Category Archives: Event

Flying Day in Cincy

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Redbull has been organizing Flugtags all over the world since 1992. Flugtag is German for Flying Day and the events feature homemade contraptions that generally do not fly as well as their creators expect. Yesterday they brought the event to this city where things not flying as well as expected is something of a tradition. On a cloudy but ultimately dry Saturday, thirty-nine participating teams and thousands of spectators gathered by the Ohio River for  Flugtag Cincinnati.

I reached Sawyer Point Park early enough to snag one of the last open spots on the street and avoid $20 and up parking fees. The event itself was free. The Belle of Cincinnati was moored near the Purple People Bridge for a true VIP experience. The launch deck was anchored at the west end of Serpentine Wall near the Taylor-Southgate Bridge. By launch time, both bridges would be lined with spectators.

And I arrived late enough that the “hangar” area where the entries were being staged was open. Here’s a fuller view of the WKRP turkey in the opening picture plus some of the others that caught my eye. There are some, but not many, that even sort of look like they might fly.

Of course, the crew is every bit as important as the vehicle.

The Hangar had opened at noon with opening ceremonies scheduled for 1:00. As showtime approached, entrants began lining up on the ramp, rescue craft assumed their positions, and skydivers dropped onto the launch deck.

The first launch was an unjudged honorary entry from Kroger. Maximum speed is extremely important and that’s what the crew is for. Kudos to the Kroger crew member who clearly gave it his all. The first competitor followed as soon as the “landing” area was clear.

I had picked a spot with a pretty good view of the launch but my view of the flight (if any) and landing was blocked. I watched a few more launches then backed out of the crowd at riverside, treated myself to a four-dollar bottle of water, and watched some of the action on one of the big screens which naturally had their own crowds.

I eventually moved back toward the river but got a better view of the mayhem by keeping my distance from the launch deck.

I know there are videos out there that most will find much more entertaining than these still shots but here’s one more sequence anyway. If you are really interested and have access to ESPN2, the whole thing will reportedly be shown August 19 at 6:00 PM.

Flugtag wasn’t the only big-time competition happening in the area this week. Over in Erlanger, KY, at the country’s only remaining wooden railed Putt-Putt course, the Professional Putters Association National Championship took place. I stopped by Putt-Putt Golf of Erlanger on Friday to take a look.

I had not seen a real Putt-Putt course in years. There are no windmills, dancing clowns, or other moving obstacles here.

Every hole is par 2 and this is a fairly rare par shot. I don’t know how many holes had been played but as the tournament neared its end, many players were more than 80 strokes under par.

Some of those 80+ under-par players would be taking home a nice trophy and a few thousand dollars cash.

Paddlefest 2023

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I’ve known of Ohio River Paddlefest for quite a while. I even planned to attend last year until severe weather convinced me — and everybody else — otherwise. Heavy storms led to the cancellation of several outdoor events including the 2022 Paddlefest. There wasn’t even a hint of foul weather this year and I finally made it to “the largest paddling event in the country” for the first time. I was not in position to see the launch of approximately 2000 participants into an Ohio River that was cleared of powered watercraft for the event but I did get to see many of them pass through Cincinnati’s riverfront.

I decided to park in Kentucky and use the century-and-a-half-old Roebling Bridge as an observation deck. People can choose to paddle either 4.5 or 9 miles from the launch point at Schmidt Recreation Complex at the east edge of Cincinnati. The pullout point for the shorter trip is the public landing near the coliseum. The big paddle wheeler at the landing is the American Heritage on her way to Pittsburgh. I don’t know whether being in town for Paddlefest was intentional or something they just couldn’t avoid. Also in that photo, the three ladies in the opening photo can be seen well past the landing on their way to the Roebling and my camera.

There was a race and I’m sure there was a winner but most participants seemed to be much more concerned with enjoying the float and maximizing rather than minimizing their time on the water. Some even took time to look up and wave or wrangle three boats together for a group selfie.

Shooting upriver at the approaching boats meant shooting into the sun but at some point, I realized that I could completely avoid any glare issues by shooting straight down. Snapping paddlers just before they disappeared under the bridge was actually quite addictive and I snapped a few more before I could pull myself away.

