Westerville January/February 2024

All in the Family Westerville couple shares life and art

Letters to Olympians The Hope Squad New Otterbein Athletic Director The American Dream Come True New Restaurant in Town www.westervillemagazine. com

Craig & Samantha Buehler John & Tina Powell Kristel Smith Sonja Couture Genny Hart

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2024

18 Letters for Olympians

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Hope Squad

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Dream Come True

In every issue 6 Community Calendar 8 Faces 14 In Focus 20 Student Spotlight 22 Living 28 On the Table 30 Bookmarks

28 4 January/February 2024

New Restaurant in Town

Westerville homes 26 Luxury Living Real Estate Guide 27 Top Homes Sold in Westerville www.westervillemagazine.com

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CityScene Media Group 1335 Dublin Rd., Suite 101C Columbus, Ohio 43215 614-572-1240 • Fax 614-572-1241 www.cityscenecolumbus.com Kathleen K. Gill Gianna Barrett Jamie Armistead Dave Prosser

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faces By Rachel Karas Photos by Ray LaVoie

Creating Art Together Couple shares story of corresponding art careers

8 January/February 2024

www.westervillemagazine.com

Your Memories Framed!

W

hen Jen Kiko and Eric Rausch – who have been married for 13 years – are asked how their relationship came to be, Kiko gives credit to their profession: art.

“We both do art things, and you know, only 10 percent of the population has this artist side and many do not do that as a job,” she says.

Kiko is an art teacher at Central, and Rausch, who grew up in the area and graduated from North, is a full-time artist specializing in clay and ceramics. He runs a studio in Columbus called Kiln Room.

Over the years, Kiko and Rausch have not only grown personally but also artistically, expanding their skills collaboratively through several public art projects.

While they are unsure where their art may take them, they are certain about their love for the Westerville community and all of the opportunities it has offered their family.

Finding their Calling Had it not been for the workshops Rausch helped run for some of Kiko’s art classes, the two of them may never have met.

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Kiko and Rausch have two children, Ruby, 11, (back left) and Indigo, 7 (front center). www.westervillemagazine.com

January/February 2024 9

Rausch and his two children at Kiln Room.

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Kiko grew up in North Canton and was a skilled artist as early as high school.

She decided to further her skills at Capital University where she pursued a degree in art therapy and eventually earned a double major with art education.

Although she was originally resistant to the idea of getting an education degree, Kiko fell in love with the profession after student teaching in Columbus City Schools.

“I thought that the kids were interesting,” Kiko says. “They have a lot of love to give.

You just gotta give them some space and give them a little bit of time. So I ended up deciding, ‘Oh man, I kind of like this,’ because I could use my art therapy stuff in the classroom.”

Since then she has taught art at Westerville City Schools for over 27 years and doesn’t plan to leave any time soon.

Rausch found his way into professional art through college as well, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts from The Ohio State University in 2007. After graduation, Rausch dreamed of opening a community art studio but didn’t have the means, so he focused on learning more about the world of art through a variety of job experiences.

Some of those positions include working as an art assistant on the Goodale Park

Kiko and her son Indigo.

Fountain and as an arts administrator at the Cultural Arts Center as well as holding board positions at Glass Axis, Green Columbus and Central Ohio Clay Arts Guild. Those jobs led him to the Emerging Artists and the Next Generation of Leaders fellowships at Ohio State.

“It’s that kind of stuff that is better than any college class because you’re really learning and at that point, you actually

care more because you’re like, ‘I gotta get a job,’” Rausch says.

After years of learning and growing, Rausch finally had the knowledge he needed, as well as the means and opportunity, to open his studio. So in 2019, Kiln Room opened its doors. Since then, he and his team have been creating and teaching others to make beautiful pieces of art.

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January/February 2024 11

Ruby and Indigo.

Working on a Masterpiece While they each have their separate careers, Kiko and Rausch have combined their talents over the years to create some impactful artwork together.

They started small, with pots and art pieces they created for art shows. Then they created murals around Columbus, eventually leading to their first public art piece, which was almost their last.

Located on the second floor of the Greater Columbus Convention Center parking garage, Fish Marks the Spot is a ceramic tile mosaic featuring golden fish on a purple abstract background.

Although they were excited by the opportunity, the project came with its

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fair share of challenges. Aside from figuring out how to fit the tiles around the elevator entrances, Rausch and Kiko also had to get everything done in a short timeframe while creating all 1,200 tiles out of their garage.

