Westwood

Ameenah C. Hall

Local winery makes national list

Cincinnati may be the last place you’d expect to find a winery, but Henke has been around for more than a decade. Read the full story here.

Madcap puppets get a new home

What makes a business district more friendly than puppets? In Westwood, neighborhood redevelopment gets a boost from some of the city’s most colorful characters, the troupe from Madcap Productions, which moves into a bigger, better space this year. For more than 30 years, Madcap’s traditional and contemporary puppeteering have engaged audiences of all ages. Thanks to a new grant, Madcap can move from its Glenway location to a bigger space that will include a theater. In a partnership with the Westwood Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation, Madcap was invited to the new space in an effort to help restore the historic business district in Westwood.  The grant came after a two-year search by Madcap leaders who found the Neighborhood District Development Fund and received the capital grant from the City of Cincinnati. “We are working with several private and public community organizations,” says John Lewandowski, artistic director at Madcap. “We are excited to reanimate the district and become an anchor for the community.” Performing hundreds of shows each year for tens of thousands of people each season, Madcap has garnered national and international attention. The troupe travels around the country, performing at schools, with symphonies and even with local artists such as Know Theater.   “We’ll be able to open our new shoes in our own theater,” Lewandowski says. “We’ll be able to invite local and regional audiences.” The new building, on Harrison Avenue in Westwood, will give Madcap a 200-seat performance space, a space to display their 600-plus-puppet collection and opportunities to expand workshops and educational offerings. Lewandowski hopes to have the doors open this spring, but he has no set date for performances. Working with teachers to immerse children in the arts is the backbone of Madcap’s educational programs. With the added square-footage, Madcap will be able to host larger workshops that focus on children in grades K-6, where they learn about storytelling, literature and even get to make their own puppets. While children remain a large focus of the non-profit, Lewandowski makes sure the performances appeal to adults as well as children. “We reach an enormous span of ages,” Lewandowski says. “Puppets can reach four-year olds, all the way up to adults.” By Evan Wallis

Historic Mt. Airy celebrates history, nature

Once, the forests of western Ohio were so dense, a squirrel could travel by tree from the Ohio River to Lake Erie and never once touch the ground. In today’s urban landscape, it is hard to imagine those many miles of dark woods that once blanketed Hamilton County. Mt. Airy Forest’s 1,471 acres of wooded ravines and hiking and bridle trails offer city residents a glimpse into that past, even in the midst of highways and urban sprawl. The Mt. Airy Forest Festival, Oct.8, celebrates the history of this park’s creation 100 years ago and its legacy as one of, if not the first, urban reforestation projects in the country. In 1911, the Cincinnati Park Board established this park with the purchase of poorly managed farmland and began to reforest and enlarge it. The physical development of the park - its roads, trails, lodges, arboretum, stone walls and open shelters – was the work of the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and Works Progress Administration (WPA). For its rustic architecture, the rich history behind its construction and the early reforestation of an urban area, the park was recently listed as a historic site on the National Register of Historic Places.   Mt. Airy Forest Festival celebrates that designation with the installation of a National Park Service plaque. History interpreters and members of three history encampments will celebrate Cincinnati’s history, discuss the work of the CCC, the paths of the Underground Railroad through Hamilton County and Civil War stories. The day also features an annual Amazing Family Race, games for all ages and food vendors.   Do Good: Attend: Mt. Airy Forest Festival, October 8, 11 am-5 pm, Oak Ridge Lodge. Learn:  About the rich history of the Cincinnati Parks and what the parks offer residents today. Volunteer: Contact the Cincinnati Parks to discover many volunteer opportunities in the parks. By Becky Johnson

Just tossing around the old bag of corn

This summer — from the Jersey Shore to Brooklyn, and from the Hamptons to the Catskills —the satisfying thump of weighted sacks hitting plywood of cornhole reverberated across New York area beaches, lawns, rooftops and city sidewalks. Read the whole story here.

Young People’s drama plays out on stage

One summer. Nine performances in two weeks. Sound like a blast? If you think so, and you're a Cincinnati youngster, The Young People's Theater might be the perfect way to spend your summer.  Started in 1982 by Executive Director Tim Perrino, The Young People's Theater began as a summer camp for child thespians at the Dunham Recreation Center and Westwood Town Hall. Thirty years later, the program exists under the umbrella of Cincinnati Landmark Productions, which also operates the theater on the Showboat Majestic. "The Young People's Theater is the genesis of everything we've done," says Perrino. "I was looking to do what I did with my summers as a kid and it just gained momentum." Each summer more than 100 children audition for the chance to perform with The Young People's Theater at the Covedale Performance Art Center. The space was purchased exclusively for the program in 2002. This summer, the theater put on a performance of "Crazy For You," a musical based on George Gershwin's "Girl Crazy" with Judy Garland. "Crazy For You" is a 90s adaptation that packed more Gershwin songs from other musicals into the score. Two of the nine performances sold out and each show boasted at least 350 audience members, Perrino said. Last year's production of "Les Miserables" sold out every night.  "It's all about the show," Perrino says. "We give them the experience by putting on a full- scale musical production." Do Good:  • Volunteer. Visit the website to get involved. Operational meetings for next summer's program begin in December. You can get involved in everything from set design to costumes. • Donate: YPT benefits from outside donations and also offers two $500 scholarships for child actors. • Make a friend: Facebook "like" Cincinnati Landmark Productions. By Ryan McLendon