Not everything is ruined by shooting toward the sun. Some things actually look pretty good or so I convinced myself.

With the exception of some safety and patrol boats, these were probably the most powerful watercraft on the Ohio near Cincinnati throughout the morning. They did not flaunt it, however, and were well back in the pack.

Shortly after the big boats passed, I finished crossing the bridge and moved to the downstream side to return to Kentucky. Catching boats just as they popped out from under the bridge wasn’t nearly as easy as catching them just before they popped under it but I did catch one.

These are all a bit away from the bridge and moving slowly.

Back in Kentucky, I grabbed brunch and then headed to where the nine-mile paddle ended and where the wrap-up party was being held. For some reason, northbound I-71/75 was closed at the river. I didn’t figure that out until I was forced beyond it. I decided to just keep going and cross the river on the Anderson Ferry for a real break from the normal. The Miata got the first of two comments when the attendant collected my fare. “Nice change of pace. I have to reach up for every other car.”

The second comment came from a fellow directing traffic at the Gilday Recreation Complex. With a mostly straight face, he asked if I was there to pick up a 17-foot canoe. Lots of canoes and kayaks had already departed and many more were in the process of being loaded. But there were still plenty waiting in the park and even a few still on the river. The finish line was still in place when I arrived but it would soon be gone.

Madtree had a beer tent set up and there were several food trucks. The Sunburners provided some good Jimmy Buffet-style music and there were some Jimmy Buffet-style listeners too.

I had my doubts about the claims of this photo-op but a little research confirmed that the Gilday Complex really was the southernmost point of the Ohio River Paddlefest. And today it even felt kind of tropical.

At Speed in Cincy

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History does repeat itself. In the early 1970s, I lived with my wife and two sons in a house with a driveway that sloped to a paved area in the back. That driveway was an ideal spot for the four-year-old to give his Big Wheel a workout. While I worked on something on a car behind the house, he repeatedly pushed the three-wheeler to the top of the hill so he could come rocketing down the hill, brace his feet on the pedals to stop the big front wheel, and throw the rear wheels into a perfect 180-degree slide. This was exactly what Big Wheels were designed for. After one of his countless slides, he looked up at me and made an incredibly insightful observation. “Dad”, he said, “I bet you wish you could do this.”

He was absolutely right. What he was doing looked like a fabulous amount of fun but I was too old. What I saw Saturday also looked like a fabulous amount of fun but I was once again too old. Fifty years ago, being too old meant being too big to fit into the seat. Yesterday it meant being too wheezy and too brittle.

This is Danger Wheel‘s eighth year but it was somehow kept a secret from me until I saw Citybeat’s 7 Things To Do in Cincinnati This Weekend article last Thursday. Realizing almost instantly that this was something special, I made plans to attend and found myself near the midpoint of the course about two hours before race time. There is a starting line at the top of the hill and a finish line at the bottom just like the Soapbox Derby I attended last week (At Speed in Akron). More history repeating itself I suppose.

The race takes place in the Pendleton neighborhood of Cincinnati which has two breweries and several really good restaurants. Food trucks are brought in for the event along with tents from breweries outside the neighborhood. I had no trouble filling the time until the competition started. I even had time to check out some of the racing teams and vehicles.

Of course, the two hours between my arrival and the first race also gave other spectators time to arrive and completely line the course. I did somehow manage to get close enough to the starting line to snap a picture of the launch of the first heat. When the starting horn sounds, two team members have ten feet to power the third member off the line.

These special built Huffy Green Machines have no onboard means of propulsion so you might think that once the starting line pushing ends, the race is exactly like a Soapbox Derby heat with drivers dealing with nothing but steering until gravity takes them over the finish line. You might think that but you would be really really wrong.

While spectators were packing in trackside, race organizers had placed ramps and speed bumps along the clear street I’d seen when I arrived. In addition, pelting racers with water balloons was a legitimate and quite popular means of fan participation. I overheard the starter suggest to a rookie that he close his face shield all the way because “those water balloons hurt like hell”.

