history

Perking Up for National Gourmet Coffee Day

January 18, 2013 By Brian Petro Leave a Comment

Jules Winnifield is not a coffee connoisseur. While hiding a dead body in his friend Jimmie Dimmick’s garage in the groundbreaking 1994 Tarantino movie “Pulp Fiction”, Jules was offered a cup of coffee and was astonished at how good the quality was. “Mmmm! Goddamn, Jimmie! This is some serious gourmet s***! Usually, me and Vince would be happy with some freeze-dried Taster’s Choice right, but he springs this serious GOURMET s*** on us! What flavor is this?” Jimmie, being concerned about the contents of his garage, was not amused. “I don’t need you to tell me how good my coffee is, okay? I’m the one who buys it. I know how good it is. When Bonnie goes shopping she buys S***. I buy the gourmet expensive stuff because when I drink it I want to taste it. But you know what’s on my mind right now? It AIN’T the coffee in my kitchen.” His pressing concerns are not our pressing concerns, but one thing may have stuck out: how did he get gourmet coffee in a non-Starbucks cup? We celebrate National Gourmet Coffee Day on January 18 by exploring the evolution of the gourmet coffee scene.

Gourmet coffee in the United States is still relatively young. The first gourmet coffee store was Peet’s Coffee and Tea, started in 1966 by Alfred Peet in Berkely, Ca. He was an immigrant from the Netherlands, and was used to having good coffee available to him. European coffee was rich and crafted, with depth and flavor that Peet did not get out of American coffee. Peet’s set the table for other gourmet coffee shops in the United States. Coffee in America had been in a state of decline since the end of World War II. People had become used to an inferior brand of coffee through rationing. It carried on for a few decades until the 1970’s and the growth of Peet’s and the birth of another giant in the industry, Starbucks. These two companies began their growth as gourmet coffee roasters; it was not until the late 80’s when Howard Schultz bought the company and began to expand from Vancouver to New York.

It was the national growth of Starbucks that created a demand for espresso and other European-style coffees across the country. Gourmet coffee went from something only immigrants enjoyed in their own homes, and possibly some shops in local ethnic neighborhoods, to something everyone wanted. It became a very affordable luxury, and the demand was huge. The espresso machine was originally created to take the gallons of coffee that had to be brewed and reheated for each patron and turn them into individual cups of freshly made coffee. The coffee was delicately roasted and finely ground to make a delicious, dark coffee that would fit in a small cup. The espresso machine had an added benefit; not only did it make water piping hot in a rapid manner; it could also be used to make milk hot. Espresso became the base for a core group of coffee drinks: the café latte (hot milk is added to the espresso in a taller glass), café au lait (foamed or steamed milk poured over a shot of espresso in a shorter glass), the cappuccino (espresso, hot milk, and steamed foam layered on top), and the macchiato (espresso is added to warm milk, the coffee leaving a mark on the milk). The Americano was also created, which is a shot of espresso with hot water, for American soldiers that could not handle the richness of the espresso. These drinks became the base for the First Gourmet Coffee Movement. Looking closely at the menu of most gourmet coffees shops, those drinks are the base for all of the other drinks they created.

Like any good movement, people kept moving forward and discovered something else. Coffee could stand on its own in terms of flavor. It did not need to be something fancy, including multiple flavors and a long list of instructions to make. Coffee could be simple, just water and beans, possibly some cream and sugar. The information age has allowed us to really dig into where the coffee you drink comes from, down to the farmer. People have become fully invested in the whole process, from growing to roasting to brewing to tasting. Experts choose and roast the beans according to where they are from and what flavors they are looking to bring out. They are focusing more on the underlying tastes of coffee, from the berry and citrus flavors that emerge from Ethiopian coffee to chocolaty and sweet coffees from Central America. Classic brewing techniques have become more familiar, with French presses and vacuum pots coming back into vogue for their brewing qualities. Special coffees are selected to be prepared with certain dishes, similar to what you would expect from a wine tasting. Coffee shops and private individuals are conscious of the full range of flavor they can get out of the dark beverage, and the focus is now on the basics, enticing the natural essences of the beans out.

We are very lucky to have so many great coffee shops in Dayton to help us with this process. Winans Fine Chocolates and Coffees has been open since the 1961, serving chocolates with their coffees (which they have been brewing for about fifteen years). Boston Stoker was soon to follow, roasting beans and offering gourmet coffee since the early 70’s. The Ohio Coffee Co. has been doing a brisk trade in the coffee business as well, keeping downtown awake since 2009. The great places to get coffee downtown continue to open and offer incredibly well crafted coffees and foods. Ghostlight Coffee, Press, and Eclipse have all opened within the last two years, adding some great environments as well as some interesting coffee options.

Check out ALL of the best coffee shops across the region in our new Dayton Dining Guide!

