Discover 30 glorious getaways for fun, food, culture and more—one for each week from June to December.
38 WHITE POWER OUTAGE
Inside a Hilliard teen’s all-too-familiar neo-Nazi transformation and his plot to attack the nation’s power grid with friends
44 SEIZE THE SEASON
Columbus Monthly’s annual Summer Entertainment Guide highlights 30 can’t-miss events to experience this year.
ON THE COVER:
Photo by Brent McGuirt
Photography/Visit Virginia’s Blue Ridge
Middle Bass Island
PHOTO: STEVE STEPHENS
ROOTED IN OHIO
Local grains help keep our footprint small, but we specifically chose them because they are the best quality for our spirits.
FIND NEAR YOU
12 MITCH ROWLAND’S HOMECOMING
The rising solo artist and Harry Styles collaborator returns to the place where his musical dreams took flight.
14 FIELD OF DREAMS
An all-star team of former Columbus Clippers in the big leagues
15 RARE AIR
The Ohio State Athletic Department’s private jet set
16 THE MYSTERY HOUSE’S STAR TURN
A new documentary is exploring the story behind Clintonville’s most distinctive residence.
17 A ‘DISTINCTLY DUBLIN’ LIFE
What true blue (or green) Dublin residents do and think
18 A LASTING LEGACY
A new exhibition at Sarah Gormley Gallery celebrates the abstract art of the late CCAD president Denny Griffith
20 PEOPLE
See who was at Columbus Monthly’s Best New Restaurants event.
21 DATEBOOK
The Memorial Tournament, a Michael David Butler exhibition, George Barrett at Natalie’s Grandview and more
Columbus Parent
56 LEGAL WEED AND TEENS What parents need to know 60 THE GO-TO GUIDE Free and low-cost things to do with your kids
Alex Vinash designer Leonardo Munoz on his new Short North boutique
A CCAD professor’s artistic escape in Athens
A snapshot of bigticket home purchases, including a Columbus Crew star putting down roots 82 TOP 25 REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS
Special Ad Section
63 TOP DENTISTS
For more than three decades, SODZ has been Central Ohio’s premier home brewing club. 86 REVIEW
Service Bar’s new chef delivers enjoyable dishes with less flair. 88 COFFEEHOUSE FARE
Casa Cacao brings its namesake drink and kava to Columbus. 89 COPY & TASTE
Littleton’s Market Bakery is coming to North Market Downtown. 90 LET’S EAT
This guide lists nearly 260 of the Columbus region’s best-regarded general dentistry and specialty practitioners.
PHOTO: TIM JOHNSON
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Ellen Creager is a Michigan-based travel writer and a former Detroit Free Press staffer. She contributed several stories to the Weekend Adventures package (Page 23).
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CONTRIBUTORS
Andy Downing co-wrote the feature about white supremacist Christopher Cook (Page 38). Downing is the editor of Matter News, a local nonprofit news and arts digital publication.
Emma Frankart Henterly is the editor of Ohio Today, Ohio University’s alumni magazine. She contributed to the Weekend Adventures feature (Page 23) and proofread this month’s issue.
Sun safety tips from Ohio State skin cancer experts
“The tanning of your skin is a sign of your skin cells desperately trying to protect themselves from further cancerinducing damage from the sun’s ultraviolet rays”
Alisha Plotner, MD
With spring in full swing, Ohio State dermatologists are sharing tips to help you stay safe in the sun.
Hundreds of thousands of Americans are diagnosed with skin cancer each year in the U.S., including approximately 76,000 cases of melanoma, the deadliest form of the disease. Fortunately, there are easy ways to significantly reduce your chances of developing skin cancer without the need to avoid golfing, grilling or other outdoor activities. Here are some prevention practices you can use to have fun in the sun without sacrificing skin safety.
Choose the right sunscreen
Sunscreen is one of our most important tools for reducing skin cancer risk, but all products are not the same.
When choosing between sunscreens, FDA experts recommend brands that contain titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, t wo ingredients that meet the organization’s GRASE (generally recognized as safe and effective) classification.
“Applying sunscreen t hat is regulated and approved is a very effective way to protect yourself from skin cancer,” says Tarek Haykal, MD, an oncologist and researcher at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center — James Cancer Hospital and Solove
Research Institute. “I would urge everyone to stay protected and apply sunscreen when they are exposed to the sun.”
Titanium dioxide and zinc oxide protect users by blocking the sun’s harmful UV rays, causing them to reflect off the skin. Plus, because they’re minerals and not chemicals, they can reduce the risk of non-cancerous skin irritations that can arise from the use of some other sunscreens.
While the right sunscreen — applied the right way — can greatly reduce the risk of skin cancer, it’s not 100 percent effective at blocking UV rays. To provide an extra layer of protection, wear sun protective clothing and seek shade when possible.
Scan the QR code to learn more about skin cancer, including risks, symptoms and treatment options at the OSUCCC – James.
Remember: tan = skin damage
Many of us grow up believing that tans are the safe side of sun exposure. But, while they may not cause the immediate pain of sunburns, tans are signs from our skin that something is wrong.
“The tanning of your skin is a sign of your skin cells desperately trying to protect themselves from further cancer-inducing damage from the sun’s ultraviolet rays,” says Alisha Plotner, MD, a dermatologist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
This might surprise many people who believe that tanning can actually help prevent skin damage by conditioning the skin to better absorb UV rays. This “base tan” myth is widespread, but can lead to dangerous consequences if put into practice.
“There’s really no way to tan safely,” Plotner says. “Even if some of us like to think of tanned skin as healthy, it’s a sign of skin damage.”
Those who want the look of a tan without the UV exposure can turn to “sunless” products, which interact with surface skin cells to simulate the effects of tanning. While sunless tanners can provide a desired result without skin cancer risk, users should take care to avoid potential side effects.
“The main concern regarding artificial tanning products is with inhaling that product or getting it in other mucous membranes, so be sure to cover your eyes, nose and mouth during a spray tan,” Plotner says.
Scan the QR code for info on melanoma treatment at the OSUCCC – James.
Don’t believe the “sunscreen truther” myths
Social media has given rise to a number of health related conspiracy theories, including some spread by so-called sunscreen truthers. These people claim that UV rays are actually beneficial, and that sunscreen — despite welldocumented evidence to the contrary — is harmful.
But, as is the case with a lot of online health misinformation, it’s the falsehood that can be harmful — even fatal — if believed.
“I’m here to tell you that exposure to UV light, especially during peak sun times, is very dangerous,” Haykal says. “It can cause serious skin damage, including predisposition to a lot of skin cancers that can be very hard to treat.”
To avoid falling victim to this type of misinformation, make sure to seek out health info from reputable sources with histories of trusted, verified expertise.
“Please seek out websites from entities such as The Ohio State University, the FDA or other sources that can be trusted, and do not rely on social media word of mouth or misinformation,” Haykal says.
Scan the QR code to learn about TIL therapy, a promising new skin cancer immunotherapy treatment being studied at the OSUCCC – James.
FROM THE EDITOR CONTACT US
Covering Hate With Care and Context
As law enforcement closed in on the neo-Nazi terrorists, investigators discovered an enlightening piece of evidence on a computer. The digital document outlined a plan for the nascent white supremacist group, called the Front, to spread hateful propaganda with the expectation that the media would widen its reach.
Dave Ghose dghose@columbusmonthly.com
That issue presents a challenge to those who report on extremist groups. These organizations crave attention, which can amplify their message and serve as a recruitment tool. So how do journalists report on them in a responsible way? The answer is to go way beyond the typical, superficial coverage— and that’s what Columbus Monthly senior editor Joel Oliphint and Matter News editor Andy Downing did with their piece in this month’s edition: a deep look at Hilliard white supremacist Christopher Cook and his plot to attack the nation’s power grid alongside fellow neo-Nazis (“White Power Outage,” Page 38).
Andy and Joel are ideal journalists for this assignment. In 2017, they collaborated on an in-depth profile of former Worthington res-
COMMENTS
Let There Be Bread
In the April issue, writer Jill Moorhead sought to answer a question: If local foodies love and crave handmade bread, why does Central Ohio have so few artisanal bakeries? Facebook commenters had some ideas. “It costs a lot to start a new business and pay the high rents where people can afford to pay for the bread. Some breads take days to rise before baking, and quality ingredients cost more,” said Rae Ann Levine. “We have BAD water here. It’s too alkaline,” commented George Caruso. Allen Balfour Geiner bemoaned the state of bread: “It’s hard to find
ident Andrew Anglin, the founder of the neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer, for Columbus Alive, a onetime sister publication of Columbus Monthly. The pair were drawn to return to the topic this year to explore the radicalization of Cook—in other words, how he went from posting memes on 4chan to hatching a plan to attack the power grid. They dug into court records, spoke with experts and former of classmates of Cook, and connected with him in prison via email—a revealing correspondence that complicated the narrative of Cook as a transformed individual. “That picture got much, much murkier,” Andy says. “And it allowed us to write about him while also not absolving him.”
With care, context and authority, the article—a collaboration between Columbus Monthly and Matter News, which is co-publishing the story on its website—shows the forces leading young people down this dark path. “It is happening, especially in Ohio, for reasons that are still difficult to parse,” Joel says. “It’s common enough that we can’t ignore it, even if we’d rather.”
a REAL croissant or baguette in this city since Omega closed. The ones from Costco, Kroger and Whole Foods are ‘eh’ at best.” “We all survived the ‘don’t eat bread, it’s bad for you’ during the Atkins craze,” wrote Mark Davis. “I cannot live without it.” Ed Sowinski
Send letters to: Editor, Columbus Monthly, 605 S. Front St. , Ste. 300, Columbus, OH 43215. Or email: letters@columbus monthly.com. A letter must include the writer’s name, address and daytime phone number. Letters will be edited for length and clarity. All letters sent to Columbus Monthly are considered for publication, either in print or online.
offered a simple solution: “If you bake it, they will come.”
Rimer Retires
Readers enjoyed Andrew King’s April issue story celebrating the 20-year Columbus Blue Jackets career of announcer Jeff Rimer, who recently
called his final game. “I have enjoyed your broadcast. You have taught me a lot about hockey and have made me laugh. Enjoy retirement,” Teresa Myers commented on Facebook. Bernard Banche managed to throw in a dig at CBJ’s long-suffering woes on the ice: “Twenty years of covering bumbling ineptitude would take its toll on anyone.”
Correction
The Economic and Community Development Institute offers loans in line with market interest rates. A story in the April issue of Columbus Monthly mischaracterized the rates as high.
front & center
Read more on Page 18.
Photo by Will Shilling
Denny’s Legacy
This 2015 photo shows art supplies in the studio of Denny Griffith, the late CCAD president who is the subject of a new exhibition.
Mitch Rowland’s Homecoming
The rising solo artist and Harry Styles collaborator returns to the place where his musical dreams took flight.
By Chris DeVille
Mitch Rowland has been here so many times before, but never like this. On a cold March morning, he’s in the Newport Music Hall balcony, overlooking the stage where he and his band will perform later in the evening.
The former Columbus music scene denizen doesn’t return to Ohio much. For eight years, the perpetually chill Rowland has been a guitarist for pop superstar Harry Styles. When not touring and recording with the former One Direction member, he splits time between Los Angeles and the English countryside with his wife, drummer Sarah Jones, and their young son. But Rowland’s tour supporting solo debut album Come June stops back home on this night.
The Newport brings back a flood of memories. Rowland hasn’t been here since a Grace Potter show in 2013, but it was one of many local venues he frequented in the early 2010s. Back then, he was an upstart drummer and singer-songwriter who worshiped the titans of Columbus music. For Rowland, witnessing the heavy psych band EYE at Carabar was a thrill, and opening for Cincinnati blues-rockers Buffalo Killers at Rumba Café felt like a career pinnacle. He remembers seeing local soul man Nick Tolford dining with Matt Reed from blues-rock band Mount Carmel and feeling like he’d stumbled upon celebrities in public. “People like Mount Carmel and Nick Tolford, those are like my heroes,” he says.
By that point, Rowland had begun his own rock-star journey. Growing up, he taught himself to play his older brother’s drum set. Drumming became such an obsession that his parents were surprised when he abandoned the instrument for two years due to an all-consuming high school baseball pitching obsession. But
Front & Center | Interview
after graduating from Dublin Coffman in 2008, music came back to the forefront.
Rowland did two years of college in Cincinnati, then returned to Columbus, where he worked at Jeni’s in the North Market and drummed for the formidable blues-rock combo Lionel the Jailbird. As he studied open guitar tunings favored by artists like Nick Drake and the Black Crowes, he also started playing his own material under the name Total Navajo with aspiring producer Ryan Nasci. Those years were invaluable. “Playing music in these kinds of environments, so much smaller than the LAs and the New Yorks, is so good for finding your voice,” Rowland says.
In 2013, he followed Nasci to LA. Rowland worked for Jeni’s serving ice cream in frozen food aisles across SoCal, then took restaurant jobs as a dishwasher. He kept writing music and performing for meager audiences, and Nasci kept recording it at their home. “We were using each other to stay sharp,” Rowland recalls.
Nasci became part of a team working under Grammy-winning producer Jeff Bhasker, which led to an opportunity to workshop some music with Styles in April 2016, just after One Direction’s breakup. When the guitarist for the session had to cancel, Nasci brought Rowland along. His playing clicked with
Mitch Rowland at the Newport Music Hall in March
PHOTO: TIM JOHNSON
‘‘ We were just having fun, drinking a lot of Tecate, staying up late, making a song a day.”
—MITCH ROWLAND
Styles, and instantly, Rowland went from toiling in obscurity to working with a British boy-band idol on his pop-rock rebrand.
“It was just like high school again,” Rowland says of the writing sessions at an LA pool house. “We were just having fun, drinking a lot of Tecate, staying up late, making a song a day.” Ultimately, Rowland co-wrote all but one song on Styles’ self-titled debut. The vibe was casual, so despite no background in pop, Rowland felt comfortable channeling the mix of rock, folk, blues and roots music he’d honed in Ohio. “When [Styles] gets his ears on something,” Rowland says, “that’s when it turns into a pop song.”
In February 2017, Rowland headed to London to rehearse for Styles’ world tour. The tour’s drummer was Jones, a Hereford, U.K., native who’d played with bands like Hot Chip and Bat For Lashes. Rowland and Jones struck up a romance—“I realized she drinks one cup of tea after the other, so I just hung around the kettle”—and his three-week trip to the U.K. became open-ended.
It’s been a whirlwind since then. With Styles, Rowland has played arenas and stadiums, performed twice on Saturday Night Live, and won a Grammy for co-writing the No. 1 hit “Watermelon Sugar.” Rowland and Jones married in October 2020 and welcomed their first baby in 2021. (Another child is on the way.) And when Styles’ Love On Tour wrapped last summer, Jones urged Rowland to make an album of his own.
Inspired by singer-songwriters like Bert Jansch and José González, Rowland intended to make a barebones acoustic record. But producer Rob Schnapf, whom Jones recommended after working with him on a Kurt Vile album, helped him flesh out the tunes in lush, dreamy ways. Rowland only got into Elliott Smith after learning Schnapf worked with him, but Smith fans will find much to like in Rowland’s Come June, which includes background appearances from
Styles and Rowland’s hero-turned-friend Ben Harper. Released on Styles’ Erskine label, the album inspired rave reviews and earned Rowland appearances on both Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
With Jones on drums, Schnapf on guitar, Schnapf’s wife, Margaret, as tour manager, and Harper’s children as opening act, Rowland’s solo tour is a family affair—even more so in Columbus, where friends and relatives gather to watch him at the Newport. They’re joined by hundreds of fans, many of whom discovered Rowland through Styles. Last time Rowland was at this venue, a night like this almost didn’t seem possible. But by now, they’re becoming common— even if he still can’t comprehend how it all transpired.
“I wouldn’t know how to do this over again if I had to,” he says. “It was like music career Big Bang.” ◆
Photos from top: Mitch Rowland, right, performs with Harry Styles on NBC’s Today in 2022; Rowland and wife, Sarah Jones, second to left, join Styles on The Howard Stern Show in 2022; Rowland, second to left, played drums for Columbus blues-rock band Lionel the Jailbird in the early 2010s.
Field of Dreams
An all-star team of former Columbus Clippers in the big leagues
By Joy Frank-Collins
The Columbus Clippers aren’t just famous for Dime-a-Dog Nights. Eighteen Major League Baseball Hall of Famers once played for Columbus, says team historian Joe Santry, while more than 50 ex-Clippers are on current MLB rosters, including 22 with the Cleveland Guardians. With the help of the folks in the Clippers front office, Columbus Monthly perused all those slash lines and obscure stats to compile a dream team of Huntington Park alums in the big leagues today.
Pitcher – SHANE BIEBER (Cleveland)
Played for Columbus: 2018, 2021, 2023
Credentials: MLB All-Star 2019, 2021; 2020 AL Cy Young Award
Factoid: Made “Not Justin” his nickname on the back of his jersey for Players’ Weekend in 2019 (CBS Sports)
Catcher – YAN GOMES (Chicago Cubs)
Played for Columbus: 2013, 2015-16
Credentials: MLB All-Star 2018; World Series champion with Washington 2019
Factoid: The first Brazilian-born player in Major League Baseball (mlb.com)
First Baseman – YANDY DÍAZ (Tampa Bay)
Played for Columbus: 2015-18
Credentials: 2023 AL batting champion; MLB All-Star 2023
Factoid: Defected from Cuba on his third attempt at age 21 (cleveland.com)
Clippers memory: While at Huntington Park, he would occasionally mimic the pitcher, whom he would be positioned behind when fielding, much to the chagrin of his manager, Santry recalls.
Factoid: Former Guardians manager Tony Francona nicknamed him “George” because he walked with a “George Jefferson strut” (mlb.com).
Outfielder – WILL BENSON (Cincinnati)
Played for Columbus: 2021-22
Credentials: 11 home runs, 19 stolen bases in 2023 rookie season
Factoid: Hit four home runs in one game in 2019 while playing for the Lake County
Captains (mlb.com)
Outfielder – NOLAN JONES (Colorado)
Played for Columbus: 2021-22
Credentials: .297 batting average, 20 home runs, 20 stolen bases in 2023 rookie season
Factoid: Hit a home run in his final atbat for his high school baseball team (mlb.com)
Outfielder – STEVEN KWAN (Cleveland)
Played for Columbus: 2021
Credentials: Gold Glove 2022, 2023
Factoid: Cleveland.com writer Terry Pluto calls Kwan a budding All-Star.
Designated Hitter – CARLOS SANTANA (Minnesota)
Played for Columbus: 2010
Credentials: MLB All-Star 2019; more than 300 career MLB home runs
Clippers memory: “He’s one of the greatest hitters I ever saw,” Santry recalls. “He hit some bombs over the scoreboard.”
PHOTOS: USA TODAY NETWORK
Steven Kwan
Will Benson
Yan Gomes
Yandy Díaz
Carlos Carrasco
Shane Bieber
Francisco Lindor
Carlos Santana
José Ramírez
Andrés Giménez
Nolan Jones
Rare Air
Ohio State’s private jet set
Jake Diebler has joined an exclusive club. As part of his contract signed in March, the new Ohio State men’s head basketball coach receives access to a private jet via the university’s NetJets account. But not all frequent fliers are treated equally within the financially self-supporting OSU Athletic Department. Here is how annual flight hours compare among the school’s athletic private jet set. —DAVE GHOSE
Ryan Day: 100 Hours
To no one’s surprise, the head football coach stands at the top of the private jet pyramid, receiving nearly twice as many hours (50 for business use and 50 for personal use) as any other athletic official.
Jake Diebler: 55 Hours
The head basketball coach vaulted to the No. 2 spot with his new contract (40 business, 15 personal), though his total is below what his predecessor, Chris Holtmann, received (60 hours— 40 business, 20 personal).
Kevin McGuff: 45 Hours
Coming off a huge season—and being named the Big Ten Coach of the Year—it might be time for the women’s basketball head coach to ask to bump up his private plane perk, currently at 25 for business and 20 for personal use.
Gene Smith: 25 Hours
Even though he’s their boss, the OSU athletic director’s private jet hours stand below the three coaches—and the total doesn’t allow for any personal use. The arrangement also will remain the same once new AD Ross Bjork begins in July: His contract calls for the same private jet hours as Smith’s. ◆
Jake Diebler
SCAN FOR MORE
The Mystery House’s Star Turn
A new documentary is exploring the story behind Clintonville’s most distinctive and fascinating residence.
By Kathy Lynn Gray
Bob Erickson’s whimsical Clintonville home, with its turrets and fanciful adornments, has been a point of curiosity in its neighborhood and beyond for decades. Now, a documentary will open the home’s doors to the curious and tell its story.
“So many people are interested in this house,” says Meshach Malley, whose grandfather, Erickson, has been reconfiguring the house for more than 50 years. “I want to show the ‘why’ behind how the house is, and how it created a sanctuary for over 150 people to come and live there and feel at home.”
Malley, 24, majored in cinema at Denison University and is creative director at the Columbus video production company Gentle Embers Media. A resident of the house from 2020 to 2023, he hopes to fund the documentary through arts grants and donations via the crowdfunding site Indiegogo and has a trailer, Clintonville Mystery House, on YouTube.
“My grandparents have this incredible story to tell,” Malley says. “Their humili-
ty has largely kept them in the shadows, and I’d like to document all that they’ve done in this singular place.”
Erickson and his then-wife, Dot Erickson-Anderson, moved to the three-bedroom house on Indianola Avenue in 1972 with their children and soon filled it with foster children, too. To accommodate the ever-changing brood, the house was constantly under construction as Erickson added five bedrooms, dug out the basement, created a sunken family room, raised the roof to build an attic apartment and added balconies and decks and a cupola, among other additions.
He’s the first to admit he didn’t always get the necessary city permits as he worked, often single-handedly, on his unconventional vision of what the house could be. In 2017, that caught up with him, when city code inspectors detailed a litany of unsafe conditions and condemned the home. Erickson, a retired lobbyist for the Hunger Network in Ohio, moved in with a friend but spent the next three years repairing and rebuilding until
the house was cleared for occupancy.
That’s when Malley and two other young adults moved in and spent two months repainting, replastering and cleaning so the house could begin its next chapter—perhaps as communal group housing, an Airbnb or a home for international students. Erickson is renting out rooms while still adding to the house. (His latest project: a domed greenhouse.)
Malley plans to use first-person interviews and archival family film footage to capsulize how the house affected those who lived there. He hopes to have an initial screening at Studio 35 Cinema & Drafthouse—a few blocks from the home—then to tour the film around the country to appropriate nonprofits.
“I hope people leave the film feeling energized and inspired,” Malley says. “The overall message is that things are more possible than you realize, because what my grandparents did with that house was to overcome barriers and actualize their vision.”
PHOTO: TIM JOHNSON
Meshach Malley, grandson of homeowner Bob Erickson, is planning a documentary on his grandfather’s unique Clintonville home.