I didn’t feel like forcing my way to the front or staying in one place long enough to move up through attrition assuming that was even possible. I could see some of the action fairly well but had no clear shot for photos. The closest I came to capturing any of the mayhem was this fuzzy shot. The picture at right shows a large video screen in the parking lot where most of the food trucks were. Live racing was shown on this screen and on screens inside most of the businesses in the area. The longest stretch of racing that I actually watched was inside one of the breweries while also enjoying some cool air and cold liquid.

I did not stay until the champion was crowned. Just like last week at the Soapbox Derby, I had no one to root for. The winner of each heat was announced but the names were meaningless to me and I did not pursue standings.

But I still consider it one of the coolest events I have ever attended in Cincinnati. It was absolutely great fun to watch but, once I understood that the helmets and padding were not just for show, I lost any desire to participate. I do still wish I could have spun that low-slung speedster around in the driveway fifty years ago, however.

At Speed in Akron

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In the closing paragraph of my post on the Golf Manor Grand Prix, I mentioned that I probably wouldn’t make it to the Cincinnati Soapbox Derby qualifier but might attend the season finale in Akron, Ohio. As it turns out, both conjectures turned out to be accurate. I missed the Cincinnati event but made it to the big show for the first time ever.

The very first All-American Soap Box Derby® took place in Dayton, Ohio, which is even closer to my home than Akron, but I did not attend. It was 1934. Things moved fast and the 1935 race was held on the streets of Akron with a permanent site, Derby Downs, being built by the next year. I was probably aware of the Derby as a child but it was not part of my world. I believe I first saw Soap Box racers in action within the last twenty years or so. By then, I was very much aware of the Derby and of just how big an event it was. More recently, I began to realize that if I was ever to witness what was an iconic happening in my home state I’d best be getting on with it.

The opening photo was taken when I arrived on Friday. There seems to be something going on all week but Saturday is the big day and the only one that requires a ticket. Super Kids events were taking place when I was there Friday. This is a program that allows physically and mentally challenged children to participate by having a helper ride with them.

A golf cart shuttle took me all the way to the top where I could see lots of cars being readied to race and could get a really good look at the whole track too.

Here’s something I was not even aware of when I left home. I spotted an announcement about this Vintage Derby Car Show in my Facebook feed when I stopped in Columbus for breakfast. Because the poster and I had a bunch of mutual friends, I correctly guessed we had a Route 66-related connection. I stopped in after leaving the track and enjoyed looking over the displays, including a replica of the winner of that inaugural 1934 race, and meeting Facebook friend Keith Lamb in real life. Keith won the Derby in 1979 and had his car on display but, although we stood and talked beside it for quite a while, I failed to get a picture. I did better with Keith and his wife. This was the second year for the event with a repeat next year almost certain.

Due to construction detours and bad planning (Mostly the latter.) I was late for opening ceremonies on Saturday. I could also try to blame the longer walk after parking. On Friday the field had just a few cars in a single row but was now almost full. I heard the national anthem as I neared the track and reached it just in time to see the Champions, who had apparently walked down the track as part of the ceremony, begin their walk up the track. The word “champion” was used a lot and in this case referred to all the competitors. In the act of qualifying for this event, each of them had become the champion of something.

In rather short order, a full day of non-stop racing would commence. These three pictures show cars at the start, somewhere mid-track, and crossing the finish line. Notice that the racers are virtually side by side in all three pictures. This was typical. Winning margins of 0.005 and 0.006 seconds were common. At least two races I watched were decided by 0.001 seconds. One of the later races ended in a dead heat requiring a two-car runoff. The biggest differential I noted was barely over 0.16 seconds.

All the cars in the previous set of photos are Stock Division racers with drivers between 7 a 13 years of age and no more than approximately 5’3″ tall and 125 pounds in weight. Cars in this pair of photos are Super Stock Division racers with drivers between 9 and 18 years of age, up to about 6’0″ tall, and weighing up to about 150 pounds. Incidentally, the distance between racers in the second picture is just about as big as it gets.

A third style of racer makes up the Masters Division. In these, the 10 to 20-year-old “more experienced” drivers essentially lay down in the cars with just the tops of their helmeted heads visible. Sometimes getting tucked in requires a little extra push from Dad.

