Kevin trying out the sampler

Kevin Kreig of Centerville is also a big fan of craft beers and he started his experience off with a flight of beer, which is four 4oz samples for $5.  Pints run $4 and growlers are $17 with refills available for just $13.  On it’s opening day, the intimate tasting room was at capacity with about 40 folks standing inside and a line out the door, with a few groups enjoying their beers on the small patio.

John from Miami Township says he’s “not a chemist or a brewer, but I know what I like and I’m proud to support an Alter grad.  Peter Hilgeman, the 25 year old Daytonian who founded The Dayton Beer Company says he’s always been interested in beer, but working at The Party Source in Covington, KY  during his college days at University of Cincinnati really peaked his interest. “I really wanted to restore the brewing tradition,” Dayton once had.  He spent five months traveling through Europe educating his pallet before returning home to create great tasting beers.

Jon, Dan & Mike enjoying opening day

In naming his beers, Pete pays homage to Dayton history with brews like Patterson Pale Ale,  Hawthorn Hill Hefeweizen and the Inventors IPA, which was a favorite of Kettering resident Dan, who is just happy to support a Dayton Brewery for the first time in 62 years!

Mike, who’s vising from Durham, North Carolina truly enjoyed the Rising River Porter, and was surprised at it’s lightness, but proclaimed it “perfect for summer.”  Coming tomorrow a Stout and a Smoked Ale will be added to the menu.  Speaking of menu, according to a price list on the table chips, soda’s,  Red Bull, bottled water, pretzels and beer nuts will be available, but on opening day it was all hands on deck to just get the beers out.

If you plan on frequenting the brew pub, you might be interested in joining the Flying High Club.  Basic membership is $20 and offers 50 cents off tastings, pints and 6 packs as well as a 10th free option and mailings.   The intermediate level adds a DBC Pint Glass, t-shirt and 2 koozie’s and everything from the basic package.  For you big rollers out there, you’ll think nothing of dropping $125 which lets you sport a DBC Polo shirt, 2 DBC Pint Glasses, 2 koozies and the basic benefits, too.

The Dayton Beer Company is located at 912 E. Dorothy Lane and will be open Wed – Saturday 5-10pm.

You’ll be able to dine to the music of  Larry Goodwin  at 6:00 followed by the trio AQK at 7:00 and The Rockosonics will be taking the stage around 8-8:30.

The Rockosonics

Scheduled Participants include:

Ron’s Pizza
One Bistro and m. cakes
Giuliano’s
Star City Cafe
Pappa’s Pizza
Coldstone Creamery
Full Moon Bar-b-que
Bessi’s Noodles
Mr. Freshy
Peas & Carrots Catering
Bullwinkle’s
Louisiana Grill
Mandy’s Funnel Cakes
American Legion
Hamburger Wagon

There’s also always entertainment for the kids–the Fit & Fun Gymbus will be on site!

On Saturday the Spring Fling Parade steps off at 9:45am down Mound Avenue to First Street and north on Central Avenue and proceeding East past Library Park.  There will be a Carnival in the parking lot behind Library Park  until 10pm along with an arts and crafts festival.  Then fun continues on Sunday from noon to 5pm

Not a Restaurant, This is a Supper Club

A dimly lit dining room, 1970′s furniture, hustling staff and bustling patrons.  This is not a restaurant, this is a Supper Club.  Treasure Island is everything you could ask for in an old school eatery.  Located in the heart of Moraine, Ohio, it has great service, great food and classic ambiance.  This place is like a scene out of  the movies “Saturday Night Fever” or “Looking for Mr Goodbar.”  When you enter Treasure Island Supper Club, the carpeted lobby has a metal railing staircase that  leads to bathrooms and a party room on the second level.  What other place has that?  But it doesn’t end there, we are just getting started.  As you pass from the lobby into the eating area, you notice a room with lighting so low that you cannot tell if it is noon or midnight.  The bar area is a low seat bar with the bartender working in a “pit” even lower than the bar patrons.  The bar is adjacent to a walkway that leads to the dining room.  The walkway is lined with wooden spindles that were hand carved by the restaurant owner.  In fact his woodwork is throughout the supper club.   We were expecting to hear “bow chicka wow wow” music, but that did not happen.

