Category Archives: Event

Trades, Taverns, and Tippling

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I have been visiting Vevay, Indiana, on a fairly regular basis since just before the turn of the century but Saturday was my first time at Musée de Venoge on the town’s west edge. The two-story early nineteenth-century house on the property was restored and opened to the public in 2011. Major living history events are held three times a year. One celebrates the 4th of July and another celebrates Christmas. The third celebrates the fall harvest in October. This year that event carried the title Trades, Taverns, and Tippling.

Trades displayed on the grounds included rope making and pewter casting. Today Kyle Willyard was casting spoons.

A blacksmith (Michael Shult) was working on an oven rake to help with the cooking while a carpenter (Tom Garrett) worked on what he called a school box.

The gunsmith (Michael McHugh) demonstrated a fire starter of the day. It uses the same mechanism as a flintlock rifle with tinder and a candle instead of a barrel and bullet. Several beautiful rifles he had made were on a table beside him.

Cooking, decorative painting, and weaving were also being demonstrated.

The restored house was turned into the Eagle Tavern for the day and that’s where the tippling occurred. Kentuckians Brian Cushing and Amy Liebert served as tavern keepers.

There was also music in the tavern and a lawyer hoped for new clients as he worked on a local murder case. It was the gentleman seated in the corner who suggested I try the Orange Shrub which I found delicious. He was, I presume, demonstrating tippling.

The weather was perfect with temperatures low enough to fit the season but not so low as to be uncomfortable. And the mix of bright blue sky and clouds made the day look exactly like it felt.

Walking With Amal to Cincy

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Little Amal had already covered a lot of ground and water before she reached the midpoint of the John A. Roebling Bridge on Friday afternoon. The twelve-foot-tall puppet representing a ten-year-old Syrian refugee began her trek in Turkey in July 2021. Much of her travels have been in Europe where she walked in Germany, Italy, France, Ukraine, Poland, and many other countries. She has also walked in Canada and this is not her first time in the U.S. She was in New York City for seventeen days in 2022.

This time though, she will be walking across the entire country. The picture at left is a capture from a live feed of her first night in Boston where a pre-recorded message and lullaby from Yo-Yo Ma offered some comfort. That was on September 7. Cincinnati is just one of the forty cities she will stop in as she travels some 6,000 miles through the country before wrapping up the visit in San Diego on November 5. Check out her plans here.

Friday’s walk started on the south side of the Ohio River in Covington, Kentucky. A bit of rustling in the crowd gathered at the entrance to the Roebling Bridge alerted me to Amal’s arrival, and I caught my first glimpse of her just a few minutes past 3:00. The Ciara Harper Trio and Revolution Dance Theatre began a wonderful performance of Wade in the Water (great harmonies!) as Amal worked her way forward. By the time the song ended, she had joined the singers.

The two puppeteers handling Amal’s arms can be seen in this picture of her starting across the bridge. Some zooming, tweaking, and general mucking about allows the person responsible for Amal’s walking to be seen vaguely here. Most puppeteers are not athletes by any stretch of the imagination but this one is. For sure. Indubitably.

As she made her way over the bridge, Amal frequently paused to interact with the people greeting her. Near the Ohio side of the river, she pets one of Cincinnati’s flying — or maybe just dancing — pigs.

Keeping her pathway clear was at least partially successful and Amal does make it over the river. She takes another whiff of the giant flowers that have followed her from Kentucky as she exits the bridge and heads toward her designated spot.

Reaching that spot, where the mayors of both Covington and Cincinnati awaited, took a while and when she got there all I could see was her head above the crowd. I couldn’t actually hear everything either but I did hear most of what Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval had to say. This was not his first time meeting Amal. They had met last October when Pureval was in Amsterdam for a Mayor’s Conference and Amal was doing a walk in the city that included Anne Frank’s house.

Pureval has some very personal reasons for caring about the world’s refugees that Amal is walking on behalf of. He was born in Ohio but his parents were immigrants. His father was born in India. His mother was born in Tibet. Her parents had been forced to flee Tibet with her and she grew up in India — as a refugee.

