TTD In Da Fort: Take your Partner on free date? ART OFF MAIN Opened @ Masonic Temple; Cultural/Community Credit Program to be reformatted in 3 months.

One of the things that F6 is fond of promoting is community events and cultural forums, especially those which are at a greatly reduced cost, or with certain hours where it is open to the public to attend for free. As a typical rule anything over twenty dollars a person F6 does not promote, unless it is just that phenomenal, or GLBT related, and then we must promote it.

The Downtown Improvement District and the Fort Wayne Museum of Art have done exactly that in each category with their latest ART OFF MAIN project hosted by Comcast, Fort Wayne Metals, and WMEE 97.3FM. The event opened last night from 6-9P @ The Masonic Temple on East Washington Blvd. at the intersection of Barr Street with an open reception and fashion show. On Saturday the 14th, St. Valentines Day, there is a $75/per couple Art & Heart Dinner which includes dinner by Club Soda, two drink tickets, live entertainment and admission to the ART OFF MAIN exhibit. Spaces are limited so if this is something that interests you call 260-420-3266 an reserve your table.

Now as for the rest of us who are just trying to get by and have to scrape just to get a double cheeseburger at McDonald's. There are also four opportunities for us to take our significant others out on the town for a romantic date even for just a couple of hours. Today and tomorrow from 12N-4P as well as Wednesday the 11th and Friday the 13th from 4P-8P the exhibit is open to the public for free, yes free! At 2P today there is also a theatrical performance and tomorrow, also @ 2P, there is a Home Grown Bead & Candle Shoppe demonstration.

Take the opportunity to expand your horizons, explore the rich culture that Fort Wayne has to offer. Impress your partners with your astute thinking and frugality all at the same time! And then afterward you can still afford to take them to Subway and split a five dollar foot long or to Wendy's for two chocolate or vanilla frosties and junior bacon cheeseburgers or five piece chicken nuggets, which also comes to about five dollars. Both restaurants are just around the corner from the Temple.

This way you get diner and date all for five dollars and it will only cost you a little bit extra for a baby sitter. If you have no relatives that will give you a break and do it for free, I can recommend a wonderful single mother of two, Grace Strahm, personally (pictured to the right, during the Save Maumee Earth Day Project, last year), and you may contact her via MySpace or email directly. As a reminder, this year the River Cleanup will happen on Divine Mercy Sunday, the 19th of April, from 11A-5P @the Pemberton Dike off North Anthony Blvd.

To follow up on a previous post The Fort Wayne Museum of Art has free admission on Wednesdays and the first Sunday of the month from 12N-5P. As an aside, and please pardon the queening out, but this is for all of my Pagan and spiritually sensitive readers in the regional area, and anybody willing to travel:

HELLO! What a better time then a Friday the 13th to be in the Masonic Temple touring an art exhibit, okay!.

The other thing that I began working on the year before last, is development of a Cultural Studies Community Service Credit Reserve Program, CS3Rivers for short, where someone receives a credit voucher for community service ($1-2/hour), which can then be used for admission and snacks at a local theatre or sports venue to catch play or a game of any one of our many semi professional and professional sports teams and performance troupes along our three rivers. It is a slow process finding the support mechanisms and networking with the different organizations around town. I serve on the Board of a Non Profit that is willing to charter the program; so over the next three months or so, I will be working to flush out the plan and get it in motion. If anyone wants to help with this program contact me via email or leave a comment below. And please note this program is a joint effort headed by my Pastorate, F6 Queer Views Of Life Along Our Three Rivers, and Heartland Communities, Inc.

UPDATE: After visiting the ART OFF MAIN Exhibit @ The Masonic Temple on Friday the 13th, Those whom are 21 and over @8P can stop by After Dark Night Club 1601 South Harrison (5 blocks from the Grand Wayne Center) for "A Legend In My Own Mind" Cabaret Show hosted by DellaLicious with provided accompaniment by Mark Sampson to benefit ATF's Jack Ryan House & Community Harvest Food Bank.