Kelly Rippin returns to Cincinnati’s morning TV lineup on WLWT

Video by Shae Combs

TV Anchor Kelly Rippin returned to Cincinnati airwaves this month joining WLWT News 5 as a morning anchor replacing Lisa Cooney, who recently retired.

You may remember Rippin from her time at FOX 19 in the mornings. Before returning to Cincinnati, she served stints on the air in Nashville and Orlando.

Cincinnati People Publisher Jackie Reau invited Rippin to sit on the “hot seat” for 10 Questions with Kelly Rippin.

You can watch Kelly Rippin on the air Monday through Friday from 4:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. on WLWT News 5.

Cincinnati’s Summer of Soccer Starts Now

Now that Cincinnati has been christened “Soccer City USA” by the U.S. Open Cup and others, this late spring-early summer season gives soccer fans in our area plenty of ways to celebrate the sport.

Let’s start with the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the return of World Cup Village presented by Fox19, the official watch party in Cincinnati to see Team USA take home the title. Last year nearly 10,000 visitors came to The Banks to watch men’s World Cup action, and crowds are expected to be larger this year with the U.S. Women’s National Team heavy favorites to win it all.

The party starts on Tuesday, June 11 at 2 p.m. when Team USA faces Thailand in the opening match. Freedom Way will be closed each time the US plays, and the match will be shown on the big screen at Great American Ball Park. In addition to providing the video wall on the side of the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum, the Reds will also hand out a limited number of special edition Reds soccer t-shirts at the street parties with the purchase of a ticket voucher package. 

Skyline Chili will furnish the victory celebration in the form of free coneys for 150 lucky fans each time the United States wraps up a victory. Graeter’s will serve its world-famous small batch ice cream from their scoop truck which will be parked right on Freedom Way for each event. The official beer of World Cup Village, Rhinegeist, will be offering a curated selection of brews at every party. 

The family-friendly events will feature free kids’ soccer exhibitions led by Kings Hammer on one of the giant inflatable soccer fields provided by Cincinnati Sports Leagues, which will be situated in the street between the SkyWheel and the Underground Railroad Freedom Center. 

Other confirmed World Cup Village dates are Sunday, June 16 as the U.S. faces Chile, and Thursday, June 20 when it’s USA vs Sweden. Future match dates will be determined after group play.

Cincinnati has a rooting interest in Team USA with Rose Lavelle, a Mount Notre Dame graduate, making her World Cup debut this month. A commissioned mural of Lavelle is now up at The Banks, by Taste of Belgium. Lavelle already has been tabbed as a breakout star for Team USA by firstpost.com while Yahoo Sports says that “no one on the USWNT roster can provide the same sort of central playmaking that Lavelle can, and she figures to play a big role in France.” Keep an eye on number 16 for Team USA.

Still looking for your soccer fix? Head to the Ensemble Theatre and “The Wolves,” a play following the lives of nine teenage girls who are members of an indoor soccer team and how they grow through wins and losses, personal angst and outside pressures.  “The Wolves,” a Pulitzer Prize finalist and winner of the American Playwriting Foundation’s Relentless Award and Obie Ensemble Award, runs at the Ensemble through June 29th.

For more information and tickets for “The Wolves,” go to https://www.ensemblecincinnati.org/shows/the-wolves?dm_i=44JV,6B7P,14M11A,NTGR,1.

Flying Pig Says “Thanks” to Denise Hovey

By Betsy Ross, Contributing Writer

When Denise Hovey first joined the Flying Pig Marathon, it was a new event in need of volunteers. Now, 21 years and hundreds of thousands of participants later, Denise will retire after the 2019 event having held a number of positions with the Pig, including serving as the founder and coordinator of the event’s environmental program.

“I saw an article in the paper that there was going to be a marathon,” Denise said. “I thought it sounded like an exciting event and I wanted to be part of it. 

“I contacted Michael Boylan (the executive director) about volunteering and he asked me to be the registrar. At that time, I was an instructor assistant at Sands Montessori School, not far from the Flying Pig office. After school was out, I would go to the Pig office and work a couple of hours on registration.”

Shortly after, Denise became an official member of the Flying Pig staff. “When I joined the staff side, we were a staff of three. I was office manager, bookkeeper, registrar, and in charge of the health and fitness expo,” she said. “I was excited to move my volunteer office from the closet to a room with a window!

“At that time, there was no online registration, so I personally touched and entered all 6,000+ entry forms. Many times, letters or notes were included with the registrations, and I felt I knew many of the participants. Some were surprised when they came to packet pickup and I recognized their names and stories.”

A little more than 10 years ago, Denise saw the need for the Flying Pig to take a more active role in being more environmentally responsive, especially as the event grew. “When my son was in the sixth grade, he had a homework assignment to take a bag of trash from home and divide it into items that could be recycled, composted or trashed. When we saw how much we could divert from the landfill, we started composting and recycling at home.

“It wasn’t until I had been involved with the Flying Pig for 10 years, when I was in the finish area of the race and saw how many water bottles were being trashed, that we decided to start recycling at the event.”

The first year that the Pig launched its “Greening of the Pig” initiative, in 2009, the event recycled close to a ton of water bottles. Two years later the Flying Pig was certified as a Green Event by the Council for Responsible Sport and had almost doubled its recycling.

“Our Greening of the Pig continues to find more resources to divert waste from the landfill,” said Denise. “In 2018, 37% of our recycling was through outlets other than our local recycler, Rumpke. Now there are more options for composters, helping us keep close to one ton from the landfill.”

Denise has worn many hats in her 21 years with the Pig, but she says the “green” hat she wears now is probably her most rewarding. “It’s a physically demanding job, but having the participants thank you for recycling and seeing how much is diverted from the landfill makes it worthwhile. I like the challenge of finding ways to recycle or reuse difficult to recycle items.

“Also, being invited to be an Inspire Gold Level marathon, being recognized for Excellence in Public Recycling and being awarded the Green Business Award for Green Practices are icing on the cake.”

And while Denise may be retiring from the Flying Pig, that doesn’t mean she and her husband, Marty (a Flying Pig Streaker), will be leaving the Pig entirely. “The next three years will be busy with traveling to places like Alaska and Hawaii so Marty can complete the seven marathons he needs to run a marathon in all 50 states. And in between the volunteering and running, we will travel to the East Coast to visit children and grandchildren.

“After more than 20 years, it’s hard to walk away, so you might still see me behind the scenes as a volunteer!”

Coke & Conversation with Dudley Taft

Dudley Taft is a world-renowned blues rocker from Cincinnati. He sits down with Betsy Ross to talk about his love from music and his upcoming show in this latest edition of “Coke and Conversation.”

See Dudley Taft in concert with Johnny Fink on February 23 at 7 p.m. at the 20th Century Theater. Learn more here.

A Coke & Conversation with Harvey Lewis

Harvey Lewis is a Flying Pig Streaker, an ultra-running champion and spent his summer traversing the Appalachian Trail in one of the top 10 Fastest Known Times. Betsy Ross sits down with Harvey in this latest edition of "Coke and Conversation."

A Coke & Conversation with Santa

Santa is one of the most popular people this time of year. He found time in his busy schedule to sit down with our Betsy Ross for “A Coke & Conversation.”

Santa talks about his joy of talking to children and how Coca-Cola helped shaped his current image.

If you have an idea for a Coke & Conversation, drop us a note.

How George Zappas plans to continue the legacy of Orchids

By Betsy Ross

Video by Shae Combs

George Zappas had an idea of what he wanted to grow up to be, way back in grade school in his native Pittsburgh. That’s when the local paper wrote an article on him and when the reporter asked what he wanted to do, he said “I want to cook.”

Today, he cooks for hundreds of people at a time as the new executive chef of Orchids at the Hilton Netherland Plaza downtown.

But he’s not just in charge of the kitchens (there are three kitchens plus a kosher kitchen)—Chef Zappas is in charge of the legacy of excellence that permeates this hotel like the smell of fresh baked brie. Open in 1931, this Art Deco property is the place where guests go to celebrate—whether it’s a wedding, an anniversary or a birthday. There is an emotional connection for visitors, just as there is for Chef Zappas himself.

