the Fever being her fifth WNBA team. She plays over 18 minutes per contest, and she brings a calm experience to the lineup. She’s not a big scorer anymore (5 PPG), but she certainly was a scorer when she played for UConn.

Erica Wheeler is another savvy veteran off the bench. Originally undrafted out of Rutgers, Wheeler is in her second stint with Indiana after playing elsewhere for two seasons. Her assist to turnover ratio is nearly 2 to 1, and she shoots a high percentage (88.9 percent) from the charity stripe, which increases her value in late-game situations.

Moving on to guard Lexie Hull, the sixth pick in the 2022 draft. Now in her third season with the Fever, Hull played in 26 games her rookie season and prior to that was a pivotal member of the 2021 Stanford national championship team. Her emphasis this season is on defense, but she is a more than capable ball handler when Mitchell and Clark are on the bench.

For some local talent, Grace Berger, the seventh overall pick in 2023 out of Indiana, is coming on strong. The four-time All-Big Ten selection is averaging just less than 4 points per game so far and grabbing two rebounds per contest.

As one can see by looking at the draft positions of the Fever roster over the past four years, this team is jam-packed with youthful talent, and it is just a matter of time before they begin to win more consistently.

The victory over the Liberty recently provided a key win over one of the WNBA’s elite teams. As it stands now, that home win was only the second over a team with a winning record.

Caitlin Clark will be Caitlin Clark. She’ll get what she’ll get and set records in the process. But for the Fever to attain greatness—which is within their grasp—the players behind the player that propelled them to being a household name must also be pretty darn talent. And lest we forget, they are.

The post Naysayer: The Superstars Of The Indiana Fever Not Named Caitlin Clark appeared first on Indianapolis Monthly.

ESTABLISHED IN 2011, the Choice Scholarship Program allows parents to use state funds to opt out of the public school system and send their kids to a participating parochial or nonreligious private school. As another academic year dawns, here’s a quick review.

INDIANA’S VOUCHER PLAN IS GROWING BRISKLY. Enrollment in the Choice Scholarship Program ballooned in 2023–24 to 70,095 students, a 31-percent increase over the previous school year and the largest year-over-year jump ever. The money the state handed out for vouchers also increased massively, reaching $439 million in tuition grants to parochial or other private schools. That’s a 40-percent increase over the previous year.

VOUCHERS AREN’T THE ONLY FINANCIAL AID ON OFFER. Parents can also avail themselves of education savings accounts and tax-credit scholarships. The Indiana Education Scholarship Account Program, which went into effect in July 2024, allows students with disabilities (and their siblings) to use dedicated scholarship money for approved educational programs, therapies, and other education-related expenses. Also, a School Scholarship Tax Credit is available to those donating to scholarshipgranting organizations.

SIMILAR PROGRAMS HAVE TAKEN HOLD IN OTHER STATES TOO. According to EducationWeek, as of June 2024, 29 states plus the District of Columbia offer some form of financial assistance to parents to facilitate school choice. The first was established in Milwaukee in 1990.

THE GROUP OF HOOSIER STUDENTS WHO QUALIFY NOW INCLUDES … PRETTY MUCH ALL OF THEM. When voucher programs initially gained traction around the country, they were often presented as a way to create more educational options for low-income families stuck with whatever public school their kids were assigned to. This was also the argument originally presented in Indiana. But in 2023, the Indiana General Assembly repealed most student qualification requirements (including previous enrollment in a public school) and allowed even higher-income families to get vouchers. For the 2024–25 school year, the salary cap for a family of four rose to $230,880. In other words, it’s now possible to have private school tuition underwritten with public funds, even for children who already attend a private school and whose family’s income is well above Indiana’s household median of $66,800.

THE “GIVING DISADVANTAGED FAMILIES CHOICES” MOTIVE FOR VOUCHERS HAS BECOME HARDER TO DEFEND. The Indiana Department of Education describes the typical Hoosier voucher student as a white, elementary school–age girl from a four- or five-person household with an income of almost $100,000. White students make up 64 percent of voucher users, up about 2.5 percent from the 2022–23 school year. The number of Black students with vouchers dropped half a percent over the same time span to 8.9 percent, while the number of Hispanic voucher-using students declined from 19 percent to 17.3 percent.