Donate to the Amal Fund here.

A Big WACO Birthday

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It was one hundred years ago that the Weaver Aircraft Company moved to Troy, Ohio, and became Advance Aircraft Company. The company’s origins were in 1919 and some name changes had already occurred. One more was yet to come. The planes the company built were always known by the Weaver-based acronym WACO and in 1929 the company formally became the Waco Aircraft Company. The company no longer exists but its memory is kept alive at the WACO Museum and Airfield

I have attended the annual WACO Fly-In a few times including last year. My first visit was in 2006 and I also documented a visit in 2014. This year’s event was much bigger than any of those. The normally ample parking near the museum was filled long before we got there. We parked in an area on the other side of the airfield and rode a shuttle back.

Organizers had hoped to attract 100 WACOs for this 100th anniversary. I’m pretty sure that didn’t happen but there were certainly a lot more there than the twenty or less I’ve seen in the past. I estimated there were 50 to 60 WACOs on the ground. Unlike in previous years, the main airplane parking area was reserved exclusively for WACOs with all other planes relegated to the far side of the airstrip.

In a conversation with another attendee, I learned that this plane was one that I used to watch from the banks of the Little Miami River as it flew over Kings Island in a daily air show. This was in the 1970s when the name WACO would not have meant much to me.

WACOs are beautiful machines whether they are on the ground…

…or in the air…
 
 
 
 
…or somewhere in between.
 
 
 
Heck. Even the naked engines can be kind of pretty.

To close, here’s a look at a WACO from every angle: WACO Pirouette

Ohio River Sternwheel Festival

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For the forty-seventh time, a bunch of sternwheelers gathered to party in Marietta, Ohio, and, for the first time, I was there. Motel and hotel rooms in Marietta are pretty much filled by Ohio River Sternwheel Festival attendees but I found a very reasonably priced room less than twenty miles away in Mineral Wells, West Virginia. Even after a very leisurely drive on US-50, I arrived in plenty of time to head to Marietta for the festival’s opening ceremonies.

There were some short speeches and some long and sincere thank yous, the national anthem with a giant flag overhead, and a flyover by a Navy jet. Things officially went live with the lighting of the festival torch.

A full evening of entertainment followed with a Tina Turner tribute to finish out the day. Despite knowing that “big wheel keep on turning” would sound extra special tonight, I headed to my motel to rest up for a full day on Saturday. I did stay long enough to hear several tunes from Steve and Beverly Pottmeyer and a friend. Steve performed at the very first Sternwheel Festival in 1976 and has only missed performing at one since then.

I made it back Saturday in time to catch the first musical performers. The Marietta High School Wall of Sound wouldn’t fit on the stage so they formed their wall on the river bank. The Marietta High School Choir – Vocal Point did fit on the stage. The place where I parked yesterday was operated by the choir. The Bruce Hass Trio was up next with, as far as I know, no high schoolers.

Between checking out the musical acts, I walked the line of boats pulled up to the shore. I counted thirty although I could detect no wheels on the sterns of two of those I counted.

I had noticed a large sternwheeler passing by yesterday and again today. Thinking it might be offering cruises, I zoomed in on its name and turned to the web. Sure enough, the Valley Gem was offering one-hour cruises and there was one remaining before the sold-out fireworks cruise. I reserved a spot on that cruise then turned to Google Maps for directions. I knew the dock would be some distance up the Muskingum River but it was a little farther than I would have guessed. My estimated arrival time for the 2:45 cruise was 2:46.

Although I was one of the last to board, I made it. I could now see the wheels on all those sterns. Note the kayakers in that picture with the Lafayette Hotel in the background, and take a look at some of the onshore crowd in the third picture. The cruise also provided a pretty good look at the fireworks barge.

My return to the festival area was a lot more relaxed than my hurried walk to the Valley Gem had been. I tried out a couple of benches along the way then stopped at the Marietta Brewing Company for a brew and dinner. Even so, a couple of hours remained until fireworks time and the ever-increasing crowd reminded me of why I mostly avoid events such as this. I probably would have left if I had not been parked in.

