Carmel High School Football will play Center Grove for the Class 5A State Championship title.  The game takes place this Saturday, November 29^th at 7:05 p.m. at Lucas Oil Stadium. 

Their first meeting with Center Grove earlier this year resulted in a 33-32 victory for Carmel in the final minute.  Both teams finished with a 6-1 record in the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference.  Ben Davis was Carmel’s only loss.

For more information, click here.

Fishers and Carmel will have their community tree lightings this Saturday, the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Fishers:  6:30 to 8.p.m. Saturday. Town Hall, 1 Municipal Drive. Includes costumed Dickens carolers, music from the Fishers High School choirs and cookies and punch. Free. (317) 578-0700 or www.fisherschamber.com.

Carmel:  4:30 to 6:30.p.m. Saturday. 1 Civic Square. Lighting of the Giving Tree and holiday lights is at dusk or approximately 5:45 p.m. Jugglers, carolers, balloon artists, reindeer and other North Pole animals. Holiday entertainment provided by Clay Middle School Choir, Carmel Symphony Orchestra Brass Quintet and Central Indiana Dance Ensemble. Refreshments provided by the CFD Auxiliary. First 400 children will receive goody bags. In event of rain, held at the Carmel Fire Department Headquarters Fire Bay. Bring unwrapped gifts, no plush toys, for the Gazebo Giving Tree. Free. (317) 571-2400.

Source:  IndyStar.com

Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard spoke to the largest crowd ever gathered for a State of the City address last week.  The speech outlined his vision for the city including a strong infrastructure, walking areas, public transportation, and a community unified with its downtown. 

Brainard, who was recently criticized for budget shortfalls on two major projects, would like to see more people walking instead of driving and would like to give families the option.  He would like to design Old Town in a way where people can walk or make short trips. 

Another initiative involves creating a public transportation system in a couple of years.  The plan outlines using shuttles from area hotels to Old Town and Clay Terrace and back.   He wants to keep drawing new businesses to the city’s center and thinks the added density would speed up the creation of a public transportation system.

For more information, click here. 

The Carmel Redevelopment Commission has leased half of the second floor of the Laurie Building located at 30 W. Main Street in Carmel.  The five-year lease began on October 1^st, but the staff will not move in until December 1^st. 

The Carmel Redevelopment Commission will pay $4983.12 plus a $202.17 maintenance fee per month for the 2622 square feet.     

The city of Carmel spent $1.2 million in cash and backed a $2.9 million loan to construct the Laurie building.  The building which was opened in the fall 2007 was built by Carmel Arts LLC, which is an extension of Indianapolis-based Stenz Construction.

For more information, click here. 

Tonight at 6:00 PM, the Carmel City Council will meet to discuss a $50 million increase in the Keystone Avenue roundabout construction project.  The project was originally supposed to cost $90 million to be fully funded from the state.  Last week, four-term Republican mayor, Jim Brainard, announced that the project will be closer to $132 million -$140 million. 

Some members of the Carmel City Council, who have seldom said no to the Mayor’s multi-million dollar projects, are resisting the proposed additional funding.  Although no vote will take place tonight, Mayor Brainard says he will give a presentation on the Keystone project cost increase. 

For additional information, click here.

Due to the recent 4-3 vote, the Carmel City Council will now have the final word on arts spending.  Mayor James Brainard will continue to handle the arts funding, but the council will now have the power to approve, reduce or reject funding to any art project or organization.

According to the ordinance, Mayor Brainard would have to submit a written recommendation to the council to use funds for a specific art project or organization. The mayor also would need to explain how the public will benefit from the project.

Rick Sharp, Carmel City Council President, said the decision will likely lead to an overall increase in arts funding, from $675,000 in each of the past two years to $725,000 or 1 percent of the city’s total budget in 2009.

Sources:  Bryan Unruh, Current In Carmel; Melanie D. Hayes, IndyStar.com

Carmel, Indiana will host the 11th Annual Carmel International Arts Festival this Saturday, September 27^th and Sunday September 28^th.  This year, the list was narrowed to 155 artists exhibiting in watercolor, oil, 2D, jewelry, photography, 3D, wood, sculpture, pottery and more.  When asked why there are less artists this year as compared with last year’s 185 artists, Rosemary Waters, President of the CIAF, explains that “taking only the highest-quality submissions improves the show for everyone.”

