After COVID forced the Williams Woodland Park Neighborhood Association to cancel its annual winter Holiday Home Tour two years running, the organization rallied and is proudly inviting the community to its inaugural Porch Fest this Saturday, June 4th.
Just south of downtown Fort Wayne, its residents comprise a diverse, urban community and collectively are proud of its beautiful and stately homes, built in another era, nestled among magnificent trees and lovely landscaped yards and gardens.
For a look at the team spirit involved in this undertaking, WBOI’s Julia Meek spoke with two of the event spearheaders, Donna Kline & Terri Stumpf, about what this fresh new event in the 0-7 has in store and how it complements that grand old neighborhood.
Event Information:
Williams Woodland Park Porch Fest
Located in the 300 blocks of West Taber & West Woodland
& the 2400 and 2500 block of Webster Street, Fort Wayne
Saturday, June 4th, 2022
11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Wheelchair Accessibility
$10 adults, $5 6-17, 5 and under free
For more information, visit the Williams Woodland Park website.
Julia Meek: Donna Kline, Terry Stumpf, welcome.
Donna Kline: Hi.
Terri Stumpf: Hi.
Julia Meek: So your historic Williams Woodland Park Neighborhood is gearing up to celebrate itself. Let's start with what makes this neighborhood so special.
Terri Stumpf: Well, I will tell you it is one that has done kind of a complete turnaround. We have gone from the golden glamour days kind of to an iffy situation and we're back into many professionals are back living in the neighborhood. It's a wonderful place once again, to raise a family, to establish friendships. It's one of those neighborhoods where everybody knows your name, you know, just like Cheers. They know your name. And if they don't know your name, they know your dog's name for sure.
Julia Meek: (chuckles) That's great and fair and square, Terri, you have been living there a long time in it.
Terri Stumpf: Forty-ish years. Yes, yes.
Julia Meek: Fantastic.
Donna Kline: And if I could just add to that as a relative newcomer to the neighborhood, I've been there for about five and a half years, moving from outside of Chicago and within probably the first six weeks, we knew more people in the neighborhood and more people knew us than in the 15 years that we lived in our house in that Chicago suburb.
Julia Meek: That's a wonderful testimonial, Donna, and thank you so much for sharing that. We like to think that we are a very friendly city you are substantiating that.
Donna Kline: Absolutely.
Julia Meek: So okay. You are a very communal bunch of neighbors there. What kind of seasonal activities were commonplace pre-pandemic in your world?
Terri Stumpf: We have had a Chili Cook-off every February--we have a rotating trophy. We have a fourth of July party. We have a swim party in the neighborhood, ice cream social. We usually in November have had a carry-in Thanksgiving dinner, which sounds like all we do is eat, but we do some work on the other side. We have hanging baskets on 46 of our lampposts within the neighborhood. We have a little water warrior team that goes out and waters the plants, so we've taken care of that. We have a couple cleanup days in the neighborhood. Our big fundraiser has been our Holiday Home Tour that we have the first weekend in December, and I've had that are over 30 years.
Terri Stumpf: Great traditions! And from that accounting, COVID must have really taken its toll with the quarantining and everything. So what did you come up with to stay attached and connected during that isolation?
Donna Kline: Well, we did continue to meet just to have kind of business meetings and just see each other's faces on Zoom. I think everybody got very tired of zoom during that period of time. But we'd found it really important to try to stay together that way. Correct me if I'm wrong here, Terri, but I think the only time that we physically got together was in the early summer of the first bout of COVID. On our porch, which is on a corner, we had a DJ who lives in our neighborhood. So he played songs that he had selected, he took requests, and we had a big dance party in the street. And that was tremendous.
Julia Meek: It sounds like just the spirit maybe that you needed to keep going all the way through that isolation and good for you all. And so...out of the ashes, Porch Fest is born! Now that you're back and were deprived of so many fun, fun, fun situations and circumstances, and you've certainly missed a few Christmas gatherings. This is your brainchild, Donna. So where and how did that light bulb come from? And just how bright was the flash when it went off?
