Columbus Monthly – April 2026

Hearts will race (thoroughbreds, too).

From behind-the-scenes track tours and jaw-dropping horse shows to distillery tours and bourbon trails, explore all the spectacular possibilities of our new Kentucky home. Plan your unrivaled getaway today.

MORNING WORKOUTS AT KEENELAND,

Plan Your Next Adventure VISIT

KENTUCKY STATE PARKS

Spring is all about getting outside and exploring again. Kentucky offers 44 state parks — including 17 resort parks — that are perfect for families to unplug, explore nature and spend quality time together without complicated travel planning. With free park entry, reasonably priced lodging and activities for all ages, Kentucky State Parks make outdoor travel affordable and easy to enjoy close to home. From lodge stays, championship golf courses and marinas to fishing holes, paddling excursions and seasonal events, our parks combine outdoor adventure with comfortable amenities. Discover memorable hands-on family moments, like roasting marshmallows at a newly renovated campground, spotting wildlife, exploring caves and hiking scenic trails together.

Eastern Kentucky is made for adventures. Carter Caves State Resort Park offers fun with fungi, wildflower hikes, paddling excursions and underground pool parties. Beyond amazing hiking, paddling and fishing, did you know you can golf in the mountains too? Further south, Pine Mountain State Resort Park combines the best hiking and golfing in one place, along with scenic lodging and delicious dining to provide the ultimate getaway.

If you’re traveling to western Kentucky, visit John James Audubon State Park. Stop by the on-site John James Audubon Museum now through June for a free exhibit featuring 29 reproductions of Audubon’s early drawings that showcase his skill level while living in Kentucky between 1808 and 1815. The images include woodpeckers, shorebirds and even a couple of species that are now extinct.

Visit parks.ky.gov/events to plan for these or other outdoor spring events, or download the new app at parks.ky.gov/app to help plan your visit. With so much to see and do, our new Kentucky home is the perfect place for your next vacation.

Visit Oak Grove, Kentucky WHERE FUN IS FREE

Kentucky knows how to throw a party, and our festivals are proof. From music and family fun to bourbon and butterflies, these awardwinning events offer unforgettable experiences — all at little to no cost. Kick off Memorial Day weekend with two days of excitement at the free Spring into Summer Festival. Enjoy world-class musicians, live entertainment, carnival rides and dazzling shows, including a spectacular drone display. This salute to Fort Campbell is more than a celebration. It’s a community tradition that brings families together for fun and gratitude. In July, raise a glass at a vibrant celebration of Kentucky’s finest flavors at The Kentucky Bands, Bourbon & Wine Festival. Sample an impressive selection of bourbon, wine and spirits from across the state while savoring delicious food and enjoying live music all day. The Bourbon & Brakes Car Show adds horsepower to the mix for an experience that’s as bold as Kentucky itself. On the first Saturday in September, immerse yourself in a whimsical world at the Butterfly Festival. Perfect for families, this event features arts and crafts, face painting, balloon artistry, a photo booth and the ever-popular Bubble Zone. Step inside the Butterfly House to interact with live butterflies, and don’t miss the breathtaking finale: the release of over 2,600 butterflies. Make unforgettable memories at Oak Grove’s summer festivals.

VisitOakGroveKY.com

Lift Your Spirits EXPLORE THE WINE, WHISKEY & ALE TRAIL

Just 20 minutes south of Louisville, explore the Bullitt County Wine, Whiskey & Ale Trail. Discover the James B. Beam American Outpost & Distillery, the Four Roses Bourbon Warehouse & Bottling Experience and Coxs Creek Distilling. The trail also features four award-winning wineries and two craft breweries. Get a free souvenir glass when you complete the trail.

TravelBullitt.org

Oldham County: Escape to the Unexpected

THE KENTUCKY YOU CAN’T FIND ANYWHERE ELSE

One hour from Cincinnati on I-71, Oldham County is the perfect escape — far enough to trade the everyday for something truly unforgettable. Wake to a sunrise in a horse farm bed and breakfast and sip bourbon on a racehorse farm tour. Experience underground railroad history, then tour a castle at Yew Dell Gardens. Meander three-stories of Crestwood Mercantile before relaxing in the state’s largest beer garden, or train-watch on the tracks of Main Street La Grange. Here, every mile brings a discovery you won’t find anywhere else — authentically Kentucky. Only in Oldham.