From its beginning in the mid sixties, gourmet coffee has explored a wide range of meaning to a wide range of people. Some people look at it from a classic standpoint, embracing the espresso and its kin as what is gourmet. Almost as a reaction to the complexity Starbucks injected into upscale coffee, there has been a movement towards just embracing coffee as it is, enjoying the roast, the bean, and the process of enjoying a fine cup. If you have a favorite coffee shop we have not mentioned, feel free to add it in the comments. And if you need anything else, just chill out, enjoy a nice cup of coffee on National Gourmet Coffee Day, and The Wolf will be coming directly. Cheers!

A Spot of Tea to Warm the Soul

January 11, 2013 By Brian Petro Leave a Comment

There is something absolutely thrilling to people about looking at fossils in a museum. Staring up at the skeletons of huge, ancient lizards allows your imagination to wander. What did they really look like? What sort of coloration did they have? You can stand there and look at the artists renderings of them, what the scientists tell you they should look like based on what they know about modern lizards and how they might have changed over the years. However, you can also look at them and imagine what you think they might have looked like. Add some spines, or smoother skin, or different colors, absolutely anything to suit your fancy. A simple structure to allow your imagination to play and an ancient history are also part of cocktail culture. January 11^th is a day where we celebrate one of those cocktail dinosaurs; something that is more of a skeletal idea than a fully evolved, finished recipe. It is the hot toddy, and January 11^th is National Hot Toddy Day.

The toddy palm is common in India, and that is where the first bones of the cocktail can be found. The locals would tap the trees to get the sap and they allow the sap to ferment in the warm sun, creating a palm wine. If you take the wine and distill it, you get brandy; if you take palm wine and distill it, it becomes arrack. India is a very hot country, and the British were not used to that sort of heat. The colonists would drink anything to cool off and get away from the heat. Fortunately the natives already had something ready for the overheated British; a drink called “panch”, which is Indian for “five”, supposedly the number of ingredients contained in the beverage. It had water, some spices, lemon, sugar, and the arrack. It watered everything down, was refreshing, and made the days a little more bearable. It was so good they brought this panch back to Britain with them, but used the name of the tree that it originally came from. The drink became known as a toddy. A cold toddy.

The toddy continued to evolve once it made it north. Britain is a chilly, damp place. Cool and refreshing drinks do not go over as well there, since the environment is chilly more often than not. They are trying to figure out ways to warm up, not cool down. Water, spices, sugar…sounds like a good hot cup of tea to me. They were now roughly five thousand miles away from the arrack that was used in the original recipe. Being British, they kept calm and carried on, substituting the arrack for whiskey and gin. Some stories say that this mixture of sugar, water, and lemon was used to soften the overly peaty and strong Scotch whiskeys in the 18^th century, making them more favorable to women. England loves their gin, and the juniper in the gin went well with some spices that are found in tea. Yes, tea had also become an element to add to this loose recipe, mixed more to the taste of the drinker and a general idea than any specific recipe. The bones of the recipe were still there, but the flavors and the details adapted themselves to the environment.

When the British travelled to America, the evolution continued. Scotch was not as easily available, but there was no shortage of liquors ready to take its place. Traditional liquors like gin and brandy were still very popular in the colonies, but newcomers like rum, bourbon, and rye whiskey were growing in popularity. There was also more access to sweeteners like honey and molasses, not just the sugar that was more traditional in Great Britain. In colonial times, sugar was not granular; it was brought in blocks and you had chip off and crush what you needed for the drink. The stick that was used (in some of the tales) was called a toddy stick, another possibility for where the name came from. Tea was still readily available to mix all of the ingredients in. The one major thing the colonies added was a standardization of the size. It went from something that could be made in a mug, a quart, a punch bowl, or any large container for multiple servings. By the end of the 19^th century, famous bartender Jerry Thomas had compressed the cocktail into a cup. Everything had also start to become a little more codified. The revolving carousel of liquors finally stopped at whiskey (though rum and gin was still found to be more popular in New England), the sweetener became sugar, and the tea went away for a while in favor of hot water (though now tea or spice is considered part of the drink).

What kept such a simple, erratic cocktail so popular over such a long period of time? While the flexibility of the drink helped keep it popular for a wide range of palates and environments, the biggest reason was the supposed medicinal purposes. People would drink it when they were under the weather, which made them feel a little better for a while. It was hot, which helps loosens up mucous and helps you breathe a little easier; if you use tea, you also get the benefits tea brings. The acid in the lemon adds some vitamin C, and using honey helps to coat your throat as well as the other medical benefits honey has. Alcohol has been used for years either as a medicine (as vodka was in Poland and Russia) or as a big part of medicine (like it was at the end of the 19^th and beginning of the 20^th century). The problem of using alcohol as medicine too often is that the cure can be worse than the disease. Yes, the alcohol makes you feel a little better for a short time, but it is dehydrating. It may leave you feeling a little worse than before you drank it. Drinking too many will give you a hangover. A small dose before bed, however, can help you sleep a little better while the rest of the ingredients go to work. A hot toddy will help to relieve some of the symptoms of a cold or flu, but it is not a cure. You should still use medicine for that.

