Welcome back to another awesome look here at Experience Michiana.

We have some exciting things to share with you today.

And one of the things that I love most is Theatre.

And I'm really excited because Elkhart Civic Theatre is bringing things back here with Cinderella and they're checking out a really new place at the Goshen Theater that has just been refurbished, really excited for that one.

He also has a 10 trail challenge that Krista Bailey is going to be checking out for us.

You can actually win a prize for that that's pretty exciting.

But first up, we're checking out the Bird scooters here in Elkhart, and that's really exciting to see Kelly and riding on scooters.

Check it out.

What a beautiful day out here in Elkhart and really out here experiencing all the different things.

Lots of things to do this summer where you get the flower.

I it actually fell off here.

I definitely didn't break it because that would be a terrible thing.

But I wanted to give it to you.

Yeah.

I just love being on Experience Michiana with you, but I do love downtown Elkhart.

There's so much to see down here and there's so much that's around from the Botanic Gardens to the Lerner Theater to to restaurants.

Yeah, but I don't want to walk here.

I know I'm a little tired too.

And look at Kelly is here.

These scooters?

isn't this convenient.

Just like I was getting tired.

Yes.

Yes.

These are birds scooters, as you can see, lining up and down Civic Plaza here.

This is usually where the scooters are first thing in the morning.

So Bird is a private company.

Many people are familiar with bird scooters, are lime scooters and a lot of different cities.

I'm so Bird is another company, another provider.

And these scooters you will see all around downtown, people can pick them up from anywhere and yeah.

Get to their destinations.

Great.

Now, how long has this been here?

It's been a little over a month.

And they've been here.

They reach out to us late last year and said, hey, this is our plan.

We're coming to Elkhart.

And we said, OK, how can we make this happen?

So it's interesting because with the scooters, they are a private company, just like anybody that could own their own scooter or own their own bicycle, of course.

So we don't really have any control on whether or not they come here.

So since they told us we were they were coming, we had to make sure that they did that in the safest way possible, that we could get that information out to people.

So don't they need permission to have them just sitting here on the side of the road?

So its a little tricky.

Do I want to get into this?

No, they actually don't need permission.

They do need an agreement.

So there is an agreement with the city that they will be parked in a right of way.

So this is what we call our right of way, the pieces of property that the city owns.

So even in front of somebody's house, there is a piece of the sidewalk and then of the one that is actually city property that we call the right of way.

So that's the type of agreement that we would need, whether or not we'd be able to tell them to leave.

We don't even think we have the power to do that.

So it's in our best interest and for the best interests of the residents that are using them as well to make sure that they're here and that people are parking them safely.

So that's the key is when you're finished with them, they need to go in a safe spot.

Well, what has the response from the community been?

I think it's been a lot of surprise.

Obviously, we have some complaints, of course, of people saying these people are just zipping by on scooters.

It seems very unsafe.

We do encourage people to take a look at the bird agreement, user agreement that says you will be 18 years older and I can't do it for you're Kelly.

I'm out too.

You'll be eight years older and you will wear a helmet.

So whether or not people wear that helmet, that is entirely up to them.

OK, but that is where their personal responsibility using this scooter or any other type of scooter or moped, bicycle, et cetera.

So we we have seen so many people using them.

We can see our trolley stop over here just about a block away.

People hop off the trolley and then they have a few more blocks to go.

And it's really convenient for them to grab a scooter.

Yeah.

So I used one of these in a different city.

And one thing that I got caught out by that I didn't realize is, is that they're geo fenced often.

So there's certain areas that you're going along and all of a sudden it stops and you're like, what's wrong with my scooter?

And you think, Oh, I broke it.

Yeah, it's dead.

Is there anywhere downtown Elkhart that people can go so anywhere in downtown they can go?

We don't have them geo fence if we do have a festival or something going on, like when we had Jazz Fest.

Yeah, we did geo fence them away from the festival because we knew the pedestrian traffic would be so heavy.

We are encouraging people with signage to stay off of sidewalks because as you.

Writing them, you're not supposed to be on a sidewalk and we can see up and down Main Street what kind of hazard that would present with people coming in and out of shops and you have a scooter clipping by.

So that type of stay on off the sidewalks, the same for skateboards, bicycles, that sort of thing.

So, yeah, I mean, as people are grabbing them and going out and about, yeah.