THE NUMBER OF PRIVATE SCHOOLS THAT ACCEPT VOUCHERS IS ALSO INCREASING. The Indianapolis-based pro-voucher group EdChoice reports that during the 2023–24 school year, 357 private schools participated in the program statewide. That’s a near-doubling of available learning facilities since the program was instituted in 2011. The two private schools receiving the most students and funds from the voucher program, both of which happen to be in Indianapolis, are Heritage Christian School (883 students and $5,697,076) and Roncalli High School (854 students and $5,651,614). Fourteen schools joined the program in 2023–24, the biggest expansion of any year since the program’s inception. Critics worry because private schools don’t have to meet the same reporting or transparency standards as public schools. Democratic state lawmakers tried to prevent voucher funds from going to private schools that discriminate against the LGBTQ+ community on religious grounds but were unable to overcome the state’s Republican supermajority.

VOUCHERS TYPICALLY DON’T COVER PRIVATE SCHOOL EXPENSES IN THEIR ENTIRETY. The calculation of a particular student’s voucher is based on family income. During the 2023–24 school year, the average award amount was $6,264, while the average price of private school tuition and fees was $7,749.

THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS USING VOUCHERS IS STILL FAIRLY LOW, BUT THEIR RANKS ARE SLOWLY GROWING. According to the Indiana Department of Education, only about 6 percent of all Indiana students use vouchers. Almost 87 percent of Indiana’s K-12 population attended public schools in the 2023–24 academic year, roughly half a percentage point less than the 2022–23 year. That percentage is expected to shrink again when 2024–25 numbers are in.

CONTROVERSY SWIRLS AROUND THE PROGRAM. The state still maintains that as many Indiana families as possible should be able to avail themselves of choices in education. Opponents point out that every voucher handed to a parent is essentially money out of the pocket of the public school system they rejected. Also, the latest state numbers indicate that use of the program is growing most rapidly in segments of Hoosier society that arguably need it the least. During the 2023–24 school year, almost 8,000 voucher students hailed from households earning between $150,000 to $200,000 annually. The number of students from households taking in more than $200,000 rose almost tenfold, from 354 in 2022–23 to 3,700 in 2023–24. The number of children from those two brackets accounted for more than half of the program’s total growth of 16,720 students in 2023–24. During that same timeframe, the number of voucher families making less than $100,000 grew by only 14 percent.

The post Speed Read: Spoiled For Choice appeared first on Indianapolis Monthly.

(1) Indy Art & Soul Night at The Alley, August 2 Singer/songwriter Allison Victoria, Dexter Clardy of Shvdy Rollins, and spoken word artist Jus Will are the spotlighted artists. Attendees can access Gallery 924’s opening night after the show. thecabaret.org

(2) Indiana State Fair, August 2–18
The big summer event is themed “The Art & Nature of Fun” in partnership with Newfields. Don’t miss the Great American Duck Races, the walk-through lantern sculptures of Illuminate! Outdoors, or the street corn pizza. indianastatefair.com

(3) DCI World Championship Finals, August 8
Drum corps semifinalists beat a path to Lucas Oil Stadium to show off their precision and artistry in brass, percussion, and color guard sections in “Marching Music’s Major League.” dci.org/events

(4) IndyFringe Festival, August 15–25 Some 300 eclectic performances in the realms of theater, dance, music, comedy, and more are set to enliven the Cultural District and Fountain Square. indyfringe.org/festival

(5) Feast of Lanterns, August 24
This beloved near-eastside festival dates back to the late 1800s. Today, colorful lanterns light up Spades Park alongside local musicians, more than 80 artisan vendors, food trucks, and a beer and wine garden. indyfol.org

The post Best Bets: August appeared first on Indianapolis Monthly.

BREWERIES, CAFES, RETAIL STORES, and even libraries in Central Indiana have gotten a clear message from the 70,000 or so folks who make the pilgrimage here for Gen Con, the annual tabletop gaming convention. Lots of people like playing board games, and not only during convention weekend in August.