Hot Toddy

1.5 oz. whiskey
.5 oz. lemon juice
.75 oz. simple syrup
4-6 oz. of hot water
Tea bag or other spices (cinnamon or nutmeg are traditional)(optional)

Brew the cup of tea to your taste. In a cup, stir together the whiskey, lemon juice, and simple syrup. Add the tea, and then stir the mixture a few more times. You can garnish it with a lemon wedge or cinnamon stick. You can also substitute hot water or cider for the tea, and rum or brandy for the whiskey.

As this mysterious cocktail passed from continent to continent, it changed and adapted to the needs of the environment it was in. With all of the changes it made, from a cooling drink in India to a warming drink in America, the basics never changed. The skeleton of a drink was created that maintained a certain simplicity while emphasizing a world of possibilities. You can usually order one at a bar (can you imagine the whiskeys you can choose from at The Century Bar for this one?), but why? Wrap yourself in your warmest blanket, find a great book, and settle in with this steaming cup of goodness next time you feel a little under the weather. What you put in it is all in your imagination, as long as you stick to the basic structure. Happy National Hot Toddy Day!

Waiter, There is Champagne in my Cocktail…

December 28, 2012 By Brian Petro 1 Comment

Champagne is a beverage that we bring out only at special celebrations. It was the French royalty at the beginning of the 18^th century that popularized the trend of drinking this sparkling beverage. It became perceived (with marketing help from the grape growers in the Champagne region of France) as a drink of the affluent, so the people of the middle and working classes only would drink it for special occasions. Even though champagne and other sparkling wines have become fairly easy to find and purchase at a modest price, it is still something we associate with infrequent celebrations and special events. We see it when sports teams win championships, when couples get married, maybe when someone smashes a bottle of it to christen a boat, and of course, New Year’s Eve. People sip it straight out of a flute or a coupe if they are feeling a little more vintage vibe. What you do not see much of is people mixing it into a cocktail.

A mimosa at breakfast is typically the extent of people’s experience with a champagne based cocktail. Possibly a bellini for brunch or a light lunch drink. There are so many more cocktails you can make with champagne as the base, playing off the general sweetness and effervescence of it. The one thing you always want to keep in mind: champagne is very carbonated. Take care when you are mixing the ingredients together. Also, champagne is a sparkling wine specific to the Champagne region of France. It belongs to the larger category of sparkling white wines where you will find cava (Spain), prosecco (Italy), and sekt (Germany). For the purposes of the recipes, I am going to use what the original source calls for. You can use other sparkling wines, but the taste will vary accordingly.

Champagne Cocktails 101

Here are a few cocktails you can make with champagne and common liquors, or other mixers you may have at your party.

Bellini

1.5 oz. peach schnapps
4-6 oz. prosecco

Pour the peach schnapps into a flute, and then add champagne. Stir gently, and garnish with a peach slice.

Before all of you bartenders and other cocktail experts leap upon me, a traditional bellini is made with white peach puree, not peach schnapps. If you can find the ripe peaches in the store, or premade peach puree, substitute that for the peach schnapps. I have even
seen this recipe called a Dirty Bellini.

Mimosa

2 oz. orange juice
.25 oz orange liqueur (triple sec, Grand Marnier, etc.)
4-6 oz. champagne

Pour the orange juice into the flute, and then add champagne. The orange liqueur is added last, as a float, and is optional if you do not have it available. It will also not be bad to have on New Year’s Day.

Black Velvet

Stout (Guinness is the traditional choice)
Champagne

Add equal parts stout and champagne into a pilsner glass. It is a bigger trick that you might think. I will usually put the champagne in first, and then add the stout VERY slowly, keeping a close eye on the bubbling of the champagne. When Prince Albert passed away, the whole country went into mourning with Queen Victoria. Even the champagne, with the help from Guinness, was black with sorrow.

Champagne Cocktails 201

Very popular, you may need to purchase a few specialty ingredients, or make a few extra preparations for these cocktails.

Kir Royale

.5 oz Crème de cassis
6 oz. champagne

Pour a standard pour of champagne in a flute and add the crème de cassis. Crème de cassis is a black currant flavored liqueur. A kir can also be made in a similar fashion, substituting a dry white wine for the champagne.

Champagne Cocktail

Sugar cube soaked in Angostura bitters (2 dashes of bitters should do)
6 oz. champagne
Splash of cognac (optional)

Place the sugar cube in the bottom of the flute. Pour the champagne over the cube, allowing the sugar and bitters to dissolve. The cognac float at the end is more popular in England than it is here. This is another notable vintage cocktail, something you will see mentioned in more than a few black and white movies. Talkies, as the kids call them.

