Hi everyone, I'm Ed Leon.

Welcome to the 260, where we cover life and community in Northeast Indiana.

On this episode, the Fort Wayne International Airport has completed its $140 million expansion.

We'll talk to its CEO.

We'll take you back to the renaissance in Huntertown and the fall festival that turns health and fitness into a community celebration.

It's all right now on the 260.

If you haven't flown out of town recently, you're in for a treat on your next trip.

The Fort Wayne International Airport is ready for its close up, thanks to a recently completed $140 million, multi-year modernization project that includes new gates, new boarding bridges, baggage handling, and passenger amenities.

Here to tell us all about it is Scott Hinderman, CEO of the Fort Wayne Allen County Airport Authority.

Scott, welcome to the 260 Well, thank you for having me.

Absolutely.

You've been with this modernization project from its planning stages.

I have I've been with the airport for 19 years.

But then, yes, for the last eight years I've been with this project.

And when you walk through this now what?

You know, it must be so gratifying.

What do you see that we didn't have five, ten years ago?

Well, an updated airport, one that hits a lot of amenities that we didn't have before and one that makes an outstanding first impression for those people who are coming to Fort Wayne for maybe the first time.

And for those who live here, they come back from vacation or a work trip.

We now have an airport that they can be proud of as a resident.

Absolutely.

You know, I got to tell you a personal story.

I was I'm only in Fort Wayne now for a year, almost a year and a half.

But I was recruited here, and I came to the city to, you know, to see the city.

And I also at the time was being recruited into another state.

And their airport was sad and and lonely, and did not speak of a, of a, of a of a community on the rise.

And I was very impressed with, you know what at that point was just the West modernization of the airport.

So you're saying the airport is responsible for you getting here Not not 100%, but it made a difference.

I remember it having a mental impact on me.

It's like, you know, not so much that and I'm not going to mention the other city, but not so much that it was just that that city was sad.

You know, there was a sadness about it that the airport communicated to me.

All right.

Tell me what the expansion, what we're going to see with all the expanded amenities.

Well, essentially we have there's not a square foot in the terminal building that hasn't been renovated, expanded or some kind of a construction start on it.

But, you know, we had eight gates before we started construction, but our terminal building was still designed for the turboprop aircraft.

You know, we haven't seen a turboprop aircraft for a long time, but we had the CRJ 200.

The wingspan is about the same, but as the aircraft had gotten larger, we couldn't use all eight gates at the same time because of the wingtip conflict.

So we need to do something.

And we have some video here that we're going to roll in, and we can we can see some of the things that you're talking about.

So the gates have been modified.

Then moderate, and we've got more linear feet in between them.

So we can now accept larger airframes, a different mix of aircraft as well as, you know, aircraft become larger.

We get more seats in our market, which makes more seats available for sale.

Ed: So bigger planes Does that mean that we might get different routes like nonstops?

Scott: Definitely routes.

You know, Fort Lauderdale, we got Fort Lauderdale last November.

We're working on some additional flights right now.

Hopefully they can't announce them because it's a route development is a marathon, not a sprint.

Ed: Okay.

Scott: We would like to see all that stuff grow.

Ed: So what is what are we looking at here?

This is this a new lounge?

This is the Gateway Lounge.

Talk about that.

Scott: This is actually the Gateway lounges.

But we brought Hop River.

So we linked the community to the airport.

So our restaurant at the airport is Hop River.

This right here is our patio.

It's where you can once you get through checkpoint, you can still go outside and get some fresh air.

And you oversee the the ramp.

We did get some art and that's the front of our terminal building.

It's got a modern look.

And you know, we didn't do our project without art.

Ed: Yeah.

Has parking been affected?

Scott: Parking is a significant problem, although we just are now completing a 550 additional parking spot.

Because when you fly, you have every expectation to be able to park your car when you get to the airport.

We were getting challenged.

We've had significant growth in utilization at the airport, so our parking lot was a multiple times approaching capacity.

So the additional parking has really helped us give that first class experience to our customers.

So you started this expansion project after ten years of continued growth at the airport in passenger counts.

Is that growth still happening?

We have obviously, you know, during the peak of the pandemic, all airports saw a little bit of a dip, but we kept pushing.

