News release from the City of Fort Wayne:
Discover Fort Wayne Enhanced By Video Project, Three Unique Events This Week
Mayor Tom Henry today praised two young video entrepreneurs for spending their summer Discovering Fort Wayne and sharing their pride in Fort Wayne with the world. Damon Dominique and Khin Phyu created more than 20 short videos on the many events, activities and attractions that the city has to offer, as part of the City’s Discover Fort Wayne “My Video” Project.
“They have done a tremendous job and have captured a wide variety of our city’s attributes with a view that brings a fresh young adult perspective to our city,” Mayor Henry said. “These videos not only capture some of our great assets, they Discover Fort Wayne in a new way.”
The popular videos – posted on Youtube – highlighted such offerings as the Botanical Conservatory, Three Rivers Festival, the Allen County Public Library, kayaking on the Maumee River and the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo. So far, their videos have generated more than 1,000 “views” from people all over the world.
Even though Dominique and Phyu, both 20, volunteered their time and creativity to produce the videos, Phyu said they did not consider the project difficult or tedious: “We think of this as fun… anybody can do it.”
Dominique said the video project was very worthwhile because “I don’t think Fort Wayne gets enough credit because there really is a lot to do here. You just have to be willing to get out and try new things.”
Both college students grew up in the Fort Wayne area. Damon attends college at Pace University and Khin is a student at Indiana-Purdue University in Fort Wayne.
“The Adventures of Damon and Khin” are part of Mayor Henry’s Discover Fort Wayne Initiative that encourages Fort Wayne residents to become more attached or connected to the place where they live by taking pride in what it has to offer. Discover Fort Wayne supports the findings of the John S. Knight and James L. Knight Foundations “Soul of the Community” report that studied 26 cities – including Fort Wayne – to identify what makes people love the place they live. The finding reveals that the primary drivers to attachment are a community’s social offerings, aesthetics and openness.
Fort Wayne has no shortage of unique activities and events. Three events taking place this week include:
The “We Are the Ship” exhibit, at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, which tells the story of Negro League baseball and the social and political challenges facing black Americans in the early 20th century. The exhibit chronicles the story hundreds of unsung heroes who overcame the barriers of racial discrimination, deplorable conditions and low pay to do what they loved more than anything: play ball. The exhibit opens at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Shindigz National Soccer Festival, which takes place Friday through Sunday at IPFW’s Hefner Soccer Complex. This festival, which was created in 2000 as a college soccer tournament, has become a premier soccer festival that draws the nation’s top-ranked college soccer teams to our city for a celebration of sport and family fun. Games start at 5 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. Sunday. Click here for more information.
The 2nd Annual Curling Summerspiel, hosted by the Fort Wayne Curling Club, takes place Friday through Sunday at Lutheran Health Sport Center. This event brings 60 teams from the U.S. and Canada to our city to compete in three different skill levels. Click here for more information.
Mayor Henry encourages others to submit My Fort Wayne videos. They can post them to YouTube with “My Fort Wayne” in the title and send an e-mail to discoverfw@cityoffortwayne.org with the title and/ or link.
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