💎 Festivals and… Flamingos? (Issue #2)

Good morning,

We hope you had a nice and relaxing Labor Day weekend. The long weekend has made this week fly by!

Welcome to the 29 new subscribers that have joined us since last week! We’re all about helping you discover and enjoy more of what's going on in the Miami Valley.

September is jam-packed with great events in the Miami Valley - probably because it’s our last month of reliably good weather. Choosing which events to feature and in what sequence is an evolving process. If you have any feedback on how we could improve our events section, please share it by replying to this email.

Today we’ll be covering:

• Upcoming events from festivals to a chef showdown

• Flamingos recently spotted at Caesar Creek Lake

• Emergency training drill at CVG tomorrow, no need to worry

• Appealing your updated home value in Montgomery County

• Kettering’s staple Chinese restaurant closes after 50+ years

• Catching 48 flavors of soft serve in Centerville

Let’s get to it!

— Max

⚡ WEEKEND WEATHER

Friday

60° 🌡️ 74° | ⛅ | ☔ 10% | 💨 8 mph

Saturday

60° 🌡️ 77° | ⛅ | ☔ 20% | 💨 10 mph

Sunday

57° 🌡️ 78° | ⛅ | ☔ 10% | 💨 10 mph

📅 EVENTS

🥨 Springboro Oktoberfest

📅 Friday: 6-10pm | Saturday: 11-11pm
📍 Springboro United Church of Christ, Springboro
💰 $5 at the gate | Free for kids 12 and under

Enjoy authentic German food, biers, and wines at this family-friendly festival. With a Kids Fun Zone, polka music, dancing, and games, it's fun for all ages! Learn more.

🇮🇹 Italian Fall Fest

📅 Friday: 6-11pm | Saturday: 12-11pm | Sunday: 12-8pm
📍 Bella Villa Hall, Dayton
💰 Free entry

Celebrate Italian culture with what we Italians do best: food, family, and... bocce! Parking is free next door at Reynolds & Reynolds, along with a complimentary shuttle service to the Hall. Sadly, I'll be out of town, so please savor an extra cannoli for me! Learn more.

🔭 Night Sky

📅 Saturday: 7-9pm
📍 Deer Meadow Park - Shelter #1, Moraine
💰 Free entry (registration requested)

Explore the cosmos with the Miami Valley Astronomical Society. Walk through self-guided stations to discover moon phases, constellations, and more. Registered participants will receive a star finder to take home! Register here.

🍏🍩 Apple Cider Donut Days

📅 Saturday: 10-10pm | Sunday: 10-6pm
📍 Hidden Valley Orchards, Lebanon
💰 Free entry

Sip on your choice of fresh ciders (hot, cold, slushed, or spiked) while munching on apple cider donuts and other fall foods. They’ll also have face painting and balloon art from 11-4pm for kids and charming live music throughout the day. We reckon it’ll be a rootin' tootin' good time! Learn more.

🍿 Beavercreek Popcorn Festival

📅 Saturday: 10-8pm | Sunday: 11-6pm
📍 Intersection of Dayton-Xenia & North Fairfield, Beavercreek
💰 Free entry

See what's popping at Beavercreek's Popcorn Festival this year. Over 300 vendor booths offering crafts, festival foods, and popcorn delights. Enjoy a beer garden with football on and a kids zone with inflatables and puppet shows. Learn more.

🤘 Chevelle and Three Days Grace

📅 Thursday, Sep. 14th: 7pm
📍 Rose Music Center at The Heights, Huber Heights
💰 Starting at $51

Rock out with super-talents Chevelle and Three Days Grace on their 2023 co-headline tour stopping in the Miami Valley. Enjoy a special guest performance from Loathe. Get tickets.

🥂 Concours d'Elegance Preview Party

📅 Saturday, Sep. 16th: 6:30-10pm
📍 Carillon Park, Dayton
💰 $100 for non-members | $90 for members

Experience an exclusive preview of the vehicles being showcased in the next day’s Concours d'Elegance event. Complete with gourmet food, premium drinks, art displays, and a silent auction. All activities are included with your ticket. Get tickets.

🚗 Concours d’Elegance

📅 Sunday, Sep. 17th: 10:30-4pm
📍 Carillon Park, Dayton
💰 $25 for adults at the door, $20 in advance | $10 for kids

View over 150 of the country's finest classic and antique vehicles in this “competition of elegance” throughout the park grounds, including cars from MG’s 100th anniversary. Enjoy the views along with music, food, and live historical demonstrations. Get tickets.

🍺 BEER! A Celebration of Dayton Brewing!

📅 Saturday, Sep. 16th: 5-9pm
📍 Yellow Cab Tavern, Downtown Dayton
💰 Free entry | Beer tasting tickets: $20 for 8 6oz pours in advance, $3 per 6oz pour day of

Dive into the Miami Valley Beer Scene with 16 local breweries at the 9th annual celebration hosted by Yellow Cab Tavern in partnership with The Dayton Brewery Alliance. In addition to signature beers they’ll also have yummy bites, including Yellow Cab’s resident food truck, The Pizza Bandit. All with free live music from Kyle Eldridge and The Kentucky Cowhands. Get beer tickets.

🍺 Beer Fest

📅 Saturday, Sep. 16th: 5-9pm
📍 The Greene, Beavercreek
💰 Free entry | Beer tasting tickets: $25 advance, $30 at the door

Sample brews with your buds at The Greene’s 5th annual Beer Fest. Each ticket gets you 12 beer samples and a 4 oz souvenir mug. They'll also feature a beer garden for those who'd prefer an ice-cold Bud Light, Mich Ultra, White Claw, etc. Get tickets.