The board direction was to keep pushing through the pandemic.

With this construction 2023, we set an all time record.

We broke that in 24, we broke that in 25, and we are scheduled to beat that again.

And it's not a recovery effort.

It's an all time passenger utilization to Fort Wayne.

So the East terminal is the new the newly completed one.

What else is in there that that we might be looking for?

Well, we've done everything.

So even for the first time you get there, our ticket counters are expanded.

So they have a new feel form.

We've we still have two lanes for TSA, but we did some smart things to where we can.

Actually, as the airport gets busier, we can add another lane for the TSA without doing significant capital improvements.

So we have lanes capability there.

If you go upstairs, we work pretty hard on a universal design, so travel can be hard, you know, whether you're delayed or whatever.

So we're trying to make it easy for all.

So we've done things like a cane trail we put in for those who are negotiating with a with a cane for visually impaired, we put in a mother's rooms.

So as opposed to some of the lot of airports, you see a pod where a mom once a little bit more privacy than nurse.

We actually have rooms with running water.

We've got hearing loops.

So as soon as you come into our terminal building, if you have hearing aids that are Bluetooth, they connect to our speaker system so you won't miss your flight.

Oh, wow.

And then we have we built a sensory room.

So those who are traveling with who are families who might have somebody on the spectrum on autism, so we have a sensory room where they can maybe decompress before they get on an aircraft.

We've got adult changing tables in all of our family restrooms, so there's easy to negotiate.

Yeah.

So I mean, it's so modern and fresh looking.

What is it that you're trying to communicate about the community with the airport?

Well, again, our vision was to make sure that the airports project was done in a first class operation to where when you come, if you're not from this area, you land at Fort Wayne.

You're proud of the airport.

To heck of a first impression when you land.

And if you're if you're not traveling, you're from northeast Indiana.

When you come home from a trip, business or leisure, you come back and says, I like my airport.

I'm proud of my airport again.

The airport can be and is the first impression if you come into the community by air.

Is the expansion.

Was it targeted for the present or was it targeted for maybe the Fort Wayne of 5 or 10 years from now?

Actually, I think we're probably target out 15 to 20 years.

Northeast Indiana continues to grow.

So it's not Fort Wayne.

It's a whole region.

It's a regional asset.

So we have the ability to.

Thank you, reminding me that we are the 260.

Thank you for reminding me.

Well so yeah we can really grow.

The airlines are growing.

Our markets are ready with larger aircraft.

So even if we don't get additional frequencies or additional routes, we're seeing more seats in the market so we can grow that way.

And then we actually have more pavement on the ramp where we can add a gate with very little and capital, so we can still grow that way before we have to add on to the building.

Yeah.

Is there a passenger count that that will equate to further expansion?

Is there one on the on the board.

So was a. Target about 500 outbound passengers a year.

They're just short of a million total passengers.

We can probably get to that 1.2 million before we have to do an improvement.

So we have a significant growth before we need to do additional capital.

So that's why I say we're set for at least 10 or 15 years.

And that's if we continue to grow as a region.

And in your planning, what would be next?

What would be next, either a challenge or thing that you're planning?

Well, for passengers and for the terminal side, our terminal complex, our parking is continuing.

We did a significant parking lot expansion, but it's getting to the point where you're getting your steps in, so might have to walk a ways So we are already doing a concept study on how we do a parking garage.

A tower.

So that would be attractive to where close in parking is easier.

As far as air service, we would like to see some better activity or access to the west coast, so if we could get some more hubs, that would be a connecting point to the west coast would be good.

Maybe even the very northeast would be good.

So we're always looking for which routes.

But you know, we we work with the airlines, our partners, because we don't own the airlines.

We don't tell them where we go.

We try to do that sales pitch.

So we're working with them all the time.

Well, congratulations on what you've accomplished.

It looks beautiful.

And you know we are proud to visit that airport.

I will say one thing about Northeast Indiana, it's amazing how for the last six and a half years, if you came to the airport, you had to walk by construction walls or there are some interruption in traffic flow.

But the people of northeast Indiana were very understanding.

They liked what we were doing.

And and I'm just glad to have the construction behind us.

Great results.

Thank you for being on the 260.

