Sunday afternoon I attended a rally in front of Music Hall to help save the Cincinnati Streetcar. The newly sworn in mayor, John Cranley, has made it his first mission to shut down the project after the track work now stretches nearly a mile up Elm Street. However, he cannot do it alone and has to have the support of city council. Unfortunately it seems that the majority of council are now in favor of canceling, or at least suspending construction, which the feds have said is the same as canceling in their opinion.

Supporters in front of Music Hall

So a rally was organized to show support for the project. An estimated crowd of around 1,000 listened as speeches and presentations were made before spreading out to line the rail current rail line to the current terminus. I was so excited to see the first rails go in just over a month ago, and was really looking forward to our city’s continued progress. Now I am not so sure that the progress we have seen over the last few years will continue into the future.

My Son, Cincinnati of the Future

These streetcar tracks, while only a 3.6 mile route when complete, are a great start to any future rail expansion projects. Not only can the current rails going into the ground carry the streetcars, but they could also carry lightrail trains with no changes needed. Having an urban circulator is just as important as the lines running into town, and is the perfect place to start a system. The far suburbs and even those in Hamilton county may not want enhanced public transportation, but I believe most of the neighborhoods in the city of Cincinnati want it and would benefit from it greatly. Supporting the streetcar now will not only help our city now, it will help many years into the future.

Line The Line

More arguments for keeping the streetcar going can be found on UrbanCincy.com.

We are quickly getting into the holiday spirit. To kick off the season we headed down to the Museum Center to see the Holiday Junction featuring the Duke Energy Holiday Trains. We made it down twice to see the trains last year, so I’m sure we will go at least once more before the display is taken down January 5.

Choo Choo

The display is so detailed that I always discover something new with each visit. The little people are doing so many things in their village, and you could very easily lose track of time while taking it all in.

Train Station

In addition to the model train display, there is also a small indoor train ride and play areas for the kids. Admission is free to Museum Center Members and to Duke Energy customers with a special confirmation code.

Ronny Salerno of Queen City Discovery has some amazing photos of the display as well as the video below. Enjoy!

Holiday Trains at the Cincinnati Museum Center from Ronny Salerno on Vimeo.

A couple of weeks ago I took a quick break from work to drive down to Over-the-Rhine and see the very first rails of the Cincinnati Streetcar project be placed along the 3.6 mile route. You may recall the initial groundbreaking that I also attended in February of last year. A lot of utility relocation and preparations had to be made before the rails could be installed in the ground.

First Rail

Over the last two weeks, concrete has been poured to set the rails into place along Elm Street.  Each rail section is 80 feet long is and is being manufactured in Indiana. Delivery of the first  set of rail is complete, just around forty more deliveries to complete the project.

One Down Many To go

It is very refreshing to see my city takings steps towards improving itself. It makes me happy to have settled back here and I look forward to raising my children in a progressive city.

One of Kim’s coworkers has a  daughter named Grace who was  diagnosed with leukemia on  July 27. She spent 52 days in the hospital. She is currently in remission and she will have to spend the next two and a half years receiving chemotherapy so the leukemia never returns.

Grace

To help the fight against leukemia and lymphoma our family joined thousands of others for a fundraiser event called Light the Night at Sawyer Point a week ago.  During the short, evening walk, participants carry illuminated balloons (white = survivors, red = supporters, gold = in memory) to help bring light to the dark world of cancer.

Light The Night

Kim and other employees at Great American Insurance Group raised over $18,000 for the cause!

Light The Night

Donations can still be made by through the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s website.

Light The Night

After taking a year off, Pig-Fest (the annual pig roast and party at my parents’ house) took place this past weekend. The weather was fantastic and all of our favorite events took place once again. Personally I had a great year in the Wiffle ball tournament, bringing home the trophy for the second time!

I used my GoPro camera to create a timelapse video using roughly 440 images captured over nearly four hours. If the battery wouldn’t have died I could have captured even more. Maybe next time I’ll plug it into a power source to keep the footage rolling.

As she normally does, my mom says this is the last Pig-Fest, but the next one would be the 20th edition, so I think we have to do it again!

Over the weekend an amazing event took place in Over-the-Rhine. LumenoCity was put on by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and combined their live music with mind-blowing visual elements being projected onto the exterior of Music Hall. The newly renovated Washington Park served as the primary seating area for the free and open to the public performance.

Music Hall

Though other commitments kept me from attending one of the two performances, I was able to catch a glimpse of some of the elements during the days leading up to the weekend. From what I’ve heard from numerous friends who were in attendance, it was an amazing event and one that I will be sure not to miss if done again in the future. CityBeat published a great article about the event and the progress in Cincinnati over the last few years.