TourOldham.com

Unplugged. Unhurried. Unsalted. A LAKE CUMBERLAND ESCAPE

Somerset-Pulaski County, Kentucky, is an easy drive, offering clear water, quiet coves and room to breathe. Spend your days on the lake and your evenings ashore with live music, bourbon, local arts and standout Kentucky fare. It’s an affordable, authentic getaway — far from the coasts, close to real life.

LCTourism.com

Why cancer immunotherapy can sometimes fail

How T cell exhaustion affects cancer immunotherapy

“T cells are components of the immune system that detect and attack viruses, bacteria and more ‘bad guys’ inside our bodies,” Li says.

In their landmark study – published in the prestigious journal, Nature – Li’s team isolated both exhausted and effective T-cells and compared them. Eventually, the team discovered increases in proteins – sometimes referred to as stress proteins – in exhausted T cells from cancer patients. Further research showed that those stress proteins also tended to solidify in T cells that lost function.

“These were becoming solid, which we had never seen before,” Li says. “This was an important discovery –something fundamental.”

Scan the QR code to learn more about oncology innovation at the OSUCCC – James.

How research could lead to improved cancer immunotherapy

Immunotherapy is revolutionizing health care by harnessing the body’s natural defenses to treat cancer from within.

However, while these treatments have already saved countless lives, immunotherapy isn’t always successful.

“All of us in the field of immunology and cancer research are trying to figure out what the immune system can do and cannot do,” says Zihai Li, MD, PhD, the founding director of the Pelotonia Institute for Immuno-Oncology at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James).

As a world leader in the immuno-oncology field, Li, also the OSUCCC – James’ Deputy Director for Translational Research, has long been at the forefront of cancer immunotherapy. One of his team’s latest breakthroughs is a study that sheds light on T cell exhaustion, a major reason cancer immunotherapy can fail. The research could lead to improved treatments for patients.

“As scientists, we’re driven by curiosity,” Li says. “When we study cancer immunology, whatever knowledge we learn can aid in the development of better strategies to help patients.”

Scan the QR code to learn all about cancer immunotherapy at the OSUCCC – James.

T cells can also attack tumor cells, and when they do so successfully, patients are able to stay free of cancer. But, over time, those tumor cells can mutate and “learn” to evade T cells, which results in the development of cancer.

By helping T cells adapt to those changes and detect tumor cells after cancer is diagnosed, immunotherapy has been a game changer for patients and oncologists.

“The T cells in the body’s immune system are powerful weapons in the battle against cancer and can be energized to better detect and kill cancer cells with immunotherapy drugs,” Li says.

Along with the progress, though, immunotherapy has presented some challenges to doctors and researchers, especially when it comes to “chronic cancers,” in which the body constantly engages T cells.

Through their research, Li and his colleagues discovered that, in these cases, the constant effort can reduce the functionality of T cells, which in turn can limit the body’s ability to kill cancer cells.

“If a marathoner runs continuously for two hours, they’ll be o.k., but running for 20 hours would be a problem – this is the concept of T cell exhaustion,” Li says. “T cells try to run that race for a long time without any kind of rest or recalibration, and eventually they can become dysfunctional.”

This major step forward in the understanding of immunotherapy could pave the way for improved treatments for patients with several types of cancer.

“We want to give the T cells more weapons to help rejuvenate them so they can win the fight against cancer,” Li says. “We have to pay attention to protein quality control.”

The impact could be wide-ranging, guiding the development of new immunotherapy drugs while also identifying additional benefits of some treatments that are already in use.

“My hope is that, by combining this new strategy with existing drugs, we’ll see improvements in immunotherapy,” says Li, who believes that immuno-oncology is a foundational piece of the future of cancer care – and that it’s only starting to show its promise.