A ‘DISTINCTLY DUBLIN’ LIFE
Since January, a suburban legal dispute has hinged in part on an unusual question: What does “distinctly Dublin” mean, if anything? Stavroff Land & Development raised this point in a lawsuit filed against the city of Dublin in U.S. District Court in Columbus, alleging that an “utterly vague ‘distinctly Dublin’ standard” was used by the city to unjustly thwart Stavroff’s plans to redevelop the Dublin Village Center off Sawmill Road, a claim denied by the city. Though Columbus Monthly can’t answer the legal question at the heart of the controversy, we are confident that you can live a “distinctly Dublin” life, as these three speculative pie charts attest. Here’s how true blue (or green) Dublin residents spend their time.
—DAVE GHOSE
Distinctly Dublin Activities
• Enjoying a meal at Bridge Park
• Playing golf at Muirfield
• Strolling through the historic downtown
• Complaining about Sawmill Road traffic
Distinctly Dublin Inner Thoughts
• “What does ‘Field of Corn’ mean?”
• “Is Eric Clapton really my neighbor?”
• “How did we end up with so many roundabouts?”
Distinctly Dublin White Lies
• Pretending to like Irish step dancing
• Pretending to dislike Hilliard
• Pretending to know what Cardinal Health does
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A Lasting Legacy
A new exhibition at Sarah Gormley Gallery celebrates the abstract art of the late CCAD president Denny Griffith.
By Peter Tonguette
For nearly three decades, Denny Griffith was a major presence in the Columbus arts scene—first in various leadership positions at the Columbus Museum of Art, then as the beloved president of the Columbus College of Art & Design. And all the while, Griffith was making his own art: abstract pieces characterized by bold colors, strange shapes and a profound liveliness.
Two years after retiring from CCAD, all that artmaking came to an end when Griffith died of cancer in January 2016. But his work—and his link to Columbus—persists. “Columbus meant so much to him, both as an artist and from his work at the museum and obviously his work at CCAD,” says his widow, Beth Fisher, who now lives in Asheville, North Carolina, where she and Griffith had both hoped to move until his diagnosis.
In furtherance of Griffith’s local legacy, Fisher has arranged for the Sarah Gormley Gallery to represent her husband’s work. The gallery, at 95 N. High St., will unveil its first solo exhibition of Griffith’s work on June 6.
“To be able to participate and support somebody who was so meaningful to the arts community, both as an artist and as president at CCAD, is such an honor,” says Gormley, who follows in the footsteps of Griffith’s longtime gallery representative, Marlana Hammond Keynes of Hammond Harkins Galleries. Last fall, Keynes closed her highly respected Short North gallery, leaving the late artist temporarily without a home. “Marlana represented Denny for a really long time and did a wonderful job,” Fisher says. “I still wanted Denny to have his work have a presence in the community.”
For this new exhibition, Gormley focused on two groups of Griffith’s paintings: the “Under the Microscope” series—a response to his father’s leukemia diagnosis—and the subsequent “Solilo-
Front & Center | Arts
quy” series. The first batch of paintings suggested the patterns of cancer cells under a microscope, but by the time Griffith began making the second batch, the images had become somehow softer and plainer. “He really started to edit them and simplify them,” Fisher says.
“Soliloquy #25,” a work in oil and encaustic, features giant circular or oblong forms against a ruddy background. “There isn’t a lot going on, other than the ellipses and the color field in the background,” Fisher says of the works in the series.
For Gormley, the magic is in contem-
plating what the artist might have been thinking during the creative process. “The more time you spend with [the pieces], the more meaningful they become,” she says.
And for Fisher, the exhibition is a chance to keep her husband close by. “I still see him as very much a part of my life,” she says. ◆
Artist and former CCAD president Denny Griffith in 2015
“Soliloquy #25” by Griffith
Mindy, Hodgkin’s Lymphoma survivor and Cancer Diagnostic Center patient.
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Best New Restaurants
Columbus Monthly welcomed about 300 guests to its Best New Restaurants event, which featured offerings from nine establishments included in the magazine’s February cover package on the city’s finest dining newcomers. The March 26 program was hosted by Vitria on the Square and sponsored by Noble Cut Distillery. A portion of proceeds benefited Service! For Hospitality Workers.
1 Danielle Bryant, Stan Constant, Chris Grant, Anthony Bryant 2 Lynn and Bob Russo, Debbie and Ian Kalinosky 3 Dominique Rice, Andy North 4 Wendy and Andrew Heckler 5 Antuane Latimore, Kirbi Cardwell 6 Minh, Tina and Quang Nguyen 7 Mattie Grooms-Phillips, DeShawna Grooms 8 Justin and Leah Frary 9 Noreen and Deryll Rohda, Mike and Julie Scott 10 Lindsay and Noah Ronneberg
PHOTOS: TIM JOHNSON
datebook
THROUGH
JUNE 29 | DAVID
MICHAEL BUTLER
Streetlight Guild hosts Columbus artist David Michael Butler’s Idyll: Remix, a reimagining of his installation Idyll: Interlude that features text from writer and poet Scott Woods. The East Side arts space says the exhibit “will have the feel of a movie you walked in late to, or a found manuscript only now seeing the light of day.” streetlightguild.org
JUNE
3-9
| THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT
Take a master class from top PGA Tour talent while strolling the magnificent Muirfield Village Golf Club. The Tournament That Jack Built lures some of sports’ biggest names, augmented by a cadre of celebrities playing the June 5 pro-am. This year’s early commits include past winners Patrick Cantlay (2019 and 2021) and Hideki Matsuyama (2014). thememorialtournament.com
JUNE
14 | SNARLS
In early May, Columbus indie-rock trio snarls released With Love, the Chris Walla-produced, hook-filled follow-up to the band’s beloved debut album, Burst, which released just before the pandemic hit in March 2020. Now, vocalist/guitarist Chlo White, bassist/vocalist Riley Hall and guitarist/ vocalist Mick Martinez get to do a proper tour behind their record, including a hometown show at Ace of Cups. aceofcupsbar.com
JUNE 14-16 | COLUMBUS AIR SHOW
This Rickenbacker International Airport showcase will welcome the return of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. Nearly 20 years since their last Columbus appearance, these skilled pilots will display their elite flying skills, precise aerial choreography and the incredible capabilities of their F-16 jets. columbusairshow.com
JUNE 20 | GEORGE BARRETT
For years, the former Cardinal Health CEO’s musical talent was a sidelight—an interesting hobby that gave him a touch of glamour in Central Ohio civic circles. Now, Barrett’s music is taking center stage, thanks to his debut album, Not Alone. At Natalie’s Grandview, Barrett will publicly perform songs from his album for the first time. nataliesgrandview.com
June 1
Breakthrough for Brain Tumors 5K
This race, which starts in McFerson Commons, raises money for brain tumor research and patient services. Participants receive a shirt and a finisher’s medal. abta. org/get-involved/bt5k
June 28
Evening of Light Alvis House will host this benefit at Hollywood Casino, raising money to support the nonprofit’s Family & Children’s Program, which offers parenting classes, counseling and other services. alvis180.org
June 28-30
Volunteer at ComFest
Perhaps no major Columbus event relies more on volunteers than ComFest, which has roughly 3,000 shifts to fill each year. If you step up, you receive the latest festival T-shirt and $4 worth of volunteer chips redeemable at any bar or food vendor. comfest.com
snarls
MORE NONSTOP DESTINATIONS THAN EVER BEFORE START HERE
With 120+ daily flights and 50+ destinations, we are the start of it all.
WEEKEND
By Columbus Monthly staff and contributors
Mega vacations are life-changing. Quick escapes are indispensable. These shorter voyages offer sustenance for our souls, and if you’ve spent the first half of 2024 without a brief getaway, now is the time to change that. Read on to discover 30 delightful destinations, one for each weekend from June to December, with trips focused on food, the arts, the outdoors and more. Each can help you find inspiration and renewal, and each is no more than a day’s drive or a direct flight away.
2 3
Flower Power Flower Power
Mackinac
Island’s
lilacs are a feast for the eyes and nose.
Even the lilacs are historic on Mackinac Island. “The oldest lilac is over 200 years old,” says Steph Castelein of the Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau. Each June it blooms its head off at the Harbour View Inn just east of downtown.
Nearby, Marquette Park has the town’s largest concentration of lilacs, but the blooming bushes will paint the whole island in pinks, purples and whites during the Lilac Festival June 7-16. The festival includes a parade, lilac tours, music, plant seminars, a Lilac Queen, a 10K run/walk—and a whole lot of lilac gazing. You do not need a ticket, just show up.
shops and attractions are open in June, including historic Fort Mackinac and Grand Hotel.
Getting There: 7-hour drive (plus ferry ride),
Some visitors come for the day, and that is plenty of time for lilac immersion. Others stay overnight, but island officials urge visitors to book hotels early. All
Jeff Stephens, Outdoor Pursuits director
More than 250 lilac varieties flourish on the island, nurtured by ideal growing conditions of cold winters, limestone rock, high pH and enough rain. They were likely brought by early settlers, who imported old stems of lilacs and planted them to remind them of home. While those settlers are long gone, the sweet-smelling lilacs live on. If you visit, remember that Mackinac Island is that famous dot of an island in Lake Huron that prohibits motorized vehicles. Get to the island by ferry from Mackinac City or St. Ignace, then walk, cycle or take a horse-drawn carriage to see the lilacs at a luxuriously slow pace. —ELLEN
CREAGER
Bike Camping 101 Bike Camping 101
Ever consider bicycle camping?
This year, Outdoor Pursuits—a nonprofit dedicated to providing safe, full-service bicycling and outdoor adventures in Ohio—is introducing GOBA Weekend, making it more accessible. This condensed version of the weeklong Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure (proceeds of which have contributed $1 million to the development of the Ohio to Erie Trail over 20 years) caters to newcomers and those unable to commit to a full week of riding.
Getting There:1.5-hour drive (8.5 hours on goba.combike),
pitch their tents before embarking on their preferred version of the Buckeye Bridge Ride on Saturday, followed by the GOBA loop ride on Sunday. The event provides meals, full on-road support and raises funds for Preble County 4-H scholarships. Outdoor Pursuits director Jeff Stephens anticipates more than 400 riders to join GOBA Weekend.
Over two days (June 15-16), participants will cover distances ranging from 15 to 62 miles, immersing themselves in the GOBA atmosphere while camping at GOBAville, located at Preble County Fairgrounds in Eaton. Attendees will
Catering to riders of all levels (including those on e-bikes), the event ensures a safe and enjoyable experience with well-marked routes and support-andgear vehicles. “It’s great training for Pelotonia,” Stephens says. He emphasizes the family-friendly nature, adding that GOBA Weekend coincides with the Eaton Community Fun Festival, featuring food trucks, live music, inflatables and a zip line. —JILL MOORHEAD
Island Tranquility Island Tranquility
When summer rolls around, the town of Put-in-Bay on South Bass Island is undoubtedly Lake Erie’s party central. But just across the bay, almost within swimming distance (but please don’t try because there’s a lot of boat traffic, OK?), is a destination that’s just as lovely, just as isolated-but-accessible, and far more sedate.
Think of Middle Bass Island as South Bass’ more introverted but still quite charming sister. There’s seldom much partying going on around Middle Bass, except, perhaps, for the enormous flocks of huge white pelicans, one of the largest bird species in North America, that congregate just offshore.
Instead of tequila and Jell-O shots, visitors to Middle Bass are more likely to overindulge in quiet bicycle rides down empty roads, which, sure, might make your calf muscles sore the next morning but can leave your head in a much better place.
Nature lovers who want to observe the antics of creatures other than human can visit two nature preserves on Middle Bass: Petersen Woods and Kuehnle State Wildlife Area. Both are frequented by an abundance of wading birds and other interesting critters.
There’s still plenty of services for visitors on the island, including three restaurants, a small general store and a coffee shop on the historic grounds of the former Lonz Winery. Middle Bass Island State Park offers camping and a large marina. Other lodging options on the island include rental cabins, condos and vacation homes but no hotels. —STEVE STEPHENS
Naked and Unafraid Naked and Unafraid
The uninhibited joy of Seattle’s Fremont Fair
Hosted on the weekend of the summer solstice (June 22-23), the Fremont Fair in the trendy north-central neighborhood of Seattle is a destination in its own right. You’ll find your typical summer festival attractions: live music, a craft/ maker’s market, a beer garden and more. But if you’ve heard of this event already, chances are it’s because of an unofficial element of the fair’s Fremont Solstice Parade: the Painted Cyclists. As in, body paint. As in, only body paint. For more than 30 years, nude cyclists (and roller skaters, skateboarders and even joggers) have kicked off the parade. They sport fantastic body paint creations, elaborate headpieces and little else. And
before you ask, yes, this is a legal event; the Revised Code of Washington defines indecent exposure only as conduct that is “likely to cause reasonable affront or alarm,” and the enthusiastic crowd is anything but offended. Expect thongs among the throngs, which include plenty of families who turn out to enjoy some of the most joyous expressions of creativity and public nudity you’ll ever see. Participants range from fully nude to mostly clothed, though everyone is highly encouraged to sport a creative paint job per tradition, for audience entertainment and to provide an artistic element that helps defend against naysayers. Some cyclists complete the look with tricked-out
rides, from tandem and three-person bikes to ultra-tall bikes and more.
Want to get in on the action yourself? Rented bikes are allowed, though a plastic bag over the seat is highly encouraged for sanitation purposes. —EMMA FRANKART HENTERLY
The former Lonz Winery is now part of Middle Bass Island State Park.
Painted Cyclists at Seattle’s Fremont Fair
Outdoor Rewards Outdoor Rewards
Three can’t-miss camping trips, from rugged to bougie to transcendental
By Jill Moorhead
Beausoleil Island Canada’s Georgian Bay
Rattlesnakes, turtles and bears, oh my. If you want to catch a glimpse of northern wildlife while experiencing the geologically complex terrain of the Canadian Shield, a camping excursion to Beausoleil Island is for you. They say getting there is half the fun, and that’s doubly true for this trek, which includes an eight-hour road trip (including an overnight in Toronto) and a private boat ride to the UNESCO Biosphere reserve.
Beausoleil Island is the largest of 63 islands in Georgian Bay Islands National Park, many of which you’ll pass on the 15-minute ride to the campground.
Beausoleil has typical car camping services, but without the cars. Amenities include a shower house, marked campsites along Lake Huron and bike rentals. Three-wheeled carts are available at the dock to move all camping sundries to your reserved campsite.
Under Canvas Zion Virgin, Utah
Camping generally necessitates a significant amount of planning and packing, but a trip to Under Canvas Zion requires only a direct flight to Las Vegas and a stunning two-anda-half-hour drive to Virgin, Utah. This glamping resort will take care of the rest. Located near Zion National Park, staying at Under Canvas is like staying at a fancy hotel, but with unadulterated views of the night sky, red rock formations and sandstone cliffs.
The 5-mile long island features trails that traverse its perimeter, inland trails (including one that practically guarantees a rattlesnake sighting—or hearing) and a clear blue lake with its own island. (Strong swimmers can experience being on an island within a lake within an island within a lake.)
Travel to the island should be booked in advance through one of several third-party boat transportation companies, and canoes and kayaks can be rented from the mainland, as well. Mid-summer visitors should pack in plenty of bug spray, though basic necessities are available for sale at island prices. parks.canada.ca
Under Zion features several styles of off-the-grid canvas platform tents, complete with restroom facilities, luxury bedding, portable battery packs, viewing decks and a wood-fired stove
Wisteria Pomeroy, Ohio
For a more metaphysical experience, head to Wisteria, a cooperatively owned and operated community in Southeast Ohio. Wisteria hosts event-related group camping, with an emphasis on intentional living, co-education and alternative spirituality. About a 90-minute drive from Columbus, the camp is also home to a series of summer festivals (though none are in July), including an Appalachian Summer Solstice, Appalachian Herb Fest and a Labor Day weekend celebration for volunteers who work the land.
Founded in 1996 on a reclaimed strip mine, Wisteria is a clothing-op-
for cool nights. An attentive staff provides baggage portage, housekeeping, room service and rides to the dining lodge on the spacious campus.
While it’s acceptable to bring your own food (coolers and ice are provided at the tents), on-site dining is nearly always available, with seasonal and locally sourced options peppering the menu. There’s also a coffee shop providing high quality specialty concoctions, with a grab-and-go section from which you can pick up a snack or sandwich for excursions to Zion National Park, half an hour away.
The resort coordinates area experiences such as rock climbing, mountain biking, fly fishing and horseback riding. No matter what the day brings, returning to Under Canvas for a glass of wine or beer (or free, gourmet s’mores) around the fire pit is a relaxing way to end the day. And unlike typical camping, no assembly is required. undercanvas.com
tional venue spanning 620 acres, with 80 acres dedicated to its campground and 220 acres preserved as a nature retreat. The community hosts four households year-round, while other shareholders and extended community members contribute to the shared labor. A visit to one of its festivals includes foraging workshops, nature treks led by experts, and spiritual gatherings honoring traditions such as Druidism, Wicca and Norse mythology.
Wisteria’s expansive map features a swimming pond, meditation groves, three music stages, a bar (serving Jackie O’s), a faerie shrine (where visitors leave trinkets) and a wind phone (allowing visitors to connect with loved ones who have passed). wisteria.org
Fairy Lake Trail on Beausoleil Island
Quaint Carolina
Quaint Carolina
Discover the charms of picturesque Southport.
About 90 minutes up the Atlantic coast from the Myrtle Beach airport, discerning travelers will discover the old fishing town of Southport, North Carolina. Southport is itself quite “touristy”—what isn’t, these days, on the Carolina Coast? But the town is nestled into the southern shore of the Cape Fear Inlet, far from major highways, so a trip here is never the path of least resistance for Midwestern travelers who just want to get to the beach, gosh darn it.
Instead, the folks who frequent Southport—or are just discovering it—have probably arrived to enjoy the town’s authentic quaintness. Sure, the beaches of North Carolina’s Brunswick Islands communities, just a few minutes south of Southport, are quite magnificent. But visitors will also want to explore the many local shops, boutiques and galleries in Southport’s charming downtown, stroll the waterfront (with a blessed lack of carnival rides) and delve into the local cuisine.
Many of the eateries are located along the picturesque old waterfront, where diners and other visitors can watch as huge container vessels, guided by Southport’s Cape Fear pilots, wind their way through the narrow, twisting channel from the open Atlantic up the Cape Fear River toward the port of Wilmington. There are still commercial fishing boats working the waters around Cape Fear, although those still calling Southport home can be counted on the fingers of a single hand.
Southport’s charm has also attracted television and movie productions such as Matlock, “Crimes of the Heart” and The Summer I Turned Pretty. The Fort Johnston-Southport Museum & Visitors Center includes a room dedicated to that Hollywood history. Meanwhile, the rich ocean-going tradition of the Cape Fear region is explored at the North Carolina Maritime Museum at Southport, with exhibits about local pirates, fishing, shipwrecks and more.
And for lighthouse fans, North Carolina’s oldest and newest lighthouses—Old Baldy Lighthouse, built in 1817, and Oak Island Lighthouse, built in 1957—are both visible from the shore at Southport and are just a short drive away. —STEVE STEPHENS
Getting There:Seasonal direct flights via ncbrunswick.comSouthwest;Allegiant,
Oak Island Lighthouse
Southport Bay Street
Bald Head Island beach
Cape Fear River
Viva Italia! Viva Italia!
Explore the delicious heritage of Providence’s Federal Hill.
While it isn’t as well-known as other U.S. Italian enclaves, Providence’s Federal Hill is also a standout, declared in 2023 by Travel + Leisure one of the five best Little Italy neighborhoods in the country. Just west of downtown, the neighborhood boasts a fascinating history and delightful restaurants and shops, and is a must for any first-time visitor to Rhode Island’s capital city.
The heart of the neighborhood is the walkable business district along Atwells Avenue and Spruce Street. “It can sometimes feel a little touristy, but that’s OK because it’s the hot spot to get a sense of the history of Italian immigration here,” says Rhode Island Monthly editor Jamie Coelho, who has written extensively about the neighborhood.
Once an Irish district, Federal Hill transformed during the early 20th century into an Italian one, and it’s retained that heritage ever since. For an ideal Federal Hill outing, Coelho recommends hitting such places as 108-year-old Scialo Brothers Bakery; Venda Ravioli, a magnificent market with an espresso bar; and Angelo’s Civita Farnese, perhaps trying its beloved meatballs with a side of french fries, a tradition that originated during the Great Depression as a way to fill up the hungry masses.
If you miraculously still have room, finish the day with dinner at Joe Marzillli’s Old Canteen. There, request Table 5 in the corner window, once the favorite of Providence’s notorious former mayor Buddy Cianci, and order his meal of choice: Sicilian-style baked haddock in breadcrumbs. —DAVE GHOSE
Lost Appalachia Lost Appalachia
One of the finest regional museums in the country illuminates a lost era in American history—“old-timey” Appalachian life. The Museum of Appalachia in Clinton, Tennessee, has artifacts you just will not see anywhere else, plus the stories to go with them. See “Gol Cooper’s Glass Eye,” “Ezra George’s Hog Scalding Kettle” and even Mark Twain’s parents’ cabin from nearby Possum Trot.
Started by local teacher John Rice Irwin, the indoor-outdoor pioneer Appalachian village sprawls over 65 acres and offers self-guided tours. The museum, a Smithsonian Affiliate, features 250,000 items. You can experience a restaurant, frequent fiddling, and strolls through barns and cabins. But its greatest strength is the “stuff”—the quirky artifacts, each with their own stories, acquired by Irwin in the nearby hollers and valleys. And what an eye he had.
Back in the 1960s, Irwin began buying items and buildings from local people so things did not get lost or carried away by antique hunters. His museum opened in 1969. Irwin also saved baskets, quilts, tools, musical instruments and everyday household items created by mountain people who were making do and inadvertently making art.
In the magical “Hall of Fame” building, slow way down. Read the hand-lettered description cards next to the items, and soon you will be smiling or blinking back tears. Many little things have big stories, even an old glass eye.
The museum is 1 mile east of I-75, near Norris. Combine your museum visit with a stop at the impressive Norris Dam, where a bird’s-eye view observation point gives a sweeping look at the TVA dam and beyond. —ELLEN CREAGER A Tennessee museum preserves a forgotten era.
The Mark Twain family cabin at the Museum of Appalachia
Irwin Chapel at the Museum of Appalachia
Meatballs and french fries from Angelo’s Civita Farnese
Music al Fresco Music al Fresco
For the summer concert season, Midwest is best.
You don’t need a plane ticket to see some great live music outside of Columbus in August. If you’re looking to go big right when the calendar turns, head to Chicago for Lollapalooza in Grant Park, Aug. 1-4, with the option of fourday, two-day and one-day tickets that range from $149-$409 (more for VIP options and free for kids 8 and younger). Eight stages will host more than 170 bands, including a genre-jumping slew of headliners like SZA, the Killers, Blink-182, Future, Hozier, Skrillex and Tyler, the Creator, to name a few. At a concert festival this big and legendary, even the undercard is full of acts that would likely headline a smaller fest: Kesha, Deftones, Killer Mike, Four Tet, Tate McRae, Vince Staples. Plus, it’s tough to beat a summer weekend under the Chicago skyline, right next to Lake Michigan.