Poinsettia

3 oz. cranberry juice
1 oz. orange liqueur
3 oz. champagne

Pour the cranberry juice and orange liqueur into a flute and stir together. Add the champagne and enjoy. It is seasonal, festive, and delicious.

Champagne Cocktails 301

These are going to take liqueurs that are a little more obscure or expensive, and much more preparation.
They may be a little less known generally, but have a place in cocktail history.

Death in the Afternoon

1 oz. absinthe or Pernod
5 oz. champagne

Pour the absinthe into a flute, and then add champagne. Absinthe balances out the sweet champagne with a hint of wormwood and licorice flavors. Ernest Hemmingway, who is credited with the creation of the drink, also suggests in the recipe to enjoy three to five in the afternoon. This probably explains quite a bit about his work.

French 75

1 oz. gin
.5 oz. lemon juice
1.5 tsp. simple syrup
4 oz. champagne

In a mixing glass, combine the gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup. Shake it, and strain the contents into a Collins glass over ice. Top it off with the champagne and gently stir it. Garnish with a cherry and an orange slice. If you are not a fan of gin, you can substitute it with cognac. This cocktail got its name because it was said it felt like you were hit with a French 75mm field gun, a staple of the French army during World War I and the first piece of modern artillery. Boom.

Seelbach Cocktail

1.5 oz. bourbon
.5 oz. orange liqueur
7 dashes Angostura bitters
7 dashes Peychaud bitters
4 oz. champagne

Mix the bourbon, bitters, and orange liqueur briefly over ice, and strain into a flute. Top off the mixture with champagne. It was created at the Seelbach Hotel in Louisville just before Prohibition hit, and the original recipe for this cocktail was lost. It was found recently and brought back to life, with a shocking amount of bitters that offer some balance to the sweetness of the champagne, bourbon, and orange.

You know champagne is going to be in the mix on December 31^st. With a little more planning and a few more purchases, you can have a wide range of cocktails available that can be made with that single ingredient. Of course, there is nothing wrong with just enjoying it as it comes out of the bottle. If you enjoy a little too much of it (since you will not be driving, right?), we have a few remedies for the hangover on January 1^st.

Have a wonderful and safe New Year’s Eve, and a prosperous 2013.

Cheers!

Punching It Up

September 20, 2012 By Brian Petro Leave a Comment

Hello fancy!

Our cocktail history is a long and rich one. Starting with the Pilgrims stopping at Plymouth Rock because they were out of beer, up to the current rise of the craft cocktails, we have seen a little bit of everything. One of the longest runs in our cocktail history is one that for the most part has been forgotten, other than remnants of them in some of the cocktails we enjoy today. It was present up right to the end of the 19^th century, encouraging people to gather around and spend a few hours with each other, ladling out glasses of potent liquid to cool off in the hot summer months, and to warm up in the cold winter months. The punch was a staple of the growing United States, being present at every bar and gathering in the country, and for some very good reasons.

Punches originated in India, where the British were stationed with little access to the good alcohols they enjoyed at home. And the British sailors did not like to be separated from their ration of one gallon of beer a day. Or a half pint of rum, whichever they preferred. One of the origin stories for why they called it “punch” was a slant on the Indian word panch (five), the number of ingredients the punch was supposed to have. The drink was created with alcohol, lemon, sugar, water, and tea or other native spices. The alcohol became whatever was handy at the time. It began with wine, but rum, brandy, and whiskey punches were also popular in the various areas of the British Empire. It was so popular that a special bowl was even created for it, called a Monteith Bowl. It had a scalloped edge, which eventually became removable, where a ladle could be kept or the stems of wine glasses could be held.

It spread with the empire. Rum houses sprang up all over the United States and Caribbean islands. The earliest recorded punch in the New World is the Bajan (Barbadian) Rum Punch. It was so popular it even had its own rhyme for a recipe: One of sour, two of sweet, three of strong, four of weak. One part lime juice, two parts sweetener (usually sugar), three parts rum, and four parts water. Local spices were also added to the mix, recreating the five part panch. As the drink spread through the country, regional variances changed the flavors, and in some case the potency, of the tipple. The Schyulkill Fishing Company created the most famous variation, known as the Fish House Punch. Possibly for the gentlemen there to enjoy, possibly something lighter for the ladies to enjoy at a Christmas Party in 1848. Punches of all varieties became a staple of dinners, of meetings, of daily life in the young country. At one dinner in 1785, the host reported that sixty-eight people went through forty-four bowls of punch, as well as eighteen bottles of wine and a large quantity of other rums and brandy. Rum was the staple liquor in the colonies, and in many punches, since it was readily available and cheap. The cheapness of the rum was another reason punches were so popular; in the 18^th century, rum was still in its infancy. It was awful. The additional flavors and water added to the punch helped to hide the awfulness of the cheap and nearly raw spirit.

