Dayton937

Things to do in Dayton | Restaurants, Theatre, Music and More

library

Leave No Trace: Library Scavenger Hunt

By

Did you know that 80,000 tons of solid waste are produced in the national parks annually? Come learn how to minimize your impact on the outdoors during our Leave No Trace Scavenger Hunt on Thursday, June 26th, at the Franklin Library then use your new knowledge to participate in a library scavenger hunt and a game of trivia! Prizes will be awarded to the winner of both the trivia game and the scavenger hunt and snacks will be provided!

  • Date: Thursday, June 26
  • Time: 1:00-3:00 p.m.
  • Location: Franklin Branch
  • Ages 11-18
  • Registration required. Call the main branch 7 days a week at (937)746-2665

Beginners’ Pilates

By

In this Pilates class you will learn basic Pilates principles, how to change your posture to improve pain syndromes, strengthen the entire body and core muscles, and improve flexibility.

Free.  No registration required.

Ages 16 & up.  If under 18 years a parent or legal guardian must sign a waiver.

All abilities are welcome.  Please bring a mat and water bottle.

Spring Flower Arranging

By

You know it’s spring when the flowers are in bloom! Come to the Franklin Library and create your own little bouquet of flowers in mini terra cotta planters. Not only can you get creative with your flower arranging, but you can also decorate your little planter. All supplies will be provided, but feel free to bring anything else you might want to use to get creative with.

  • Wednesday, April 9
  • 5:00-6:30 p.m.
  • Franklin Branch
  • Ages 11-18
  • Free event
  • registration is necessary.

To register for this event, please call 937-748-3200 to sign up.

Adult Stretch

By

Adults ages 16 and up are invited to an afternoon session of stretching and more!

Donna Gambino is owner of Infinity Health in Centerville, a licensed physical therapist, certified Pilates instructor, and fitness author with over 30 years experience.   DONNA’S STRONGEST BELIEF is that if you perform the correct exercises with the right mind work, your body will respond by changing its presentation to the world via changes in your posture, thus allowing pain syndromes to lessen or dissipate completely. Your issues are in your tissues, and through the therapeutic power of awareness you can heal yourself.

 Dates:  April 9
Time:  1:00-2:00pm
Location: Springboro Branch
Free.  No registration required.

Ages 16 & up.  If under 18 years a parent or legal guardian must sign a waiver.

All abilities are welcome.  Please bring a mat and water bottle.

Conquering the Camino: Learn How To Plan Your Camino de Santiago Adventure

By

Have you thought about a trek on the Camino de Santiago, but aren’t sure where to start?  Join long-distance hiker Andy Niekamp as he covers a variety of topics, such as the history, various routes, how to prepare, what to bring, lodging options, and much more.  Learn why this thousand-year-old footpath is often called a journey for the body, mind, and soul.

  • Wednesday, March 12, 2025
  • 6:30-8:00pm
  • Springboro Branch
  • Free event
  • No registration required.
  • All ages are welcome.

Stuck at Home? Dayton Metro Library Offers Online Solutions!

By

As schools and colleges cancel in-person classes, and businesses reduce hours or access in an effort to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus, more people are likely to find themselves at home in the coming days and weeks. Dayton Metro Library has links to reliable resources, as well as updates on Library services, atDaytonMetroLibrary.org/covid-19.

 

“Dayton Metro Library will follow guidelines and best practices as recommended by peer Libraries around the country, as well as local, state and federal health officials,” said Tim Kambitsch, Executive Director. “We will continue to monitor the situation for updates and will remain flexible in our response as more information is provided.”

 

Whether you’re quarantined for Coronavirus, or home with the flu, Dayton Metro Library’s website has resources you can easily access online, anytime. These FREE resources are accessible with a Dayton Metro Library card and PIN at DaytonMetroLibrary.org. Those who do not already have a DML card can get an eCard online and have instant access to these digital materials.

 

Have students at home?

Dayton Metro Library offers many homework help tools and resources for learning online, for young learners through secondary school and beyond. HelpNow from Brainfuse, features lessons in many subject areas, quizzes and practice tests, and live one-on-one tutoring from 2:00-11:00 p.m. weekdays. Tumble Books, for grades K-6, features animated stories, chapter book read-alongs, games and more, designed to build reading, math and literacy skills in grades K-6.