They will find that if they get too far at the outskirts of the city, it will shut off.

And all of a sudden you're in Goshen, Niles, you're passing buggies on the side of the road.

You're in the wrong area.

Are they easy to ride.

I mean, I've never they are easy.

They are easy to ride.

Yeah.

Once you get on them, you kind of do a push start with your first time user.

It will throttle your speed back so it will slow you down from the top speed.

I think you have to use it a couple of times before it will let you go as fast as they can go.

How can they go?

I think it's 15 miles per hour and that doesn't sound like that's fast, but it's really fast when you're on Kelly.

I want to see you on this.

Yeah, I said I've never done it before.

Yeah, they really are a lot of fun.

And we see people so over an our NIBCO park ice skating area where there's a big sidewalk in the park.

That's a really fun place to ride because there's.

Yeah, you're not in a parking lot.

There's no cars, there's no traffic.

So that's a place where people can really get going very fast on these scooters.

I love it.

Yeah, me too.

Well, are you ready to take a scoop?

I'm ready.

This is my second time on one of these, so I'm pretty much a pro.

All right.

Well, I'll follow you.

You know, my thanks for coming to see us.

Thanks.

OK, can we go, like, just down there?

It will become very natural to you now.

Whoa, don't worry.

You won't.

So just stand on it.

OK, ok, so you got to push it with your left and put your thumb down here just to get a bit of speed.

But you don't have to, you have to push it all the way down.

I don't want to go fast.

Just wait a little bit as in like that's full.

So just a little bit you'll feel that and then you can let it off and it'll, you know, just what am I doing?

Push with your left foot thumb down.

Yeah, that's the brake down here.

Oh, you won't need the brake.

Don't worry about the brake that's overrated do you have to balance.

Yeah, it's two wheels so you have to just over Goshen.

You got this going.

You got this going.

There you go.

Watch out for the three oh oh oh, that's definitely not 15 miles an hour.

He is good at it.

And so I'm here with John, who's a fleet manager for the company that has these scooters here in Elkhart.

John, what made you think of bringing them to Elkhart?

Just working with Byrd and got them.

They wanted to put them in Elkhart.

And, you know, that's why we got them here now.

So how much does it cost?

Because I want to come it for a couple of minutes, which is going to cause people to go on.

It's a dollar to start and.

Thirty nine cents a minute, OK. And is there any cap on that or just keep on going.

No, you can just keep on going as long as you want.

All right.

So how far can you actually go.

Like if I'm here in downtown Elkhart, I want to go around the town, like what's the kind of live there's like a four or five mile range that you can go farther, but as soon as you shut it off, you're not going on it again.

You know, once you're going to turn it back on.

Yeah.

It's someone's got to pick it up.

And of course, then in order to be able to turn it off and and lock it again, you have to be within that region.

Right.

You can turn it off anywhere.

OK, but when you go to turn it back on and you're outside the range of OK, it won't move.

So what are the biggest challenges so far?

Like how do most people respect the equipment or how does that go?

No, that's the hardest part.

You know, we've probably recovered quite a few out of the river that's been thrown in the river.

Yeah.

Why would people do that?

I don't know.

They don't get the value of it.

So, John, how many of the scooters are there here?

And we have one hundred and eighty here in downtown Elkhart.. Wow.

That's a lot of scooter.

Yeah.

Also a lot of management.

Well, I'm glad that you guys and Byrd decided to bring it here to elkhart.

Yeah, there's so much to see.

I think it's a perfect downtown area for these.

Yeah.

You can ride everywhere.

You know, all the parks, you know, everything's connected here.

So if I want to ride it and go to the park, I can unlock it.

Takes me five minutes to get there.

So it's thirty nine cents.

Yeah.

If I unlock it when I'm there and it's still there when I come back, can I just start right again so it's not going to charge me.

Well as soon as you shut it off, you're done being charged, you get back on then you go again.

All right.

Well that's a look with it and I hope.

Thank you very much.

Keep them on the sidewalks of the roads and the rivers would be great.

All right.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Yes.

All the way down at.

Way, way better than I was.

I mean, look, I like it a lot, but that was my first time.

Not too bad I didn't fall.

Yeah, you didn't fall, but you did look about ninety five years old.

I'm not going to lie.