“When you say yes to pulling off a big project, you have to pull it off. It can be really stressful,” Rausch says. “And to have a partner to talk out that stress is one thing, but when you’re trying to talk it out and they’re equally stressed or more stressed than you are, it can get really interesting.”

They made it through, however, and the project was unveiled in 2016.

Rausch and Kiko were able to reflect on the experience and learn for the future, and eventually went on to create several more public art pieces, including the In the Neighborhood column structure at Bridge Park in Dublin.

It Takes Two Now living in Westerville in the house Rausch grew up in, with their 11- and 7-year-old kids Ruby and Indigo, they say they feel lucky for the opportunities they have had over the years as well as the support they have received from each other.

For the artist duo, a lot of their love is shown in all the little things they do for each other, like when Rausch makes Kiko lunch or when Kiko helps the kids learn cooking skills so that Rausch can focus on making dinner. Helping each other with even the smallest things allows them to be there for each other and make each day a little brighter.

“You have to bring it for a partnership, you can’t be a good partner and get complacent. You can’t lose gratitude for the person that you’re with,” Rausch says. “You don’t get to do something for a weekend and then do nothing the next weekend. I think that’s a big part of it for our story.”

That support doesn’t just happen at home but also when it comes to their work and the future of it.

Rausch plans to continue to grow his business with the hope of taking on bigger projects, and Kiko hopes to make more of her own art outside of the classroom and continue growing her skills. To do that, they will continue to lift each other up as they write their own story.

“I think (in a) partnership, you have to want to help your person’s dream come true. Whatever that is,” Kiko says. “You have to challenge each other and try not to lose yourself, and somebody has to cook.”

Rachel Karas is an editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at rkaras@cityscenemediagroup.com. www.westervillemagazine.com

in focus

By Maisie Fitzmaurice Photos courtesy of Westerville City Schools

How to Save a Life

Westerville high schools prevent student suicide with Hope Squad

C

oncerned with the prevalence of anxiety and depression within their school community, and grieving after losing several peers to suicide, Westerville students felt hopeless and wanted to know what they could do to bring awareness to mental health issues.

By adopting the Hope Squad program, Westerville’s high school students now have the tools to make a greater impact when it comes to mental health within their social circles.

Peers for Prevention The importance of peer-to-peer connection is a central component of a Utah-based initiative known as Hope Squad. Adopted by schools nationwide, it brings awareness to topics such as preventing suicide, bullying, safety, self-care and more.

When the district decided to launch its own Hope Squads, students were encouraged to nominate peer leaders who they felt were trustworthy and good listeners.

Club advisors made sure to choose a diverse group of leaders who were involved with various activities such as sports, theatre, academic clubs, etc.

“We want to make sure that every group is represented in Hope Squad so that our

14 January/February 2024

Westerville South Hope Squad leader Nabiha Ilkaqor presents at a club meeting.

Hope Squad students look like the whole school population,” Jessica D. Martin, a licensed social worker and the director of student well-being at Westerville City Schools, says.

These selected students then went through suicide prevention training over summer break, mostly focusing on a suicide prevention method known as Q.P.R., which consists of asking ques-

tions, persuading someone struggling to get help and referring them to appropriate professionals.

Students learn this technique so they can be designated safe resources that other students know they can talk to about their mental health. Every year new leaders are nominated and trained, while others graduate and take the skills they learned with them on their journey.

www.westervillemagazine.com

“It’s really to continue to decrease that stigma and empower students to be an active part in helping their peers,” Martin says. “They are always going to know information before us adults, so equipping them with the right tools to be able to navigate that with their peers is going to change how mental health is perceived, but also making sure that kids get early intervention if they’re having any kind of struggles.”

Hope Squad clubs officially began holding meetings at the start of the 2021-2022 school year. As of this year, each high school has an average of 70-90 students involved in the initiative, with plans to expand into the district’s middle schools in the future.

Nabiha Ilkaqor, a Hope Squad leader at South, says she joined the club because she wanted a space to talk with her peers about mental health topics. She has always been someone there to support those who need it, but she was also dealing with her own mental health struggles at that time.

Becoming a leader helped her not only gain confidence but also gave her a community and more knowledge about mental health. The skills that she’s learned have not only helped her look out for others’ mental health but also her own.