Businesses’ next move, if you will, was clear. Many have realized having a selection of such games on-site will get patrons to stick around—or even to come by in the first place. The notion is not only good for business, but it’s great for game lovers. We’ve sussed out unexpected spots with carefully curated selections where we can all have some good old-fashioned fun. No beat-up boxes, tattered game boards, and missing pieces here. We’ve checked them all out for you in person.

CENTERPOINT BREWING
The Broad Ripple location has plenty of space to spread out with one of the games neatly showcased near the bar. They wisely connected with Noblesville’s Moonshot Games in 2022 to curate a collection that includes such popular mass market titles as Exploding Kittens and Codenames, as well as lesser-known but worthy options such as Skull and A Fake Artist Goes to New York. Bonus: You can order food from the adjacent 317 BBQ. Just wash your hands before grabbing a game. 6320 Guilford Ave., 317-602-8386

BOOKS & BREWS
From its inception, this locally grown company has been a welcoming spot for patrons to bring their own games or take one off the sample shelves. Watch the calendar for an occasional Catan tournament (no experience necessary). Be aware, though, that scheduled live trivia and open mic events may make certain times inconducive to games requiring quiet concentration. 9402 Uptown Dr., 317-288-5136

HITHERTO COFFEE & GAMING PARLOUR
A terrific fusion of cafe and game store, this Greenfield mainstay has a borrowable library almost as rich as its extensive for-sale collection. At Hitherto, you can sip a cold brew or munch on a flatbread pizza while encountering Cosmic Encounter, daring your friends to a Challengers! face-off, or paying a nostalgic visit to Candy Land. Table space may be limited during busy times, but you can always occupy yourself with a pastry while you wait. 1558 N. State St., Greenfield, 317-318-9782

MASHCRAFT BREWING
Well before you reach your table at this Delaware Street drinkery, you’ll discover a cabinet stuffed with tabletop games. Grab a Golden Goose or a Lemonberry and take your pick. The offerings aim to please the masses (Scattergories, Taboo), the hobbyists (Dominion, 7 Wonders), and those in between (Ticket to Ride, Splendor). 2205 N. Delaware St., 317-602-2552

FLGS

That’s gamer parlance for Friendly Local Game stores. Many also serve as community centers of sorts, where folks can shop but also try out games. (Some may have table fees.) Family Time Games (8796 Michigan Rd., 317-429-9817), Valkyrie’s Vault (1044 E. Main St., Brownsburg, 317-520-3565), Saltire Games (11135 Pendleton Pike, 317-823-1645), the new Elf ’N Moon (1354 Shelby St., 317-600-3313), and local pioneer The Game Preserve (8487 Union Chapel Rd., 317-257-9110) are places where you can learn a new game or revisit old favorites from extensive collections. A big plus is that knowledgeable staff can help steer you toward your new all-time favorite.

Local libraries: Along with your book pile, you can borrow games from select library locations, including Hamilton County’s Noblesville and Fishers branches. Both offer a wide range of popular picks that includes Great Western Trail, King of Tokyo, and Pandemic (the latter may still be too close to home for some). While you need to be a Hamilton Country resident to check them out at those branches, anyone can play on-site.

The Garage food hall: Free every Tuesday from 6 to 9 p.m., the Game Night Social is an opportunity to try out a new pursuit, rediscover an old standby, and meet new people. You’ll find about 50 games to choose from. All ages are welcome. 906 Carrollton Ave., 317-556-1252

The post Fun: Gen Con Alternatives appeared first on Indianapolis Monthly.

• Races happen only on weekends through mid-October.
• Grandstand seating is first come, first served. But the “nosebleed” section is still close enough to smell rubber and gasoline.
• July 20 is Hall of Fame Night.
• You can buy a pit pass—but only the day of—in the office at the north end of the track.
• Bring your earbuds. You can listen to the public address live.
• Teacher? Show your school ID for a discount.
• Don’t even think about bringing your dog.
• Or a cooler.
• It’s great for kids, but find the no smoking, no alcohol section: the aluminum seats on the south end.
• Get live timing and scoring on the Race Monitor app.

The post Unspoken Rules: Indianapolis Speedrome appeared first on Indianapolis Monthly.