Baskets of Butter and Lance Crackers at Every Table

A hostess greets you near the walkway and puts you on the waiting list, or seats you promptly.   You will be seated in a leather 70′s style booth or some old school table and chairs.    Even the water glasses are old school, and we love it ! On the table in a wicker basket, are various types of Lance crackers and butter packets.  We ate  a lot of melba toasts, crackers and captain’s wafers leaving our table strewn with Lance cracker wrappers.    Superfry and The Big Ragu live for unique places like this.  Our server who waited on us was fantastic.  She was a throwback to the days when waitresses were career waitresses for decades at the same restaurant.   She brought our salads and a basket of poppy seed bread that was still warm, so we put the butter packets to good use.

We were then served a shrimp cocktail appetizer that stayed in theme with the 70′s nostalgia.  The huge shrimp were served in a silver goblet lined with green decorative lettuce.  the shrimp were already partially dipped in the cocktail sauce inside the goblet.  These were some of the largest and best tasting shrimp we have ever eaten.   Make sure you don’t miss out on this old school shrimp cocktail or you will be squirming in your  red leather chair.

The Best Shrimp Cocktail Ever

We saw a customer being served a large corn fritter that looked good, so we decided to order one too… good move.  The homemade, handmade corn fritter is served with maple syrup packets and simply melt in your mouth.  We sat their enjoying the appetizer feeling like we were in an episode of “Starsky and Hutch.”   The fritter was cooked perfectly, nice and moist on the inside and golden brown on the outside.  In the restaurant lighting it looked like a brick of gold from Fort  Knox.

After stuffing ourselves with crackers, bread, butter, salad and appetizers, our main entrees arrived.  Superfry had ordered the baked halibut dinner.  It was served old school style with dunking butter!  It also came with a baked potato, decorative parsley, and large sides of butter and sour cream.  Again 70′s additude toward cholesterol and fat!  The fish was firm yet fluffy and  absolutely delicious.  The baked potato was perfectly cooked as well.  The Big Ragu’s entree was the seafood platter.  How old school is the name of  that dish?  The dinner was served with frog legs, fried shrimp, crab cakes, fried scallops, and fried oysters.  The dinner was very rich, but tasted incredible.  It was served with a side of hash browns that didn’t disappoint.  After finishing  our meal, we thanked our waitress and  the assertive busboys.

Perfectly Baked Halibut

As we walked out of the restaurant we joked about coming back for a picture outside the restaurant dressed in 7o’s Afro wig, terrycloth shorts, and pulled up white socks with stripes.  It was  another successful Food Adventure!     Our visit here was fantastic, truly enjoy Treasure Island Supper Club and had one of our better Food Adventures here.  If you have not been here to try the great food you are missing out on a taste bud experience!  It is a fun place to dine with some of the tables hollowed out with golf or Vegas decor behind tabletop glass.   Superfry and the Big Ragu highly recommend that you visit Treasure Island because they do things right, and have not changed their successful formula.     The simplicity of good food and good service is timeless, no matter what the decade.   If you visit this supper club and you see a couple of guys with cheesy 70′s mustaches, or Dirk Diggler haircuts, it just may be your Food Adventures Superfry and the Big Ragu, incognito!

“Like”Food Adventures with Superfry and the Big Ragu on Facebook by clicking here!

Have you been to Treasure Island Supper Club?  If  so, did you get your 70′s groove on at this phenomenal spot?  Please leave your comments below !

Treasure Island’s menus for  lunch and dinner may be viewed  by clicking HERE.

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Many volunteers have such a good time that they return year after year. Elvita Harris has been volunteering with her now-grown children for almost a decade.  “Volunteering is part of community service,” she said. “It gives us a sense of belonging and giving back. Plus, they’re exposed to different cultures, different foods – they’re broadening their horizons.”

