And here is the fair blog!

Below is a gallery of some of my favorite shots of the Fort Wayne Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge Dealers Fireworks Show, taken among other festival-goers just outside the square:

Read more about the Fort Wayne Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge Dealers Fireworks Show with Kelly Metz’s coverage of the event in tomorrow’s paper and on the Web.

Post and photos by Amanda Junk for The News-Sentinel.

Read it, check it out.

Posted by Kelly Metz of The News-Sentinel.

The Dark Star Orchestra began jamming at 6 p.m.

This was not my first DSO experience: A friend and I stumbled across it on my routine visit to Junk Food Alley (now Sprint Food Alley) when the band appeared as a headliner last year. We saw swarms of festival-goers in tie-dye shirts and flowing floral skirts lined up outside the pavilion. After hearing the easy guitar sounds and extended drum breaks from outside the Alley and saw where all of what we then called Dead Heads (we soon found out the proper term for a DSO fan is “Star Head”) were going, we knew we had to check it out.

 Was I glad I returned this year? For lack of a better phrase, I dug it.

Check out Kelly Metz’s coverage of the concert in today’s print edition of The News-Sentinel.

Post and photo by Amanda Junk for The News-Sentinel.

Our fabulous transformation -- courtesy of my closet.

Last night I became an embedded journalist. I didn’t get to cover any supreme conflict or anything, but I did get to dress up in “hippie wear” and attend the Dark Star Orchestra.

The night started at 6 p.m. when we walked down to the Verizon Event Pavilion at Headwaters Park. The Dark Star Orchestra started their four-hour set and people were jumping up and down, swinging their arms and having a great time. Floral and tie-dyed tapestries hung from the walls and far out lights zoomed across the ceiling of the arena. There were people sitting, standing, dancing or laying outside in the grass for this event, and although most of the crowd was mellow, we did have our jokesters.

We met some Star Heads — they use their vacation time to seperate themselves from reality and travel with the band — who have seen more than 100 shows. Michael Heinz from Chicago said he has seen Dark Star over 200 times.

Once Amanda and I got some photos, we decided to immerse ourselves into the crowd and dance. We didn’t care what anyone thought of our dancing, we just wanted to get out there and have a good time. Peace signs met our eyes everywhere we looked, smoke filled the arena from behind the stage and for once, I got to experience the generation.

The Dark Star Orchestra gets 28725 thumbs up from this intern. It was a nice psychedelic time.

Check out the Dark Star article in today’s paper!

Retroactive Clothing, dressed in disco-era clothing, walks in the bed parade before the race.

The Three Rivers Credit Union Bed Race started at 6:50 and was over in an hour. That’s because the beds were zooming as fast as they could go down Main Street with a finish line between Calhoun and Clinton.

For a first-timer, the bed race was extraordinary. For some reason, when I first thought of a bed race, I was thinking of Bedknobs and Broomsticks, the old movie with Angela Lansbury and the dad from Mary Poppins. I pictured brass queen beds being pushed by track stars down the street. I was right about one thing — the track stars. I was amazed by how much thought is put into a bed design, how much strength and endurance it would take to push a bed and the length of which the bed would go. I pictured a hill, the straight shot down Main Street must have been difficult to get going.

Some teams were dressed in costume — Retroactive Clothing wore disco-era fashion similar to John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever and the St. Joseph Hospital team wore scrubs when pushing their gurney. Some teams were just happy they finished the race (Pizza Hut) and some had technology on their side — the American Boys bed was designed like a tank and shot water out a spray gun.

The crowd enjoyed themselves and Jeff Bruce of Three Rivers Credit Union estimated between five and six thousand people were watching along the side of the street. Some people set up their lawn chairs two or three hours before the race started. It was like watching the parade all over again, except much faster and with beds.

Reigning champions: DeBrand Chocolate

DeBrand Chocolates, the 2007 champions, kept their title this year as returning winners with Imago Dei in second. The DeBrand bed had three wheels — which I discovered makes for easier steering — and netting instead of a mattress — keeping it lightweight and aerodynamic.

I would definitely recommend any and everybody checking out the bed races in upcoming years. It was fun and for a TRF newbie (like myself) it was a blast.

Check out the more in-depth coverage of the bed race in tomorrow’s paper.

The best bed, earning a $200 prize:

 Post and photos by Kelly Metz of The News-Sentinel.

The Passport Fair counter

I set out with minimum fuel in my 2001 Ford Focus this afternoon to check out the Passport Fair held at the post office on S. Clinton Street. When I got there, there didn’t appear to be much traffic. Although this doesn’t seem as big a deal to some readers, I want to express a large kudos to the post office for providing the opportunity for fast and easy passport applications and the delicious brownies they had out for interested applicants.

Posted and photo by Kelly Metz of The News-Sentinel

Fans waiting in line at 5:30 p.m., 30 minutes before gates were scheduled to open.

I was up a bit later than usual last night working on writing a story about Trey Songz. After the ringing in my ears stopped (Kelly and I caught the show speaker-side to mingle with fans and take up-close snapshots of performers), I sat down to recount the evening’s activities. And there were a lot of them, for some starting as early as 4 p.m.

The line snaked all the way from the Verizon Event Pavilion to Sprint Food Alley as of 5:30 p.m. By 8 p.m. fans-mostly young female adults-flocked to the barricades separating them 10 feet from the stage. From that view, those who arrived early were able to catch the sizzling choreography and singing of opening performers Mo Cheez and Tasha Danae.

R&B artist Mo Cheez performed as an opener.

I could literally feel the beat in my heart, which at that moment was given over to Songz and his soulful voice, lyrics and charm.

Those close enough received an eye-to-eye Songz serenade.

A shirtless Songz had all the girls screaming.

 The decibels doubled when he took off his white tank top. As Riyauna Watkins so aptly put it, “that made it worth the extra hour wait.” I’d have to agree with her.

Read more about the concert in my story in today’s paper (“Fans swoon as Songz croons”).

Post and photos by Amanda Junk of The News-Sentinel.

Cathy Quinones loses the wine carafe from her tray as she heads for the finish line after clearing a table during the Gordon Food Service Waiter/Waitress Competition at the Fort Wayne Newspapers Three Rivers Festival on Monday morning. She was with the Bandido’s team. Read more on the traditions of Sprint Food Alley on Page 1A. Photo by Ellie Bogue for The News-Sentinel.

For more of Ellie Bogue’s Monday TRF photo coverage, check out today’s photo gallery.