Monteith bowls never go out of style.

Punches started to fall out of favor just before the Civil War. Punches were something to be consumed by a group of people over several hours, and we were starting to roll out across the country. Railroads were being built, gold was being discovered, and acres of land were out there for the taking. This was a growing country, and this was no time to sit and drink. There were more options for drinks as well, and people were looking for something more individualized. They did not want to all have to drink the same thing. They lasted until the beginning of the 20^th century as a curiosity, something of a cocktail throwback. They were pushed to the back of recipe books in favor of collins, cobblers, and sours, many of which owe their existence to the recipe of punch. Some of the first tiki style drinks from the 1950’s were also based off of punch recipes. Since then, punch’s non-alcoholic form (which was always around, just not as popular) became a staple at kids’ parties for the same reason it was a staple at dinners; it brings people together around a communal place to drink something refreshing in a social setting.

Punches are still a great way to present something to your guests at a party so they can serve themselves. They can be prepared in advance, and you can make them to taste, taking into consideration the time of year you are serving them. Right now, a nice apple cider punch or something with fall spices like cinnamon and nutmeg would be delightful. September 20^th is National Punch and Rum Punch Day. Gather some friends together, stir together one part sour, two parts sweet, three parts strong and four parts weak, add a few spices to taste, and enjoy an evening around a fire. Cheers!

Barbadian Punch

1 cup lime juice
2 cups simple syrup (Heat one cup of water, then add a cup of sugar. Mix until dissolved, allow to cool)
3 cups of rum
4 cups of water
A few dashes of Angostura bitters
Nutmeg to taste

Stir all of the ingredients into a pitcher or bowl. Ladle into individual cups over ice, add nutmeg to taste.

Philadelphia Fish House Punch

1 cup sugar
3 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups fresh lemon juice
1 (750-ml) bottle Jamaican amber rum
12 oz Cognac (1 1/2 cups)
2 oz peach brandy (1/4 cup)

In a large bowl, stir the sugar into the water until the sugar is dissolved. Then mix in the lemon juice, rum, cognac, and brandy. Put the mixture into the refrigerator for three to four hours until chilled. Serve over a large block of ice for the sake of tradition, or in cups with ice in them. Garnish with wheels of lemon. If you deem this as too strong when tasting it, add more water or black tea.

(Recipe via Epicurious)

Be a Part of Paul Laurence Dunbar History

April 30, 2012 By Megan Cooper Leave a Comment

Too often those of us in Dayton don’t look around and see the history, architecture, community and passion that outsiders see. For these reasons, and many more, the Dayton region is attractive to filmmakers, artists and storytellers. Over the past few years, a filmmaker has been working quietly in Dayton, across the state, and in places around the country to tell the story of local poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. This month, a great opportunity is coming up for community members from the Miami Valley to be a part of this project. In order to learn more, I asked filmmaker Frederick Lewis some questions on this project and his experience.

Can you talk about your history with Paul Laurence Dunbar and what drew you to focus your scholarship on him?

I am co-producing this documentary with Professor Joseph Slade, a colleague in the School of Media Arts & Studies. We have been working on it for several years and are now nearing completion. We hope to complete the project within the next 12 months. Our intended audience is PBS. Two of my previous documentaries have aired widely on PBS stations around the country and screened at many museums and universities.

What trips have you made to Dayton and what have you learned since launching this project?

We have made repeated trips to Dayton over the last three years, and conducted interviews with local Dunbar experts Laverne Sci, Herbert Martin, and Bing Davis. We’ve also conducted interviews with Dunbar biographer Felton Best, a distinguished professor at Central Connecticut State, and author Akasha Hull, who has written extensively on Dunbar’s relationship with his wife, Alice.

Can you discuss your history with this project and how it’s grown?

Interier of Old Courthouse taken from the Visitor's Galley looking down (from Montgomery Co. Collection at Dayton Metro Library)

We plan to interweave the biographical elements of Dunbars’ prolific, but tragically short life, with contemporary links to show his continued relevance. We followed the creation of Bing Davis’ sculpture inspired by Dunbar’s “Negro Love Song,” and James Pate’s new mural which prominently features images of Dunbar. We also recently completed a segment on how Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Lexington, Kentucky honors their school’s namesake.

Why should a person want to be a part of the shoot on Sunday?

The music video we will be shooting on May 13th will also be woven into the documentary. Inspired by a canvas by Dayton painter James Pate, in which Dunbar is portrayed as a contemporary hip hop artist, we have taken Dunbar’s famous poem “We Wear the Mask,” and had Ohio University student Jean P, a fast rising hip hop performer, put Dunbar’s words to music. The video will feature a myriad of masks created by Dayton’s own Tristan Cupp of Zoot Theatre Co. We have rented the old Montgomery Court House for a scene to be shot on May 13th between 5–7 pm and we need as many extras as possible to help us out. Please dress in contemporary clothing suitable for attendance at a trial. Yes, it is Mother’s Day. Just bring your mother with you! Give her a cameo in a music video for Mother’s Day:) We ALSO need 8 or 10 people earlier in the day to act in several scenes to be shot in downtown Dayton. If you are interested in that aspect of the production please let us know asap!!