Donna Kline: (chuckles) Well, it truly was born from COVID. Our holiday Home Tour being such a long tradition in the neighborhood it was really pretty heartbreaking to not be able to have it for two years in a row. The first year, we did a virtual version. And that was okay. I think it was put together very well. But obviously it wasn't the same. The second year, we just did not do anything. So at the beginning of this year, when we got together as a neighborhood and talked about is it going to be possible to have the holiday home tour this year, and of course nobody knew--we really still don't know. But the plan is to certainly have it--but just in the event that we couldn't, what could we do instead? So we started thinking about, well, obviously it needs to be a different time of year. So let's do something in the summertime--late spring, early summer, so people can be outside, which is another kind of COVID-ish thing that we could still do it even if there might be a problem with that. We also have talked about the fact that people have seen the insides of some of our homes, but in the wintertime there's not a whole lot to look at on the outside. We have beautiful porches on our homes and our neighborhoods. So why don't we show those off in a different time of year. So where the idea of Porch Fest came was kind of combining those factors and I will be honest and say I have never attended a Porch Fest myself (chuckles) but I have a friend back in Illinois who was not the coordinator of a Porch Fest, but he has participated in one for several years, so I knew the general idea of it. I'd been thinking about not necessarily something as big as Porch Fest has turned out to be, but maybe having like house concerts or something like that. So I brought that up. I think I talked to Terri about it first. And then when it became more obvious that we needed to think of something else to do in the neighborhood, then I brought it up to the association as a whole. We're talking about other things, including maybe having an art show, storytellers, maybe movies in somebody's backyard, that sort of thing. So then one of our neighbors said, why don't we just combine all of that. And so that's what we did. And that's how Porch Fest was born.
Julia Meek: That's just fantastic. What a great story there, Donna. Now, it didn't take much to convince the rest of the neighbors that this was a viable option?
Terri Stumpf: I don't think so--they knew that the proceeds that we made from the Holiday Home Tour had kind of dwindled over the past two years since we weren't able to have it. And within our neighborhood, we have a couple matching grants for home improvements on the exterior and for safety issues, new doors, cameras, those kinds of things. So we needed that money to help make the match. And this year, we're excited because we received some money from the city so we're able to up the grant match, which you know, every nickel counts, so... (chuckles)
Julia Meek: Sure, sure, and so does the communal activity and put it all together, exactly what you're saying, it was painful for y'all to not be being good neighbors. Now it's your chance. So that Porch Fest package is really, really something for an inaugural event! Music, food, face painting. What else are we missing here of the highlights?
Donna Kline: The face painting is just a part of the portion that we're calling Kid Fest. It'll be some other activities going on there. The storytelling will be kind of a combination of kids stories, some stories about the history of the neighborhood, and also Fort Wayne. We have one storyteller who is quite new to the neighborhood who works in the genealogy department at the library. And she is thrilled to be living in one of our historic homes. So she raised her hand to pick not her home, but a different home in the neighborhood, learn everything that she could about it and present that as her contribution. As you mentioned, we have food trucks coming--we have Bravas and Same City and Little Whip, which is Whip & Chills tiny little cart. So yeah, there's really going to be something for everyone. Oh, some additional things that kind of don't fall into a particular category, the Fort Wayne Dance Collective is sending one of their troops and the Taiko Drums are going to be there as well.
Julia Meek: So you've got everything celebratory, that can be thought of it sounds like and it's coming to a Porch Fest near two.
Terri Stumpf: Exactly.
Julia Meek: Great. So who do you expect to come out and join you for this fun day of celebration?
Terri Stumpf: You know, I think it's all ages, a little bit of everybody. It's a Saturday afternoon. It's supposed to be nice weather, a good day to wander and the streets are blocked off. So it's kind of fun just to walk around through the streets and look at the old houses from the outside.
Julia Meek: Mmhhhm, it's really a beautiful, beautiful neighborhood architecturally speaking, and you've got your reputation and quite a lot of street cred, if you will, from your Holiday Festivals. Is that word of mouth gonna bring you some crowd do you think?
Donna Kline: I think so. And we hope so. One of the ways that we tried to talk about this is because you haven't been able to visit us for the last couple of years in December, then we hope that you can visit us now and see our neighborhood from a different perspective.
Julia Meek: That's great. And it's of course, truth in advertising. But it's also reminding them about what's in store.
Donna Kline: Exactly.
Julia Meek: So tracking the history and heritage of that grand old neighborhood is a treat for the residents and the visitors. What are your own particular points of pride?