 

 

Working from home?

Online tools for current events, business and finance can support those working from home. Access local, state and national newspapers, including same-day Dayton Daily News and New York Times. Online tools for business and finance include Morningstar and Reference USA.

 

Those working from home may also want to explore free, web-based meeting options for small group collaboration. These are not Dayton Metro Library services; DML staff cannot facilitate their use or offer tech support. Please visit each site for information, options, and requirements.

Free Hosted Meeting Platforms:

Personal Video Chat/Conference Solutions:

 

 

Bored?

Now’s the time to teach yourself those skills you’ve wanted to learn! Lynda.com from LinkedIn Learning offers expert-led courses and tutorials in technology, business and creative skills. Why not learn a new language with Mango Languages or Transparent Language?

 

It might be the best time to simply enjoy a good book, watch movies, binge on TV shows, or listen to music. Downloadable ebooks and audiobooks are available through Overdrive. Hoopla offers streaming television shows, movies and music.RBDigital provides a vast collection of current, popular magazines, and film buffs will never be bored with the collection of classic, independent and world cinema through Kanopy.

Dayton Metro Library Branches Host After-School Snack Time

By

Dayton Metro Library is partnering with the Children’s Hunger Alliance to offer free After-School Snack Time at seven Library locations. Any child age 18 and younger is invited to drop by on weekdays to enjoy a selection of free snacks to combat after-school hunger.

 

According to 2017 statistics from the Dayton Foodbank, 93,210 people in Montgomery County struggle with food insecurity, with 26,350 of them being children. While many children receive free or reduced-priced meals at school, they often go without healthy food outside of school hours.

 

“Providing food to kids who are hungry is so important,” said Mandie Burns, Youth Services Director. “We know that kids can’t attend to other things, like homework, when they are hungry. As a public library, we have the partnerships in place to step in and meet some of the needs we see in our community.”

 

AFTER-SCHOOL SNACK TIME

Monday through Friday at these Dayton Metro Library locations:

 

Burkhardt 4680 Burkhardt Ave. 45431 | 3:30-4:00 p.m.

Electra C. Doren 701 Troy St. 45404 | 3:30-4:30 p.m.

Madden Hills 2542 Germantown St. 45417 | 3:30-4:15 p.m.

Main Library 215 E. Third St. 45402 | 4:00-5:00 p.m.

Northwest 2410 Philadelphia Dr. 45406 | 3:30-4:00 p.m.

West Carrollton 300 E. Central Ave. 45449 | 2:15-2:45 p.m.

Westwood 3207 Hoover Ave. 45407 | 3:30-4:30 p.m.

 

 

There are plans to expand the program to 10 eligible Branch Libraries this summer, and continue with all 10 locations into the next school year.
For more information, visit DaytonMetroLibrary.org or call 937-463-2665.

Free Films in APRIL at the Main Library

By

Dayton Metro Library’s popular Sunday Movies @ Main series continues in April with more out-of-the-ordinary films. All films are free and start at 1:30 pm in the Main Library’s Eichelberger Forum, 215 E. Third Street, unless otherwise noted.

APRIL FILMS:

4/7 THE FLORIDA PROJECT (2017)

Set on a stretch of highway in a budget motel just outside the imagined utopia of Disney World, The Florida Project follows six-year-old Moonee and her rebellious mother over the course of a single defining summer. Willem Dafoe was nominated for an Oscar, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA for his performance as hotel manager Bobby. Nominated for Best Director and Best Feature at the Film Independent Spirit Awards. Official Selection at the Cannes Film Festival.

 

4/14 PURPLE NOON (1960)

This ripe, colorful adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s vicious novel The Talented Mr. Ripley, directed by the versatile Rene Clement, stars Alain Delon as Tom Ripley, a duplicitous American charmer in Rome on a mission to bring his privileged, devil-may-care acquaintance Philippe Greenleaf back to the United States. What initially seems a carefree tale of friendship soon morphs into a thrilling saga of seduction, identity theft, and murder. Featuring gorgeous location photography of coastal Italy. In French with English subtitles.