Q: WHERE CAN I LEGALLY LAUNCH MY BOAT ON THE WHITE RIVER?
A: If we’re talking about a canoe or a kayak, you can use any stretch of undeveloped bank that isn’t private property. But if you captain something bigger, like a pontoon boat, you need a concrete ramp plus a length of river that’s deep enough to accommodate your craft, which is not a given. (You can walk across it without getting your knees wet in some stretches.) “Right now, the only public launch site in Marion County is at Broad Ripple Park,” says Scott Salmon, executive director of Friends of the White River. Another one at Riverside Park is currently hampered by construction on the nearby 30th Street Bridge. A new public access spot on the Indianapolis near–west side, roughly across the river from 16 Tech, is being built. The ramp isn’t finished, but the daring can still launch there. “It’s really muddy, but it’s technically another option for people who are brave enough—and who have four-wheel drive pickups,” Salmon says.

The post The Hoosierist: Ramp Up appeared first on Indianapolis Monthly.

PEPPERS, cruciferous vegetables, tomatoes, corn, and watermelons abound beneath soaring cottonwoods, their rows bracketed by planters brimming with larkspur, pink and purple cosmos, and native wildflowers that draw bees and butterflies. A playground where children from the on-site daycare center play sits tucked between the small farm and a low, painted brick building, where neighbors on their way in or out pause for conversation. Across a parking lot, a stand of apple, persimmon, and pawpaw trees shade a field next to the bright blue Cleo’s Bodega, perched at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. and 24th streets. This expansive oasis makes up Flanner House, founded in 1898 to provide Indy’s newly arrived Southern Black migrants with medical care, job training, housing, and childcare. The farm was established in 2016 by current director Brandon Cosby to address Riverside’s food apartheid. The community members who maintain it use only low-barrier methods that neighbors can adopt in their own yards. The bodega—which offers cafe fare, produce from the farm, and groceries—came in 2019, followed by Ujamaa Community Bookstore in 2021. Visitors are always welcome and are especially encouraged to stop by the bodega for a bite and music on the outdoor patio or the bookstore for game nights, workshops, book clubs, and more.

The post Back Story: Flanner House appeared first on Indianapolis Monthly.

Golden specks of light shimmer along the canal, illuminating the water and reflecting against the dark of the night and the city lights. For an hour, about 3,000 Water Lantern Festival attendees set their lanterns afloat on the Indianapolis Central Canal next to Military Park. Each lantern has something different written or drawn on it: goals, reminders, remembrances of family or friends who have died, doodles, and more.

The festival is a national event that occurs in cities across the U.S. during which people of all ages come together, enjoy live music and food trucks, and decorate water lanterns to release on a river, pond, or canal. The festival is environmentally friendly, the lanterns composed of a wooden base with four small wooden rods to hold up the rice paper and an LED light that sits in the middle. Buoy lines are also placed into the water to collect the lanterns at the end.

“Everyone comes to the Water Lantern Festival for a different reason,” Alec Zaitz, Water Lantern Festival event coordinator says. “There’s people there that are just there for a fun date. There’s people there that come to mourn the loss of a loved one. There’s some people that come as they’re setting new goals in life, as a refresh, a restart.” The goal is to create a positive environment for people to express themselves through releasing a lantern onto the water.

Lucy Villa, 75, is at the festival with her friend and “daughter” Susan Truelove, 58. They have been friends for 26 years and go everywhere together, whether it’s attending the lantern festival or road-tripping. “My almost daughter, I love her so much,” Villa says. “That is the only reason I’m here today.”

Villa has decorated the four sides of her lantern with flowers, hearts, and the U.S. flag. “The flag of your beautiful country,” she says.

Truelove not only came to the festival for the warm weather and the sense of community but also for the company of her “Columbiana mama.”

“You know, she’s my second mama,” Truelove says. “It means everything spending time with her. She’s like my bestie.”

Each side of her lantern contains an optimistic message written in black ink: hope, love, joy, and peace. The words symbolize her desire for a more tender and compassionate society.

Villa and Truelove savor seeing the happy faces of the festival attendees, the lightening of spirits, the sense of joy and encouragement.