Terri Stumpf: I think it's great to see people moving back into the neighborhood. And all of us share kind of our motto of, History, preserving history, culture and diversity. And it's just kind of nice to live in a neighborhood that everybody takes that to heart and lives up to the motto, I guess is the way to put it
Julia Meek: Mmhmmm. That's certainly a good way to put it.
Donna Kline: One of the things that I really appreciate is the intergenerational nature of it. We have some very, very elderly people that live in the neighborhood and we have infants and I think everyone interacts really extremely well. As I think about new as I age and what happens next, I hope I can stay in the neighborhood forever.
Julia Meek: That is a great point. I know historically, that is one of the longest lived in neighborhoods and certainly that kind of care and concern for your neighbors is a big part of that. Now our founding fathers like Jesse Lynch Williams, your William Street's namesake very intentionally added the parks and the boulevards and the public amenities found in that neighborhood to attract people to Fort Wayne, since the very beginning of time. How does this translate to the 21st century? And how relevant is it today,?do you feel?
Donna Kline: I think it's still fully relevant. And I think that's evidenced by the fact that we have so many young couples, young families moving into the neighborhood. I was surprised by that when we moved into the area that there were so many young people who were as in love with these old houses as I was. And I just find that tremendously encouraging and not just moving in and then taking things as they are, but really putting effort into making their homes everything that they can be.
Julia Meek: That's so heartening,
Terri Stumpf: It was actually a park area. There was a gazebo at one time, a darling little gazebo that of course is long gone now. But I think that sense of maintaining the park atmosphere--we have had a lot of people replace the trees in the park strip. And people are also interested in replacing the trees up in their own property too. So that park atmosphere is still there and wanting to keep it you know, a street you could walk down and be shaded on a hot summer day and kids roller skate out on the sidewalks and all those things.
Julia Meek: Sure, and the stewardship being so strong speaks well of the character of the place as well as the people in it. Now you have such a great mix of the old and new families and businesses and retail offerings right there in your neighborhood. What's the secret of maintaining the energy and the solidarity to keep them all going and rolling along?
Donna Kline: I think it's important that we do things like the Holiday Home Tour and Porch Fest to show the rest of the city, the rest of the Fort Wayne area, what we have to offer. Because there's more there than just, as a neighborhood, we can fully support, of course. So I think the more that we can do to bring other people into that neighborhood to show off not just our own homes that we're so proud of, but everything else that the neighborhood has, restaurants and retail and that sort of thing, so that people just think of coming to our area whenever they need something or just want to wander around a beautiful neighborhood, they think of us.
Julia Meek: They're walking and biking and they're coming to your neighborhood.
Terri Stumpf: Yep, I think to several of our families, and notice I say our because we just kind of all think of us as one family, the kids grew up there. So now they are parents and also have purchased homes in the neighborhood. So we have quite a few families like that, that share that little common bond.
Julia Meek: Sure.
Terri Stumpf: Just a bunch of them all clicked.
Julia Meek: How Cool. Now I am kind of curious, with any luck, you all will be able to resume your Holiday Walk this year. If you've got enough energy, it probably you're gonna have enough interest. So after Porch Fest, will it all be an option? Are we just saying the more the merrier?
Donna Kline: Absolutely, that's an option. And plans are already well underway for the holiday home tour. So yep.
Julia Meek: And we can't wait to see what comes out of all of this. And you know, bottom line, it's going to be a grand day in that grand old neighborhood by the sound of it. So my last question, what new spirit, new spark should every Porch Fester find in their hearts when they leave?
Terri Stumpf: I just think you're gonna see a new energy coming, the whole kind of 0-7, up to Electric Works, all the energy that is growing from there, we've started to partner a little bit with the Boys and Girls Club. And they are having a brand new the Kelley Career Pathway building for technical skills. And we're just thinking that as more things like that start connecting, we're going to be a real viable, viable area close to downtown there. And I just think it's going to make the neighborhood stronger that people are going to want to come back to these old houses.
Donna Kline: Yeah, I agree with everything that Terri said. And in addition, I'm hoping that Porch Fest will just be inspirational to people. Not to try to replicate what we're doing. That's not the point but just get ideas that oh, if this neighborhood can do something like this, what might my neighborhood be able to do and what might my part be in that?
Julia Meek: Donna Kline and Terri Stumpf are part of the team that is spearheading the Williams Woodland Park Porch Fest. Thank you for taking time to share this lovely story with us. Do Fest on.
Terri Stumpf: Thank you.
Donna Kline: Thank you.