The festival will take place from 10:00 AM-5:00 PM on Main Street in the Carmel Arts and Design District.  Admission is free.  In addition to the showcased artists, there will be two stages of entertainment, food vendors, and more. 

For more detailed information visit the Carmel International Arts Festival website.

Carmel, Ind. – Remember the candy store from your youth? Maybe it was just down the street in your hometown, or the must-hit stop on your annual summer vacation. In either event, it sticks in your memory because it was more than a store – it was an experience.

That’s the feeling that Old Town Carmel’s newest candy purveyors, Lynn Wiegand, Jill Zaniker and Bernie Szuhaj, hope to bring to the Arts & Design District through the Simply Sweet Shoppe at 30 N. Range Line Road.

Co-owners Wiegand and Zaniker live on the same street. But this connection grew when they realized that they also shared a secret aspiration – to open a fun and fanciful candy store.

“The idea actually originated out of my own need,” recalls Wiegand. “I had moved to Carmel from Pennsylvania, and at Easter time I asked Jill, ‘Where do you get your candy?’ I was surprised that Carmel really didn’t have what I was looking for at the time.”

Wiegand and Zaniker conceptualized a candy store that carried everything from fun, retro and affordable penny candies to high-end chocolate treats.

“I grew up in Carmel, and graduated from Carmel High School. Because of that connection, it was important to me to build a place in the Arts & Design District where people can create memories,” Zaniker shared. “When children from Carmel grow up and have kids of their own, I hope they can come back and remember the good times they had here,” she explained. 

That dream became a reality in August, when Simply Sweet Shoppe opened its doors. But it’s evident to all that enter that this candy shop is much more than just a place to buy unique confections. It has become a haven for talented Carmelites to share their lesser-known talents, display their crafts and have a piece of their own little dream.

Vendors include Rhianna Allen, a music teacher at Clay Middle School who brings her “Happiness in a Bite” gourmet custom cupcakes to the table.

“We want the public to be part of what we have created, and it’s thrilling to see that happening right from the beginning,” Wiegand added.

But the candy wonderland that fills the first floor of the circa-1872 home is only part of the story. Wiegand and Zaniker also wanted to provide a place in the District that would nurture the performing arts.

“As parents, we were all concerned about the way that creative play and imagination were being sacrificed to video games and technology,” Zaniker said. “We wanted an outlet for kids to explore drama, music and art outside of school.”

To help, they sought out their third co-owner and business partner, Bernie Szuhaj, to bring his expertise to the team and lead the effort to develop the Second Story Playhouse above the candy store.

Szuhaj, a former drama major from Indiana University, had been volunteering his time in the local school districts in an attempt to infuse much-needed arts education into middle and elementary school programs.

“Performing skills are life skills,” he said. “Unfortunately, lots of districts don’t have the budget to devote much energy to them. For our part, we hope to develop this studio into something of a youth artist colony here in Carmel, and help develop that creativity that is sapped in so many kids today.”

Second Story Playhouse is currently registering students for classes that begin on Sept. 2 – sessions that run the gamut from creative writing to stage combat. And the age range catered to through Second Story’s programming is as diverse as its curriculum; International Talent Academy has been contracted to teach preschool classes like Little Mozarts, and Indyprov is stepping in to help initiate an improv troupe for teens and adults. Other offerings include day and evening art classes for adults, good manners workshops for children as young as age 3, and behind-the-scenes lighting and set design courses for kids more comfortable out of the spotlight.

Szuhaj and his partners want to provide opportunities for every interest and ability level, with programming that is developed ultimately by the participants themselves.

“We’re not promising that your kid will go to Broadway, but we will give them life skills and confidence through our programs,” Szuhaj stressed. “If you’re interested in the arts, you’ll make this team, and you’ll succeed.”
  
To learn more about Simply Sweet Shoppe or to register for one of Second Story Playhouse’s upcoming sessions, call 317.818.9866 or visit www.30northrangeline.com.

For a more information about Carmel Arts & Design District vendors and events, visit www.carmelartsanddesign.com or call 317.571.ARTS.

Source:  http://www.carmelartsanddesign.com/FEATURES/merchantprofiles/pop_sweetshoppe.html  by Erin Witt