“The field of immuno-oncology is relatively young, but it’s accelerating rapidly,” he says. “I am absolutely optimistic that immunotherapy will one day help a very high percentage of patients with all types of cancer, including leukemia, melanoma and even brain cancer.

“This is the most important way forward in treating cancer.”

Scan the QR code to learn all about cancer care, research and support at the OSUCCC – James.

28 THIS OLD HOUSE (HAS ISSUES)

Owning an older home can come with baggage. Here’s how some Columbus homeowners solved big challenges.

48 TRAVEL

Black and white reflections on Rome and the surprising beach escape you can find in Lake Havasu, Arizona.

55

THE

ROOSTER’S CROW

D.J. Byrnes, writer of The Rooster on Substack, breaks political news and often ruffles feathers.

THE

ON

COVER: Kat Swank and Brandon Turner in the Olde Towne East home they renovated.

Photos by Tim Johnson

EDITOR AND GENERAL MANAGER, DISPATCH MAGAZINES

Katy Smith

EDITORIAL

FEATURES EDITOR

Linda Lee Baird

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Lucy Clark

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Amy Bodiker Baskes, Nicholas Dekker, Chris DeVille, Randy Edwards, Kevin Elliott, Emma Frankart Henterly, Kathy Lynn Gray, Donna Marbury, Aaron Marshall Jill Moorhead, Laura Newpoff, Steve Stephens and Peter Tonguette

DESIGN & PRODUCTION PAGE DESIGNERS

Kathryn Biek, Kelly Hignite, Kaity Athialy, Hannah Patton

DIGITAL EDITOR

Julanne Hohbach

PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTO EDITOR

Tim Johnson

ADVERTISING

MULTIMEDIA SALES MANAGERS

Heather Kritter, Adam Trabitz PRODUCTION DESIGNER

Rebecca Zimmer

MARKETING MARKETING MANAGER

Lauren Reinhard

LETTERS: letters@columbusmonthly.com

ADVERTISING: advertise@ columbusmonthly.com

EDITORIAL/ADVERTISING OFFICES 605 S. Front St., Ste. 300 Columbus, OH 43215 614-888-4567

SUBSCRIPTIONS/CUSTOMER SERVICE 800-815-3626 columbusmonthly@omeda.com

Photo: Ryan Chitwood

FROM THE EDITOR

For the Love of Old Homes

Grand front porches made from old-growth wood. Soaring ceilings. Arched doorways. Crystal doorknobs and foot-high baseboards made from that same gleaming wood, which also graces the floors. Old homes are places of beauty, crafted by artisans 100-plus years ago. I can’t get enough of them—unless we’re talking about a dank basement with knob-and-tube wiring along its cobwebbed ceilings. Or how about the single bathroom, which guests have to climb narrow stairs to use? Oh, and don’t bring up the fact that upstairs, which is always too hot or too cold, we store bath towels in a bedroom bureau because there’s no linen closet. The bedrooms do have closets, but they’re so shallow, you can’t hang a shirt without tilting it sideways a little (and our giant winter coats are supposed to fit in there, too, since there’s no coat closet downstairs).

Katy Smith katy@columbusmonthly.com

mature tree canopies and walkable, brick-lined streets, there are compromises to be made for that short commute to work Downtown. One of them (besides the whole no-garage thing) is that we face the task of a. living with the flaws, being thankful for all our good fortunes or b. financing, planning and living through a renovation.

The stories of homeowners and the challenges they’ve faced—and the fantastic plumbers, electricians and renovation professionals who helped them overcome those challenges—start on Page 28.

This issue is dedicated to the people who live in old houses. May your lead-paned windows sparkle and your contractors be competent and kind.

For those of us in neighborhoods with gorgeous

Editor, Columbus Monthly

CONTACT US

@columbusmonthly

Email: letters@ columbusmonthly.com

CLARIFICATION

Stonewall Columbus was founded as Stonewall Union in 1981 by Craig Covey, Craig Huffman and Val Thogmartin in partnership with others including Keith McKnight, Rhonda Rivera, Rick Rommele, Dennis Valot, Douglas Whaley and Steve Wilson. The January issue contained an incomplete listing of founders.

