Looking for ways to meet other families? Want to take time to enjoy some summer fun with your own family? Plan to make our new Family Fun Meet Ups part of your schedule! FUSE is happy to introduce our Family Fun Meet Ups, starting this summer. The goal of our meet up events is to give families more frequent opportunities to connect informally with one another. We hope this will be a fun and easy way for families to meet each other, build a support network, and create friendships between our children! 
We will offer a mix of activities all year, typically once a month, but more often in the summer. We will mix up the type of events, so different age groups or interests may be highlighted from month to month. We will also make sure we plan a variety of free and low cost activities, tapping into existing community activities where we can just meet up! Families will pay their own admission fees when there is a cost, unless special arrangements are otherwise announced. We will publish event information in our newsletter, website and social media platforms. There will be no advance registration, so just mark your calendar and show up if you can! Families will sign in so that we know who and how many people are utilizing these opportunities, and what types of activities generate the most interest.
Each event will be hosted by a FUSE family who volunteers to coordinate the gathering. Be sure to let us know if you want to be an event host sometime! We will bring signs with the FUSE logo to each event so you can identify the location of the group. Just check the general directions we publish and then look for our signs on site. We will also provide buttons for families to wear if we are attending a big public event (like the zoo, a museum, etc.) to help identify each other as we move around the venues. Be sure to introduce yourself as you find new faces!
Below is the schedule for our first four Family Fun Meet Ups.
June 2–8:00 pm to 11:30 pm Movie in the Park
Meet at Riley Park in Greenfield to socialize and play together, then stay for the Movie in the Park! The Lego Movie will be showing at 9:30 pm. Meet up with other families around 8 pm, set down your blankets/chairs near the FUSE sign, then hang out to play before the movie. Get your FUSE button from the event host family, who will be near our FUSE sign to greet you from 8-8:30. Parking is available in front of the Patricia Elmore Center at 280 Apple Street. The movie will be shown on the sledding hill, south of the center. In case of rain, go to Riley Park’s shelter house. This free event is co-sponsored by the Hancock County Public Library and Greenfield Parks and Recreation. No registration is required (rated PG). If you have little ones and this event runs too late, feel free to join us just for social time before the movie!
June 30–4:00 pm to 8:30 pm Indianapolis Zoo
FUSE has received 50 free admission tickets to the Indianapolis Zoo! For our second family fun meet up of the summer, we will host an evening at the zoo beginning at 4:00 pm and continuing through 8:30 pm. Enjoy the Indianapolis Zoo’s evening event, the Zoolapalooza Concert Series, featuring music and special food options. For details of the evening visit the Zoo website at http://www.indianapoliszoo.com/events-and-groups/zoo-events/zoolapalooza
Free tickets to the Zoo will be distributed by FUSE at the entrance to the Zoo. Look for our table by the ticket machines under the pop up (left of the Zoo ticket windows). We will give tickets away (no more than 4 per family) only while supplies last, first come, first served! If you miss the free tickets, you will need to pay your own zoo admission. If you have a zoo membership and don’t need tickets, please stop by our table anyway and get your FUSE button so families can identify each other while we enjoy wandering through the Zoo exhibits!
Note: the animal exhibits and the rides close at 7, so keep that in mind when planning your visit.
Special thanks to the DOZ Charitable Foundation for the free tickets!
July 11–6:00 pm to 7:30 pm Brown Bag and Blanket Picnic at Southeastway Park
Bring your blanket and a brown bag dinner for a picnic and playtime in the park! We will be at the newer playground in the open field area of the park, so you will have to drive all the way around the long, one way circular drive past the shelters to find us. Check out the map link to locate the playground
http://funfinder.indy.gov/api/files/brochure/170
July 22 –2:00 pm to 5:00 pm Swimming in Shelbyville
Families will meet up at the Meridian Park Family Aquatic Center in Shelbyville for a casual day of swimming and sun! Families pay their own admission fees, $5 for ages 3 and up, $3 for 2 and under. Look for the FUSE signs in the grassy area and bring your blankets/beach towels to set out to save some spots together. Click this link to learn more about the pool
