The concept of a town’s third places – that is, places outside of home and work that are significant to its residents – was first coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg in his 1989 book, The Great Good Place. A person’s family and work are important, but more touchpoints are essential to derive a meaningful quality of life and provide a sense of belonging within a larger community. It’s all too easy to become lost within a cone of isolation given the constant bombardment of electronic stimuli, with the incessant din of media recounting widespread polarization and rancor feeding a disconcerting sense of loneliness.

The most straightforward remedy is to venture away from screens and outside your door to connect with neighbors to affirm our common needs and humanity. We look at four places and organizations that enrich Middletown’s social fabric in their own unique ways.

Middletown Community Foundation (MCF)
MCF operates within an unassuming second-floor office on North Main St. at the edge of downtown Middletown. In and of itself, it’s not a third place. However, through the contributions that it makes to various organizations throughout the city that touch various facets of community life, it enriches many places where local families find enjoyment and purpose.

MCF has existed since 1986 and has grown into a robust foundation that maintains $43 million in assets. Large Middletown employers, such as Cleveland Cliffs, Cohen Recycling, and Cronin Ford, provide support for Middletown Community Foundation, but the generosity of ordinary citizens makes its mission possible. The organization disburses approximately $2.5 million in scholarships and grants annually, with an emphasis on education, such as through its scholarship program for college-bound high-school seniors. MCF engages 40 community volunteers who interview applicants from seven schools within the Middletown area, with roughly 120 students ultimately receiving awards.

Executive director Sarah Nathan, who’s been in her position for three years, noted the importance of MCF’s work amid the challenges cities like Middletown face.

“The social and economic challenges that smaller cities in the Rust Belt face are many,” she said. “Yet, there’s exciting momentum here and a new generation of leaders who are committed to creating positive change. The cadre of volunteers and donors who care about Middletown shows just how hyper-local giving can have the most direct and powerful impact.”

MCF allocates approximately $500,000 each year for its competitive grantmaking program. In 2024, its competitive grants comprised 20% for arts and recreation, including for the expansion and renovation of the lobby of the historic Sorg Opera House and supporting teams participating in Middie Way Youth Baseball; 20% for event sponsorships, such as Middletown Lyric Theater and Downtown Middletown Inc.’s civic events program; 25% for human services, including helping Family Services of Middletown fight food insecurity, and the Neighbors Who Care home-repair program; and 35% for education, including backing Middletown City Schools’ Adopt-A-Class program and the CarePortal, an online platform that connects families to vital resources.

As MCF’s leadership moves toward its 40th anniversary, Nathan said the organization is reaching an inflection point: “A lot of our most devoted volunteers are now in their 70s and 80s, so it’s important for us to attract a new generation of donors and volunteers. Plans are underway to celebrate MCF’s anniversary, and we look forward to sharing them with the community when the time is right.”

Breiel Church
A new poll showing a nationwide decline is religiosity and church attendance seemingly arrives every month. A half-century ago, the church was an omnipresent bulwark of communal life; today, the influence of religious institutions has waned somewhat. Some churches are fighting this trend by modernizing worship services and making a concerted effort to make their churches more welcoming.

Mike Hammer, the senior pastor at Middletown’s Breiel Church, a 112-year-old house of worship affiliated with the Church of God, noted a key reason for the decline in church attendance: “A lot of people have been hurt by their church and abandoned faith. It’s important for us as churches and as individual Christians to own mistakes, and to be better people and more loving.”

The church has approximately 500 members, and around 275 people attend a typical Sunday service. A graduate of Eastern Nazarene Seminary and a pastor for 19 years, he previously served as minister with churches in Punxsutawney and Altoona, Penn. He appreciates the closeness of Middletown residents, and its proximity to large cities. “At the cities where I pasted previously, you were two to three hours from a major concert or sporting event. I’m glad to be only 30 minutes from Cincinnati and Dayton now.”

He’s seen the role of pastor evolve considerably during his career, Hammer said, “At one time, the role of a pastor was to be shepherd three times a week, to serve as a guide to the congregation. Now, I see a pastor as being more actively engaged in the day-to-day life of the church and its congregation. We don’t just lead; we share more of our lives and experiences with worshippers. We share more of our humanity.”

Hammer said that one way the church tries to invest in camaraderie beyond worship services is the development of small groups that bring people enclaves of the congregation together by gender, age, and family status. He also noted the church’s vigorous efforts to be of service to help those in need locally and beyond, whether it be through donations to community food pantries or in helping hurricane victims, such as the church’s ongoing collections for Hurricane Helene victims throughout fall.

Hammer also recognizes the church’s role in helping deescalate partisanship and animosity triggered by hot-button political or cultural topics. He said, “We have members from all across the political spectrum. I made it clear that we would not take any kind of position along any political lines. We’ve had members try to distribute pamphlets and put signs up on church property endorsing candidates and issues, and that has to be a hard no. Churches cannot sow division if they want to succeed in their mission.”

