Manchester teens run meeting place for all ages

NORTH MANCHESTER - Zach Hawkins,18, and Josh White, 19, may be two of the youngest business owners in the area.

Hawkins, a 2000 Manchester High School graduate, and White, a 1999 MHS graduate, opened the Firehouse, a place for all ages to hang out, enjoy live music from various local bands and sip coffee drinks from local coffee vendor Java Jasons. Concerts are free and Java Jasons sells coffee drinks in the back.

The Firehouse is on Main Street, North Manchester, and occupies the old fire station. The building is owned by the Parks and Recreation Department. Hawkins and White rent their space at a price they say is "basically giving it (away)."

Hawkins said the idea of the Firehouse started as a joke.

"We use to drive by the old firehouse and say it would be a cool place for a coffee house," Hawkins said. He also said his favorite band, REM, has a song about firehouses, which inflamed the joke, but also inspired him.

"It was kind of a joke," he said. Hawkins and White never believed their joke would turn into reality. But Hawkins talked to his dad about it and "we made it happen."

The Firehouse began with performances twice a week, on Fridays and Saturdays, and occasionally on Thursdays. Opening night was July 2 with a local band from Fort Wayne, the Blue Moon Boys. Sonny Taylor, also from Fort Wayne, performed July 3, and July 4 was open microphone night for anyone who wanted to perform on stage.

The majority of music featured at the Firehouse is rock but "some people are heavier and some are lighter," Hawkins said.

"Our target audience is junior high and high school kids," Hawkins said. "But there's nights when 3-year-olds (visit the Firehouse)."

Hawkins also said "a lady in her 80s stopped by to see what's going on" and a lot of adults visit, too.

Hawkins and White said one of their main reasons for opening the Firehouse "is the fact that there's really not much to do in Manchester."

White said they wanted to come up with "something for kids to do in Manchester instead of always going to Fort Wayne."

And the Firehouse/coffeehouse does just that. Nearly every weekend the old fire station on Main Street is packed with kids, and some adults, hanging-out and listening to music.

Part of what makes the Firehouse a fun place to hang out, is its unique decor.

"A lot of people comment on the decorations inside," Hawkins said. "(And it's) all due to Andrea Shoemaker." Hawkins said Shoemaker has put in a lot of time and hard work decorating and helping out with the Firehouse.

"We've had lots of volunteers who've put in tons of hours," Hawkins said. He describes the Firehouse's decor as "patchwork because we've got all sorts of different couches and furniture," donated by North Manchester residents. Decorations also include donated quilts and blankets "patched up on the ceiling." Brightly painted coffee tables, old road signs and dried wildflowers also make up the Firehouse's unique decor, and an old food vending machine, painted and remodeled, displays performer's CDs for sale.

A guest registry is available for guests when they walk in. The large garage doors display, in bright colors, names of the bands performing that weekend, so those driving through downtown North Manchester know what performances to expect for the weekend.

And weekends for the Firehouse this summer are quickly fading away.

"This weekend is our second to last weekend," Hawkins said of Fun Fest Weekend. Thursday night the Firehouse hosted the Fun Fest local music concert. In the past, the concert was under a tent on Second Street.

During Fun Fest, five bands will be featured at the Firehouse: Stumpy Joe; Punk Department, Manchester High School students; Manchester High School graduates Chris Good and Nate Shull; the Yardgnomes and Fever Tree. Fever Tree is Hawkins' band and comprises Michael Good on the keyboard, Rob Seward on bass, Toby Tobeis on drums and Hawkins on the guitar. Hawkins also is the lead singer of the band.

Summer performers at the Firehouse so far include Psycho Billy - a.k.a. the Blue Moon Boys, Fort Wayne, featuring swing- and rock-style music, and Johnny Socko, Indianapolis, featuring swing- and funk-style music.

The Firehouse also held a solo artist weekend. Hawkins said five or six solo artists performed, "so that was kind of cool."

Coming up, visitors can expect to see performances by Einstein Savage, Fort Wayne, Saturday night during Fun Fest; the Blue Moon Boys and Strut Train, Fort Wayne, Aug. 19 along with Big Red and Rojo and Rosemary Gates.

"It's the last concert," Hawkins said. "It'll be a fun evening."

Then, the summer performances are done. And the future for the Firehouse is "up in the air."

Both White and Hawkins will be off to college next year, so they don't know if they'll be able to run it next year. But, White said, the Firehouse will more than likely be open "once a month in terms of concerts happening there."

The Firehouse also may be open for different community groups and church groups throughout the fall and winter and after high school sporting events.

"Church- or youth-oriented groups will be able to use that space," Hawkins said of the Firehouse.

Next summer, Hawkins and White are planning to open the Firehouse and, as long as their schedules allow, both hope to run the business again.

White will attend Indiana University, Bloomington, as a sophomore in the fall, and Hawkins will attend Lutheran College, Iowa, as a first-year student.

"We work together with a lot of people," Hawkins said of running the Firehouse.

The Firehouse also has a management board/steering committee that meets once every two weeks. The board comprises representatives from the Parks and Recreation Department, community organization representatives, adults, kids and members from Healthy Communities - Healthy Youth, who "try to make the community better for youth."

White said the management board will run the Firehouse during the school-year.

Funding for the Firehouse came from grants. Hawkins and White said they "wrote a lot of grants, very sizable ones," including grants from the Lutheran Foundation and the Community Foundation of Wabash County, as well as several personal donations from North Manchester residents. The performers, Hawkins and White are all paid with money from these grants.

Hawkins said all the grants were initially written "as just a summer thing," but a lot of interest was shown and Hawkins and White worked to figure out how to run and manage the Firehouse.

Hawkins and White hope to decrease loitering and cruising in North Manchester by offering this new hang-out for people of all ages, particularly teen-agers.

Anyone interested in using the Firehouse for a community or church activity should call 982-7700. [[In-content Ad]]