On Saturday, Aug. 10, head west to Indianapolis for a concert by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit at White River State Park’s Everwise Amphitheater (tickets $48-$300). This fantastic outdoor venue doesn’t get talked about enough in Co-
lumbus, given it’s less than three hours away. Situated on the river, the beautiful, 6,000-seat amphitheater should be the perfect spot to catch Isbell, one of the country’s best living songwriters. The Alabama-raised singer and guitarist has been on a hot streak ever since releasing Southeastern, a modern Americana classic, in 2013. Last year’s Weathervanes kept the streak alive, marrying the sound of intimate, haunting Isbell ballads like “Cast Iron Skillet” with the 400 Unit’s muscular Southern rock on songs like “King of Oklahoma.” Isbell also made his big-screen debut last year, starring in the Martin Scorsese film “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
Blossom Music Center is the crown jewel of Ohio’s outdoor amphitheaters, and on Aug. 17, the venue hosts the in-
ternationally renowned Cleveland Orchestra performing Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony under longtime conductor Franz Welser-Möst (tickets $25-105). Composed in 1888 after a long European tour, the dramatic symphony follows a fated character who, as musicologist Susan Key writes, “undergoes various metamorphoses, emerging triumphant in the score’s concluding pages.” Pianist Víkingur Ólafsson will also join the orchestra for a rendition of Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto. —JOEL OLIPHINT
Jason Isbell
Lollapalooza in Chicago
Tyler, the Creator
Travel with the Crew Travel with the Crew
Experience the thrill of supporting the home team in a hostile environment.
Columbus Crew vs. FC Cincinnati Sept. 14, TQL Stadium, 1.6-hour drive
Though FC Cincinnati has only been a part of Major League Soccer since 2019, the rivalry with Columbus Crew is as intense and bitter as those that go back decades. It even has a name: Hell is Real, named after the iconic billboard on Madison County farmland next to I-71, in between Cincinnati and Columbus. In last year’s Eastern Conference Finals, the Crew went down by two goals to their rivals in Cincinnati, then came back to win 3-2 in extra time, vanquishing the Supporters’ Shield winners on the way to the Crew’s second MLS Cup victory in four years. This season, the Crew will head south into the belly of the beast— TQL Stadium—on Sept. 14. Being part of a vocal minority in an opposing team’s stands is always a rush, but in Cincinnati it’s on another level.
Columbus Crew vs. D.C. United Sept. 28, Audi Field, direct flight via United, American, Southwest
After missing the playoffs four years in a row under here-and-gone coaches, most recently Hernán Losada and onetime Premier League star Wayne Rooney, D.C. United entered the 2024 season with a new manager, Troy Lesesne, and top-flight Belgian striker Christian Benteke in prime form. The first time the Crew played D.C.
Suds City Suds City
GUnited this season, it ended in a 1-1 draw at Lower.com Field, which would have been a loss if not for Aidan Morris’ longrange, 87th-minute banger. On Sept. 28, Columbus will look to get three points on the road before hosting Lionel Messi and Miami at home just a few days later on Oct. 2. If you’re looking to spend a long weekend seeing all the sights in our nation’s capital, there are worse times than early fall, when the swampy heat begins to subside. —JOEL OLIPHINT
Grand Rapids is an underappreciated beer destination.
rand Rapids may not have the renown, good or bad, of Detroit, but Michigan’s Second City does have one thing its big sister does not: the title Best Beer City USA, as voted by USA Today readers for the past three years. (Columbus, BTW, finished third behind Milwaukee.)
With more than 80 craft breweries, the Grand Rapids region has become a destination for beer lovers from all over the Midwest and beyond. So find a designated driver, or ride along with a company like Grand Rapids Beer Tours, for a wide variety of tastings and production tours. High on the list for many visitors is
Founders Brewing Co., which began as a microbrewery and in less than 20 years has grown to the largest brewery in Michigan and one of the top 15 in the United States. Beer lovers with a taste for brew and history should consider Archival Brewing, which dabbles in historic beer, cider and mead recipes dating as far back as ancient Egypt. Or, those with a more (less?) traditional taste for beer might find thirst-quenching satisfaction at a stop like Brewery Vivant, which specializes in Belgian- and French-style suds. Other breweries embrace the history of their buildings, such as Mitten Brewing Company, located in a
The Columbus Crew defeated FC Cincinnati in the December 2023 MLS Cup Eastern Conference Finals at TQL Stadium.
Toronto is for Movie Lovers Toronto is for Movie Lovers
names grace TIFF each
Toronto is gorgeous in early September, with temperatures typically averaging from the 50s to low 80s. But for movie lovers, there’s good reason to travel there for some quality time indoors.
Now in its 49th year, the Toronto International Film Festival is one of the largest publicly attended film fests in the world. Hundreds of features, shorts and limited series will screen Sept. 5-15 at an event that unofficially serves as a preview of what will garner attention come awards season. For instance, this year’s Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar winner, “American Fiction,” won last year’s People’s Choice Award at TIFF.
Gala presentations are accompanied by celebrity appearances on the red carpet, and many films are followed by Q&As with filmmakers and performers. There’s also the thrill of discovering an independent or international gem or getting caught up in the wild energy at screenings in the Midnight Madness program.
The full schedule for 2024 will be released Aug. 13. Between festival tourists and Toronto’s dedicated moviegoing community, demand for tickets is high, especially for films with major star power, and TIFF members get first dibs. But the sheer volume of screenings ensures some
availability for the public, and the process for purchasing tickets for TIFF isn’t much different than buying for a popular concert.
For a free, easy way to get a jump on the public sale, go to tiff.net today and enter your email in the newsletter signup at the bottom of the page. You’ll receive weekly updates on the programming TIFF offers year-round at its headquarters, TIFF Lightbox, and eventually a code that allows for purchase of festival tickets starting Aug. 23—three days before they become available to all.
Even if you don’t get into all the screenings you hope for, you’ll find plenty of options to fill your time among the city’s vibrant art and dining scenes, its wealth of shopping options, and attractions like Toronto’s downtown waterfront. However your trip ultimately works out, here’s a final piece of advice to take to heart: Pack your most comfortable walking shoes.
—MELISSA STARKER
historic 19th-century fire engine house; or Atwater Brewery in the former Hotel Rowe built downtown in 1923.
Of course, there’s much more to Grand Rapids than beer. The Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park offers a magnificent botanical and artistic display and was named the country’s best sculpture park by—who else?—the readers of USA Today. And history buffs should check out the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library & Museum for a blast of 1970s politics and nostalgia. The museum’s displays are quite engaging, but as with any site celebrating a politician, a pre-visit beer or two might not be a bad idea.
—STEVE STEPHENS
Big
year; 2023 saw appearances by Salma Hayek (above) and Jessica Chastain (right).
Fall in Full Fall in Full
Head to Roanoke for gorgeous views and extraordinary autumn color.
Few fall experiences can top a drive through the Blue Ridge Mountains along the Virginia-West Virginia border. A good destination and place to stay during that trip is Roanoke, Virginia, once the headquarters of Norfolk & Western Railroad.
The trains still go through, but these days most visitors arrive by car. Just be careful not to let the astounding fall colors along the way mesmerize you, especially if you’re driving. (The route can be quite serpentine, particularly if you avoid the interstates.) Consider a detour from Charleston, West Virginia, along U.S. 60 to Kanawha Falls, which won’t add much time to the six-hour drive from Columbus but is guaranteed to provide an as-
tounding leaf-peeping show.
But perhaps the best attribute of Roanoke—at least in the fall—is its proximity to the Blue Ridge Parkway, a gorgeous stretch of scenic roadway connecting Shenandoah National Park in Virginia with Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina. The parkway covers 469 miles, but visitors to Roanoke can drive much shorter stretches to view some terrific panoramic vistas, access many scenic hiking trails and visit attractions such as Natural Bridge State Park.
Natural Bridge is a 215-foot-tall, 90-foot-wide stone arch carved over many eons by Cedar Creek, which passes underneath. The arch has been a noted destination since at least 1750, when
Hot in the City Hot in the City
It’s easy to plan a trip to Houston only for its destination dining. From Top Chef finalist Evelyn Garcia’s “new Asian American’’ dishes at Jūn to the elevated traditions at Feges BBQ, the Texas metropolis presents a movable feast of innovative cuisine to satisfy any palate. So imagine landing in Space City on a weekend when more than 70 of the best chefs in the world collaborate for one indulgent celebration.
The annual Southern Smoke Festival supports the Southern Smoke Foundation. James Beard Award-winning chef Chris Shepherd started the charity in 2015 to help a colleague with no insurance and mounting medical bills. Since
George Washington reportedly etched his initials in the stone there. Natural Bridge was later owned by Thomas Jefferson and was depicted in several popular travelers’ accounts of the region in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Getting There: 6-hour drive, visitroanokeva.com
Several lovely trails pass un- der and around the arch, which maintains its ability to enchant visitors even today, especially those who arrive with the gold and crimson of autumn.
—STEVE STEPHENS
then, Southern Smoke—and its namesake festival—has morphed, raising millions for Texas hospitality workers to receive no-cost mental health counseling and emergency relief.
This year’s Oct. 5 festival promises to be the biggest party yet. A general admission ticket covers bites from all visiting chefs, which will include Austin’s Aaron Franklin, Phoenix’s Chris Bianco, Raleigh’s Cheetie Kumar, along with Food & Wine’s soon-to-be-announced list of 2024 Best New Chefs. Participants also can sample from curated wine bars, attend demos on the Yeti Culinary Stage and dance to a full lineup of live music throughout the day.
—KEVIN J. ELLIOTT
Spooky Voyages Spooky Voyages
Follow in the footsteps of a legendary winged creature and a master of the macabre.
Point Pleasant, West Virginia: Mothman
Point Pleasant’s two most famous visitors left quite a mark on this site in what is now West Virginia just across the Ohio River from Gallipolis. One was the father of our country, George Washington, who visited in 1770 while surveying the vast, unmapped lands of the Ohio Valley. The other was a mysterious, possible alien humanoid, Mothman, who scared the bejesus out of the entire community in the 1960s.
I cannot tell a lie: While Washington gets his due here—you’ll see him depicted in several scenes on the murals painted on the town’s floodwall—Mothman is the big attraction, especially as the spooky days of Halloween approach. Or visit earlier in the fall to attend the Mothman Festival in September.
Described as a terrifying winged crea-
Baltimore: Edgar Allan Poe
Fans of the macabre, eat your tell-tale hearts out on all things Edgar Allan Poe in Baltimore. The Poe House and Museum, where the writer lived in the early 1830s, is a natural starting point, though plan ahead: Hours are limited, timedentry tickets must be purchased online in advance and the museum offers no restrooms.
Just a few blocks east you’ll find Poe’s final resting place: Westminster Burying Ground and Catacombs. Open daily, Westminster offers two affordable, hourlong group tours on the first Saturday of each month; self-guided tours are free. Again, restrooms are not available.
If you’re in town on a Friday or Saturday, book a ghost tour of Fells Point, the neighborhood where Poe was found delirious a few days before his death, through Baltimore Ghost Tours. While not Poe-specific, the Haunted PubWalk (21 and up only) and the GhostWalk are both sure to cause a shiver.
Cap off your evening with a drink at
ture about 7 feet tall with glowing red eyes, Mothman was first spotted near Point Pleasant in November 1966, with sightings continuing for a little more than a year. Local newspaper accounts were picked up in national media. Soon, Mothman became a staple of popular mythology, including books and movies.
Getting There:1.8-hour drive; mothman museum.com
Today, visitors to Point Pleasant can pay their respects at a statue in the center of town that looks as if it should be larger-than-life, but with Mothman you never know. Next to the statue is the Mothman Museum, preserving Mothman lore and legend—and selling what it calls “the largest collection of Mothman souvenirs and memorabilia offered anywhere in the world,” which, no doubt, is absolute truth. —STEVE STEPHENS
The Horse You Came In On Saloon, also in Fells Point and believed to be one of the last places Poe visited. The dive bar also bills itself as America’s oldest continually operating saloon, open since 1775
There:
(including through Prohibition). Visit Oct. 4-6 for the ultimate in Poe fandom: the seventh annual International Edgar Allan Poe Festival. The free, family-friendly event features a costume contest and “Poe-rade”, a beer garden sponsored by local craft brewery RavenBeer, Poe-themed vendors and stage performances. —EMMA FRANKART HENTERLY
Edgar Allan Poe
Poe House and Museum in Baltimore
A statue of Mothman haunts the town of Point Pleasant.
NovemberUnexpected Florida Unexpected Florida
Three destinations that break from the Sunshine State mold
St. Petersburg: Dali, Crafts and Native Art
Direct flights via Southwest, Breeze (seasonal), Spirit (seasonal); visitst peteclearwater.com
Once you have seen enough Florida palm trees and flamingos, upgrade your vacation with a visit to three fascinating St. Petersburg art museums. St. Pete has a free trolley that transports visitors around downtown. First, hop off at the very fine Dali Museum. One of the world’s best collections of Salvador Dali artwork is displayed in roughly chronological order, tracing the genius Spanish painter’s art from conventional to sublimely surreal. The museum, with 2,400 works, is based on the collection of the late A. Reynolds and Eleanor Morse. Before leaving, have a cool drink at the peaceful outdoor patio next to the café and sit on the “melting bench.”
Next, visit the James Museum of Western and Wildlife Art, created by local businessman Tom James and his wife, Mary. Paintings of the historical West, gorgeous native jewelry and art, bronze sculpture and wildlife paintings immerse visitors in what is or was real, not surreal.
Finally, visit the 3-year-old Museum of
the American Arts and Crafts Movement. This is the only museum in the world devoted specifically to the American Arts and Crafts period of the late 1890s-1930s. See furniture, tile, pottery, stained glass, art and textiles. Local collector Rudy Ciccarello’s personal hobby just kept growing until he had to build a museum to display everything. Ohioans will appreciate the Cincinnati-made Rookwood pottery featured in the collection. —ELLEN CREAGER
Orlando: Say No to Theme Parks
Direct flights via Frontier, Southwest, Spirit, Allegiant; visitorlando.com
Move over, Mickey—there’s plenty to see and do outside of Orlando’s theme parks. Book an airboat tour of the Florida Everglades’ headwaters through a company that caters to smaller groups, versus those that seat a dozen-plus, for a more personal experience. Marsh Landing Adventures takes small groups out on Lake Tohopekaliga just south of downtown to spot alligators and other wildlife. And if fishing is your game, Lake Toho, as it’s known, is among the country’s best bass spots.
Another option, Capt Duke’s Airboat Rides, offers scenic tours on St. Johns River about a half-hour east of the city. Expect dark waters, prehistoric-looking forests, gators of course, and even free-range cattle. Afterward, check out nearby Manatee Sanctuary Park in Cape Canaveral.
There are plenty of opportunities to paddle, too. King’s Landing on the north side of greater Orlando is billed as “nature’s theme park” and offers kayak and SUP (stand-up paddleboard) rentals, tours and camping. Back out along the Space Coast, you can rent a clear kayak with companies like BK Adventure and Florida Bioluminescence Tours for an otherworldly evening experience paddling through glowing plankton. Book early for trips around the new and crescent moons, and keep an eye out for dolphins, manatees and more. —EMMA
James Museum of Western and Wildlife Art
Museum of American Arts and Crafts Movement
FRANKART HENTERLY
A gator guards her nest on Lake Tohopekaliga.
Anna Maria Island: Old Florida Charm
Direct flights via Allegiant, Southwest; bradentongulfislands.com
If you’re craving a getaway where all effort goes toward relaxation, you couldn’t find a better retreat than Anna Maria Island. While beaches like nearby Clearwater and Siesta Key steal all the thunder, Anna Maria flies under the radar, and its visitors benefit. The 7-mile Gulf Shore barrier isle is an oasis void of Florida’s standard chaos and tourist traps. There are no high-rise hotels, chain restaurants or wax museums. Save for a wave of newly built modern homes, Anna Maria exudes “Old Florida” charm in its focus on white sandy beaches, kitschy ranches and local color. Time can stand still when vacationing
on Anna Maria, especially at its northern point, where Pine Avenue runs from the city pier, overlooking Tampa Bay, to the blue waters of the Gulf. Along the way, small boutiques, art galleries, a community theater and ice cream parlors dot the landscape. Eat at the Rod and Reel Pier for a classic vacation vibe, then take a sunset walk among the dunes at Bean Point. Venture far south to the historic Cortez fishing village for a lunch at Starfish, the quintessential seafood shack, or legendary burgers at the open-air Skinny’s Place. A nightcap at the Doctor’s Office, a pricey cocktail lounge in a retired doctor’s office, is worth making an appointment.
But Anna Maria’s star attraction is the ocean, of course. Your priority should be to log off and maximize your time in the sun and water.
—KEVIN J. ELLIOTT
Alt-Thanksgiving Trips Alt-Thanksgiving Trips
Try something unique for the holiday this year.
Georgetown, Kentucky: Foals Instead of Football
2.75-hour drive, oldfriendsequine.org
The sweet stallion Silver Charm won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness back in 1997, but today he is relaxing down on the farm. So are 164 other retired thoroughbreds lucky enough to live at the Old Friends Equine retirement facility in Georgetown, Kentucky. Open year-round for visitors, the farm gives tours of the barns and paddocks, introducing the public to some famous racehorses and other not-so-famous racehorses who just needed a home.
Old Friends was started by journalist Michael Blowen in 2003. Today, it receives incredible support from the racing community, so it keeps expanding. Each retiree horse is beloved here. Walking tours take you through the working farm and into barns, so wear sensible shoes. Tours go rain or shine, and a golf cart is available for those with mobility issues. Children under age 10 are allowed only on private tours. The farm also has a nice little gift shop. And yes, tour guides let you pet some of the horses.
—ELLEN CREAGER
Yucatan Peninsula: Tortillas Instead of Turkey
Direct seasonal flights via American, Southwest, Vacation Express; yucatan. travel/en
Quintana Roo, Mexico, is a perfect option for eschewing the traditional dry and boring Thanksgiving turkey.
To truly get a taste of the area’s offerings, venturing from your resort (which probably offers equally boring cuisine) is essential. The best way to experience the food of the Yucatan Peninsula is to explore local eateries, where the cost-to-taste ratio is definitely in your favor.
Yucatan cuisine expertly uses acidic ingre-
dients to bring a pop to its dishes. Start with cochinita pibil, a traditional Mayan slow-roasted pork dish served with bright pickled red onions and tortillas originating from the area. The penchant for tang carries over into sopa de lima, a simple soup boasting shredded chicken, torti-
lla strips and its namesake lime, a regional crop. Begin the day with huevos motunleños, a Yucatan breakfast staple of corn tortillas topped with fried eggs, black beans, cheese and tomato sauce. With these options, you may develop a new Thanksgiving tradition. —JILL MOORHEAD
Cortez fishing village near Anna Maria Island
Cochinita pibil tacos
Sunny Sanctuary Sunny Sanctuary
Beat the winter blues with an outdoorsy Phoenix getaway.
Hiking in December? Not as frostbite-inducing in Phoenix, Arizona, as it would be back home. With the month averaging about two days of rain and average temps ranging from the 60s during the day to the 40s at night, the Valley of the Sun is a wonderful winter escape for the outdoor enthusiast. And you won’t even need to leave the sprawling metro area to get a taste of nature: Just 20 minutes northeast of downtown Phoenix lies Camelback Mountain, a popular hike that offers stunning panoramic views of Phoenix, Scottsdale, Paradise Valley and more at its summit. Camelback is the highest point in the Phoenix Mountains Preserve, coming in at just over 2,700 feet above sea level.
Getting There: Direct flights via American, Southwest; visitphoenix.com
Beat the crowds—and the midday sun, which can be punishing even at lower temperatures— with an early start. The Cholla Trail, originating on the east side of the mountain,
and the Echo Canyon Trail on the northwest face are around 2.5 miles out-andback with around 1,200 feet of elevation gain. Both are considered strenuous hikes with sections of hand-over-hand climbing and rock scrambles (no ropes required). If you’re wary, the Cholla Trail begins with about a mile of traditional hiking to warm you up, versus the steep, handrail-lined inclines of Echo Canyon. Plan for either hike to take two to four hours, and be sure to bring plenty of water, sunscreen and maybe some snacks. For a laid-back alternative, head to South Mountain Park and Preserve: The Pima Canyon Trailhead on the park’s northeast side offers several hikes of 3 miles or less, with very little elevation change. One of the largest municipally managed parks in the country, South Mountain— which celebrates its 100th birthday this year—spans more than 16,000 acres, so there are plenty of options for all skill levels. —EMMA
FRANKART HENTERLY
Art Basel Tips Art Basel Tips
Even casual collectors can enjoy the global artistic affair.
The epicenter of global contemporary art is one flight away. During the first weekend of December, Miami Beach transforms into a haven for art enthusiasts—not only hosting Art Basel, the renowned global fair, but also featuring an array of other exciting events.
The main attraction is in the Miami Beach Convention Center, where galleries display artworks for sale, priced from $5,000 to $500,000. The celebration extends across the city, with additional art fairs like Untitled Art, NADA Art Fair, Art Miami and SCOPE Art Show, each offering its unique perspective on the contemporary scene. “It’s a great opportunity, even for the casual viewer,” says
Columbus art dealer Rebecca Ibel, an Art Basel regular since its inception in 2002. “You’ll encounter galleries from South America, Asia, Africa—it’s truly a global experience.”
Transitioning from exhibiting to advising, Ibel—through her business, Contemporary Art Matters—guides clients through Art Basel, offering early access, expert advice and logistical support for purchases. Ibel recommends comfortable footwear and managing expectations, acknowledging the impossibility of seeing everything in one go.
Getting There: Direct flights via American, artbasel.com
For those seeking more art-filled evenings, private and public art museums host events. Ibel specifically recommends events hosted by the Pérez Art Museum Miami for a fun evening. —JILL MOORHEAD
Camelback Mountain
Christmas in New York Christmas in New York
If you are lucky, it will snow. Christmas in New York City elevates the bustling town into something magical, especially if Mother Nature cooperates. Holiday lights, glittering gifts, boho cool— take it all in on a weekend trip that is just a quick, nonstop flight from Columbus.
One place that New Yorkers, but not tourists, know well is Bryant Park. At Christmas, this park in Midtown Manhattan hosts the Bank of America Winter Village, with ice skating, ice bumper cars, a spangled tree and a giant Christmas market with nearly 200 shopping and food kiosks. Visitors can also hobnob in a covered outdoor dining area. The market runs from late fall through early January, so start here.
Most holiday tourists would feel disappointed to miss the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall, clip-clopping carriage rides through Central Park, the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, or the holiday decorations at the Plaza Hotel—all walkable near each other. Stroll Fifth Avenue as darkness falls to see the Tiffany and Saks 5th Avenue windows alight. Find more holiday markets in Union Square and Columbus Circle. Then see the Empire State Building with lights of red and green—and inside, décor full of Christmas cheer a la the film “Elf.”
To mix art and the holidays, catch a Christmas concert, or see the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s elegant tree with origami decorations. The Museum of Modern Art also is cloaked in a patina of Christmas, with special holiday cards
and last-minute gifts.