Scott, you're watching the 260.

Oh, we'll be right back.

Hear ye, hear ye.

Dust off your.

Clothes, polish your crowns, and prepare to step back in time.

The Kingdom of.

Huntertown is launching its very first mini Renaissance Faire, transforming Huntertown Family Park into a medieval marketplace filled with music, demonstrations, artisans food and family fun.

Here to tell us about it are Amy Moser and Heather Krempel Welcome to the 260.

Hello.

Thank you so much for being here.

This is your first attempt at this.

What was the idea that that to get this started?

Oh, I am a nerd.

I, I love Lord of the rings, I love costumes, I love all kinds of things.

And recently got together with some of my high school friends and we decided a couple of old ladies, we're going to go to the Ohio Renaissance Faire, and we're I was talking to Heather.

We're involved with our local park a lot and with a lot of the events and things, and I'm like, oh, it would be so cool to have something like that.

Your mother daughter, right?

Yes we are.

Yes, yes.

So what do you need for a proper Renaissance Faire?

Oh, wow.

Yeah.

Well, you've got to have the people, of course.

And costumes.

We definitely encourage the costumes.

And really, it doesn't cost a lot.

You can go to the thrift store and get things and add a belt or a bodice.

Yeah.

We also have entertainment.

We have included our local busker fest talents.

You need that.

You need music.

You need definitely turkey legs.

You definitely need mead.

Yes, yes.

Turkey leg.

Yeah.

That's that's that's.

A yes.

Yes.

What do you like about dressing up like the Middle Ages?

What's the what's the allure of this?

So I was a theater major.

So this is right up my alley.

I like being able to to go back in time and just think about the history.

Of course, in high school and things, I didn't care about history.

But as I get older, I have developed more of a passion for history.

And how did people do things and why did they do things?

And just being transported into a different time, almost a little bit of escapism from the real world today, but also allowing creative imagination to play out.

You know, sometimes people are like, well, you know, Renaissance fairs.

You get the weirdos or the people that just want to dress up in weird things.

So what?

Why not?

Why can't they?

Why can't we just have imaginative and creative opportunities for the whole family?

Why is that a bad thing?

Is that the same allure for you?

Oh, yeah.

Definitely I. We've gone to a couple of smaller Renaissance fairs, and the people are so nice and so accepting, and everybody's kind of nerdy anyway, so nobody's judgmental, and you just enjoy being with other people and seeing the costumes and seeing the creativity and again, the escapism.

You know, just we've had a lot of things in our family that have, you know, taken its toll on, on you.

And, and it's just nice to have something fun and joyful today.

So the very first Renaissance Faire was back in 1963, in Los Angeles.

And it was kind of a counterculture thing.

This is a family of that, right?

Talk about what we're going to see there at the fair.

Yeah.

So we've got we've actually partnered with the Barony of Shadowed Stars, which is a local branch of the SBA.

I'm sorry.

What?

The barony of Shadowed Star.

That's the name of there.

Is a local branch of the SCA.

I'd love to see their crown.

It must be.

Really good.

Yeah.

Their emblem is beautiful.

So the SCA stands for Society of Creative Anachronism So they are all about historical and educational representation, taking on a persona of somebody from that era, which is when you term Renaissance.

There is a wide range of years.

Some Ren fairs have a specific date range that they're trying to stick to.

We are not.

We are encompassing all things Renaissance and beyond.

Whether if.

You want to... If you want to come as Pikachu Okay.

Yeah.

And I. Mean, there is Renaissance dress up.

Is that sort of like the, the the OG of cosplay?

Yeah it is, and that's okay.

We want fantastical, mythological, whatever.

We do not have set rules.

There's not going to be costume police monitoring.

We just ask that it be.

Family friendly.

But we have a lot of musical acts.

We have an equestrian team that's coming to do demonstrations with their horses, which we're very excited about.

We do have the Barony of Shadowed Stars coming.

I know that well.

I love that name.

Yeah.

And the neat thing about that organization is they're really focused more on the educational part.

So and that's something that me being as teacher, I like that part two along with mixing in the fun and the family.

By the way, what makes it a mini renaissance?

Well, you know, we were questioning that.

It escalated.

