Ann Shepard (Rueve)

Everyone, don't get me started about downtown restaurants. It was always a treat for the family and , having worked downtown for thirty years, I don't think there is one I missed.  

As for the supervisor, her name was Peggy, she was only a couple of years older than we we (I was 23) and everyone loved her. Apparently that episode had not been the first time she had been warned against imbibing her lunch.  But, in her defense, there was no gender equality in those days.  Many, and I mean, MANY of the men including some of the administrators, drank their lunches at a dive in the alley behind our building called The Red Rooster.  In the eighties, the county banned any type of alcohol consumption during hours.

Mary Vore (Iwamoto)

My only memory of downtown Cincinnati during highschool was the Schubert Theater, where our English class was able to usher for memorable performances - Helen Hays and I think John Gielgud?  Then there was the Cincinnati Symphony, where I was able to hear a Van Cliburn performance.  Mrs. Payne, my piano teacher and Becky's mother, gave me tickets - I can still remember how exciting that was - even from the top row of the top balcony!  My husband and I now escape on occasional week-ends to the 21C in Cincinnati - on Walnut between 6th and 7th Streets, and an easy walk to the Contemporary Arts Center and across the street from the Aronoff Center for the Arts.  It used to be a very rundown apartment complex - very nicely rennovated and an art museum; the hotel restaurant, Metropole, is wonderful. 

David Buchholz

My favorite memory of downtown Cincinnati were the beautiful theatrical performances in the Gayety Theater.  My cousin and I snuck out of my house in Pleasant Ridge, took a #4 bus downtown, and persuaded the lady behind the ticket booth in the soprano voice that marks twelve year olds that we were, ln fact, eighteen.  Sitting in the middle of the theater, with its beautiful stage and the runway that encircled the orchestra (was that where James Levine got his start?), enjoying the costumed entertainers, was a highlight of my youth.  And of course, there were the comedians.  (I still remember some of the jokes, most of which can't be repeated in a family reunion website).  My cousin went up on stage once and danced with a lady who had the word "Cherokee" in her name.  (I don't think she was a genuine native American).

Stephen (Steve) Dixon

I took ballroom dancing from George Gallus. And his wife, although I don't remember her name. They held a class out near those of us in Mt. Washington and a bunch of us started in, I think, 4th grade. We learned all the classic ballroom stuff plus, as several have mentioned, dances like the Stroll, Twist and, of course, the Jitterbug.

Always coats and ties for the boys and dresses for the girls. We (at least the guys) would gripe about dressing up, beforehand, but it was nice. I was a year younger than most of our class and on the short-and-skinny end of the curve back then. I danced with a lot of girls who seemed really tall. Nothing wrong with that.

I had a twelfth birthday party where we rolled back the living room rug and danced Jitterbugs and Waltzes for a couple of hours. Everybody had so much fun we started doing it about every other weekend in somebody's basement. Just stacks of 45's, Cokes & chips and dance til you drop.

David R. Schneider

I just read Gail's post from yesterday.  I also remember Sunday afternoon's at the Hall in Bond Hill. The dances named by Gail are the ones I remember.  The first record I remember that we heard was Chuck Berry's "

Roll Over Beethoven".  We must have gone there for the better part of a year,  It was basically the Jewish kids from North Avondale, Bond Hill, Roselawn, Amberly and Pleasant Ridge.

Steven Levinson

Phil:  Thanks for the correction re the Gibson Cocktail.  Somebody, along the line -- probably my father, who believed he knew everything -- gave me a bum steer on that one.  In any event, the two refurbished Gibson Hotel luggage racks are still side tables in our living room.

Barbara Kahn (Tepper)

Gail, I went to PB's too.  I remember liking it somewhat.  I never heard of any personal trouble for him - didn't know anything about it since I was an innocent kid.  I also went to one other dance class at a later time I think.  It was run in the basement of an apartment building by a man I think was named Al and his wife.  Does anyone else remember that dance class?  I'm trying to remember who might have been in that one with me.  

Ira Goldberg

Well, damn! I am just learning about those VFW hall dance classes. Maybe I'd have been a more frequent dance partner for my bride. Now, does anyone remember going to the JCC in Roselawn for dance lessons? I did that, so my excuse doesn't really have a leg to stand (or dance) on. Oh yes, I recall getting on the yellow bus, butterflies in stomach, lump in throat. Surely some of you went there too....maybe 5th grade? Anyone?

