Dayton Most Metro

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

Bill Franz

ARTIST OF THE WEEK: Katherine Cruse

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I talked recently with Katherine at her Front Street studio (1001 East 2nd Street, Building 100, Door BC, Third Floor) and learned how she became an artist.

“For years I was a writer. I wrote a newspaper column in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. It was humorous, sort of like Erma Bombeck. For my last year or so as a writer, I found myself thinking about painting and drawing. I even found myself dreaming about putting paint on canvas, so when we moved to Dayton I stopped writing and started learning how to paint.”

You can see one example of Katherine’s work at the Artists United Group Show which opens Friday at The Orphanage (73 N Dutoit). Her work is also on Instagram at @katherinecruseartist.

Dayton At Work and Play

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The Gem City Market on Salem Avenue won’t be open for some time, but it’s already had a positive impact on the neighborhood. The historic Longfellow school building, constructed in 1882, is across the street from the market’s site. Dayton Public schools offered the building at auction four years ago and got no bidders, but in a recent auction the building was sold.

The investor who bought the building said that in addition to creating housing units he hopes to make the school’s theater available for community use.

Dayton At Work and Play: Carmn Gooden

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I have been working to get photos from each of Dayton’s 66 neighborhoods for a show that opens April 2 at K12 Gallery and TEJAS (341 South Jefferson). The last neighborhood on my list was Mount Vernon. There I met Carmen Gooden, co-founder of of The Linda Vista, Inc. (1011 Linda Vista Avenue).

Carmen and a partner bought and refurbished an 11 unit apartment building. Carmen knew from her own history that childhood sexual abuse can lead to a life filled with bad choices. She filled her building with women who have suffered childhood sexual abuse and are homeless and are ready to make the changes required to get their lives back on track.

Each of the women and their children lives in a fully furnished apartment for up to 2 years. They work with a case worker to develop a self-sufficiency plan. Carmen says her program “replaces the negative, complacent mind-set that often accompanies a lifestyle of poverty and homelessness with a mind-set that supports success and self-sufficiency.”

Count me as a fan of Carmen and her work. You can expect more photos from Linda Vista.

Dayton at Work and Play: College HIll Comunity Church

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 Choir Director Jose Jones invited me to take photos at choir rehearsal at College Hill Community Church – PCUSA (1547 Philadelphia Drive in Dayton’s College Hill neighborhood).
I enjoyed meeting the people of this church which has a rich history of fostering racial unity in our community. During the 1970’s, when the racial mix of this neighborhood was changing, the church decided to have a fully integrated ministry. They had two pastors, one white and one black, to jointly service the congregation. The goal was to welcome everyone and to become a church that was a “Racial Rainbow.”

As red-lining and block-busting became common in the early 1970’s, real estate agents went door-to-door in NW Dayton trying to convince people to sell their homes. In response, members of College Hill Church went door-to-door too…encouraging their neighbors to stay. The church was also influential in achieving peaceful desegregation of the Dayton School System in 1976.

Their worship service is Sundays at 10:30 am and is bi-lingual (Spanish and English).

Dayton at Work and Play: Simon

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Simon making me a four way at Gold Star Chili (3034 Harshman in Dayton’s Forest Ridge / Quail Hollow neighborhood).

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Simon was born in Jordan, but he’s as Dayton as they come. He has the characteristic Dayton resilience and grit.

Simon was trained as an airplane mechanic and came to Dayton to work for Emery Air Freight. When that company shut down he decided to stay in the town he had grown to like. He opened this Gold Star chili restaurant.

Business was great at first, but then the nearby Meijer’s store closed. Simon reacted to the reduction of walk in traffic by trying to create more loyal customers. While I was there he greeted most people by name as they walked in. He took the time to talk to me and ask why I was carrying a camera. When I return I fully expect Simon to greet me by name and even if I’m not carrying my camera he’ll ask how my photography is going.

Dayton at Work and Play: Brooke Coleman

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Brooke Coleman wants to cook for you.

Brooke has had some rough times in her life, including a stint at a homeless shelter five years ago, but now things are looking up. She’s opened a new restaurant StuffedEnuff LLC (2901 North Dixie). Brooke says the customer response has been great and she thinks she has the experience to make her restaurant a success. She has worked in quite a few restaurants, and she’s taken a lot of culinary classes at Sinclair Community College.