Racers qualify for the international competition either by winning the Local Race nearest to their home or by winning a Rally Regional Title by earning points in multiple races. Both methods produce champions in all three divisions. The bulk of Saturday’s racing involved eliminating all but nine competitors in each of these six groups. A victory parade celebrated each group of finalists.

Each of those six groups of nine was arbitrarily divided into three heats of three. The winner of each heat would run with the winners of the other two heats to decide 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Second-place racers would compete for 4th, 5th, and 6th while third-place racers would compete for 7th, 8th, and 9th. The range of times for each heat usually looked something like this where barely 5/100 of a second separated all three cars.

I was quite surprised by the nearly empty grandstandsbut eventually realized that unattached spectators like me were pretty scarce. Most people were there in support of a specific racer and had a home base established trackside. Of course, enthusiastic cowbell-equipped fans could be found anywhere.

The Goodyear Blimp is hangared at an airport right beside Derby Downs so there would occasionally be things overhead to watch or be watched by and there was still plenty of action on the track but I had no one to root for. At the start of the day, I had identified two competitors from Cincinnati but both were eliminated in the first round. I then moved my support to a racer named Gibson. She made it to the final nine but when she lost her bid for first, I headed home. Great fun and I later learned that the Gibson kid won her last heat to earn a 4th place to bring honor to the family name.

Happy 247th

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There are twenty “Underrated Attractions in Cincinnati” identified in the CityBeat article that motivated me to visit the Lucky Cat Museum last week. With that museum visit, I could count thirteen of the twenty as things I have seen. There are a few more that I will probably get to before long and a couple of others that I have little interest in. I thought it highly unlikely that I would ever experience one listed attraction despite being interested in it very much. “Stricker’s Grove“, the article said, “is closed to the public…”. It could be rented for private events but, unless I could get myself invited to somebody’s company picnic, it seemed I was out of luck.

Then, barely a week after the CityBeat article appeared, I saw another article announcing that the park would be open to the public on July 4th. I had, I now realized, stopped reading that opening sentence too soon. “Stricker’s Grove is closed to the public for most of the year”, is what it really said. It is actually open to all on a handful of days each year and Independence Day is one of them.

But the amusement park next to cornfields and a two-lane state highway would not open until 2:00 o’clock. I filled the morning and put myself in the general area by attending the Fourth of July parade in Hamilton, Ohio.

This parade was significantly different from the only other parade I recall attending in Hamilton. That was the Short, Sweet, Wet, and Irish inaugural Saint Patrick’s Day parade held earlier this year. That parade had just one fire engine and, with a route length of approximately 575 feet, barely had room for it. This parade route was well over two miles long with several fire department vehicles including a couple of real classics.

The Corvettes and firetrucks did not surprise me but the low riders did. And it wasn’t just one or two. The number of these incredibly tricked-out cars rivaled the number of Corvettes and they jumped higher, too.

I was also surprised by this group’s presence. They had already passed me when the word “militia” caught my eye. I snapped this belated photo then looked up The Last Militia at the end of the day. They describe themselves as “a preparedness organization that focuses on the needs of families during times of strife” and dispute their classification as an antigovernment movement by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Their camouflage-patterned vests display the motto, Molṑn Labé. Greek for “Come and take them”, the phrase is often considered an expression of defiance but in this case is probably just an invitation to avail oneself of some of the bottled water pictured on their website.

I had no trouble Identifying the hot air balloon burner and gondola in the bed of this truck but sorting out the headgear took a bit longer. Only when I saw the Hops in the Hangar sign did I realize they are foam-topped beer mugs.

Getting inside the structure behind the four-foot flame was a bonus. I am fairly familiar with the Butler County Soldiers, Sailors and Pioneers Monument from the outside but had never been inside. It is even more impressive than I anticipated. Built on the site of the original Fort Hamilton, it honors all county residents who served in wars fought before its construction in 1902. Non-military pioneers are also recognized on the second floor. Original stained glass copies of the seals of the State of Ohio and the Grand Army of the Republic are opposite each other on the first floor.

