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The Passion Of Pin-Up

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Cherry Lee’s Salon Caters To A Classic Culture

A look, lost in time, revived to make eyes follow and fantasies unfurl. The bobby-pinned curls cascading down in huge rolls to frame a perfectly finished face, replete with fire engine red lipstick and a hint of blush to complete the illusion. The clothes have to keep up with the walk as the eyes take in the severely lined stockings, teasingly tempting as they make their way under a flared skirt. The straight cut bangs hovering above smoky eyes. The poses and positions that, while innocent enough, still evoke strong urges within the male’s psyche. This is the world of pin-up culture.

A local woman, Cassandra Barker, yearned to bring these frozen moments in time to life. She scrimped and saved, all while raising her children, until she was able to open her own salon to cater to the needs of the pin-up, rockabilly, hot rod culture. Her dream was realized last year when she was able to open the doors of Cherry Lee’s Salon, a place for ‘Classy Broads & Fancy Fellas’. In speaking with Cassandra, the first hurdle was defining what the culture is that her shop caters to.

“It’s retro or pin-up or anything that you would look at like that.” Cassandra said. “If you come into the salon, you’ll see that there’s real old pin-up stuff on the walls and the counter tops are decoupaged with pin-up stuff and Nancy Drew and all kinds of other stuff.”

Since this is not the run of the mill hair salon, I wondered how Cassandra got drawn into this specific type of hair styling.

“Well, I think what happened with me, I had a lot of theater background. I did hair working for Phantom of the Opera for a little bit and I learned a lot about Victorian hair. Basically, hair is just like fashion: it changes throughout the course of the years, but it keeps its general structure.” Cassandra went on to say that, “I took the things I learned from Phantom of the Opera and started incorporating it into up-dos for proms and weddings and things kind of went from there. I started researching it and made sure I was staying authentic, like using a beeswax that they used to use back in the day, because…that’s what they used to use. I try to keep as true as I can with the products we use because they worked.”

A hairstyle is just as identifiable as any other fashion or body modification. People instantly recognize what station or class or culture you are from based on your clothing and your coif, even recognizing what era a specific hairstyle may be from. What is the current interest in retro hairstyles and fashion? Could it be that, since we are currently living lives on the edge of the unknown that we cast a look back, trying to recapture a simpler, more contented era?

“I think so for sure. The time period that we focus most of our stuff on, there was no money, there were hard times and we’re kind of going back to that style and it’s easy; it’s not that expensive and everyone seemed happy.” Cassandra opined. “I think that what it comes down to…they were even talking in the news the other day that moonshine was on a resurgence and stuff is starting to come back that was cheap, but made fun happen, you know what I mean? I think that a lot of that is coming back and hopefully that starts to push everybody at least if not towards doing better monetarily, at least feeling better in their general life, which I’m 100% for.”

I wondered if this was the only type of hair styling that Cassandra did or if it was a full service salon. Cassandra answered my question by saying;

“I had a girl sitting in here watching me one day and she said, ‘The range of people that you have walk through your door amazes me!’ I have a range of people from real pin-up, retro girls who do all the photo shoots with the cars to a mom to a little kid to a little old lady, and I can do any of it. I worked at Square 1 Salon for almost ten years. I can do the soccer mom hair and I can do anything else, but my focus and passion is definitely the pin-up stuff and the more retro stuff.”

One might wonder what the purpose is of all of this retro-vision. Was there a purpose behind all of it?

“Basically…and I know this sounds cheesy and hokey…it comes down to making people feel the best that they can. I mean, if it’s taking a housewife, who has been a housewife forever and ever and ever and who has worn t-shirts and jeans for the last ten years, who sits at home and cooks and cleans and taking them and bringing them out, giving them a fresh look and giving them new hair and make-up and giving them that sexy little pin-up look. It’s frozen into some other land and then they all of a sudden have confidence again and start feeling good about themselves.” Cassandra added that, “Actually, I think it scares the crap out of their husbands. Like, every girl I know who has come in here, who had been kind of plain Jane and then they walk out with a little Betty Page pin-up look with dark hair.

Were there other markets that catered to the pin-up/hot rod culture? Where could you get the clothing and other accoutrements?

“They can pick up some of Nikki Forte’s pin-up design stuff here. Nikki has been bringing stuff in and out of the salon. She’s actually been getting pin-up stuff for the girls and is looking at opening a little boutique inside of the salon. It’s in the works. You know, Dayton, since it is out of the eye of everything that is going on with retro and pin-up, it’s harder to get a hold of the stuff.”

As we wrapped our conversation up, Cassandra told me about a big event that was taking place at our mutual friend, Bill Winger’s shop called Daddy Katz in Moraine.

“On July 9th, we’re actually doing a pin-up training camp at Bill’s shop (Daddy Katz).” Cassandra went on to detail the event. “It’s going to be two hours of one-on-one make-up, hair training and finishing…like I’ll finish their hair and make-up. Joe Schuster from Cincinnati will do a one hour photo shoot with each girl and they will walk away with a disc of pictures and later on, they will get an edited picture of the best picture from their shoot. It’s going to be really cool. There’s a lot of stuff like that going on in California, but there’s not anything going on that around here.”

Cherry Lee’s Salon for Classy Broads & Fancy Fellas is located at 2712 Linden Ave., but is open by appointment only. You can call (937) 901-6589 to make an appointment. Mention this article and you will receive $5 off their cut and style.

Cycling from Dayton to Cincinnati

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Several months ago, I discovered that Dayton’s bike trails connect all the way to the eastern suburbs of Cincinnati, a city that I lived in for almost 10 years and loved. I used to bike around the hilly city regularly, especially for the year when I lived over the river in northern Kentucky in the Bluffs, the apartment complex on the hill as you cross the river on the I-75 bridge south. I used to bike down the hill, over the river and through the flat streets of downtown, often stopping at Findley Market for an Italian sausage out of one of those big grills.