“I’ve come from a Somali community where there’s a stigma around mental health and so it gave me a sense of belonging,” Ilkaqor says. “I had advisors,

TORN? DAMAGED? FADED? WE’VE SEEN (AND FIXED) IT ALL!

Now more than ever, American teens are struggling with suicidal thoughts and actions. Initiatives like Hope Squad give students the resources to prevent suicide and make a difference in their school and community.

“From 2019 to 2021, there was a 45 percent increase in suicidality in adolescents,” Jessica D. Martin, a licensed social worker and the director of student wellbeing at Westerville City Schools, says. “I feel that schools are such an impactful place for kids. Outside of the home, kids spend more time here than anywhere else, so how can we get in front of them to give them information to continue to grow their social-emotional skills and build their resilience so that we don’t have these numbers continuing to climb?” www.westervillemagazine.com

January/February 2024 15

especially Hope Squad advisors, that were there for me no matter what.”

Looking at the Bigger Picture Apart from training leaders, club meetings usually teach a lesson on self-care and healthy relationships led by advisors and occasionally student leaders.

Noelle Spriestersbach, mental health specialist, school social worker and Hope Squad advisor at South, says the last thing the advisors want to do is put more pressure on students’ shoulders, so she emphasizes the importance of taking breaks, asking for help and making sure students are taking time for themselves.

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else,’ and so really just talking about how taking care of yourself is vital in taking care of everyone else, the more tools you have to take care of yourself, the more tools you then have as resources for other people and suggestions for them and how they can practice self-care,” Spriestersbach says.

Covering these topics has led to discussing larger implications of considering diversity and different cultures when talking about mental health.

“The most valuable thing is the diversity aspect, not only the people that we interact with but diverse ideas,” Ilkaqor says. “It’s important that we have hard conversations about forgiveness and understanding the stigma around mental health and why they exist in certain communities to help further our impact.”

Spreading Hope Every January each school’s Hope Squad participates in ‘Hope Week,’ during which participating schools nationwide host fun activities, write notes of encouragement and promote kindness, positivity, and acceptance. They create excitement around the week and its message by holding themed spirit days such as pajama day and jersey day.

Martin says Hope Week isn’t the only time when Hope Squad members take action to promote mental health awareness and suicide prevention.

“We’ve attended cross country events and had a booth to talk about mental health awareness. There have been some football games in September, it’s Suicide Prevention Month, so South and Central do their football games where they encourage everyone to wear teal and purple – which are suicide prevention colors – and Hope Squad members are there and they hand out information and try to get the word out that way,” she says.

Ilkaqor is set to graduate from South this spring, but she hopes to see Hope Squad continue to expand and spread awareness for mental health issues and suicide.

“I definitely want it to expand into the middle school fully and in the elementary school and this is something I talk to our superintendent about,” Ilkaqor says. “That transition from elementary school to middle school to high school is so important, and making sure the students know that they have these resources because of the rise in depression and anxiety that we’re seeing, especially in the young people that are going to be part of the future.”

Maisie Fitzmaurice is an editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at mfitzmaurice@cityscenemediagroup.com. www.westervillemagazine.com

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Letters for

Olympians Hanby teacher hosts winter competitions and letter writing to Olympians

By Jane Dimel Photos courtesy of Alisa Franklin

T

Writing For Gold At the beginning of the three-week unit, Franklin spends one week in her firstthrough fifth-graders’ classrooms to write the letters, encouraging her students to ask their athletes questions.

Franklin’s students from 2022 competing in their The unit aligns well with the bobsledding event with jump ropes and scooters. students’ writing lessons that focus on letter and envelope writing. Franklin don’t know how many athletes write them even provides a template for her first-graders back,” Franklin says. to help them learn the letter-writing structure Student Competitions and how to ask good questions.

While it may take weeks or months “The kids ask about their training style, they ask about what they’ve done, to hear back, students are filled with anhow they’ve gotten there, what they ate,” ticipation and excitement about the gym Franklin says. “They come up with some class competitions and classroom activities. Franklin hosts each class’ own Winter really, really good questions.”

The students write to athletes compet- Olympics, and students compete in events ing in ice skating, hockey, luge, bobsled- like luge, curling, skeleton and bobsledding.

They begin their own sports competiding, curling and any Olympic sport that tions when the Winter Youth Olympics is of interest to them.