He basically grew up in this building, first as a kitchen supervisor, then through the ranks as sous chef, director of purchasing, and now, as the executive chef overseeing everything food related, from banquets for 300 in the Hall of Mirrors to dinner for two at Orchids. His run of 10+ years in one kitchen might be unique for the business, but, Zappas says, not unusual for the Netherland Plaza.

“This hotel has a high level of retention with employees,” he said, referencing a private dinner this week for 75 that will celebrate hotel employees who have been there 20+ years. “What usually happens is you find people who fit this hotel and they find everything they need here. We have a separate butcher shop, a hot food banquet department, pastry shop, we have all those things that you can find your right fit. There’s a lot of opportunity for growth here and the culture is correct, so if you’re the person who wants to be here, you can be here for a long time.”

Even though he knew he wanted to cook as a sixth grader, Zappas didn’t necessarily design the path that led him to the Netherland Plaza. Like so many college students, he cooked his way through school (Ohio University) to pay the bills. “I left there and said, ‘I’m never working in a kitchen again.’ But you have to take from every experience what you can learn, and in that kitchen, I learned how to do volume. I learned how to execute 300-400 covers on a Friday and Saturday night. It’s learning how to organize your brain, organize your thoughts and to be able to execute any type of cuisine.”

When he moved to Cincinnati with his then-fiancé, he used those kitchen skills to turn it into a profession.

“It was in my blood and as much as I wanted to fight it sometimes, because in this industry also comes the holidays, the late nights, the weekends, all that fun stuff. But I’m very blessed. I have a wonderful wife, a wonderful family and she’s very supportive of everything I do.

“We talked about this decision to become the executive chef well before it was done, and what it meant to take over the kitchen, what it meant to grow this kitchen and grow these departments back to where we want them to be. I’ve got a great team in there, I’ve got great sous chefs who came on board, great executive sous chefs, and these people are now my family and they’re pushing forward with me.”

It’s a proud culinary tradition that Zappas takes over, with Orchids perennially winning five diamond awards from AAA and four stars from Mobil under the direction of former Executive Chef Todd Kelly, who left a little more than a year ago for Atlanta. Kelly’s touches remain at the Netherland Plaza, including the bees who live on the fifth floor.

“That was the brainchild of Todd when he was here,” Zappas said. “Without the bees we don’t have produce and food we need to cook in the kitchen. They have their beehive in the city and they’re looking for food, so we have plants, we have herb gardens, they produce honey for us and we take care of them. They’re our little children.”

From fresh honey to fresh herbs and local farm suppliers, Zappas realizes guests have certain expectations when they dine at the Netherland Plaza, and he looks at his new position as a way to honor the past, while adding his own signature to the history of the property. “It’s my chance to put my chapter in the book. And this book is the whole hotel. This is now my turn to put my chapter in, my turn to put my stamp on it and say I was part of this for a number of years, however long I’m here for, and saying, this was mine.

“This is the food I produced, and this is the vision I had, and this is the quality that went out. This is the team I’ve developed, these are the sous chefs I’ve promoted, that are now executive chefs over here, this is the culture I’ve created. That’s what it means to me. It’s about being able to impart on everyone all the knowledge I can, and grow them to the next level, and also to take this restaurant to the next level.”

A Coke & Conversation with Frisch’s CEO Jason Vaughn

By Betsy Ross, Contributing Writer
Video by Madison Schmidt

Welcome to a new series from Cincinnati People called “A Coke & Conversation with …” where our Betsy Ross will interview Cincinnati people so they can share their interesting stories over a Coke at a local Frisch’s. 

This week, we begin with Frisch’s CEO Jason Vaughn who shares his story andthe story of how he and his team worked to bring Coke back to Frisch’s.

If you have an idea for a Coke & Conversation, drop us a note. 

Catching Up with Cincinnati Reds Legend Dave Parker

By John Erardi, Contributing Writer

Since April is also Parkinson's Awareness Month, the Reds Hall of Famer and his Dave Parker 39 Foundation is reaching out to patients and their caregivers with practical tips on managing the debilitating disease. His next event is Saturday, April 7 from 1-3 p.m. at Chesterwood Village in West Chester. The Foundation's Doug King is taking reservations at dougking51@msn.com.

One of the beauties of public speaking is the insights that come directly from the horse's mouth, in this case Dave Parker's, talking to fans who visited City Gospel Mission last year as part of the Reds Hall of Famer series.

City Gospel Mission is located on the former grounds of the Crosley Field, the Reds ballpark at “Findlay and Western” from 1912-1970. CGM does a wonderful job of showcasing elements of the Reds longtime venue. 

Parker's golf tournament – this year at Glenview Golf Course on October 6 raises money for Parkinson's research. Parker was diagnosed in 2013 as having the disease, and soon thereafter became a local spokesman and fundraiser for the cause.

I can tell you from personal experience that Glenview Golf Course is great shape, and should be an outstanding first-year host of the event. (Past tourneys were held at Avon Fields.) I played Glenview this week with Reds historian Greg Rhodes and Greg Gajus, a master numbers' cruncher and our longtime collaborator. We’ll be teeing up for the first time at the Cobra Classic. (See end of this story for entry details.) 

The golf tournament is among the reasons why I'm writing about Parker today. But I’m also writing about him because of I learned a lot from the question-and-answer program at City Gospel Mission, conducted by Rick Walls, executive director of the Reds Hall of Fame. (Parker was inducted in 2014 with fellow Cincinnatians Ron Oester and Ken Griffey Jr.)

I thought I’d knew almost everything there was to know about Parker, having covered him as a Red from 1985 through 1987. (His first season here was 1984.) I’d written a half-dozen columns and two big profiles of him over the years.

But he -- and Walls -- came up with some gems.

I can make a good case that Parker, who was born in Mississippi but moved here at a young age, is the greatest all-around athlete to come out of Cincinnati, outdistancing even those favorite sons of Silverton, Roger Staubach and Barry Larkin, who are in the Halls of Fames of their respective sports, football and baseball. And DeHart Hubbard, the former Olympic and world-record setting sprinter and multi-sport star at Walnut Hills High School (class of 1921), has to be in the mix as well.

“I grew up three streets over from here (old Crosley Field),” Parker told the full house at CGM. “I used to hustle cab doors, open cab doors for 50-cents or a dollar, whatever people would give me. One day I opened the door, and out walked Chuck Connors and Mickey Rooney. I said, ‘Hey, you look just like Mickey Rooney.’ They got a good laugh at that, especially (former Dodgers first baseman) Chuck Connors, who played ‘The Rifleman’ on TV.”

Parker’s idols were Reds outfielders Frank Robinson and Vada Pinson, who drove to the ballpark in their matching white Thunderbirds, red interiors, port holes on the side. 

Recalled Parker: “I said to Frank one day, ‘Give me something to play ball with. I don’t have a glove.’ He opened his car trunk and pulled out a glove. I wished I knew where that glove was now! Later, when I made it to the big leagues I tried to get Frank to remember me, but he couldn’t. Vada remembered me, though. He said, ‘I remember you, little green-eyed boy!’ ”

As a teenager, Parker worked inside the park selling peanuts and ice cream. 

Parker was a three-sport star at the now-extinct Courter Tech, which was located where Cincinnati State is located today, on that promontory on Central Parkway overlooking I-75/I-74. Parker attended a workout at Crosley Field in 1967 with some buddies from Courter Tech, something I never knew until his talk at City Gospel Mission.

“I hit a couple balls out of the ballpark, you know, into the Sun Deck,” Parker recalled. “Nobody said anything to us afterward, so I just walked away with my buddies. As I was leaving, some guy said to me, ‘Hey, hey! Where you going? We want to sign you!” I said, ‘I’m only in the 10th grade.’ ”

That brought a hearty laugh from the crowd.  

Parker said his favorite sport in high school was football. His football idol was the great Cleveland Browns fullback, Jim Brown.

“Jim Brown used to run over 10 of the 11 defensive guys and he’d get up slow and it took him five minutes to walk back to the huddle,” Parker recalled. “I said, ‘Hey, I want to be like that guy.’ ”

He apparently was. A person in the crowd told Parker he had played against him in pee-wee football. The person said he could still recall – with terror -- the sound Parker’s cleats made on the concrete walking to the field.

