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Hill Coming Events
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Dear Reader,
Our first issue of the new year features a "Top
Ten" list. Let
us know what you think. If you'd like to look over all
that's happened over the past year, you can see our archive
of previous issues here.
As usual, if you've got news--send it here.
Gail Finke & Ken Lyon, Co-Editors
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| Editor's
"Top Ten" College Hill Stories of 2008
Editor Gail Finke thought it would be fun to do a "Top
Ten" article for College Hill in 2008 Here are
her thoughts. What do you think? Let
us know what we missed.
- Al Neyer Pulls out of
Linden Park Commons. After a year of not doing
much of anything to sell condos in the long-awaited
development at the corner of Hamilton and North Bend, Al
Neyer opted not to renew its contract to build, sell,
and lease the development. CHCURC continues to discuss
the project with potential developers.
- The City picks
College Hill as one of two Neighborhood Enhancement
Program (NEP) neighborhoods for 2009. Starting in
March, a massive city and civic association effort will
focus on cleaning up a section of our neighborhood,
helping to give all of College Hill a huge boost.
- Angerts Closes.
The sudden closing of Angerts Appliances last month
shocked loyal customers around the city. The Angerts
family sold the business in 2001 -- the current owners
made no public statement.
- Shhhh! to open. For
months, mysterious work has been going on at the
building once owned by former football player Dixon
Edwards and now owned by a group of College Hill
investors. In November, the Enquirer announced that a
new fine dining restaurant and coffee house would open
there before the new year. The work continues: Current
word is to expect a February grand opening. Entrepreneur
Spencer McKinney, who grew up in College Hill, will
feature Creole-Cajun food and live music.
- Fire destroys half of
a Hamilton Avenue block. Last summer a nighttime
fire destroyed a building on the northeast corner of
Hamilton & Marlowe that was occupied by a barber
shop and an insurance agency. The boarded-up building
has since been condemned and its future is uncertain.
- Massive Business
District facade improvement. Thanks to a grant
from the city arranged by CHCURC, more than 20 Hamilton
Avenue building facades have received significant
cosmetic and capital improvements. The results are
inspiring many other property owners to spruce up their
buildings.
- WIN completes its
first house. The first of several new,
energy-efficient homes to be built by Working in
Neighborhoods (WIN) in the Cedar Avenue area is now for
sale to a low-income buyer. A grant will help the new
owners buy the home for a price comparable to existing
homes in the area, and the combine sale price will
increase property values. A second home will be finished
soon. A rehab and other new homes are in the works for
2009.
- The Encampment goes
up for sale. Rev. Charles Winburn put his church
campus on the market this year, after building it up
from the octagonal "Kingdome" to a collection
of buildings.
- Aiken High School
future settled. After numerous CPS curriculum
changes that at one time made the campus home to three
different high school programs, Aiken University High
School will close this year. Next fall the Aiken campus
will house one program: Aiken College and Career High
School.
- Children's Hospital
expansion opens. Since opening less than a decade
ago, Children's Hospital's College Hill Campus expanded
so much that it needed a multi-million dollar addition.
The new Adolescent Psychiatry quarters also added many
new jobs, and enables the staff to help many more
children from around the region.
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Coffee
Company Turns Three, Celebrates with Concerts
 The
College
Hill Coffee Company and Casual Gourmet invites the
community to two third anniversary concerts this weekend.
Friday: Tupelo Honey
returns with what people have described as an "Indigo
Girl type feel with a Dixie Chick twist." Come hear
this exciting, CEA award-winning band January 9 from 7:30 pm
to 9:30 pm.
Saturday: Tracey Walker
with special guest Eliah Gregg. Cincinnati favorite and
mutli-award-winning singer/songwriter/instrumenalist Tracey
Walker needs no introduction. Eliah Gregg is a poet,
songwriter, singer, instrumentalist and visual artist based
in Dayton. This is one not to be missed.
There's plenty of free parking behind the Coffee Company,
with easy access through the back door (right).