But you I mean, you look lovely as always.

My goodness.

But you know what?

It's a lot of fun.

It is a lot of fun.

But, you know, there's so many places to see.

Like, I don't know if you've ever been to the train museum that's down the end of Main Street.

I love it.

You know, you've got so many places to go and see the river walk and the island and down by NIPSCO Parkway, NIPSCO Parkway.

And it's just like, yeah, there's so many great places to sit.

And, you know, we've been kind of walking about Elkhart for a while today.

I said, go get some something to eat maybe.

I think we should go down to vanilla bean ice cream.

No, we've been there before.

I got so good.

All right.

You ready?

All right.

All right.

I'm not going to get OK. America's Funniest Home Videos.

OK, Dave appears to be a natural at this, but I have good news to report, no TV hosts were harmed in the production of bird scooters.

So that's the good news.

Everyone was safe.

Next up, we're checking out the Elkhart's Civic Theater, which is going to be showing Cinderella this weekend here at the Goshen Theater in Goshen.

Now, this is a new venue for them.

Really excited to show you that.

I'm going to be talking with the director as well as Uggla herself.

Check it out.

So maybe you lost a slipper.

Maybe you didn't.

But I know someone who has lost this race, at least Cinderella.

We're here at the Elkhart Civic Theater at the Goshen Theater here in Goshen.

And this is an amazing space.

Use this your first time using the Goshen Theater for this.

It is the first time it is actually my first time being in this building since they've renovated it.

And it is so beautiful in here.

And I understand it seats a lot of people in here.

So you can fill the audience.

Yes, we're hoping so.

Oh, it's now Cinderella.

Being here at the theater really is something special.

I feel like this is one of the as a Broadway adaptation.

It's from the original, which of course, I know Matt is the director and we were just talking about my favorite version of Cinderella.

What makes it so special to what makes it so special for me is really it's the role of the fairy godmother, because in in this version, she starts out, as, you know, an old bag lady.

And then later, when Ella is kind to her, she transforms into the fairy godmother.

And that is a pivotal difference between the original and the Broadway version.

That is special to me.

Wonderful.

And it's a small cast.

There's just a handful of you guys.

Yeah.

Twenty three in the cast.

Well, you're just a handful.

Yeah.

Awesome.

Awesome.

And so what is the experience been like for you?

You've been a part of Elkhart Civic Theater for a few years now.

Doing Cinderella is such a dream.

Every little girl wants to play a princess with Elkhart Civic Theater.

I've been able to do that several times, but this one in particular is just so special.

I grew up watching Leslie and Warren.

I saw a Brunet Cinderella, and so I was so glad to be able to carry on at least the hair.

But there's just so much magic.

The set is beautiful, the costumes are incredible, and I just feel very fortunate to be able to tell this story to the community.

Tell us a little bit about what the experience is like.

You know, from the beginning, from auditions all the way to being on stage for the performance, what does that experience like?

So we auditioned here at the Goshen Theater back in May.

There were two nights of auditions and once you do the basic preliminary song and dance, then you stay to read lines for various characters.

We got the cast list very soon after auditions.

Then we come in.

You start with mainly vocal rehearsals, learning the music soloists worked one on one with our music director, and then we had group choreography days.

We had a few blocking sessions in various locations back at the Opera House and Bristol.

So being able to use both those spaces still, which is great.

And then when she moved into the theater, it was a lot of restaging to fit the new space.

We've just recently added costumes and quick changes backstage.

We've had props and sets come in over just the past three days, really.

So it kind of feels like a little snowball to the end.

But once you reach opening night, there's just all these tiny pieces that come into place.

Yeah.

And it feels like the work has really paid off.

And I feel like you do all this work to get into it and it goes by so quickly once you get to the performance.

Now there's just three performance.

That's correct.

Correct.

And when are those facts of July 16th and 17th?

That's this Friday and Saturday.

There are two on Saturday, one at three p.m. and WNIT seventh.

OK, and how can people purchase their tickets for us?

So you can go to Elkhart Civic Theater, Doug Forward, slash Cinderella and we'll take you right to the ticketing site.

Or you can call our phone number, which is five seven four eight four eight four one one six.

Perfect.

And the tickets are very reasonably priced.

And I think, you know, I I grew up in the theater.