“You all had a good program outside of us,” recalled Parker, drawing another good laugh.

He tore up his knee playing football as a high school senior, couldn’t play basketball team and unleashed himself on baseball, which he also loved. He dropped to the 14th round of the Major League Baseball Draft in early June 1970.

My favorite story about Parker isn’t one he told me, but rather is one that originated with late manager Leo Durocher, a former Red himself. Picture this:  “Parkway,” as all of us former Reds writers called the big fella (the 6-foot-5’er has since slimmed down from his 230-pound, prime-time playing weight ), was a true specimen by the time he appeared in his first spring training as a 19-year-old in 1971. Under the watchful eye of opposing manager Durocher of the Chicago Cubs, Parker put on a show in batting and fielding practice one day, standing out even among his accomplished teammates, future Hall of Famers Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell.

At home plate that day, the umpires and Durocher and Pittsburgh Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh gathered to exchange lineups.  Durocher said: “Let me ask you guys a question: You mean to tell me that all the scouts in the country decided there were 200 (expletive-deleted) better than him?”

Parkway then told another story I hadn’t heard. That question that elicited it came from the audience: “Where’d you get that nickname, Cobra?”

“One of the trainers in Pittsburgh,” Parker answered. “Tony the trainer was a big fight fan. So he associated Cincinnati with Ezzard Charles, the great boxer whose nickname was 'The Cincinnati Cobra' because of his flicking jab and sharp, stinging punches. I had that little coil at the start of my swing, waiting to the last second to swing, and that’s how I got the nickname, 'Cobra.’”

I talked with Parker’s wife, Kellye, after the event, and she said Dave is doing a good job coping with Parkinson’s, having good days and bad days, but always maintaining his famous sense of humor, which made him a favorite in the clubhouse. He eats right and exercises regularly. He loves golf, but Kellye told me he’d probably only putt at his golf tournament.

I asked the big fella about that, and he clearly has his own ideas.

“I’m going to hit the ball,” he boomed, with a smile.

Dave Parker with wife, Kellye, at Reds Hall of Fame Gala, 2014

Dave Parker in the National Baseball of Fame? Yes, Sir says Erardi.
In my opinion, Dave Parker has a good case for the National Baseball of Fame. As a voting member of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA), I voted for him all 15 years he was on ballot. But I am in the minority; 75 percent of the vote is needed, and 25 percent is the most he received in any one year.

His fate is now in the hands of the veterans’ committee.

I tend to be a "comet" rather than "compiler" voter; I love the guys who were among the very best players in their league for a five-year stretch or more and made big splashes. To me, Parker qualifies as a Hall of Famer using this as primary criteria; plus, he was productive into his late 30s.

The objective numbers analysts don't consider Parker's Hall of Fame case to be anywhere near a lock.  They cite mainly his career value number (known as WAR, Wins Above Replacement; Parker achieved a "40" WAR). Although it is true that according to the "similarity scores" method developed by numbers’ guru Bill James that three of the top eight “most similar” players to Parker are Hall of Famers Andre Dawson, Billy Williams and Tony Perez -- it is also true that their career WARs are significantly better: 65, 54 and 54, respectively.

Parker accumulated 28 of 40 WAR from 1975-79.

The mid-20s to low-40s career WAR Hall of Fame hitters either had short, glittery careers (Roy Campanella) or were good offensive players but great defensive ones (Bill Mazeroski, Red Schoendienst, Pie Traynor, Lloyd Waner) or benefitted from a mega-market bias (Yankees Phil Rizzuto and Earle Combs). I regarded Parker as a great right fielder in his prime, but the defensive numbers don't support me on that.

I always wondered if Parker might have come considerably closer to the 75 percent electoral support needed for Cooperstown, and thus made his case for the upcoming veterans' committee stronger, had he won a second Most Valuable Player Award as a Red in 1985 (league-leader in RBI, doubles and total bases) instead of finishing second to the St. Louis Cardinals Willie McGee.

Parker was the first major free-agent acquisition in Reds history, signing in December of 1983. He played here from 1984 through 1987, averaging 158 games over the course of the four 162-game seasons. He was the Reds’ Most Valuable Player from 1984 through 1986. In his career, he was a seven-time All-Star, and two-time batting champ. He led the league twice in slugging, twice in doubles and three times in total bases.

Study on 2017 Cincinnati Music Festival reveals annual event is the largest driver of tri-state tourism

A study conducted by the UC Economics Center and commissioned by the Cincinnati USA Convention & Visitors Bureau announced this week that the Cincinnati Music Festival presented by P&G provides a $107.5 million economic impact to the region, making it the largest annual weekend driver of tourism in the tri-state.

In 2017, the Cincinnati Music Festival drew an audience of 83,200 with 79.8% of those attendees from out-of-town with each spending an average of $692 on lodging, food/beverage and retail, and traveling from as far as Los Angeles, Chicago and New York.

Additionally, the impact of the Cincinnati Music Festival supported 1,557 tri-state jobs with $24.8 million in total earnings. During the weekend of the Festival, hotel tax revenues were $2.1 million ($1.3 million in Hamilton County and $829,000 in the City of Cincinnati) whereas sales tax revenue in Hamilton County was $530,000 and $363,000 to adjacent local counties.

By comparison, the $107.5 million economic impact of the Cincinnati Music Festival is the equivalent of hosting one-and-a-half Major League Baseball All Star Games ($65 million), seven Flying Pig Marathon weekends ($15 million) and one-and-a-half Western & Southern Open tennis tournaments ($62.5 million).

“The Cincinnati Music Festival is the biggest hotel weekend of the year in the Cincinnati region and is vital to the success of our visitor economy,” said Jason Dunn, Vice President of Multicultural Sales and Community Development for the Cincinnati USA Convention & Visitors Bureau. “It’s more than just a music festival. The Cincinnati Music Festival drives our regional and national reputation around diversity and inclusion as well as cultural vibrancy and entertainment power.”

The 2018 Cincinnati Music Festival, which will be held July 26-28 at Paul Brown Stadium, will feature Charlie Wilson and Jill Scott as headliners at Paul Brown Stadium. For more information and ticket options, visit www.cincymusicfestival.com.

2018 Cincinnati Music Festival Schedule of Performances

Thursday, July 26: MC Lyte, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Shingo Fashion Show, and Cincinnati's own DJ Vader

Friday, July 27: Charlie Wilson, Xscape, Boyz II Men, Fantasia, After 7

Saturday, July 28: Jill Scott, The Roots, Common, Keith Sweat, The O’Jays, Bootsy Collins

“This year as we put together our lineup, we wanted even our opening acts to be impressive and I think we achieved just that,” said Joe Santangelo, owner of the Santangelo Group and co-promoter of the Cincinnati Music Festival. “From the second the fans come through the Stadium doors, they're going to be on their feet dancing to so many great legends of R&B and Hip Hop. We take the advice of our audience to heart and so we're keeping it up tempo and featuring all artists that have been heavily requested to perform. We can't wait for this year's showcase of talent - it's going to be legendary.”

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) is proud to be the presenting sponsor of the Cincinnati Music Festival for the fourth consecutive year.  Procter & Gamble believes supporting events such as the Cincinnati Music Festival draws people from around the nation to experience what the great city of Cincinnati has to offer. 

“As an employer, neighbor and responsible corporate citizen, it is important that we create strong connections throughout our community. Music and the arts provide a platform to foster engagement across cultures,” said William P. Gipson, Chief Diversity Officer, P&G. “Importantly, events such as this provide an inclusive spirit that reflects the strength and value of the African-American buying power contributing to the progress and growth of our community.”

Procter & Gamble believes diversity is essential and inclusion is a game-changer, which is why the company upholds the certainty that all people should be valued, both inside and outside the company. According to Nielsen, Black-buying power is expected to reach $1.2 trillion this year. The popular buying categories include personal health and beauty products, fragrances, food and beverage, as well as, family planning, household care and cleaning products.

Over the past few years, prominent national publications such as Billboard, Vibe, AM New York, Upscale Magazine, and the LA Daily News, have visited the Cincinnati region to experience the Cincinnati Music Festival and feature stories showcasing the region, and the festival, as one of the premier music events in the United States.