Even larger stained glass windows on the second floor honor Civil War nurses and mothers. A clear glass window provides a wonderful view of the Great Miami River.

This is the place the day was organized around. Stricker’s Grove opened at 2:00 with the rides beginning at 3:00. Admission is free. Parking is $5. The pictured pavilion filled with picnic tables is just inside the park. There are also lots of tables outside the pavilion. Picnicking is not just tolerated; it is encouraged. The one-hour lag between opening and the rides firing up might actually be part of that encouragement. Reasonably priced food is available for anyone not packing a cooler at home. I had actually started the day thinking of a place to eat but when I learned of the parade I had just enough time to drive directly there. I now had time for breakfast — mett $4, chips $1, pink lemonade $2. Hotdogs were available for $2 and a 14 once draft beer for $4.

Eating was not the only thing available for filling in that rideless hour. A couple of Skee Ball areas and a large arcade filled with video games and pinball machines were in full swing as were other games of skill.

The rides had been operating for a while by the time I made it to the midway and purchased tickets. The best deal was clearly the $20 armband that let you ride anything all day. Single tickets were $2.50 or 5 for $10 or 20 for $25. That last option only makes sense if the tickets were to be shared by multiple riders. The only thing I really cared about riding was the Tornado roller coaster which was one of the very few rides, or possibly the only ride, that required three tickets. $7.50 seemed like a lot for one ride so I went for the five-ticket deal which made it seem like a bargain. It was then that I saw the coaster in motion for the first time ever but I decided not to get in the line just yet.

I had already decided to start off with a ride on the train (1 ticket) thinking it might give me a better feel for the park layout. Disappointingly, it did not go through the park but around its periphery of which corn and the Great Miami River are major components. It did give me a different view of the Tornado, however.

With the train ride behind me, it was time to join the queue at the Tornado. Reportedly there has been only one man in the United States to build his own roller coaster That man was Ralph Stricker and this is that coaster. Al Collins designed it and Stricker built it between November 1990, and June 1993.

The line was fairly long but it moved with reasonable speed. I used to ride roller coasters quite a bit but it has been a while. It felt good to climb into the car and start through that first slow curve past that corn. Being “homemade” and all, I kind of expected this to be a little wimpy. Not so. It was a good ride and all the coaster this old man needed. Nicely done Ralph and Al.

I used my one remaining ticket on another ride with a view. The extra fallout protection blocked the view to some degree but I could still see the corn and some people seem to always find a way to live life on the edge.

I submit these pictures not as examples of good fireworks photography but as evidence that I did expose myself to Independence Day pyrotechnics as required of all U.S. citizens. Fireworks were scheduled at Stricker’s Grove but I left long before that happened. I watched these from the parking lot across from King’s Island. Note that I live close enough to the park to hear these every night. The structure at the right edge of the first photo is the Drop Tower which I assume was closed during the fireworks.

The show also included the synchronized drones that the park introduced during last year’s 50th-anniversary celebration. I reported on my first viewing of them here. Formations not shown here included the Liberty Bell, the Statue of Liberty, and more. A good con man might be able to convince you that the lights in the middle of the map are there to mark King’s Island’s location but they are really lights on the replica Eiffel Tower standing between the camera and the drones.

SunWatch Summer Fest 2023

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There is a spot just a few miles southwest of Dayton, OH, where a village stood many centuries ago. Archeologists have determined that a cluster of tall posts stood near the center of the village and believe those posts were used in astronomical observations, especially observations involving our sun. Because of that, they call the site SunWatch Village.

There is now a museum at the site and a few of the village structures have been recreated. The outlines of others are marked by short posts where taller posts that were part of the structures once stood. The first picture at left is of a model inside the museum that is meant to represent the entire village. The second picture is of the actual site as seen from the large deck behind the museum. In the second picture, the tall poles can be seen just to the right of the skeleton building.