And so for me, being able to watch theater come back and watching Broadway coming back, this is really something that is so special to our community, especially here locally.

Yeah, I agree.

I think this might be one of our first performances that we've been able to have a full house, which is another special thing.

OK, I know you guys recently did the swing in and the women is staying in the gardens.

Yes.

That was another awesome thing that you guys have been doing.

Is there anything else coming up soon, do you know?

Yeah, in August we have a Calendar Girls event, which I believe is also going to take place at the Westfield Gardens.

And that'll be well, they'll perform the play about Emma Bombeck Life Wit's End At Wit's End.

That's right.

So there's other stuff, too.

So wonderful.

Well, I'm so glad you guys could join us.

And I. OK, so like we said, this is my favorite musical, so I have to know which is your favorite tune in the morning.

I had a lovely night stuck in my head.

Will not leave.

OK, what about yours.

Oh.

I mean, there's so many really fun songs, but I think my favorite is probably impossible.

It's possible.

Yes, I like that.

Now, have you guys put any maybe twists into it of your own?

You'll have to come and find out.

I love that.

Now, you have a reason to come.

And it's happening this weekend, Friday and Saturday again.

Tickets are very reasonably priced.

You can get all that ticket information on the website.

Is there anything else you guys want to share with us about this experience with Cinderella?

Not really.

Just please come see it.

We've worked so hard and we want everybody in this community to see it.

And the Goshen theaters recently remodeled.

So this is another excuse to get out here and enjoy.

Some local community has also thanking us for joining them.

Thank you.

Great to see you guys.

I'm so excited that Peter has returned to in-person performances to make sure you keep your tickets for Cinderella this weekend with Elkhart's in the theater.

Next up, Pennsylvania is joining us for a central challenge.

That's right.

Time to get your hiking boots on.

Let's get ready to move.

Hi, I'm Christa Bailey from IU South Bend Center for a Sustainable Future.

Here to share with you about a way you can Experience sustainable Michiana.

Now it's summertime.

It's a great time to get outdoors.

And I've got a fun and exciting challenge for all of you to experience this summer.

And that is the 10 trail challenge that is hosted by Chickamaw Open Lands.

So Casey Stricker, she's the education outreach coordinator and she has put together once again the fourth summer for the Ten Trail Challenge.

And it's exciting because there's a new twist on it this year.

There is.

But tell us a little bit about first, like who's doing this?

And then we can talk a little bit about those sustainability experiences people can take.

Exactly.

Yes.

So Chickering Open Lands is a nonprofit land conservancy and we're based here in Southwest Berrien County.

And our goal really is to protect nature and connect people to the great outdoors as well.

So we do that by protecting land such as our beautiful Bern's Prairie Preserve.

We also asked for volunteers on our stewardship, Workday's, and we also want to connect people through fun education events and programs.

And one of those is through the Chen Trail Challenge.

So the real challenge is all about getting outside, exploring the trails of what Michiana has to offer and you can win prizes.

So this year we have 15 trails for people to choose from.

You can hike any 10 out of those 15.

So people have the option to explore new areas that they might not have explored before.

So we have trails all the way up in St. Joe and we have trails all the way down in South Bend, Indiana, as well.

So it's a great way to get outside.

You get to see different natural areas like behind us.

Burns Prairie Preserve is in the Tendril Challenge.

We have preserve's with wetlands and forests.

So it's a great way to Experience all these different types of habitats and places you might not have visited before.

So I want to find out a little bit more about what people can experience in terms of natural environments that are in this region.

But what I think is really interesting and exciting and makes me want to do all 15 is the fact that there's a great connection to really driving tourism throughout the region and to enticing folks to try earning some bonuses and learning about some local businesses.

But how do people do that if they do all 10?

So what what happens?

Well, first, you do have to sign up on our website, fill out a participation form that is free and you can sign up throughout the entire month of July.

That's when you go out, hike the trails.

And along the trails is the selfie station.

You snap a selfie, send that into charming open lands through Instagram or Facebook, or you can email us with the hashtags trail challenge and hashtag Chickering Open Lands.

And then after that, that's when you win prizes.

And this is a great opportunity for us to partner with different local businesses throughout the area.

So we have if you hike all 10 trails, you win a ten dollar gift card to a restaurant of your choice.

And we have three options for that also found on our website.

But it's a tiered system as well.

