Tour Packets are available now for the Gardens of College Hill--a self-guided tour of eight selected gardens presented by the College Hill Gardeners. The tour is set for Saturday, June 24, from 11:00am to 4:00pm. The $8 Tour Packet includes a pass for entry to each tour site and a map with garden descriptions and plant specimen lists.

Folks may begin the tour at any site 1 through 7, proceed in any order and end at 8 where light refreshments will be served. Each of the eight tour sites has a container garden entered into the Container Contest, to be judged by tour-goers at site number 8. Plants and other garden-related items will be offered for sale during the tour. Allow three hours to view the gardens and participate in the activities.

The tour is the College Hill Gardener's major fundraiser of the year. Proceeds will assist the Gardeners in their 2006 projects--from the Pumpkin Patch Fall Festival to streetscape maintenance.

For a Tour Packet, contact the Gardeners (513-588-6465, collegehillgardeners@cinci.rr.com) or find them at many businesses along the Avenue: The College Hill Coffee Co., Schwartz Jewelry, Visconti-Lechler Pharmacy, National City Bank, Piazza-Discepoli Wine Merchants, PNC Bank and Hartman & Erhmantraut CPA, or get one the day of the Tour at any garden site on a first-come basis.

The Third Annual College Hill Rhythm Race is coming Friday, August 18. This 5K run/walk draws elite runners, recreational runners and walkers from the tri-state area. It will start and end at Pleasant Hill Academy and will wind through the historic tree-lined streets of College Hill.

Sponsored by the College Hill Forum, the 2005 Rhythm Race was last year's biggest event. It raised more than $14,000 that was turned over to the College Hill Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation for community development.

Participating in the Rhythm Race is a great way to spend a beautiful Friday evening with family or friends. Whether or not you run or walk in the race itself, there is a great Celebration Party at Pleasant Hill Academy and there are plenty of ways to help as well.

The race itself is for everyone from elite runners to serious strollers. There are cash prizes for the top men and women finishers in the run race, plus medals for the top finishers in all age categories. If you pre-register, it's $20 for a race entry, an official T-shirt and admission to the big post-race Celebration Party. For more information and to register, click here, or find registration forms at many of our College Hill businesses or at all Fleet Feet running stores, or pay $25 to register on race day with no guarantee there will be a T-shirt available in your size. Race day registration starts at 6:00pm, the race starts at 7:00pm.

For children ages 2 through 12, there is a free Run Spot Run Reading and Running Fun fun run before the race with prizes for all participants. Registration for the fun run starts at 6:00pm; the fun run begins at 6:30pm.

For the whole community, there is a post-race celebration party with live music by Soul Progression and lots of food and activities for children. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for children 6 through 17, free to ages 5 and under.

Not born to run? That’s OK, be a winner anyway by becoming a volunteer. You will receive large amounts of appreciation--plus an official Rhythm Race Volunteer T-shirt. Let Volunteer Coordinators Susan Osborn (sosborn@grgsc.org, 513-541-7009) or Beth McLean (bmclean@cinci.rr. com, 513-681-8808) know you’re interested.

Earlier this week, we got a call from Tina at the Coffee Company saying that orange fencing and yellow barrier tape were going up across the street at Shuller's. When asked, workmen said that they were clearing out the insides of the former restaurant and that they figured they'd start demolition in a couple of weeks.

Your editor peered inside at the remains of the front desk. He looked past the desk to the bar and the dining rooms. They were all much diminished, but still recognizable, triggering a flurry of images. In his mind's eye, he saw a much younger version of himself being greeted at that desk and then taking his new wife in to dine in style on the very special occasion of his first raise at the local soap company--in 1964.

Lots has changed in the intervening years, and there's lots more change to look forward to, not the least of which is the brand new Linden Park multi-use development soon to spring out of the ground on that very site.

College Hill's own LaBoiteaux Woods Park is offering two Nature Art Camps for young people ages 7 to 14. Both groups will explore Latin American art styles while portraying and learning about local nature. Campers will sample a variety of techniques and media including print making, pottery, plaster sculpture and paper collage.

Mary Jo Corrado has led these popular camps and after school classes for over thirty years.

There are two camps:

• Older Nature Art for ages 11 - 14 (completed 5th grade) is June 26 through 30, 9:30am to 3:00pm.
• Younger Nature Art for ages 7 - 10 (completed 1st grade) is July 17 through 21, 9:30am to 2:30pm.

Art materials are included and fees are kept low thanks to the generosity of a donor. Fees are $50 in city, $60 out of Cincinnati for the entire week. Pre-registration is required.

For more information and a registration form, click here or call LaBoiteaux Woods at 513-542-2909.

"Friendly service and a good dinner for under $20? Makes me glad to live within walking distance." So says Jen Hengehold in a "2 for $20" review of the College Hill Coffee Company in a CiN Weekly article.

McAuley High School recently sponsored the first Guardian Angel Golf Classic at Clovernook Country Club to provide tuition assistance to McAuley students whose emergency circumstances might otherwise force them to leave the school. On May 15, 83 golfers, nine corporate sponsors, 24 hole sponsors and 10 score board sponsors raised over $8000 and had a fabulous time doing it. Mr. Scott Smith, winner of the world’s longest drive competition, was there to give demonstrations on the 13th hole.

Pictured are the Nurre-Mihovk Rosenacker Funeral Home foursome: Bob & Karen (Rosenacker ’68) Mihovk and Cindy (Kasselmann ’77) & Rick Zoller.

Do you think College Hill has changed a lot lately? Or is about to change a lot? You're probably right, and some pictures from College Hill's early life indicate that that's the way it's been in this community since the beginning.

This picture of "Twin Towers" when it was an "only child" is only one illustration.

To see some pictures of College Hill from a more distant past than most of us can remember, click here.

These images are from the Greater Cincinnati Memory Project. If you know of online information or pictures about historical College Hill, please email the editor.

Enjoy songs, stories, jokes and anecdotes from College Hill’s own “Traveling Musical Storyteller.”

Dave Hawkins returns to the College Hill Coffee Company from a tour in upstate New York and has lots of stories, songs and anecdotes to share. The entertainments starts at 7:30pm on June 3 at 7:30.

Three lifelong friends were featured in last week's Hilltop Press--and the TLC cable channel. College Hill residents Joanne Hutchins and Amy Vonderhaar nominated their friend Tracey Carraher's Finneytown basement for "Home Made Simple," a decorating program. The remodeled room will be featured on the June 4 edition of the program.

How do you get a date for the prom? If you're LaSalle High School junior Jordan Rolfes, you get a makeover from MTV. Rolfes, who was featured in the May 20 edition of MTV's "MADE" program, not only got a date -- he was also elected "prom prince."