For the 79th year, the Mizpah Shrine Circus will pull into town Jan. 23-25, although the city looks a bit different than it did when the circus got its start.
“It goes back over 70 years, all the way from when the circus used to show up in town on a train in downtown Fort Wayne, and then they would literally have the circus on the stage at what used to be the Scottish Rite,” said Mike Hardiek, a member of the Mizpah Shrine Circus committee. “We were actually the very first act to ever perform the weekend we opened Memorial Coliseum. So, once they built Memorial Coliseum (in 1952) that’s been our home ever since, and it’s been a perfect home.”
The circus returns for five performances over the course of three days, providing a needed alternative from tablets and smartphones…