Parents get involved in the program, start, watching the professional athletes too, by donating the stamps that will en- compete during lunch and learning sure the letters are delivered safely. Frank- about sports that they aren’t very familiar lin mails them directly to athletes’ training with. Other teachers even have their own crew and facilities, and then the students Olympic units to coincide with the gym excitedly wait to hear back from their unit, emphasizing the importance of crossathlete.“And what’s really neat is, through curricular studies.

“It starts to create conversations,” the letter writing activity, they have had I Franklin says. “They really really enjoy it because it encompasses everything that Follow along with the fun on Alisa Franklin’s P.E. Class Facebook page with videos they do, and they love it because they can of different classroom activities and posts about events relevant to her students see how everything ties together … from and their families. home, from the classroom, art, music,

his winter brings new energy to Hanby’s gym class with the return of a favorite program inspired by the Winter Youth Olympics.

In Alisa Franklin’s gym, Hanby students are writing letters to athletes competing in the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics, as well as competing in Winter Games of their own.

It all started a few years ago when Franklin saw an Olympic-themed bulletin board at the teachers’ store, and the physical education teacher knew she could tie the games into her curriculum.

Franklin has since done this unit three times, from 2013-2015, before she moved out of the district. She returned to Westerville in 2020, but was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer in spring 2021 and decided to condense the unit into a smaller competition. A year later, metastatic cancer spread to her brain. She left school for a couple of months to focus on her health and was able to return the following school year.

Franklin is continuing to fight strong and has returned the project to its full glory this year.

“The kids love it because ‘This is my letter,’ and ‘This is me,’ and ‘This is what I got back,’” Franklin says.

18 January/February 2024

www.westervillemagazine.com

P.E. – everything ties together and the students truly get the experience of building something.”

Unfortunately, Franklin doesn’t have the resources nor space to set up an entire luge track in the school gym, but the students perform modified versions of real Olympic events in class. They learn about athletic techniques and how they relate to science and pulley systems, as well as the importance of wellness and hard work.

Beyond the Rings Franklin has taught elementary school for 18 years and high school for four. She has taught throughout the district, beginning as the volleyball coach at North, then teaching at North and South before she transitioned to teaching elementary school physical education. She has taught at Annehurst, Whittier, Longfellow, Pointview, Hawthorne and Hanby.

She grew up in Westerville in a family of teachers; her mom was a German teacher for more than 30 years, her dad a science teacher and her aunt a first grade teacher for more than 40 years. Franklin graduated from North before attending Lee University in Tennessee to play collegiate volleyball.

She returned to Westerville in 2020 with her husband, Dave, and started teaching at Hanby. This is Franklin’s third year at Hanby, and she loves experiencing the energy of her students and watching them connect the things they’ve learned.

“As a teacher, you know (they’re) making connections, but you are finally seeing it and I love it,” Franklin says.

“You see them throw their hands in the air and they do it so fast because they’re so excited about it and they don’t have to interrupt you to make that connection, and it’s like, thank you teachers for teaching them that.”

Franklin truly enjoys teaching her students the importance of wellness and having a balanced life. She says it is one of the only subjects that you will use for the rest of your life. She says it is important to focus on learning about nutrition and exercise to stay healthy, and she wants to be a part of her students’ journey to living a healthy life.

Jane Dimel is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com. www.westervillemagazine.com

Top: Torri Readnour’s letter to former US Women’s Halfpipe Snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler and Bleiner’s response in December 2013.

Bottom: US Women’s Bobsled Pilot Jazmine Fenlator’s response letter to Franklin’s class of 2014 January/February 2024 19

student spotlight By Tyler Kirkendall

Photo courtesy of Hailey Owens

Competition is the Best Teacher

New Otterbein athletic director commits to student experience and local engagement

G

reg Lott, Otterbein University’s new athletic director, earned his job after seeing his field from just about every angle. In the past 20 years, he has been a coach, a scholar, a director and a professional athlete.

Throughout his experiences, a persistent idea pushed its way to the front of his mind: “I really was getting very passionate about this notion of human development through sport,” Lott says. “I was noticing that it wasn’t really happening uniformly for all student-athletes; there were a lot of people that would go through this experience seemingly unchanged and I really wanted to get to the bottom of why that was happening and figure out how to be more intentional and systematic with helping others develop through sport.”

Growing up, Lott was told the same mantra that every athlete has heard at some point – sports, if nothing else, teach you lessons about yourself. Sports teach you how to be a leader, how to be a team player and how to accept failure.