Since January 10, 2006, when Tina Stoeberl re-opened the
Coffee Co., it's been voted "Best Coffee Shop" in a
CityBeat Readers' Poll. Business has boomed and the
charming little shop at the busy corner of Hamilton Avenue
and North Bend Road has grown. It's become a community
gathering place, a popular live entertainment venue, a
full-service restaurant and a unique gift shop drawing new
customers and regulars from the tri-state area.
In honor of the third anniversary, each day of anniversary
week will feature a special "three"-related menu
special. Door prize drawings and other events will add to
the festivities. See here
for more information.
Congratulations to Tina and her dedicated staff!
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"Ravine
To Freedom" Program Repeats
If you missed last year's Underground Railroad hike, you'll
get another chance February 22.
Kathy Dahl at LaBoiteaux Woods tells us that College Hill
was considered to be the second most important community
along the Cincinnati Underground Railroad connection in the
1840s and 50s.
 "Participants
will hike along one of the ravines used by escaping
slaves," she says. "After the hike, they'll look
at historic documents and maps. New information has been
added to the program about the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law Act
and Black abolitionist families operating in the area."
The noon to 2:30 hike begins at the LaBoiteaux Woods Nature
Center. It covers 1.5 miles of rough hill terrain on and off
the nature trail. Come dressed for the weather.
Thanks to LaBoiteaux Woods
for the story and photo.
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Your
Chance to Talk About Cincinnati's Public Schools
 Interim
CPS Superintendent Mary
Ronan (right) and other CPS leaders will be at Aiken
High School next week for a "Community
Conversation."
Community members are invited to meet them, find out how the
district is improving student achievement, and to get
answers to questions about district policies and procedures.
The meeting will take place in the Aiken Media Center on
Tuesday the 13th at 6:00 pm and will conclude at 7:30
pm. Please use the Aiken University entrance.
This is College Hill's chance to meet the CPS management
team and show them our community spirit and interest in
public education.
Story contributed by Karen
Barrett.
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Remember
the Back Door?
Longtime College Hill residents may remember the Back Door,
a sort of Christian coffee house located at the College Hill
Presbyterian Church in the 1970s and 80s. The Rev. Terry
Fisher has written a blog about his days another para-church
ministry with a CHPC connection--the Jesus House located in
Mt. Healthy during the same time period.
In a recent
series of posts he reminisces about the Jesus House's
connection with the Back Door. He writes:
The Jesus House had a connection to College Hill
Presbyterian Church off and on throughout our 14 years. In
those days CHPC had a coffee house called the Back Door.
There were differences between the Jesus House and the
Back Door. They had tables & chairs, we had pillows;
their walls were painted black, ours were white; their
musicians were playing background music while people
talked and ours was a concert setting where we did not
want people to talk. We thought we were better. They
thought they were better. We were both good.
When we contacted Mr. Fisher about his blog, he told us,
"For three of the years that I was on staff at CHPC my
wife and I lived on Wionna Avenue. We not only loved
the church but loved living in College Hill. Those
were the days when Schuller's and Krogers were still there
and the Hollywood Theater was still in operation. We
loved walking up and down the Avenue to restaurants and
shops."
The Rev. Fisher says that a Jesus House reunion is scheduled
for May 2 at Highview
Christian Church. For information, or to send him photos
or information for his blog, send him an email.
And if you have any memories about the Back Door you'd like
to share, send
them to us.
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 New
Year's Crash Leaves a Mess
A crash early New Year's Day left a mess on Hamilton
Avenue--in an area that was a mess to begin with.
Community leaders theorize that someone came up Ambrose and
knocked down a streetlight, then went up Hamilton and took
out two trees, a streetlight, a plant container, and a few
other things in front of Evan Ramsey Florals, and then ended
up at the building that burned down last summer. The Evan
Ramsey building was not harmed, but the overhang on the
burned building (which was condemned last year) was damaged.
Police are not releasing details.
Buy some flowers from Evan Ramsey and tell her you're glad
the shop is okay!