How to go:

When: Sunday, May 13, 5-7 PM (time slots available earlier in the day as well)

Where: Old Courthouse in Downtown Dayton on Courthouse Square (5PM Session)

Clothing: Contemporary clothes you have in your closet! You’ll dress in business clothing – something appropriate for a trial (jackets, ties, skirts, etc).

How: Email Frederick Lewis to express your interest and learn more: [email protected]

‘Dayton ready to help greet 1932’

December 29, 2011 By Ria Delight Megnin Leave a Comment

Eighty years ago, the Dayton Daily News gave the following report as Daytonians weathering the Great Depression made plans to celebrate the New Year holiday. The “clarion blasts” and “owl cars” have passed along with the heyday of hotel parties and public dances, but it’s likely their great-grandchildren will also see “many whistles made wet as usual.”

Dayton ready to help greet 1932 new year

Many public and private parties arranged for annual event

A few more hours and Dayton residents will greet a new year.

Indications Thursday were that the event which comes with the ushering in of a new cycle will be observed about as usual, with the celebrants finding their pleasure during the later hours of the evening.

All of the uptown hotels were prepared to greet little 1932 in a big way, with dances holding forth in some of them and with reservations having been received for dinner parties which will last through midnight.

‘Gaiety and splendor’

At the Biltmore the custom which was established with the opening of that hotel will be pursued, that of holding a dance to which the public is invited. The management of the hotel reported Thursday that a large number of reservations have been made and that the usual scene of gaiety and splendor is expected to prevail.

At the Miami, the Van Cleve and Gibbons there will be no public dances held, although there were numerous reservations made for private parties. On the roof of the Miami a dinner party will be given by Oscar Pryor.

All of the uptown theaters have announced that special late shows will be given. Some of these will begin at 11 p.m., some at 11:30 p.m. and a few not until the magic hour has struck.

Hangovers, ’30s style

The greater portion of the reception to the new year in Dayton, however, will have its setting in private homes. With Friday, New Year’s, a holiday on which most factories, offices and stores will be closed, the celebrants will be privileged to enter into the spirit of the occasion without the dread of what must come the “morning after” when otherwise another workday would beckon.

There have been indications for the past week that the usual noisemaking devices again will be in evidence. Bells will ring, whistles sound their clarion blasts, pistols and cannon will be fired and the new year will be given the greeting common with age-old custom.

So much for discouraging drunk driving

The managements of some of the street railway companies were undecided during Thursday as to whether extended service would be given on their lines for benefit of the merrymakers. Definite announcement was made by the City Railway Co. that its latest cars would leave Third and Main sts. at the usual hour of 12:10 a.m. The Peoples Railway Co. was not certain whether owl cars would be operated and the same was true of Oakwood and Dayton Street. The last Peoples cars under regular schedule on the Main st., Valley and Cincinnati-Leo divisions leave the center of the city at 12:10 a.m. north and south. On the Oakwood line the last car departs from Third and Main sts., south at 12:34 a.m. and north, 12:10 a.m.

When dancing actually meant dancing

The various night and dinner (venues) have announced special (merri)ment at the midnight hour. These, like the hotels, have reported that they have made heavy reservations. In all of these places dancing will be the principal attraction of the evening, with floor shows prevailing in some of them.

There were no evidence, on the surface at least, of a scarcity of some of the liquid adjuncts which go with a New Year’s celebration. Reports were to the effect that, in spite of the current economic depression, demands have been in keeping with previous years since prohibition, with every indication that there will be as many whistles made wet as usual. With it, reports say, the quality will be improved over former years and at the lower prices which have prevailed for the past few months in Dayton.

Turn Of The Fraze

March 26, 2011 By J.T. Ryder Leave a Comment

The History Of A Dream

The Australian Aborigines believe in two interconnected worlds. One is the world in which they live in; a world of the physical. The other is the world of Dreamtime, where their reality is created. In essence, the Dreamtime follows no linear rules of time; all times exists at once and folds in on one another. The Dreamtime is where creation takes place and, when one comes back to reality, the thoughts become a tangible reality. There are rare occasions where everything aligns and certain groups of people gather together, envisioning a concept or a direction and their dreams become a reality. The Fraze Pavilion seems to be one of these places conceived during this Dreamtime.

In October of 1983, a tract of land that abutted the City of Kettering’s governmental buildings was purchased from the heirs of the original landowner, W.D. ‘Doc’ Johnson, for $1.5 million…yet the story goes back much farther back than that.