Middletown Arts Center
Kate Morrow Dykes, the executive director of the Middletown Arts Center (MAC), dove into exploring creative mediums during her undergrad years at Ohio University, where she made jewelry and collaborated with other artists as a catalyst in fueling artistic passion. As she evolved her talents through ceramics, metalsmithing, and stained glass, she cultivated a common thread of building relationships with artistic communities, which led her to her current role. She’s served as the MAC executive director for five years, after previously instructing classes and managing the center's website and social media.

A life-long student herself, “I started taking classes here as a child, and for many years as an adult, so it’s been my home away from home for a long time, as it is for so many,” Dykes said.

The MAC offers classes where anyone can learn painting, ceramics, drawing, fiber arts, glass, jewelry, enamel, and photography, among other disciplines. As director, Dykes has collaborated with MAC’s board, staff, and volunteers to grow its education, exhibition, and community outreach efforts. “Our outreach programming has flourished,” says Dykes, “with a focus on connecting with underrepresented audiences. Collaboration has been key to this growth. Over the past five years, we’ve increased our community partnerships by 160%, working with local businesses, nonprofits and other organizations. We now serve over 1,000 residents with free outreach programming.”

The MAC prioritizes the creativity and diversity of local and regional artists, providing them with a platform to share their unique voices and perspectives. By showcasing their work, the MAC enriches our community’s cultural landscape, but also connects audiences to the artistic talent thriving in our region. Each year, the arts center proudly displays the work of over 600 artists, offering them a space to exhibit and sell their creations, which helps sustain the local economy and draw visitors to the region. Annually the MAC stages several exhibitions that showcase artistry in our region, including a photography and digital art exhibit, and the Area Art Exhibition, which is open to artists 18 and over who live within a 50-mile radius. Teenage artists who live in the region are invited to enter Tomorrow’s Artist Today competition.

In addition to its annual exhibitions, the MAC also brings refreshing unique shows to its schedule every year. As an example, Dykes cited a recent exhibit, Mixed Signals, by Dayton-based artist Brian Mathus, a regional artist who she said “creates deeply introspective and visually striking works exploring themes of identity, perception, and emotional clarity. His work resonates with audiences, inviting them to reflect on their own perspectives and experiences.”

Art’s ability to connect people with different worldviews is often underappreciated but is especially important in partisanship-tinged times. She said, “The arts transcend differences, speaking directly to our shared humanity through creativity and storytelling. The arts remind us of our common ground and provide a space for artistic expression and dialogue. One of the comments I hear most often—and the one that makes me proudest—is how welcoming our center feels. We’ve worked hard to create a space where everyone, regardless of age or ability, feels comfortable. At the heart of it, art is for everyone!”

In 2025, the MAC will launch its new Annual Event Series that Dykes said will “celebrate arts and culture in extraordinary ways [with a] dynamic series designed to captivate and engage with participatory experiences.” Sponsorship funds raised will support sustainability and further its mission. Also, the MAC is transforming one of their studios into an exciting new vision – a community room. The grant-funded project will create a space that features a variety of artmaking stations, including a creativity-inducing space with an interactive magnetic glass mosaic wall. The new space will help the MAC accommodate field trips and other group events.

Sorg Opera House
Sorg Opera House was built in 1891 by Paul Sorg, Middletown’s first millionaire, and designed by noted architect Samuel Hannaford. The 1,200-seat venue began showing movies in 1901, and its endured through several incarnations as a movie theater and performance venue until 2010, when a water-main break forced its closure. The Middletown icon was in danger of demolition when the nonprofit Friends of the Sorg was created in 2012 to save The Sorg from the wrecking ball. A $250,000 replacement of the building’s HVAC system provided a vital first step in rehabilitating the Sorg, and it has since opened for musical and theatrical performances, as well as classic movie screenings. However, repairs and renovations remain an ongoing challenge for such an historic building.

“There are several capital projects ongoing,” said Larry Mulligan, a music teacher at Middletown Fenwick High School and a Sorg board member, “We’ve recently repaired the roof, upgraded the electricity, and fixed the drop ceiling. We’re in the middle of a two-year lobby-renovation, and there’s still a lot of work to do both aesthetically and structurally.”

Mulligan is grateful for the community’s coalescing behind the Sorg’s revitalization efforts. The Sorg’s leadership has hatched creative ways to stoke interest, such as TGIF 13 on December 13, with screenings of the first Friday the 13th movie with Traditionally Twisted Tattoo setting up a pop-up parlor in the lobby and food trucks set up outside, and Craftyblanca, a January 4 matinee of the Humphrey Bogart classic with lights turned up so people can bring their knitting to work on while watching a cornerstone of the Golden Age of Cinema.

Another major renovation is the upgrading of the front space of the building, which will be retrofitted to accommodate an office or retail shop that’s slated to be ready in early 2026.


You can read earlier articles in the Soapbox Partner City Middletown series here.

The Soapbox Partner City Middletown series is made possible with support from Cincinnati Commercial Contracting (CCC) and the Middletown Chamber of Commerce serving Middletown, Monroe and Trenton.