“I felt like that was in my head, then my lived experience really matched that rhetoric, so as I was coming up through college, I just kind of assumed that that’s what happened,” he says. “But when I became a team captain and I was starting to look at things more broadly, I noticed that there were some individuals who didn’t match what I was told and what I always believed.”

He competed in Division III track and field at Dickinson College, a private liberal arts college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

While he experienced a few injuries during his tenure there, it didn’t stop him from 20 January/February 2024

becoming an All-American and making it into the Dickinson Athletics Hall of Fame.

After graduating with an international business and management degree in 2004, he started coaching sprinters and hurdlers at Buffalo State University.

He then took a coaching position in 2005 at Valparaiso University in Indiana, but after a few years, he decided to go in a different direction. He moved to Orlando to be a professional runner and trained at the National Training Center under United States Olympic coach Brooks Johnson in 2006. Lott competed on an international level, spending the track season competitively sprinting in events around Europe.

Soon, however, he began to miss his family and home. So, he left the competitive circuit and took a coaching job at West Point, then took a director position at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in 2010.

After all this time, his interest in human development through sport was still in the back of his mind so he decided to return to academia in 2013 to pursue a Ph.D. in kinesiology, specializing in sport management, from The Ohio State University.

His research focused on why some athletes seem to grow and mature naturally with sports, while others get lost in some way during their sports experience and can’t live up to their potential.

“I got to the point where I’m like, this is something that I’ve noticed now at five different institutions – everything from Division III to Division I to professional athletes,” Lott says.

After spending years researching and earning his Ph.D., Lott was hired at Denison University in 2017, where he was the associate director of athletics in a faculty/ administrator position. He got to see his research come to life as the inaugural director of the Knetzer Family Institute, www.westervillemagazine.com

which offers an innovative, research-based approach to developing student-athletes.

Lott is somewhere in the intersection of mindfulness, intentionality, efficiency, emotional awareness and physical fitness.

He is a certified coach of both emotional intelligence and mindfulness, and he utilizes a holistic approach when considering how to best help students.

“I just got to have a laboratory like this at Denison where we built an institute specifically for this,” Lott says. “If you’re doing this right, you are able to document concrete changes in student athletes’ emotional and social competencies. … What’s really cool is as those competencies are enhanced, there really is a strong relationship between those kinds of things and academic achievement, on-field performance, positive impacts on different kinds of mental health indices.”

His expertise is now being utilized here at Otterbein, and he is looking for ways to give his students, staff and the community the best possible experience at and through Otterbein athletics. His goal is to create programs that directly address students’ well-being and implement practices that ensure a positive learning experience.

“A lot of my focus is going to be based on how we can enhance this experience so that when students graduate from here they can look in the mirror and say that, in large part, their experience – whether it’s soccer, golf, football, whatever it is – helped them become the human that they ultimately want to be,” Lott says.

Lott is embracing Westerville as his new home, and he’s excited about finding new ways to engage Otterbein alumni and get the community more involved.

“There’s just this vibrancy in the community. You can feel it when you drive through and you walk around Uptown,” Lott says. “I’ve talked to so many people that have talked about the kinds of ways in which the community used to be really engaged with Otterbein athletics. … I think there’s a lot of untapped potential with trying to connect the community with the university’s athletic department. The fact that it has been strong before leaves me to think that it can be done again, and that notion is really exciting.”

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Tyler Kirkendall is an editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at tkirkendall@cityscenemediagroup.com.

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www.westervillemagazine.com

January/February 2024 21

living By Mike Maynard

Photos courtesy of Brad & Maggie and Christy Bening

One Nail at a Time

Westerville Habitat Partnership fulfills a family’s American Dream Brad and Maggie

B

rad and Maggie never thought they would be homeowners. The married couple lived in their trailer home with the hopes of buying a home one day.

What felt like a virtually impossible goal has now become a reality as the couple and their 3-year-old daughter are now buying a brand-new house through the Westerville Habitat Partnership (WHP).

“Seeing that I am going to be able to give our daughter a home and a community is what is really awesome about this whole thing,” Brad says.

Building Together The habitat partnership consists of several churches, organizations and in-

Otterbein students volunteer to help build a new home.

22 January/February 2024

www.westervillemagazine.com

DI GI TA L NE WSL E TTE R dividuals who support the Habitat for Humanity organizations in Delaware and Union counties. These groups support and sponsor fundraisers, such as building homes.