Before going home, see the gorgeous New York Botanical Garden Holiday Train Show in the Bronx, or walk down West 47th Street and pop your head onto a Diamond District shop to ogle some jewels. Shop the Teuscher Fifth Avenue chocolate store for its snooty European panache and prices to go with it. And apparently in December the Dream Downtown hotel turns its rooftop lounge into an “ice bar” with candy cane cocktails and a lot of romping.
New York is a walking town, so just keep moving, and Christmas will find you.
—ELLEN CREAGER
Clifton Mill’s mindboggling holiday lights
Aview of the Little Miami River, as it plunges picturesquely through Clifton Gorge in Clark and Greene counties, is always a bit magical. But the magic intensifies to flying-reindeer levels at Christmastime, when Clifton Mill throws the switch on more than 4 million colorful lights in and around the gorge at the historic mill site.
Beginning Nov. 29, the mill, one of the oldest and largest water-powered grist mills yet in operation, turns into the twinkling epicenter of a holiday-light explosion. Features include a 100-foot “waterfall,” a synchronized light and music show, and the mill itself, looking like a sparkly ornament for Paul Bunyan’s Christmas tree.
Getting There:50-minute cliftonmill.comdrive,
The celebration also includes a miniature Christmas village, a Santa Claus Museum and Toy Collection, and old Kris Kringle himself, who can be spied nightly in his workshop, making toys.
Refreshments including hot dogs, pork sandwiches, soup, cornbread, cookies, pie and hot chocolate are also available most nights. —STEVE STEPHENS
Bryant Park Winter Village
Fifth Avenue holiday lights
Clifton Mill holiday lights
outage white pOWER
Inside a Hilliard teen’s all-too-familiar neoand his plot to attack the nation’s power
Nazi transformation grid with friends
Story by Andy Downing and Joel Oliphint
They’d need weapons. Preferably ghost guns—untraceable, assembled at home without serial numbers. And some explosive material, fireballs to distract from the main event.
Ideally, about 40 people would spread across the country, attacking electrical substations with assault rifles, damaging the transformers and crippling the power grid. With the lights out, chaos would reign, leading to deaths and an economic depression.
The end goal of this particular attack, though, was even more sinister. The group’s three co-conspirators—Jonathan Frost of Texas, Jackson Sawall of Wisconsin and Christopher Brenner Cook, a Central Ohio native who attended Hilliard Darby High School—met online and bonded over neo-Nazi ideology. They dreamed of an Aryan homeland, and they didn’t believe the white America they envisioned could be realized without destroying the entire system. Revolution was the only answer, and an attack on the power grid seemed like the perfect way to create unrest, division and, ideally, a race war. The group’s manual stated that its members would not stop “until every enemy of Fascism has a rope around their neck.”
The two young men and Cook, who was 17 when he began plotting the attack in 2019, were willing to die for the cause. Frost made suicide necklaces with fentanyl for the trio, and during a February 2020 traffic stop outside of Columbus on I-70, Sawall ingested his vial but survived. The three friends had met up at a Holiday Inn Express in Dublin, where Frost provided Cook with an untraceable AR-47. They trained at an outdoor shooting range in London, Ohio. They also made time for propaganda, spray painting a huge swastika above the words “Join the Front” under a bridge near Reibel Woods Park in Hilliard. They had hoped to spread their hateful message further by defacing a mosque and distributing flyers, but the traffic stop thwarted those schemes. While searching Sawall’s Chevy truck, a trooper found the AR-47, firearm magazines, a Nazi flag, white supremacist propaganda and nearly a dozen cans of spray paint.
pleaded guilty to 29 hate crimes after he drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters at the August 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer. In the summer of 2022, a group of extremists met at the Drury Inn and Suites in Dublin, where federal agents said the group organized a terror plot to kidnap Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. And in March 2023, Aimenn Penny, an Alliance, Ohio, man alleged to have been part of a neo-Nazi “white lives matter” group, was arrested on federal charges for firebombing a Chesterland church that planned to host a drag queen story hour.
The trio’s plans began to unravel over the next several months as federal agents collected information. In August 2020, law enforcement searched the residences of Cook, Frost and Sawall, and in February 2022, Kenneth Parker, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, charged each with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. All three pleaded guilty.
Since 2016, Ohio has increasingly become a hub of white supremacist and extremist action. Andrew Anglin, the founder of neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer, grew up in suburban Worthington and until 2017 received donations at a Worthington office space leased by his father. In 2019, white nationalist James Alex Fields Jr. of Maumee, Ohio,
This apparent uptick of activity could be attributed in part to Ohio trending from a politically purple state to a more reliably red one, says Paul Becker, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Dayton whose research focuses on right-wing extremism. Becker says the political transformation has heightened tensions between reliably Democratic strongholds such as Columbus and the more conservative surrounding areas. “There are a lot of flashpoints that happen [in Columbus],” he says, “and all of those things are ways for [extremists] to get people involved.”
“Maybe it’s a Midwest thing,” Cook says in an email from FCI Bennettsville, the South Carolina prison where he’s serving a 92-month sentence, his disturbing evolution from Hilliard suburbanite to neo-Nazi radical having followed an all-too-familiar path.
Christopher Cook in March 2020, when he was arrested on a trespassing charge in Tennessee
Jackson Sawall, left, and Christopher Cook pose with their graffiti under a bridge near Hilliard’s Reibel Woods Park in February 2020
BSawall’s attorney also mentioned in a sentencing memo that
“Cook had demonstrated a continued idealization of white nationalism even after pleading guilty.”
orn the eldest child to Matthew and Diane Cook in 2002, Christopher was described by his mother in a letter to the court as “a very energetic and precocious child.” But when his parents enrolled him at Mary Evans Child Development Center at age 4, he struggled to adjust and became increasingly difficult to manage. These behavioral challenges intensified to a point where Cook’s parents made an appointment with a child psychologist, who diagnosed Cook with ADHD and sensory processing disorder, placing him on medication as he started first grade.
Cook’s elementary years, according to his mother, were unremarkable. He participated in Boy Scouts and enjoyed camping and the beach. His dad coached his soccer team. In school, though, Cook struggled, his teachers adopting a similar refrain: He’s a smart child, but he lacks focus and doesn’t work to his potential. Cook also had trouble connecting with his peers.
These difficulties intensified during his time at Heritage Middle School, where Cook had a few minor disciplinary issues but mostly faded into the background. Two former classmates described the preadolescent Cook as someone who moved quietly and didn’t make waves, with one recalling a middle school group project in which Cook declined to take on a leadership role, more content to go with the flow.
Absent school friends, Cook sought connection on the web, both in internet forums such as 4chan and via online gaming on his PlayStation 4 and PC, with favorite games including Minecraft and Mount & Blade. And while Cook says he first became interested in white supremacy ideation at age 13, his radicalization intensified as he ventured deeper into these online worlds. Cook’s mother wrote that within this space, he discovered a sense of acceptance he did not have at school, and that his youth and credulity left him vulnerable to the influence of hateful ideologies. “He chose a very dark path,” she told the court.
Posting to 4chan, Cook found himself drawn in by the sense of intellectual independence he discovered. Writing from prison, Cook says he was compelled by a fractured community where “mulatto trannies triumphantly post alongside Christian traditionalists, antivaxxers and technocrats.” Cook also found the site funny; two former high school classmates described his humor as deeply informed
by the edgier memes and language adopted by those who lurked anonymously within these forums.
Journalist and conspiracy theorist expert Mike Rothschild says the anonymity offered by 4chan removes the guardrails and allows users to indulge their worst impulses. It can also connect a variety of antisocial types drawn in by the anarchic feel of the space, in many cases speeding the radicalization process. This dark and hyperbolic online culture—often described as “edgelord”—can desensitize participants. “Once horrifying and unspeakable things seem not just common, but funny,” Rothschild says. “And it makes you feel important and special in a way that’s not actually real.”
Edgelord humor and memes have increasingly been used by extremists as tools of radicalization, says Jonathan Lewis, a research fellow in the Program on Extremism at George Washington University. Instead of starting with a post about launching a race war, extremists might begin with a “meme about Michelle Obama being trans,” Lewis says, allowing them to cloak some of their overt Nazism. “It
Propaganda for the Front, along with a source photo, found on Sawall’s iPhone
becomes an opening for falling into those deeper spaces,” he says.
In emails, Cook repeatedly describes himself as someone who, within these forums, uncovered a secret knowledge that elevated him above the nameless masses, writing: “It introduced a child who knew his adolescent bubble to a man he’d become”; “It made me more worldly”; “It wasn’t ‘The Man’ telling me these things, and I liked that.”
A belief that one is privy to some untapped, outsider knowledge is common in circles where people become radicalized, Lewis says. And it can easily progress from a group developing coded language based in hyper-online, racist humor to sharing works such as “Siege,” a text by neo-Nazi writer James Mason that promotes violent racial terrorism. “A lot of this does line up cleanly with how we’ve seen the far right, and especially neo-Nazi spaces, evolve,” Lewis says. “The core root of it is that in-group, out-group sentiment. It’s ‘us versus them.’”
Issues at home also played a role in Cook’s transformation. His parents separated when he was 13 and divorced four years later. At that point, Cook lost touch with his father and withdrew from his mother, who described her son at the time as increasingly hostile, sullen and depressed. Never a good student, his grades continued to suffer. At 16, Cook transferred from Hilliard Darby High School to Tolles Career & Technical Center in Plain City, where he intended to pursue a career in business before losing interest as the terror plot began to take hold. Looking back, Cook says the divorce “shattered the illusion of family functionality” and opened him up to more volatile beliefs.
Cook began looking for ways to put his neo-Nazi ideology into action in 2019 at age 17. He first met Frost, who is about five years older, in a chat group, then recruited Sawall, who’s three years older than Cook. The group, which dubbed itself the Front, landed on the radar of authorities in October 2019, when a recruit who met Cook on
Discord entered the United States from Canada with plans to connect with Cook in Ohio. During a vehicle search, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers found the book “White Power” by George Lincoln Rockwell, founder of the American Nazi Party. The Tactical Terrorism Response Team interviewed the Canadian and inspected his phone, finding images of Nazi propaganda that the recruit said he downloaded from 4chan.
Cook played an integral role in recruitment for the Front. He enlisted Sawall partly for his graphic design skills, which came in handy making propaganda. A document recovered from Sawall’s laptop describes the way propaganda and recruitment worked hand in hand. The Front’s “Propaganda Cell” would “recruit individuals gifted in the art of
Co-conspirator Jonathan Frost, photographed during a traffic stop near Columbus in February 2020
Co-conspirator Jackson Sawall at the Holiday Inn Express in Dublin in February 2020
When authorities searched Cook’s residence, they found neoNazi texts that promote violent racial terrorism.
producing and disseminating propaganda” across as many online platforms as possible, along with in-person poster campaigns. “Through the use of shock propaganda we can ensure the media will pick up on any postering action in local areas,” the manual noted.
Interested recruits had to complete a white supremacist reading list, which included “Siege” and two texts by the neo-Nazi founder of National Alliance, William Luther Pierce: “The Turner Diaries” (a source of inspiration for Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh) and “Hunter,” which Cook described as “essential reading” in recruitment chats.
After recruits completed the readings, the manual recommends they “commit to an action to prove their worth.” The manual also contained an Oath of Allegiance: “l swear on my honor that I shall do my duty as a Soldier of the Front, which is to fight by any means necessary for a free and independent Aryan homeland. … [I] am prepared at any point to risk my life for this oath.” After initiation, members were admitted to the Front’s encrypted chat group. Those who passed additional screenings gained access to another subgroup, “Lights Out,” where Cook shared a link to a U.S. Department of Energy report that contained information about the power grid. Specifics of the attack were shared in an even smaller subgroup, “Lights On,” which was limited to Cook, Frost, Sawall and a few others.
Cook also traveled the country—Wisconsin, Indiana, Tennessee, Texas—to meet recruits. These trips coincided with a time just after Cook’s 18th birthday in February 2020, when his mom kicked him out of the house for not following her rules. Some of the recruits Cook visited were juveniles; younger recruits were preferred because they were less likely to be federal agents or other infiltrators.
And yet it seemed everywhere Cook and his friends traveled, law enforcement was on their tail. Just two days after the traffic stop near Columbus on Feb. 21, 2020, Sawall was pulled over alone in his home state of Wisconsin. Officers found a Nazi flag, face masks and camouflage jackets. By Feb. 25, Sawall told a recruit he was no longer in the Front. Cook also told the Lights On group chat that Sawall “got scared. … If anyone’s scared, may as well p---- out now. Something needs to get f---ing done and a lack of dedication moves us back 10 steps.” “Amen, we need men with balls,” Frost responded.
Cook and Frost continued planning and recruiting, but on March 1, an anonymous 911 call brought police to a Lowe’s in Clarksville, Tennessee, where Cook and a 17-year-old from Georgia were sleeping in a shed in the parking lot. Cook, who had a semiautomatic rifle, several rounds of ammunition and two magazines with him, was arrested on a criminal trespassing charge. Two weeks later, Cook was with Frost in Texas, where they were again stopped by law enforcement, who found a Nazi flag, military uniforms, burner phones and fentanyl from the suicide necklaces. A day after that, police approached Cook sitting on a curb alongside a juvenile recruit outside of a CVS in Fulshear, Texas. The officer called the teen’s father, who had never heard of Cook and didn’t realize his son was meeting with him.
contrast to the pair’s brazen demeanor and edgelord humor in the chat rooms. In the Texas traffic stop, the trooper noted that “both the driver and passenger were extremely nervous and shaking uncontrollably.” If a recruit was involved, though, Cook could put on a show. In a police report, the cop outside the CVS described him as “very cocky and fast talking as if he was trying to confuse me” and said Cook’s relationship with the recruit “seemed awkward and not like they were friends. … The situation resembled a human trafficking situation, with Cook leading.”
The Front’s plans began to fall apart in March. “S--- happened, we are going to disappear for a while. Both are possibly going to get arrested,” Frost wrote in Lights On. In an email around the same time, Frost wrote to a friend, exasperated by law enforcement. “We came to the conclusion that groups will not work in the US, the feds are simply too good,” he said. “Officially we are done with all of our previous ideas.”
“We knew we were going to be caught,” Cook says.
In May, Cook visited Sawall in Wisconsin, and again the authorities got involved, but this time Sawall called the cops, telling them Cook had a panic attack and ran out of
Law enforcement’s descriptions of Cook and Frost offer a
Top: Law enforcement found a ghost gun at Christopher Cook’s residence in August 2020. Above: A Hitler youth flag photographed in Sawall’s truck during a February 2020 traffic stop near Columbus.
Season Seize the
Columbus Monthly highlights 30 can’t-miss events to experience this year.
Whispering Woods Riding Stables, Georgetown
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By Peter Tonguette
From late May through early September, the arts and entertainment scene will overflow with performances, local entertainers and legendary national acts. In the following pages, Columbus Monthly has curated a selection of summer cultural highlights—from Broadway in Columbus presentations to outdoor concerts from ProMusica and the Columbus Symphony—to help you fill your calendar.
MAY/JUNE
Columbus Moving Picture Show
May 23-26
Enjoy four days of screenings of classic, cult and sometimes unknown cinema from the silent era through midcentury at this annual film festival at the Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotel. Vintage movie posters, lobby cards, stills, books and countless other varieties of movie memorabilia are for sale in a dealer room. $75 for weekend admission, $25 for day passes
Actors’ Theatre of Columbus
May 23-Sept. 1
The theater company will again present a slate of arresting dramas performed outdoors at German Village’s Schiller Park. This summer’s productions will consist of “Beauty and the Beast” (May 23-June 16), “Chicken and Biscuits” (June 20-July 14), Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” (July 18-Aug. 11) and the Homerderived “An Iliad” (Aug. 15-Sept. 1). Free, theactorstheatre.org
Wine Down Wednesdays
May 22-Sept. 18
Sip on wine, sample hors d’oeuvres and let yourself be carried away by swinging sounds and soulful concerts held one Wednesday per month at 6:45 p.m. on the rooftop patio of the Lincoln Theatre. The featured artists and groups this year are Bobby Floyd (May 22), Mark Hampton (June 26), Kevin Turner (July 24), the Jerry Powell Experience (Aug. 21) and Starlit Ways (Sept. 18). $32, lincolntheatrecolumbus.com
Breakaway Music Festival
May 31-June 1
Kaskade, Tiesto, Two Friends and John Summit will be the featured artists at this year’s EDM extravaganza, which will take place at the Historic Crew Stadium. Tickets vary, breakawayfestival.com
Columbus Arts Festival
Dublin Irish Festival
Bobby Floyd
July 12
Field of Dreams 1989 PG
July 13 & 14
70 TH ANNIVERSARY
July 17
Viva Las Vegas 1964
60 TH ANNIVERSARY
July 18
Dial M for Murder 1954 PG
Mutiny on the Bounty 1935
July 19
The Third Man 1949
75 TH ANNIVERSARY
July 20
Cartoon Capers
Meet Me in St. Louis 1944
80 TH ANNIVERSARY
July 21
Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure 1985 PG SERIES PREMIERE
July 24
Thelma & Louise 1991 R SERIES PREMIERE
July 25
Adam’s Rib 1949
75 TH ANNIVERSARY
FRIGHT NITE FRIDAY WITH FRITZ!
July 26
RoboCop 1987 R SERIES PREMIERE
July 31
The Color Purple 1985 PG-13
August 1
Double Indemnity 1944
80 TH ANNIVERSARY COMEDY DOUBLE FEATURE
August 2
Duck Soup 1933 She Done Him Wrong 1933
August 3
Bye Bye Birdie 1963 G
August 4
The Towering Inferno 1974 PG SERIES PREMIERE 50 TH ANNIVERSARY
August 7
The Big Lebowski 1998 R SERIES PREMIERE
August 8 & 9 SILENT FILM
The Mark of Zorro 1920 SERIES PREMIERE
August 10 & 11
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi 1983 PG SERIES PREMIERE
August 14
Chinatown 1974 R 50 TH ANNIVERSARY
August 15
Mildred Pierce 1945
SCI-FI DOUBLE FEATURE
August 16
I Married a Monster from Outer Space
1958 SERIES PREMIERE
Little Shop of Horrors 1960 SERIES PREMIERE
August 17 & 18
The Wizard of Oz 1939 G
85 TH ANNIVERSARY
August 21
Mrs. Doubtfire 1993 PG-13
SERIES PREMIERE
August 22
Niagara 1953
SERIES PREMIERE
August 23
The Lady Vanishes 1938
August 24
Cartoon Capers
August 24 & 25
The Sting 1973 PG
LONGEST RUNNING MOVIE SERIES IN AMERICA!
The
The Columbus Symphony performs with the Ohio State University Marching Band.
Picnic with the Pops
The Columbus Symphony has made news lately with its plans to build a $275 million concert hall on the Scioto River, but it’s the symphony’s longtime outdoor home that attracts some of its most devoted fans. On Saturdays this June and July, Nationwide Picnic with the Pops will again take place in the John F. Wolfe Columbus Commons, the park behind the symphony’s present indoor home of the Ohio Theatre. Audiences have been thronging to the summer concerts since the end of the pandemic, says principal pops conductor Stuart Chafetz.
This year, the series will kick off with the symphony performing with Generation Radio, featuring Chicago lead singer Jason Scheff, on June 15. The following weekend, on June 22, the folk rock band Violent Femmes will be in town. “The Violent Femmes have had such incredibly positive feedback for every orchestra show that they have played,” Chafetz says.
On June 29, “Patriotic Pops”—the symphony’s annual Fourth of July salute— will not only honor our nation but the anniversary of one of its most iconic pieces of music: George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” which turns 100 this year. “Our first half is dedicated solely to George Gershwin, and then we’ll of course do the patriotic flair on the second half,” Chafetz says.
On July 13, the rapper Nas will perform with the symphony, and on July 20, singer-songwriter (and American Idol finalist) Cody Fry will be front and center.
Then—in the only program in Picnic With the Pops performed on both a Friday and a Saturday—a certain marching band will file into the Columbus Commons: On July 26-27, the Ohio State University marching band will be present for its annual collaboration with the symphony. This year, the band will play some pieces that it has never before performed with the symphony. Band director Chris Hoch will co-conduct the concerts.
The level of local enthusiasm for the marching band was something of a surprise to Chafetz, who joined the symphony in 2018. “For me to walk out there and to be in front of this massive wall of sound is unbelievable,” he says. “When I come out and I’m wearing a certain hat, they start yelling, ‘Woody! Woody!’ . . . I look like Woody [Hayes], and a friend of mine wants me to wear one of those white shirts and come out like Woody. So you never know.” columbussymphony.com
Columbus Arts Festival
June 7-9
For the 62nd year, the riverfront area of Downtown will be transformed into an epicenter of all things artistic. Among the 250-plus artists whose works can be seen or bought include ceramicist Rebecca Rea, printmaker Emily Sekerak and leather artist Zach Vincent. Oh, and there’s plenty of live entertainment, too: DrippDaDon, Angela Perley and the Worn Flints are just several of the artists and groups who will perform. Free, columbusartsfestival.org
‘Disney’s The Lion King’
June 12-July 7
By this point, the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical version of “Disney’s The Lion King” is likely as iconic as the 1994 animated movie upon which it is based. Don’t miss this Broadway in Columbus presentation at the Ohio Theatre, which features the same striking set design, glorious music and vivid storytelling as the original Broadway hit. $30 to $140, capa.com
Lionel Richie and Earth, Wind & Fire
June 13
If you know by heart the words to “All Night Long,” “Lady,” “Let’s Groove” or “September,” you may be the ideal audience for the touring show “Sing a Song All Night Long,” the first-ever pairing of the iconic Richie and the equally iconic Earth, Wind & Fire. The performance is set for the Schottenstein Center. $40.95 to $125.95, schottensteincenter.com
Lionel Richie
Stonewall Columbus Pride March and Festival
June 14-15
The Pride March, which will step off at 10:30 a.m. June 15 at Broad and High streets, is perhaps the most notable event in this annual celebration of Central Ohio’s LGBTQ+ community, but the Pride Festival and Resource Fair at Goodale Park boasts over 200 vendors, two performance stages and a community wellness area. Free, stonewallcolumbus.org
Creekside Blues and Jazz Festival
June 14-16
For a quarter of a century, Gahanna’s Creekside District has turned itself into a mecca for blues and jazz artists each summer. Guests can eat, drink and be merry as they listen to music made by artists ranging from Huntertones and Fewxion to Jason Ricci and the Bad Kind and MojoFlo. Tickets vary, creeksidebluesandjazz.com
Juneteenth Ohio Festival
June 15-16
This festival at Genoa Park offers a multitude of ways to honor the legacy of June-
teenth, the day in 1865 on which Black people in Texas learned they had been freed. Roots, rock and reggae music will be center stage on June 15, while gospel music will be the focal point the following day. A classic car show, marketplace, wellness pavilion and college and career
fair are among the other offerings. $5 to $20, juneteenthohio.com
Buckeye Country Superfest
June 22-23
Nearly 64,000 music lovers packed Ohio Stadium for last year’s country-western
Juneteenth Ohio Festival
Lancaster Festival
Lancaster Festival artistic director Gary Sheldon remembers well one of the first programs he led during his inaugural season in 1988. That year, “Superman” star Christopher Reeve joined the Lancaster Festival Orchestra to recite words by Carl Sagan and Isaac Asimov while the orchestra, under Sheldon’s baton, played themes from Star Wars and other sci-fi flicks.
