Indianapolis, IN
‘I think that was Tom Hanks.’ Actor pops into Indianapolis shops. Here’s what he bought
New York bookstore exchanges used books for pickles
Customers can exchange used books for a jar of pickles at this New York bookstore.
When Alexandria Dugan rang up the purchases of a male and female customer at her Old Northside stationery store recently, she thought the guy’s face and voice were familiar.
“As they were checking out I was like, ‘Oh, he kind of looks like Tom Hanks. He kind of sounds like Tom Hanks.” And then they left and I was like, ‘I think that was Tom Hanks,” said Dugan, owner of Semantics Paper Goods, 111 E. 16th St.
It wasn’t until more than a week later when her neighbor Dream Palace Books & Coffee posted to social media a photo of Hanks outside of the shop that she realized it really was the multi-Oscar-winning actor and filmmaker.
Hanks had hit up the Northside Indianapolis businesses on Sept. 28.
Dream Palace owner Taylor Lewandowski didn’t post the photo until last week. He said Hanks asked him not to post the photo for a while.
“He wanted us to wait a week. That was his request,” he said.
Both the shops are in the same building on the ground level.
Tom Hanks’ visit to Northside Indy shops
Hanks and his daughter, E.A. Hanks, had stopped in the bookstore and cafe after the stationery store; and Lewandowski said he nearly missed the visit while working in the back office.
His barista went to the office to report the sighting of Hollywood royalty.
“She came back and was just like, ‘I’m like 90% sure Tom Hanks came in here,” Lewandoski said.
He went out front to investigate and saw that two Dream Palace customers were outside talking with Hanks. That’s where Lewandowski met the actor, who asked about how the year-old shop started.
Hanks posed for photos with the Dream Palace barista and some students from nearby Herron High School across the street.
The encounter was brief, and Lewandowski said he suspects the Hanks didn’t stay long at the bookstore because folks started to recognize him.
He said Hanks told him another Indianapolis bookseller suggested they make a trip to Dream Palace. Dream Palace, in turn, directed Hanks to The Whispering Shelf, 414 N. College, but the actor never made it to that store.
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While Hanks didn’t make a purchase at Dream Palace, he did buy a lot of stuff from the stationery store.
Hanks and daughter — E.A. Hanks is a writer — entered the shop in the afternoon.
“They didn’t really announce themselves or anything. They just came in and started shopping,” Dugan said.
The Hanks were in Semantics for about five minutes, picking out notebooks, letter writing paper, envelopes, pens and postcards, she said.
“They were pretty efficient shoppers. They kind of knew what they had in mind.”
What did Tom Hanks buy from indie Indianapolis stationery store Semantics?
Among the items Hanks took a liking to at the stationery store:
- Shorthand Task Pad Notebooks. Hanks bought several lined rule notebooks with checkboxes. Dugan said he wiped out her stock of forest green pads.
- Letter writing paper and matching envelopes from MD Paper Products, a Japanese brand.
Why was Tom Hanks in Indianapolis?
No word on what brought the actor and his daughter to Indy. The shop owners said they didn’t ask.
EA Hanks might make another trip to the Indy bookstore
Lewandowski said he hopes E.A. Hanks will return to Dream Palace to promote her book “The 10,” due out in 2025.
“She took my email down and said she’d like to do some kind of book signing or event here,” he said. “I hope she reaches out. That’d be great to have her come back and do something.”
Contact IndyStar reporter Cheryl V. Jackson at cheryl.jackson@indystar.com or 317-444-6264. Follow her on X.com: @cherylvjackson.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Alec Pierce has experienced what it’s like to ride in an IndyCar two-seater.
He took a ride in the Fastest Seat in Sports ahead of the 2025 Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.
This past Sunday, he rode in the Fastest Seat in Sports again. But this time, the two-seater reached higher speeds as it screamed around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval ahead of the 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500.
“Incredible experience,” Pierce said. “I’ll never forget that. So cool… At the end there, with the helicopters, that was pretty cool.”
Pierce added that when he was in the car going around the track, he was able to truly realize just how many people were inside IMS. Keep in mind, Sunday’s race was a grandstand sellout and more than 350,000 fans were thought to have been inside the facility.
“You really can see how many… hundreds of thousands of people of people out here,” Pierce said.
Andrew Chernoff, WISH-TV and WRTV 6 weekend sports anchor/reporter, asked Pierce how the Indy 500 ride in the two-seater compared to the once Pierce took ahead of the Sonsio Grand Prix.
