There are nine stakes in the new temple district, and youth from those stakes performed dances around certain themes, like our frontier heritage, agriculture, sports, crossroads of America, etc. Our stake's youth combined with another stake to present an interpretation of the Indy 500.
See video below. It starts with the people in blue shirts on the right singing "Back Home Again in Indiana," then switches to a simulation of a race, complete with "crashes" and the team of medics. It concludes with the presentation of a jug of milk to the winner, which is a real thing.
James is somewhere in the group of black and white shirts (representing the checkered flag), wearing a white shirt.
We could have seen faces better if we had watched the live broadcast online, but it was really fun to be there in person, with so many other Church members.
James spent that whole day at the stadium practicing. At least one spot on his face had been sunscreened.
The next day was the dedication. The stake president gave us tickets to be at the temple for the final dedicatory session. We were praying to find someone close to the temple who could watch our four younger kids, and a family who used to live in our stake but who now live in northern Indy were the answer to our prayer.
The window to the left of Jason's shoulder is in a waiting room, and that's where our seats were.
So, now our temple is open! It's 1.5 hours away (totally highway driving) vs. 2.3 hours to Louisville (mostly on winding roads).
As a footnote, I tried going the first day it was officially open, and it was mobbed! (as I should have expected.) We may have to go back to Louisville for awhile until the hubbub dies down.