 

4/21 Library Closed for Easter

 

4/28 LAST MEN IN ALEPPO (2017)

(Showing in the Bassani Theater, 3rd Floor)

A 2018 Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary Feature, Syrian filmmaker Feras Fayyad’s breathtaking work – a searing example of boots-on-the-ground reportage – follows the efforts of the internationally recognized White Helmets; ordinary citizens who are the first to rush toward military strikes in the hope of saving lives. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema-Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival.

 

“This heartbreaking yet inspiring film is the best and worst of humanity all in one story.” – Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune.

 

 

For more information, visit DaytonMetroLibrary.org or call (937) 463-2665.

 

Free Summer Party Downtown

By

Photo PosterThe Dayton Metro Library is inviting the whole community to a Summer Party.  There will be free entertainment, games, contests and hands-on activities for the whole family on Saturday, August 9, 1:00-4:00 p.m. at the Main Library and in Cooper Park, downtown Dayton.
Chuck Duritsch from the Dayton Metro Library says, “We want to celebrate not only our summer readers who worked hard and met their goals, but also have a fun afternoon for everyone!”

 

What’s in store?

 

Visit the Technology Petting Zoo to see the latest gadgets, then pet puppies from the Humane Society of Greater Dayton. Make your own cotton candy, then ride a blender bike and make a smoothie. Time the Rubik’s Cube champ, learn break dancing skills from Deja Kru, and meet a young Yo-Yo Master. Book swaps, henna tattoos, physical challenges, chess games, storytimes, oh my! There’s too much to mention. Suffice it to say there are activities throughout Cooper Park and inside the Main Library as well – plenty for adults and children to have a fun, free afternoon. Food vendors will be on hand for the purchase of food and beverages, but all other activities (from the Active Zone to the Zoot Theatre puppets) are FREE.

 

“This is a chance for families to come together for a fun, free event to celebrate the summer,” said Diane Farrell, Director of External Relations for the Library. The Library invites you to come enjoy an afternoon with your friends, family and neighbors at the Dayton Metro Library as we wrap up a super summer and get ready for a fabulous fall!

 

More details from the Library:

 

The event features:
  • Hands-on activities, crafts and experiments
  • The Kids BookMobile
  • The Batmobile with Batman and Robin
  • Curious George, The Cat in the Hat, Heater and Gem from The Dayton Dragons and costumed Star Wars characters
  • The Zoot Theatre Company puppets
  • Music by DJ Dan Edwards
  • An active zone with hula hoops, jump ropes, Frisbees, bubbles and bikes
  • A Book Swap for all ages, plus more!

 

 Partner organizations and guests include:
  • Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission teaching bike safety
  • Humane Society of Greater Dayton showcasing pet adoptions
  • Boonshoft Museum of Discovery meeting animals up close
  • Muse Machine – leading active story and dance
  • Ohio Virtual Academy and Chaminade Julienne High School – getting hands on with STEM labs and slime
  • Rosewood Arts Center – exploring comic book art
  • ThinkTV – PBS Kids Island
  • Time Warner Cable – science behind cotton candy
  • Dayton Mom-Spot Blog – book and swag bag giveaways
  • Welcome Dayton – language activities
  • Prevent Blindness Ohio – coloring and eye health
  • EarthFare – Sun Safety
  • Yo-Yo demonstrations, break dancing and the national Rubik’s Cube champion

 

Admission and all activities are free.  Food trucks will be on hand for the purchase of food and beverages.  Summer Reading Club participants of all ages can bring their completed folders to the Party for special prizes.
For more information, visit DaytonMetroLibrary.org or call the Library’s External Relations Department at 937-496-8901.

Volunteers for Dayton! Opportunities: September 11-18

By Leave a Comment

Welcome to our new column for urban volunteer opportunities! I’ll be posting all kinds of ways to get involved in city neighborhoods – from hand-on service to crowdfunding to fun community-building events – so if you have items for submission e-mail me or add them to our Facebook group!

