Things to Do in Mishawaka

Fort Wayne Ballet began pirouetting in 1956 to enrich the community’s arts offerings with dance instruction and performances. Beginning with its inaugural performance of Cinderella, the ballet company has performed timeless pieces including The Nutcracker, Giselle, and Swan Lake. In addition to its shows and classes, Fort Wayne Ballet maintains strong links to the community, which is evident in its theme: everybody dances. The Ballet works to find adoptive families for dogs through the Muttcracker program, produces trading cards with dancers, I&M linemen and players from each of Fort Wayne’s minor league teams, and stages three main stage productions and three Family Series performances per year.

Since 1979, the namesake of Gary's Indiana Muskie Experience has navigated local lakes and waterways while helping anglers reel in trophy fish. By reading weather patterns and reflecting on wisdom gained through years as a water wizard, the fishing specialist sets out in search of the muskellunge, a deep-dwelling predator known to weigh up to 70 pounds. Gary carefully selects lures that represent the fishes' seasonal diet, finicky appetite, and general distaste for swashbuckling pirate hooks. He also equips each of his guests with rods and reels capable of withstanding the fish's well-known strength. Most expeditions take place on Webster Lake, Backwater Lake, The Barbee Chain, Lake Tippecanoe, James Lake, Oswego Lake, Loon Lake, and Upper Long Lake.

Artist Mike Buszuwski wanted to create “an inspirational place for kids to come and explore art.” Thus, Painting Fun Spot was born. He and his artistic staff equip artists of all ages with all the necessary supplies—nontoxic, USA-made plaster pieces, paints, sealants, and paintball guns—to create colorful sculptures in a relaxed, kid-friendly studio complete with booster seats and pint-sized aprons. Vibrant walls and an undersea mural inspire creativity during studio time, summer camps, and parties and help budding artists bestow blank plaster canvases with hand-painted masterpieces.

Painting Fun Spot also hosts painting fun art classes, during which instructor Tonya Warnke Buszuwski, a professional artist with works in collections throughout the U.S., instructs adults in the finer points of pigment placement. She leads students step by step through a selected canvas work, capturing the tranquility of an impressionistic Tuscan countryside, the bold hues of a cross, or a trio of tulips playing poker with a basset hound.

Paintball Plex hosts colorful clashes on the battlegrounds of a 38,000-square-foot indoor field and across multiple acres of outdoor fields that are open from spring through fall. In the expansive indoor combat zone, players dive behind air bunkers to duck from incoming fire and cacophonous army drummers before reemerging to pump opponents full of color with semiautomatic Tippmann markers powered by complimentary compressed air. Outdoor fields cajole combatants with a lush 300’x180’ speedball area and a WWII-style scenario field peppered with two acres of foxholes, mazes, and sandbags. Games typically last 10–20 minutes and often include combat missions such as search and rescue and capture the flag.

Additional paint is available for onsite purchase to replenish dwindling supplies for combatants or battlefield stenographers. Participants may also browse Paintball Plex's pro shop, which teems with new scenario- and tournament-style paintball gear and loads of gently used equipment.

For more than three decades, bowlers have settled scores atop the 56 glossy lanes at Pro Bowl West. Recently, the alley has been revamped to add flat-screen scoring monitors and new furniture, house balls, and shoes. Customers enjoy the new accouterments during open-bowling hours or lessons given by the experts at Charlie's Pro Shop. Exhaustion and rumbling tummies naturally steers patrons toward the Alley Sports Café & Grill, an old-timey diner that slings a popular pork-tenderloin sandwich. Other entertainment includes an arcade, as well as 21 flat-screen TVs, a dance floor, and six dartboards inside the Alley Sports Bar, a 3,000-square-foot space filled with the tunes of live bands on Saturdays and karaoke crooners on Thursdays and Fridays.

Chicago Paragliding’s instructor-adventurers catch wind from Illinois to Indiana and soar above tawny fields of grain on the Midwest’s great updrafts. They introduce students to multiple windblown sports, from paragliding to kite surfing. After familiarizing beginners with the skills needed to control each craft, they perform assisted and tandem flights to acclimate their charges to faster speeds, greater altitudes, and clouds shaped like scarier and scarier dogs. The team, with certifications from groups including the United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, is also prepared to help more advanced adventurers perfect their skills.