“For the fireworks encore, he read from the works of famous Americans: Nathan Hale, George Washington, Abe Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, while the Festival Orchestra played works such as ‘America the Beautiful,’ ” Sheldon says. “It was very stirring.”
This year’s Lancaster Festival—set for July 18-27 at locations throughout Fairfield County—will be Sheldon’s last. He is set to step down as the organization’s longtime leader, but before he does, he will once again conduct that music from Star Wars as part of the grand finale, also featuring country star Lee Brice, on July 27 at the Wendel Concert Stage. “From first to last for me, it’ll be extra-special,” Sheldon says.
The music and arts event is always anchored by performances of the Lancaster Festival Orchestra, an ensemble consisting of far-flung musicians who converge on Fairfield County once a year. “It’s been important to me and the community to find the finest musicians around the country to play with us each summer, and we’ve done just that,” Sheldon says.
Sheldon will indulge in personal and audience favorites during the opening night performance on July 18 at the Basilica of St. Mary of the Assumption: pieces by Puccini, Respighi and Ravel will be among the highlights of the program. Then, on July 20 at the Wendel Concert Stage, the orchestra will collaborate with Wilson Phillips, whose members are the daughters of Beach Boys star Brian Wilson and his first wife and the Mamas & the Papas singers John and Michelle Phillips.
One of Sheldon’s joys has been introducing national guest artists to the advantages of collaborating with a robust professional orchestra. “I’ll never forget when Judy Collins was with us, all the way back in the beginning, and she turned around after the first piece in rehearsal and said, ‘We’re ready for the recording studio,’ ” he says. “What an honor from such an icon.”
And serving the festival—which also includes visual arts activities, stage shows and numerous smaller concerts—has been an honor for the Festival Orchestra’s outgoing leader, too. “There’s really nothing in my career that comes close to the experience I’ve had in Lancaster,” he says. lancasterfestival.org
music showcase, and organizers have high hopes for attendance this year with such featured artists as Zach Bryan, the Turnpike Troubadours and Charley Crockett. $59.99 and up, buckeyecountrysuperfest.com
ComFest
June 28-30
Community involvement is part of the identity of this annual festival in Goodale Park, which is organized, overseen and managed by volunteers. Visitors can expect plenty of music, arts and crafts vendors, and more. Free, comfest.com
JULY
Red, White and Boom
July 3
At 10 p.m. on the night before the Fourth of July, a grand fireworks display will celebrate our country’s independence, but there will be food, beverages and live music on hand throughout the day. Two stages will host artists including the Twylights, Distorted Silence and the Martini Affair, and there’s also a 1-mile parade. $35 to $125 for VIP tickets through June 1 (prices increase thereafter), redwhiteandboom.org
Doo-Dah Parade
July 4
For those who prefer to celebrate Independence Day with a dash of irreverence, this annual parade mixes patriotism and satire. The parade will kick off at 1 p.m. on Park Street, but a block party, including live music, will last all day, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. in Goodale Park. Free, doodahparade.com
PHOTOS CLOCKWISE FROM TOP RIGHT: LILY SMITH/USA TODAY NETWORK, BARBARA J. PERENIC,
Gary Sheldon at the podium with the Lancaster Festival Orchestra
Doo-Dah Parade
Zach Bryan
CAPA Summer Movie Series
July 7-Aug. 25
A 75th anniversary screening of “The Third Man,” a 50th anniversary screening of “Chinatown,” two Hitchcock masterpieces and the series premiere of “Return of the Jedi” are among the highlights in this year’s classic film series in the Ohio Theatre. Also featured will be a sci-fi double bill, a Fritz the Nite Owl presentation and before and after most features, performances on the “Mighty Morton” by organist Clark Wilson. $6, or $5 for senior citizens, capa.com
Columbus Food Truck Festival
July 12-13, Aug. 17
A panoply of food trucks and a bevy of live music acts will converge first on the Scioto Peninsula on July 12-13 and then on the Franklin County Fairgrounds in Hilliard on Aug. 17. Check out one of the festivals, or—if your culinary curiosity demands it—check out both. Downtown, free; Franklin County Fairgrounds, $5 to $10, columbusfoodtruckfest.com
Goodguys PPG Nationals
July 12-14
Car enthusiasts will encounter all manner of autos to ogle over in this car show at the Ohio Expo Center, which includes classics, customs, muscle cars and trucks. Adding to the fun will be vendor and manufacturer exhibits, a swap meet and a kids’ zone with arts, crafts and games. $20 to $22, good-guys.com/ggn-spectator
Generation Radio
Violent Femmes
Windborne The Music of Led Zeppelin
Columbus Food Truck Festival
Goodguys PPG Nationals
Dublin Irish Festival
We’ve all heard of the “luck of the Irish,” but let’s stop to appreciate the luck of Central Ohio. For 37 years, the region has hosted the Dublin Irish Festival, which has earned its reputation as an extravaganza of Irish song, movement, food, drink and more.
“It’s by far the biggest event that the city puts on every year,” says Erin Santa, events coordinator for the city of Dublin. Attendance ticked down last year due to a conflicting concert at Ohio Stadium, but organizers forecast around 100,000 guests at this year’s Aug. 2-4 festival. “It was still a great turnout last year, and we expect even better this year,” Santa says.
With seven stages dotting Coffman Park, music has always been a centerpiece of the festival. This year, headliners include Gaelic Storm, the Drowsy Lads and the John Whelan All-Star Ceili Band. Plus, there are numerous acts from Ireland (including the High Kings, Téada and Socks in the Frying Pan), as well as performers from Scotland, Canada and Japan.
Guests new to the festival will include Ally the Piper. “She’s a bagpipe player from Pittsburgh,” Santa says. “She has bright red hair and is classically trained. She has a big social [media] following, so we’re super-excited about her.”
Dance is also a centerpiece, with numerous Irish dance academies, most of them local, participating. Those performing this year include the Claddagh Columbus Irish Dance School, Dwyer Irish Dance, Irwin Academy of Irish Dance and Rankin Holland Irish Dance Academy.
Over 90 vendors will offer Irish wares for sale, a genealogy tent will provide tips for those yearning to learn more about their ancestry and a “Celtic Canine” area will be occupied by various breeds of Irish dogs (and their breeders or owners). “We have something for everyone,” Santa says.
The Wee Folk area, which is designated for kid-friendly performances and activities, will feature plenty to keep children occupied, and food and drink areas are sprinkled across the 38 acres. But here’s a word to the wise: Don’t attempt to make the festival a single-day outing. “You won’t hit everything in one day, just because there are so many things to do and see,” Santa says. “It’s definitely something where you have to come back a second day.”
And it’s a lot easier than booking a trip overseas. “We often say, ‘You’re basically going to Ireland, but it’s just a little smaller,’ ” Santa says. dublinirishfestival.org
Summer Jam West
July 13
Music, art, family activities, and food and drink are the staples of this annual event hosted by the Hilltop Arts Collective. The festival is set for 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Westgate Park. Free, hilltoparts.org
Columbus Book Festival
July 13-14
The Columbus Main Library and Topiary Park will be overflowing with authors to talk about, read from and sign their books. Among the more than 200 wordsmiths who will be participating in the second edition of this event are Hanif Abdurraqib, Porochista Khakpour, Nick Petrie, Veronica Roth and Kennedy Ryan. New and used books will be for sale. Free, columbusbookfestival.org
Ohio State Fair
July 24-Aug. 4
If you think the state fair is just about livestock events or a life-size cow crafted of butter, think again. This Columbus tradition, which is held at the Ohio Expo Center, has long attracted top-flight musical artists, including, this year, Alabama, Lauren Daigle, Ice Cube and Jamey Johnson. Some, however, persist in thinking that the most gifted vocalists, year-in and year-out, are the members of the All-Ohio State Fair Band and Youth Choir. Gate admission $10 to $12, free for age 5 and younger; concert tickets vary, ohiostatefair.com
Columbus Food & Wine Festival
July 27
Indulge in chef tastings, luxuriate in wine experiences and enjoy live music at this annual Downtown event that will take place from noon to 8 p.m. General admission free, $59.99 for wine tasting package, columbusfoodwine.com
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER
ProMusica Chamber Orchestra
Aug. 6, 8-9
The acclaimed orchestra will take up residence at the Alum Creek Amphitheater in Westerville on Aug. 6 and at the Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens on Aug. 8-9. No matter the setting, attendees will experience gorgeous music under the baton of music director David Danzmayr. Free, promusicacolumbus.org
PHOTO: LORRIE CECIL
Dublin Irish Festival
All-Ohio Balloon Fest
Aug. 8-10
Aaron Lewis, the Shane Stephens Band and Jefferson Starship are among the national acts who will perform at the festival at Union County Airport in Marysville, but some would say that the real entertainment is high above the concert stage: Hot-air balloons in an array of shapes and designs will be aloft. Also on tap are aerial entertainment, rides and kids’ activities. Tickets vary, allohioballoonfest.com
Festival Latino
Aug. 10-11
Music, art, food and family-friendly activities are among the ways that Latin American culture is celebrated at this annual event in Genoa Park. The festivities will take place from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Free, festivallatino.net
‘Broadway Legends’
Sept. 6
Singers Doug LaBrecque and Lisa Vroman will bring their experience as Broadway performers to the Hinson Amphitheater, where the pros will perform with the New Albany Symphony Orchestra. Lawn seating $30 to $40, newalbanysymphony.com
‘M.J. the Musical’
Sept. 10-15
The distinctive musical gifts and dynamic dancing ability of Michael Jackson are the subjects of this Tony Award-winning musical choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon. The Broadway in Columbus presentation will be performed in the Ohio Theatre. Ticket prices not available at press time, capa.com
‘The Price Is Right Live’
Sept. 20
If you have ever sat at home daydreaming about how you would fare as a contestant on The Price Is Right, here’s your chance: The live version of the TV show will come to the Palace Theatre. $41.50 to $81.50, capa.com
Congratulations Class of 2024
These 105 seniors are ready to thrive.
As they matriculate to the following prestigious institutions, we’re proud to have empowered them to ignite their curiosity, learn voraciously and live intentionally. We can’t wait to watch as they take the world head on.
University of Alabama
University of Alaska, Fairbanks
University of the Arts London
Auburn University
Babson College
Baylor University
Boston College
Boston University * Bowdoin College
Bowling Green State University *
Brown University *
Bucknell University
University of California, Berkeley
Carnegie Mellon University
Case Western Reserve University *
University of Central Florida
College of Charleston
University of Chicago
University of Cincinnati *
Clemson University
Colgate University
Columbia University *
Cornell University
University of Dayton
Denison University *
Emory University
University of Florida
George Washington University
Georgetown University
High Point University
Indiana University *
Lafayette College
Loyola University Chicago
Miami University
University of Michigan
Michigan State University *
New York University *
UNC Charlotte
Northeastern University
Northwestern University
University of Notre Dame
Oberlin College
Ohio University
Ohio State University *
University of Pennsylvania *
Purdue University *
University of Rhode Island
Robert Morris University
University of Rochester
Rochester Institute of Technology *
University of South Carolina
Southern Methodist University
Stanford University
University of St Andrews, Scotland
Stonehill College
Syracuse University *
Tulane University *
United States Military Academy *
United States Naval Academy
Vanderbilt University
University of Vermont *
University of Virginia
Wake Forest University *
Washington University in St. Louis
Wellesley College
William & Mary *
University of Wisconsin
College of Wooster
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
* Indicates more than one attending
A special quarterly section of Columbus Monthly
EDITED
BY
JULANNE HOHBACH
PAGE 56
Legal Weed and Teens Experts worry Ohio’s new rules on recreational marijuana could cause a spike in usage.
PAGE 60
The Go-To Guide: Budget-Friendly Family Fun 50+ free and low-cost entertainment options
Dr. Erin R. McKnight, medical director of the Substance Use Treatment and Recovery Program at Nationwide Children’s Hospital
PHOTO: TIM JOHNSON
LEGAL WEED and TEENS
As recreational marijuana becomes legal in Ohio, physicians and substance use experts worry that usage will rise—and with it, an array of related health problems.
Will the legalization of marijuana in Ohio prompt more kids to smoke a joint?
That question is on the minds of addiction doctors, counselors, researchers and parents after Ohio voters approved a November 2023 ballot issue legalizing the drug for adult recreational use. Legalization will become reality once state regulators finalize rules for sales, and with it, marijuana will be more available—and less stigmatized.
Fran Gerbig, executive director of the Prevention Action Alliance, worries that cannabis will be easier for adolescents to get through friends and family members. For more than 30 years, the Columbus-based nonprofit has worked to prevent adolescent substance misuse through information and professional development. “When we legitimize things, it sends a message that it’s safe to use,” she says.
That’s also a concern for Dr. Erin R. McKnight, medical director of the Substance Use Treatment and Recovery Program at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. “When you decrease the perceived risk of harm, that’s when you start to see more of an increase in use,” she says. “It makes kids think it’s OK and it isn’t going to harm them.”
To the contrary, experts say, marijuana can harm teens’ developing brains, hearts and lungs.
Teen Risks
By Kathy Lynn Gray
McKnight says marijuana is more dangerous for young people than for adults because their brains are still developing. “Cannabis can change the brain so that your ability to learn how to do complex things and your executive function is affected,” says McKnight, whose outpatient recovery program helps adolescents with a variety of substance use disorders. “As an adult, your brain already is developed.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, research has shown that teen marijuana use can make it difficult to think, remember, learn and solve problems, as well as to pay attention. It has also been linked to mental disorders such as anxiety, depression and schizophrenia.
Today, pot use is easier than ever for teens to conceal from their parents because they can inhale it through electronic vaping devices, which are small, easy to hide and low odor. While smoking a joint or consuming edibles remain common, vaping has become more popular. The most recent Monitoring the Future survey of students, conducted by the University of Michigan Survey Research Center in 2023, found that most respondents who reported using marijuana said they vaped it.
A study released by the American Heart Association in 2023 found that 70 percent of teens and young adults surveyed who vaped tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the chemical in marijuana that makes users high, had experienced anxiety symptoms in the prior week. Of those who had never vaped, only 40 percent reported anxiety symptoms. Researchers surveyed 2,505 individuals ages 13 to 24 for the study. Further studies would be needed to conclude whether THC actually caused or worsened anxiety, or if such symptoms had an effect on the use of vape products, researchers said.
Loren E. Wold, associate dean for research operations and compliance in the Ohio State University College of Medicine, has studied the health effects of vaping, both with nicotine and
THC. He says his research with mice indicates vaping may hurt the body’s cardiovascular system long term. “We looked at adolescent mice exposed to vaping, with or without nicotine, then assessed them later in life and saw a significant decrease in pumping in the heart,” he says.
Other studies have shown vaping can hurt the lungs, he says. “Adolescents who vape are at risk for stunting or altering their lung development and may not reach full lung function,” Wold says. “The emphasis on long-term effects and future offspring cannot be overstated, and that’s not talked about, especially with adolescents.”
Another concern for health professionals is how marijuana itself has changed over the last 50 years. “The levels of THC in pot in the past was a lot less, and the problem now is that the products are so refined that there’s a much greater concentration of THC,” Wold says. “The products are just a lot stronger and, to me, they’re much more dangerous.”
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the THC level in marijuana was about 4 percent in 1995 and had more than tripled, to about 15 percent, by 2021. Marijuana concentrates used in vapes, however, can have THC levels ranging from 40 percent to 80 percent, the Drug Enforcement Administration says. “Being a highly concentrated form of marijuana, the effects upon the user may be more psychologically and physically intense than plant marijuana use,” the DEA notes. For long-term users, that can include cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, a serious condition that can cause heavy,
‘‘ The levels of THC in pot in the past was a lot less, and the problem now is that the products are so refined that there’s a much greater concentration of THC.”
—Loren E. Wold, Ohio State University College of Medicine
repeated vomiting.
“The strength of it now is what worries me,” McKnight says. “The complications can be worse because it’s so much more concentrated than it was in the ’60s, the ’70s or the ’80s.”
Usage Trends
The percentage of teens using marijuana has been falling in the past decade, according to the CDC’s biennial National Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Sixteen percent of high school students reported using pot within the last 30 days in 2021, compared with 23 percent in 2011 and 24 percent in 2001.
The percentage also has fallen since the pandemic, according to the national Monitoring the Future report, which surveys students in grades eight, 10 and 12. In 2023, 8.3 percent of eighth graders, 17.8 percent of 10th graders and 29 percent of 12th graders reported using cannabis in the past year. In 2020, the rates were 11.4 percent of eighth graders, 28 percent of 10th graders and 35.2 percent of 12th graders. Researchers caution that the downward trend could be attributed to the fact that students were not together as much during the height of COVID.
Brian T. Davis, owner of Directions Counseling Group in Powell, says the reasons for teenagers’ marijuana use vary, but it’s important to ask. “Teens are looking to experiment,” says Davis, who has been a counselor for 31 years. “In middle school and high school, there’s a lot of exposure to drugs. And it’s a normal psychological
drive to want to test the world out. Developmentally, the search for independence is on steroids at that point.”
Counselor Tyler Leonhart, who works with Davis, says peer pressure often is a driving force. “Kids get into high school and meet kids who are older than them. There’s a feeling that, ‘I’m doing something I shouldn’t be doing.’ And there’s the element of reward: ‘My friends are going to like me more. People are going to talk to me more. I’m going to fit in.’ ”
Davis says clients tell him they use pot because it helps them to focus or relax. “There are so many answers. Some are self-medicating. To them, it’s medicine.”
McKnight sees that among patients at Nationwide Children’s. “I see two reasons. One, a lot of adolescents use it because it feels good. Secondly, they use it to cope, maybe if they’re socially anxious or just to get through the school day.”
What Can Parents Do?
McKnight encourages parents to talk to their children, in a nonconfrontational way, about why they’re using marijuana and how it affects them. “Getting an idea of why they’re using is a good first step, and talking to them about how to be safe is really crucial,” she says. “I’ve found one of the best things we can do for parents is encourage them to keep an open line of communication so they can be seen as a safe person for that kid to talk to.”
Davis and Leonhart say many parents are alarmed when they discover their child is using cannabis. “It’s better if they aren’t overreactive or shocked,” Davis says. “Parents want us to fix the kid, but they need to look at the bigger picture.”
That bigger picture, Leonhart says, includes educating parents about marijuana, cannabis use disorder, health implications and teen psychology. Davis says it’s also important for parents to realize that teenagers will grow into independent adults, so excessive restrictions aren’t necessarily productive. “Setting boundaries in anger and frustration is not good,” he says.
McKnight says she doesn’t recommend tactics such as random drug screening at home, because it can diminish the trust between parent and child.
Gena Miller Shelton, the mother of a kindergartner, a second grader and a seventh grader, started talking to her
children about marijuana in 2022 after her daughters heard about an Upper Arlington 10-year-old who mistook THC gummies at her home for candy and shared them with classmates. “They understood enough to ask questions about that, so we had a conversation,” says Shelton, of Clintonville. “I told them that if you don’t know what something is, don’t put it in your mouth. And I said that there are some things that are for adults and not for children.
“You can’t pretend that it’s not out there; you have to tell kids why it’s a bad idea to use it and help them to understand why it’s stupid. I can’t be with my kids 24/7, but I hope that when they’re not with me they can at least think for themselves,” she says.
Shelton, an attorney for a wind and solar company, says the issue of legalized marijuana hasn’t been a big topic of discussion with other parents. “We talk more about guns and knives and lockdown drills,” she says. “I worry more about social media, like Snapchat, and online gaming platforms. And bullying. Those are the things parents talk about.”
She says her oldest daughter has men-
tioned that kids vape in the middle school bathroom but is much more likely to talk about who’s being mean to whom or whether there was a fight at school.
Shelton says marijuana has become more like alcohol in her mind—much more mainstream. “Boomers talk about their medical marijuana card and maybe that helps demystify it. My seventh grader is like, ‘Yeah, it’s there, it exists, but I don’t know why you’re worried about it.’ She reacts to it in the same way she reacts when she sees me pour a glass of wine.”
Changing Teen Perspectives
Davis and Leonhart say that adolescents who come to them for counseling related to marijuana use usually don’t see their behavior as a problem. Alarmed parents bring them in, or they’ve been charged with possession or sent by their school district. “You usually have a kid sitting there who doesn’t want to be there,” Davis says. “That’s the challenge.”
He first tries to build a rapport with the client, asking what they’re looking forward to in life and what their dreams are. Then he asks how they can make their dreams a reality and how their marijuana
use and choice of friends might affect that. “We can’t impose goals on them, but if we can help them think about the kind of person they want to be, they can frame it themselves,” he says.
Gerbig says the Prevention Action Alliance is working with Ohio’s Division of Cannabis Control on rules and regulations for the legal sale of marijuana. The alliance recommends placing health warnings on packaging, prohibiting packaging that resembles candy wrappers and banning social media marketing.
“We want to make sure it doesn’t target adolescents,” she says. “We have a cohort of adolescents who are really smart, but their brains are developing, and they still need to be encouraged to lean on those adults they trust to make good decisions. Our challenge as adults is to make them understand the risks involved with marijuana.” ◆
Loren E. Wold at Ohio State University’s Dorothy M. Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute
BudgetFriendly Family Fun
Looking for free or low-cost entertainment options?
Here are more than 50 ideas to explore around Central Ohio.
Compiled by Julanne Hohbach
It’s always good to have a few tricks up your sleeve to keep the kids entertained—particularly over summer break. If they’re budget-friendly, well, that’s even better.
With this in mind, we compiled a list of free and low-cost things to do with children around Columbus. The options are wide-ranging, from season-specific movie and concert series to year-round deals on museum admission. Given the number of available options, we did not attempt to create a comprehensive list, instead choosing some of the most popular events and deals that fly under many parents’ radar.
Don’t be afraid to look beyond these suggestions, though. Outdoor options abound, including city splash pads and programs hosted by Metro Parks, Preservation Parks of Delaware County and many municipalities’ parks and recreation departments. Interested in sports? Go online to columbus monthly.com/columbus-parent for The Go-To Guide featuring low-cost (or free) spectator sports.
For more ideas, check out Summer Entertainment Guide on Page 44.
To suggest an addition to our list, send an email to contact@columbus parent.com.
MOVIE SERIES
Gateway Film Center and the Columbus Metropolitan Library are teaming up again for the annual From Book to Film summer series. Fifteen family movies, including “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate
Factory” and “Shrek,” will be screened weekends through August. Show your library card for free admission.
The Free Movie Nights series returns to John F. Wolfe Columbus Commons, with monthly screenings in June (“The Secret Life of Pets”), July (“Ratatouille”) and September (“Coco”).
Several family titles are featured in this year’s free Movie Nights at Topiary Park. The series takes place monthly through September and also includes games and activities.
Other free film series to check out include Free Family Flick Night in New Albany, Bexley’s Main Event, Screen on the Green at Goodale Park and Friday Night Flicks in Pickerington.
FREE MUSEUM ADMISSION
It’s always free to visit these venues, which don’t charge an admission fee:
• The Orton Geological Museum on the Ohio State University campus features a collection of rocks, minerals and fossils, including a cryolophosaurus (a therapod dinosaur) and a giant ground sloth.