“I always wanted a restaurant but I wanted it to be different. I knew there was no place where you could create your own stuffed burger. I’ve been trying different recipes at home for family and friends, that’s where we got the Chef B’s signature burgers.” I tried one of her signature burgers – the Hawaiian – stuffed with pineapple and jalapeno peppers. It was amazing.

Brooke is trying to build her business without taking on any debt. That’s why the sign out front says “Kula!Kula!. That’s the name of the restaurant that was previously in this space.

To help her get money for a new sign, I plan to stop by regularly. But I will only come when I’m really hungry. One of her stuffed burgers is a big meal. Stuffed Enuff is open for lunch and dinner every day except Monday.

StuffedEnuff LLC

2901 N Dixie dr
Dayton, Ohio 45414
(937) 949-3018

Tuesday- Thursday 10am-11pm

Friday-Saturday 10am- 1am

Sunday 10am-9pm

Dayton at Work and Play: Kendell Thompson – Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park

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Kendell Thompson, superintendent of Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park in the world’s first airplane factory. It’s off West Third Street, in Dayton’s Arlington Heights neighborhood.

It’s amazing to me that these buildings are still here. The Wright Brothers built them in 1910 and 1911 to put what they’d learned about flying to commercial use. Orville Wright sold the business in 1915, after the death of his brother, but airplanes continued to be made here.

In World War I the Dayton Wright Company was formed by Charles Kettering and William Deeds, with Orville Wright as a consultant. They built thousands of planes for the war effort in these buildings and two other locations.

General Motors bought the Dayton Wright Company in 1921 but they didn’t stay in the airplane business. Instead, they made steering wheels here. The business was so successful that GM formed a new division – the Inland Manufacturing Division. This plant grew to cover 54 acres with 1.2 million square feet of manufacturing space. Fortunately, the original Wright buildings were not torn down during this period. They were just surrounded by larger, newer buildings.

Dayton At Work and Play: Allaman Building

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Walking around the Wright Dunbar area, I’ve admired the vacant Allaman building at 1000 West Third. It was built in 1914 by Dr. Allaman and once housed doctor’s offices and apartments. In 2002 it was bought and refurbished by Wright Dunbar Inc. but remained empty.

Now you can add this building to the list of properties recently sold to a developer. Plans are to turn the upper two floors into four condos and rent the ground level to a store or coffee shop. Great news.

ARTIST OF THE WEEK: Ann Rotolante

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ARTIST OF THE WEEK Ann Rotolante, Producer of The Art Show on ThinkTV Network.

Ann originally didn’t plan on a career in the arts. “I was an engineering student,” she told me “and took a film course as an elective. I loved it. As soon as I got my engineering degree I moved to Dayton to enroll in film school at Wright State.”

When I caught up with Ann I took a few head shots because I knew she needed one. When I looked at her entry at imdb.com – the online database of information related to films and TV – her listing had no portrait. Go to https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1367899/ and you can look at all of Ann’s film experience and see if she has used this portrait I sent to her.

I wasn’t sure exactly what a producer’s role was. Ann told me one of her most important jobs on the Art Show was deciding which artists to feature. “We look for artists that our audience will find interesting, and we try to keep it diverse. We want a mix of types of artists and we want artists located throughout the Dayton / Cincinnati region. Season 11 of The Art Show will start airing soon, and I’m excited about the artists we will be featuring.”

Free Coffee At Reza’s

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One of three sitting areas at Reza’s Dayton (438 Wayne Avenue). I followed the progress of their renovation on Instagram, and love the way it turned out.

Coffee is free at Reza’s today, thanks to some kind people from Pittsburgh. One year ago a gunman killed 11 and injured 7 at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue. After the shooting, someone from outside the city arranged an act of kindness, a day of free coffee at a coffee shop near the synagogue.

Today some anonymous people from Pittsburgh have done the same thing. They’ve arranged for a day of free coffee at Reza’s and at a coffee shop in El Paso. A letter accompanying the money concludes as follows:

Please know that you are not alone as you heal as a community.
All the Best,
A coffee lover from Pittsburgh