💎 Fall Fun and Frights (Issue #5)

Good morning,

And welcome to the 117 new subscribers that have joined us since last week! Every week, our goal is to help you stay up to date by highlighting what to know and do in the Miami Valley.

It’s officially fall, and sweater weather is hopefully right around the corner. You gotta love these cooler mornings and evenings!

In today’s issue we’ll be covering:

• More fall festivities and charity focused events

• The Ohio Redistricting Commission’s newest legislative district maps

• Beloved Dayton bar, Tank’s, permanent closure and auction

• The local amateur boxer heading to the Olympic Trials in December

• A local spotlight on Kettering’s oldest watering hole - Harrigan’s Tavern

Let’s get to it!

— Max

⚡ WEEKEND WEATHER

Friday

56° 🌡️ 77° | ⛅ | ☔ 10% | 💨 5 mph

Saturday

56° 🌡️ 81° | ⛅ | ☔ 10% | 💨 6 mph

Sunday

56° 🌡️ 82° | ☀️ | ☔ 10% | 💨 7 mph

📅 EVENTS

👻 Haunted Wagon Rides - Opening Weekend

📅 Friday & Saturday: 7:30-10pm
📍 Young’s Jersey Dairy, Yellow Springs
💰 $17 adults and kids 6 and older | $7 kids 5 and under

Haunted wagon rides are starting at Young’s Dairy this weekend and will continue every Friday and Saturday night through October. Designed for families, these rides offer a mix of fun and fright. Journey into the eerie darkness of the haunted cornfield, where goblins and monsters lurk. But fear not, it's all in good fun with no touching or chasing. Before the ride, gather at the Storytelling Theatre to hear ghostly tales from professional storytellers. Suitable for children, but those under 11 must be accompanied by an adult. Get ready for a hair-raising experience! Purchase tickets at the window outside the Dairy Store or in the Gift Shop. Learn more.

🍁 Centerville Fall Festival

📅 Saturday: 12-9pm
📍 Stubbs Park, Centerville
💰 Free entry

Come on out for Centerville and Washington Township’s premier fall event. Wander through the bustling Vendor Village showcasing 75+ local artisans with an array of art, vintage finds, apparel, and more. Little ones can delight in activities like face painting, scenic hayrides, s’mores crafting, bouncy inflatables, and a petting zoo. Plus, they'll get a chance to meet cherished characters from Hocus Pocus and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Don't forget to pick up a complimentary pumpkin on your way out! Listen to live performances from local a capella group Forte and the Motown Sounds of Touch. All while enjoying cold drinks kept flowing by Centerville’s breweries. Learn more.

🍎 Caramel Apple Days

📅 Saturday & Sunday: 10-10pm
📍 Hidden Valley Orchards, Lebanon
💰 Free entry

Indulge in a caramel apple wonderland, from classic dipped apples to a variety of fresh cider options: hot, cold, slushed, or even spiked. Keep the kids engaged with face painting and balloon art from 11-4 pm. Soak in the ambiance with live local music and savor diverse dishes from food trucks. The orchards and barns, decked out in autumn decor, provide a picturesque setting for seasonal photos. It’s a great way to enjoy the weather, get some sweet treats, and celebrate the essence of fall with family and friends. Learn more.

👣 Walk to End Alzheimer's

📅 Saturday: 8:30am
📍 Day Air Ballpark, Downtown Dayton
💰 Free to walk | Fundraising encouraged

Walk with over 600 other communities around the globe in the world’s largest charity event to cure Alzheimer’s. This event is key to raising money that funds Alzheimer’s care, support, and research, overseen by the Alzheimer's Association. While there's no registration fee, attendees are urged to contribute and raise funds. Those who raise $100 or more will be gifted an exclusive event T-shirt. On the event day, each walker will receive a Promise Garden flower, representing their bond to the mission. Barring severe weather, this walk will go on come rain or shine. Help build a future without Alzheimer’s! Register or donate here.

🧁 Dayton Dessert Fest

📅 Saturday: 5-9pm
📍 Yellow Cab Tavern, Downtown Dayton
💰 Free entry

Dive into a sweet haven with the newest addition to The Yellow Cab Tavern’s Food Truck Rallies lineup. There will be a plethora of vendors offering a diverse range of desserts. From Cloudy Days Cotton Candy to Qui Cakes and Billy Gold Bubble Tea, there's something for every sweet tooth. Not just desserts, a select few will also serve dinner options. Relax in the beer garden patio or the covered party tent, making it a perfect evening out. It’s a family-friendly event and a treat fest you won't want to miss! Learn more.