Dave B. Stunned! I waited until age 18 or 19 to visit that fine burlesque establishment. Next day a chemist at U.S. Water Pollution Control (where I worked that summer) said he was driving by and had seen me leaving. He felt the need to say that wasn't love. Years later, as best man at my wedding, he saw me find the real thng! And, was I hooked  - 45 years!

Mary, you opened yet  another memory. As I tell everyone in Louisville, opportunities in Cincinnati included great exposure to the arts. If my memory is accurate, I went to the Symphony for 25 cents During HS years. To this day I genuinely enjoy orchestral music (for the at least 20 minutes before I snooze!) But Gail, I do recall very well the entirety of a lovely evening at a Sun Valley Symphony!

For those reveling in our fellow Alum, James Levine's, 60 Minutes piece, I was able to DVR a public TV presentation of him directing - for about the 100th time - the Met's performance of Figaro. It's 200 minutes, but I get intermissions as needed! If anyone is around East Louisville, drop in to enjoy the conveniently subtitled opera!

Jeff Daum

Ira you were not alone at JCC!  I certainly remember having great trepidation in attending dances there but also seem to recall that they actually ended up being ok.  A bit like I felt as we approached the Sheikh Zayed Grand mosque in Abu Dhabi earlier this week:

Philip Spiess

As Dave Buchholz said awhile back (or was it Larry Klein?), I'm a responder to things said on this site.  So here goes:

First of all, Jeff Daum:  Great photograph!  Can you give us any details on the building itself?

Ann:  But I do want to get you started on downtown restaurants.  Which were your favorites?  And why?  (And do they still exist?)

Mary:  I talked about the Schubert Theater (built originally as the downtown YMCA) in a much earlier posting (maybe six months' ago?) when I talked about almost all of the older downtown theaters' history.  I myself remember our class going to see Helen Hayes and Maurice Evans (then the pre-eminent American Shakespearean actor) in a joint "Evening of Shakespeare" at the Taft Theater (not the Schubert); it was memorable, indeed.  As to the 21C, I do not know what this is, but I haven't been to Cincinnati (still my favorite city) since 2004, when my father died.  I'm curious:  from your description and the location, is it possible this is the old Hotel Metropole reconditioned, and that is why the restaurant is named what it is?

All:  I'm about to have dinner with Becky Payne Shockley and her husband in two weeks, so I'm interested:  How many of you took piano with Dorothy Payne?  (I know James Levine did, and I did, and my sister Barbara did, and Mary did, and Margery did -- and I presume Becky did!)

Dave:  Although I was quite familiar with the Gayety Theater from the outside (because it was next to the main Cincinnati Public Library), I was never inside, so I appreciate your historical reminiscences.  I can only report on the "Hollywood Follies" in Louisville, Kentucky (Ira -- any thoughts?), which I visited a couple of times with my fraternity (Phi Gamma Delta) from Hanover College in Indiana in the mid-1960s.  Although there were a number of young strippers on stage, to say the least, I must report that the Number One star, bar none, was an older woman by the stage name of "Torchie Lee," who brought down the house with her ability to swing two tassles on strings from her breasts in two different directions at the same time.  (She also took combs from boys in the audience and stuck them down her G-string, then handed them back.)  And, yes, I probably have heard, and know, every off-color joke you heard at the Gayety.

Steve Dixon:  For all I know, we may have been in the same Gallus's dance class and didn't know it (I think we started in the 6th Grade); my best dance partner there was Jane Anne Guentter, later Steve Pahner's wife.  We learned the Waltz box step (I also later learned the more sweeping Viennese version), the Fox Trot box step and "gliding" variations, and definitely the Jitterbug -- numerous steps and variations.  Also the Cha-Cha, the Twist, the Stroll, the Walk, the Samba, the Rumba, and a couple of others.  I learned the Charleston (which I later perfected to great effect on the dance floor -- Mike Hunting, do you remember our 25th Hanover College Reunion, where you sang after I danced?) from my grandmother, and I learned to do the Kozatski [Cosack dance -- sp.?] on my own (which I can no longer do, due to age), as well as the Cakewalk (best done to the music of Scott Joplin's ragtime opera Treemonisha -- Nelson Abanto, take note).  Where and when I learned both classical (Austrian) and folk (Pennsylvanian) polka, I don't now know, but I still can dance them both.  The Virginia Reel (known in Britain as the "Sir Roger de Coverley") I learned, of course, at Junior Squares.