I set a big goal: Bike from my home in Kettering, Ohio, to Cincinnati’s Sawyer Point, a beautiful riverfront park right downtown. My best guess was that it was about 80 miles.

To put this in perspective, my longest ride ever was 36.2 miles (home to Franklin and back). The next longest was under 30 (home to Yellow Springs one way). Eighty miles was a big leap.

I set out early last Sunday morning, about 10 minutes before 8 o’clock. Big storms had blown through the night before, and there was still technically a tornado watch for the region when I left. I say “technically” — the watch expired at 9 a.m., but I’d checked the radar, and it showed that the storms had already passed by. With an extra set of clothes, a set of hand-written directions, and some fruit, peanut butter and bread in my panniers, I set out solo from home.

I was familiar with the route from my house to Xenia along the Creekside Trail from a ride last year to Yellow Springs. This morning, I was all alone on it and flying.

Maybe it was the adrenaline of finally setting off. I hadn’t slept well the night before from anticipation, and now I was off. Riding to Xenia is a pretty substantial ride, but today it would be just a drop in the bucket. With the help of a friendly breeze behind me, a slight downgrade and fresh legs, I cruised along comfortably at 20-25 mph pace for a lot of it. I had to slow considerably once for a deer that wouldn’t run off, and I saw more rabbits than I could count. A frog made me practically jump out of my pedals to avoid him.

It was a lovely ride through the woods, past the dragstrip and empty ballfields all the way to Xenia Station. Xenia Station, which I’d seen on maps but never in person, turned out to be a parking lot from what I could tell. I turned right to cut south, and as far as I was concerned, my ride was really beginning. I was a little under the 20-mile mark.

Since Sunday, several people have asked me about my route. I’ll describe parts of it here, but the gist of it is shown in the map at top. All but about 12 or so miles was on shared-use bike paths. I picked up a path in eastern Dayton, rode that to the Creekside Trail, which got me to Xenia. In Xenia, I turned south on the Little Miami Scenic Trail, which took me all the way to the edge of Mariemont in Cincinnati. I got off the trail there and navigated streets for maybe 10 miles.

One of the reasons I was hustling to and through Xenia was that Michelle and Kevin, two friends, offered to ride along with me on part of the ride. They decided to hook up with me in Spring Valley, about 6 miles south of Xenia, and ride south a bit from there. I rode fast to avoid keeping them waiting, though I know they’d have waited happily. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. I was coming through Spring Valley, wondering where we were actually supposed to meet, when I saw Michelle walking her bike up to the trail. I’d just arrived & they’d just arrived at the same spot. Serendipity…

So, we rode south. This section of the trail showed the worst effects of the storms the night before. Sticks everywhere, a few bigger fallen branches and debris just all over the place. We could also feel the wind starting to shift. Or maybe it was us shifting. It had been coming out of the west, but we increasingly felt it in our faces, not terribly but enough to make us aware of it. We rode two and three abreast at pretty good pace, probably an average of about 16 miles an hour. Along the way, I topped 36.2 miles, making this officially my longest ride ever, even if I didn’t go another foot. By the time we stopped at Fort Ancient about 16 miles south of where we met, I was around the 42 mile mark.

We took a break by Morgan’s Livery, which was hosting a paddle-bike-run triathlon that day, so we were surrounded by some very fit folks in spandex.

A digression: I was wearing for the first time bike shorts. I’d gotten some pretty solid advice that if I was to survive this ride, they were essential for keister comfort. I wore a pair of shorts over them and an old soccer jersey. I’m not much of a physical specimen. Overweight, gray-haired, unshaven. Some days I could play Yassir Arafat in a Lifetime movie. I’m nothing to look at, but here I was surrounded by fit triathletes, the muscle-ratti gathered at a lithe-a-thon. I wasn’t one of them, but I felt good about what I was doing. Kevin snapped a photo of me before I had a chance to sit up straight while Michelle checked my tire size to see whether she could loan me a spare inner tube, just in case.

After a bit of a break, Michelle and Kevin headed back north, and I changed into some lighter, dry clothes now that the sun was high. I took off further south, riding against the traffic of the triathletes.

South from Fort Ancient, the next big milestone was Loveland, but I was getting confused about how far away it was. I’d forgotten the order of towns, and it wasn’t always obvious what town I was in. I was expecting Corwin-Morrow-Loveland, but Morrow took forever, and there was no sign of Loveland for a long, long time. I thought it might be six miles, but those miles went by, then 10, then 15 and still no sign of Loveland.

I was tired, I was alone, I was discouraged and I’d started to wonder if I’d make it all the way. Though I’d gone more than 40 miles and topped my longest ride ever, I knew I had another longest-ride-ever ahead of me. I’d already gone really far. I could call it quits somewhere nearby and still have the pride of a very long ride. I kept pedaling as I thought through it all, adding up more miles.

Around mile 50, somewhere between Morrow and South Lebanon, if memory serves, I heard a tell-tale “ping” and looked down between my legs. My rear wheel, which had just been trued, was going rowr-rowr-rowr, warped all to hell. I’d broken a spoke. Two weeks earlier, I’d broken a spoke, and the warped wheel rubbed against the brake so hard I could hardly pedal it. This time, I kept moving, looking at the path ahead and down between my legs thinking, “Well, I guess that’s it.”

My speedometer also caught my eye. Despite the broken spoke, I was still going 16-17 mph. I wasn’t slowing down at all. I was sore and hurting, but no worse than I’d been 10 miles earlier. “OK,” I told myself, “This is now about whether you’ll refuse to give in.” Marathon runners say the last few miles are all mental. This was now my marathon, and whether I made it was just a question of what I as willing to put up with. Sore back, tired legs, dry eyes — I have all of that but I’m still cruising at 14-16 mph, and my broken spoke isn’t slowing me down.

