As the founder and Director of Fort Wayne Cultural Affairs, 2011 is notable for me because it marks my involvement in Fort Wayne’s entertainment landscape in some form or another in every decade since the 1970‘s. While Fort Wayne Cultural Affairs gears up to create some new history, the future of the company and the activities we have planned will definitely reflect many of these past activities, some more recent and some from the more distant past. These were some of the highlights from the last few decades . . .

It started back in the 1970’s with the idea to produce concerts featuring local and regional bands at various area venues. One such venue being the earliest incarnation of the Foellinger Outdoor Theater, which at that time featured a staging area and rows of benches on a grassy hillside with no roof overhead. The company, at that time called GLD Productions, a business which consisted of a teenager and a home telephone, started out presenting several shows there and at the old National Guard Armory in downtown Fort Wayne. One early highlight came in the Spring of 1974. Glam rock and beer bashes were all the rage, not necessarily at the same event. In a bold move for the times, we asked the musical question “Fort Wayne are you ready for the NEW YORK DOLLS ?” Some were, others were not. Not glam rock country? Perhaps a better shot at success with the beer bash. The first event was a band with some regional success called ROADMASTER, most of whom would go on to back up resident Hoosier rocker, John Mellencamp. And somewhere in the archives lies an unfulfilled contract for the next beer bash that did not happen for reasons long forgotten. The band - STYX - for a flat fee of $1,000.00 Then it was on to Broadway musicals such as the one featuring the music and band mates of ELVIS in a production performed live at the Performing Arts Center, now the Arts United Center.

Still in the 1970’s an unplanned internship becomes an opportunity to become an employee of the Parks and Recreation Department. After volunteering many hours and weekends helping to organize the weekly concert series, I was offered a paid position to design and produce events as part of a federally funded program. We called our events lineup Summer In The City. Our public parks were the designated event sites for awide variety of free, all-ages concerts and events, including weekly Sunday afternoon concerts by some of Fort Wayne’s finest bands at Swinney and Memorial Parks, weekday lunchtime entertainment in Freimann Square and Rock, Country and Bluegrass concerts at the Foellinger Theater. Marx Bothers and Woody Allen film festivals were shown at our outdoor “walk-in” movie theater on a big screen installed on the exterior wall on the West side of what was then the Performing Arts Center. Audiences members would bring their chairs or relax in the grass on blankets. We presented acoustic music concerts featuring musicians from the Fort Wayne Philharmonic partnered with local folk performers and even some live theater, like the one-man play about Woody Guthrie staged in the middle of Freimann Square.

Then came the 1980’s. In keeping with my goal of always trying to work in my field of interest, I played disc jockey doing a Morning Jazz program at then, WIPU, now WBOI, and later at our venerable rock radio institution, WXKE - Rock 104. Also, more Parks and Recreation experience as Theater Crew Supervisor at the Foellinger Theater. This led to another notable GLD Productions event in 1982. With funding from the Indiana Arts Commission and the Lincoln National Foundation we produced two free concerts featuring the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra at the Foellinger Theater in what I believe was the first, and to date, the last visit to Fort Wayne by the orchestra.

Next stop, Los Angeles, California for more opportunities and interesting learning experiences. In the mid-1980's as one of the co-founders of The Arts for Africa, a proposed mega-event which would provide an opportunity for major contemporary visual artists, Classical and Jazz performers to lend their talents to assist with fund-raising efforts for African famine relief. This event would also be one of the first major events to draw attention to, and provide financial assistance for the homeless situation in this country. Alas, many great artists committed, some resources identified, but not enough to bring the event to fruition. A noble effort and an outstanding event that would have had a huge impact, but sometimes the learning experience alone is the outcome. Many more memorable stints to follow, including working at the American Film Institute, The Hollywood Bowl and even an opportunity to work for rock & roll Icon and concert promoter, Bill Graham at his Los Angeles theater. My term of employment included a fateful Saturday morning in October, 1991 when several staff members arrived at the theater to inform me of the news of Mr. Graham's death in the helicopter crash the previous evening while leaving a Huey Lewis & The News concert.

And, of course, during these times there was more presenting of live entertainment including some high profile guests performing at our poetry and spoken word events which were presented as fund-raisers for local homeless services organizations by my new non-profit called Global Arts Productions, Noted performers included a Pulitzer Prize winning author, Hubert Selby Jr., an original Yippie, Paul Krassner, and memorable appearances by such counter-culture representatives as Danny Sugarman (The Doors author) and the mythical 60.s icon, Dr. Timothy Leary. Dr. Leary’s visit was to show support for some community involvement at the time which included our efforts to save the historic Venice Beach Pavilion, alas to no avail, torn down finally by forces bigger than us.

Now it’s the 90’s and it’s full circle back to Fort Wayne to form a new non-profit company called Fort Wayne Music Fest. Our mission - to revisit some of the old Summer In The City programs and to introduce some new events. Headquartered at The Loft in downtown Fort Wayne we begin our activities at what will soon become Fort Wayne’s newest alternative performance space. We implement a schedule of original productions of rock music, jazz, poetry and folk music along with some and blues, bluegrass and classical music. A particularly vibrant local music scene at the time led to our first Fort Wayne Music Fest event. Local performers presenting all original material at an event called FORT WAYNE ROCKS. It was 1996, and it did. We finally began making some progress on our plans to re-introduce the Swinney Park concerts series, an activity that had apparently not been attempted since my departure many years prior. Our success finally resulted in the return of a series of great outdoor concerts to West Swinney Park, in addition to some new events presented during several years of our annual participation in Fort Wayne’s Three Rivers Festival. These events welcomed the return of many of our original audience members from the “old days” along with a new generation of music fans wanting to experience the ideal setting for an afternoon of live music; outdoors in the sunshine, in one of the city‘s most picturesque park locations. Due to popular demand, we eventually expanded our calendar of programming to include five annual presentations of The Summertime Blues Concert In The Park. This event took place every Fall officially marking the end of Summer. We also included several other outdoor concerts featuring Country music and special events sponsored by local radio stations spotlighting local artist CD releases. We welcomed a national touring group of actors in the presentation of the first Shakespeare In The Park event. Another excellent, free production. We combined nature and live Folk music at the first Fox Island Folk Festival, and much success with another annual event, several editions of our Rock on Film series featuring classic and historic Rock concert films set in a live concert setting.

This brings us to the turn of the century, a new millennium and to the present day. Some recent activities have included a couple of very fun and enjoyable events, one celebrating the 40th anniversary of The Woodstock Music & Art Fair, a 75th birthday tribute and, by popular demand, an encore performance of said tribute to iconic poet, songwriter, performer, Leonard Cohen and most recently an outstanding and heartfelt tribute from the local music community paying respect to our friend and a highly-esteemed local musician, George Ogg. And, raising over $10,000 for his charity. . . .

. . . and now it's onward into some new decades with more chapters to be included in the FORT WAYNE CULTURAL AFFAIRS section.