Urban farming program keeps growing at Findlay Market

Hundreds flock to Findlay Market every week to stock their pantry, snack on samples and pay homage to the local agro-businesses that surround the city. But Findlay Market also gives residents the opportunity to learn about sustainable farming from the ground up, literally. In partnership with the USDA, The Corporation for Findlay Market has been training de facto urban farms hand since 2009 to cultivate produce on local farm land that will eventually be sold at the market, thus increasing access to locally grown foods to Cincinnatians.The project, dubbed Findlay Markey Farms!, recently received another $30,000 grant from the Greater Cincinnati Foundation  http://www.gcfdn.org/ to continue the farming on urban acres within the city. "We created to the project because we knew we had more demand for local produce than we had supply," says Karen Kahle, resource development director for Findlay Market. The grant allows Findlay Market Farms! to hire an urban farming manager, in partnership the Civic Garden Center.  It also helps train two dozen apprentice farmers and provides funds for equipment and supplies.The four plots of land used by Findlay Market Farms! are located in Over-the-Rhine, Hartwell and Westwood. Hundreds of volunteers from local organizations, schools and universities have helped with the project, Kahle says. They recently hired their fourth co-op student in urban planning from the University of Cincinnati's College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP) Kahle says that the skills Findlay Market Farms! teaches could help residents make a career of urban farming."We feel confident that on a quarter acre lot with an extended growing season, folks can make living as an urban farmer after a couple years," she says.Do Good:• Volunteer.  Donate a few hours a week to help maintain a plot in your area. Email for details.• Go shopping. Support the local growers by purchasing produce at Findlay Market.• Join the Friends of Findlay Market. Stay up-to-date on the latest news and opportunities at the Market.By Ryan McLendonPhoto courtesy Friends of Findlay Market

Nuisance ordinance reform a key to healthy neighborhood development

Residents of several Cincinnati neighborhoods gathered at Tuesday's meeting of the city's Public Safety Committee to vent frustration. Their concern is the pace of proposed reforms that would refine a city ordinance intended to root out crime and public nuisance hot spots.Chapter 761 of the Cincinnati Municipal Code, better known as the chronic nuisance ordinance, gives the city authorization to impose fines and other penalties for landlords whose properties are the site of significantly-above-average numbers of police calls for service. Since its creation in 2006, the ordinance has endured a number of lawsuits over its constitutionality, and underwent modification in early 2009. A council motion filed at the end of 2010 called for public hearings on the changes, in response to public concern that the changes weakened the law.That hearing was supposed to have taken place no later than January 2011. It has yet to be scheduled. And for a number of city residents, the matter is getting tiresome. The debate over the law's final form has the potential to weaken it too much, they say, and they expressed concern that the ordinance isn't being enforced in the meantime."I am so fed up and tired of having to come down here over the same issue, just to see that the ordinance is enforced," said North Avondale resident Michelle Baxter.Westwood resident Chris Kearney agreed, and added that he sees the chronic nuisance ordinance as a key to healthy development in Cincinnati neighborhoods struggling with crime and blight."I believe the chronic nuisance ordinance is a part of solving our budget situation," he said. "People are losing confidence in our neighborhoods."Council members Cecil Thomas and Charlie Winburn responded to the concerns."I agree that this should have been added to the agenda a lot sooner than now," said Thomas, who noted that part of the delay was due to changes in drafts of the revised law."The city administration has not really responded in the last seven to eight months," said Winburn. "I'm baffled at why this has taken so long."But sorting out the problem became a convoluted matter as the meeting progressed. Winburn threatened to call a special session of council to address the issue if it didn't move forward. Thomas then noted that council was still waiting to receive one version of the draft resolution - from Winburn's office. The competing versions of the revision were on the subcommittee's agenda to be addressed, but could not be addressed, since they are still technically under revision and have not been finalized as drafts.A back-and-forth discussion over draft resolutions, revisions and the timing of the issue ensued, and the subcommittee meeting ended without council being able to set a date for hearings on the chronic nuisance ordinance. Thomas expressed interest in moving forward in the next two weeks, but sounded doubtful council could address the issue before August.

A House Divided: Soap Opera in Cincinnati

 The battle to preserve or demolish the historic James Gamble house continues between Greenacres Foundation and defenders of historic homes. At issue: Greenacres wants to raze the building and turn their property into an outdoor educational center, but the Cincinnati Preservation Association plans to raise $10 million to purchase and preserve the house.Read the full story here.