Looking back, that’s when I really finished the ride, when I decided not to quit unless my bike just wouldn’t go forward anymore.

The wind kicked up in my face now, but it wasn’t like pedaling into a wall. I kept going, moving somewhere between 12-14 mph on average. As I finally got closer and closer to Loveland, traffic on the trail really picked up, and it didn’t let up much until I got off the trail far south of there near Newtown.

Loveland’s a really lovely place for cyclists. The path in town is lined with little cafés, ice cream shops, even a BBQ joint, all right on the trail. It was a lovely oasis and a nice place to stop for lunch. As I ate a banana and a peanut butter sandwich, I called Teresa to update her on my progress. She was with the boys at Ikea, eating hotdogs.

Back on the bike, sore, tired and wondering when my wheel would finally give out, I headed south through Milford and then to Newtown, where the trail portion of my ride ended. There were no signs, but I’d studied the map enough to know Newtown Road overhead when I saw it. My odometer read about 70 miles. 70-damn-miles. Me. You’ve seen the photo above, right? I mean, c’mon. That guy rode 70 miles.

When I got off the trail, I was euphoric. This was the home stretch. I had only about 10 miles to go, and I would be riding on streets I know in a city I love. I’d go west through charming Mariemont, turn south to go past Lunken Airport and then west through Columbia-Tusculum, where I’d ride right in front of the last apartment I had in Cincinnati, a charming duplex with a vestibule and lovely tilework. Once I hit my old apartment, I had 3.8 miles left. I can bike that in my sleep, no matter how tired I am. Getting off at Mariemont meant I’m practically there.

I rode off the bike trail, and staring at me on Wooster Pike above was a huge friggin’ hill. Uphill. Probably about .25 miles long, not miserably steep but a very steady climb. I steeled myself and started climbing. Ugh. But there was no question of quit now. I was too close. My wobbly wheel was still turning. I wasn’t calling for a ride from here.

I made it up the hill at about 5 mph and through Mariemont, then through the industrial zone to Lunken Airport, where I used to hit golf balls at the driving range. Through here, I had to keep pulling my directions out of my pocket to avoid a wrong turn. I didn’t need any extra distance, even tenths of miles. My directions were in a plastic bag, along with two $5s, my driver’s license and my health insurance card (Teresa’s suggestion). I stopped in the shade of a tree to phone Teresa again and let her know I was getting close. After we got off the phone, I reached into my pocket for my directions, but nothing. They were gone.

No directions, no license, no health card, no $10. Damn. I checked my other pockets, my panniers, but nothing. I called Teresa back.

“I think I have a problem,” I told her.

“Can you go back and see if you can spot it?” she asked.

“I’ll try,” I promised.

I wasn’t happy with myself for being so careless, but I turned my bike around and started riding back along the route I’d taken, away from Sawyer Point. I knew I had limited energy, and I was using it to go the wrong direction. I went back about half a mile and saw nothing. It was a fool’s errand, and I was being a fool. I wasn’t going to find it, and I couldn’t change that. I didn’t need the directions anymore because I knew the way. So I turned back around and rode past Lunken a third time.

I started having weird trouble with my gears. At one point in my fruitless search, I had shifted to the smallest gear on the back wheel, and my chain came off. I downshifted and caught cogs again, but it all felt very chunky. I shifted back and forth as I rode from Lunken to Eastern Avenue, trying to figure out what was up and discovered I had only two or three cogs in the middle of the rear gears that I could reliably use. Broken spoke, and now something wrong with the gears. My derailer seemed bent out at a weird angle too.

But my wheels were still turning when I pedaled. At this point, I was less than six miles away. I was holding up better than my bike. It was limping along, but I kept going.

I limped past my old apartment on Eastern Avenue, which came up a lot quicker than I’d remembered, and turned onto the last road I’d take: Riverside Drive. 3.8 mostly flat miles along the river to Sawyer Point. I looked at my odometer. It read 84 point something. I started to tell myself, “It won’t hit 89.”

I could see the I-471 bridge, which runs right through Sawyer Point. I’d ride right under it to get to the large green lawn in front of the amphitheater where I planned to end. I could see the bridge getting closer. I topped 85 miles. “I won’t hit 89 miles,” I kept repeating to myself.

And I got closer and closer. 86 miles, 87 miles, 88 miles. “I won’t hit 89.”

And I turned left into Sawyer Point. There were people everywhere — families, kids, motorcycle cops, a clown on stilts and a DJ playing the chicken dance and the hokey-pokey. I’d made it.

I rode toward the giant lawn in front of the amphitheater, and not 50 feet before it, I carelessly tried to change gears to get up a slight rise. My chain completely locked. My pedals would not turn. I had to get off and walk the last damn 50 feet. Then I collapsed in the grass, deliriously happy. This is the picture I took laying there, the only one Teresa or I thought to take that afternoon.

I called Teresa, who’d just arrived with our two sons. The boys came running to me on the grass when they saw me, and I unexpectedly choked up a little. It was very sweet. It reminded me of myself at age 8 running to my dad at an airport in upstate New York. An Air Force serviceman, he’d been stationed in Korea for a year, and I wore funny goggles to the airport to welcome him back.

After a few hugs, I laid on the grass awhile while Teresa took the boys around. All the people were at Sawyer Point for something called Kidsfest. What luck. They had some fun on the inflatable bouncies and playground, and I laid on my back and rested my legs. Then we walked to the car, put the bike in the back and drove an hour up the interstate to home.

88.49 miles, 6 hours & 18 minutes on the bike, a little more than 7 hours total. My house to Sawyer Point. Check.

