When people patronize Carillon Brewing Company in Dayton this month, they’ll discover a Valentine-worthy beer — beet ale — that’s vibrant, earthy, and perfect for winning over hearts and waking up taste buds. “It’s a red ale, made from beet sugar, that’s sweet and very tasty,” says Brady Kress, the Dayton History president and CEO who masterminded Carillon Brewing.
Location: Downtown Xenia, about one block from the Greene County Courthouse.
Provenance: Brothers George and Andrew Dodds, both of whom were stonemasons and immigrants from Scotland, started making memorials in Yellow Springs in 1859. Five years later, they relocated to a building on West Main Street in the railroad hub of Xenia. It’s now one of the nation’s largest monument companies.
Attractions across Ohio host dining events throughout the year that feature more than just food — the guests of honor include historic figures (actors, impersonators, or simply historians with a flair for the dramatic, most with Ohio ties) and make for enriching experiences that combine a dash of education with a huge helping of dinner theater.
Keith Taylor epitomizes a jolly calm when he ushers his guest into the White Pillars Christmas House before hours on an early fall morning. With Christmas still three months away, he and his wife, Yolanda, are preparing for the seasonal rush, confident that what they have to offer not only competes with, but surpasses, what one may obtain in a sterile online transaction.
By far, the question Kevin and Debbie Kleer hear most this time of year is, “Can reindeer really fly?”
The Kleers run Kleerview Farm near Bellville, Ohio, in southern Richland County, and kids are there with their parents mostly to pick out a Christmas tree and see Santa. The real attraction, however, is the Kleers’ small herd of nine live reindeer — Blitzen, Noel, Belle, Nicholas, Crystal, Jingles, Clarice, Felice, and Cherry — which obviously prompts lots of questions, from both kids and adults.
No one ever went into the vintage toy business out of dreary obligation.
In fact, many of the people we met during our look at vintage toy stores around Ohio started as hobbyists collecting the memories of their own childhoods.
“A hobby turned into a business,” says Mike Patterson, owner of Mike’s Vintage Toys in Springboro, describing his career path.