“As the Cincinnati Music Festival has grown to become one of the premier events in the country, so too has Cincinnati's national reputation soared,” said Julie Calvert, Executive Director of Source Cincinnati, the group charged to lead national media efforts for the region. “That's not a coincidence. The Festival has changed the way people think about Cincinnati, and sparked our credibility and appeal as a world-class region for music, culture and the arts. National media is watching what happens here, as are music lovers, visitors and business leaders, entrepreneurs and more. The ripple effect from the Cincinnati Music Festival has been, and will continue to be, incredible.”

Steve Hampton: Making beer a tourist attraction

Steve Hampton, the driving force behind next week’s Bockfest celebration, knows a good beer when he sees—and tastes—one. And he knows that good beer draws a crowd. He’s hoping that this city’s brewing heritage will become a major tourist attraction through the Brewing Heritage Trail.

The Brewing Heritage Trail is an urban walking trail that, by the summer, will combine physical installations with digital and audio content. Iconic markers and the Brewing Heritage Trail app (under beta testing now) provide additional stories, photos and augmented reality experiences. Visitors can access self-guided tours, or guided tours.  

Bockfest gives visitors a preview of the full-blown Heritage trail with the new “Brushes and Beer” tour. “It celebrates and talks about some of the public art we’ve been installing along the trail through the neighborhood as part of the Brewing Heritage Trail,” said Hampton. “There’s almost a dozen public art pieces and you’ll get to hear some of those stories and learn how they’re tied to our brewing heritage.”

That’s in addition to the usual Bockfest tours that are scheduled throughout Bockfest weekend, including the new “Mishaps, Malfeasance and Murder Tour,” and the “Dr. Morgan’s Hangover Relief Tour,” both offered Saturday, March 3 and Sunday, March 4, and the “Below Bockfest Tour,” Friday, March 2 and Saturday, March 3, billed as the introduction to Cincinnati’s brewing heritage.

Also new this year to Bockfest weekend is the “Beer and Bygone Days” celebration on Saturday, March 3. “That’s a whole afternoon of not only the historic brewery tours but speakers, presentations, beer brewing demonstrations, everything good about beer and the history we have here in Cincinnati,” Hampton said.

Bockfest, Cincinnati’s annual celebration of Spring and the area’s brewing heritage, kicks off its 26th year with free activities through Bockfest weekend, March 2-4 throughout downtown Cincinnati and the historic Over-the-Rhine neighborhood.

The full schedule is available at www.bockfest.com, along with ticket and package purchase details for tours, food, and additional fun. Entrance to Bockfest is free to enjoy great Bock Beer, Music, and Entertainment.  

Bockfest weekend begins Friday, March 2 with the Bockfest Parade, which steps off at 6 p.m. and winds its way up Main Street to Bockfest Hall at the Christian Moerlein Brewery, 1621 Moore Street, where the ceremonial keg of bock beer is blessed and the party continues with live music, food, and cold bock beer. A free shuttle takes Bockfest-goers to the more than a dozen establishments participating in Bockfest Friday and Saturday night.

The weekend continues Saturday morning with the Bockfest 5K that runs through Over-the-Rhine and past historic brewery sites. Register at www.runbeerseries.com. After the 5K, dive deep into Beer & Bygone Days with local bock beer tappings, history speakers, beer homebrew competitions, stein and breweriana displays, and historic brewery tours.

Saturday night is the finals of the Bockfest Beard Baron and Sausage Queen competitions at Bockfest Hall. Winners of the five preliminary gender-neutral Sausage Queen rounds held at local bars compete in a rowdy pageant, led off by the Beard Baron competition. The night continues with the Billygoat Ball with live music, DJ dance party, and plenty of cold bock beer.

Sunday is a family friendly day at Bockfest Hall. Games, Germans, & Gemütlichkeit kicks off with the new Little Links kids pageant and features kid-friendly games, goat yoga, and music plus Bockfeast Dinner and Bock Bloody Mary Bar. Continental Sunday showcases our heritage with live German music and dancing, steins and breweriana, and historic brewery tours. In addition, participating bars and restaurants will be offering special deals all weekend long.

Take a tour and get a preview of the upcoming Brewing Heritage Trail with a historic brewery tour available all weekend long. Friday and Saturday evenings the Below Bockfest Tour celebrates how beer was made and consumed in pre-Prohibition times. Saturday and Sunday feature the Mishaps Malfeasance and Murder Tour with the stories behind the beer, including corruption, accidents, even murder. Saturday and Sunday also feature the Brushes and Beer tour celebrating art and beer, touring the public art along the Brewing Heritage Trail. Get tickets to all the tours at http://www.bockfest.com/historic-tours.html.

There is also a number of preliminary events in the weeks leading up to Bockfest weekend, including five Sausage Queen preliminary rounds at local bars, the Precipitation Retaliation Happy Hour where a snowman is burned in effigy, and the Schoenling Bock Keg Tapping. Visit www.bockfest.com for additional details.

The non-profit Brewery District Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation is the organizer of Bockfest. All of the proceeds of Bockfest support the non-profit Brewery District CURC and its mission to preserve, promote, and redevelop Cincinnati’s brewing heritage, including the building of the Brewing Heritage Trail. Presenting sponsors are Christian Moerlein Brewing Company, Arnold’s Bar & Grill, Brew City Sausage, Servatii, Decal Impressions, and The Johnson Foundation.

Want to learn more about the Bockfest celebration and the Brewing Heritage Trail? Go to www.bockfest.com and brewingheritagetrail.org for trail information. 

Cincinnati People in review: 2017

Thank you to our loyal readership which we have cultivated over the past year. This week, we celebrate the first anniversary of Cincinnati People, a project we started at Game Day Communications to shine a light on those Cincinnati people doing interesting and important things in our community.

This week, we take a look back at our featured profiles and say thank you to them for all they do.

Salome Tregre stars as Clara in Cincinnati Ballet’s Nutcracker

Video and photos by Madison Schmidt

Walnut Hills student Salome Tregre, who has been a student of the Cincinnati Ballet’s Academy since 2007, will dance the lead role of Clara in Frisch’s Big Boy Presents The Nutcracker, which opens December 14 at Music Hall. It will be the first time in the history of the Cincinnati Ballet that Clara will be portrayed by an African-American youth dancer. 

Frisch’s Big Boy Presents The Nutcracker returns to Music Hall for 14 performances from December 14-24.

Frisch’s Big Boy Presents The Nutcracker, now in its 44th annual season, returns to the newly-renovated Music Hall from December 14 through 24, 2017 with even more performances. The stunning production is set to the Tchaikovsky’s sensational holiday score performed by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Carmon DeLeone. It also features more than 100 children from the tristate dancing alongside Cincinnati Ballet’s professional company, bringing even more energy and enthusiasm to this classic holiday tale.

The Nutcracker is the beloved holiday story of Clara, a little girl who embarks on a fantastical journey after she receives a nutcracker as a gift on Christmas Eve. With her Nutcracker Prince, Clara travels through the Land of Sweets, meeting colorful and exciting characters along the way. 

Catching up with Olympic Gold Medalist Mary Wineberg

By Betsy Ross, Contributing Writer
Photos and video by Madison Schmidt

Mary Wineberg used to run track around the world: Now she runs around her classroom at Hyde Park Elementary, chasing down her room of second graders. To the rest of us, she’s a gold medal Olympian. To her kids, she’s Mrs. Wineberg. And that’s OK with her. It may be a different venue, but the same goal: To help her kids do their best.

The Monday through Friday of teaching is a far cry from Mary’s previous career of running at world-class track events across the globe. But being a teacher was always in the back of her mind, even before she reached Olympic stardom.

“I remember my days in elementary school just thinking, ‘What teacher do I want to be like?’ I had no idea that I wanted to be a teacher, but I looked around and thought, ‘Oh, I want to be a teacher when I grow up.’”

The idea to be a teacher came even before the idea of being in sports. It’s a story Mary tells often: At age 4 she took part in a fun run during a neighborhood block party against the other kids. And beat them—handily. “But I honestly never thought to participate in sports like I did. I just enjoyed being a child.”

Later that year, she moved from New York to Cincinnati with my step-grandmother (more on her family later). “I didn’t know what kind of life the move would bring, but I felt it would be a little bit better than what I had in New York.”