Addendum: The next day I was shocked not to be sore. I was a little tired but otherwise normal. My bike was much worse for wear than I was. In addition to the broken spoke, I discovered I’d broken off the smallest cog of the gears on my rear wheel. I had eight cogs but arrived with seven, and those seven were wobbling back and forth in the extra space. The broken cog and chain trouble also stressed my rear derailer to the point that I’d bent it all out of whack. Instead of being parallel with the wheel, it stuck out at about a 30 percent angle. And the bike was filthy, as I was. I’ve since showered, and the bike’s in the shop. A good Samaritan mailed my license, health card, directions and $10 back to me the next day. His daughter had found it at Lunken Airport. Nice people in this world.

It’s a Different Kind of Summer Now

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University Hall

Where did ten weeks go? Oh that’s right, they went into writing papers, studying for tests and giving presentations. Another quarter is completed and it is time for summer. Summer doesn’t have the same traditional activities for college students as it used to. No more running in sprinklers and chasing down the ice cream truck, for some of us its time for graduation and off to the real world. For some of us it is time for a summer vacation, relaxing on a beach and sipping on margaritas. And for the rest of us, it might mean working or taking more classes. For some or most of the students at Wright State, our lives don’t change much from the rest of the year. We’ll continue to work, live in the same house or apartment, and go to class, whereas other students have to fight the complications of moving home with mom and dad, finding a job, and even finding things to do around the home town again.

I definitely find this an advantage to being a Wright State student, living locally, and having a secure job. I personally am not taking any summer classes this summer. I take 16 credit hours the other three quarters of the year and work part time. Summer is my freedom, it’s my time to travel and relax and save up that money for fall quarter’s books. But here are some summer plans of a few Wright State Students.

Lindsey Satterfield, Organizational Communications

“I plan on working at JC Penny to save up money, go to some music festivals, and travel to Florida to see my best friend. I also have signed up for one summer class to move things along.”

Joel Hangen, Management Information Systems major

“I’m just working full time this summer, have a couple trips planned to Canada and Vegas”

Nicole Anderson, Communication Studies

“This summer I have an internship, work and classes so I can graduate in March of 2011”

Alex Vanioukov, Business Management

“I work all summer unfortunately”

So it’s an array of plans for Wright State students this summer. We will be in and out of Dayton for the next three months. We’ll be working hard and saving that money for our schooling and of course, we’ll be soaking up the activities Dayton is offering this summer.

Southern Comfort Food

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Huffie’s Serves Up The Best In Q

Mural by Dayton artist Ronnie Williams

Food. All you have to do is look at my expanding midsection and you will instantly know that, although I may not know the fanciest places to eat, I know the places that serve the down home cookin’ that you can only get from a family owned restaurant. Huffie’s Bar-B-Que, located at 925 McArthur Avenue, is one of those places. Now, I fully realize that describing any type of bar-b-que is tantamount to getting into a political argument with all sides taking up the cause of their own particular favorite, so I will avoid making any sweeping statement about it being the best bar-b-que in the city…even though it is.

Anyway, the secret is the method of preparing the ribs and the way that the bar-b-que sauce is created. Of course they did not tell me what went into the sauce, as they would have had to have killed me immediately afterward. Suffice it to say that the sauce is not too vinegary nor is it too overpowering. Some sauces strive too hard, covering up the taste of the meat with either a spicy heat or an overabundance of spices in general. Huffie’s is a perfect blend, allowing you to taste the preparation of the pork along with the rich tang of the sauce itself.

Huffie’s menu covers a broad range, taking in the Southern style favorites like fried okra, fried green tomatoes, greens and cornbread. Put that on as a side to your slab of ribs, pulled bar-b-que pork sandwich or whole fried catfish and you have yourself an incredibly satisfying meal. In recent years, they’ve added a lot of vegetarian items and heart friendly foods to the menu, such as salads, baked fish and vegetarian soups and beans. You can cap off that meal with a wide selection of pies and cheesecakes, especially their famous sweet potato pie with the crust still made with lard. Perhaps Dr. Oz might disapprove of the cholesterol count, but your palate will kick his Oprah lovin’ ass for saying such disparaging comments about something so wonderful.

I was able to sit down with the owner of Huffie’s, Howard “Huffie” Huffman, to talk about the history of the restaurant, the processes of running it and cooking for it as well as some of the memorable events that have happened there over the years.

J.T.: You guys have been here, what? Forty-three years?
Huffie: Forty-five years.

J.T.: I thought it was opened in ’65?
Huffie: Actually, it was ’63. My sisters started working here in ’65. I’ve worked here since I was thirteen and I was born in 1950, so about ’63 or ’64.

J.T.: Did it start out as a family business?
Huffie: Yeah, my father started it up. It all started out when we were in Joy Apartments on Millicent and they built a pit outside. Down South, everybody barbecues all the time and they share, so the neighbors would start coming over and we used to have as many as fifty or sixty people in the neighborhood coming over and eating our barbecue. That was at the Joy Apartments in the early sixties…sixty-one, sixty-two I’d say.

J.T.: Is most of your food still based on family recipes?
Huffie: Oh yeah, almost all of it.

J.T.: Have the recipes changed over the years?
Huffie: Not too much. It’s Memphis, Tennessee style barbecue. My father’s from Mississippi and my grandfather is also from Mississippi, so it’s basically Southern type food. It’s changed for like the extended menu, like cheese steaks and things like that, but the barbecue sauce is still the same, the ribs are still the same, the pork shoulder’s still the same. We smoke them outside. One time we got a commercial unit, but we found out that it just didn’t give you the same taste, the same authentic taste, so we went back to the hickory wood and charcoal. You know, we marinate the meat like two days ahead of time then we smoke them. We do things the old fashioned way.

J.T.: Do you buy your ingredients local?
Huffie: Oh yeah, we buy from meat companies and produce companies like, but things like the ribs and the pork shoulders, we buy from companies like GFS.