Steve:  Glad you're enjoying those luggage racks -- I'm always happy to learn of Cincinnati relics being saved.

Ira:  Many of us from Clifton School went to the "Children's Symphonies" conducted by Thor Johnson at Music Hall.  I think much earlier in these notes I mentioned that Frannie Grace of our class (probably in 6th Grade) bounced so much in excitement to Rossini's "William Tell" Overture that she shook the entire row of seats (namely, all of us!).

I know my entries tend to be long, but I'm enthralled that they seem to be sparking many diverse memories in many of you!

Jeff Daum

Thanks Phil.  The mosque (the largest of its kind) was both a gift to the people and the Sheikh's final resting place.  It is astounding and amazing in scope and beauty.  As with most of our travels it was also a very informative cultural experience.  Here are a few more 'raw' (as in un retouched photos from our visit)-  internet is a bit schetchy here

Laura Reid (Pease)

Phil, you are correct about David Sinton.....will give you a little history about the Taft.  The building was constructed in 1832 by Edwin Baum, a successful businessman during that time who lived down close to the river with his family; because of the dirt, heavy river traffic and PIGS, he decided to build his home on Pike St.,  (above the river), which is now the Taft Museum.  After a few years, Baum fell on hard times and had to sell his house to Nicholas Longworth who lived there for many years with his extended family; during the time he lived there he made many additions to his home to house his children and grandchildren.  Also during this time (1850), he hired Robert Duncanson, a free black man and housepainter to paint eight murals in the entry to the house; these are magnificent and launched Duncanson's career as a landscape painter; he was able to study in Europe and gained quite a bit of fame internationally; Duncanson was always very indebted to Longworth for his start.  After Longworth's tenure in the home, he sold it to David Sinton who moved in with his daughter, Anna.  Anna married Charles Taft and after her father died was one of the richest ladies in the nation.  With their  fortune, they amassed quite an art collection, travelling to Europe to acquire works of the masters, a large 17thC Dutch collection, English portraiture, French 19thC landscapes, Chinese porcelains and much more.  They (Charles and Anna) deeded their home and collection to the City of Cinti., and we are forever grateful for that.  In the agreement, it is stated that none of the art can ever be sold and nothing can be purchased to add to the collection; however, several pieces have been gifted to the Taft that fit in nicely with the existing collection.  On another note.....shortly after Duncanson completed the murals, the Longworths wallpapered over them...just wanting to redecorate.  The Sintons/Tafts lived in the house the whole time, never knowing that these murals existed.  They hung their art collection, gallery style, in the front halls, unknowingly pounding nails into the murals.  It wasn't until the renovation turning the home into a museum that the murals were discovered.  They were in bad shape, but were painstakingly renovated and preserved.  They are truly breathtaking; when touring I spend a lot of time on the Duncanson murals; they are such a testament to the relationship between Longworth and Duncanson during the onset of the Civil War.  All of our guests are fascinated by them.....Okay, you can tell by now that I love my job and am happy to give a tour whenever you are in town!!!

David Buchholz

Laura, Phil, Jeff, Ira, Stephen, Steve, Mary, Ann, Margery, Gail, etc., and etc.,...damn, I'm learning more from the MF than I did at WHHS!

Douglass (Dougie) Dupee (Trumble)

Just want to chime in on piano lessons with the Paynes. I took from Carl Payne who was also wonderful. At least 1 or 2 of my siblings did as well. Hi to Becky! 

David Buchholz

Disappointing news for all of you who are both nauseated and fatigued by the sheer number of photographs that I've posted...and continue to post.  I bought a new scanner last week and am going through 36,000 slides shot between 1969-2003 when I phased into digital.  I've already thrown away several thousand from the orignal stash, but hidden somewhere in the hundred or so Kodak carrousels are some that I've resurrected.  This one is for Laura Pease, the retired French teacher, who no doubt has climbed to the top of the Eiffel Tower and looked straight down, just as we did on a late afternoon on Bastille Day, 1972.  "Allons, enfants de la patrie..."

Barbara Kahn (Tepper)

I think it was the Schubert Theater where I was an usher with Nancy Stillpass for a few plays.  I was in the mezzanine.  I know I saw "No Strings" with Nancy Wilson and other plays that I loved.  I think maybe she had some connection - it wasn't me that got us that job.  

Bruce Fette

Well since so many are posting favorite memories, I have one to share and I hope someone else caught this one too. Unfortunately I do not remember the year. But to me so memorable.