Volunteer opportunities for the festival range from helping the Green Team encourage festival patrons to recycle, to serving soda and beer, to selling t-shirts and CDs, to helping monitor stage areas for handicap accessibility. A full list of positions is listed at www.cityfolk.org.

Long-time volunteer Judy McCormick  says, “The Cityfolk Festival is one event where our city truly comes together. And it simply doesn’t happen without volunteer participation. You can have fun, meet old friends, make new ones and play a part in what is a one-of-a-kind celebration for our community.”

Despite the unmistakable schmaltz inherent in Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse’s strong libretto and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s marvelously infectious score, this engaging tale circa 1938 Austria of postulant Maria Rainer and her unexpected bond with Captain George von Trapp and his seven children strikes a chord. Director Brian Sharp embraces the material with a surprisingly traditionalist outlook (particularly using the original script/score featuring “An Ordinary Couple” instead of the revised edition containing film favorites “I Have Confidence” and “Something Good”), but he effectively emphasizes the transformative impact of song within the grief-tinged Trapp family thanks to Maria’s influence. The family finally has a reason to feel reborn and grow harmoniously closer when their voices blend, an element I haven’t sensed in previous productions. In fact, when Maria is told she has brought music back into the Trapp household it is a misty-eyed moment of genuine gratitude that touchingly reiterates Sharp’s approach.

Kelli Locker, an actress who sings, is a highly commendable Maria. She not only grasps Maria’s perky innocence and desire to be liked but the conflicted emotions born of her evolution into womanhood. Locker is also perfectly partnered with the absolutely terrific David Shough, the best Georg I have seen in years. In addition to offering a beautifully tender rendition of “Edelweiss,” Shough fully understands the fine line between pertinent sternness and off-putting rigidity, ensuring his well-crafted performance, which evolves impeccably, maintains an authoritative amiability.

In featured roles, Stephanie Shubert (Liesl), Logan Trzeciak (Friedrich), Taylor Winkleski (Louisa), Ben Kneblik (Kurt), Hope Whitestone (Brigitta), Sophia Shannon (Marta) and the particularly adorable Cate Shannon (Gretl) are enjoyable as the Trapp children. Joan Harrah (Mother Abbess), Laura Bloomingdale (Elsa Schraeder) and James Trzeciak (Max Dettweiler) are vocally strong and offer firm portrayals. As frustrated housekeeper Frau Schmidt, Dodie Lockwood offers a sharp perspective of the Trapp family past and present. David Stephen Thomas (an appealing Rolf), Terry Lupp (Sister Margareta), Cathy Long (Sister Berthe), Marabeth Klejna (Sister Sophia), David Lindsley (Franz) and Craig Smith (Herr Zeller) are also notable.

Bruce Brown provides an excellent scenic design. Costumer Marilyn Johnson supplies a lovely blue dress for Locker late in Act 1. Musical director Ron Kindell leads a steady orchestra.

“The Sound of Music” continues through May 27 at the Dayton Playhouse, 1301 E. Siebenthaler Ave. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Act One: 90 minutes; Act Two: 55 minutes. Tickets are $10-$15.  For tickets or more information, call (937) 424-8477 or visit www.daytonplayhouse.com

Casey Jordan and Samantha Helmstetter in The Phantom of the Opera (contributed photo)

The regional collegiate premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1986 melodramatic megahit “The Phantom of the Opera,” which he co-adapted from the Gaston Leroux novel with Richard Stilgoe and Charles Hart, receives a strikingly designed yet off-kilter staging at Wright State University.

