Happy Friday, Lafayette
Prepare for it to be windy the next handful of days🥴
Here’s what’s in Friday’s edition:
An event for the whole family
Reason for all the “star city” names
Mosey Down Main Street 2026 Schedule
The events section
P.S. The answer to Tuesday’s Trivia question was Dr. Luther Jewett
Photo Credit: Purdue Aviation Day
Purdue Aviation Day
This Saturday, Purdue opens up the airfield for Aviation Day. It’s been dubbed as the “greatest spectacle in college aviation.” This is a free community event running from 9 am to 4 pm on April 11th. You'll find aircraft displays, guest speakers, live music, and activities for the kids. The day is centered around recognizing the veterans and first responders who serve this area. It’s free admission!
How Lafayette became the “Star City”
By the 1830s, Lafayette sat at the head of steamboat navigation on the Wabash River. Here is what followed: the canal arrived in the 1840s, five rail lines in the 1850s, and money moved through town like crazy.
Cincinnati had already claimed "Queen City of the West." So, Lafayette boosters grabbed the parallel title: "Star City of the West."
Nobody knows who said it first. Alameda McCollough, curator of the Tippecanoe County Historical Association for 35 years, tried to track it down in 1974 and came up empty. Even Sandford C. Cox, Lafayette's first historian, never recorded it. But by 1851, the name was established enough that someone launched a newspaper called Star City.
Local businesses ran with it for decades. Star City Bottling Works. Star City Soap. Star City Building and Loan. Most of them are gone now, but the nickname stuck.
Sources: McCollough's 1974 TCHA work, Library of Congress newspaper directory, and Lafayette’s official history page and county histories.
Photo Credit: Friends of Downtown Lafayette
Mosey Down Main Returns for 2026 Season
Friends of Downtown Lafayette received approval from the Board of Public Works to hold Mosey Down Main Street on five dates this summer: May 9, June 13, July 11, August 8, and September 5.
The event is the organization's primary fundraiser. On Tuesday, representatives provided the board with a breakdown of community giving since 2018, including donations to local nonprofits, support for Food Finders, and meals served through their Christmas Day dinner program over seven years.
The event footprint has been adjusted from prior years, and organizers have coordinated with local law enforcement on logistics. Board members praised the event's growth and its downtown impact.
The board approved the request unanimously.
Baseball
Purdue at Northwestern
4/10 | 4 pm first pitch (Game is on B1G+)
Purdue at Northwestern
4/11 | 2 pm first pitch (Game is on B1G+)
Purdue at Northwestern
4/12 | 2 pm first pitch (Game is on B1G+)
Miami (OH) at Purdue
4/14 | 6 pm first pitch (Game is on ESPN+)
Softball
Purdue at Indiana
4/10 | 6 pm first pitch (Game is on B1G+)
Purdue at Indiana
4/11 | 2 pm first pitch (Game is on B1G+)
Purdue at Indiana
4/12 | 5 pm first pitch (Game is on B1G+)
Friday
64🌡️55 | 🌧️ | 60% | 💨17 mph
Saturday
65🌡️37 | 🌤️ | 0% | 💨5 mph
Sunday
79🌡️54 | 🌦️ | 20% | 💨22 mph
Monday
78🌡️63 | ⛈️ | 50% | 💨14 mph
Tuesday
82🌡️66 | ⛈️ | 30% | 💨12 mph
If you have an event coming up and you’d like it listed here, fill out this form
Featured Events
45th Greater Lafayette Holocaust Remembrance Conference: A Community Remembers and Responds | April 13-26
Tulip Days
Exploration Acres (Get Tickets) | April 6-April 19
Friday 4/10
Candle Warehouse Sale (Get Tickets)
Antique Candle Co. | 9 am to 3 pm
Friday Phenology Hike (Get Tickets)
Clegg Memorial Garden | 5 pm
Soul Asylum (Get Tickets)
Loeb Playhouse | 8 pm
Stand Up For Kids (Get Tickets)
Gathering Acres Event Center | 6 pm to 9 pm
Jim Lauderdale and the Game Changers (Americana)
Thomas Duncan Hall (Get Tickets) | 6 pm to 9 pm
Saturday 4/11
Support Ember’s Journey to Mobility and Care
Big League Sports Bar & Grill | 10 am
Critter Class: Marvelous Marsupials (Get Tickets)
Columbian Park Zoo | 10 am to 11 am
Purdue Aviation Day
Purdue University Airport | 9 am to 4 pm
Moss Pole Workshop (Get Tickets)
The Plant Pub | 5:30 pm
Tippy Contra Club
333 Meridian Street, West Lafayette | 5:30 pm to 8 pm
Sunday 4/12
Megan Woods (Get Tickets)
Tropical Wine & Candle Night - pour your own candle! (Get Tickets)
Wildcat Creek Winery | 5:30 pm
Purdue Bells Season Finale
Thomas Duncan Hall | 3 pm to 4 pm
Tuesday 4/14
UFC Trivia
Mad Mushroom | 7 pm
Chestnut Grove (Rock&Roll)
People’s Brewing Company & Taproom (Get Tickets) | 5 pm to 8 pm
Thank you for taking the time to read this far! If you have any suggestions for stories, restaurants to try, events going on, or cool things people are doing in the community, send them over!
Have a great weekend,
Blake | Publisher, Lafayette Lookout