• The Wexner Center for the Arts, which focuses on contemporary art and culture, offers free gallery admission and tours.
• The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum at Ohio State houses the world’s largest comics and cartoon collection and produces a series of rotating exhibits.
• Ohio Statehouse visitors can take a self-guided tour and learn about gov-
ernment in the Museum Education Center. Guided tours are available.
• The Riffe Gallery highlights work by Ohio artists and items from stateowned galleries and museums.
• The Ohio Craft Museum, owned by Ohio Designer Craftsmen, offers a variety of rotating exhibits, as well as children’s programming.
• The Priscilla R. Tyson Cultural Arts Center hosts exhibits in two galleries showcasing local, regional and national contemporary works.
• The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2023, offers exhibits and aircraft highlighting all manner of flight, from the Wright brothers to a space shuttle cockpit.
Two of the city’s most visual venues offer admission deals on select days. The Columbus Museum of Art offers free general admission on Sundays, while the Community Days program at Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens grants free admission the first Sunday of each month to residents of Columbus and Franklin County.
The Fourth Grade History Pass, part of the America 250-Ohio project, provides free admission to about 40 museums and historic sites across Ohio for students who were in grade four for the 2023-24 school year. Local venues include the Ohio History Center and the National Veterans Memorial and Museum. The student must be accompanied by a paying adult. The program runs
John F. Wolfe Columbus Commons
through Aug. 31. For more information, go to america250-ohio.org/fourthgrade-pass.
ZOO DEALS
COTA and the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium are teaming up again on the Zoo Bus, which offers transportation from Downtown and other select stops, plus discounted attraction admission. The bus makes five trips daily between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Tickets are $2 for adults, $1 for children ages 5-12 and free for ages 4 and younger. Riders receive $5 admission to the zoo or $10 off a Zoombezi Bay ticket. See route maps and more at cota.com/timetables/ zoo.pdf.
Franklin County Community Days offer half-price admission to county residents who visit Sept. 15 and 16. The promotion is typically held twice a year.
CONCERTS
The Columbus Symphony Orchestra will stage two Popcorn Pops concerts with songs—and prices—geared to families. The shows, June 21 and July 12 at John F. Wolfe Columbus Commons, will be
followed by a Disney or Pixar film. All tickets are less than $12.
The Columbus Symphony Orchestra also offers a deal where high school students can get a pair of tickets to a Masterworks concert for $14.
The Jazz Arts Group of Columbus holds free, hourlong, interactive PBJ & Jazz family concerts throughout the year. Four summer performances in Topiary Park include a preconcert storytime; the rest of the season takes place at the Lincoln Theatre.
ProMusica Chamber Orchestra’s Summer Music Series, on tap Aug. 6, 8 and 9, features free, all-ages concerts at Alum Creek Park Amphitheater in Westerville and Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. Audience members are invited to pack a picnic and enjoy music under the stars.
The New Albany Symphony Orchestra offers a limited number of free tickets to its Sensory Friendly Concert Series, which is designed for young children, those on the autism spectrum or with dementia/Alzheimer’s.
Many suburbs hold their own concert series, including the Grove City Sum-
Smile Brighter at Scioto Orthodontics
mer Concert Series, Hilliard’s Celebration at the Station, Music on the Lawn at Grandview Heights Public Library, Powell’s Lolli-Pops! Summer Children’s Concerts and Westerville’s Sounds of Summer Concert Series
CULTURE PASS
The Columbus Metropolitan Library has partnered with more than a dozen Central Ohio arts organizations and attractions on the ever-expanding Culture Pass program. Card holders can “check out” tickets to some of the city’s most popular places and events, including Columbus Children’s Theatre, the CAPA Summer Movie Series, Columbus Clippers, the zoo, the conservatory and Dawes Arboretum. Check out participating organizations and ticket availability at columbuslibrary.org/culture-pass.
FAIRS AND FESTIVALS
Central Ohio boasts oodles of fairs and festivals, particularly in summer and early fall. Popular options include the Columbus Arts Festival, Creekside Blues and Jazz Festival (don’t miss the free children’s area), Powell Festival,
614-717-9677
614-764-8844
SCHEDULE A TOUR TO LEARN MORE!
THE POWER OF PLAY
At The Gardner School, we understand that playful learning is a powerful teaching tool. Incorporating play into our curriculum allows students to take the lead, follow their curiosity, and joyfully explore the world at their own pace.
SUMMER READING CHALLENGE
Worthington Arts Festival, Westerville Music & Arts Festival, Jazz & Rib Fest, Canal Winchester Blues & Rib Fest, Festival Latino, Greek Festival, Obetz Zucchinifest, Canal Winchester Labor Day Festival, Upper Arlington Labor Day Arts Festival, Arts in the Alley (Grove City), Columbus Oktoberfest, Columbus Italian Festival and the Circleville Pumpkin Show
Worth noting: Children ages 11 and younger get in free at the Dublin Irish Festival (Aug. 2-4), but admission is free for all on Sunday morning with a donation to the Dublin Food Pantry. See Page 52 for festival details.
On the fair front, don’t overlook county fairs, which can be a more manageable and budget-friendly alternative to the Ohio State Fair
OTHER OPTIONS
The free Commons for Kids series offers games, crafts, activities, carousel rides and more on Friday mornings June 7 to Aug. 9 at John F. Wolfe Columbus Commons.
Abbey Theater of Dublin offers several family-friendly plays and musicals in its lineup each year, with ticket prices that won’t break the bank.
KidX Club at Polaris Fashion Place is a free monthly program offering rotating themes, activities, games and more. The series is geared toward ages 4-11.
The Dublin Market at Bridge Park kicks farmers markets up a notch with live music, animals, kids’ activities and more. The weekly event takes place Saturday mornings through September.
Sign up and read to earn prizes and ra e entries for more
Join us for activities and programs – we have something for everyone.
Sign up starts June 1.
Stop in any Columbus Metropolitan Library location to learn more, or visit columbuslibrary.org/summerreading.
Nationwide Children’s Hospital will host a series of free PlayStreets events in the Linden and South Side neighborhoods throughout the summer, featuring games, music and activities. Go to nationwidechildrens.org/playstreets to find dates and locations.
The national Kids Bowl Free program is offered at several area alleys, including Columbus Square Bowling Palace, Gahanna Lanes, RollHouse Entertainment-Columbus, Rule(3) and Sequoia Pro Bowl. Registered children can bowl up to two free games a day throughout the summer, and parents can purchase a discount pass.
Columbus Metropolitan Library and other local library systems will offer robust Summer Reading Club programming for children and families. ◆
2024 TOP DENTISTS
This list is excerpted from the 2024 edition of topDentists, a database that includes listings for nearly 260 dentists and specialists practicing in the greater Columbus metropolitan area. The Columbus list is based on thousands of detailed evaluations of dentists and professionals by their peers. The complete database is available at usatopdentists.com. For more information call 706-364-0853; write P.O. BOX 970, Augusta, GA 30903; email help@usatopdentists.com or visit usatopdentists.com.
Central Ohio Endodontics, 6827 N. High St., Ste. 115, Worthington, 614-8851191, centralohioendodontics.com
Matthew B. Balasco
Balasco Endodontics, 1525 Election House Road Northwest, Lancaster, 740-687-5900, balascoendo.com
David E. Claffey IV
Grove City Endodontics, 4203 Gantz Road, Grove City, 614-277-9455, drclaffey.com
Elizabeth M. Claffey Grove City Endodontics, 4203 Gantz Road, Grove City, 614-277-9455, drclaffey.com
METHODOLOGY
TopDentists, LLC, has over 70 years of experience compiling peer-review referral guides in the legal, dental and medical fields. Using this experience along with the input of dentists across the United States, we have created a methodology that has been refined and improved over previous superlative guides. TopDentists lists dentists and specialists who have been chosen through an exhaustive survey in which thousands of the nation’s dental professionals confidentially evaluate their professional peers. No payment is required to be selected, nor is payment accepted in exchange for selection. The nomination pool for topDentists
Melissa M. Drum
Ohio State University College of Dentistry, 305 W. 12th Ave., Columbus, 614-247-2533, dentistry.osu.edu
Central Ohio Endodontics, 6827 N. High St., Ste. 115, Worthington, 614-8851191, centralohioendodontics.com
consists of dentists and specialists that are current members of the American Dental Association and other dental societies. General dentists were asked to vote on nominees that are listed as specialists. Specialists are asked to vote only on nominees that are listed as general dentists. Voting practitioners are also given an opportunity to offer more detailed comments on nominees and to provide additional nominations.
Voting professionals are provided the following criterion for determining if a nominee should be listed: years of experience, continuing education, manner with patients and physical results. All votes and comments are solicited with
a guarantee of confidentiality.
Once the decisions have been finalized, the included dentists are checked against state dental boards for disciplinary actions to make sure they have an active license and are in good standing with the board. Then letters of congratulations are sent to all the listed dentists.
Of course, there are many fine dentists who are not included in this representative list. It is intended as a sampling of the great body of talent in the field of dentistry in Ohio. A dentist’s inclusion on our list is based on the subjective judgments of his or her fellow dentists.
This list is excerpted from the 2024 topDentists database, which includes listings for almost 260 dentists and specialists in the Columbus metropolitan area. For more information call 706-364-0853 or write P.O. Box 970, Augusta, GA 30903 or visit usatopdentists.com. TopDentists, LLC, has used its best efforts in assembling material for this list but does not warrant that the information contained herein is complete or accurate, and does not assume, and hereby disclaims, any liability to any person for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions herein whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause. Copyright 2011-2024 by topDentists, LLC, Augusta, GA. All rights reserved. This list, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission. No commercial use of the information in this list may be made without permission of topDentists, LLC. No fees may be charged, directly or indirectly, for the use of the information in this list without permission.
Ryan Davis
Polaris Dental Care, 420 Metro Place, Ste. B, Dublin, 614-505-7027, polaris dentalcare.com
David A. Dixon
Columbus Family Dental Care, 1645 Holt Road, Columbus, 614-878-1397, columbusfamilydentalcare.com
6649 N. High St., Ste. 201, Worthington, 614-436-8336, spectordental.com
Heidi A. Stauffer
Stauffer Family Dental, 124 County Line Road W, Ste. A, Westerville, 614-8822249, staufferfamilydental.com
Rhonda J. Steigerwald
McMillen Dental, 106 McMillen Drive, Newark, 740-344-1171, mcmillendental. com
Daniel L. Taylor
81 S. Fourth St., Ste. 205, Columbus, 614-224-7069
Nicholas J. Terse
825 High St., Ste. B, Worthington, 614888-1896, drterse.com
HAID DENTAL ASSOCIATES
TARA HAID, D.D.S.
EXPERTISE: General dentistry, cosmetic dentistry, laser dentistry, same-day smile makeovers
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS: American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, American Academy of Laser Dentistry, American Dental Association, Ohio Dental Association, Columbus Dental Society
EDUCATION: University of Louisiana, Ohio State University College of Dentistry, Yale New Haven Hospital (General Practice Residency), International College of Dentists
LISA JOHNSON, D.D.S.
EXPERTISE: General dentistry, root canals, crowns, bridges
EDUCATION: Miami University, Ohio State College of Dentistry
ABOUT THE PRACTICE: We are highly experienced in cosmetic dentistry, laser dentistry, same-day smile makeovers. We are a caring, gentle, patient-centered dental office that loves preserving and improving smiles. We strive to keep you comfortable and pain-free while giving you the smile you have always wanted!
HAID DENTAL ASSOCIATES 7100 N. High St., Ste. 100 Worthington 614-756-0441
6455 Post Rd., Ste. A. Dublin 614-889-7661
haiddentalassociates.com
Jeremy M. Thiel
Signature Dental, 825 High St., Worthington, 614-846-7828, signaturedental today.com
Medicine, American Academy of Facial Esthetics, International Dental Implant Association
ociation, tal Forum; regular lecturer at e Ohio State University College of Dentistry
Education: Ohio State University (B.S. & D.D.S.)
Ohio State University College of Dentistry, 305 W. 12th Ave., Columbus, 614-247-8389, dentistry.osu.edu
Education: Villanova University, e Ohio State University College of Dentistry
What is your philosophy of care? We believe ever y patient deser ves personalized and compassionate attention from health professionals who authentically care. We’re dedicated to helping every patient relax, rest easy and enjoy themselves ever y time they visit. We believe in ser ving the entire family. From six months thr h the golden years, we o er comprehensive
What is your philosophy of care? Dr. Mark Fixari is passionate about each and ever y patient’s comfort and experience. Dr. Mark particularly loves the “life-changing” results of helping people who’ve experienced paralyzing fear or challenging cosmetic and restorative dental problems. Dr. Mark and his dental team are proud of their commitment to the community, including their free
Robert B. Stevenson III
n, Ohio Dental Association, tal Society and Central Ohio Dental Forum; regular lecturer at e Ohio State University College of Dentistry
3600 Olentangy River Road, Ste. C4, Columbus, 614-451-2767, robertb stevensonddsms.com
Education: Villanova University, e Ohio State University College of Dentistry
What is your philosophy of care? Dr. Mark Fixari is passionate about each and ever y patient’s comfort and experience. Dr. Mark particularly loves the “life-changing” results of helping people who’ve experienced paralyzing fear or challenging cosmetic and restorative dental problems. Dr. Mark and his dental team are proud of their commitment to the community, including their free
PRASHANTHI VADHI, D.D.S.
Vadhi Ohio Family Dental 6023 E. Main St. Columbus, OH 43213 614-864-6000 vadhiohiofamilydental.com
Specialty: General, family and cosmetic dentistry
Professional Memberships: Alumni Association, College of Physicians and Surgeons, University of The Pacific; Columbus Dental Society; American Academy of Facial Esthetics; American Academy of Clear Aligners; 3D Implant Institute
Education: Undergraduate degree in India; University of The Pacific (D.D.S.); training in Invisalign, Six Month Smiles, CEREC, Botox, 3D Academy of Facial Esthetics
What is your philosophy of care? I am committed to provide excellent dental care blended with compassion for every patient. I do this with the upmost integrity to provide the most appropriate dental care possible, taking into account my patients’ needs and likes always.
home & style
Creative Touches
A retired CCAD professor has turned his Athens ancestral home into an artistic and sustainable refuge. Read more on Page 77.
Photo by Tim Johnson
Serious Fun
Alex Vinash steals the Short North scene.
By Katy Smith
High Street in the Short North got an infusion of fun in March when red-carpet design brand Alex Vinash opened its Columbus boutique. It’s hard to miss the store at 858 N. High St., with its velvet stanchion ropes and its name in hot pink lights. Inside, a towering white giraffe sculpture holding a chandelier in its mouth greets visitors with all the whimsy, charm and stature that distinguish the designer.
Leonardo Munoz—whose brand goes by his second name, Alex, and his mother’s last name, Vinash—has dressed stars such as Paris Hilton, Nelly Furtado and Billy Porter. The Columbus store carries the floppy-bow-tied, fitted denim blouse he created and Martha Stewart made famous. A native of Argentina who calls New York home, Munoz is a former professional ice skater. Since first coming to Columbus seven years ago, he’s twice headlined at Columbus Fashion Week and had a presence at the Common Thread fashion district on South Third Street Downtown.
He has transformed the former Roche Bobois space while carrying on its boundary-pushing legacy. Opening in 1989, the furniture store was one of the creative forces that reimagined the Short North. It closed in 2020.
In 3,400 square feet, Munoz has created a bombastic dream blending beach vacations, jungles, fun and fabulous apparel. The walls are adorned with bold stripes and lush wallpaper scenes designed by the artist himself. Palm trees accentuate the high ceilings. Bright colors demand: Don’t take life so seriously! Live! Munoz, who does interiors as well as apparel, recently shared thoughts on his design philosophy and why he loves having a presence in Columbus.
How did you create the space we see today? This is my lifestyle. I love colors. I come from Argentina, which is full of colors. I lived 20 years in Europe and many countries. I think we buy clothes, and so many other stores do basics. My clothes are more [of an] accessory, some-
thing impulsive and fun. [I wanted this to be a place where] everyone is friendly, and everything is colorful. So, if you have a bad day, you come here and you leave with a different attitude.
You have a flagship store in the Hamptons. What do you love about Columbus? First of all, it’s a very open place. I need to be in an open environment. And I have so many great friends here who are designers, too. They helped me [paint and decorate] to open this store. And Columbus is growing so much.
What do you think Columbus needs more of? If anything, I think we need more events [to dress up for]. We have Wonderball, and people will spend $1,000 for a dress and it’s very fun. I wish there were more chances to do that during the year. ◆
Above, Leonardo Munoz at his new Alex Vinash store in the Short North. Below, actor and singer Billy Porter wears an Alex Vinash ensemble at the 2020 Golden Globes.
PHOTOS FROM TOP: TIM JOHNSON, GETTY IMAGES
Artistic Escape
A retired CCAD professor has turned his Athens ancestral home into a sustainable canvas for his family’s creative pursuits.
A hallway leading to the bedrooms in artist John Kortlander’s home
By Jill Moorhead
John Kortlander calls his Athens home the Angel Ridge Art House. Located just a few minutes away from Ohio University, the 1967 midcentury home he inherited from his parents has always been a hub for his family’s creative side. And it remains so today, housing well-lit studios for Kortlander, his oft-visiting sons, and his wife, Julie Taggart, painter and provost at Columbus College of Art & Design. It’s also become a temporary home for artist residencies and shortand long-term stays on Airbnb, often attracting people with an appreciation for its art and tranquility.
Kortlander splits his time between a home in Westerville and the Athens residence on 12 acres of former farmland, now populated with white pines and poplars, walking paths and a hidden pond. His parents bought the house in 1971 and passed it down to him when they died in 2014. Kortlander’s father, renowned painter William Kortlander, taught studio art at Ohio University, while his mother’s role as an architectural librarian at the university ignited his fascination with design and construction.
Also a painter, Kortlander recently retired after teaching at CCAD for 32 years. His large, nonrepresentational paintings have been exhibited nationally and internationally at numerous venues, including the Smithsonian Institution and the former Studio Arts College International in Florence, Italy. In his retirement, he continues to paint and visits Athens to tend the garden and work on projects in his ancestral home and three other properties in the area, two of which he designed and built himself.
When Kortlander took over his parents’ house, he found it claustrophobic.
“I painted all the old wood paneling to lighten the place up and opened up the kitchen,” he recalls of his initial efforts.
“My intention was to get as much light into the house as possible.”
And while bringing in natural light allowed for a better atmosphere to paint, it doubled as a step toward sustainability. “Sustainability and art are the dual core tenets of the home,” he says. Kortlander installed a 12-foot, floor-to-ceiling picture window in the south-facing living room to illuminate it and harness pas-
sive solar energy. The existing eave over the window shades the room during the summer, but the window is large enough to capture the heat from the sun in the winter.
As part of these renovations, he designed a built-in greenhouse to start seedlings and a multipurpose studio with a wood-fired stove and a garage door for additional light. Kortlander’s son, a sixth-generation artist, uses the room for his painting when he’s in town. This addition is adjacent to the garage, which still has splashes of paint on the floor from William Kortlander’s artwork. Both spaces have an indooroutdoor feeling that’s more utilitarian than precious.
In 2015, Kortlander added solar panels, and the following year, he installed geothermal pumps, which ensure a constant base temperature of 57 degrees year-round. “In the summer, the house cools efficiently enough that we’re
Photos by Tim Johnson
Clockwise from top left: Artist John Kortlander stands in the garage/studio area of his home near Athens; artwork adorns all areas of the home, including the garage; the main bedroom; the exterior of the home, which used to belong to Kortlander’s parents.
in the background of
garage, which doubles as a studio; a pillow and a painting give a guest bedroom character; the home features midcentury modern décor, including this refurbished orange chair; a painting and a classic typewriter in a guest bedroom.
putting energy back into the grid,” he says, adding that that the sun provides more power than they need for operating the air conditioner. The total energy cost averages $100 a month for the 1,700-square-foot house.
“I wanted to live as lightly on the land as possible,” reflects Kortlander on his remodel decisions. And action matches aesthetics, with Kortlander and Taggart adopting sustainable practices such as composting, growing vegetables and sticking to a “vegan-ish” diet.
Kortlander’s foray into sustainability started when Al Gore’s film, “An Inconvenient Truth,” came out. “I had this vision that we were all going to change together,” remembers Kortlander, who taught a class on sustainable architecture at CCAD.
The midcentury ranch with three bedrooms and two bathrooms (one with a built-in steam shower, popular with guests) keeps true to its origin, with a primarily midcentury modern aesthetic that repurposes many antique furnishings collected by Kortlander’s parents. Those pieces include an authentic 1960s lounge chair Kortlander refurbished in bright orange, a classic Fender Rhodes
piano and a Heywood-Wakefield Co. airplane desk. Simplicity and space are key to the design. The living room doesn’t have overhead lights, and its fireplace is fed with wood from the property.
While the vintage pieces are unique, the paintings bring the house to life. Featured in the collection are works by Kortlander and Taggart, of course, as well as other family members (his parents, children and cousin), peers and former students. In addition, the simple lines of the mostly window-lit home make the space feel like a gallery.
Kortlander, who lived in Florence, Italy, for a year, has always connected with the concept of the “Renaissance person.” He says, “It was a big deal to me. You have ideas, and you don’t just use paint or words or sound [to convey them]. You use whatever you need to make a thing you like or feel compelled to make.”
The concept also describes his family. Collectively, they are writers, filmmakers, musicians and painters. “I think of us as an artistic family as much as a painting family,” he says. “I don’t think of it as anything special. It’s just the family business. It’s what we do.”
In other words, the Angel Ridge Art House, built on sustainability and memories, is just one more piece of art from the Kortlander family. ◆
Clockwise from top left: Michael Kortlander works on a piece while his father, John, paints
the home’s
Home & Style | Real Estate Notes
Home Sales Get Pricier
A snapshot of big-ticket purchases since last summer, including a Columbus Crew star putting down roots
By TC Brown
As of late winter, home prices in Columbus were 4.1 percent higher compared to the previous year, with a median price around $268,000. The median price per square foot was $183, a 4.6 percent increase since 2023. Typically, homes were selling in 36 days. Below is a snapshot of the sales of high-end homes from the end of summer into February.
AUGUST
Jamie T. Brown, the chief managed care officer for the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, and his wife, Leslie M., a financial adviser at Edward Jones, paid $3.5 million for a six-bedroom, nine-bathroom home on 2 acres overlooking the New Albany Country Club. The 10,670-square-foot home, built in 2006, features a first-floor owner’s suite with a sitting room and spalike bath, an updated gourmet kitchen with multiple islands, a carriage suite above the three-car garage and a gym, theater, game room and bar on the first level.
Darren B. Miller, the director of product planning and analysis at Victoria’s Secret, and his wife, Tara, owner and president of Aura Hair & Makeup, bought an 11,750-square-foot New Albany house with six bedrooms and seven-and-ahalf bathrooms for $3.2 million. Built in 2000, the home on 1.28 acres was completely renovated by 2019 and includes two dens, a Florida room, a mother-inlaw suite, laundries on the first and second levels and a six-car garage.