Joanne Figge, a member of WHP, says the homeowner application process is very robust because they want to make sure whoever gets the new house is committed to their community service mission.

One of WHP’s requirements is that the new homeowners contribute during the building process by putting in 300 hours of sweat equity.

“They came (to the building site) and they were there as long as all of us were there,” Figge says. “I believe it was also (Maggie’s) mother. So, three people from the family were there pounding nails, building walls, windows and doorways with us.”

Commitment to bettering the community was something Brad noticed right away when he first began working with Habitat for Humanity on his family’s new home. Being present for other builds as well as his own, he noticed a large community turnout.

“My favorite part of this is that we are actually involved, we are literally building our home,” Maggie says.

Approved applicants must also attend 14 hours of homeowner’s education to learn more about homeownership. This was something Brad and Maggie appreciated throughout the process.

A lot of work goes into building these homes, with an average house build taking about six months. In 2022, WHP partnered with five families for home builds. As of this past fall, the group built three homes and plan to build three more by the end of spring. www.westervillemagazine.com

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January/February 2024 23

Families chosen for these homes have the opportunity to buy them with zero interest.

The monthly cost of the mortgage is cheaper than the average rent for an apartment.

Christy Bening has been volunteering with WHP since 1997. She is a teacher at Columbus Academy in Gahanna, and she has gotten her students involved in volunteering opportunities like these builds.

For Bening, the rewarding feeling she is left with keeps her coming back.

24 January/February 2024

“You’re taking somebody who is working, who might not be able to buy a house, to be able to buy a house and to build some equity in his or her life,” Bening says. “Not only from an emotional standpoint, but from a monetary standpoint, and I think that most people think of that as being the American dream.”

Brad and Maggie have come a long way on their journey to become homeowners. Now that they have their for-

ever home, they are able to focus on retirement and saving for their daughter’s education.

What’s the first thing they plan do when they move in?

“I am going to cook in the kitchen and outback for a cookout,” says Brad.

Mike Maynard is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.

www.westervillemagazine.com

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Call today for more information: 614-572-1240 26 January/February 2024

www.westervillemagazine.com

As of October 2023, Westerville home prices were up 7.5% from last year, with a median sale price of $399K. Homes in Westerville sell after an average of 34 days on the market compared to 31 days on average last year. There were 51 homes sold in October this year, a slight decrease from the 54 homes sold last year. The median sale price per square foot in Westerville is $194, which is 10.9% more than last year.

Top Homes Sold in Westerville

99 W. Plum St. 4 beds 2.5 baths $592,900 Sold on 10/24/23

291 Hampton Pk. 3 beds 2.5 baths $455,000 Sold on 11/16/23

1043 Denman Ct. 4 beds 2.5 baths $550,000 Sold on 11/03/23

103 S. Sunbury Rd. 4 beds 2.5 baths $453,200 Sold on 10/17/23

691 Collingwood Dr. 4 beds 2.5 baths $514,900 Sold on 11/09/23

612 Brook Run Dr. 4 beds 2.5 baths $436,500 Sold on 10/30/23

645 River Trace 5 beds 2.5 baths $507,000 Sold on 10/31/23

1239 Chatham Ridge Rd. 4 beds 3.5 baths $435,000 Sold on 10/25/23

282 E. College Ave. 4 beds 2.5 baths $480,000 Sold on 11/03/23

1113 Autumn Creek Cr. 4 beds 2.5 baths $432,500 Sold on 11/21/23

172 Sterling Glen Dr. 4 beds 2.5 baths $465,000 Sold on 11/13/23

592 Westbury Woods Ct. 4 beds 3.5 baths $432,000 Sold on 11/17/23

All information is collected from the Franklin County Auditor Office.

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toddstonerealtor@gmail.com January/February 2024 27

on the table By Tyler Kirkendall Photos by Tyler Kirkendall

Santa is Staying in Town

Blue Santa takes over State Theatre in Uptown

D

anny Hernandez, part-owner of Blue Santa Mexican Grill in Uptown Westerville, came to America from his hometown south of Mexico City and opened the restaurant’s original location in Polaris. When he had the opportunity to move the business, he knew he wanted to serve the Westerville community.

“When we looked at the opportunities in Westerville, we found this location,” Hernandez says. “The population is made up of good people. It’s wise to stay in this building, it’s a good spot.”