Director W. Stuart McDowell’s knack for creating attractive stage pictures is evident once again, but his decision to place the crux of the vocally impressive show in the hands of Casey Jordan is a big mistake. Jordan, familiar to WSU audiences for delightfully comedic work in “Anything Goes” and “Hairspray,” is simply out of his element attempting to embody the obsessive, maniacal, dungeon-dwelling Opera Ghost threatening the artists and owners of the Paris Opera House in the late 19th century. He oddly aims for a softer, introverted interpretation that leads him on the road to disadvantage because the Phantom, although emotionally wounded, is not a timid sentimentalist at his core. Without credible menace or a darkly brooding sensibility, the imposing role’s dramatic weight is basically non-existent. More startling is the fact that Jordan is completely devoid of passion opposite luminous soprano Samantha Helmstetter as Christine Daae. “Music of the Night” is particularly intended to be an Act 1 knockout, but Jordan, whose overdone hand gestures factor prominently in his performance, spends more time caressing the air instead of Helmstetter. In turn the song becomes a frustrating bore awkwardly worsened by the unnecessary presence of three Muses who repeatedly (or purposefully?) steal focus from Jordan. (I’m shocked McDowell changed the ending in favor of the Muses instead of Christine’s best friend Meg Giry, admirably portrayed by Taryn Lemmons.)

Thankfully, Helmstetter, fantastic two months ago in WSU’s “Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill,” steers the show in the right direction whenever she’s front and center. Her sublime vocals and earnest emotions are saving graces even when the plot deflates toward its sappy conclusion. “Think of Me” and “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again” are poignantly rendered, but I found “Twisted Every Way,” an underrated yet potent moment addressing Christine’s perplexity and torment, to be her finest number in terms of depth. Due to Jordan’s seductive ineptitude, she believably radiates more heat alongside the handsome Patrick Ross (Raoul) who joins her for a heartfelt, lyric-driven “All I Ask of You.”

Kathleen Ferrini as diva Carlotta and Andrew Quiett as Piangi create a humorously conceited bond. They are notably joined by Chrissy Bowen (Madame Giry), Drew Helton (Firmin) Sean Jones (Andre) and the aforementioned Ross for a sharply executed “Notes” and a wonderfully soaring rendition of “Prima Donna” nearly worthy of an encore.
McDowell’s expert tech team consists of set designer Don David, lighting designer Nicholas Crumbley, costumer Lisa Loen, sound designer James Dunlap and properties masters John Lavarnway and Kim Townsend. Choreographer Sarah Wildman specifically ensures “Masquerade” arises with unified flair. Musical director Ryan Heinrich’s terrific orchestra proves Lloyd Webber’s music will always be “Phantom’s” main attraction.

“The Phantom of the Opera” continues through May 27 in the Festival Playhouse Stein Auditorium of the Creative Arts Center at Wright State University, 3640 Col. Glenn Hwy., Fairborn. Performances are May 16-17 and 24 at 7 p.m., May 18-19, 25-26 at 8 p.m. and May 19-20, 26-27 at 2 p.m. Act One: 75 minutes; Act Two: 55 minutes. Tickets are $18-$20. For tickets or more information, call (937) 775-2500.

Over the past several weeks, numerous people have asked if we were going to play MARLEY – the new documentary about the brilliant musician Bob Marley. On Friday, it will finally arrive.
If you still need to see JEFF WHO LIVES AT HOME, Thursday will be your last chance to see it at THE NEON. DAMSELS IN DISTRESS and FOOTNOTE will stick around for another week. Remaining showtimes for this week can be found at our website – www.neonmovies.com.

And speaking of customer requests…we’ve had more calls and questions about THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL than any other film in recent memory. Fear not! It opens Friday, May 25.

Synopsis for MARLEY: “Bob Marley’s universal appeal, impact on music history and role as a social and political prophet is both unique and unparalleled. Marley is the definitive life story of the musician, revolutionary, and legend, from his early days to his rise to international superstardom. Made with the support of the Marley family, the film features rare footage, incredible performances and revelatory interviews with the people that knew him best.” Join us for our OPENING NIGHT PATIO PARTY. Before Friday’s 7:15 screening, live acoustic music will be presented on our patio by M Hunter of Columbus (performance begins at 6PM)!