Gail Finke took the photo January first, after the trees and
much of the other wreckage had been removed. We can
only imagine what the car looked like. |
Community
Martin Luther King Day Celebration Set
 This
year's Community Martin Luther King Day Celebration, an
annual march and service sponsored by the College Hill
Ministerium, will take place just up the road in North
College Hill on Sunday, January 18. Hilltop is a part of our
Ministerium because of its historical connection to the
former Marlowe Avenue Methodist Church.
Gather at 4:30 pm in front of the North College Hill Police
Station (1704 Galbraith Road) for a march to Hilltop United
Methodist Church (1930 West Galbraith Rd), or be at the
church at 5:10 pm for the Community Service.
This year's speakers are Marion Spencer and Ron Whitt, in
addition to College Hill and North College Hill pastors.
Past services have included great music from area churches
and choirs as well as dynamic speaches and preaching.
Remember one of America's greatest heroes with your
neighbors at this annual, ecumenical community service.
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College
Hill Christian Church Celebrates Centennial This Year
 The
College
Hill Christian Church on Marlowe Ave. celebrates its
100th anniversary this year.
According to member Glenn Casteel, the founders were College
Hill members of the Fergus Street Christian Church in
Northside. The church was born when the Rev. A .M. Harvuot
from the Ohio Missionary Society called a meeting at College
Hill Town Hall in the summer of 1909.
Justin Green, pastor of the Evanston Christian Church, was
the first pastor. The church met in houses and storefronts
for the first year.
We'll tell you more about the CHCC over the coming year--and
about St. Clare Church, which also celebrates its centennial
in 2009 (see below).
Thanks to Glenn Casteel
for the story and photo.
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St.
Clare Church Unveils History Exhibit
 One
hundred years of history are on display in the undercroft of
St. Clare Church on Cedar Avenue.
Members Bill Neus and Ken Straub spent months creating the
display with photos, documents, and memorabilia from the
church's archives. Carpenter Roger Bernhardt, also a member
and College Hill resident, built custom shelves.
The exhibit was unveiled last weekend after Sunday masses,
and was a favorite at the annual Epiphany Dinner. The first
official event for the church's centennial year, it will be
followed by a special mass, two concerts, and other events
that we'll tell you about over the coming year. This spring,
look for new landscaping created for the centennial.
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College
Hill's Most-Quoted Resident Quoted Again
 The
Cincinnati Enquirer interviewed Tina Stoeberl this
week--again. College Hill's most-quoted resident (at
least lately--Tom Luken isn't about to lose his all-time
record yet) was profiled again in
an Enquirer article
because cartoonist Julie Larsen is about to feature the
College Hill Coffee Co. in her strip "The Dinette
Set."
The strip, which will appear in Monday's Enquirer,
has featured CHCC twice before.
"This place, the College Hill Coffee Co., has the best
hostess in the world," Larsen told the Enquirer. Tina
told the reporter that it's her customers, not herself, that
make the place a success.
Comments on the Enquirer
article are effusive.
"This is hands down the BEST coffeehouse in the
city," one person from Madiera writes. "Everyone
should do themselves and their friends a favor and go there
and see what a great place it is."
Another fan writes, "Easily one of my favorite places.
Their coffee is all I drink at home. I wish they were open
on Mondays and later into the evening during the week."
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The eNewsletter is published every week or so by
the volunteers listed below. Our purpose is to help make
College Hill an even better place to live, play and do
business by publishing a broad spectrum of news for and
about College Hill, with an emphasis on stories of College
Hill people working together to improve our community.
The eNewsletter
is independently prepared and published by neighborhood
volunteers. It is not affiliated with the College
Hill Forum Community Council.
Opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of
any College Hill or other organization--or even of the
editor. The inclusion of an article is not necessarily an
endorsement. The fact that something isn't in the eNewsletter
is not necessarily a lack of endorsement--it's most likely
because no one told us about it.
eNewsletter photos are often edited to remove
extraneous material.
Send us news that you think would be interesting to
your College Hill neighbors--and we'll very likely publish
it. Email to eNewsletter@CollegeHillOH.net.
- Co-editors: Ken Lyon and Gail Finke
- Contributing Editor: Sarah Mann Wolf
- Backup Editor: Tom Strothers
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