Spotlight on: Garden Station

Have you driven on Wayne Avenue downtown and wondered what that raucous splash of color was by the railroad tracks? Or maybe you’re a regular at the many frequent events occurring at this two-acre community art park, such as the weekly Sunday Market or ‘Free Music First Friday.’ Launched in 2008 as an initiative of the Dayton Circus Creative Collective, Garden Station is now a stand-alone organization led by Lisa Helm with a small crew of volunteers. It is an “urban hub where the Dayton community can come together to enjoy art, campfires, festivals, movies, concerts and community gardens.” They always need help on Saturday work days throughout the growing season, and this week, they are holding Wine and Weeding Wednesday to get spruced up for Urban Nights. The garden’s current fiscal sponsorship agreement expires on September 14 and its estimated monthly costs are $300, so they’d love if you made a tax-deductible donation before Friday! Or if you don’t fancy yourself a philanthropist, you can still give by eating at Blind Bob’s on the first Monday of the month and mentioning Garden Station Night. For more information, follow their page or e-mail Lisa.

Some of the 170 K12 & East End volunteers installing the mosaic

Get Involved!

  • Guide our county’s future: Montgomery County is asking citizens to give input through a series of public forums. The topic for Tuesday, Sep. 11th is “Where Do We Stand vs. Other Communities?” Seen any great ideas in other areas that you’d like to bring back here? Chime in!
  • Show your art on downtown streets: Activated Spaces, the Downtown Dayton Plan’s joint project of Generation Dayton and updayton, is conducting a final call for submissions for art to fill downtown storefronts. Artists will appreciate that they’re printing the art on vinyl window clings this time, making installation much easier! Click here for more information and to apply by the September 14th deadline.
  • The November library levy (Issue 70) includes an “upgraded main library that will be a regional information, reading and cultural attraction for downtown Dayton.” Their online volunteer form asks for help with phonecalls, going door-to-door, endorsers, poll greeters, and public speakers.
  • Bike sharing for downtown was recently a hot topic of discussion in our group, and we learned that Bike Miami Valley is exploring the idea. Fill out their brief online survey to share your thoughts on a ‘smart bike’ system!
  • Which urban neighborhoods are on Facebook? Several years ago, DMM publisher Bill Pote and I led a training at City Hall to get more neighborhoods on social media. Let us know how far we’ve come by adding to my running list.
  • Urban Nights: Still a few more slots availablefor volunteers!

    Monica Wirick-Schultz doing some park planting with other volunteers last Friday

  • Clean up North Main Street: Volunteer help is needed for cleaning up litter and overgrown vegetation; supplies such as gloves, brooms and bags are provided. Saturday, Sep. 15, 8:30am-1pm, 2141 N. Main St. For more information, contact FROC Priority Board Coordinator Verletta Jackson at 333-3288 or e-mail her.
  • Demo Day at the Fifth Street Brewpub: Meet at the community-owned brewpub (1600 E Fifth) at 10 am, Saturday, Sep 15 to demo the interior of the brewhouse. Email them if you can make it so they can plan accordingly (e.g: buy enough beer)
  • Community-Police Action Planning: Learn about community-police relations, give feedback, and sign up for volunteer opportunities at the Dayton Community Police Council’s Community Day Party. Saturday, Sep. 15 11am-3pm, Convention Center.
  • Help make peace in Dayton neighborhoods: The Dayton Mediation Center is looking for volunteer mediators to attend upcoming trainings and commit to helping with conflict resolution. More details can be found here.

Success!

  • Adding color to Xenia Avenue: Over 170 volunteers participated in the year-and-a-half long mosaic mural project led by K12 Gallery for Young People in partnership with East End Community Services Corporation. The finished project can now be seen at 504 Xenia Ave. Like K12’s page to get involved in future projects! The new mosaics decorate the facade of the future location of the Corner Cupboard Charities thrift store, a volunteer-run organization that raises money for other local nonprofits. Check them out!

    One of the many streetscape transformations underway in the South Park neighborhood

  • DDR volunteers rocked it!: Over 200 volunteers came out to support the Downtown Dayton Revival Music Fest this past weekend and a good time was had by all.
  • Invest in the city through real estate! Theresa Gasper of Full Circle Development, LLC recently shared some amazing before-and-after pictures of the homes she and partners have transformed in the Historic South Park neighborhood, an area which saw a 23% value increase in the last reappraisal. There are plenty of great urban realtors who would love to get you started!
  • First Friday Park Planters: A dozen volunteers organized through our Facebook group planted about 40 shrubs and perennials at a little downtown park on Friday night before exploring First Friday together. This was made possible by a grant that volunteer Brian Ressler obtained from Keep Montgomery County Beautiful. Thanks everyone!