🔪 Diced in Dayton (21+)

📅 Tuesday, Sep. 19th: 6pm
📍 Top of the Market, Downtown Dayton
💰 General admission: $75 | VIP admission: $150

Watch as 12 local chefs compete to craft unique dishes from mystery ingredients, which you’ll then get to sample and vote for your favorite! By night's end, one chef will claim the champion title. As you delight in their ingenious dishes, learn about Miami Valley Meals' efforts to combat food insecurity. Great opportunity to relish exceptional food and support our community. Get tickets.

🍷 September Wine Dinner

📅 Wednesday, Sep. 20th: 6pm
📍 Salar Restaurant and Lounge, Oregon District
💰 $99 (including tax and tip)

Salar is one of Dayton’s most highly-reviewed fine-dining restaurants, offering Peruvian and world-fusion cuisine in a casual atmosphere. For this monthly dinner event, enjoy trying 5 Spanish wines with all-you-can-eat paella valenciana, served with salad and Spanish appetizers. If you'd prefer a different entrée, you can substitute the paella with an option from their current dinner menu. 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.

🗞️ LOCAL NEWS

🦩 Flamingos At Caesar Creek Lake

Locals were in for a treat last Friday (Sep. 1st) when they spotted pink flamingos hanging out at Caesar Creek Lake in Waynesville. Such a sighting is extremely rare for Ohio, as these birds are mostly found in the Caribbean, South America, and Africa. It’s speculated that the recent activity from Hurricane Idalia in the Caribbean, brought their unusual appearance in the Miami Valley. [WDTN]

⚠️ Heads Up: CVG Mass Casualty Drill Tomorrow

Tomorrow (Friday, Sep. 8th), The Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport is scheduled to conduct a mass casualty training exercise. The drill will involve over 250 community volunteers, 80 mutual aid agencies, and 6 hospitals. If you’re flying out of there tomorrow, please know there is no cause for concern if you see emergency responders in action near the airport’s north end. This is all part of the training which the FAA requires every three years to ensure preparedness. [Dayton 24/7 Now]

🏠 Mont. County Homeowners Can Appeal New Property Values

In August, the Montgomery County’s Auditor’s Office sent out updated tentative values of residential properties. They also posted these values to the auditor’s website. Homeowners who want to appeal the new value can request an informal review call here. Appointments are being scheduled through Sep. 22nd, but more may get added as needed. Across the county, residential property values are projected to increase 34% on average - leading to a property tax increase of 4-6%. Formal appeals can get filed from January thru March 2024, after this informal review period. [Dayton Daily News]

🥡 Chop Suey Closes After 50+ Years

Located in Kettering, near the intersection of Wilmington and Dorothy Lane, Chop Suey had been a staple in the Miami Valley for decades. The restaurant was founded in 1972 by Chii Yeng and Say K. Wong. After 50+ years they closed last Friday (Sep. 1st) due to the owners retiring. Growing up in Kettering, Chop Suey was my family’s favorite Chinese spot. It’s where I first experienced Chinese cuisine and fell in love with beef lo mein. While we’ll miss their amazing food, we’re grateful for all the amazing experiences they provided us. Wishing them a wonderful retirement! [Dayton.com]

Also want to say thank you to my parents, who provided me with the initial scoop on this story. If you ever have a line on something you think would be interesting, useful, or important to our community, then please send it our way.

📚 RECOMMENDED READING

Looking for great content about what’s happening outside of the Miami Valley?

Here are a few of our favorite newsletters we read to stay up to date:

• International Intrigue → An apolitical analysis of global news written by former diplomats.

• The Daily Upside → Insights on the most important business stories every day.

• 1440 → Quick daily news from over 100 sources and edited to be as unbiased as humanly possible.

All of these are free and make us feel a little smarter each time we read them.

Check them out!

🔦 LOCAL SPOTLIGHT

🍦 Soft Serving 48 Flavors

What happens when three friends with a shared love for family, golden retrievers, and ice cream come together? Goldies Flavored Soft Serve.

Before establishing Goldies, Alex Gabbard, Jason Head, and Scott Maney were close friends who loved taking their families out for ice cream together. But they noticed a gap in the market: a lack of variety in soft serve flavors. Thankfully, they took matters into their own hands by starting Goldies.

In May, they opened their store—a nostalgic walk-up window—on OH-48 in Centerville. Their brand name and mascot, “Goldie,” pays homage to their mutual affection for golden retrievers, a beloved pet for each of them.

They've achieved their goal of offering variety. Boasting a menu of 48 distinct flavors, customers can mix and match to their heart's content.

A few weekends ago, we were looking to switch it up from our usual ice cream stops. It was the perfect summer night and the missus found Goldies online, so we decided to give them a shot. She got the orange flavor, which instantly reminded us both of creamsicles from our childhoods. I got my usual coffee + chocolate combo. Both were cold, delectable, and possessed the velvety texture unique to soft serve.

Their staff was friendly, and we really enjoyed the whole vibe. There’s something special about ordering from a walk-up window and eating your ice cream outside with other families around. It just feels like summer.

With autumn at our doorstep, savor those last few summer moments at Goldies Flavored Soft Serve. With 48 flavors and endless combos to choose from, we’re sure you’ll find your new favorite treat.

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

🙏 THANKS!

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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.