There was an outdoor play at playhouse in the park. The play was Camelot - the musical. And I truly developed a love of musicals with that as one of my first and certainly strong favorites. While the scene where all the knights ride out to capture and overturn Arthur's kingdom was done with stick horses instead of real, it was still so beautifully staged and the music was so great, that I enjoyed every minute.

Anyone else been to Playhouse in the Park, or remember when Camelot was playing there?

PS.

And of course I loved Zero Mostel in Dallas when he did Funny Thing Happend on the way to the Forum - just incredibly funny at a really beautiful theatre. So you folks in Dallas are still priveleged to be there.

Larry Klein

I've been quiet on here for awhile. but keeping up nevertheless.  And as I've said several times on this forum since last June - "Did I really go to the same high school with all you guys and gals?" "Where was I when all this was going on?"

On the subject of dancing, my first dance lessons were at boot camp in '67.  The main step was "Hut-one-two-three-hut..."  My favorites were "column left", "column right", "to the rear", "halftime", "mark time", and most favorites "at ease" and "dismissed".

I do remember attempting to 'twist' at our reunion at Longworth with one Laura Reid (Laura was, of course, excellent).  And Laura, that was an amazing 'history' lesson on the Taft Museum.  Who knew??

On the child-rearing, another experience I've missed in my lifetime.  Coaching the kids on my golf teams from JH to Varsity has given me so many terrific "replacement" memories to cherish.  Kids are truly an adventure.  I've always leaned toward giving them options to consider and work things out for themselves, with a touch of "possible outcomes" thrown in.  And, of course, my first venture into actually teaching a class in the Junior Achievement Program was a challenge.  My 7th graders were super, and the subject matter (foreign trade and immigration) gave me opportunities to toss in tidbits on ethics, commitments, and following through.

I missed the Gayety Theater, too.  But I did sit through two viewings of Solomon and Sheba one Saturday afternoon at the Albee (Gina and Yul were outstanding).

Phil, you can never talk too much.  Please keep up the outstanding diamentaries (new word).

Philip Spiess

Okay, going back a bit:  Margery:  Why were girls trying to climb out of the powder room window during Madame Federova's dance classes?

Jonathan Marks:  You mention Summer Opera rehearsals at the Hotel Alms.  Much earlier in these pages (nine months ago?) I was reminiscing about you wonderfully playing a waiter in Act II of Puccini's La Boheme.  Am I correct in this?

Jeff Daum:  Thanks so much for the many pictures of the mosque -- it truly is a remarkable architectural marvel!

Mary:  I always felt that the balcony of the Schubert Theater was way too close to the proscenium arch -- but this may have been the result of its redesign from a YMCA building.  (As I noted much earlier in these pages, just west of the Schubert Theater was the George B. Cox Theater -- the two theaters were torn down at the same time, as the Cox actually backed up to the back stage of the Schubert.  The Cox was named after Cincinnati's pre-eminent Republican political boss [more of him anon, if anybody's interested], whose home in Clifton is now the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity house ["Pike" house], just opposite the Jefferson Avenue entrance to Burnett Woods Park.)  I saw Blackstone the Magician (not his son, equally famous, who I saw at the Warner Theater here in Washington, but the father, even more famous) at the old George B. Cox Theater, where he performed his most famous act, sawing a lady in half!  And to the west of the Cox Theater, on the corner of the next street over (Vine?  Walnut?  I'm sorry:  my Cincinnati maps are buried in my library annex), was the RKO Capitol Theater, which was converted in the late 1950s to showing Cinerama movies.  But to return to the Schubert:  the two most memorable performances I remember seeing there were the absolutely hilarious French variety farce, La Plume du ma Tante, and the original production of A Man for All Seasons, about Sir Thomas More; the stage show, I felt, was dramatically superior to the later movie, great as it was.