🤣 Chris Kattan (21+)

📅 Friday, Oct. 6th: 6:30pm | Saturday, Oct. 7th: 6pm
📍 Dayton Funny Bone at The Greene, Beavercreek
💰 $32 - $42 per person

This SNL legend, who was on the cast from the mid-90s to early 2000s, is bringing his eccentric comedy to the Miami Valley. He’s best known for his character “Mango” as a part of the classic “Night At The Roxbury” sketch and its movie adaption. Since then, he’s continued to show his comedic genius in movies like “Corky Romano” and more recently, “Hotel Transylvania” and “The Ridiculous 6”. Now you can see him perform live as his national comedy tour makes a stop in the Miami Valley. Get tickets.

🚀 Rocket Day

📅 Saturday, Oct. 7th: 10-3pm
📍 Air Force Museum, Dayton
💰 Free entry

Ignite your kids' passion for space, exploration, and engineering at Rocket Day! Kids will be able to create and launch their own model rockets with assistance from the Wright Stuff Rocketeers. Expand the whole family’s knowledge with intriguing rocketry presentations in the National Aviation Hall of Fame, and see a real lunar rover brought from the Armstrong Air and Space Museum. A universe of fun awaits! Learn more.

🎃 WPAFB Pumpkin Chuck

📅 Saturday, Oct. 7th: 11-3:30pm
📍 WPAFB, Riverside (Spinning Gate Road entrance)
💰 Free entry

Watch pumpkins soar at the 18th Annual Pumpkin Chuck. This is a STEM spectacle where teams put their minds to one goal - hurling pumpkins as far as possible using catapults and trebuchets. Though there will even be a few “human-powered chuckers”, relying solely on their strength. The Spectator Zone offers thrilling views, while the Kids STEM Zone delights with activities like pumpkin artistry and face painting. With an array of food trucks on-site, your taste buds are in for a treat too. Learn more.

🍂 Harvest Gathering

📅 Saturday, Oct. 7th: 5-8pm
📍 SunWatch Indian Village, Dayton
💰 $75 per person

Step into the past at SunWatch’s 3rd annual Harvest Gathering. This dinner pays homage to the harvest season, complete with outdoor dining reminiscent of Ohio's early settlers. Delight in a delicious dinner by Amber Rose, explore the village with guided tours, and engage with artifacts. Learn from curator Jill Krieg on SunWatch Village's significance and partake in the village reconstruction by placing cedar markers. Bid farewell to their center pole, while welcoming SunWatch's next reconstructed pole. Get tickets.

🍷🍴🧁 Sips, Savories & Sweets

📅 Saturday, Oct. 7th: 7-10pm
📍 Ohio’s Hospice of Dayton, Centerville
💰 $95 per person

Come on out for a night of gastronomic delight and goodwill! Savor delicacies from Dayton's finest restaurants, food trucks, and bakeries. All while enjoying live entertainment and a silent auction. The net proceeds will further enable Ohio’s Hospice of Dayton to provide patient care and services. You can secure your spot by registering online before the pre-order deadline tomorrow (Sep. 29th). Though if you miss this, you can still buy your ticket at the event, until they’re sold out. Get tickets.

Have an upcoming event you’re attending or hosting? Tell us about it here, if it’s a good fit for our community, we may share it.

SPONSORED BY BLUELAND

Clean Green With Blueland

While not local, Blueland’s products are certainly impactful. Since 2019, they’ve diverted over 1 billion single-use plastics from landfills and oceans. 

How? Their powerful cleaning powders and tablets. Whenever you need a refill, you simply mix them with your own tap-water. Saving you storage space, and our planet from more single-use plastic.

Of all the eco-friendly brands we've tried over the years, Blueland has been our favorite. Their products are effective and actually sustainable. Specifically, we enjoy using their hand soap, multi-surface and bathroom cleaners, dishwasher tablets, and face wash.

The only product we didn’t like? Their laundry tablets. They struggled to remove the sunscreen smell from our clothes.

If you’re looking to switch to more eco-friendly products without trading away effectiveness, check out Blueland’s Clean Essentials starter kit. Join the 1,000,000+ homes (including ours) who have made the switch!

🗞️ LOCAL NEWS

🗳️ New District Maps, Same Ole Gerrymandering

Late Tuesday night (Sep. 26th), the seven-member Ohio Redistricting Commission unanimously approved new state district maps with bipartisan support. These new maps show a 61-38 Republican advantage in the Ohio House, and a 23-10 advantage in the Ohio Senate.