On Wednesday, May 23 at 6:30pm, United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 75 has rented out our space for a special screening of INSIDE JOB – “the first film to expose the shocking truth behind the economic crisis of 2008″…and they’re inviting you to join them. “UFCW 75 represents nearly 30,000 members along the I-75 corridor in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky; our members work mostly in supermarkets, drug stores, food packing and food processing plants, and in health care facilities. We are Ohio’s largest private sector union. For questions, more information, or to RSVP, email info@ufcw75.org.” (details provided by UFCW 75)

For those of you who use Facebook, we finally have an actual page…not just a “group” page. We will soon be fazing out the old group, so please LIKE us by visiting our page – which now has a very easy address: www.facebook.com/neonmovies
And don’t forget that your movie ticket gets you 15% off your food order at Sa-Bai…located directly behind THE NEON.

Thanks for your continued support.
We hope to see you soon,
Jonathan

SHOWTIMES for
Fri. May 18 – Thur. May 24:

MARLEY (PG-13) 2 Hr 24 Min
Friday, Saturday: 1:00, 4:15, 7:15, 10:00
Sunday: 1:00, 4:15, 7:15
Monday – Thursday: 3:30, 7:15

FOOTNOTE (PG) 1 Hr 43 Min
Friday, Saturday, Sunday: 12:50, 3:00, 7:20
Monday & Tuesday: 3:00, 7:20
Wednesday: 3:00
Thursday: 3:00, 7:20

DAMSELS IN DISTRESS (PG-13) 1 Hr 39 Min
Friday, Saturday: 5:10, 9:30
Sunday: 5:10
Monday & Tuesday: 5:10
Wednesday: no screenings
Thursday: 5:10

INSIDE JOB (PG-13)
Wednesday: 6:00 – RSVP Required

COMING SOON:
As always, all dates are tentative.  Many of these dates will change.
In some rare cases, titles may disappear.
May 25 THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL
June 1 SOUND OF MY VOICE
June 15 THE INTOUCHABLES
June 29 MOONRISE KINGDOM
July 6 TO ROME WITH LOVE
July 13 YOUR SISTER’S SISTER
July 27 BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
TBD WHERE DO WE GO NOW?
DARLING COMPANION
LOLA VERSUS

“Wicked” Watch!

Just a reminder to all you lovers of the Stephen Schwartz’s musical juggernaut, “Wicked” hits town on May 30th and stays through June 24. Tickets are on sale and good seats are still available! Visit the Victoria Theatre Association website at www.victoriatheatre.com for ticketing and further details.

Now Playing!

The Sound of Music

Dayton Playhouse

The Skinny: Dayton Playhouse’s well-received rendition of the classic continues this weekend and next. Tickets are on sale but my sources tell me seats are going fast. Like, super-fast. So if you want to see and hear all the songs you love so well, or introduce them to a new generation, it behooves you to call the box office at 937.242.8477 or to go to the website post haste!

Dates: The Sound of Music continues this weekend and closes on Sunday, May 27th.

Tickets: Please go online to www.thedaytonplayhouse.com to purchase tickets or get further information.

Coming Soon!

Band Geeks!

The Human Race Theatre Company

The Skinny: The Cuyahoga Marching Beavers are 75 trombones short of a Music Man, and there’s only one cornet left, but while the band may be close to extinction, its spirit isn’t. Band Geeks! is a rousing Glee with instruments, a tribute to the tribulations of the millions who have spent football halftimes pounding out Sousa-like renditions of “Maria.” If you were ever in a school band, ever knew someone in a school band, even ever heard a school band, you’ll recognize the woes and revel in the fun of Band Geeks!

Dates: Band Geeks! opens on May 31st and runs through June 17th.

Tickets: For ticketing and more information, please visit the Human Race Theatre Company website at www.humanracetheatre.org

The Laramie Project

Sinclair Community College Theatre Dept.

The Skinny: A powerful portrait of one town’s healing in the face of terrible tragedy. Five weeks after Matthew Shepard was kidnapped, beaten and left to die on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyo., members of the Tectonic Theater Project traveled to the small town to begin a series of more than 200 interviews with its residents. The result was The Laramie Project, a poignant and deeply moving play that showcases man’s capacity for both brutal intolerance and breathtaking compassion. Named one of Time Magazine’s 10 best plays of 2000.