So I stayed and enjoyed a very good, nearly half-hour long, fireworks display. This is a festival highlight that locals mention a lot and it’s easy to see why.

Getting through the ensuing traffic jam was every bit the nightmare I anticipated. I don’t think I learned a whole lot about fireworks-related traffic jams that I didn’t already know but I still feel I deserve a few continuing education credits.

Lunken Airport Days 2023

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As I imagine the case is everywhere, Labor Day weekend is pretty crowded with activities around here. I picked Lunken Airport Days to fill my Saturday primarily because I had never attended before. It was also the closest of the events I considered and was the only one that was free. Lunken (LUK) opened in the 1920s and was Cincinnati’s principal airport until Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) opened in 1947.

Airport Days is hosted by Cincinnati War Birds so basically features military aircraft. Several classic cars are on display and there are even a few civilian airplanes such as this 1940 WACO. The 100th anniversary of WACO Aircraft Company will be celebrated leter this month at the museum and field in Troy, Ohio.

Military planes included a 1942 BT-13A VULTEE, the next to last B-25 ever built, and a 1944 P-51D Mustang. Seated in the foreground of the Mustang phot is one of the local artists participating in an informal “Lunken Days Sketch Outing”.

But the biggest plane on campus — actually one of the biggest planes ever built — was the B-29 Superfortress named Doc. 1644 Superfortresses were built during World War II. Only two are flying today. This remarkable airplane has its own website here.

My attention focused entirely on Doc when I heard that first engine begin to turn. That initial bit of smoke was soon gone and soon all four engines were running smoothly. Doc earns his keep by taking paying passengers aloft Some of this flight’s passengers can be seen here and here as the plane taxies.

After taxieing to the far end of the field, Doc rumbles down the runway, lifts off, and disappears behind one of the airport buildings. Because of the surrounding trees and the plane’s low flight path, I don’t get a shot of the plane in flight until it returns and circles the field.

It is headed south, just as it was on takeoff, when it returns to the runway.

There was just enough time after the flight landed to prepare for the presentation of the flag and singing of the national anthem at noon. I was not able to photograph the color guard as they marched toward the plane but I caught them on the way back.

Although we could see everything the guide pointed out, there wasn’t much room in the cockpit for taking pictures. The tunnel to the rear of the airplane went unused as entry and exit were via vertical ladders.

I could now get closeups of the nose art and bombardier’s position. With plexiglass domes in place of gun ports, I could look right through the plane to the historic terminal.

Airport Days is a two day affair so, if you are seeing this shortly after publication, you can easily catch the second half. The weather looks to be just as delightful today as it was yesterday.

Two Oldies Again

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Last week’s post covered my second-ever visit to the Dayton Porchfest. My first visit was covered as the “something new” in the 2018 Two Oldies and Something New triple feature. Although the order was shuffled this year, those three events again occurred within a week of each other, and I again attended all three. So this post will complete the coverage by reporting on the two oldies of 2018. First up is the Great Darke County Fair where I found some of the critters a little eggcentric. “That’s a joke, I say, that’s a joke, son.”

Before I saw any of the critters or any of the other agricultural exhibits, I strolled down the midway past rides and games that were almost — but not quite — the same as those I strolled past as a teenager many years ago.

In the lower floor of the coliseum, almost all of the flowers that had peaked for the judging were gone along with most of the baked goods. Thankfully, quite a few fruits and vegetables remained to supply some color.

I was encouraged by the realization that I was still capable of recognizing dairy cows and also comforted by the fact that they were prominently labeled in case I falter at some point in the future.

I peeked in on the only judging that I saw going on while I was there. Junior events such as this are really the only fair competitions that I enjoy anymore. I guess it’s because I don’t need to know a single kid or critter to appreciate the accomplishments.

The day’s big event was the tractor pull. I had seen signs promoting it as I entered the grounds and glimpsed some of the competing machines when I passed the race track. My memories go back to when horses and tractors both competed in — separate — pulling events at the fair. I hesitated only a moment at the tail end of the ticket line before heading to my car and starting the long drive home.