When the courts rejected the previous maps as unconstitutional due to their partisan gerrymandering, they called for maps that reflect the 54%-R, 46%-D partisan split of Ohio. If that’s the definition of “fair maps”, then these new maps are another far-cry from that measure.

Now these maps will go in front of the Ohio Supreme Court, where they can still be challenged. Though with the new Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy, who has been a supporter of the previous maps, the court is more likely to rule in their favor.

Yes, this is a long summary and it’s political. Two things we generally try to avoid. But it’s important. Whichever maps get finalized will rule our electoral lives until at least 2030. We'll keep you posted on this news as it evolves, in the most straight-forward way we can. [Ohio Capital Journal]

🍻 Tank's Auction Starts After Sale Falls Through

In June of this year, Tank’s Bar & Grill announced a temporary closure ahead of plans for new ownership. Sadly, the potential buyer recently backed out, causing the deal to fall apart. What started as a temporary closure has now turned into a permanent one. As a result, Tank's memorabilia, including neon and beer signs, is being auctioned online. This auction will run until Oct. 11th at 6pm and is the first of many to come. Tank’s had been a staple bar in Dayton since it opened in 1987 and will be missed by many. [Dayton Daily News]

🥊 Dayton Boxer Competing In Olympic Trials

Andrew Zammit, an amateur boxer from Dayton, has secured a spot in the Olympic Trials this December in Lafayette, Louisiana. He clinched his place after winning the Last Chance Qualifier Tournament in Colorado earlier this month. Zammit trains at DMC Boxing in Centerville where he is coached by Daniel Meza-Cuadra. Come December, we’ll be rooting for Zammit to win his spot on Team USA! [WDTN]

🔦 LOCAL SPOTLIGHT

🍻 Kettering’s Oldest Tavern

Having served cold drinks and great food since 1967, Harrigan’s Tavern has been Kettering’s neighborhood bar and has grown to be the oldest tavern in town.

Harrigan’s was founded by Jerry Harrigan, a former Dayton and Centerville police officer, in 1967. Their first location was at 3059 Far Hill Ave. in Kettering, next to St. Albert the Great Catholic Church. Interestingly though, the church was actually Harrigan’s landlord. A relationship that would cause quite the stir in the decades to come.

In late 1982, Harrigan’s started to get pressured by the church to move, because they wanted to use the space to expand their parking lot. Looking at the articles back then - which there were a lot - it’s clear Harrigan’s was already a gem of the area. With folks referring to their original location as a “historic structure”, and talking about how it would be a shame for the church to raze it.

Their quarrels escalated into a full legal battle in early 1983, which saw the church evict Harrigan’s. To which Harrigan’s responded by remaining open in protest and suing for the right to stay. In 1984, the courts sided with the church, and Harrigan’s was forced to vacate while given some time to open a new location. And they moved quickly.

Within a few months, Harrigan’s Tavern reopened at 4070 Marshall Road in Kettering, where it remains open today - almost 40 years later. Like any almost 60 year old business, their ownership has changed hands over the years. A few years ago the newest owner, Mark Moser, took over and changed the name to “Moe Harrigan’s Tavern”.

Throughout this whole time, Harrigan’s has remained a beloved neighborhood bar in Kettering. It’s where I celebrated my 21st birthday, and the place our wedding party went after our wedding. My dad and I will also pop over there for lunch to enjoy their crispy, crunchy fish & chips. Easily our favorite fried fish in the area.

Is Harrigan’s perfect? No. Should any neighborhood bar going on 60 years old be perfect? No. And that is what makes them great.

Whether you’re looking to grab a drink after work, celebrate a big event, or anything in between, Harrigan’s Tavern is a great local spot with a true community feel.

Do you know an awesome local business or organization that deserves the spotlight? Tell us all about them here.

🙏 THANKS!

That’s all for today. Thank you for reading this week’s memo!

If you enjoyed it, then consider sharing us with your local friends and family. You can use your unique link at the bottom of this email to earn rewards for everyone that signs up through it!

Were you forwarded this email? Sign up here to get Miami Valley Memo delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday morning.

Have some feedback? Feel free to give it using the poll below or by replying to this email.

Hope you have a great weekend, and we look forward to seeing you next Thursday!

Disclosure: Some of the events and other links featured in this newsletter may be sponsored by our advertising partners, or affiliate links where we may earn a small commission should you sign up or purchase through them. Any sponsored or affiliate links will be clearly indicated with an asterisk (*) or a disclosure that the section is sponsored by a specific partner.