J.T.: Are there any plans for expansion, as in opening other restaurants?
Huffie: We had four or five restaurants before. I had my own restaurant one time and I’d do catering. I was over by the golf course for about two years and over by Kettering Field for like six years and that was enough. We found out it was best to just run your own single business than to try and have four or five others and trying to have someone else running them for you. You lose that family atmosphere and you kind of lose touch with things. You run into problems with people rushing the ribs or too much of a portion on a platter trying to get big tips. I mean, I’d do a franchise where someone could pay me a set amount of money and you could buy a franchise, because that gives you more control where you supply them with everything.

J.T.: Do you do a lot of catering?
Huffie: Like, I do hog roasts and Hawaiian luaus. I’ve catered for places like NCR, Mead and General Motors. I used to cater folks like the Temptations. I still have pictures. They used to know me by name. I fed the O’Jays and one time, a big named star was here at UD…I think he was about sixteen years old at the time…and he bought a couple of slabs of ribs and I took them to him and he gave me a hundred dollar tip! The best tip I’ve ever had to this day!

Huffie’s Bar-B-Que is located at 925 McArthur Avenue on the West side of Dayton, right off of Germantown St. You can call ahead to make a take out order or to make reservations for special occasions at (937) 263-2289. Their dining room is clean and spacious and, on many occasions, there are local jazz artists and other talented musicians playing while you dine. My only problem is after I eat my favorite meal there (pulled pork sandwich with a side of fries), I have to stave off the urge to curl up in the booth and take a nap. The “itis” is a force to be reckoned with.

How 1,500 Vacant Dayton Lots Could Blossom into the Growth of Civilization

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There are 1,500 vacant lots in the city of Dayton. Fifteen hundred?!? Let that sink in for a moment. These aren’t boarded up homes, vacant homes, abandoned homes, these are vacant lots that the City of Dayton has to maintain, somehow. It’s staggering to think about. I see plenty of these lots, and you do too, but to think about 1,500? So the question of what we should do with these lots comes with some urgency behind it, but also some promise and potential. Dayton now has Jonathan Cain with the Lot Links program and several months ago he took some time to talk to me about Lot Links. Mr Cain, like Leah Werner, is a true champion of the potential in Dayton. He’s excited about the possibilities and the opportunities the Lot Links program could represent, if we really thought about it, and he’s open to discussion and willing to help, and looking for a chance to spread the word about this program to clubs, churches and any organization that wants to learn more about it.

You may know that Lot Links is an inexpensive way for Dayton residents to purchase vacant lots that are owned by the City of Dayton. Jonathan told me that most purchasers are neighboring home owners who want to expand their yard space to create a play area for the kids, or a garden, or to put up a garage. Useful purposes all, and those lots would fit well into an established neighborhood without much distraction or disruption in neighborhood aesthetics. You can purchase a lot for as little as $235.00, although a buildable lot is $635.00- still cheap land ownership and the city guarantees clean title without liens. The problem, as I see it, is that land ownership has to be profitable somehow. It doesn’t do any good to simply own a lot. Either you have a house and all the positives that can potentially come with home ownership: Freedom, independence, stability, or you have property with which you can create income: Food production, rental space of some sort, a business.

Ohio is often considered the “Mother of Presidents” with eight Presidents who thought of Ohio as their home (seven if you don’t count William Henry Harrison who was born in Virginia, but was raised and is buried here). Ohio has an extraordinary and rich history and no small part in shaping our country. One of my favorite quotes is from Ohioan and President William Howard Taft “Next to the right of liberty, the right of property is the most important individual right guaranteed by the Constitution and the one which, united with that of personal liberty, has contributed more to the growth of civilization than any other institution established by the human race…”

Back to those fifteen hundred empty lots? That’s a lot of property. But we also now have the opportunity to offer people, for dirt cheap, the chance to enjoy one of the most “important right(s) guaranteed by the Constitution”. How can we use this opportunity to its best advantage? I have a few ideas. We can, and probably should, have a community garden every few blocks- gardening is good for us, but that’s not likely to be an income-producing or highest and best use of land. Expanding your lot size adds value to a house, as does a garage, so for a neighbor to acquire a lot for their own use, that’s a good idea. We tend to think of these lots as either private residential, or some sort of community property, but I think it might be beneficial to start to consider business uses and allow room for developing the lots in profitable ways- I’ve begun to think of this as “micro-development”.

If we want to promote the “growth of civilization” in Dayton Ohio we might do worse than making room for unique uses for all these vacant lots: Allow someone to build a garage and rent it to a neighboring homeowner; pave an empty lot and rent out off-street parking; true urban gardening including chickens for income producing fresh eggs. In other words, we open the land for micro-development, for someone to use for a small business. It’s weird, perhaps. It’s certainly not what we signed on for when we decided to plant roots in Dayton, but the only constant in life is change, and the strong adapt. Momentum builds momentum and rethinking highest and best uses for what we have in abundance is a possible way out of our current situation.

We can flourish, if only in small ways at the start, by reveling in our right of property, which is one thing Dayton has plenty of right now- inexpensive and available property. San Francisco doesn’t have it, nor does Oakwood for that matter. Dayton has an opportunity to celebrate what President Taft understood was crucial, integral, part and parcel to what makes America such an extraordinary place- our right to own property. It would be a shame for us to ignore such strengths.

Photo: Teri Lussier

Correction: Initially this article stated there were 15,000 vacant lots; it has been corrected to 1,500.

Scene It: College Edition

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For each student the “college experience” is different, some live on campus, in an apartment or the dorms while others commute from home. Some students are fresh out of high school while others are coming back because life took them an alternative route after high school. Whatever the story might be, no way of college is the “right” or “wrong” way of doing it. I, personally, am a commuter student. I live at home, rent free, with my parents. I work at a restaurant and go to school full time. I wonder sometimes about how my college experience might be different if I had chosen to go to a big university and live on campus. But with Wright State in the Dayton area, it gives Dayton somewhat of a college scene, maybe not your “typical” college scene but it is a college scene.