Laura:  So the long-standing story (which I always suspected) that the architect of the Taft home was James Hoban, the architect of the White House, is untrue?  (I always wondered how he got so far west!)  And I remember seeing the Duncanson murals shortly after they were restored (first? second restoration?).  I hope I'm remembering correctly (contrary to numerous comments in these pages, I don't always remember everything exactly!) when I say that I think the Cincinnati Historical Society has some framed Duncanson paintings.  And then there's the story (possibly apochryphal) that Abraham Lincoln, as a secondary lawyer in the prominent McCormick Reaper Patent case being held in Cincinnati (the chief lawyer was Edwin M. Stanton, later Lincoln's Secretary of War), visited the Longworth Catawba wine vineyards on what is now Eden Park and paid a dollar [?] to a worker to show him around.  The worker was actually Nicholas Longworth himself, one of the wealthiest men in America.  Charles P. Taft (Anna Sinton Taft's husband and the step-brother to Willlam Howard Taft) was publisher of the Cincinnati Times-Star, later edited by descendent Hulbert Taft.  And another Nicholas Longworth, grandson (I believe) to the first Nicholas Longworth (and whose sister was, I think, involved in the Rookwood Pottery), was Speaker of the House of Representatives and marrried Teddy Roosevelt's daughter Alice.  A story there:  Nick Longworth was not known for being terribly loquacious or humorous; he was also quite bald.  One day a member of Congress came up to him and, stroking Longworth's bald head, said, "You know, Nick, your head's as smooth as my wife's bare ass."  Longworth thereupon stroked his own bald head and said, " You know, you're right!"  Katherine Hanna, long-time director of the Taft Museum (late 1950s to early 1970s?) lived in what is the most spectacular of the three or four Swiss Chalet houses in Cincinnati; it is on Upland Place, just east of Victory Parkway as it comes out of Eden Park.  Another is one or two streets east (downhill) from Auburn Avenue in Mount Auburn (again, I'm missing my Cincinnati maps here). Anyway, thank you so much, Laura, for your knowledgeabe history of the Taft Museum!

Dougie Dupee (Trumble):  Thanks for commenting on Payne piano lessons (I, too, took from Karl Payne -- the father -- my last year of lessons, which was in 7th Grade; he was also a violinist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra).

Dave:  Apropos Bastllle Day, in 1979, when one-third of the staff of the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington (myself included) was cut for budgetary reasons, I threw a backyard party entitled "Heads Will Roll!," to which only those staff members who had been released from their jobs were invited (our German friends from the staff of the Smithsonian Institution, also invited, were somewhat baffled by the whole thing:  "Spiess?  Not French, is it?").  Then in 1989, for the bicentennial of the French Revolution, on Bastille Day we held a second "Heads Will Roll" party, really doing it up right; the fireworks were extraordinary!

Bruce:  Didn't see Camelot at Playhouse in the Park (though I saw a number of other productions there), but I did see the original traveling company do it during our WHHS senior year at the Taft Theater downtown (I remember I was on a double date).

Larry:  My father taught me that one of the World War II Army marching cadences was "Left!  Left!  Left a wife and forty-eight children!"  And also "Your pants are loose but your belt is tight! / Your balls are swinging from left to right!  Sound off!  One, two," etc.  There were others, which I won't release here, as being inappropriate.   And do I detect a touch of "diarrhea" in "diamentaries"?

Ann Shepard (Rueve)

Phil! Oh Phil! Your comments are absolutely fascinating!! OMG!!  The story about Longworth had me laughing outloud then you threw in the march cadences.  Made me pee my pants a drop.  

Barbara - I loved the musical No Strings.  It was written by Richard Rogers, words and music (Hammerstein had died).  I wasn't able to catch the Broadway production starring Diahann Carroll and Richard Kiley, but did see the touring production at the Taft Theater with Barbara McNair and Howard Keel. The interracial love story was ground breaking at the time. I recall being so disappointed that the couple chose to go their separate ways at the end, "...with no strings, except our own devotion". I can see why it had to have that ending at the time since it was being performed during the beginning of the civil rights movement.  

Bruce - The Playhouse in the Park is still going strong. A production of Peter and the Starcatcher is playing now through the beginning of April.  Of course, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens  is an annual favorite at the Playhouse.  

Larry - You might have missed the official parenting role but your devotion to the kids at WHHS makes you part of the "village".

Gail Weintraub (Stern)

Shout out to Rick Steiner and the 70th Birthday Reunion Committee: Judging from comments made on this website; perhaps, you could include a downtown city bus tour as an option for the weekend--Laura Reid Pease could docent a tour of the Taft Museum, Arn Bortz could lead us around OTR and other redevelopment projects, and we could tour the Underground Railway Museum. Just sayin'........