Mary enjoyed running, like most kids, but she can thank her coaches at Walnut Hills and her best friend for convincing her to take up track in high school.

“I wanted to do it just to be cool, not thinking that I had a talent, not thinking anything of that nature until my coaches said ‘Wow this girl, I think she can be really quick.’ And even then I’m thinking well, I don’t understand anything about running. But it was really about having confidence in me.”

Her track career led her to the University of Cincinnati on scholarship, where she excelled, but Mary had a hard time believing in her own success.

“I struggled with being the athlete that my coaches wanted me to be,” she said, “or believing I could be the athlete that everyone else wanted me to be. When I look back, I’m winning all these races and I’m doing great and I think why would this girl struggle with believing in herself?

“I could get out on the track and I could race, but I would get so nervous when I would get into the big competitions, because then I would be the underdog. For me I had to learn not only to believe in myself, but I had to really think that I know I can do this because they said I can do this and I know I can do this because I’ve been training to do this.

“It really hit me my senior year. I’m standing at the University of Louisville track and getting ready to go, because I’m expected to win the women’s 400. I was very stressed because I didn’t want to let my team down. And I’m thinking, I can’t do this, I can’t run this race, and my roommate at the time, she kind of looked at me and said, ‘Mary, you can do this, you have this.’ And I’m crying now, and I said, ‘I’m not going to the start line.’

“I look back and think, ‘did I really believe I wasn’t going to the start line for this race that I’d been training for four years in college?’ But for me, being at the conference meet in front of all those other girls, that’s where I didn’t think I was good enough. I didn’t deserve to be there. But that day I had to learn, I did deserve to be there. And I ended up running a personal best.”

Mary was at the peak of her profession when she left U.C., so it was only natural that she would take her track career to the next level. “After college I thought I could just say I could do anything and it would just happen. I graduated in 2002 and I had the chance to go to the Olympic training center and train for the Olympics. So I think ‘Wow, I’m at the Olympic training center, I’m going to make the Olympic team, it’s that easy.’”

The truth was, it wasn’t easy and at her first try at going to the Olympics in 2004, she didn’t make it. But instead of discouraging her, it encouraged her to change her tactics and work harder, and in 2008 she represented the United States in track and field in Beijing, winning gold in the 4 x 400 meters.

Her journey to the Games, her ups and downs in the sport, her private battles with self-confidence are all included in her new book, Unwavering Perseverance. Also included in her book are her first public comments about her adoption. “I had talked about it a little, mostly with close friends and family members. People in my close circle knew I was adopted.

“After losing my (adoptive) mom in 2012, I struggled with wanting to know where I came from. I didn’t really know about my background and history, and so I wanted to know and have some sense of closure.

“At first I thought ‘I don’t want to do this, I don’t know what I’m going to open up.’ After doing the search, I was very happy for making my peace with my mother and talking with her and hearing her side, because of course there are always two sides to the story. But it was also for me nice to know where I came from.” 

From modest beginnings in Brooklyn to the top of the podium at the Olympics, to a school desk at Hyde Park Elementary, it’s been quite a journey for Mary Wineberg, now with a family of her own with husband Chris and her two daughters. She found stardom on the international stage, but now she’s just as happy in front of her second graders.

“A lot of people ask, ‘Do you like teaching? Is this really your passion?’ And I tell them yes. I knew when I was done running, some athletes always struggle with what they want to do next. What’s the next step. And for me, I knew. I wanted to be a teacher.

“I tell my students, I’m their mom away from home. They kind of laugh and then say, ‘You are mom away from home.’ It gives me great pleasure to be able to just inspire them and show them what they can be. It makes me happy.

“I used to run, it made me happy. And now teaching makes me happy.”

Mary Wineberg’s book, Unwavering Perseverance is available at http://marywineberg.com/shop/.

Her book release event is scheduled for this Saturday, November 18 from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. at Walnut Hills High School. It’s free and open to the public.

Bengals Great Ken Anderson and His Work for Adults with Developmental Disabilities

By Betsy Ross, Contributing Writer
Video by Madison Schmidt

Register for the Stadium Stride on October 22.

If you know anything about former Bengals QB Ken Anderson, you know he gets things completed; passes, yes, but also major initiatives like his work with adults with developmental disabilities.

In fact, Anderson, who still holds the Bengals career record for completions at 2,654, is now dedicating his time to a group called the Ken Anderson Alliance whose objective is to build living, working and playing options for adults with disabilities in our area.

The Alliance is an outgrowth of the Ken Anderson Foundation and Lighthouse Landing, both working toward the goal of making the lives of adults with developmental disabilities more productive. Ken’s nephew, Drew, was diagnosed with autism at 18 months old but as he grew to adulthood, his parents found there were no facilities other than state mental institutions that could take in Drew and other adults like him. 

On Sunday, October 22, Anderson & Friends will be the hosts for the second annual Stadium Stride, a unique event for the entire family. The day starts with a 1.5 mile walk inside and around Paul Brown Stadium and Great American Ball Park, followed by watching the Bengals play the Steelers on the Reds outdoor viewing screen. It’s the biggest fundraiser of the year for the charity.

It’s an ambitious model that the Alliance has developed, with a template being built in Cincinnati that can be replicated across America to allow adults with disabilities to “live, work, play, socialize, recreate, love, learn and worship” in the settings and manner of their choosing with support from families, friends and caregivers. 

The goal is for the model to grow so that by the year 2021 the Alliance will be able to build a residential community that can provide affordable housing for adults with developmental disabilities. 

To find out more about the Ken Anderson Alliance and to register for the Stadium Stride, visit www.kenandersonalliance.org. 

Kristin Ropp makes hockey fun at U.S. Bank Arena

It’s not every day you can take your passion and make it happen, as Irene Cara sang, but for Kristin Ropp, Vice President and General Manager of U.S. Bank Arena and the Cincinnati Cyclones, that’s exactly how her career led her to planning parties for thousands of her closest friends 90+ times a year at Cincinnati’s downtown arena. 

A graduate of Ohio University, Ropp got started in college booking musical acts and bringing entertainment to campus. And she thought that would be a pretty cool way to make a living. But not everyone had the same mindset.

“I was probably in my junior or senior year in college, loving Ohio University, and my father said, ‘You need to hone in, you can see the finish line, you need to figure out what you want to be when you grow up.’ And I said, ‘Well, I like to plan events, I like parties,’ and of course I got the eyeroll.”

“Then he said, ‘Listen, you need to find something you have a passion for, or it won’t get you out of bed in the morning. Because if you do something for the money, believe it or not, it won’t get you out of bed in the morning.’ And that was the best advice I was ever given.” 

Knowing her passion was events, she was able to land a job with Nederlander Entertainment, one of the largest and most experienced managers of venues and entertainment properties in the country, and came to Cincinnati. She managed acts at Bogart’s, answered phones at Riverbend, booked entertainment at the Taft Theater and helped produce Pepsi Jammin’ on Main.

“I worked in every possible position from marketing to operations. I wanted to get into production,” she said. “I wanted to be with the bands. That’s what I thought I wanted.” 

Her production background brought her in 2002 to U.S. Bank Arena, where she worked as production manager and director of operations for about six years. 

“And that’s when I realized, I don’t really want that. But I was fortunate enough to work for this company that had a lot of faith in me, and very quickly I was getting more management responsibility.” 

In 2005, Ropp became Vice President and General Manager of U.S. Bank Arena, plus general manager of the newly-reincarnated Cincinnati Cyclones. Being from Pittsburgh, she knows a good hockey crowd when she sees one. And she didn’t see one in the early days before Nederlander took control of the team. 

“You’d come to an event and it was just a lackluster crowd. There was no marketing, no promotions, it was such a great product, and it was frustrating. 

“And then they came back, and Ray Harris (COO of Nederlander Entertainment) bought the team. He called me and said—I’ll never forget this conversation—he called me and said, ‘Well, kid, you’ve got yourself a hockey team. You need to pack your bags, there’s a Board of Governors meeting in Pittsburgh in two days.’

“I said OK and then said, “I have to be clear, I don’t know anything about hockey. I don’t want to mislead you.’ And he said, ‘That’s OK, you’ll figure it out.’ And that was it.” 