“Actually, the area had been platted right before the Depression into single family plots, but it had never been developed except maybe one or two parcels.” said Peter Horan, former City of Kettering Planner and Assistant City Manager. He went on to talk about the Johnson property itself. “‘Doc’ Johnson’s place had been quite a controversial property for a while. Right after Kettering was incorporated in the early fifties, ‘Doc’ wanted to build a downtown Kettering there. The City Council back then said, ‘We’re not rezoning it for that. We just approved Town & Country Shopping Center.’ ‘Doc’ was mad about that for years. He kept coming in with proposals to build something on it, but nothing ever worked out. So, when ‘Doc’ died, that’s when the family wanted to do some things with the property and that’s also the same time that the City started putting together a concept plan about a multi-use area that would become Lincoln Park. We took that concept to the neighborhood, the City Planning Commission and the City Council and the concept was very well received.”

Jerry Busch, Mayor of Kettering from 1981 through 1989 echoed Horan’s description, saying, “It pretty much started with a vacant piece of land that we got from ‘Doc’ Johnson and developed it from there. The planning department came up with the sketched plan for Lincoln Park Commons and we came up with it from that basis, the Fraze was brought in about halfway through. Originally, we talked about having a kind of bandstand with some wooden benches…and it grew from there. With the help of Pete Horan, we talked to some of the performing arts people in town and got an idea of what their requirements were.”

The creation of the park, the office park, the residential concept and the Fraze Pavilion itself was a multi-tiered project that seemingly advanced hand in hand, developing and maturing with each additional facet that was added.

“Originally, we did all the park design, and that was before the Pavilion was even in, and then once the park was finished, we began the effort of trying to get the Fraze Pavilion itself built.” James Garges, City of Kettering Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Director said about the planning process. “So, for a while, almost a year or two years, all you really had there was a grassy knoll in the park and we had a little programming in the park and so forth, but the plan to have an amphitheater was there from the start. When we went into actual park design and that whole hundred acres there became developed. It’s a pretty interesting project from that perspective.”

Many times, we see public facilities in a constant state of construction, wherein the structure is being changed, augmented, repaired or completely redesigned due to lack of planning or poor oversight. With the Lincoln Park project, one gets the sense that there was a fully operational plan in place that took into account the various elements and how they would work together, not only at that moment, but also on into the future.

“When you do it right, everything flows together right. If we tried to take the Fraze and plop it down into the existing park, it wouldn’t be the same facility, so that’s why it flows so well. Again, if you have the foresight to do really good design and planning for a park and you have a good idea of what is going to be in the park in the future, you may not be able to do everything at once, but whatever you do as the first phase just fits right in with the second phase.” Said Garges. “So, the master planning from the park perspective becomes a very, very critical element to the success of everything that will eventually be in the park. The Fraze Pavilion itself was actually the last piece of the park that fit and that last piece of the puzzle fit perfectly. We had a very good team. At that time, it was NBBJ, which was an architectural firm out of Columbus and Al (Alfred E. Berthold) was the lead architect of the project. It was myself, Pete Horan and Al Berthold; we were three of the key folks that worked together on it from a facility/design perspective. Al did a great job, he really did. Joe Roller was another landscape architect that was on board with the Parks and Recreation department and the planning department forKettering. Joe, from an in-house perspective, working with Al Berthold, was also very helpful. So, you see, we had a really nice team of landscape architects, park folk and Pete Horan, who I would call almost like the Minister of Taste. Pete’s good at that stuff!”

Many municipalities have taken on a major undertaking only to have the process drag on, hampered by constant infighting, indecisiveness and a general sense of poor planning. With the whole of the Lincoln Park project, it seemed as if all the key elements worked together in unison to realize a shared vision.

“From my personal point of view, it was a really unique opportunity, and it was a challenge, but it was also extremely gratifying to see it all come together and work.” Said then City Manager Bob Walker, before adding, “Like anything, it was a team effort. A lot of people put in a lot of effort, and it paid off. The whole City Council, if you think about it, it was courageous on their part too. They were all sticking their neck out a little bit, and I’ve always given them tremendous credit, particularly Jerry Busch the Mayor. He just provided that political leadership that’s very necessary to see something like that through. He did an absolutely marvelous job.”

This is not to say that the project itself did not have a few people that were uncertain or unable to make this leap of faith…

“I will never forget…there were a few Council members that were still a little nervous and Jerry Busch had this huge banner in the council chambers that said, ‘If We Build It, They Will Come!’” Pete Horan said before complimenting Busch’s unwavering belief in the project. “Jerry was a driving force, politically and in getting support from the community and the Council. Right after it was built, Dick Hartmann was the Mayor and he was a strong supporter as well.”

The one striking thing that is almost imperceptible to most is the layout of the facility. While other entertainment venues take on a ‘cattle herding’ mentality, trying to get customers in and out of the facility as quickly as possible, the Fraze takes the exact opposite approach, forcing the patrons to meander lazily past beautifully landscaped flower beds, statuaries and ponds. This adds to the relaxed atmosphere of the evening.