It started out so I help I'm a volunteer with the Huntertown Family Park, and I help coordinate their Hunter town community market.

And in the past, we've had vendors ask, you know, have you ever thought about doing like a themed market or something like that?

And so it's been in the back of our minds, but then with just coming up with Renaissance and seeing some of the other events taking place, and there isn't anything Renaissance Faire per se in this area that we could find, there's some little versions.

So we thought originally the mini part was we'll have a themed market, people can dress up, we'll have some food vendors and some music.

Well, then things escalate it like they tend to do whenever we're involved with stuff.

And it is a little more than mini, but we are not.

You know, we don't have a specific facility dedicated that has buildings and castles and things like the Ohio Renaissance Faire or down South, but there's a lot of things that are going to happen.

It is a one day event.

We are our goal is I would love to see it expand into a multi-day event, especially having something during the week in which field trips could take place so that there could be some more educational components for schools in the area.

But for we started small, but it's escalated.

So yeah, we've got a market, we've got demonstrations, we've got five.

One demonstrations of what?

So we have the equestrian team, which will be having their armored gear on their horse.

There are rumors of perhaps a joust happening.

We have weapons demonstrations, fight sequences, fencing, fencing.

We will have our.

Blacksmithing.

Spinning wheels.

All right.

Whole thing.

Mead and turkey legs, of course.

A lot with a lot of other.

Trinket trading.

What is that?

Yeah.

You want to explain?

And this was.

I don't know if this was in the original version because the original version were the Pattersons, and they just wanted to really be more educational.

But through the years, people will make things or bring tiny little things.

They usually have belts on a little pouches, and if they like your costume, they usually just go up.

It's a really kind of a social thing and they're like, wow, I really like your custom.

And then it'll give them, you know, maybe a little acorn or a shell or a marble.

That's a trinket.

That's what the trinkets are Is it hard to you think it's going to be hard to have people dress up and you're encouraging people to dress up?

It is not required.

Required?

Dress up person.

That's okay.

If you're not sure what this whole thing about how to play.

Enjoy some mead and some big turkey legs.

All right.

If anything, just come out for some fun.

We do have a petting zoo that's coming.

Ax throwing and dagger throwing with a pirate as well.

So there are activities.

Maze, a giant medieval maze.

So it's fun for the whole family in a specific theme.

So sounds like a blast.

All right.

The Kingdom of Huntertown Mini Renaissance Faire is Saturday, September 26th from 10 to 6 at Hunter Town Family Park.

Hop on your stead and head on down.

You're watching the 260.

Nearly 20 years ago, Fort Wayne was ranked among America's most overweight cities.

Local leaders responded with a simple question how do you get an entire community moving?

The answer became Fort 4 Fitness, a nonprofit that has transformed health and fitness into a community celebration.

Today, it's events attract more than 10,000 participants annually and provide opportunities for everyone, from elite athletes to newbies, to become healthier by running, walking, biking and simply moving.

Joining us to talk about their mission is Executive Director Satin Lemon.

Welcome to the 260 Satin.

Thank you.

So talk a little bit about the programs that you have at Fort 4 Fitness, and how is it unique from joining the Y or the gym?

Yeah.

So we have four annual events.

We do spring, summer, fall and winter.

And then we also have some programs within those to keep you moving all year round.

We have a great following of, you know, loyal participants, and it's just a something that's become a tradition for a lot of our families and coworkers and friends to do together.

Ed: Okay, so what's the fall festivals coming up?

What what's going to happen at the fall festival?

What are we going to see?

Satin: So we offer a four mile, a 10-K and a half marathon, and it will be our 20th year next year.

So we're excited about, you know, and have some fun things going for those some some fun things planned so you don't want to miss out on that.

And then we also do a we call it our Fox trot mile the night before that features for it's just a one mile.

But a lot of our kids program and our seniors program participate in that.

And we in the last few years we've opened that up to everybody.

So maybe they're not ready for four miles on Saturday morning, but they can participate in the one mile there at the park still.

So that's running or walking.

What are there other kinds of activities that.

So our our spring is our spring cycle.

So that's a biking event that we just had a few weeks ago at the University of Saint Francis.

I want to say we've been doing that for 16 years I think.