 

Dayton librarian’s whale of an art book scores big

By Leave a Comment

Matt Kish presents “Moby-Dick In Pictures: One Drawing For Every Page”

The legendary 19th-century novel Moby-Dick, or The Whale, is a story of obsession. No one, perhaps, understands that obsession quite so well as a Dayton librarian who spent 543 days creating an illustration for each of Moby-Dick’s pages – and now has the published book to prove it.

Matt Kish, who lives in Columbus, describes the closing months as brutal: “Those final 100 or so pages, when the book itself becomes pretty bleak, I had no personal time whatsoever, and I knew the only way I was going to get my life back was to finish this project.

“The only way through it was to symbolically kill the whale myself. I isolated myself, because I felt I had to save every available ounce of energy for the project. I became just as obsessed with finishing the project as Ahab was with the whale. Thankfully, my wife stayed with me.”

The final drawing emerged Jan. 29, his book contract was completed, and now the only obsession in Kish’s life is dealing with the incredible publicity his project has generated.
“I’m simultaneously excited by it all and overwhelmed and exhausted,” he says.

A whale of a response

How much publicity? Starting just a few days into the project, his posts to a daily blog for friends and family began to be featured on literary and art websites and talked about all over the globe. In December 2009, he was invited to speak about his work in New York.

Within days, even though he hadn’t even reached the halfway mark of the book, he was approached by an agent who almost immediately landed him a publisher.

“It started slow, but then things happened with dizzying speed,” Kish recalls. “This incredibly personal exploration of the novel suddenly had a contract and a deadline.”

He speculates that there’s three reasons for the powerful response.

“Moby-Dick is a cultural touchstone. Even people that haven’t read it, they know the whale, they know Ahab, they know Ishmael, they know that it ends tragically. It’s part of our cultural consciousness. It’s really an American myth.”
The second reason? Kish is not a formally trained artist. Yet his bold, unusual style is immediately gripping, conveying a raw emotional presence with every image. Some pieces are abstract, others intensely detailed. He used spray paint, brushes and ink, ballpoint pens, colored pencil, acrylics, collage, markers, stickers. The quickest took 30 minutes, others took up to 12 hours.

“I know if my work was to be critiqued, there are long lists of errors and completely missing blocks of an art foundation,” Kish says. “I didn’t even attempt to make my illustrations historically accurate. It’s very much about my life, my perspective – it’s influenced by video games I played in the ’80s, comic books from my childhood, covers of progressive rock albums from my dad’s basement. So it’s something that’s never been seen.”
The third reason? The sheer insanity factor of anyone taking on such a monster project.

Life-long connection

“Monster” being the key word. Kish says his lifelong passion for Herman Melville’s 1851 novel began around age 5, when he saw a film version of the story.

“The movie monsters were fictional, but this grabbed me,” he says. “This was a monster that could almost have been real.”

An illustrated children’s version of the story was his next encounter with the white whale; he read the full novel for the first time in junior high. Seven more trips through the book would pass before he started the project.

“What’s odd is that each time I read it, it’s shown me things that almost seem to echo or parallel things happening in my own life — the complexities of growing up and growing old and dealing with life,” Kish says. “In some ways, really grappling with that book requires some life experience.”

In 2009, the former English teacher and bookstore clerk heard about a man illustrating every page of another famous novel.

“I was feeling very creatively restless. I wasn’t really enjoying what I was drawing anymore,” Kish says. “I realized it had been four or five years since I read Moby-Dick, the longest absence in my life. And I thought, ‘I’m just going to jump right in. It’s a way to get me closer to the book, and this is going to keep me inspired artistically.’ And the next day I got started. That was Aug. 5, 2009.”

Two years later, on Nov. 13, Kish will share his creation with readers used to seeing his touch in the DVD, CD and young adult collections. He says he’s not sure what art will flow next for him.

“This project completely shaped and structured my life every day for a year and a half, and that was really trying,” Kish says. “I had an intense sense of relief to finally be done. But I was also really wistful. All those characters had become companions to me.”

To attend

Matt Kish presents “Moby Dick In Pictures: One Drawing For Every Page” at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 13, at the Dayton Metro Library, downtown branch, 215 E. Third St., Dayton. The event is free. Information: 937-463-2665, http://everypageofmobydick.blogspot.com.