Not Blue Because of The Colts, Indy

So, this past Sunday as World Diabetes Day. Many people participated. Much D-Advocacy was advocated. Good times were had. Discussion ensued, courtesy of the JDRF. And many in the global Diabetes Community tweeted, wrote, and photographed monuments and buildings going blue in recognition of this worldwide awareness event.

Even Indianapolis. A City of Blue all on its own, without diabetes.

You know the Roche crew created a human circle of blueness. Lilly colored its water fountain blue. And you've read about my own efforts to step outside the Diabetes Online Community bubble and bring some of that D-Advocacy to the general non-D aware public.

So, it was with great joy that I learned Saturday (yes, one day PRIOR to WDD) from the mayor's office that the City of Indianapolis would be coloring blue the Soldiers & Sailors Monument on the traffic circle in downtown Indy. This 284-foot high monument is the tallest Civil War tribute in the country and stands tall in the heart of the city.

After our D-Meetup and JDRF Type 1 Talk discussion (more on that to come soon), I journeyed from the northside of the city to downtown. Waiting for the sun to set, I grabbed some coffee from the same place I'd helped brew up some advocacy on Friday and watched the Monument turn blue as the lights gradually turned on.

Lights used to make the Monument Blue.

  

Some windows have blue lights in them to help.

Would be cooler w/o Christmas deco in mid-Nov.

Last year, the Monument was also lit up. But I specifically recall that no one knew why it was lit up in blue. Of course, everyone believed they knew. Since this is home to the Indianapolis Colts, and the NFL team sports the color blue. On Sunday night, the Colts played a football game and many people walking on the circle that night were wearing blue jerseys and shirts. Nothing indicated this lit-up monument wasn't the color of the Colts.

Oh, climbing to top = cool, but scary!
Not recommended in July!

There's a Civil War museum under there...

 So, I did my part. Asked around. Because I'm curious. And that's what good reporters do - be curious and get people the info they need to do whatever they will with it.

A modest seven people were my subjects that night. All but one were together in pairs. Two different groups wore Colts attire. Five had an answer, and only the one pair that was obviously visiting from out of town admitted not having any clue. They had a camera and asked for a photo in front of the blue landmark, and that gave me my chance to ask the same question I'd posed to others around the circle.

My basic question: "Do you know why it's blue?"

Confident Responses: "The Colts" or "The Colts Won." or "That's our color."

Me: "The Colts do rock, but actually it's because today is World Diabetes Day and the city wants everyone to know that."

A few acknolwedged it and went on their ways (I pretended to not pay attention to the Cap-Wearing Colts Fan who frowned, shrugged his shoulders, and gave a wordless "Whatever" before strolling off with his friend...). The solo man wondered what WDD was about, and I explained. The tourist-couple seemed intrigued and we chatted a few moments, before I snapped their photo in front of the monument (as they'd asked me to do).

So that's that. It was chilly and as my warm coffee was now gone, I decided to leave and go home. Had I made more of an effort or actually planned in advance, a whole awareness campaign could have been done on this. Maybe the city could offer information at a little table, or do a banner, or have the nearby radio station on the circle display a message: "The Monument is blue for World Diabetes Day, not just for the Colts!"

Well, there's always 2011 and beyond!

But looking into the future is getting a little ahead of ourselves, as I haven't yet told the story of our local Indy D-Meetup on World Diabetes Day... Stay tuned for that. While some of the story of what was Type 1 Talk must be told at some point, you'll for sure not want to miss out on the parts that include Cherise and her singing iPad daughter, The Chocolate Cheerio, plus talk of what could someday be an Adult D-Camp right here in the Hoosier State, at the Crossroads of America...