The second oldie was the Tri-State Gas Engine and Tractor Show where my Wheel Horse collecting buddy, Terry, is a regular exhibitor. When hooked to a tractor, that trailer in the foreground of the picture becomes my chariot as Terry chauffeurs me around the grounds looking for items of interest.

There is no shortage of strange contraptions at the show. Many of them we have seen before or at least know what they are but not all. This was a mystery that intrigued us enough to pause and make some guesses but not enough to actually dismount and examine it. I commented that it resembled a small corn sheller although there were clear differences. I snapped a picture and the mystery was instantly solved once I saw it enlarged. New Era Rope Machine is cast into its surface and there is a video of it being used here.

There was no mystery in the purpose of either of these contraptions but there were some details that were far from obvious. Terry had previously seen the display and met the owner, and made me aware of just how odd this little engine was. The story of the variable displacement diesel that burned a variety of fuels including paraffin is here. A description of its operation is here. The Shaw product was another kit engine designed to be mounted on a bicycle. This example is mounted on a Gendron Iron Wheel Company bicycle. Shaw eventually switched to Briggs & Stratton engines but remained in business selling mowers and small tractors until 1962. Although it has gone through many changes, Gendron Inc. still exists as a manufacturer of mobile patient management systems.

Dale, another school days buddy of mine lives nearby and the show is a convenient meeting spot for the three of us. Along with Dale’s wife, we spent a fair amount of time this year solving the world’s problems and ignoring our own. At the end of the day, as soon as I started walking to my car, I realized with regret that I should have asked someone to snap a picture of our little group. I’ll try not to forget next time.

Dayton Porchfest 2023

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I attended my first Porchfest in 2018. It was Dayton’s second. Despite good intentions, I did not make it back in 2019 and there understandably wasn’t one in 2020. Dayton did hold Porchfests in 2021 and 2022 but they did it without me. I guess I sort of forgot about them until I saw an ad of some sort a few weeks ago. Ithaca, NY, had the first Porchfest in 2007. The Dayton Porchfest was number 94. There are now more than 150 taking place each year.

That opening picture of Baker & Collins, of the band Berachah Valley, probably looks exactly like what you expect a porch fest to look like but that is not the way this one started. At 12:15, after a few announcements,  Phil’s Big Azz Brass Band kicked off the music in a parking lot. No porch could hold them.

Starting at 1:00, and continuing for the next six hours, eight to ten concerts began on porches — or something similar — throughout the Saint Anne’s Hill section of Dayton every hour on the hour. After listening to a few tunes from Baker & Collins, I moved on to catch a few from Jimmy D. Rogers then around the corner to catch a few more from Dennis Geehan and the Storied Blues Project.

This is crabswithoutlegs who, in addition to having a name that triggers a plethora of questions, were probably the highlight of my day. They are on a back porch in a fenced yard completely filled with people with more listening outside the fence. Fortunately, there was a small but steady stream of folks moving to other porches so I was able to slip inside the fence for a bit. This extremely tight jazz fusion group was made extra impressive by the apparent young age of every member.

They and I performed on a very real porch although it faced a side yard rather than the street. I had paused for a beverage at the Fifth Street Brewpub as the 1:00 concerts came to an end then spent a little extra time taking in crabswithoutlegs. As a result, I only managed to hear pieces of two of the 2:00 concerts.

Sharon Lane was the first of the 3:00 performers I saw. I’ve included a shot of the building where she performed to show that she really was on a porch. The porch that Novena performed on was much more open and stage-like.

Other 3:00 concerts I saw included Austin Wolfel, Tim Gebard & the Hit Men, and Dave Zup who performed in the street while his accompaniment was on a porch.

There is no such thing as too much music but there was more music than I could take in. It wasn’t really practical to attend all of the eight or more concerts occurring simultaneously plus I did not make it to the end of the festival. In 2018, it was rain that caused me to leave early. In 2023, it was my legs. Four hours (minus one beer) of walking wore me out. I know I missed a lot. Porchfest is a great concept and Dayton, via Saint Anne’s Hill, does it right.

 

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.