Dayton's Circus Creative Collective in 2008

Dayton's creative life took a turn for the better last year when the Dayton Circus - an extension of founding member Laurana Wong's project "The Sideshow" - began plotting an urban creative revival for our fair city. I heard about it at one of Jennifer Breman's famous vegan potlucks, and was immediately taken with the conspiracy: a handful of committed people working with creative types from all over the city to transform the artistic, social and creative landscape in Dayton in a positive way. 

In 2007, we incorporated as an Ohio non-profit (and got the ball rolling on 501(c)3 status), hosted several wonderful creative events at the Pearl nightclub downtown, and collaborated with Urban Nights twice: first a performance art gallery in May, then "The Sideshow II" in September. To round out the year, an anonymous donor blessed us with a $10,000 grant in December.

2008 is stacking up to be an explosive year for us, too. Working with the City of Dayton, the Dayton Circus will be enhancing the visual landscape of the Oregon District by taking over the abandoned lot just south of the train tracks on Wayne Ave. We'll be planting an organic, permaculture garden there in Spring, and look forward to hosting some fair-weather events come Summer. We're also looking for a space to call home, and once this has manifested you can bet the grand opening will be a sock-hop to remember. Already we're planning for "The Sideshow III", an event of grand proportions to be held in conjunction with Urban Nights in May. Look forward to music, static and performing arts of all kinds, good food and great people in a creative atmosphere.  Do you have a creative vision to share with Dayton? We're taking applications.

South Park Tavern < Cornerstone Bar & Grille

I went on down to South Park Tavern, where the 2nd Pizza Factory location used to be, Friday night with a few friends. Immediately you notice the warm feel inside that matches the bright orange exterior. It was a nice scene—locals laughing, walking around, chatting and making new friends. We realized we needed to seat ourselves after about 20 seconds and made our way for a booth near the bar. After about 5 minutes of no one approaching us to see if we needed anything Drew and I went up to the bar to get drinks. The barman almost intentionally asked everyone else if they needed anything before coming to us. Regulars favoritism? I tried to get a Blue Moon and gin and tonic but apparently their liquor license doesn’t cover hard stuff. I’ve never heard of that but no big deal though. We waited about 10–15 minutes, drank our beer and left. No one once asked if we wanted to order anything. Am I totally in the dark as to the process they use for getting a bite to eat or is the service really that horrendous? People were eating dinner right and left so I feel really confused about the whole thing. I really want to go back. I feel like it has potential and could be a great spot to hang out. Some places just have the right feel and I’m willing to give them another chance after a total bomb. I think I may have seen David Esrati there but I’m not totally sure it was him. Was it you? And more importantly how did you manage to catch the attention of the wait staff?!

We felt a little dejected as we left but were still willing to try our luck at another place we hadn’t been before. We drove a few blocks west to Cornerstone Bar & Grille on Brown Street. We had a much better experience. Our waiter (his name was either Nick or Tony) was attentive and had a killer attitude. Drew made history and actually bought an appetizer. Believe me, this sort of thing just doesn’t happen. He’d heard that the Paisano Pasta Chips were the house specialty, the stuff legends were made of, and figured what the heck, he wasn’t driving. They had an asiago cream sauce and were awesome! I’m not big on sausage but that was easy enough to move aside. I got the Philly as it is only fitting for someone with my name to do so. It was quite nice. Nothing will ever compare to Penn Station so don’t set yourself up for a let down. It was definitely a decent bit better than one I had at McGillicutty’s (what kind of crazy name is that) the week before. There’s still a few independents left on Brown Street and Cornerstone is definitely one that’s worth making a trip to. Next up: Wafu! You may have to double-dog dare me though.

Bierfest - A Celebration in Germanic Beers

Have you ever thought about buying a German beer but then decided not to after you saw stranage words like Weizen, Berliner Weisse, Helles, Schwarzbier, Pilsener, Dunkel, Doppelbock, and Märzen?  What does is it all mean? Does it even taste good?  What better way to try those German beers than at a beer tasting?

The Dayton Liederkranz-Turner is presenting Bierfest, a German Beer tasting event, on Friday, January 11, 2008. This is your chance to sample a wide variety of German and German style beers as well as a special home brew selection.

The Bierfest sampling tour will begin at 6:00pm. The special guest speaker is beer expert, home brewer, Dayton’s leading purveyor of fine beers (Belmont Party Supply) and Liederkranz member, Mike Schwartz. He will be supported by Joe Waizmann, founder of Alefest. Our mission is to focus is on good German beer and Gemütlichkeit!

The Bierfest event will include free snacks and door prizes! DLT’s famous giant brats will be available for purchase. The DLT bar will be open with pop and beer for purchase.

Event Details:
When: Friday, January 11, 2008
Doors Open: 5:30 pm
Bier Tour Begins: 6:00 pm

Where: The Dayton Liederkranz-Turner
1400 East Fifth Street
Dayton, OH 45402

Admission: $13.00 per Person, Admission for Designated Drivers is FREE. Reservations are not required but are strongly encouraged. Please call John Koerner: 937-429-9251 or contact him by email: jabkoerner@aol.com.

For more information also visit The Dayton Liederkranz Turner Website. Come back and tell us which beer was your favorite!

Goodbye Dolcessa... Hello Gallery 510

That's right - the gelato joint in the OD is moving over by UD (to try to compete with Cold Stone and Ben & Jerry's) after only one year on 5th Street.  But the space will not be vacant for long, because Loretta Puncer is moving there from the Cannery to open Gallery 510 Fine Art.  Loretta is one of the people behind the First Fridays that are held at the Cannery and recently started the Town & Country Fine Art Center in Kettering with Mike Elsass.  As many of you know, Mike is part of a group who is transforming 5th Street into an arts district, and it looks like Gallery 510 Fine Art will be one of the first new places to be part of that effort.

Loretta will be having a "preview" of the new gallery this coming Friday January 4th as part of the on-going First Friday open house party.  And we'll be following up soon on the rest of this new arts district in the OD.  If anybody out there knows Nathan Smallwood, can you send him an invite?