So if you hike any five to nine trails, you also have your choice to win a five dollar gift card to three predetermined businesses within the area.

So you really get to go explore new restaurants maybe that you haven't got to before while being outside in nature, enjoying these hiking trails, which I think is just a fabulous way to expand our Experience and Michiana because, of course, we've got lots of beautiful areas like this to check out.

But we also have so many different local businesses throughout the region folks might not know about.

And really, when you go to visit natural areas, you're definitely part of supporting the tourism in that area because you're going to eat and drink and fuel your car, whatever.

Yeah, we definitely recommend people to go out to a hiking trail, make a day of it, stop at a local restaurant, get a coffee at a local shop and hit another trail along the way.

So it's a great way to explore many different beautiful places that this area has to offer.

Speaking of exploring, we should explore this one.

Find the selfie station so I can check this off my list.

Yes.

Yes, that's why we're here.

All right.

So and then.

Well, let's talk about some other things we might see besides Prarie, if this wasn't enough.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So into the trails.

Yes.

Let's go.

OK, it's a pretty hot day and, you know, it's summer, so you'll get that.

But this I love this is a new thing this year.

So what is this all about?

We've got some community connection, but also where will this QR code take me?

Exactly.

So we were very lucky to get all of our trails sponsored.

And you'll find one of these sponsorship trail marker signs at the beginning of each trail.

And it's great because if you scan the QR code, that will give you a clue to which trail to take to find the selfie frame station.

OK, so let's get a hint and and be on our way.

Straight, OK, I'm Michael.

So we've seen beautiful woods and gorgeous prairie here, so all these trails will allow you to experience a range of different ecosystems that we have in this area.

So what else could people expect to experience?

Now, we're really lucky to have such a large, diverse, different types of habitats.

And so we really wanted to incorporate trails at Lake Michigan on the dunes.

And we also want to incorporate wetlands and bogs and Indiana and open spaces like the prairie here and our beautiful woodlands.

So there is a really nice array of different types of habitats that you can explore during the trail challenge.

So if people want to kind of build their plant list of things that they found, they're going to add a lot to that list and they're birding if they're into birding.

I'm hearing lots of sounds.

Yes.

Here at Birds Preserve and following the clue, we have found the selfie station.

So it is important now to get myself and send it in.

Send it in.

So did you want to join me?

Should you join me for this one?

OK.

Does that count?

We need it in the frame set.

Yes.

OK, so next, what you'll do is you'll tag us on Instagram, Facebook or send it to our general email account, which is on our Web page.

And you can hashtag tendril challenge and hashtag jiggering open links right on there.

So I have that in my picture so I can make sure to tag that on there.

So we've got now we're going to see some different businesses because I'm going to win something or earn it, I guess appropriately.

I'm going to see a lot of different environments and ecosystems that we have in this area, which there's so many.

So if people haven't experienced the range of ecosystems, they can do that on this challenge.

And I think it's the best part is getting out, moving around and hiking throughout Michiana.

So lots of benefits and really fun and easy way to experience sustainability and Michiana.

And we're doing something new this year.

What if you want to take it to the extreme?

You can do all 15, you can do the extreme 15.

If you high all 15 trails, then you win that ten dollar gift card prize.

But you're also in the drawing to win an additional prize just for the people that completed all 15 trails.

So I want to get in that drawing.

You want to get in that drawing.

We've got some good prizes this year.

Awesome.

All right.

So how long do I have to finish all 15 trails?

So the real challenge is during the entire month of July and you can go out to any of the trails that works for your schedule.

And whenever the parks are open, a few parks, do you have different opening times?

And we do have those on the trail website.

OK, good to know.

So come at the right time, get it done so I could email it in the last day of July.

You can sign up the last day of July and do all of them the last day of July.

You have the entire month there's.

Yes.

All right.

Thanks so much for reintroducing us to the trail challenge in the extreme 15.

So hopefully folks get out and Experience sustainability Michiana and enjoy.

Whether you're riding a scooter or checking out theater or hitting the trails, there's lots of stuff to do across Michiana and of course, there's more things to do, too.

We'd love to hear from you if there's something you'd like us to check out next week on Experience Michiana.

We're talking sustainability, if that's something else near and dear to my heart.

So be sure to tune in next week.

And we look forward to seeing you then.

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