INSIDE THIS ISSUE Christmas Concerts ....................................................B3, B11 Community Calendar ...................................................B10-11 Downtown Holiday Events ............................................A5-10 Holiday Activities ........................................A14, A15, B1, B6
Serving New Haven & East Allen County
INfortwayne.com
November 14, 2014
Christmas tradition by the pound By Garth Snow
Church halls fill with visitors and members shopping for cookies of every kind. The cookies are shaped like bells or Santas. The cookies taste of lemon or date. They’re covered with frosting or sugar. The cookie walks take on new bakers and add new memories each generation, as they raise money for church charities and send homebaked goods on to other homes. Bakers from several local churches shared their stories with this newspaper. FILE PHOTO
Karen Bojrab, left, Linda Menshy and Deb Tubergen bake cookies for a Saint Joseph United Methodist Church Cookie Walk. This year’s sale will be from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6, at the church, 6004 Reed Road
charity. But charity, after all, is the whole reason for the project. “We fund Bible studies,” Tubergen said. “And we help kids go to camp who wouldn’t be able to otherwise. Just any need of the church.” The project begins many days before the sale.
“We baked 1,080 cookies in our church one Monday, and we freeze them, and we take them out the week of the Cookie Walk, and we have the most talented people decorate them,” Tubergen said before last year’s sale. Shoppers will choose from among cookies of
Fantasy of Lights ready to brighten Franke Park By Garth Snow gsnow@kpcmedia.com
FILE PHOTO BY JANE SNOW
A Nativity scene tells the Christmas story. Fantasy of Lights winds 1.5 miles through Franke Park woods.
of Lights. Dan became interested in the annual light show about 15 years ago, before Linda’s retirement, and stepped up his involvement after his own retirement from Norfolk Southern railroad in 2008. “I set it up, take it down, maintain it, anything that has to be repaired I do that,” he said. “We couldn’t do it
without him. We just couldn’t have the show,” said Chris Palmer, the director of volunteers for AWS Foundation. “He’s done all the refurbishing.” Stuerzenberger, in turn, passed on a large share of the credit to Craig Schmidt, an AWS Foundation employee. Lynne Gilmore is the executive director of the See LIGHTS, Page A13
3306 Independence Drive, Fort Wayne, IN 46808
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About 15,000 visitors will begin arriving at the 20th annual Fantasy of Lights in Franke Park on Nov. 26. Dan Stuerzenberger has been working on the 32,000-bulb display for a month. Actually, he’s been helping to maintain the 71-feature display for 15 years. “We started this year, Oct. 8, bringing stuff onto the grounds,” the volunteer said. “It’s an everyday procedure. We work really closely with the [Allen County] Community Corrections. They help us set up the displays, and they’re just a really good group.” Stuerzenberger’s wife, Linda, is now retired from AWS Foundation, which sponsors and benefits from the Fantasy
Church bells join lights to greet holiday season By Garth Snow
gsnow@kpcmedia.com
St. Joseph United Methodist Church will see Deb Tubergen and the United Methodist Women holding their 10th cookie walk since the tradition began 11 years ago. This year’s sale will be 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6. The church is at 6004 Reed Road, at the corner of St. Joe Center Road. Volunteers will bake more than 5,000 cookies for the fundraiser. Some of the cookies might go to
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various shapes. Selections will be weighed and priced per pound. Candy also will be available. The Saint Rose Altar and Rosary Society found a silver lining in the clouds that dumped snow on their See TRADITION, Page A3
gsnow@kpcmedia.com
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Downtown Fort Wayne will light up the holiday season on Thanksgiving Eve, and then church bells will ring in the season. The sounding of the bells is new this year, said Amita Homco, the Night of Lights event coordinator for the Downtown Improvement District. The collective sound follows the fireworks at Parkview Field. First Presbyterian Church has coordinated with eight other churches to ring bells in unison. “The Night of Lights is a staple. It’s the biggest thing for us. We get 10,000-plus people downtown,” Homco said. “We get lots of people in Fort Wayne who want to make sure it’s going to be happening and just checking in, ‘When is the Night of Lights? When is Holly Trolley shopping?’ People are really excited about making time for their holiday tradition.” Lightings begin with the History Center turret at
5:15, then the Christmas wreath at the University of Saint Francis Performing Arts Center, 431 W. Berry St. Crowds also gather to see: Aunt Millie’s Northern Lights, Pearl Street; Santa and his Reindeer at PNC, Main and Calhoun streets; and Wells Fargo Holiday Display and Indiana Michigan Power Christmas wreath at Indiana Michigan Power Center, formerly known as One Summit Square. “It’s also a really nice night because the courthouse is open. You’re allowed to bring your camera and your phone in and take pictures inside the courthouse,” Homco said. “The lighting and having cocoa and walking around, the fireworks — that is probably the biggest holiday fest that we have. It really kicks off the season and gets us in the Christmas spirit.” That spirit continues in events that follow.
Holiday list: Page A5