OCTOBER
Michelle Mead and Vineet Bhasker, family doctors with OhioHealth, paid more than $2.05 million for a 6,200square-foot, four-bedroom, five-bathroom renovated English Tudor home in Upper Arlington. The house, built in 1941, features a solarium with heat-
ed floors, two fireplaces, a covered outdoor entertainment space with surround sound and a temperature-controlled wine room that holds 135 bottles.
NOVEMBER
Brian R. Hasse, a corporate development officer at Nationwide Insurance, and his wife, Karalee B., an accounting vice president with the Superior Group, bought a 6,930-square-foot, five-bedroom, four-and-a-half bathroom home in New Albany for $1.95 million. Built in 2017, the house includes a gourmet kitchen, hearth and four-season rooms, and a finished basement with a kitchen, bar and media and exercise rooms.
DECEMBER
Qeis M. Atieh, president of transit com-
pany Eastern Horizon Inc., paid $2.85 million for a 9,100-square-foot home on 1.6 acres built in 1999 in New Albany. The newly renovated house features a chef’s kitchen with a vaulted ceiling and custom cabinets, a formal dining room, an executive office, lounge space on the third floor and a four-car garage.
FEBRUARY
Coming off his MLS Cup victory in December, Columbus Crew star Juan Camilo Hernandez Suarez, better known as Cucho Hernandez, decided to put down roots in Central Ohio, purchasing a 2,611-square-foot home in Perry Township near Dublin for $1.16 million. The residence includes three bedrooms and three baths and is located in the Ravello neighborhood. ◆
OSU Wexner Medical Center executive Jamie T. Brown purchased this home in New Albany for $3.5 million in August.
Columbus Crew star Cucho Hernandez bought a Perry Township home for $1.16 million in February.
Top 25 Real Estate Transactions
March 1-31, 2024
PRICE ADDRESS
$2,450,000 6787 Lake Trail Dr., Westerville
$2,280,000 2396 Lane Ave., Upper Arlington
BUYER/SELLER
Roger and Maureen Ross from Tara M. Abraham, trustee
William M. Reuter from John T. Stutts and Joseph B. Watson
$2,130,000 2531 Sherwin Road, Upper Arlington MEAT Properties LLC from Adrian R. and Ann E. Garcia
$2,126,400 4193 Fairfax Dr., Upper Arlington
$1,890,000 65 Columbia Ave., Bexley
$1,800,000 10913 Johnstown Road, Plain Township
$1,795,000 43 S. Preston Road, Columbus
$1,680,000 1242 Lincoln Road, Grandview Heights
$1,675,000 5425 Maple Glen Dr., Galena
$1,600,000 1373 Fountaine Dr., Upper Arlington
$1,590,000 702 Sixth St., Columbus
Eric and Trisha Zimpfer from Tuckerman Home Group Inc.
Brian M. and Alicia A. Vereb from William D. and Nicole C. Bundy
Nicole and Alexander G. Athey and Robert L. Cecchini from Mark and Dawn Baldwin
Monika Gunnar and Daniel Ateru from Ann S. and Thomas E. Hoaglin
John and Ashley Chambers from Annabelle O. and Craig J. Bryan
Michael R. and Kelly L. Dutt from OWC of Columbus LLC
Dominic A. Albanese, Elinor McLaren and Eliza Paige Scott McLaren from Charles S. and Katalin C. Winslow
Joan Marie Hilson from Edward D.A. Sommer III and Gabriella Sommer
$1,575,000 3760 E. Pembrooke Green, New Albany Praveen Goday and Thangam Venkatesan from David and Irina G. Bilenko
$1,550,000 1812 Scenic Bluff Court, Delaware JEG3 LLC from Romanelli and Hughes Building Co.
$1,515,000 2650 Colts Neck Road, Jefferson Township
$1,400,000 7715 Sudbrook Square, New Albany
Jamel and Annamaria E. Balti from George Van Vliet
Mark R. and Lindsey A. Simpson from Patrick D. and Gretchen M. Cornelius
$1,375,000 2130 N. Parkway Dr., Upper Arlington Ashley Q. Parikh from Brian Matlock and Amy E. Merrill
$1,350,000 30 Lake Dr., Licking Township
$1,295,000 88 N. Fifth St., Columbus
$1,289,000 1976 Scenic Bluff Court, Delaware
$1,250,000 181 Lakeview Dr., Buckeye Lake
Rita C. Wagner, trustee, from Paul H. and Cindy Ripko
Ernest Lee Puckett, trustee, from Gay Street Condominium LLC
1976 Scenic Bluff LLC from Romanelli and Hughes Building Co.
Girard E. Besanceney and Karen G. James from Alan K. and Deborah A. Rochell, trustees
$1,225,000 4018 W. Chelsea Green, New Albany Kyle and Sarah Martie from Sharon L. Buehrer
$1,195,000 2350 Cambridge Blvd., Upper Arlington
$1,190,000 1537 Essex Road, Upper Arlington
$1,125,000 857 City Park Ave., Columbus
$1,089,000 6259 Via Florenza Dr., Galena
Lauren Bowden and Aleksandir Dergun from Matthew N. and Jill Mizer
Jordan Bockelman and Sarah Davis from Gregor W. and Jamie C. Gilliom
Jamie C. and Gregor W. Gilliom from William Grobman and Melissa Gilliam
Brian K. and Michele R. Barker from Romanelli and Hughes Building Co.
food & drink
Photo by Tim Johnson
Midwest Menu
Lake Erie rillettes at Service Bar, which has a new chef since we last visited. Review on Page 86.
Brewing Up Connections
For more than three decades, SODZ has been Central Ohio’s premier home brewing club.
By Nicholas Dekker
At its April meeting, more than 30 members of SODZ—the Scioto, Olentangy and Darby Zymurgists—gathered at Thunderwing Brewing on the West Side. Members milled about chatting, pints of beer in hand, many carrying bottles or growlers of home brew to share. Eventually, board president Mitch McGreal called the group to order, sharing announcements, highlighting incoming board members and then introducing Jeremy Eberle, a home brewer who shared tips on using social media to supplement the hobby. The atmosphere was convivial, energetic and welcoming.
Founded in 1995, SODZ is Central Ohio’s largest and longest-running home brew group. Over nearly three decades, its members have supported home brewers through education, competitions and community events. Multiple professional brewers have risen through the ranks of SODZ, including Jason Wing of Thunderwing Brewing, the founders of Ill Mannered Brewing Co. and Victor Aume of the newly reopened Hoster Brewing Co., among others. “If there was a Venn diagram of SODZ members and professional brewers, there’d be a pretty big overlap,” says Angelo Signorino, head brewer at Barley’s Brewing Co.
McGreal discovered SODZ almost immediately when he began home brewing 10 years ago. “I didn’t know home brew clubs existed,” he says. SODZ boasts about 120 members; membership is open to anyone. Annual dues are a mere $15, and members can be as active as they like. It rotates monthly meetings at local breweries. And while the group has been male-heavy over the years, more women are getting involved, McGreal shares, including three of the five board members.
McGreal appreciates that the group members help each other become better brewers. “The community of home brew-
Food & Drink | Industry
ing is awesome,” he says. “There’s the shared ideal of brewing great beer and getting good feedback. … If you hand someone a bad beer, they’ll say, ‘Something’s wrong with this, man.’ And you have a good conversation about it. You talk about your process, ingredients.”
Wing could be considered one of SODZ’s most recent “graduates.” A home brewer for a decade, he’s spent the past few years as the organization’s vice president and president. He opened Thunderwing Brewing last October.
“I was hesitant to join SODZ because I was like, ‘Oh, they’re all experts. And who am I? I’m just a guy that brews in my garage,’ ” he says. “But once I got over that and I attended a meeting, I just realized, oh my gosh, these are my people.”
Wing finds value in honest feedback from SODZ members. He especially appreciates the two competitions the group hosts every year—the British Beer Fest
in May and Beer for Boobs, an October competition that raises funds for breast cancer awareness. For those competitions, SODZ brings in certified beer judges. “You get this impartial feedback from your judges,” Wing says. “There are a few score sheets that I still keep to this day. They’re very meaningful to me.”
Wing credits these competitions with helping refine some of his best beers, from imperial stouts to his California Common, called Anchors Up.
Wing also credits SODZ with helping get his brewery off the ground. “The home brewing community stepped up and pitched in,” he says. “They have delivered a lot of sweat equity. I needed to paint the walls and do a million things to get ready.”
Pat Woodward has been part of SODZ for six years. In addition to being an active home brewer, Woodward is a chemistry professor at Ohio State University
From left, Paul Gledhill, Eric Saas and Christoph Lepper chat during a SODZ meetup and group brewing event at Columbus Brewing Co. on May 4.
and co-host of the All Things Beer podcast. He regularly enters his brews in SODZ’s casual monthly competitions. Each month features a different theme, like hoppy beers or English ales or “yellow, fizzy beers.” Members bring their home brew, then an informal tasting is set up with a pair of judges, who award points to top contenders that are tallied throughout the year.
“You’re thinking like, ‘What yeast should I use in this recipe?’ ” Woodward says. “You come here and … we all bring our beers and try them, and you get some feedback.”
Aume recently joined the ranks of SODZ members who have graduated to professional brewing status. “Literally two-thirds of Columbus brewers came out of this club,” he says. Aume credits his turn from chemical engineer to professional brewer in part to SODZ. Through the group, he connected with Hoster Brewing owner Daniel Meyers,
Clockwise from top: David Curran pours and sets out home brewed beers to be tasted and informally judged during a recent meeting of SODZ at Thunderwing Brewing; Derek Clark checks a refractometer, which measures sugar content, during a SODZ meetup at Columbus Brewing Co. on May 4; Alex Nutter talks with other members at the Thunderwing meetup; and wort (unfermented beer) is shared by brewers at the CBC gathering.
who hired Aume as the head brewer. Aume has turned his prowess to recreating historic recipes like Hoster’s signature Gold Top lager.
While Signorino isn’t a formal member of SODZ, he regularly attends meetings and hosts the group every President’s Day. Signorino has brewed at Barley’s since 1992, although he taught home brewing while working at the Winemakers Shop in Clintonville prior to that.
To hear other members speak of him, he’s practically the godfather of Columbus brewing. “He was essential at getting SODZ started,” McGreal says. Signorino credits groups like SODZ with inspiring his own brewing journey. “The reason I started getting really enthusiastic about beer is because I like to share,” he says. “I think that’s not unique to me. I believe that SODZ is a great community, and anybody I meet that’s home brewing, I direct them to it.” ◆
Food & Drink | Review
Cocktails the Standout at Service Bar
New chef’s simpler menu delivers enjoyable dishes with less flair.
By Amy Bodiker Baskes
Housed in the front of a former auto service shop off Fifth Avenue east of High Street, Service Bar opened in 2017 after local laws changed to allow distilleries to serve their products on-site. Local spirits maker Middle West Spirits has since completed a five-story addition to accommodate a 55-foot still, and a retail space showcases its full line of a dozen -plus products.
Service Bar is a well-designed restaurant featuring Middle West spirits in the context of a delicious dining experience. The dining room captures the natural afternoon light through its westfacing windows. The space is anchored by the bar, with a white marble countertop framed by antique wooden carvings and mirrored shelves, providing a lovely contrast to the restaurant’s dark, Danish modern design.
Because craft cocktails are the name of the game here, observing their creation with a seat at the bar adds to the fun. The luxurious Short Turm ($15) com-
If you go: Make time to book a distillery tour and tasting before a dinner reservation on Friday or Saturday night. Sign up through the website as you book your table.
bines turmeric-infused OYO vodka with Chartreuse and saffron for a smooth and golden result. The classic barrel-aged Old Fashioned ($15) is also a star, highlight-
ing the warm flavors of Middle West’s bourbon with the addition of BarrelAged maple syrup, which contributes an earthy depth.
Despite shifting to a carryout menu during the pandemic and closing for renovations in 2022, Service Bar’s food has received much acclaim in its short life, debuting at No. 5 on Columbus Monthly’s 10 Best Restaurants list the year it opened. The buzz at the time centered largely on former chef Avishar Barua’s innovative and whimsical dishes, which landed him an invitation to appear on Bravo’s Top Chef in 2021. Since his departure later that year—he went on to open two restaurants and earn recognition as a James Beard semifinalist in 2024—Service Bar has weathered the turnover of head chefs.
The latest menu is simpler overall, and the food on my visits was enjoyable but lacking the punch of the restaurant’s earlier days. Like its predecessors, chef James Tuckey’s current menu offers
Mixologist Nate Berkemer at Service Bar
PHOTOS: TIM JOHNSON
Midwestern standards—wings, Caesar salad, flatbread and a burger, of course— dressed up with flourishing touches. The Caesar salad ($10) is made lighter with baby gem lettuce instead of the classic romaine, and black rice crisps take the place of rustic garlic croutons. The confit chicken wings ($17) come with a sweet and hot honey glaze infused with Calabrian chili and truffles, though I could not detect the latter.
The less conventional small plates were more exciting. The Lake Erie rillettes ($10) is a mild whitefish spread garnished with pickled mustard seeds and dark rye toasts. The stuffed endive cups ($14) are a refreshing take on salad as finger food, with the lettuce leaves filled with a sweet whip of goat cheese and presented with orange segments and toasted almonds.
From the larger plates section, a few elevated entrées stood out. The duck confit gnudi ($26) combined light, pillowy ricotta dumplings with rich duck and earthy sauteed greens for a balanced and delicious dish. I also enjoyed the creativity of color and flavor in the chef’s rotating vegan dish ($20), which on one visit featured “cutlets” of pan-seared celery root with an assortment of deep-hued vegetable purees.
Service Bar’s burger ($17), with meat sourced locally from the Butcher & Grocer, is solid, but the caramelized onions and Hawaiian bun made things a little too sweet for my taste. Also in the sweet camp, the bourbon pecan glazed pork chop ($25) was deliciously tender, but strong maple notes in the glaze made the dish taste a bit too much like French toast.
While Service Bar lacks its original flair, many of the restaurant’s elements work together for a pleasant and sometimes refined result. Unfortunately, the service itself was lacking the sharpness I anticipated given the sophistication of the setting, the chic Middle West brand, and the expectation set by the restaurant’s name. The wine service, in particular, was bumbling, with inaccurate listings and misunderstood orders, which was perhaps a reminder to stick to the spirits on a visit to a distillery. ◆
Chef James Tuckey at Service Bar
Photos clockwise from top left: Stuffed endive cups, bourbon flight, Lake Erie rillettes and Middle West burger at Service Bar
New Flavors in the Old North
Casa Cacao brings its namesake drink and kava to Columbus.
By Katy Smith
A long-vacant former theater in Old North Columbus has been transformed into a café serving coffee, kombucha and two drinks not found elsewhere in the city, as far as we can tell: cacao and kava.
The entrepreneur who created Evolved Body Art, Nick Wolak, and his daughter, Ayala Wolak, launched Casa Cacao on Hudson Street earlier this year in a 100-year-old building the father purchased in 2017. The Hudson Street café offers visitors plenty of seating inside, plus a large patio in the rear. Evolved has studio space on the second floor.
Casa Cacao joins a coalescing scene of creative businesses near Hudson, Indianola Avenue and Summit Street that includes Rumba Café, Rambling House, Used Kids Records and Evolved. The café opened after years of delayed plans for the theater space. In early 2021, it was slated to become a bar and live music venue called Lovebirds, but financial difficulties and the need for extensive building renovations made the project unfeasible, Wolak says.
Café goers will find a menu unlike any other. Most of the recipes were developed by Ayala Wolak, who says she wants to share what she and her father have learned traveling internationally. “We’ve been through several iterations of the menu, because we want to include many amazing drinks from around the world [treasured by] cultures and communities we’ve spent time with,” she says.
Kava drinks are made from the dried and ground root of the Piper methysticum plant, which is native to the Pacific Islands. Kava has a mild sedative effect, and drinking it can leave a tingling sensation and numbness on the lips and mouth. The thick liquid carries a slightly bitter flavor. Cultures where kava is native have used it ceremonially for medicinal, religious and political purposes.
Cacao drinks are created from the
Food & Drink | Coffeehouse Fare
IF YOU GO
Casa Cacao
Instagram: @casacacao.columbus
367 E. Hudson St. Old North
10 a.m.-8 p.m. every day
raw beans of the cacao tree, dried and ground. They are the same beans that produce chocolate, a process that involves roasting the beans. Cacao can be traced to the ancient Maya and other cultures of southern Mexico.
Cacao, which drinks like a thick, darkest of dark chocolate liquid, can be served warm, cold or at room temperature. At Casa Cacao, the pleasantly warming Bear’s Elixir ($7) is flavored with orange
oil, clove and cinnamon. The zippy Nick’s Elixir ($7) is served cold and mixed with sea salt, cayenne, cinnamon and two less common ingredients: ashwagandha (the root of an Asian evergreen shrub) and maca (the root of a Peruvian plant).
The menu also offers classic espresso drinks, including decaf options, plus some less conventional choices, including a mushroom latte, nonalcoholic wines, acai sorbet and quinoa bark.
Opening a café with his daughter “has been a blessing and a gift,” Nick Wolak says. He also values giving the community a gathering place that doesn’t serve alcohol. “Columbus has a lot of great bars, [and alcohol is] something that I quit doing awhile back. I like the idea of not relying on the sale of alcohol to support my business,” he says. ◆
Kava, top right, and cacao drinks along with raw forms of kava (powder) and cacao (pieces) at Casa Cacao.
Littleton’s Market Bakery Coming to North Market Downtown
Plus more in local food and drink news
By Nicholas Dekker
Openings & Announcements
Littleton’s Market Bakery is set to join North Market Downtown. The two markets announced the collaboration in April, revealing the new iteration of Littleton’s will take over the stall vacated late last year by Omega Artisan Baking. Set to open sometime this summer, the Littleton’s stall marks an expansion of the grocery’s bakery program, and will include a production facility, retail bakery and café. The program will be led by pastry chef and 2023 Columbus Monthly Tastemaker Aaron Clouse, who took the reins of Littleton’s bakery program earlier this year. Littleton’s opened at 2140 Tremont Center in Upper Arlington in December 2023, expanding on the former Huffman’s Market storefront.
In early May, Los Potosinos Mexican food truck opened its first brick-andmortar location at 695 E. Long St. in the King-Lincoln Bronzeville district. The storefront was most recently home to What the Waffle, which quietly closed last year. After debuting more than 10 years ago on the West Side, Los Potosinos food truck reappeared in King-Lincoln, settling into a new spot in the district last summer. It’s known especially for its pollo al carbon.
Columbus City Council approved a new DORA—Designated Outdoor Refresh-
ment Area—for Downtown Columbus. Called the Center City DORA, the district roughly extends north up to Nationwide Boulevard, east to Fourth Street, south to Mound and Main streets and west over the Scioto River to Gift Street in Franklinton. DORA districts allow customers to purchase alcoholic beverages at participating bars and restaurants, then take them outside within the designated boundaries. Pending state approval, the Center City DORA was to go live May 24 and will be active daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Following closely on the heels of its new Grandview store, Johnson’s Real Ice Cream debuted another new location in April at 869 N. Fourth St. in Italian Village. The storefront is the former home to S’wich Social ice cream shop.
Also in April, the fast-casual spot Rollz Rice Indian Kitchen opened a second location at 16 E. 16th Ave. near Ohio State’s campus. Rollz Rice lets customers build their own wraps, biryani bowls, naan bowls and salads. Its first location opened in 2019 in Lewis Center.
After years of work, Hoster Brewing opened its new taproom in April at 653 James Road on the East Side. The Hoster name dates to the L. Hoster Brewing Co.,
first opened in 1863. It’s been resurrected, along with signature brews like its Gold Top lager, multiple times over the years.
Closings
Homestead Beer Co. said goodbye in early May to its original taproom in Heath. The brewery first opened its production facility and taproom there in 2013. It has since expanded to locations in Marysville and Canal Winchester. Earlier this year, Homestead announced that it acquired Heart State Brewing and would move production to Heart State’s facility at 750 Cross Pointe Road in Gahanna. The owners shared plans to convert the Gahanna location into a full restaurant and taproom, as well.
Anthony’s Pizzeria closed permanently. The Bexley restaurant had been open since 1940; a reason for the abrupt closure was not given.
To keep up with the latest restaurant/bar openings and closings, visit columbusmonthly.com and subscribe to our food newsletter, Copy & Taste.
Littleton’s pastry chef
Aaron Clouse is known for his circular croissants.
let’s eat
WHERE TO DINE THIS MONTH
Editor’s Note: Please call restaurants to check hours and menu availability.
$$$$ Very expensive, $26 and higher
$$$ Spendy, $16–$25
$$ Moderate, $11–$15
$ Affordable, under $10
NEW Restaurant has opened within the last few months.
Outdoor Seating
B Breakfast BR Brunch
L Lunch
D Dinner
2024 Best New Restaurants
Let’s Eat comprises Columbus Monthly editors’ picks and is updated monthly based on available space. Send updates to dghose@columbusmonthly.com.
BURGERS
Flavor 91 Bistro
This family-owned craft burger joint on the border of Whitehall and Reynoldsburg is dedicated to serving local, organic and fresh ingredients. Go for the flavorful salads, chicken wings with Ethiopian spice rub, the Flavor Burger and the friendly atmosphere. 5186 E. Main St., Whitehall, 614-845-8840. LD $$
Preston’s: A Burger Joint
Chef Matthew Heaggans of Muse Hospitality is serving some of the best burgers (and pudding) in the city at this dine-in Clintonville spot. Don’t overlook the mala chicken sandwiches, biscuits and banana pudding. 2973 N. High St., Clintonville, 614-400-1675. LD $$
Ringside Café
Dating back to 1897, this venerable Downtown spot has an old-school-tavern feel and specializes in burgers like the Jack Dempsey, the Ali and the Oscar De La Hoya. 19 N. Pearl St., Downtown, 614-228-7464. LD $$
Street Thyme
Burgers are this truck’s main M.O. Try the California Dreamin’ burger that comes topped with jalapeños, bacon and cheddar cheese, drizzled in sweet barbecue sauce. Food Truck, Citywide, 614-668-9985. LD $
Preston’s: A Burger Joint
Visit columbus monthly.com to read about the latest restaurant openings.