The first thing the Arena staff needed to figure out is how to get people back to see the Cyclones, one of the big success stories in minor league hockey in the ‘90s. 

“The first year we operated the team, we threw a lot of things at the wall to see what would stick. We went heavy marketing to reach single males. We thought they were low hanging fruit because that was stereotypical NHL.”

Instead, families started showing up. So the marketing plan went hors piste from the traditional hockey template. 

“We pumped the brakes, said, no, we need to switch this up. The turning point of this organization is when we realized the competition was not the Bengals, the Reds, UC or Xavier, our competition was the bowling alley, the movies, the Zoo, anything else you would take your family to. 

“Because we didn’t come up through a traditional sports marketing background, I think we approached it as a live entertainment event. And I think that’s served us well in a non-traditional hockey market.”

So when the season starts this Saturday you’ll see new glass around the rink and a new Buffalo Sabres affiliation, and continue to see dollar beer, dollar hot dogs, dollar pizza and a calendar giveaway. You’ll see noisemakers, mascots and a party atmosphere. And, oh, by the way, there’s a hockey game going on. 

“We love to say you can bring your children here and you never have to say, ‘shhh.’ You can be loud, you can jump up and down, you can scream your head off and dance. We love it and encourage it. That was the turning point.”

Ropp is truly a hockey mom, and not just to the Cyclones players. Her son, Henry, has been playing youth hockey since he was 4, and he’s now 11. But he’s one of the few in his school. 

“There are two kids in his school that play hockey. That’s a real shame. And that’s why we started the Cincinnati Cyclones Foundation. The whole intent is to give children the opportunity, if they want to try and play hockey, to play hockey.”

“There are a lot of roadblocks to that in the market. We’re going to do our best to take those away and work with CCM and Reebok to buy equipment to get to these kids to instill a love of the game.” 

As GM of the Cyclones, she’s earned the ECHL Executive of the Year award twice, and twice was honored with the ECHL Award of Marketing Excellence. Ropp may be the only female General Manager of an ECHL hockey team, but she doesn’t let her gender define her job. 

“Once you get past being the only woman at the Board of Governors meetings, I never think of myself as a ‘female general manager.’ I just always thought of myself as a person doing a job.”

“I’ve been singled out a few times being a woman doing this job, but I always shy away from it. Pat me on the back and highlight me if you think I’m doing a good job, but don’t highlight me because I use a different bathroom. I’m proud that I could kick that door open a little bit, but I still come here every day to sell tickets.”

No discussion surrounding U.S. Bank Arena would be complete without a look into its future, which could include a major renovation designed to bring more events and bigger acts to downtown. 

“I feel that is the last piece of the puzzle for Cincinnati, for the riverfront. I feel it would be a huge misfortune for the city as a whole not to do it.”

The proposal would turn ownership of the renovated building over to Hamilton County, so that future profits would go directly to the county. Nederlander estimates event nights would jump from 90 to more than 120 a year, with an extra $9 million in revenue for Hamilton County. 

“The new building would position us to host major NCAA events, basketball and volleyball, which bring in so many people from all over the country,” Ropp said.

“Listen, I love this old white elephant, and I’ll stay here as long as Ray Harris will have me. But I think it would be a shortcoming to the city of Cincinnati if we didn’t see this new building come to fruition.” 

The Cincinnati Cyclones open the 2017-18 season at home Saturday against the Kalamazoo Wings. Check out the Cyclones schedule at www.cycloneshockey.com and the U.S. Bank Arena entertainment schedule at www.usbankarena.com. 

Dolores Lindsay: Keeping the “Care” in The HealthCare Connection

By Betsy Ross, Contributing Writer
Photos and video by Madison Schmidt

It all started simply enough. Dolores Lindsay was recruited by her daughter’s kindergarten school PTA to serve on a committee to assess the needs of local residents. That committee sparked a passion that eventually turned into The HealthCare Connection of which Dolores is founder, president and one of the longest-serving CEOs in the country. 

Because one thing that she found out on that committee was that access to quality health care for the underserved was at the top of the list of residents’ needs. At that time, Lincoln Heights was the largest self-governed African-American city in the nation but with no physicians or dentists. To try to fill that need, Dolores started the Lincoln Heights Health Center in 1967 in a four-room apartment with volunteer nurses, doctors and staff. 

From that modest beginning, the Center has grown to 10 neighborhoods, including primary care and behavioral health co-locations and two school-based health centers in Princeton City Schools. In 2016 alone the offices served more than 18,000 patients in more than 45,000 visits. 

Her leadership in the health care field has earned Dolores the title “dean of community health centers in Ohio.” She manages nearly 100 staffers at the 10 THCC neighborhood sites, while raising funds to keep the doors open. 

“Our success is the result of many people who recognized the lack of access to health care in Lincoln Heights and came together to make The HealthCare Connection what it is today, including our honorees,” said Dolores. “They stepped up in our formative years to build a solid foundation.”

To celebrate Dolores and her work, The HealthCare Connection is holding its 50th anniversary gala on Saturday, October 14 at the Sharonville Convention Center. The theme, “It Takes a Village,” represents the efforts of many toward one cause. 

Tickets are available for $150/person, or Host/Hostess tickets for $250/person (includes Legends reception, VIP seating and name recognition). To purchase tickets, visit www.healthcare-connection.org/50th-anniversary-gala/ or call (513) 483-3081.

Of the many contributors to THCC’s success, five are being honored at the gala for their commitment in helping launch and sustain the health center in its early years. They include:  Rev. Canon James W. Francis Sr.; Marilyn H. Gaston, M.D.; Rep. Willis (Bill) D. Gradison Jr.; Marva Graham Moore; and Rev. Dr. Otis Moss Jr.

“Our gala celebration is befitting of 50 years of progress and success,” says J. Phillip Holloman, Chairman, 50th Anniversary Planning Committee. “What started in a four-room apartment has become a 42,000 square-foot facility with 10 neighborhood sites helping more than 18,000 patients annually,” he added. 

About The HealthCare Connection
Despite the challenging financial reality faced by Community Health Centers, The HealthCare Connection has operated without interruption and has been the only safety net provider of primary care services in northern Hamilton County for 50 years. It was founded in 1967 as the very first community health center in the state of Ohio to provide quality health care for the underserved of Cincinnati. Neighborhood sites are located in Lincoln Heights, Mt. Healthy and Forest Park, as well as five co-located behavioral health centers and two school-based health centers. 

Bengals Great Ken Anderson and His Work for Adults with Developmental Disabilities

By Betsy Ross, Contributing Writer
Video by Madison Schmidt

Register for the Stadium Stride on October 22.

If you know anything about former Bengals QB Ken Anderson, you know he gets things completed; passes, yes, but also major initiatives like his work with adults with developmental disabilities.

In fact, Anderson, who still holds the Bengals career record for completions at 2,654, is now dedicating his time to a group called the Ken Anderson Alliance whose objective is to build living, working and playing options for adults with disabilities in our area.

The Alliance is an outgrowth of the Ken Anderson Foundation and Lighthouse Landing, both working toward the goal of making the lives of adults with developmental disabilities more productive. Ken’s nephew, Drew, was diagnosed with autism at 18 months old but as he grew to adulthood, his parents found there were no facilities other than state mental institutions that could take in Drew and other adults like him. 

On Sunday, October 22, Anderson & Friends will be the hosts for the second annual Stadium Stride, a unique event for the entire family. The day starts with a 1.5 mile walk inside and around Paul Brown Stadium and Great American Ball Park, followed by watching the Bengals play the Steelers on the Reds outdoor viewing screen. It’s the biggest fundraiser of the year for the charity.

It’s an ambitious model that the Alliance has developed, with a template being built in Cincinnati that can be replicated across America to allow adults with disabilities to “live, work, play, socialize, recreate, love, learn and worship” in the settings and manner of their choosing with support from families, friends and caregivers. 

The goal is for the model to grow so that by the year 2021 the Alliance will be able to build a residential community that can provide affordable housing for adults with developmental disabilities. 

To find out more about the Ken Anderson Alliance and to register for the Stadium Stride, visit www.kenandersonalliance.org. 

