As hundreds of cyclists poured through the Summit City, there was hope that the event would not only bring some exercise and entertainment to the participants but hopefully a changed view of the community in general.
FORT WAYNE – Keep your fist real tight, then real light.
Strike at the bottom of the fist, not the wrist.
And, please, please, make sure you say, “Tee-yah!”
Cassie Wells could barely maintain a straight face throughout sensei Steve Basche’s board-breaking instructions, but the end result was nonetheless satisfying: a splintered wooden plank, dangling apart by a few stubborn sinews.
Wells, an independent beauty consultant from the neighboring Mary Kay tent, was just another curious passer-by Thursday at the Crocs Marketplace, a vendor fair at Headwaters Park West that’s part of the Fort Wayne Newspapers Three Rivers Festival.
The Basche’s Martial Arts booth advertised free, impromptu lessons on how to split a wooden board.
Karate student Hope Stafford, who manned the information table while Basche oversaw the cracking demonstration, recalled the initial hesitation of other festivalgoers.
“So many people come up – ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t do that, I can’t do that,’ ” she said.
But Wells said she was more than confident with her wood-smashing abilities. She added the ultimate task “wasn’t too difficult,” and Basche’s assuredness contributed to her optimistic approach.
“She broke a board in heels,” a nearby co-worker said between suppressed giggles as Basche scribbled his Sharpie-red signature on the souvenir scrap. “Make sure you tell them you’re with Mary Kay.”
Deals on wheels
Thumbing through a handful of glossy pamphlets outside the AARP and Walgreens Wellness Tour bus Thursday, Debra Beyer realized she may have to schedule a few new doctor appointments soon.
The 52-year-old East Allen County Schools cook said the traveling health fair, which offers $100 worth of medical tests, was “very informative” but also eye-opening on her bone density and cholesterol levels – “a lot of stuff I didn’t know about before that I now have to take care of.”
Beyer said she frequents the bus stop along Clinton Street at each year’s festival just to check up on her physical health.
In addition to the free tests Beyer was administered, the bus clinic provides glucose and blood pressure readings as well as waist circumference and body mass analyses.
“They’re all popular, brother,” tour manager Joe Traversy said, fanning out fair literature on a bright red table outside the equally bright red bus.
“People who come here – it’s the economy. Even if they’re not losing their job, they’re losing their insurance at their job.”
He said the towering bus behind him is one of 10 vehicles assigned to a north-south strip, with his tour unit responsible for a region stretching from Michigan to Alabama.
Attendance rates vary by both city and weather, but the Fort Wayne stop is usually a reliable venture, Traversy added.
“It always slows down a little when it’s hot like this,” he said, adding the bus tour just finished a sweltering stint in 103-degree Louis- ville, Ky. “Indiana’s always been good to us.”
The Wellness Tour will remain in Headwaters Park 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. today and Saturday. Its next venue will be the Coldwater Road Walgreens from noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday.
Unenviable task
That borderline-impossible feat of soothing a leaping, fidgeting dog – that’s the unenviable role Jim McKinley assumed at Thursday’s Picture Your Pet photo shoot.
“That’s not as easy as it looks,” the independent photographer said while displaying a recent snapshot of two seemingly peaceful canines settled around some tennis balls.
In its second day, the annual photo opportunity at Lakeside Park attracted about 25 pet owners by dinner time and another 53 the previous day.
The total portrait count, hovering around 75 on Thursday evening, was a notable decrease from the typical take, said Peggy Bender, Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control community relations and education specialist.
“I will say it is a little down this year,” she added. “I don’t know. Maybe people are watching their pennies.”
Regardless, Bender, who started the festival event 26 years ago, said she has witnessed the bittersweet transformations of families and their furry companions over that time.
“The people who are coming out are still having a blast,” she said. “I’ve watched families grow up. I’ve seen pets pass away.”
And, of course, McKinley, who also runs a namesake photography business, is having a grand old time.
“Some of the rambunctious ones – most of the time, you can double-team and make something happen,” he said.
Picture Your Pet’s proceeds benefit safety education and bite prevention programs operated by the animal care and control center.