Blue Santa now inhabits the former State Theatre, and you can still see remnants of the old theater as you dine, such as the subway-tiled lobby, which still feels like a box office.

The decor is largely Dia de los Muertos themed, which Hernandez says they chose to create a fun atmosphere for guests.

Enjoyment and indulgence are the larger themes that run through everything that Blue Santa does.

“I’m so happy that customers come and take lunch or dinner and drinks and they go home happy,” Hernandez says. “If the customer’s happy, I’m happy, too.”

Blue Santa is located at 8 N. State St. 28 January/February 2024

Blue Santa’s Texas Rice.

I ordered a Miami vice, which some bartenders colloquially call “the pain in the (rear end)” since it is a half-and-half strawberry daiquiri and pina colada. The drink was impressively fruity, allowing the flavors of the mixture to shine without excessive sweetness. The drink lineup features plenty of variety, with eight frozen margarita machines spinning constantly.

Impactful flavors are a signature element in many Mexican dishes, and even the

chips and salsa at Blue Santa have a fresh, memorable punch to them.

With a quick scan of the menu, you will notice that there is a distinct split between options for those who want to be healthconscious and those who are embracing indulgence. Options range from fresh ceviche with produce and lean meats to deep-fried fajitas.

Hernandez brings authentic recipes with him from south of the border, and he is not afraid to craft unique dishes that satisfy the imagination. If you get a few drinks in and you begin to crave a dish that is meaty, cheesy, crunchy or just hearty in general, you may have a hard time making a choice.

I chose Texas rice, which featured a bed of rice with peppers, onions, tomatoes, shrimp, steak and chicken.

All of this was topped with the signature cheese sauce, which I felt obligated to try due to its presence all over the menu.

This mixture was grilled and tossed together, and presentation was sacrificed in this case for satisfaction.

This was a perfect dish for a hungry, indecisive diner. As is rarely the case with similar platters, Texas rice was www.westervillemagazine.com

served with more meat and vegetables than rice.

The mixture of the produce and steak, shrimp, and chicken was filling, wellseasoned and nicely charred. I imagine the mixture was tossed on a hot cooktop, and the flavors of each element congealed well during this process.

The signature cheese sauce is worthy of its title, as it was the glue that held everything together. Everything came together to be zesty and salty, a satisfying meal that would be otherworldly even without a series of sweet, boozy drinks.

Tyler Kirkendall is an editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at tkirkendall@cityscenemediagroup.com.

Lentil Soup If you end up snowed in this year and want a healthy, hearty meal to keep you warm, try out this sopa de lentejas, or lentil soup. This recipe is healthy and simple; it can be done in just 30 minutes!

• 1 Tbsp. avocado or grapeseed oil • ½ small white or yellow onion, diced • 2 medium carrots, diced • 1 garlic clove, minced • 5 cups chicken or vegetable broth • 1 medium tomato, diced • 1 cup dry lentils, rinsed and dried • 1 cube chicken bullion • ½ tsp. kosher salt • ¼ tsp. oregano • ½ tsp fresh ground pepper • ¼ cup cilantro, chopped Heat a medium saucepan over mediumhigh heat and add 1 Tbsp. of oil.

Once the oil is hot, add onion, carrots, celery and garlic. Cook until the vegetables become fragrant and slightly soft, about 3 minutes.

Add broth, tomato, lentils, bullion, salt, pepper and oregano.

Once mixture starts to boil, add cilantro and cover with a lid. Reduce to a simmer.

Cook, stirring occasionally until the lentils are soft, approximately 18 minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

Serve hot and add hot sauce or fresh squeezed lime, garnish with small sprig of cilantro.

Recipe courtesy of Ana Frias. www.muydelish.com. Copyright 2021.

All rights reserved. www.westervillemagazine.com

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January/February 2024 29

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Recommended Youth Reads from Katie Ross, Youth Services Librarian

The Boo-Boos That Changed the World

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The Universe in You: A Microscopic Journey

by Jason Chin (Juvenile Non-fiction)

Connecting You to the World westervillelibrary.org

For online library resources such as ebooks, digital magazines, kids activities and more, visit www.westervillelibrary.org

How often do we think of the smallest parts of our bodies? Through Chin’s deft narrative and stunning illustrations, we learn

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Recommended Adult Reads from Mindy Bilyeu, Adult Services Librarian

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