Joshua M. Bernstein

An old-house owner himself, the freelance writer who regularly has national bylines regales us with tales of intensive home renovations in the older neighborhoods of Columbus, Page 28.

Aaron Marshall

The longtime Columbus writer who previously covered the Ohio legislature for daily newspapers profiles The Rooster, a blogger routinely afflicting those in power, Page 55.

Karen Simonian

One of the original staffers of the beloved Other Paper recalls the joy of the smart and smart-mouthed alt-weekly that defined Columbus in the 1990s and early 2000s, Page 20.

front & center

BY

TIM JOHNSON

PHOTO

Sweet Dreams

Retired therapy horse Cactus Jack at Dreams on Horseback, which will offer a new cancer support program, Page 22.

Front & Center | Health & Wellness

Cause for Concern

Doctors are seeing more lung cancer cases in younger women—many of whom have never smoked. Higher screening rates could improve outcomes.

By Kathy Lynn Gray

When thoracic surgeon Dr. Ioana Baiu sees lung cancer patients these days, she’s often shocked.

By their age, by their gender but most of all by this fact: They aren’t smokers.

“Traditionally we saw older men who smoked, but now about 20 percent are nonsmokers and they’re younger—in their 20s and 30s—and they’re women,” says Baiu, a doctor at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.

That’s why she and many others in health care are trying to get the word out: Smoking isn’t the only cause of lung cancer, and screening is available that can catch cancer early.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States and caused 1.8 million deaths worldwide in 2022. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says while 80 percent to 90 percent of people diagnosed with the disease have a history of smoking, the remainder of cases show up in people with little or no smoking history. And because

lung cancer can take years to develop, Baiu says the percentage of patients who don’t smoke will increase over time.

The second-leading cause of lung cancer is radon exposure, says Dr. Vincent Daniel, a thoracic surgeon at OhioHealth. Radon is a colorless, odorless gas that seeps into buildings from the ground. Longer exposure and higher radon levels can elevate cancer risk, he says. Since radon is common in Ohio,

he suggests homeowners test their radon levels. Free test kits are available through the Ohio Department of Health at ohio.radon.com.

Exposure to chemicals, secondhand smoke and air pollution also are risk factors, and genetics can play a part, too, Daniel says. “There are a lot of environmental exposures we don’t have a good understanding of, and we don’t have a slew of genetic mutations we have identified,” he says. “There’s so much we don’t know.”

Ohioans have reason to worry. The American Lung Association reported in November that while the national rate of new lung cancer cases per 100,000 people is 52.8, it climbs to 63.88 in Ohio, ranking the Buckeye State the ninth-highest in the nation. Not surprisingly, Ohio’s smoking rate also is high, at 14.9 percent of the population, compared with the national average of 10.8 percent in 2023.

Not all the news is grim. For more than a decade, smokers and some former smokers have been eligible to get a low-dose computerized tomography

The OSUCCC –James launched the state’s first mobile lung cancer screening unit in July.

Dr. Vincent Daniel

scan that can detect lung cancer at its earliest stage. The 30-second test detects lung lesions at a much smaller size than previous tests, Daniel says, which saves lives because those lesions can be removed before the cancer spreads.

Annual screenings are recommended for those who are 50 to 80 years old, smokers who have smoked a pack a day for 20 years and those who quit smoking within the last 15 years. The test is generally covered by insurance. It’s especially important because symptoms of lung cancer, such as chronic coughing, hoarseness, weight loss, shortness of breath and chest pain, don’t usually appear until lung cancer is well established.

“If you already have symptoms, it’s a little late,” says Dr. Talya Greathouse, vice president of medical affairs for Licking Memorial Hospital. “The key is to get screened.”

Greathouse hopes talking about screening will make people more aware of its importance, especially in counties like Licking where smoking rates are high. In 2022, 19.4 percent of its residents were smokers.

To encourage screening, Ohio State be-

gan operating a mobile CT unit in July.