Margery Erhardt (Schrader)

Phil - Girl's attempting to climb out the powder room window at Mme. Federova's Dance class....just to prove we could stand on our own – aka devilish deeds. Really the class was very nice and since I was not allowed to drink Coca Cola ...think perhaps I should spell this out for Phil or I will probably never hear the end!!! :) at home I did enjoy the drinks and cakes. As I think back on the experience it was an amazing group of young people and a time  I could be with some of my CPS friends too.

Dougie and Phil – Such great memories of piano lessons. I took lessons from Dorothy Payne from about 6-11^th grades. Prior to that I took piano lessons from Mrs. Stoess who would come to my house. She was the mother or aunt I believe to Mary Jo – anyway they were related as Mrs. Stoess was a Pease (perhaps Laura can help on this too.) Dougie, did you see Becky’s article commemorating her mother in Clavier Companion (Jan/Feb issue)? Extremely well written (of course!!!) and brought back so many memories. I had ordered a copy also for my sister (WHHS ’67) who took lessons from Dorothy and she was thrilled. Both of our families learned some additional history by reading it.

Barbara Kahn (Tepper)

Bruce - I loved Playhouse in the Park.  Maybe it was senior year when a few of us sang a background song for a play starring Tony Musante (I think)? I can only remember that Mike Weiner was there too because I often gave him a ride to the Playhouse. 

Philip Spiess

Gail:  Re Reunion Tour -- I'm in!

So we've certainly discussed the Hotel Alms -- anyone remember Alms & Doepke's Department Store?  (I think the building is still there, but it's certainly undergone a variety of uses since the mid-1950s.)

And what about any memories of Alms Park?  As a child it was one of my favorites, though Burnet Woods for the Thursday night band concerts in summer and ice skating on the lake in winter (and because I lived in Clifton) took my top honors, and Eden Park for its museums and the Krohn Conservatory, water towers (2) and the reservoir, Playhouse in the Park (originally a park shelter house), and just being in Mount Adams took a close second.  Mount Storm Park, being up behind my house in Clifton, was another park we went to, not because it had a sealed-up cave which had been the wine cellar of the estate's owner, Robert Bowler, nor because it had a classical pergola which had been the cover to the estate's reservoir (where the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII of Great Britain, met his American guests), but because in winter it had the most spectacular sled-riding hills I've ever gone down (my "Flexible-Flyer" sled was my grandmother's, and I calculate it's about 110 years old, but it still works, and I still use it) -- not excepting the toboggan hill we students went down in Delaware on du Pont family property when I was in graduate school, only to discover a barbed-wire fence at the bottom of the hill as we were careening down at high speed!  (One of the du Pont daughters, the wife of James Biddle, my boss at the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the 1970s, said she used to toboggan down that same hill.)  But back to Alms Park:  it has a lovely view of the Ohio River, with the Stephen Foster statue on the hill above, and, on the other side, a view of Lunken Airport, which, as a child, was enticing, watching the small planes take off.  And somewhere in the back part of the park is a stone building which had been the location of a wine press (if memory serves).

AND -- I've just been reading a book on the history of ballooning from 18th-Century France (Montgolfier) to the 21st-Century, and I was stunned to be reminded that CINCINNATI was the ballooning capital of America prior to the Civil War!  In 1857, for example, Eugene Godard, later to be one of the great French balloon aeronauts, took part in a widely-advertised balloon derby against "Professor" John Steiner (Rick Steiner -- any relation?); 40,000 people paid to attend the launch, and the two balloons collided, as it turned out, at 15,000 feet above Cincinnati, surviving to fly over 200 miles beyond Dayton, Ohio.  It seems that Cincinnati was the ideal starting point for long-distance balloon ascensions because of its geographical location:  a west wind from Kansas or Iowa would carry a balloon to Washington, D. C. (where the hot air from Capitol Hill would no doubt have sent it back again), while an eastward wind, if it turned northward, would take a balloon to New York City, or to Buffalo, the Great Lakes, or even to Montreal; on the other hand, if an eastward wind turned southwards, a balloon from Cincinnati could go to Richmond, Virginia, Charleston, South Carolina, or even to Florida!  In my view, the current hot air wind-bag from the Cincinnati area is John Boehner, Speaker of the House. 

Ann Shepard (Rueve)

Barb - I sang background too for that play, The Love Song Don Perlimplin, and if I'm not mistaken, D(exter) Roger Dixon was there too.  The words were something like, "...on the bank of the river night has come to bathe and on the breast of Belisa, the night wind is dying of love..."  I don't think I ever saw the play, but it was about some old man who was enamored with a sweet young thing.