Dates: The Laramie Project opens May 18th and closes May 26. There is a 1o:00 am performance on Wednesday, May 23rd, as well as an evening performance on Thursday, May 24th.

Tickets: For ticketing and more information, please visit the Sinclair Community College Theatre Department page at www.sinclair.edu/arts/theatre/season/

Shameless Self-Promotion!

In the interest of full-disclosure, I’ll admit here and now that I’m the Production Assistant for the Dayton Gay Men’s Chorus, so I’m all sorts of biased about their sheer awesomeness. That having been said, the DGMC’s productions aren’t exactly theatre, but I’m going to give them a plug here anyway:

ExtrABBAganza!

The Skinny: The DGMC’s Pride Weekend concert this year features the music of everyone’s favorite Swedes: ABBA. This 2-act, full-length concert is guaranteed to get you clapping and grooving in your seats!

Date: Pride Saturday, June 2nd at the Victoria Theatre.

Tickets: Tickets are on sale now and are cheaper when pre-ordered! Go to the Victoria Theatre Association website at www.victoriatheatre.com for further event-specific information. For more information on the DGMC, including history and Mission Statement, visit their website at www.daytongaymenschorus.org

I think that about wraps it up for this fortnight! Remember, contact me with anything you want to see mentioned, as well as any questions, comments, criticisms or witticisms (apologies to Terry Stump, Technical Director at Sinclair Community College, from whom I shamelessly stole that last bit!)

Join Five Rivers MetroParks for the annual Bike to Work Day Pancake Breakfast, 6-9 a.m. Friday, May 18, at RiverScape MetroPark. Details at www.metroparks.org/biketowork

Who’s got two thumbs and can help save the world while saving some dough and burning calories? This girl! And that guy, and that girl, and that girl, and especially that polydactyl guy. That’s right, anyone can accomplish this earth-friendly laundry list simply by biking to work. Celebrate your two-wheeled liberation on Friday, May 18, with a free pancake breakfast at RiverScape MetroPark, compliments of your outdoorsy pals at Five Rivers MetroParks.

Since gaining status as a bronze-level bike-friendly berg, Dayton’s cycling population has grown. New initiatives include the City of Dayton’s program that will place 100 new bike racks in strategic downtown locations. Following in the footsteps of other cities that have proven the “if-you-build-it-they-will-come” strategy is effective, the bike racks should provide ample parking to some of downtown’s coolest spots. Bonus—no more circling the block like a parking space vulture or endless see-sawing as you attempt to squeeze your four-door sedan into a parallel spot that could barely accommodate the recently vacated Geo Metro.

Besides ample parking right next to your destination, swapping your car for the bike has myriad benefits. Let’s talk economics. Let’s say you fill your 14-gallon tank once every two weeks. If gas prices were to stay at a reasonable $3.50 per gallon (maybe there’s no turmoil in the Middle East because everyone went on vacation?), you spend about $1,274 a year on gas. Reduce that cost by putting your foot to the pedal instead of the pedal to the metal. Studies show us that 25 percent of all trips are made within a mile of the home, 40 percent of all trips are within 2 miles of the home, and 50 percent of the working population commutes 5 miles or less to work—yet 82 percent of these trips made that are 5 miles or less are made by motor vehicle!

Photo by Elzora.com Photography

What if you used a bike for those short trips? Even if you start small—one trip 2 miles away or less once a week for a year—you can still save some money. In my beautiful hypothetical world where gas prices hover at $3.50, you could save about $50 a year! If this doesn’t seem like a lot of money to you, please send all your extra cash my way because I’d love an extra $50 a year. I’d stop in the middle of the street to pick up a quarter!