Another duo with a friendship lasting over 30 years—Tammy Blakley, 65, and Amber Stanley, 61—lay on a blanket in the middle of a grass field with their colorfully designed lanterns.

Shades of yellow, orange, and purple make up a sun on one side of Blakley’s lantern, while a moon makes up another. Blakley has written, “Let Your Light Shine,” above the sun, representing her business, Blake and Blakley Production, which has the motto, “Let the Light Shine Down On You.”

The third side lists the names of five of Blakley’s friends dating back to grade school. The fourth side lists the qualities she has strived to cultivate in herself throughout her life: love, kindness, bravery, and strength. “Because God teaches us to love one another, and these attitudes touch upon all these things,” she says.

Blakley is also there to support Stanley, whose mother recently passed away. “It means a lot to me just to be here to come and support Amber and allow us to spend time together,” Blakley says.

Stanley is there because she believes her mom would’ve enjoyed it, but she also wants to reflect on life while being surrounded by like-minded people and spread her love and kindness to others. “They’re all strangers because they’re not my friends yet,” Stanley says. “I could make friends with all of these people.” Two years in remission from stage 4 ovarian cancer, she feels lucky to be there.

Her lantern expresses her sense of hope and zeal for life. “I love rainbows. I love color,” she says. “I love to be bright and vibrant and color outside the lines.” And color outside the lines she has.

A fluorescent yellow flower takes up most of the empty white space on one side of her lantern, while another side has a green-colored sun with pink rays. A third side is dedicated to her mom, with the writing, “MOM … I hope you see this. Love & miss you!” and Stanley’s seven grandkids’ names below. “She never gave up on me when she could’ve many times,” Stanley says. “Just like God never gave up on me.” The last side has a green peace sign with a message about doing what you love.

Others have chosen to decorate their lanterns as a team. Zachary Verbarg, 26, Riley Chambers, 25, and Audrey Bannec, 27, sit in lawn chairs passing around their lanterns so each can contribute to the others’ with artwork and messages.

Verbarg, a graphic designer, incorporates 3D geometric designs similar to the doodles he once did on his math papers to signify how he got his start as an artist.

When the time eventually comes to place his lantern on the water, he doesn’t want to let it go because of the effort he put into it. He jokes, “I was thinking about putting my name and my address so it could be returned, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

As a nature lover who has visited 12 out of Indiana’s 24 state parks, he enjoys the festival’s natural setting in the midst of downtown.

He, Chambers, and Bannec are the type of friends who are able to make sudden plans, which they did when they decided to attend the festival after seeing an Instagram post about it the night before.

Chambers’ lantern has a special message for her mom, who died when she was 15. “I put that I miss her and that I love her,” she says. “She’s just the person that was able to provide me the comfort, and strength, and knowledge that I needed.” Now, Verbarg and Bannec are her “everything,” the people she can rely on.

Bannec—unable to decide what message to put on her lantern—has simply added cute flowers, squiggles, and dots to hers.

Another trio who found the event through social media includes Christopher Rost, 41, who has been fascinated with lanterns since he was a best man in a wedding about 20 years ago during which the bride and groom released sky lanterns. Rost invited his friend Brian Hedger, 41, and Hedger’s partner.

Rost has colored half of his lantern with the rainbow pride flag. “As a gay man, I think you’re constantly evolving, and growing, and figuring out who you are,” he says. He continues to learn more about himself and embrace who he is. The other half contains an uplifting message for himself and others, as well as a reminder to be thankful and love each other.

Though Rost and Hedger have known each other since high school, the festival is a way to appreciate their rekindled friendship and release good energy.

Hedger’s lantern has a different design on each side: the flag of Ecuador, representing where his partner is from; the U.S. flag, representing his own home country; his partner’s and Rost’s names; and the names of his three kids. “I wanted to include them and have something simple. I can’t wait to see it go down the canal here,” he says.

Though this is just a fraction of the attendees out of an estimated 3,000, each of their lanterns is a meaningful and unique memento. As the sun sets, they release the lanterns onto the water and let their messages be carried on its gentle current. Relaxing music plays over the speakers as some sit in silence, some embrace each other, some cry, and some smile, and the canal sparkles in the night.

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