Interventional pulmonologist Dr. Jasleen Pannu, director of the Lung Cancer Early Detection program at the OSUCCC – James, says the vehicle goes to community events and locations where screenings may not be readily available.

“Many people face barriers to get tested, so the mobile unit allows screening directly in the community,” she says. Patients preregister and have a telehealth appointment before the unit arrives, so the actual scanning just takes a few minutes. Experts at the James read the scans and let patients know about any con-

cerns, Pannu says.

Nationally, just 18.2 percent of people at high risk for lung cancer were screened in 2025, according to the American Lung Association. “One life is saved from screening 320 people, while it takes 864 colonoscopies to save one person who has colorectal cancer,” Pannu says. “The test is the most successful screening for cancer there is.”

“The reason we’ve done such a poor job of treating cancer is that we’ve often found it too late,” says Daniel. He has had many patients whose lung cancer was detected when they had tests for other health issues, such as heart problems or a chronic cough.

Baiu hopes the current lung cancer screening recommendations will be expanded so more cases can be caught early. Currently, most insurance companies won’t pay for CT screening for those with risk factors other than smoking.

“Your survival rate is drastically different if your cancer is stage 1,” she says. Then, she says, you have a 90 percent chance of living for five years; that drops to 20 percent for those with stage 4 cancer. ◆

Treating You with Care

Dr. Talya Greathouse

In the Stacks with the Buckeye Trail

For the thousands of miles on Ohio’s top hiking trail, there’s as many stories buried in typewritten letters, newspapers and old photos at the Ohio History Connection.

By Jill Moorhead

In 1958, wildlife biologist and Ohio Department of Natural Resources writer Merrill Gilfillan, writing under the pseudonym Perry Cole, published a Columbus Dispatch column titled “A Buckeye Trail: So Far It Is Just an Idea.” He imagined a footpath stretching from Cincinnati to Lake Erie, encouraging Ohioans to slow down and explore their native state.

It took me three visits to the Ohio History Connection Archives & Library to find the article.

By the third time, I didn’t feel like I was going to break the microfilm reader. Using it to find the piece was like playing a game of Operation, but inverted, and with bigger knobs. Backward was forward. Forward was backward. And

my mind was going backward; I was in an elementary school library, with quiet people patiently guiding me through the clunky technology. Photoshop hadn’t been invented yet. Newspapers had

weekly Sunday magazines with more pages than the Columbus Dispatch and Columbus Monthly combined.

But I wasn’t 11, looking for a piece about Johnstown’s mastodon. I was much older, on the top floor of the Ohio History Center, the brutalist behemoth of a building that is my favorite Columbus landmark. If I were in charge of branding at the Ohio History Connection, I would put the shape of the building on a tote bag and open a cafe called Two-Headed Calf, based on one the center’s best exhibits. I digress.

I spent a significant portion of this past summer visiting the archives. I was there as a Buckeye Trail Association board member, helping build its new website, translating physical to digital. While the

PHOTOS FROM TOP BY TIM JOHNSON; COURTESY BUCKEYE TRAIL ASSOCIATION

Buckeye Trail archival materials at Ohio History Connection

closest stretches of the Buckeye Trail to me are in Yellow Springs and the Hocking Hills, its history is only 10 minutes away by car—the result of a decision made sometime in the organization’s 67-year history to entrust its founding documents, minutes, maps, newspaper articles and photographs to the state’s primary historical collections.

The website project was a nine-month listening tour, the kind often promised by new executives, condensed into nine weeks. And as much as I learned about the organization in that time, it was clear that there was far more I didn’t know.

Today, the Buckeye Trail stretches more than 1,400 miles, forming the largest continuous hiking loop in the United States. It runs through 47 counties, touches more than 100 towns and villages, and sits within 90 minutes of every Ohioan. The entire trail is maintained by volunteers: people who know how to do things I don’t know how to do, like run chainsaws, fix erosion and navigate conversations with landowners, municipalities and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to protect the trail as a preservation corridor. If you’re hiking and see a light blue blaze, you’re on the Buckeye Trail. (Thanks, Merrill.)