The northern hemisphere’s summer solstice, that instant when it hits its peak tilt toward the sun, occurred last Wednesday. Assuming that the scientists are correct about those poles, that would certainly have been a major event for SunWatch Village’s original inhabitants. It seems quite reasonable to think they might have held some sort of celebration to recognize the longest day of the year. Although no one lives there these days, there are people responsible for the site and they may very well have also wanted to celebrate the summer solstice when it happened but they couldn’t. Sadly, sometime in the last 800 or so years, somebody invented the work-week so most of our celebrating now gets put off until the weekend. Something called Summer Fest took place on Saturday, June 24, the third full day of summer. Summer solstice falls on a Friday next year so Summer Fest and the first full day of summer can align.

A level and well-graded path leads through the site with numerous signs explaining what you are looking at as well as providing some general archeological information.

Here is a closer look at the group of extra-tall poles. The original poles were charred at the base to help prevent decay and remove insects. That helped archeologists not only locate the poles but estimate their height. A sign at the hut across the way explains that the shadow of the tallest pole would fall on its hearth on the winter solstice.

The interior of the thatched hut offers some idea of how it might have looked when occupied. The hearth’s alignment with the tall pole can also be seen from inside.

Logan Washboard Festival Plus

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Once upon a time a friend and I mentioned to each other that the Logan Washboard Festival seemed like a good thing to do someday. Flimsy plans came and went until we finally pulled it off this week. By then, of course, the plans had, as simmering plans tend to do, grown. By the time Terry and I hit the road on Thursday, our agenda included one furnace, one mill, and at least one walk in the woods along with time at the festival.

Even after the road was hit, our plans continued to grow. An earlier than hoped for departure and the realization that the Leo Petroglyphs were almost on the way, led us to make a stop there. And yes, we did see the most popular of the glyphs, man-with-horns.

The mill and the furnace had scheduling requirements so walking in the woods had to happen during our open time on Thursday. We followed the fairly level Gorge Trail at Conkle’s Hollow past ferns and rock cliffs to a very cool waterfall. That’s Terry gazing at it in awe (I assume) in the third photo.

Next was Rock House. I had never been here and Terry’s memory of the amount of elevation change was tempered by time. This was closer to a climb through the rocks than a walk in the woods but that Rock House was quite the reward.

In the morning, with all of our walking in the woods/rocks behind us, we headed to Buckeye Furnace State Memorial. The building in the first picture is of the charging shed. This also housed the boilers which powered the steam engine that forced hot air into the furnace. The third picture shows the furnace from which molten iron once emerged.

We had found one website stating that the museum was open on Fridays and one stating it wasn’t. A sign in the park agreed with the one that said it wasn’t. We were leaving after exploring the furnace when we spotted a car parked near the museum and the museum door appeared to be open. Reality, it turned out, matched the website saying the museum was open on Fridays. There are many furnace-related exhibits here including samples of the ingredients and the finished product. Although it’s not exactly furnace-related, I found the Chuck Wagon Kitchen Pantry in the second picture rather interesting. Text hanging next to it is here.

On Friday afternoon, we actually reached the Logan Washboard Festival. If there were any doubts about where the opening photo came from, they should now be gone. The festival fills about four blocks of downtown Logan with opening ceremonies taking place on Thursday evening. Both Friday and Saturday have music on three stages. Saturday is the biggest of the two but Friday fit our schedule best.

It should not be a surprise that the “last manufacturer of Genuine usable Washboards in the USA” is right in the middle of the festival. The Columbus Washboard Company has been making washboards since 1895 and has been doing it in Logan, Ohio, since around 2000.

Music doesn’t start on the outdoor stages until 4:30 but we found some in the back of the washboard store/factory well before that. Washboard Wizard and festival mainstay Bill Bailey (blue vest) anchors things here with other musicians coming and going.

Most of the company’s standard washboard models are displayed on a wall with prices. Another wall holds examples of many custom models including one from that big band in southern Indiana.

We did not join one of the guided tours through the factory but we did explore all of the manufacturing area and Terry did get some personal instruction on the process.

The official festival music program got underway with Washboard Hank on the Mulberry Street Stage and we also watched Nicole Dicken perform on that stage. The two washboard players at stage left were not actually members of Hank’s band and moved on about halfway through the set.

We caught Washboard Shorty & Reverend Robert and Williamson Branch on the Main Stage. Robert and Shorty invited all washboard players to join them for their last couple of songs and had three takers.

