COMMUNITY RECORDER
T h u r s d a y, S e p t e m b e r
3, 2009
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SMALL BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
NANCY DALY/STAFF
Owner Bob Ryan is celebrating his 30th year in business at Ryan Muffler Center in Florence.
Muffler shop celebrates 30 years See something bouncing under your car or hear a funny noise? A local muffler expert has a tip for you. “Get it checked out right away. You might save money by doing that.” Bob Ryan is celebrating his 30th year as owner of Ryan Muffler Center, 19 Banklick St. in Florence. The business started in 1979 in Park Hills then moved to Florence in 1980. Ryan built the current location – featuring 8,000 square feet and seven service bays – in 1985. “I’m fortunate to have two sons working with me, Kevin and Matt,” Ryan said. “I’m very fortunate to have long-term employees. Greg Neeley has been with me 25 years.
The shop is staying busy these days. “There’s still a lot of older cars on the road that need fixing. We’re seeing that,” Ryan said. “We’re a little bit different from most shops in that we do our own pipe bending,” he said. Their customized service appeals to customers trying to get more performance out of a car. Pointing to the service bays, Ryan spotted a Porsche on one, a Subaru on the other. That kind of range and customized service keeps customers coming back. “We enjoy the contact with our customers. We have a lot of long-term customers.”
THINGS TO DO Create your own comic
Become a comic book hero during Comics2Games weekly class, “How to Create Comics,” this Sunday, Sept. 6 from 1 to 3 p.m. The class will teach you the basics of comic book design including script, layout, character creation, penciling and more. Comics2Games is located off U.S. 42 in Florence. For more information, call 647-7568.
Rubber Duck Regatta
Buy a rubber duck and have it join over 85,000 rubber duckies in a race to benefit the Freestore Foodbank during the 15th annual Rubber Duck Regatta in Newport Sunday, Sept. 6. Ducks can be purchased for $5 each or “buy 5 and get
1 free” for $25. The winning duck holder will receive 2010 Honda Insight Hybrid. The race begins when the ducks are dropped from the Purple People Bridge into the Ohio River. From there, the ducks swim a quarter mile along the Serpentine Wall. For more information, visit www.rubberduckregatta.org or call 513-929-3825.
Dirty Rotten musical
The Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center in Covington presents its musical, “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” which is based off the 1988 film starring Steve Martin and Michael Caine. The musical will run through Sept. 20. For more information, call 957-1940.
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Ryan Henry practices in the studio in the basement of his Independence home. Henry’s CD was released on Aug. 23.
JASON BRUBAKER/STAFF
Letting his voice be heard Local musician expresses faith with new CD By Jason Brubaker jbrubaker@nky.com
Even when Ryan Henry heads off to work in the morning, he’s never far from home. That’s because Henry, 32, spends most of his time working at the studio in his Independence basement, where he recently finished recording his second CD, entitled “The Beautiful Brokenness”. Involved in music since he began singing in an a cappella group in high school, the Northern Kentucky native can’t get enough of music, whether its writing and recording songs in his basement, giving voice and guitar lessons to residents, or leading worship at Watermark Community Church. “I’ve always loved music,” he said, comfortably relaxing in front of a keyboard in his basement. “I started singing in high school, then just started to pick up the guitar and it’s really grown from there into my passion.” Henry, who has a music degree from Northern Kentucky University and is going back to receive a teaching degree, draws most of his inspiration from his faith, with the songs on his recently-released CD centering around themes like overcoming adversity and
The Beautiful Brokenness
For more information about Ryan Henry’s CD, or to purchase it, visit www.ryanhenrymusic.com. For more information about Eclectic Arts Studio, visit www.eclecticartsstudios.com. forgiveness. “It really is a great way for me to express my faith and express my emotions,” he said. “I’ve found that it really helps me to understand my faith a lot better, and that’s been a really fulfilling part of doing this.” Henry said putting the CD together took about nine months, although he actually wrote some parts of the songs three or even four years ago. “I always knew at some point I wanted to put all of it on a CD - I just didn’t know when I would be able to,” he said. “But even though the whole process was hard at times, it was really a great feeling when it was finally done and ready to share.” In between studio time and relaxing with his wife and two kids, 6-year old Elijah and 4-year old Lily, Henry also leads worship at Watermark, which meets at Dixie Heights High
School every Sunday morning. Henry recently performed at a brief concert during a special church-hosted visit of author William Paul Young, and says he thoroughly enjoys serving the church through his music each week. “He is phenomenally talented,” said Rick Bogard, a fellow member of Watermark and friend of Henry’s. “We always enjoy having him perform, and he is just a special person.” Henry isn’t content just sharing his talent through shows however. He recently started giving voice and guitar lessons out of his studio, which he calls Eclectic Arts Studio, reflecting the variety of work he does in there. “I give lessons and do video editing and recording - just a lot of different art forms related to music,” he explained. “So I just thought that was the perfect name for it.” Even as he attends school to become a teacher, he said he’s still committed to making music, looking to Christian artists like Derek Webb and Andrew Peterson, as well as rock sensation U2, for inspiration. “The depth of their lyrics and their great melodies- that’s what really moves me,” he said. “That’s what music is all about, and that’s really why I love it.”
Local woman’s jewelry designs for everyone By Regan Coomer rcoomer@nky.com
Melissa Jennings has been making jewelry for moms since 2006. The former teacher and mom started making mother’s bracelets and necklaces as a hobby, but when the jewelry started piling up she decided to create her own business. Enter MJennings Designs LLC. “I’ve always loved jewelry and for me it’s become an avenue of expression,” she said. Jennings launched her Web site, mjenningsdesigns.com, to offer sterling silver, 14K golf-filled, Swarovski Crystal and semi-precious gemstone jewelry personalized with children’s names and birthstones. Jennings’ business has also expanded to create custom jewelry of any kind for any one as well as special event jewelry for weddings, christenings, confirmations and more. “Almost everywhere I go someone
stops me and asks me where I got my necklace, before I started my business it was kind of awkward, but now I just say ‘Here’s my card. I sell it.’” Jennings said. Jennings not only sells bracelets, necklaces and earrings, but also rosaries, keychains, wine charms, bookmarks and more. Besides making her own creations, another big part of MJennings Designs is repairing or updating jewelry. Jennings re-strands broken jewelry and can add and match more strands to mother’s jewelry if another child is born or a strand is lost. “The repair business is not something I planned, but I really enjoy doing it,” she said. Every piece of jewelry Jennings designs is tailor-made for the customer. “I design to meet their style,” she said. “I can design for people who are very traditional and for people who are edgy. I custom design each piece to match them and their needs.”
REGAN COOMER/STAFF
Independence resident Melissa Jennings is the owner of the online jewelry store MJennings Designs. Jennings specializes in custom jewelry made especially for each and every customer. To get a look at Jennings’ jewelry, visit mjenningsdesigns.com. For more information on MJennings Designs, visit her Web site or check out a class by Jennings at the Durr branch of the Kenton County Public Library. Jennings’ next class is scheduled for Sept. 17.