Hype for the Future 132/284: City of Columbia City, Indiana

https://novatopflex.wordpress.com/2026/03/12/hype-for-the-future-131-284-city-of-columbia-city-indiana/

An alleyway of hope towards community healing

Sadly in the United States, racism and bigotry are hardly a new thing. No matter how much we want to deny it, this country was largely born of racism and far too many of our fellow citizens continue to practice it on a daily basis.

That’s why it was so refreshing and rewarding to recently stumble upon a revitalized alleyway in small Indiana town that is attempting to right a terrible past wrong, while also adding walkable placemaking feature for the community.

The Ohki Alley in downtown Columbia City, Indiana is located directly across from the Whitley County Courthouse. This narrow alley honors Shinzo Ohki, a Japanese immigrant to the area who built a thriving soy sauce business (Show-You Sauce), but who also felt the sting of bigotry during World War II (see below).

“A Kind and Gentle Man”

“I first met Shinzo Ohki in the early summer of 1942. My family had moved to 203 Brownwood Avenue in Columbia City and the Ohki’s were neighbors. I was about 9 years old at the time.

My brother, Harrison, and I developed a neighborhood business of mowing lawns, doing yard work and general odd jobs as needed. We had a good summer business of about eight or nine customers for walk and driveway snow shoveling, plus stacking wood. In those days, many home owners burned wood in the dwelling heating system. The truck from Morsches Lumber Company would dump a load of wood at the curb and it was the property owners responsibility to handle it. Our job was to toss the wood, one piece at a time, in the basement window and then stack it neatly near the furnace. It was hard work but also steady work and good exercise.

As I became better acquainted with Mr. Ohki, I also got to know his wife and daughter. They were all soft spoken and gentle people. They also were very interested in you and your welfare.

Mr. Ohki’s daughter, Grace, was in college at the time and a talented musician and world-class clarinet player. I remember her as Paid Advertisement
a beautiful young lady who was always asking me about school and any plans I had.

Here we must remember the time frame. It was the early 1940s and World War II was just getting going.

My brother and I were very much enjoying our relationship with the Ohki family. Shinzo always talked with us and always overpaid us.

One summer day, after we had finished our work, Mr. Ohki came and paid us $10.00 each the usual amount for the weekly job was about $1.00 a piece. He was very soft-spoken, as usual, but not so cheerful that day. He said “You boys won’t be able to work for me anymore. It will be bad for you and your family if you do. I want you to tell your mother and dad everything I say and they will explain it.” He turned and quietly and quickly left. I think he was crying.

We started to cry as we walked home, thinking we had been fired from our job. We did as Shinzo had asked and told our folks everything he had said. They explained that others in our small town might bring grief to us for associating with a Japanese family a mystery to me at the time but well understood in later years.

True to his nature, Mr. Ohki was more concerned for our welfare than for his own.

My memory of him has not changed or dimmed over these past almost eighty years. He was indeed a kind and gentle man.”

Source: https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=228160

The alley is adorned with tables and chairs, flowers, lighting, murals, and several historic markers about Mr. Ohki’s life. There is even a tiny ice cream shop (Alley Scoops) tucked into a doorway pocket along the corridor. The alley revitalization project was completed in 2020.

In today’s cantankerous environment, this little alleyway of hope is a charming breath of fresh air, both as a symbol of how to heal past sins, but also as a method for knitting the community back together physically with a wonderful placemaking featuring in the heart of downtown. And whenever you can successfully achieve two goals with a single project, that’s certainly a win-win situation. Kudos to a job well done, Columbia City.

Peace!

p.s. On this 80 anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan (today), this post about healing seems particularly appropriate. May humanity find lasting peace so that such brutal consequences of war never happen again.

#alley #cities #ColumbiaCity #food #fun #history #iceCream #Indiana #Japan #landUse #OhkiAlley #planning #preservation #revitalization #ThirdPlaces #tourism #travel

Scenes from last night’s #HonkFestWest: My band #BetterAsBrass, the amazing #8BitBrassBand, and the loud and rockin’ #ChaoticNoise under the overpass.

Come out today in #ColumbiaCity! https://honkfestwest.org

#Seattle #LiveMusic #HonkFest

"Some kids go straight to college after high school. But Marisa Comeau-Kerege went to Senegal.

She knew she wanted to do a gap year, she spoke a little French, and this francophone country in West Africa seemed like a great fit. So she signed up for a service program and began to prepare. She expected a bit of culture shock, but once she got there she realized how unprepared she really was. Everything was new, all the time, she says. And there were times when she felt very homesick.

Meanwhile, in Edmonds, Marisa's dad Dan Kerege was missing his daughter. He knew she was growing up fast and having lots of new experiences. He knew he couldn't travel to Senegal with her, but he wanted to find a way to connect with what she was going through."
#SoundEffect #KNKX #Seattle #EdmondsWA #LaTeranga #ColumbiaCity
https://www.knkx.org/other-news/2019-03-06/a-tiny-restaurant-connects-continents-sound-effect-episode-171-5

Friday: True Loves play free show to celebrate cycling, climate action + Bike Works fundraiser tickets on sale

 Seattle’s fantastic True Loves are playing a free all-ages show 6 p.m. Friday at The Royal Room in Columbia City to “celebrate our community of cyclists, activists, and other environmentally-conscious supporters and friends who work to curb the affects […]

https://wp.me/pYeSb-26XL

#bike-works #bikecitement-2023 #columbia-city #royal-room #true-loves

A brief time-lapse of downtown from Columbia City. Not a ton of color thanks to Beacon Hill being in the way, but not a bad winter day.

#Seattle #pnw #timelapse #Nikon #downtown #columbiacity