Catching Up with Cincinnati Reds Legend Dave Parker

By John Erardi, Contributing Writer

One of the beauties of public speaking is the insights that come directly from the horse's mouth, in this case Dave Parker's, talking to fans who visited City Gospel Mission recently as part of the Reds Hall of Famer series.

City Gospel Mission is located on the former grounds of the Crosley Field, the Reds ballpark at “Findlay and Western” from 1912-1970. CGM does a wonderful job of showcasing elements of the Reds longtime venue. The mission hosts a Reds’ speaker series; the final one this season is George Foster on Sept. 13.

Parker's golf tournament – this year at Glenview Golf Course on October 8 raises money for Parkinson's research. Parker was diagnosed in 2013 as having the disease, and soon thereafter became a local spokesman and fundraiser for the cause.

I can tell you from personal experience that Glenview Golf Course is great shape, and should be an outstanding first-year host of the event. (Past tourneys were held at Avon Fields.) I played Glenview this week with Reds historian Greg Rhodes and Greg Gajus, a master numbers' cruncher and our longtime collaborator. We’ll be teeing up for the first time at the Cobra Classic. (See end of this story for entry details.) 

The golf tournament is among the reasons why I'm writing about Parker today. But I’m also writing about him because of I learned a lot from the question-and-answer program at City Gospel Mission, conducted by Rick Walls, executive director of the Reds Hall of Fame. (Parker was inducted in 2014 with fellow Cincinnatians Ron Oester and Ken Griffey Jr.)

I thought I’d knew almost everything there was to know about Parker, having covered him as a Red from 1985 through 1987. (His first season here was 1984.) I’d written a half-dozen columns and two big profiles of him over the years.

But he -- and Walls -- came up with some gems.

I can make a good case that Parker, who was born in Mississippi but moved here at a young age, is the greatest all-around athlete to come out of Cincinnati, outdistancing even those favorite sons of Silverton, Roger Staubach and Barry Larkin, who are in the Halls of Fames of their respective sports, football and baseball. And DeHart Hubbard, the former Olympic and world-record setting sprinter and multi-sport star at Walnut Hills High School (class of 1921), has to be in the mix as well.

“I grew up three streets over from here (old Crosley Field),” Parker told the full house at CGM. “I used to hustle cab doors, open cab doors for 50-cents or a dollar, whatever people would give me. One day I opened the door, and out walked Chuck Connors and Mickey Rooney. I said, ‘Hey, you look just like Mickey Rooney.’ They got a good laugh at that, especially (former Dodgers first baseman) Chuck Connors, who played ‘The Rifleman’ on TV.”

Parker’s idols were Reds outfielders Frank Robinson and Vada Pinson, who drove to the ballpark in their matching white Thunderbirds, red interiors, port holes on the side. 

Recalled Parker: “I said to Frank one day, ‘Give me something to play ball with. I don’t have a glove.’ He opened his car trunk and pulled out a glove. I wished I knew where that glove was now! Later, when I made it to the big leagues I tried to get Frank to remember me, but he couldn’t. Vada remembered me, though. He said, ‘I remember you, little green-eyed boy!’ ”

As a teenager, Parker worked inside the park selling peanuts and ice cream. 

Parker was a three-sport star at the now-extinct Courter Tech, which was located where Cincinnati State is located today, on that promontory on Central Parkway overlooking I-75/I-74. Parker attended a workout at Crosley Field in 1967 with some buddies from Courter Tech, something I never knew until his talk at City Gospel Mission.

“I hit a couple balls out of the ballpark, you know, into the Sun Deck,” Parker recalled. “Nobody said anything to us afterward, so I just walked away with my buddies. As I was leaving, some guy said to me, ‘Hey, hey! Where you going? We want to sign you!” I said, ‘I’m only in the 10th grade.’ ”

That brought a hearty laugh from the crowd.  

Parker said his favorite sport in high school was football. His football idol was the great Cleveland Browns fullback, Jim Brown.

“Jim Brown used to run over 10 of the 11 defensive guys and he’d get up slow and it took him five minutes to walk back to the huddle,” Parker recalled. “I said, ‘Hey, I want to be like that guy.’ ”

He apparently was. A person in the crowd told Parker he had played against him in pee-wee football. The person said he could still recall – with terror -- the sound Parker’s cleats made on the concrete walking to the field.

“You all had a good program outside of us,” recalled Parker, drawing another good laugh.

He tore up his knee playing football as a high school senior, couldn’t play basketball team and unleashed himself on baseball, which he also loved. He dropped to the 14th round of the Major League Baseball Draft in early June 1970.

My favorite story about Parker isn’t one he told me, but rather is one that originated with late manager Leo Durocher, a former Red himself. Picture this:  “Parkway,” as all of us former Reds writers called the big fella (the 6-foot-5’er has since slimmed down from his 230-pound, prime-time playing weight ), was a true specimen by the time he appeared in his first spring training as a 19-year-old in 1971. Under the watchful eye of opposing manager Durocher of the Chicago Cubs, Parker put on a show in batting and fielding practice one day, standing out even among his accomplished teammates, future Hall of Famers Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell.

At home plate that day, the umpires and Durocher and Pittsburgh Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh gathered to exchange lineups.  Durocher said: “Let me ask you guys a question: You mean to tell me that all the scouts in the country decided there were 200 (expletive-deleted) better than him?”

Parkway then told another story I hadn’t heard. That question that elicited it came from the audience: “Where’d you get that nickname, Cobra?”

“One of the trainers in Pittsburgh,” Parker answered. “Tony the trainer was a big fight fan. So he associated Cincinnati with Ezzard Charles, the great boxer whose nickname was 'The Cincinnati Cobra' because of his flicking jab and sharp, stinging punches. I had that little coil at the start of my swing, waiting to the last second to swing, and that’s how I got the nickname, 'Cobra.’”

I talked with Parker’s wife, Kellye, after the event, and she said Dave is doing a good job coping with Parkinson’s, having good days and bad days, but always maintaining his famous sense of humor, which made him a favorite in the clubhouse. He eats right and exercises regularly. He loves golf, but Kellye told me he’d probably only putt at his golf tournament.

I asked the big fella about that, and he clearly has his own ideas.

“I’m going to hit the ball,” he boomed, with a smile.

Event coordinator Doug King told me that Dave takes “a very active role” in raising money to fund Parkinson’s research and giving his time to fight the disease within the community. 

• Last year he was  the Grand Marshal for the “SunFlower Rev it Up” run/walk/ ride against Parkinson’s, and will participate once again this year -- Sept. 10, at  at Yeatman’s Cove-Sawyer Point.
• In addition, he’s been involved in the planning of the new UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute, and speaking at the UC Health/SunFlower Symposium at The Oasis Country Club.
• In June, the Dave Parker 39 Foundation held its first seminar for Parkinson’s. It concentrated on the development of Gardner Center.  The next seminar is tentatively scheduled for January, and will focus on info for caregivers and families of patients.

There are still spots available in the “Cobra Classic” on October 8 at Glenview. Early registration saves 10% off the $125 entry fee. So it’s $112.50 for 18 holes of golf, lunch, dinner and prizes – if you are paid and registered by September 14. Register at daveparker39foundation.com.

Dave Parker with wife, Kellye, at Reds Hall of Fame Gala, 2014

Dave Parker in the National Baseball of Fame? Yes, Sir says Erardi.
In my opinion, Dave Parker has a good case for the National Baseball of Fame. As a voting member of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA), I voted for him all 15 years he was on ballot. But I am in the minority; 75 percent of the vote is needed, and 25 percent is the most he received in any one year.

His fate is now in the hands of the veterans’ committee.

I tend to be a "comet" rather than "compiler" voter; I love the guys who were among the very best players in their league for a five-year stretch or more and made big splashes. To me, Parker qualifies as a Hall of Famer using this as primary criteria; plus, he was productive into his late 30s.

The objective numbers analysts don't consider Parker's Hall of Fame case to be anywhere near a lock.  They cite mainly his career value number (known as WAR, Wins Above Replacement; Parker achieved a "40" WAR). Although it is true that according to the "similarity scores" method developed by numbers’ guru Bill James that three of the top eight “most similar” players to Parker are Hall of Famers Andre Dawson, Billy Williams and Tony Perez -- it is also true that their career WARs are significantly better: 65, 54 and 54, respectively.