We wrapped up the excursion with a Saturday stop at Rock Mill. The mill was opened to visitors in 2017 after an outstanding restoration project was completed. It reopened this spring following a shutdown to build a support wall to stabilize the building. The mill grinds grain on the last Sunday of every month.

The phenomenal accomplishment of restoring this mill is documented in Rock Mill: Saving an Original.

Golf Manor Grand Prix

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I once attended a Cincinnati Soapbox Derby event and I know I took some pictures but apparently I did no reporting of it on this site. This post will keep last Sunday’s Golf Manor Grand Prix from suffering the same fate. The Golf Manor race is an International Soap Box Derby® sanctioned event but it is not a qualifier for the big derby in Akron, Ohio. For Cincinnati, that role is assigned to the Cincinnati Local Derby held in June. That means the Golf Manor event is something of a practice session with a sizable percentage of first-time drivers. Both Stock and Super Stock races are held but I attended only the Stock event that filled the morning. Stock car drivers are between 7 and 13 years old and under 5’3″ and 125 pounds. Super Stock cars are a little bigger with drivers between 9 and 18 years of age and up to 6’0″ tall and 150 pounds in weight.

When I arrived, the pit crews (a.k.a., parents) were hovering around the cars and confering with the drivers. I snapped these pictures of the unattended cars when the drivers meeting was announced.

The drivers meeting was much like others I’ve seen or attended although the drivers were somewhat shorter than what I’m used to seeing. And I think they were less impressed with greetings from Mayor Stefan C. Densmore than were the pit crews and officials. Golf Manor is an independent municipality completely surrounded by the city of Cincinnati.

At 180 meters (about 200 yards) the track here is considerably shorter than the one in Akron (301 meters) but it has the advantage of an uphill slope beyond the finish line. This does slow the racers a bit to the benefit of young rookies who don’t always remember to apply the brakes appropriately.

On-track action started with a number of solo runs which I guessed were to give first-timers a run with minimum distractions and no chance of interference. In reality, though, I don’t think these drivers were about to let anything distract them.

Precision electronic timing gear automatically picks and announces the winners. Elapsed time is not important meaning only the time between the two racers need be measured. Of course, very high-resolution measurement is required as just fractions of a second separate the cars. Math is just one of the things Soapbox Derby racing teaches its participants.

It also teaches sportsmanship. At the start of a race, the drivers are encouraged to wish each other luck before the starter triggers the mechanism that simultaneously releases both cars. Then the drivers get to learn about gravity, friction, aerodynamics, and lots of other things including just how cool a steering wheel and a burst of speed feels.

The racing was mostly without incident and I saw no reason to photograph the few incidents that did occur. A couple of drivers were still learning the mysteries of steering and shortened their runs by angling into the curb and one driver verified the brakes were working by stopping about halfway down the hill. One car veered into the other lane and ended up slamming into the straw bale protecting the timing sensors. I later overheard comments that something in the steering may have broken. Whatever the cause, it was a traumatic experience with some extra learning that was harsh but injury free.

I’m seriously thinking about going to the big show in Akron this year although there are no firm plans in place. The Cincinnati qualifier would be a nice prelude to that but at the moment that looks to be something I’ll have to miss. If that’s the case, this driver’s practice will be my practice too. 

I Went Back for Bach

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I did better this year than last, and last year I did better than in any of the preceding 148. As explained in a blog post (My First May Fest), by the time I got serious about ending my string of May Festival misses last year, only one of the four major performances fit into my schedule and it was one that would not have otherwise been my first choice. This year I made my move much earlier. My schedule was not yet cluttered and good seats were available for all four performances at Music Hall. I picked the one I did because I like Bach but that’s hardly the date’s only attraction. It was the first of the four main events which made it sort of a May Festival opener. Plus, while Bach’s Magnificat was the big draw, the evening also featured the world premiere of two pieces commissioned for the festival’s 150th anniversary.

The festival program (The front cover of which is pictured up top.) is a real keeper. In addition to details on all of this year’s major performances, it contains plenty of background and history. That history includes the oft-told tale of how thunder, rain, and a leaky tin roof at the second May Festival in 1875 led to the construction of Music Hall in time for the slightly delayed third festival in 1878. Before the festival became an annual event in 1967, it was normally held every two years. A model of the entire Music Hall complex is displayed not far from where I stood to photograph the lobby. 