Last night I attended the streetcar social at Rhinegeist Brewery hosted by Cincinnatians for Progress. Mayor Mark Mallory was on hand to give his remarks on the past, present, and future of the Cincinnati streetcar project.

Mayor Mark Mallory

Earlier this week the construction contract was signed and phase one of the streetcar is expected to be open on September 15, 2016. More details on the contract and the timeline can be found at the Cincy Streetcar Blog and Building Cincinnati. 5chw4r7z was also in attendance last night and he has shared his thoughts as well. Let’s go!

You may have noticed a lack of posts last week. I spent the majority of last week in Kansas City for work. The project that I was working on the last three years hasn’t taken off like our leadership team thought it would. So I am back working on the project that brought me to Harris Broadcast in the first place many years ago. With this change I had to spend some time in both Denver and Kansas City the past couple of weeks to get back up to speed.

Returning to my old project includes some night and weekend work. I don’t mind the night work as it can be done after the kids have gone to bed, but the weekend mornings have been a little difficult so far. A nice bonus to the off hours work is that I am able to take some time away from the desk during the day and spend time with Kim and the kids since she is still on maternity leave. Last week we spent a couple of hours down at the police memorial parade.

Police Memorial Parade

The police memorial parade honors fallen officers who lost their lives in the line of duty.

Color Guard

Honor Fallen Officers

The parade marched to the Police Memorial, where Police Chief James E. Craig presented the Cincinnati Police Medal of Valor awards. Chief Craig will soon be leaving the Cincinnati Police to take the same position in his home town of Detroit, so it was also a sort of farewell event for him as well.

Officer Trey

My sister-in-law is currently on the mounted  patrol, but it sounds like that program is going to be  eliminated  soon in an attempt to close holes in the budget. Originally she was on a list to be laid off in a couple of months, but it sounds like that has changed and she will either retain her position in district 1, or be reassigned to another district if necessary. I wish the mounted patrol could stick around for many reasons, and I know it always makes Trey happy to see his aunt riding on the back of Justice. Let’s hope the next chief has some answers to these budget and  personnel  struggles.

A week ago I took Trey to our first Tunes & Blooms of the year. We made it to a couple of the events last year and had a blast doing so. It is a great place to take children and loads of fun for adults too. There are still two more weeks left this year, so be sure to go and check it out. I’m hoping we can make it tonight, but I may be stuck working late. Admission is free after 5 P.M. and some of the animals remain on display for your enjoyment.

Shiny Old Soul

Last week’s entertainment was provided by Shiny and the Spoon along with Shiny Old Soul. I enjoyed both sets of music even though I wasn’t at all familiar with either band.

Blooms

Last year the tulips all bloomed before I had a chance to see them. But this year they were in full force, at least last week they were. I’m hoping that some of them are still hanging on. There are over 100,000 of them planted throughout the zoo and it is really a sight to see!

Heffalumps

We also took a detour over to see the elephants. Just as we approached their enclosure, one of the zookeepers appeared and spread peanuts for the big girls. The giraffes were also visible nearby and the baby born back in October is growing so quickly. Today is world penguin day, and they also happen to be Trey’s favorite animal, so we will have to go see them tonight, provided we are able to attend.

Before skipping town for the majority of the weekend, I made a quick afternoon stop at the first ever Cincinnati Craft Brewer’s StarkBier Fest that took place this past Saturday at Listermann Brewing Company. This festival featured beers from local Cincinnati breweries only and most were  7.5% or higher. Fortunately small samples were available so I could try a few beers and still be able to drive out-of-town.

Beer Trucks

Among my favorites that I sampled were  Mt. Carmel Brewing Company’s latest Snapshot Series, Ardennes Belgian Quad, and Blank Slate Brewing Company’s Shroominous, which is a brown ale brewed with  shiitake mushrooms. There were also some barrel aged beers on hand such as Quaff Bros.’ Corn on the Knob and a very boozy Bourbon Barrel Aged Brown Ale from Rock Bottom.

Live Entertainment

The festival had a nice little crowd during my early afternoon visit, but from pictures that I’ve seen online it got much more crowded. Though I missed the Cincinnati Craft Beer Oktoberfest completely, I’ve also read very favorable reviews. It too was held at Listermann’s and I hope that they continue with these mini beer festivals. They not only are pouring some great beer, there is also live entertainment, food trucks on site, and it is all family friendly. It makes for a great way to spend your Saturday.