There are students working in department stores and restaurants making money to pay for their books, tuition, or rent. But what makes the college scene different for the Dayton area is that we, the students, come from all different places. We all aren’t from the Beavercreek, Fairborn area. For sophomore Jessica Olson, it’s a twenty minute drive from Centerville, but commuting works out for her. “I guess I like that I can still go to school, but not be emerged in all the drama school can offer,” said Olson.

Working as a nursing assistant for Fidelity Healthcare four or five days a week, Olson says that her college experience would be “a lot different, a lot worse is my guess. I’m sure my relationship with God would suffer”. She feels this ways because she said she would probably have slipped into the partying if she weren’t maintaining such a busy schedule.

So Dayton, you do have a college scene. It’s just different than that of say, Oxford’s. You have students who go to school, work, take care of families, and still some how make time for leisure. Talk about time management skills! Having a smaller university around gives the students the opportunity to have the choice of such a school. It gives students who have chosen to come back to school after years down a different path the opportunity to do so. It also gives students who might just need that extra push to continue through college, the opportunity to go somewhere where they don’t feel so overwhelmed.

Wright State & Downtown Dayton

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Ohio State, University of Kentucky, and even University of Dayton are all located in the middle of a city. Clubs, restaurants, and bars are all in walking distance from the campus and students are offered much to do close by. Having a large number of non-traditional students, Wright State students seek different forms of entertainment. Being located in a suburb rather than downtown of a city, WSU students turn to downtown Dayton as an option to go out. I personally have been downtown numerous times to go out. I feel fairly safe with a group of friends and have a lot of fun at the local dance clubs. But, I wanted to see what other WSU students thought of downtown. So I turned asked some questions regarding downtown and got some answers. I thought that many people would not like downtown, but I was surprised by students actually going downtown.

Junior Caitlin Buenning, enjoys going down for the theater productions. “I generally like Downtown–I think it’s come a long way. The Schuster Center and Victoria Theater bring in a lot of business and really bring a rich variety of arts to Dayton.”  Along with theater productions the festivals and shows bring her downtown. “I’m pretty familiar with Downtown. I love Riverscape in the summers, and I really love going to the Schuster Center. There are some good places to eat, too.” Buenning doesn’t worry too much about the crime, she says that “there is some crime in some of the parts of the city, but mostly just in neighborhoods.”

Sophomore China Taylor has some thoughts regarding the crime downtown. “I really think that people should visit Downtown more. The crime rates scare people away, but in all honesty crime happens any where. Downtown is a fun place to hang out even as college students and I really think people and students should take advantage of all the events Downtown, Dayton.”  Just as Buenning, Taylor enjoys the festivals and shows downtown has to offer.

A fairly positive response to downtown if I do say so myself. From Dragons games to clubbing and theater performances to fireworks shows, Dayton really does have a lot to offer for college students to do. We just have to get up and go rather than expecting the entertainment to come to us. Some WSU students commute up for 45 minutes to come to class, we are all different students. The “traditional” student isn’t necessarily “traditional” for Wright State.  Downtown offers much variety for us when we need to close the books and have some fun.

Will Dayton be among the Bike Friendly?

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images-88Dayton is making it’s move to become the 2nd Bike Friendly Community in Ohio.  In the last few months the City of Dayton has formed a community wide bike and pedestrian task force lead my Commissioner Nan Whaley, striped bike lanes on downtown roads, produced a transportation based bike map for the entire city limits, and most of all, completed and submitted a Bike Friendly Community Application to the League of American Bicyclists.

In the next few weeks the League of American Bicylists plans to announce the 2010 Bike Friendly Community award winners.  Currently only 1 community holds this honor, Columbus, who was named just last fall as the first Bike Friendly Community in Ohio.  Other communities such as Riverside have submitted an application yeilding only an Honorable Mention (meaning, “Not there yet but keep up the good work!”).

2010 submissions were made from two Miami Valley communities, the City of Dayton and the City of Troy.  Both have a very active cycling community and are invested in working toward making the entire Miami Valley a more bike friendly region.  The only other submission in Ohio, to my knowledge, was from Shaker Heights, in the Cleveland Area.

Keep your eyes open for the announcements coming soon.  Good Luck to both Troy and Dayton, the Outdoor Evangelist is rooting for you both.

If you are looking for other exciting cycling related events, visit Drive Less Live More for exciting new programs and event in 2010 such as Bike to the Dragons Games, an expanded Bike to Work Day event list, Bike to It Concert Series at Dave Hall Plaza and of course, one of my favorites, the Courteous Mass and Urban Bikes @ Urban Nights Rides .

onStageDayton…DMM’s online hub for all things theater!

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onStageDayton...with Shane & Dave

onStageDayton...with Shane & Dave

Introducing the latest addition to the DaytonMostMetro.com line-up of contributers: “onStageDayton…with Shane & Dave”

onStageDayton will serve as your online hub for all things theater in Dayton & the Miami Valley.  Check back often to find out about:

  • productions opening & closing soon
  • how to get tix for great theater in Dayton
  • upcoming auditions for local theater organizations
  • interesting stories about local theater organizations, premieres, outreach projects, workshops/classes & the all of the terrific people involved in local theater-making it happen.

If you work with a local theater organization, please add us to your Press Release list, so we can get all the info into our blog here at DMM!  In addition, please be sure to add your events to the DMM Calendar!

Send all of your updates to us via email:  [email protected]

(this week’s ridiculously cheesy sign-off:)

While we are waiting for the Overture to begin and the cast to take the stage…why not head on over to the DaytonMostMetro Forum and start up a conversation in the Theater thread…

S.A.