So that was our second event after the fall festival that they added to try to get a different group of athletes.

So, you know, not not all bikers are runners and vice versa.

So it kind of taps into something different.

Ed: 20 years.

Are we a healthier Fort Wayne?

Satin: We're healthier.

I don't think we're there yet, but we're definitely lower on the list.

Ed: What do you say to the folks that that's like, well, I'm not a runner, you know?

Satin: I'm not a runner.

I'm not a runner either.

So.

So how do you involve yourself in those events?

It's really just about moving.

So we really walking is fine.

We have some people that walk or half marathon and and as long as you can get it done in 4 or 5 hours and that works for us.

So we we try to make it fun.

The neighborhoods at the Fall Festival are really something to see.

We have so many neighborhoods that, you know, they dress up and they do their own music and they they get out there, they have their own entertainment, they do the sidewalks in the street with sidewalk chalk.

They do balloon arches.

One of them does Christmas.

So Santa is out there, usually in shorts at the end of September cheering people on.

So it's really just a great atmosphere.

Our winter run goes through the fantasy of lights that blue jacket puts up.

So before you can drive it, you can walk it or run it with us.

Cool.

So yeah, it's just offering something additional other than just running.

Ed: Yeah.

So did did that evolve?

Was that envisioned in the events or did that kind of evolve the neighborhood part?

Satin: They've really we have some great neighborhoods that have really just taken ownership over, like our whole block or our neighborhood association.

You know, we're going to be part of this.

And it's been awesome to see.

So you talk about meeting people where they are in their fitness journey.

Why is that so important?

Well, like I said, not everybody's ready for a half marathon.

And that's totally okay.

That's actually not our main mission.

It's to to help people just feel motivated, get off the couch and do something.

And so we offer our kids and seniors programs so they it's all summer long and they keep track of their miles in a logbook.

And with the kids, especially the earlier you start with healthy habits, the more likely you are to carry them.

Throughout life, we focus on not just running.

You know you can.

Our kickoff is at Sky zone, so you know, getting your heart rate pumping like trampoline that that might be more than running.

We do roller skating.

You know, just active movement is kind of what we're encouraging people to do.

So do you encourage people to do this as a family?

Oh, absolutely.

Yeah.

We've got great families out there that do it together.

Some do it for a cause, some dress up together.

You know, they've got a theme going.

My mother in law always does the winter wonder dash with my kids at Franke Park, and it's definitely become a tradition for them.

Ed: So how do you advise people to get started?

How would you encourage people to get started moving and then maybe, maybe getting involved in Fort 4 Fitness Satin: Yeah, So we've got some great stories from folks, you know, that I couldn't get off the couch and I couldn't make it, you know, around the house and they've they've changed their lives and said, okay, I picked the fall Festival as my goal, you know, that I was going to work towards.

And some of them have definitely continued on.

And they do the half marathon now they couldn't do a mile and now they're going the half marathon, which is awesome.

What why approach this as a nonprofit as opposed to, you know, in some other kind of program that that meets all the time?

Yeah.

So we work with, I want to say, 30 local charities here.

So when you sign up or you register for any of our four annual events, you can choose from a drop down box.

If I want my registration to count towards this organization, whether it's Ronald McDonald House, we have Alzheimers association, the Humane Society.

We have a whole list of them to pick from that.

You just say I want it to count towards this.

And so we collect all of those at the end of the year.

And if they have over 100 participants that have chosen their charity, then they get 10% of those registrations back.

So we usually give over $25,000 back to Fort Wayne community, more with our events, with the zoo that we've done the last couple of years.

So we give a lot of money back to organizations that we work with.

And and in turn, they promote the events like here, sign up and choose us as your charity partner.

Ed: That's a fantastic approach to it.

Congratulations on almost 20 years.

We're going to have you back for the anniversary to learn more about Fort 4 Fitness and there are many programs.

Just check them out at Fort4Fitness.org That's the number four.

Fort.

Number 4.

Fitness.

Dot ORG Thank you so much for being on the 260.

That's all the time we have for this episode.

Subscribe to our show on YouTube and get an alert anytime we post a new episode.

Now please take a moment to appreciate the people that make this show possible, and I'll see you next time on the 260.