If the wallet surplus isn’t enough motivation, how about the health aspect? Steady cycling burns approximately 300 calories per hour. If you cycle for 30 minutes every day you would burn 11 pounds of fat in a year. (This solves the mystery of how those bike commuters pack away thousands of flapjacks at our bike to work event every year and manage to avoid stretching out their spandex.) Bad knees you say? Pish posh! The Mayo Clinic suggests adding exercise like cycling to increase your mobility if you suffer from arthritis or other types of joint pain. Any way you slice it, using your bike is beneficial.

What? Being rich and fit don’t rank high on your personal goals? What if I told you cycling could make the world a better place? Recent studies reveal big payouts for bike-friendly cities. Researchers reviewed the effects of using a bike instead of a car in 11 different cities around the upper Midwest. Combining data on air quality, medical costs, mortality rates, car accidents and physical fitness, the research team discovered that if residents of the sample cities used bikes for just half of their short trips (less than 5 miles), they’d create a net societal health benefit of $3.5 billion annually from reduced air pollution, and net $3.8 billion in health care savings from those Midwest denizens being so trim.

Find a bikeway near you: www.metroparks.org/cycling

Of course because this is a Five Rivers MetroParks initiative, there is another ecological angle here. Those who drive 5 miles to work daily produce roughly 1860 pounds of greenhouse gases (CO2) into the atmosphere each year. It would take 133 fully matured trees per year to absorb those yearly emissions. Think about that for a second. Imagine planting 133 trees for your car alone. Now think about how many of your fellow commuters you see each day. We need another 133 trees to off-set the carbon from all those vehicles, and unless we’re willing to grow trees on a Cambrian-era level, we’re going to have to find ways to reduce our pollution.

If you think you have what it takes to start bike commuting but you’re not confident enough in your skills to make it to this Friday’s pancake breakfast, try taking the bike commuting class from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 23. This program will include bike terminology, commuting equipment and trip and bike preparation. You’ll also get an overview of traffic laws, potential hazards, safe-riding skills and proper route planning.

Use the bike instead of the car. Start small—commute one short trip once a week and see how you like it. Uneasy about traffic rules? Check out the monthly Courteous Mass rides. This group-led ride will orient you to the rules of the road (Rule #1: Bikes are recognized as “vehicles” in the eyes of the law, so not only is it your right to ride on the road, it’s your legal obligation) in a safe environment. The group meets around 5:30 p.m. at Fifth Third Field on the first Friday of each month. Get in gear for your health, your finances and the environment!

Griffin House

15 bands is good, but 23 is even better.  If you haven’t already marked your calendar for the Downtown Dayton Revival Music Festival on September 8th and 9th, you’ve got 8 more reasons to do so.  Festival organizers have just announced the following additions to their lineup including:

Red Wanting Blue (Columbus)

Griffin House (Springfield native)

The Werks (Dayton/Columbus)

Needmore

Brent James and the Contraband

Burnt Sugar

Bad Sines (Dayton)

Wheels (Yellow Springs)

Wheels

“We are very excited to add this group of talented artists to our already exceptional lineup,” said Matt Luongo, President, Downtown Revival, LLC.    “With these additions to our existing lineup, as well as one more round of  bands to be announced at the end of May, we are confident there will be  something for everyone at the first ever Downtown Dayton Revival and cannot  wait to bring these great bands to downtown Dayton in September.”

That’s right, there are still more band announcements to come.  In the meantime, two day passes and are available at www.downtownrevival.com.  Early bird ticket prices are $55 and include entry into a contest for a VIP package upgrade including access to the VIP hospitality tent, invitations to a Friday night preview party, artist meet and greet, and other exciting upgrades.  Early bird tickets are limited in quantity and will be on sale until May 31st or  until sold out.

The Werks

CONFIRMED ARTISTS: John Legend, Train, Guided By Voices, Guster, Rusted Root, Heartless Bastards, Motel Beds, Red Wanting Blue, Karl Denson’s Tiny  Universe, Andy Grammar, Griffin House, Brent James and the Contraband, Mat  Kearney, Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers, Kristy Lee, Tony Lucca, Ivan  Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Bronze Radio Return, Bad Sines, Burnt Sugar, The Werks, and Wheels.