Columbus, Ohio USA
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Dis 'n' Data
By Margaret Marten, Editor
email margaret@shortnorth.com
December 2006
Short North Gazette jazz columnist Frederick Peerenboom, aka Fritz the Nite Owl, was featured in the October 31 issue of the Chillicothe Gazette. The article, titled “A friend in the darkness – Fritz the Nite Owl: Horror host of our youth” written by Ryan Kelley, provides an inspiring overview of Fritz’s career as movie host on WBNS-10TV. His “Nite Owl Theater” garnered five Emmys for on-air performance during its 17-year run from 1974 to 1991, after which Fritz won a final Emmy. The lengthy Web link to the Chillicothe article can be found online at www.shortnorth.com/Fritz.html
Elements of Art-Gallery owner Roman Czech, subject of our November cover, has been chosen by the City of Dublin, Ohio, as one of 10 artists from the U.S. and Canada to submit concepts for a new community site dedicated to “veterans, people currently serving in the military and the family members left behind by those serving their country.” The final selection among the 10 candidates will be announced in March 2007.
Victorian Village resident, and Vice President of the Short North Neighbor-hood Foundation, Stephen Weed recently suffered the loss of his father, Thurlow “Tad” Weed, who passed away on November 7 at Riverside Methodist Hospital. We extend our condolences to Stephen and his family. The notice in The Columbus Dispatch describing Tad’s accomplishments, particularly in the field of sports, was extensive. Especially noteworthy was his invention of the Weed Tennis Racquet, an oversized racquet said to be the largest legal one in the industry and to have transformed the face of modern American tennis. Tad owned and designed racquets for Weed USA Co. In addition to the sport of tennis, he excelled at golf, basketball, track, swimming, figureskating, hockey, skiing and football. He was a 1956 graduate of Ohio State University where he served as a specialist place-kicker for the National Champion Football team of 1954 under coach Woody Hayes. A reprint of the Dispatch notice (including mention of his meeting with Ernest Hemingway in Cuba) can be found online at www.gcta.net/tadweedobit.html. For those who wish to send condolences to the family, visit www.schoedinger.comOur Pizza Directory lost a listing last summer when Papa Joe’s at 976 N. High folded, to the dismay of many Short North pizza fans who frequented the shop, but thanks to Jason Fabian, head chef at Barley’s Brewing Company, the Short North has been blessed with a classy pizza establishment that more than makes up for the loss. In September, Fabian’s Chicago Style Pizza Place opened at 691 N. High St. where Panima’s Deli was formerly housed. Fabian’s is open 7 days a week. A handy menu is included on their Web site at www.fabianspizza.com. They can be reached at 614-221-8240.
With the closing of Panima’s Deli, however, we lost a listing for our Sunday Breakfast Directory. Thankfully, the breakfast gap was promptly filled by the opening of 8 at 733 N. High St. The New York-styled lounge/restaurant owned by Bobby Barua, Amit Patel and Mike Yohman offers a Sunday brunch from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. – with Bloody Mary Bar. They open each day at 11 a.m. and close late. Their number is 614-294-2413.
Another restaurant development (last July) was the opening of Oodles Noodle & Dumpling Bar at 765 Neil Ave. in the space previously occupied by China Wok in Thurber Village Shopping Center. The newly formed franchise was developed by Dae Oh who also owns Tyfoon and Shoku here in Columbus. The Asian menu focuses on noodle dishes. They are open 7 days a week from 11:30 a.m. until 9 p.m. Visit www.gooodles.com
Something a little different: What The Rock?!, a shop specializing in unique rock and roll lifestyle items, opened at 1116 N. High St. Owners Michael Renner and wife Heather Ziegler recently relocated to Ohio from California to be near their families. Heather is from Upper Arlington and Mike hails from Lorain. The pair brings a wealth of retail management experience with them after spending 12 years working in San Francisco and Santa Cruz. Their inventory includes T-shirts, belt buckles, patches, stickers, buttons, sunglasses, books, houseware items and baby clothes – all rock and roll related. Mike says the name of the shop came about after brainstorming with family and friends. He decided that the name “sparked interest and excitement all in the same breath.” And that’s what they’re all about. Heather and Mike can be reached at 614-294-9428 (WHAT). Their Web site is www.whattherock.com
The North Market Bell Tower construction project has just about reached its halfway mark with a generous donation of $1,125 from the Short North Neighbor-hood Foundation (SNNF). Plenty of folks have contributed toward the project by buying a brick for $125 to be incorporated into the design with their engraved name or message. The project calls for a century-old bell (currently in the North Market basement) to be restored and placed in a tower similar to the one that was destroyed by a fire in 1948. The Market also plans to revive the custom of ringing the bell to commence and close each business day.
St. Mark Evangelical Lutheran Church closed its doors on November 5, 2006, as a result of low attendance and declining membership. The building, located at 95 W. Fifth Ave., was built in 1915 to replace the white frame church which served the congregation beginning in 1885. To honor the memory of this institution and its congregation, we plan to write a story about St. Mark and its history. If anyone has information or thoughts on the subject that they would like to share, feel free to contact us at 614-251-0656.
Further south at Park and Goodale, the original church building of the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral constructed in the early 1920s will be demolished to make way for a $1.5 million expansion. The front half of this original building on Park Street was converted to a chapel, which is rarely used, and the back half to a bookstore. Alternatives other than demolition were considered but “none was architecturally and economically feasible,” according to parish councilmember John Bizios. The new construction will have classrooms, storage space and a small chapel or memorial room. The Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral currently serves a 900-family congregation.
The Columbus Dispatch is striving to “maintain their vitality” – like all of us. And in an effort to do so and to “improve the quality and speed of service,” they have opted to eliminate about 90 positions in their graphic design area by April 2007. Instead, they have chosen to contract with an Illinois-based company in which most work will be handled by employees in Pune, India, where advertisements for The Dispatch will be created. We hope this extra effort on their part remedies the lack of quality and speed of service they perceive among their current employees.
One of our readers noted (last October) that in a span of six weeks on the same block on the same side of Neil Avenue in Victorian Village, three baby boys were born. Numbers one and two lived right next to each other and were born two weeks apart. The third lives down the block a ways and was born four weeks later. Our correspondent concludes that it “must be something in the water.”
News about upcoming events in the neighborhood can be found in this issue on pages 16-17 as well as among the classified listings on pages 32-33.Email the Editor
margaret@shortnorth.com
or call 614-251-0656©2006 Short North Gazette, Columbus, Ohio. All rights reserved.