Thurman Café
A Columbus landmark restaurant with the wait times to prove it. Diners flock here for overthe-top pub grub and the biggest burgers (like the towering, double 12-ounce patty burger, The Thurmanator) in town. 183 Thurman Ave., German Village, 614-443-1570. LD $$
DESSERTS
Chocolate Café
Grandview-area café specializing in all things chocolate, from chocolate fondue to chocolate cake to hot chocolate. Also offers soups, salads and sandwiches. 1855 Northwest Blvd., Fifth by Northwest, 614-485-2233. BLD $$
Clown Cones & Confections
With a large variety of candies and nearly 40 excellent flavors of ice cream, this tiny strip mall gem comes with a word of warning for coulrophobes: Clown décor fills the space from floor to ceiling. 3431 Cleveland Ave., Ste. F, North Linden, 614-267-2925 LD $
Coppa Gelato
This gelato shop is family-owned and it shows, from welcoming service to more than 60 flavors of gelato and sorbetto made from locally sourced milk. 925 N. State St., Westerville, 614-776-4092. LD $
Dulce Vida Ice Cream Factory
A Mexican-style ice cream shop serving paletas, mangonadas, banana splits and savory snacks like esquites and walking tacos. 7370 Sawmill Rd., Dublin, 614-389-
2728; 6146 Cleveland Ave., North Side, 614392-2467; 461 W. Main St., Plain City, 614504-5543; 1127 N. High St., 4201 W. Broad St., West Side, 614-429-3289. LD $
Mardi Gras Homemade Ice Cream
A small ice cream shop offering traditional ice cream flavors such as chocolate and strawberry in addition to international flavors like anjeer, lychee and falooda kulfi, all made in-house. 1947 Hard Rd., Northwest Side, 614-766-2020. LD $
DINER
Hamburger Inn Diner
Home of the Monster Hangover Burger, this iconic American diner also serves three-egg omelets, giant cinnamon rolls, breakfast dishes and made-to-order Black Angus steak burgers. 16 N. Sandusky St., Delaware, 740369-3850. BLD $$
Hang Over Easy
What started as a Campus-area diner serving breakfast all day has expanded into OTE. Menu options include omelets, seasonal pancakes, breakfast skillets and burgers. 1646 Neil Ave., Campus, 614-586-0070; 51 Parsons Ave., Olde Towne East, 614-9283778. BL $$
Nutcracker Family Restaurant
An authentic ’50s-style diner (with an impressive nutcracker collection) serving comfort food and homemade pies. The menu includes a pork tenderloin sandwich,
meatloaf and the Country Breakfast. 63 E. Broad St., Pataskala, 740-964-0056. BBRLD $$
Paul’s Fifth Avenue
A Grandview staple for the past half-century, Paul’s offers all of the diner favorites in a recently renovated space. 1565 W. Fifth Ave., Fifth by Northwest, 614-481-8848. BBRL $$
Stav’s Diner
A friendly, Greek/American diner with all-day breakfast fare like pancakes and BELT sandwiches. Classic burgers and club sandwiches share space on the menu with gyros and house-made baklava. 2932 E. Broad St., Bexley, 614-725-4330. BL $
FILIPINO
Bonifacio
Krizzia Yanga’s eatery offers a modern take on Filipino home cooking, with frequent kamayan-style dinners served on banana leaves. Try dishes like lumpia, lechon and chicken inasal. 1577 King Ave., Fifth by Northwest, 614-914-8115. BRLD $$
Kuya Ian’s Bistro
The Firmalan family runs this no-frills restaurant serving straight-up Pinoy fare. The menu features popular favorites like chicken adobo and pancit, as well as variations of silog (fried egg with garlic fried rice) such as
tapsilog (beef) and bangsilog (milkfish). 6863 Flags Center Dr., North Side, 614-948-3333. BRLD $$
GREEK
Anna’s Greek Cuisine
After serving her mother’s food in Greece, Anna opened her own restaurant over
22 years ago. Specialties range from pita sandwiches and pastitsio to lamb shank and moussaka. 7370 Sawmill Rd., Northwest Side, 614-799-2207. LD $$
King Gyros Greek Restaurant Greece-born Yianni Chalkias opened his fastcasual Greek restaurant more than 25 years ago, with gyros, lamb chops, Greek dips,
Best Tacos Al Pastor In The City!
dolmades and baklava. 400 S. Hamilton Rd., Whitehall, 614-866-9008. LD $$$
Yanni’s Greek Grill
A small, casual Greek eatery with an authentic menu, including lamb chops, stuffed grape leaves, gyros and hummus. 6196 Cleveland Ave., North Side, 614-890-4775. LD $$$
INDIAN/PAKISTANI
Rollz Rice Indian Kitchen
A casual Indian restaurant with a home-style feel, Rollz Rice offers an assortment of quick, healthy meals with authentic Indian flavors. Try its chicken kathi wraps or build your own basmati rice bowl. E. 16th Ave., Campus, 614670-5000; 724 Polaris Pkwy., Lewis Center, 614-505-3317. LD $$
Rooh
This San Francisco import serves highend, “progressive Indian” fare. Go for the inventive cocktails, buzzy atmosphere and conversation-stoking dishes, such as sweet potato chaat, paneer pinwheels and lamb shank niharri. 685 N. High St., Short North, 614-972-8678. D $$$
JAPANESE
Akai Hana
This entertaining Japanese bento shop boasts some of the city’s best sushi and a wide range of Japanese and Korean entrées. 1173 Old Henderson Rd., Northwest Side, 614-451-5411. LD $$$
Fukuryu Ramen
Jeff Tsao, whose family owned the Kahiki Supper Club, brings his Melbourne, Australia, ramen shop stateside. It’s quick, modern, bustling and adds a little rock ’n’ roll to traditional Japanese fare. The Signature Tonkotsu and Red Dragon ramens are standouts. 4540 Bridge Park Ave., Dublin, 614-553-7392; 748 Harmon Ave., Franklinton, 614-696-6947; 2027 Polaris Pkwy., North Side, 614-696-9682; 1600 W. Lane Ave., Upper Arlington, 614-929-5910. LD $$
Meshikou Ramen
Meshikou is an open-kitchen ramen shop focusing on authentic preparations of noodle bowls, as well as a few Japanese comfortfood starters. Co-owner Mike Shek learned the ramen craft under a NYC chef—recipes to which Shek has added his own touch for Central Ohio palates. 1506 Bethel Rd., Northwest Side, 614-457-1689. LD $$
Tensuke Express
A modern and authentic noodle shop located next to Tensuke Market and Sushi Ten in Kenny Centre’s Japan Marketplace, with udon, soba, ramen and curry rice. 1155 Old Henderson Rd., Northwest Side, 614-451-4010. LD $$
Yoshi’s Japanese Restaurant
This fine Japanese spot combines traditional Japanese cooking with modern twists. The large menu ranges from small plates such as sunomono and okonomiyaki to sushi, udon and Japanese curry. 5776 Frantz Rd., Dublin, 614-889-1275. D $$$
LATIN AMERICAN
Brazilian Grill & Bakery
A Brazilian market and restaurant specializing in prato feito (often abbreviated to PF), which are blue-plate specials with beans, rice, fries and salad, topped with traditional Brazilian meats. 5818 Columbus Sq., North Side, 614394-9254. LD $$
Cilantro Latin Fusion
The owners of Cilantro food truck have a new dine-in restaurant serving a mix of Colombian, Venezuelan and Ecuadorian fare such as arepas, pabellon, patacones and more. 4852 Sawmill Road, Northwest Side, 614-966-1222. LD $$$
Ranchero Kitchen
Previously located in Saraga International Grocery, this Salvadoran eatery specializes in pupusas—thick tortillas stuffed with savory fillings. 984 Morse Rd., North Side, 614-9850083. LD $
Sí Señor Peruvian Sandwiches & More
Owner Guillermo Perez crafts outstanding handhelds at this casual café. The roasted turkey club, meatloaf and fried pork shoulder sandwiches are hard to beat. Don’t skip the cilantro pasta. 155 W. Nationwide Blvd., Arena District, 614-670-4985; 1456 W. Fifth Ave., Fifth by Northwest, 614-369-1500. L $$
Sidebar Columbus
This South American-inspired restaurant specializes in small plates and craft cocktails. Tapas include chicken croquettas and beef tenderloin empanadas, while entrées vary from lamb shank to Brie and pear pizza to pan-seared salmon. 122 E. Main St., Downtown, 614-228-9041. D $$$
PIZZA
Adriatico’s
Located next to the Ohio State campus, this longtime spot offers authentic New Yorkstyle pizza, with subs, salads, wings and calzones. 1618 Neil Ave., Campus, 614-4212300. LD $$
Bexley Pizza Plus
With 22 specialty pizzas and 41 toppings, the options are endless at this Bexley pizzeria. 2651 E. Main St., Bexley, 614-237-3305. LD $
Dewey’s Pizza
Friendly and efficient family pizzeria specializing in creative, stone-baked pies, including the Bronx Bomber and Ryan’s Inferno. 6540 Perimeter Dr., Dublin, 614-7992444; 1327 W. Fifth Ave., Fifth by Northwest, 614-487-8282; 640 High St., Worthington, 614-985-3333. LD $$$
Gatto’s Pizza
This family-owned pizza joint in Clintonville is truly old-school, serving homemade Italian favorites like pizza, subs, salads and pasta. 3420 Indianola Ave., Clintonville, 614-2633737. D $$
Harvest Pizzeria
Some of the best wood-fired pies in Central Ohio are served at this pizzeria owned by Grow Restaurants. 2376 E. Main St., Bexley, 614-824-4081; 940 S. Front St., Brewery District, 614-947-7950; 2885 N. High St., Clintonville, 614-947-7133; 45 N. High St., Dublin, 614-726-9919; 454 S. Main St., Granville, 740-920-4447. LD $$
Paulie Gee’s Short North
A Brooklyn-based pizzeria with Neapolitanand Detroit-style pies and craft beer. Offers traditional and eclectic pizzas with names like the Hellboy, the Greenpointer and the Ricotta Be Kiddin’ Me. 1195 N. High St., Short North, 614-808-0112. D $$$
SANDWICHES
Alfie’s Wholesome Food
This charming eatery in the heart of Granville offers healthful salads and sandwiches like
Paulie Gee’s
the Happy Tummy salad or the California Veggie sandwich (which can both be prepared vegan). Alfie’s new ghost kitchen delivers in Columbus. 221 E. Broadway, Granville, 740321-1111. LD $
Brown Bag Deli
The longtime German Village deli keeps it simple yet tasty with crave-worthy sandwiches like the turkey-and-cranberry-mayo-topped Village Addiction, plus daily soups, salads and seasonal sides on display under the counter. 898 Mohawk St., German Village, 614-4434214. LD $$
Goood Friends
Jackie O’s on Fourth is home to this takeout window featuring seriously goood Midwestern sandwiches. Highlights include the Ol Faithful (fried chicken with Le Délice de Bourgogne) and After School Snack (fried bologna on telera roll). 171 N. Fourth St., Downtown. D $$
The Lox Bagel Shop
Kevin Crowley’s cute Short North shop offers handmade bagels that are boiled and then baked over a live fire. The shop’s namesake sandwich and the egg with pastrami sandwich are standouts. 772 N. High St., Short North, 614-824-4005. BL $$
Newfangled Kitchen
Located next to the Drexel Theatre, this chef-
inspired sandwich shop reimagines the classic American meatloaf sandwich. Don’t miss The Fang, a meatloaf version of a cheeseburger. 2258 E. Main St., Bexley, 614-817-1099. LD $
STEAKHOUSE
The Avenue Steak Tavern
Cameron Mitchell’s homage to the steakhouses of yore. The restaurant’s retro design and clubby atmosphere are teamed with a menu boasting all the classics: oysters Rockefeller, beefsteak tomato salad, creamed spinach, potatoes in all the steakhouse ways and, of course, numerous cuts of beef. 94 N. High St., Dublin, 614-591-9000; 1307 Grandview Ave., Grandview, 614-485-9447. BRD $$$$
Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse
A Cincinnati-based chain from restaurateur Jeff Ruby that offers top-flight steaks, à la carte sides, oysters and sushi in an over-thetop atmosphere. The wine list is extensive, and the service is formal, with flourishes like Bananas Foster served tableside. 89 E. Nationwide Blvd., Downtown, 614-6867800. D $$$$
The Top Steak House
For nearly 70 years, this Bexley palace of beef has offered award-winning, high-end cuisine (filet mignon, pork and lamb chops, and seafood) in a dimly lit, vintage, 1960s-looking
haunt. 2891 E. Main St., Bexley, 614-231-8238. D $$$$
Tucci’s
A Dublin standby has gotten a welcome shakeup in the form of dining room renovations and a menu revamp. It’s now a straightforward steak-and-seafood spot with a huge patio and more than 200 wines in the cellar. 35 N. High St., Dublin, 614-792-3466.
BRLD $$$
York Steak House
Head back in time at the last remaining location of this wonderfully retro (and affordable) steakhouse with a popular salad bar and homemade desserts. 4220 W. Broad St., West Side, 614-272-6485. LD $$
Brown Bag Deli
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the apartment with a full-size replica of a Roman sword. When police caught up with Cook, he told the officer that after a verbal disagreement about fast food, he got overwhelmed “because he is extremely sensitive about confrontation,” the report stated. (Cook says he doesn’t remember the details of the incident.)
Cook went back home to Ohio in June, and in August 2020, authorities searched the residences of the three co-conspirators. Cook still had a copy of “Siege” on his bedroom nightstand.
In recent years, physical threats against the power grid have risen sharply, according to Department of Energy data. Power providers reported 185 instances of attacks or threats against the grid in 2023—nearly double the number reported in 2021.
Many of the physical attacks planned or executed against the grid were initiated by homegrown violent extremists, says Jonathan Monken, a grid security expert with the consulting firm Converge Strategies, echoing a 2022 Department of Homeland Security memo that warned of “credible, specific plans” by domestic groups to attack the power grid. In 2023, two neo-Nazis were arrested on federal charges that they planned to attack electrical substations outside of Baltimore, Maryland. In August 2021, four neo-Nazis in North Carolina were charged with a conspiracy after plotting to take down a critical substation with firearms and explosives. And in December 2022, unidentified shooters carried out a successful attack on two Duke Energy substations in Moore County, North Carolina, knocking out power to more than 40,000 residential and business customers. Monken attributes the increased focus on the power grid to multiple factors, including a belief that the grid is increasingly viewed as a proxy for the U.S. government among extremists. These attacks also tend to draw intense media coverage, offering “an easy way into that big-splash impact.”
Perhaps most notably, power substations are relatively soft targets, susceptible to unsophisticated attacks by equally unsophisticated actors. The sheer number of substations spread across the country—many of which are located in
remote areas—also makes them difficult to guard. Previously, Monken served as senior director of system resilience and strategic coordination for the PJM Interconnection, the nation’s largest regional power transmission organization, which he says includes more than 5,600 substations. “You can’t go out and harden more than 5,000 locations against all forms of physical attack,” he says.
In 2020, a 14-page document released in a Telegram messaging app channel featured a white supremacist instruction guide to low-tech attacks meant to bring chaos, including how to attack a power grid with guns. Cook says he had no knowledge of the document, though the Front’s stated goals align with other homegrown neo-Nazi terrorists who have used the text and also ascribe to the concept of “accelerationism.” Within white supremacism, the accelerationist set sees the modern world as irredeemable and in need of a complete collapse to establish a fascist ethnostate.
The Front encouraged its members to discuss accelerationism on all platforms. “All of our propaganda efforts must be focused on radicalizing those with militant potential,” the group wrote in its manual, “and awakening them to the reality of the situation that revolution is the only option to take towards this System.”
Lewis of George Washington University says the increased foothold of accelerationism within the radical fringe could be linked with the rising popularity of James Mason’s “Siege,” first published as a newsletter from 1980 to 1986 and repackaged as a single volume in 1992. Violent and deeply supportive of racial terrorism, Mason’s work has been championed since 2015 by members of the Iron March forum and associated hate groups, including Atomwaffen Division, a violent neo-Nazi organization whose members have been linked with multiple deaths. Cook, his co-conspirators and others in these neo-fascist terrorist networks often wear black-and-white skull masks.
The violence in “Siege” is jarring, with Mason writing of an American slaughter so widespread that “there will be no need for concentration camps of any kind, for not a single transgressor will survive long enough to make it to that kind of haven.” Yet Cook now projects confounding ambivalence when discussing the text. “It’s not a book that you have strong opinions about,” he says.
In emails, Cook often adopts language used by Mason, making references to “the system,” a controlling force against which Mason advocated terroristic warfare. Cook also references a “clairvoyant explanation of social isolation” offered by Mason in a public speech, likely one given in 2002, three years after his release from prison on weapons charges. In one group chat, a recruit asked Cook when he was meeting with Mason, who has a home in Denver and has been known to receive admirers. (“Dunno man,” Cook replied.)
Cook shares an even more damning tie with the Chillicothe, Ohio-raised Mason, who in 1991 served 30 days in jail after he pleaded guilty to illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material—charges that arose from photographs Mason took of a 15-year-old girl in 1982. Cook, on the other hand, was allegedly connected to British teenager Rhianan Rudd, who became infatuated with right-wing extremism at age 14. Her mother grew so concerned with
Rudd’s turn that in September 2020 she referred the teen to Prevent, a government-led anti-terrorism program. Within a month, Rudd had been arrested by counter-terror detectives. In April 2021, at age 15, she was charged with six terrorism offenses.
But a BBC report found that around the time of Rudd’s October arrest, MI5 had evidence in hand that the teenager had been exploited by Cook in online chats. In interviews with police, the BBC reported, Rudd described being coerced and groomed, and having sent sexually explicit images of herself to Cook. Rudd’s description of the abuse led to a formal finding of exploitation, and in December 2021, the prosecution of Rudd was halted. Six months later, in May 2022, Rudd died by suicide at age 16 while living in a children’s home. (Cook declined to comment on anything related to Rudd—the only time he opted not to respond.)
Published in January 2023, the BBC investigation reported that Ohio courts had only recently been made aware of Cook’s conduct toward Rudd, which “had not been part of the original case against him despite the FBI’s long-standing knowledge of his abuse.” When the courts learned of his behavior, Cook’s bond was revoked, and he was placed in custody ahead of sentencing.
At various times during the power grid plot, each of the three co-conspirators could have been considered the leader. Cook says he begrudgingly held the role of leader, but that “Sawall was far more apt for such a role. Frost was the logistics guy. I was the Organizer. Of course, being the Organizer meant I was often forced to adopt that role of ‘leader.’ I don’t really think there was one. It was a debacle, really. Nobody really wanted to do it.”
In April 2023, U.S. District Judge James L. Graham gave Cook the longest sentence: 92 months, plus 30 years supervised release. Frost got 60 months and 30 years of supervision. In April of this year, Sawall was released with time served and 30 years of supervision after being discharged from the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina, where he was sent for treatment of a mental illness.
The government had recommended 108, 100 and 92 months for Cook, Frost and Sawall, respectively. In a sentencing memo, assistant U.S. attorney Jessica Knight said the three “acted as co-equals. The trio shared decision-making authority.” But the government argued at sentencing that Cook demonstrated continued pride in his ideology. Sawall’s attorney also mentioned in a sentencing memo that
In interviews with police, the bbc reported, Rudd described being coerced and groomed, and having sent sexually explicit images of herself to Cook.
“Cook had demonstrated a continued idealization of white nationalism even after pleading guilty.”
Cook disputes the claim. “There are many examples which could’ve been quoted to support my ‘de-radicalization,’ ” he says, “whether it was supporting people of color pursuing medical degrees or immigrant visas to practice medicine in the United States.”
Cook’s matter-of-fact emails from prison couldn’t sound more different from the note Sawall sent to Judge Graham last summer while incarcerated at the Federal Medical Center. “I wish I could go back before it took swallowing a tablet in the back of a cop car to reveal that trapping myself in fantasies was not the solution to dealing with my past,” Sawall wrote. “The only gift to come out of all my mistakes is the realization that I cannot use the past to excuse the actions of the present. With this in mind, I made it my goal since I left Ohio in 2020 to never let myself stop improving.”
Cook is more evasive. He expresses contentment with his sentence and says he doesn’t regret where he’s ended up in his life. “I’m young and I still will be when I’m released.” As for the idea of being reformed or deradicalized, Cook says he doesn’t understand the concepts and isn’t sure what they mean to him.
“I still think liberals are gay (both literally and metaphorically), conservatives are scientifically illiterate conspiracy theorists, as are all the silly Black power initiatives about ancient flying pyramids and Egyptian pharaohs and such,” he says. “Most fascists are fat rejects who’d be killed in their own dream states.”
Cook harbors modest plans for life after prison. “I am going to buy land, probably some cows, and read lots of books. I will certainly homeschool my children,” he says. “I plan on making cool content online, maintaining my health, and rearing a family when I return home. I don’t care what society has to offer. I’m not interested in it. But I’ve changed. I’m not bitter or angry at it, either. … I can’t be angry at everyone anymore. I can only be an aristocrat in my own little world.”
In Cook’s sentencing memorandum, his attorney said his client “was young and has matured over the last few years. He would be the first to tell you he does not recognize himself from that time period.” Cook strikes a different tone. “I wouldn’t say that I’m MUCH older or more mature,” he says. “I shouldn’t think that too much ‘focal clarity’ has occurred since 2020.” ◆
This story is a collaboration between Columbus Monthly and Matter News.
Skull masks found at Cook’s residence
Southern Charm
When the weather warms up, Grove City’s Town Center comes alive, hosting festivals and welcoming visitors to the historic heart of the south Franklin County suburb. “I’ve watched Grove City grow over the years; there’s a lot going on here,” says David Crosby, a retired teacher in the South-Western City School District and founder of the town’s Plum Run Winery and Grove City Brewing Co.—STEVE WARTENBERG
Party Hub
Crosby serves as the president of the Heart of Grove City, the nonprofit group that promotes the Town
Center and hosts three annual festivals. The Wine and Arts Festival (June 1415) attracts “more than 20 wineries from all over Ohio and plenty of artists who bring their work,” Crosby says. Tacos and Tequila (July 13) features “some high-quality tequilas and mezcal, a sister of tequila.”
The Bourbon & Spirits Festival (Aug. 10) offers tastings from several Ohio distilleries. A fourth festival is the Grove City Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual Arts in the Alley festival (Sept. 20-22), now in its 45th year and featuring more than 100 art vendors, a kids’ area, live entertainment and more.
Festive Fridays
Every other Friday starting in May, Town Center visitors can partake in Food Truck Friday. In addition, they can stroll through the area with a boozy beverage of their choice, purchased at nearby restaurants and bars, courtesy of the center’s DORA, or designated outdoor refreshment area.
Historic Eatery Plank’s on Broadway is housed in a historic building that was a hotel and stagecoach stop as far back as the 1850s. “It’s part of the Plank family’s restaurants in Columbus; Bill Plank lives here, and he’s
been a Grove City fixture for years,” Crosby says.
Scenic Wonders
The nearby Scioto Grove Metro Park is filled with forests and scenic bluffs overlooking the Scioto River. “It’s not as crowded as some of the other Metro Parks, and you can take your dogs and walk along the trails,” Crosby says.
Fritter Away
Jolly Pirate Donuts is a little north of the Town Center. “We stop there quite a lot,” Crosby says. “There’s nothing I don’t like, but the apple fritters are our favorite.”
GROVE CITY
David Crosby at Plum Run Winery
A Decade of Hope: Sparkling with Promise
June 28, 2024
6:00pm
Hollywood Casino
You can help turn children’s lives around.
Join us in celebrating a decade of transformative work with women and children through the Family and Children's Program, aiming to break the cycle of trauma, incarceration, and addiction. This program provides counseling, communication skills, and coping strategies to both children and mothers, o ering hope and rebuilding futures. Evening of Light also honors the women of the Amethyst Program, a nationally recognized recovery program for women dealing with addiction, mental health issues, and trauma. These Alvis programs equip individuals with essential tools for healing and breaking cycles of addiction and incarceration and empowering them to completely turn their lives around.
