Lone Watch

During my walk on Saturday along Speedway's 

Main Street, I looked through the window of one of the town's 

vacated storefronts. The town, which exists in the shadow

of the Speedway, is working on the revitalization of Main Street, 

attracting racing related businesses, restaurants, ice

cream shops, and at least one brewery. 

One of my favorite places, Lino's Coffee Shop, was named 

"Best Coffee Shop" in 2012 by readers of Indianapolis Monthly 

magazine, a designation it richly deserved. 

It serves coffee and food that is extremely well-prepared 

for reasonable prices. Once you visit, you will return.

Jazzfest Comes to Speedway!

Finally! After fifteen years the Indy Jazz Fest found its way to Speedway!

The Farrelly/Mankiewicz Jazz Quartet made an appearance

on Speedway's Main Street at the Dallara Indy Car Factory, where

hundreds of interested and enthusiastic supporters enjoyed

the quartet's music under the clear evening sky.

It is hoped that the success of the evening will result

in expanded participation in next year's event.

Saxophonist Jim Farrelly is shown above during set-up

for the performance.

The Jazz Fest began in 1999 as an effort to provide a venue 

to display and encourage the city's rich jazz heritage,

and to provide tourists with an experience outside 

of Indy's sports events. After a rocky start due to unforseen 

weather events, the festival was eventually reorganized 

as a non-profit foundation with an educational

initiative that takes jazz into the public school system.

Children from all walks of life have been exposed to the art form

as a result of this initiative. In addition to ten days of 

concerts all over the community, Indy Jazz Foundation

works to preserve the legacy and future of jazz

music in Indianapolis through year-round

education and performances.

In addition to the support of Dallara, Lino's Coffee also contributed 

to the success of the event. In fact, their barristas, bartenders,

and cooks were overwhelmed by the flow of customers, most

of whom who were extremely patient with the store's staff.

Patrons enjoy the quality of the store's food and beverage offerings,

and most were willing to wait the extra time to receive service.

Little Day

Here, a security guard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is interviewed 

by a representative from a local TV station. It's been quite a while 

since I've seen this style of galluses worn, but maybe I just haven't been

paying sufficient attention. After all, most young men seem

to prefer "sagging", so efforts to keep one's trousers at one's waist

would be lost on them.

A crew from the Speedway Fire Department took time from their shift 

to visit the Speedway. Yes, they were on duty, but maintain

radio contact with the dispatcher through communications in the

truck, as well as on their persons. On occasion, I've been at the grocery

when a crew was shopping for their meal, or at a restaurant 

when they've gotten a run. The crews dropped whatever they were

doing and headed out to their vehicle to go to the scene.

With the advent of fire-retardant building materials, building practices

and uniform fire codes, most fire department runs (about 85%)

now are actually medical emergencies, for which most personnel 

are cross-trained. The fire runs that do occur, though, 

can be anything from a trash fire to a conflagration 

in an apartment complex. We'd be lost without these 

men and women; theirs is a special calling. 

Before we went to the track Wednesday morning, 

my friend Bessie and I went to Lino's Coffee in the Dallara

IndyCar factory building on Main Street.

We took our coffee and wonderful breakfast sandwiches

outside to enjoy the beautiful morning --

and to watch a crew of men at work installing

a new gas line. Personally, I prefer to watch men in

harness, but the time spent watching these guys bore a hole 

through the ground to run a new gas line into the

building was educational, too.

(That gray device being used by the man on

the left allows him to "see" the progress

of the boring below the surface.)