Bach’s Magnificat had its American premiere at that 1875 May Festival as the opener for Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. This year it was a headliner with the two commissioned works serving as openers. The full May Festival Chorus and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra were on stage for both new pieces. The Youth Chorus participated in the first piece and the Children’s Chorus participated in the second.

Breaths of Universal Longings was first and at its conclusion, Principle Conductor Juanjo Mena called its composer, James Lee III, on stage to be recognized. Similarly, James MacMillan came on following the performance of his composition, Timotheus, Bacchus and Cecilia. Mena then called Robert Porco, Director of Choruses, to come up. Porco seemed a little reluctant to step into the limelight but did eventually take a bow. 

An intermission preceded the Bach composition with fewer performers returning to the stage than had left it. Rather than the 130 or so vocalists of the full chorus, there were now about 50 plus five soloists. I can’t really quantify the orchestra’s reduction with the exception of one section. During the concert’s first half, there had been four percussionists on stage with one of them playing an array of five tympani plus a few other instruments. He was now the lone percussionist with just a pair of smaller tympani at hand.

As mentioned, in 1875 Bach had opened for Beethoven. Beethoven’s composition really impressed Cincinnatians but not so Bach’s. One newspaper described Magnificat as “possessing no dramatic character and incapable of conveying the magnitude of the labor that has been expended upon its inconsequential intricacies.” Maybe the current chorus simply did a better job than was done nearly a century and a half ago or maybe it’s just that my taste isn’t as cultivated as that 1875 critic. Whatever the reason, I enjoyed it all. Even the inconsequential stuff.

My post on last year’s May Festival visit included a description of dinner at  Scotti’s. This year I parked on the Central Parkway side of Music Hall which made Queen City Radio a most convenient spot for dinner. Scotti’s took its name from opera singer Antonio Scotti. Queen City Radio takes its name from former occupants of the building who installed radios in cars in the 1930s before every car came with an integrated multispeaker audio system. The Lübecker food truck currently calls this home and I treated myself to one of the day’s specials, käsespätzle.

Three Days of Peace and Music

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Although it was not an actual goal, I was entertained by live music each of the last three days. It was just like Woodstock except that I only saw one performer each day and didn’t have to sleep in the mud. The picture at right exemplifies the peacefulness that prevailed. It was taken at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden where my musical adventure began.

I’m not sure when the zoo held the first Tunes & Blooms event. The earliest online reference I found was from 2018. The current setup has the music starting at 6:00 with free admission starting at 5:00. There is not much animal activity at that time but there is some and a few buildings remain open. One of those is Manatee Springs which has three residents at present. In the photo, one of the three is seen chasing some of the nearly 300 pounds of lettuce the trio consumes each day.

I have thought of attending Tunes & Blooms in the past but Thursday was the first time I actually made it. The artist of the day was the Carriers. They delivered very good original rock material that I quite enjoyed.

I stopped by Fibonacci Brewing last month to see Vernon McIntyre’s Appalachian Grass but bad weather caused the show to be canceled. I got much closer on Friday. Appalachian Grass performed but without Vernon. He wasn’t feeling well but sent a very capable guitarist in his place. The group is scheduled to be at the brewery monthly and I will be back.

Between 1956 and 1968, Covington, Ohio, was home to Rogers Drum Company. I even picked up a kit there in 1964. For the last few years, fans of the drums have been gathering in Covington to buy, sell, and reminisce as they did on Saturday. Potential buyers would sometimes take kits for a “test drive” and multiple simultaneous drum solos in a high school gymnasium sound exactly like what you’re thinking. The second picture is of Anthony Amodeo’s presentation on some Rogers history. The third picture is of a display in the local museum.

Drum solos were not the only music I heard on Saturday. I ended the day at Devil Wind Brewing where I knew Nasty Bingo would be performing. I had heard of the group but had never actually heard them. They did not disappoint and made a great finale for my three (generally) peaceful days of music.