“The beauty of the Fraze is actually the beauty of the Fraze, not only with the programming that comes out of the facility, but also the environment in which it’s located.” said Mary Beth Thaman, current City Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Director. “The grand vision of Fraze was to put the Pavilion in an incredible environment, which is a park and that the way that you access the Pavilion is so pedestrian friendly. The landscaping enhances your experience. I think the beauty of the project, holistically, is really how it is treated and the experience that you have there, even outside of the music.”

It is easy to take for granted the beauty of the Lincoln Park project as a whole when one is focused on the overshadowing prospects of stars and nationally known entertainers. It is just as easy to stop for a moment to take in the subtle grandeur of the grounds. To appreciate the maintained and manicured grounds and flora. To see the still water that reflect the public sculptures. So what is the most important aspect of the project?

“I would say that it is using the park to walk, to sit, to relax, to play your guitar and it’s WiFi, so they can bring their computer if they want. The park has a lot of walkers and a lot of people that use the park as an activity for themselves.” Alluding to the calm before the storm, Thaman went on to say that, “Again, within three hours, it is transformed into a music venue. So, I think that it offers, in terms of an outdoor summer experience, such a variety. It really is a focal point for Kettering because we don’t have a downtown area per se, but it is the place, when you have concerts and festivals, to be and be seen.”

Having travelled down all of the paths, from concept to creation, from landscaping, developing, construction and landscaping, there is still one facet left to be discovered; programming. Without the music and the arts that make the facility such a vibrant destination, it would still be a beautiful facility…but a very empty beautiful facility.

“You know, anytime you tackle something like that, you can do surveys and all kinds of things, and we did some of those, trying to figure out what people would be interested in.” Bob Walker said. “Then, of course, sometimes, it works out a little bit better than what you thought.”

The person who was placed in charge of building the foundation of Fraze eclectic programming was found through a national search for a suitable General Manager. Rudi Schlegel seemed to fit the bill, having worked at Boston’s Great Woods Center for the Performing Arts (now the Tweeter Center). Schlegel’s long list of credentials and longer list of contacts would prove to be a deciding factor in how well the Fraze would succeed. With the building only half completed when he arrived, Schlegel’s work was cut out for him.

“Actually, the initial challenge was the balance of programming, which, at the time, skewed heavily towards community events and Dayton Arts events, which engendered substantial losses.” Schlegel revealed. “That idealism is great for driving a lofty vision, but there was a fundamental disconnect between the scope of the programming and the design of the building and what, in fact, was going to be viable financially. So, that had to be reconciled.”

Another thing that had to be reconciled was the seating capacity of the venue, which had to be increased to handle four thousand patrons in order to accommodate pop acts. Schlegel was able to attract the attention of some of the best popular entertainers, culled from his previously held connections, drawing in such diverse acts as Ray Charles, Gallagher and Yanni, among others. Such success is no accident though and much is owed to the foundation that was created during those early years.

“Opening a venue is comparable to putting a satellite into orbit. You have to have the trajectory right and you have to have the thrust right. To get it into orbit, you really only get one shot.” Schlegel added to the metaphor by saying, “The worst thing that could happen is you don’t hit the trajectory right or you don’t aim high enough.”

In other organizations, associations and venues, when a new director is appointed, they usually set out immediately to eradicate their predecessors work to make their own mark. The Fraze faculty seems to have the wisdom to build upon the strong foundation that was originally built, replacing only those key elements that have become worn or outdated, replacing them with more functionally sturdy materials. This approach has made the Fraze a nationally recognized amphitheater and one that artists and concertgoers alike feel a comfortable relationship with. While there have been changes over the years, the current General Manager, Karen Durham, has been lauded with bringing the Fraze into a new age, creating a season filled with national acts balanced with local artists as well, without sacrificing the traditions that people have come to expect.

“As we saw audiences change, we also tried new things and, over the past ten years, we’ve really clicked on some hot trends, like the five dollar shows, the two dollar shows.” Karen Durham, current General Manager of the Fraze said. “Our festivals have grown and we’ve gotten to the point that we’ve gotten some solid, signature festivals. Swamp Romp, is what Mark (the facility’s second General Manager) started and that kind of laid the groundwork for the blues and the wine and jazz festivals.”

With all the well known acts and beloved artists that have graced the Fraze’s stage, I wondered if Durham had her own personal favorite…a memorable moment…

“Oh! Well, I don’t know why I would have even hesitated. Ringo! Without a doubt! Having a former Beatle on our stage was just…” Karen ended, at a loss for words. She went on by saying, “Having Sheryl Crow record her DVD here is 2003 is another great memory. Whatever happens in the next twenty years, we will always have this moment of time immortalized, recorded with her music.”

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