Shane Anderson & David Brush work with locally based Encore Theater Company. ETC recently moved into the new arts collective space in the Oregon District, along with Zoot Theatre Co. & Rhythm in Shoes. Anderson, Brush & ETC are currently preparing for their upcoming Summer season of new musicals in downtown Dayton: Johnathan Larson’s RENT, [title of show] & Next Thing You Know (a developmental production of a new musical by NYC-based writing team of Salzman & Cunningham)

LCP Presentation at Pecha Kucha

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There’s a fabulous group of people, led by South Park’s Jill Davis, hosting Pecha Kucha Night in Dayton. The Living City’s Kate Ervin had the chance to present at PK Vol. 3 and you can see her slides below. But what is Pecha Kucha?

“PechaKucha Night was devised in Tokyo in February 2003 as an event for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public. It has turned into a massive celebration, with events happening in hundreds of cities around the world, inspiring creatives worldwide. Drawing its name from the Japanese term for the sound of conversation (“chit chat”), it rests on a presentation format that is based on a simple idea: 20 images x 20 seconds. It’s a format that makes presentations concise, and keeps things moving at a rapid pace.”

PK1

Welcome to The Living City!!!

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The Living City Project is a club open to anyone who is actively working to make Greater Downtown Dayton a vibrant place, or who pledges to start. It is a network of the people and partner organizations who truly care about downtown, and it will soon be a physical place with a storefront office, lounge, and community room.Lecture

Click here to learn more about the concept.

The Living City is being revived from its original incarnation in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, when it was led by John Gower and other staff in the City’s planning department.

Click here to browse the archives.

Want to get involved? Please fill out our Membership Form to enter our database and tell us more about your interests. If you represent an organization that wants to help downtown Dayton thrive, we have a separate form for Partner Organizations.

The new Living City Project is being coordinated by Kate Ervin. E-mail Kate.

Check back often; we’re just getting going!

Dayton’s Airborne Bicycles Back in Business

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If you live in the Dayton Region and ride bikes then the probability of you riding with someone on an Airborne is pretty high.  When I moved to Dayton a few years ago I kept seeing these beautifully crafted, simplistic natured, high end bikes all over and I had never heard of the company.  Of course while riding downhill and free-ride in the Pacific Northwest one wouldn’t necessarily come across one anyways, regardless I was intrigued.  What intrigued me was that Dayton had a hometown bike shop –  Airborne – an authentic, real deal, small manufacturer that makes the bike industry so interesting to me, making me proud to live in this city.IMG_0524

I will be the first to admit I am not very familiar with their history, roots, or owners but I loved the fact that they were made in Dayton.  When the time came that I was considering purchasing an Airborne,  I got word from the bike community (I think on a forum or blog!) that they were no longer in existence.  How did I not know about this?  Why did this happen?  I recently felt very similar when I heard Gem City Records was closing it’s doors, you know what I mean.  No, I didn’t loose faith in the greatest outdoor/bike town in the Midwest but that blog post really burst my bubble (at least it wasn’t from DDN).

So, for anyone who also might have been affected by Airborne closing up shop, I am happy to announce that they are back in business.  They have some seriously slick rides and word is they will be launching a Cyclo-Cross line, which is blowing up in the Midwest.

Not much is up on their website yet but you can find them on facebook to get updates on the companies progress and newest additions to this awesome bike fleet.  www.airbornebicycles.com

2010 product launch is April 15th.  Don’t miss it.

Get you butt in the saddle!

Can you say, “Bike Friendly Dayton!”

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couteousmassIf you haven’t notice by now, cycling is a huge passion of mine, as is supporting the City of Dayton becoming a more bike friendly community.  I’m sure you’ve noticed the bike lane stripping, signage, events and construction going on around the city and are hopefully ready for more to come.  Most of these efforts are products of the BikeWalkDayton Team.

The BikeWalkDayton team is lead by Commissioner Nan Whaley and is comprised of City of Dayton Commission Staff, Police Dept., Planners, Engineers, and outside organizations such as Five Rivers MetroParks, Miami Conservancy District, and Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission.  Their mission is to create a more liveable, walkable and of course, bikeable city.

One current project of the team is creating a city wide bike map detailing trails, lanes, and on road suggested routes.  The map is still a work in progress but the BikeWalkDayton team is interested in soliciting your feedback and they asked the Outdoor Evangelist to help them do it.   Download the map here

If you care about the future of our community, want to be able to more safely walk and ride your bike to work and around Dayton then here is your chance to chime in.

Please take a moment to look over the map and consider a few of these questions.

  • Is it user friendly?
  • What other physical info is necessary (i.e. places of interest, cycling obstacles, etc.)?
  • What bike infrastructure should be shown?
  • What information is important to have on the reverse side of the map (rules of the road, traffic laws, bike shop locations, etc)?

After you are done commenting on the map, get your butt in the saddle and out on the streets of Dayton.  The more bikes on the road the safer it is!

Ride Well!

Photo Credit – Courteous Mass Facebook page

Traveling Light & Corpus Christi

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I started Katrina Kittle’s first novel, Traveling  Light on Friday and stayed up travelinglightto finish it on Saturday evening.  Katrina Kittle is a Dayton native who continues to live in the region, working on her fourth novel and recently acting in several local theatre productions.  I ran across her books while surfing Amazon for a good read, not even realizing she is a local author.  I went to the library with the intention of borrowing Two Truths and a Lie but it was not on the shelf and thus I picked up Traveling Light.  It felt as though I was supposed to be reading that book this weekend.