Parker accumulated 28 of 40 WAR from 1975-79.

The mid-20s to low-40s career WAR Hall of Fame hitters either had short, glittery careers (Roy Campanella) or were good offensive players but great defensive ones (Bill Mazeroski, Red Schoendienst, Pie Traynor, Lloyd Waner) or benefitted from a mega-market bias (Yankees Phil Rizzuto and Earle Combs). I regarded Parker as a great right fielder in his prime, but the defensive numbers don't support me on that.

I always wondered if Parker might have come considerably closer to the 75 percent electoral support needed for Cooperstown, and thus made his case for the upcoming veterans' committee stronger, had he won a second Most Valuable Player Award as a Red in 1985 (league-leader in RBI, doubles and total bases) instead of finishing second to the St. Louis Cardinals Willie McGee.

Parker was the first major free-agent acquisition in Reds history, signing in December of 1983. He played here from 1984 through 1987, averaging 158 games over the course of the four 162-game seasons. He was the Reds’ Most Valuable Player from 1984 through 1986. In his career, he was a seven-time All-Star, and two-time batting champ. He led the league twice in slugging, twice in doubles and three times in total bases.

How Chef James Major “Chopped” His Way to Celebrity Status

In our new world of celebrity chef-dom and 24-hour networks with shows dedicated to cooking, baking and eating, epicurean stars come and go as quickly as Halley’s Comet. Chef James Major, the new executive chef for Funky’s Catering Events, is the latest bright light in the city’s cooking constellation, thanks in large part to one of those afore-mentioned cooking shows.

But before he was on the New York set of Food Network’s “Chopped,” Chef Major was a kid from the east side of Cleveland, learning to cook by watching his grandmothers.

“I come from two families that were Croatian and Italian, and were surrounded by food. My mom and dad both worked so I was raised by my grandmas, and I stood on a stool and cooked with them.”

Restaurant jobs followed, from washing dishes to breading KFC, through high school and into community college.

“I went to school for law enforcement, I was going to be a police officer. And for anybody that knows me, that’s the farthest thing from me I could ever be. I was in a rut and Food Network was new. I was watching that and I thought maybe I should go to school and be a chef. So I joined the Navy.

“I signed up and they told me I could pick any job I wanted. Well, I wanted to be a cook. They said, ‘Son, you can pick any job you want in the Navy, any job, nuclear sub, anything.’ And I said, no, I want to be a cook, I want to cook in the Navy.”

That decision sent him around the world for four years, cooking on board ships and throughout Europe for presidents and heads of state. Once his tour of duty wrapped up he enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America, where he graduated top of his class (Top Chef?), worked in NYC for a time, then came home to Cleveland.

“I was trying to find my first job back home and I was getting married two months later, so I got a job with a wonderful chef who was in the process of building a restaurant called The Harp, an upscale Irish pub.

“Catering didn’t really hit until I left there after six months and went to Johnny’s downtown where I spent five years. We had a party room so I started catering, doing parties for 25 up to 100. That was my foundation until I got an offer to run a jazz club in the university/art district. I came on as chef, and then they sold it to me so all of a sudden, I became a restaurant owner of a jazz club.

“It was the best, worst job ever. It was a lot more pressure and I was a little too young at the time, but I can say I did it and I got it out of my system. That’s where I started learning and getting the bumps and bruises of catering. Then I sold it to the hospital next door to put up a new cancer center. I like to say it was the business that paid off culinary school because I paid off all my student loans with the sale.”

Next up was Delaware North, the parent company for hospitality services at hundreds of venues around the world, including the Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds ball parks. He quickly became executive chef there, introducing several culinary initiatives like Dinner on the Diamond and the Go! Foods healthy menu selections for the Indians.

Through Delaware North’s partnership with teams across the country, he directed the 2009 St. Louis MLB All-Star Gala and All-Star Pre-Game Party as well as events for the 2010 World Series at Texas Rangers ball park and the February 2014 Super Bowl at MetLife Stadium. That experience paid off when Chef Major transferred over to Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, where he organized MLB All-Star Game food festivities here in 2015 for thousands of people a night.

Sounds like a daunting task, right?

Well, for someone who is used to serving hundreds if not thousands at a time, Chef Major is methodical in his explanation on how it all happens. “It’s being organized. It’s planning, checking and double checking because there are so many check systems to go through before the party leaves the door.

“Every All-Star Game I’ve done, every Super Bowl, every World Series big event, every gala, I pull together the 50-100 chefs that work with me and I read the St. Crispin Day speech. ‘For he today that sheds his blood with me, we shall be brothers and sisters forever.’” (The entire speech is William Shakespeare’s version of ‘win one for the Gipper’ for the English army getting ready to face the French.

Want to see Kenneth Branagh’s take on the speech from Henry V? Check it out here.

Little did Chef Major know that his move to Cincinnati would open the doors to the Food Network’s popular cooking competition show, “Chopped.” “I got a phone call one day when I was with the Reds saying the Food Network wants your resume. I said, I’m not interested, I’m good.”

“And then I got a call from the president of Delaware North saying, ‘I guess you don’t understand. Send your resume to Food Network.’ I did, and they interviewed all the baseball park chefs. They narrowed it down to half, then we each did a Skype interview.

“At this point, I thought if they’re going to make me do this, let’s do it up big. So I went into what used to be the Riverfront Club, the IT guy helped me set up the computer so when they turned on the Skype they saw the GABP scoreboard and boathouse in the background. I think at that point, that’s when I got selected.”

Chef Major was one of four baseball stadium chefs picked for the “Chopped” competition. And if you’re wondering, yes, they shoot the entire episode in one day on a New York sound stage. “We start about 5 or 6 in the morning, so if you’re calling your wife at 9:30-10 o’clock at night, that’s a good thing-you either came in second or you won.”

And he won, finishing the day with popcorn ice cream for dessert.

“It was a great feeling and I felt a lot of pride for the city.”

The Reds were pretty proud of his win as well.

“I got a call from the owner of the baseball team. Now I talk to him all the time, but when you get the call saying, ‘please hold for Bob Castellini,’ you think, did I forget a lunch? Did I mess something up? I answered the phone and said, ‘Mr. C, how are you, sir?’ And he said, ‘You really did it son, way to make us proud.’ That’s probably one of the best phone calls I ever received.”

The win led to a second appearance on “Chopped,” called “Chopped Impossible,” where he returned as a fan favorite. He won his qualifier, making him a two-time Chopped champion, before falling in the finals. Still, it’s pretty impressive adding Chopped Champion to his resume.

“Now, I’m recognized but better yet, now I’m locally recognized. I was a late bloomer in Cleveland and to be adopted by the city of Cincinnati, the city has made me their own and it’s great to be part of it.”

In his new role at Funky’s Catering Events, Chef Major not only oversees the catering for private events at venues such as The Transept and Pinecroft Mansion, he also serves the catering needs of Riverbend Music Center. (Yes, he has all kinds of backstage stories that rival Van Halen’s brown M&Ms, but he is discreet enough not to put a name to a quirky request).

Requests, though, are what he and his team try to fulfill every day from brides-to-be, event organizers and fundraising planners who have seen the latest food trend on Pinterest and want it replicated. Organic chicken? No problem. Flaming donut station? Of course—with Graeter’s ice cream, even.

“It’s when guests come to us and say this is what we’re looking for, then it’s time for us to start doing the research. As we look for menus we’re seeing what people are eating, what the trends are out there.”

Keeping up with food trends is one key to success: Another key, Chef Major says, are the men and women he works with, who he considers his family.

“In the culinary business, we don’t accept failure and we don’t like it so we strive to be great all the time. It’s a positive attitude. I say good morning to everybody, and it’s very important to me that I walk around and say ‘how are you today?’ And at the end of the day, I try to say thank you to everybody.

“In this business you’re in a hot kitchen, you’re constantly under pressure, there’s noise all day long. The best kitchen is a quiet one at the end of the day. You try to make it as wonderful of an experience while they’re here, and know that they are appreciated and that they know that I genuinely appreciate them.”

To learn more about the hospitality options by Chef Major and Funky’s Catering Events, visit www.funkyscatering.com.