“The Grand Prix I didn’t know what I was signing up for,” Pierce said. “That was a little bit more like the racing itself. The driving in the car was crazy because it was all those turns and this was cool. This was we were just going super fast. This was more just cool to see everybody out there and just be on the track and be a part of such a special event.”
Pierce just wrapped up his fourth season in the NFL.
This past year was arguably the best year of his career. He finished with 47 receptions for 1,003 yards. Pierce also hauled in six touchdowns.
He signed a new, four-year contract with the Colts back in March.
Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and 2022 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year Jimmie Johnson drove the two-seater that Pierce experienced this weekend.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Hundreds of fitness enthusiasts started Memorial Day with a climb.
The Hill 317 kicked off its 16-week season Monday morning after a last-minute venue change to Paul Ruster Park. The event was initially set for Lawrence but moved due to safety issues, organizers said.
“Once police officers realized this was a health event, and no weapons, alcohol, or drugs were involved, they didn’t see a reason to stop people from working out together.”
Brandon Beasley, who founded The Hill 317 in 2019, said the turnout shows how the group has grown from a small running club into a citywide movement.
“I created this health event in 2019, and it’s been going ever since,” Beasley said. “I decided to run the hill, asked people to run with me, and the next thing you know, we have 3-4-500 people.”
‘It’s really your level’
The two-hour sessions include running, walking, or pacing up the hill, followed by a halftime break for calisthenics like squats, push-ups, and jumping jacks. Refreshments and a DJ round out the workout.
“It’s really your level,” Beasley said. “If you can walk up the hill, you can walk up the hill. If you can push yourself to run up the hill, flip up the hill, crawl up the hill, go backwards — whatever you need to do to push yourself to exercise — then we take a halftime break to do calisthenics.”
People of all ages joined Monday’s session. Organizers said even a baby in a stroller made it to the top.
‘No competition. We’re pushing each other’
Mollie Lindeman, softball coach at Cardinal Ritter and a longtime participant, said the community focus keeps her coming back.
“This is amazing,” Lindeman said. “There are so many people here for our first hill of the season. I love to see everyone out here getting up and running today, after or before they eat some Memorial Day food. This is really a great turnout. It’s awesome.”
Lindeman said the group’s supportive environment stands out.
“I am the softball coach at Cardinal Ritter, but I love the community aspect of this,” she said. “Everybody here is together. There’s no competition. We’re pushing each other. You can meet people here and connect with people.”
Free workouts run through summer
The Hill 317 will meet every Monday and Thursday for the next 16 weeks. Sessions are free and open to all fitness levels.
Organizers said the program focuses on building healthier lifestyles through group accountability and encouragement.
Registration and location updates are available online.
If anyone wants to help sponsor the community event, contact info@thehill317.com.
INDIANAPOLIS – Josef Newgarden exited Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 76 laps early after spinning into the outside wall in Turn 4 of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway; and a day later, Newgarden was in a walking boot.
Newgarden was seen and released from the IMS infield medical unit after the crash, although he didn’t do IndyCar’s procedural media interviews afterward. At Monday evening’s Indy 500 Victory Celebration, the two-time Indy 500 champion had a boot on his left foot on the red carpet. Newgarden claimed he will race in this weekend’s Detroit Grand Prix, and he said the boot will stay on “until the cosmetics are complete.”
“It’s just a big hit — big whip, I think was the big thing about it,” Newgarden said. “So, just the nature of the angle of it, more than anything.”
Newgarden finished 28th in the race after appearing to have race pace worthy of competing for the win. He was fourth heading into the restart before losing control of his No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet.
“It’s a tough mistake,” Newgarden said. “You touch that curbing and it happens quick. I mean, I didn’t even realize I made a mistake until I was sideways, and the next thing you know, you’re in the wall. Some mistakes you can see them coming and you can counteract them. That one, unfortunately, I didn’t know until it was too late.
“It was my fault. I lost my sight line, and you can’t be touching that curb.”
After winning back-to-back Indy 500s in 2023 and 2024, Newgarden has exited the last two races early. Last year, it was a fuel pressure problem that ended Newgarden’s day. Newgarden, who made last-lap passes to win both of his Indy 500s, had to watch from outside the cockpit as Felix Rosenqvist passed Marcus Armstrong and David Malukas for the win in the closest finish the race has ever seen.
“I just wish I was in the fight at the end. It looked fun,” he said. “They had a great race going, and it would’ve been amazing to be a part of that.”
Zion Brown is IndyStar’s motorsports reporter. Follow him at @z10nbr0wn. Get IndyStar’s motor sports coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Motor Sports newsletter. Subscribe to the YouTube channel IndyStar TV: IndyCar for a behind-the-scenes look at IndyCar and expert analysis.
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