On Saturday night we went to the Dayton Playhouse to see Terrence McNally’s Corpus Christi, a controversial passion play that depicts Jesus and the apostles as gay men.  There were several parallels between the two works and it was an amazing opportunity to experience them intertwined.  Both the book and the play are significantly about the prejudices that exist against homosexuals and the concept that love can be pure in any form.    Both works explore issues of acceptance and have heroes that teach of unconditional love.  There are even parallel scenes in the book and play where passages from the bible are used to both condemn and defend homosexuality, highlighting the propensity to pick and choose bible verses to support a point of view.

As we walked toward the theatre on Saturday evening, we were greeted warmly by two members of the Dayton Playhouse.  Just behind the greeters stood several protestors… who really were not protesting as much as holding signs that quoted the bible.  It was actually very peaceful and the chair of the Dayton Playhouse summed it up well by saying that the protestors had as much right to be there as they did in putting on the play.  It made me very proud of my city that the cast and crew had the courage to put on such a controversial play… and that the protestors were not hateful or cruel in their demonstrations.

Tolerance is generally the first step of the journey that leads to acceptance and respect.  In Kittle’s novel, that theme is told through several characters.  One young character is full of hate but has a life changing experience that teaches him tolerance.  The matriarchal figure loved her gay grandson but barely tolerated his lifestyle and partner; in the end she came to respect and accept them as a couple, recognizing the persecution of gays as being as tragic as the persecution of Jews during WWII.  Last night at the show, there was tolerance between the protestors and the theatre.  The play itself was a testament depicting the journey of persecution, tolerance, love and acceptance.

The parallels that could be made between the main characters of the play and the hero in the novel are amazing.  Joshua (Jesus) in the play is teaching unconditional love, while Todd and Jacob epitomize unconditional love in the book.  Both Joshua and Todd see the beauty in their persecutors and suffer immensely at death, while never losing their faith in humanity.   Todd is revered by his family as virtually without fault, as is Joshua by the disciples.

Some of the novel’s critics saw Todd’s character as a caricature and attributed the sparse character development to the fact that is was Kittle’s first novel.  I wonder if perhaps Todd and Jacob are intended to represent characters we all know well within our culture and that is why further development wasn’t necessary.   I am also curious if Kittle was at all influenced by Terrance McNally’s script or if the similarities are merely a result of my interpretation.  Regardless, I look forward to reading more work from this very compelling author, and possibly seeking her out at the Word’s Worth Writing Center where she is currently teaching seminars.

The Rebel Set to Release New Album on Saturday

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RebelSetThe Rebel Set is gearing up to release a follow-up to their debut album, Ghost Town Silence.  The new offering is called Across the Relentless Sea and will be available as both physical CDs and digital copies on iTunes, Amazon, etc on November 14th.  To celebrate the release, The Rebel Set will perform at the Oregon Express on November 14 along with fellow Dayton bands Akillis Green and To Catch a Matador.

The band will also be stopping by the WYSO studios on Wednesday, November 11th for a live performance and interview on Kaleidoscope at around 9pm.

Dayton Has A New Mayor – Gary Leitzell

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garySomething happened yesterday that many did not think was possible.  Despite being heavily outspent and going up against the Montgomery County Democratic Party that has dominated politics in this city for a long time, political newcomer and independent Gary Leitzell beat the incumbent Rhine McLin.  The city is suffering from what might be the worst economy to ever hit this place (which is saying a lot), and just like how the majority of the country felt last November – there are many people in this city that simply wanted a change.  Gary Leitzell represents that change.

Rhine McLin’s leadership capabilities have been hotly debated by many throughout the region.  Her supporters saw her compassion and grassroots-level commitment to neighborhoods.  Key supporters understand that she is politically astute behind the scenes and value her strong political connections.  Many apathetic Dayton residents weren’t crazy about her but didn’t believe she could be beat, and thus simply went along for the ride.  However, McLin’s detractors blamed her for not being in touch with the citizens OR businesses, and were turned off by her lack of presence and less-than-inspiring speaking abilities.   Added to the city’s economic woes, the anti-McLin sentiments proved to be too much for her to overcome in the end.

While Gary Leitzell had some strong support among those that he has worked with as Chair of the Southeast Priority Board and President of the Walnut Hills Neighborhood Association, he just barely beat McLin (14,923 to 14,045) and faces his share of challenges.  There are many who are unhappy with some things he has said on this very website, and others that voted for change versus a candidate.  Leitzell most definitely has his work cut out for him.

And the Democratic Party still has a stronghold on the commission as a whole.  Incumbents Nan Whaley and Joey Williams won re-election over challenger David Esrati, and the other two seats are held by the party that Leitzell went up against.  Gary Leitzell will now have to demonstrate leadership within the team in order to fulfill his promise of change as he needs at least two of their votes to pass anything over the next four years – including the most important decision right out of the gate: recruiting a new city manager.  With limited power to push major changes through and a city budget in shambles, Leitzell may soon be on the receiving end of the same criticism that McLin has faced over the years.  However, Leitzell’s outsider perspective may prove to be an asset and allow him to push for bold new ideas that this city needs.

The City of Dayton has turned the page on a long chapter, one filled with many ups and downs.  And as the new chapter begins with a new mayor and soon new city manager, we have important opportunities ahead of us.  We have an opportunity to improve how City Hall responds to the needs of the citizens and businesses in this community.  We have the opportunity to try brand new approaches in an effort to make our city more attractive to citizens and businesses alike.  We also have the opportunity to strengthen our relationships with the rest of the region so that we can move the regionalism conversation forward.  A stronger core city is important to the region now more than ever, and only as a strong unified region can we thrive in a global economy.

I congratulate Gary Leitzell, Nan Whaley and Joey Williams on their wins as I admire all of the candidates including Rhine McLin and David Esrati for their commitment, passion and courage.  As for advice to our new mayor, I’ll leave that up to all of you – what advice would you give Gary Leitzell as he embarks on this difficult mission?  What kinds of things do you think he and his fellow commissioners should focus on moving forward?