Being on the Buckeye Trail is an analog experience. Cell phone service can be limited, and texting while hiking is dangerous. Batteries need to be saved for checking the map, taking photos and finding a burger joint after the hike.

Being in the archives is similar. Both places pull me out of urgency and drop me somewhere slower. Both take me back to a place where time doesn’t matter, and curiosity is key. The rules are different, but the feeling is the same: Be present, or miss what’s right in front of you.

Navigating the Buckeye Trail and the archives require map-reading skills, whether it’s learning the digital interfaces (FarOut, Avenza, OuterSpacial) that hold the Buckeye Trail Association’s maps, or the archives’ own system for searching articles and collections.

But once you get there, it’s simple. The quiet, patient people of the archives wheel out the boxes I’ve requested for each visit, organized in advance. I’m given one box at a time and search through one folder at a time. A divider marking my place. Gloves on for photographs.

As I work, I’m seeing the names of the people who worked to make it happen. Volunteers. Builders. Letter writers. People signing documents and showing up to meetings decades before I was



Early Buckeye Trail organizers

Emily Gregor, Buckeye Trail Association president in 1982

born. I don’t know these people, but I like them.

Hiking is just one step at a time. The same way archival work happens one box, one folder at a time. Whether along a ravine or paging through Polaroids from the ’70s, what’s being handled here is fragile, finite and worth the inconvenience. In both, time passes quickly. In a few hours, I’ve moved forward without noticing—across miles, across decades.

The archives have rules. I can’t bring in any bags, to reduce the risk of irreplaceable files leaving the building. There’s a locker system, like at Zoombezi Bay. (Or, for the history buff, Wyandot Lake.) The staff lend you a quarter, like Aldi. You can always buy a new shopping cart. You can’t replace a photograph—complete with a handwritten caption on the back—of the governor signing a proclamation.

The history hasn’t stopped. This is an exciting era for the Buckeye Trail. A feasibility study to become a National Scenic Trail— placing it alongside the Pacific Crest Trail and the Appalachian Trail—has been completed, and Ohio legislators have passed measures of support. And yet, much of this chapter of the story lives almost entirely in digital form.

So, at some point, the folders phase out. The analog gives way to the digital. Photographs stop being printed. Board minutes move to a drive. Boxes stop arriving at the archives. Newspaper articles live online—printable, if needed, but no longer touched first by ink and paper.

There are digital ways to preserve that information. But I’m not as passionate about those. In the same way I want to feel the trail beneath my feet, spring moss on a tree and paper beneath my fingertips, I’m aware that preservation isn’t only about keeping records. It’s about taking the time to make sure the important things survive. ◆

Jill Moorhead is a board member for the Buckeye Trail Association and freelance writer for Columbus Monthly.

INSIDE THE OHIO HISTORY CONNECTION ARCHIVES

What it is

The Ohio History Connection Archives & Library preserves millions of items documenting Ohio’s history, making the state’s past accessible to researchers and the public.

Interesting find

The archives hold microfilm of Ohio’s oldest newspaper, the Centinel of the North-Western Territory (1793–1796), offering a rare window into Ohio’s earliest years.

The Buckeye Trail Association collection which includes 49 archival boxes (approximately 25 cubic feet) of materials, from meeting minutes and correspondence to trail maps, photographs, scrapbooks and audiovisual recordings.

Planning a visit

The Reading Room and Microfilm Room are open Wednesday through Saturday. Many materials are self-serve, while others are stored in environmentally controlled closed stacks and retrieved by staff.

Visiting the Ohio History Connection Archives

The Ohio History Connection Archives & Library preserves thousands of collections documenting Ohio’s people, places and organizations—from handwritten letters and historic maps to photographs, newspapers and audiovisual materials. Among them is the Buckeye Trail Association collection, which includes organizational records, maps, correspondence and images tracing the trail’s development from idea to

statewide landmark. The archives are divided into open stacks and closed stacks. Open-stack materials—such as county histories, city directories and newspaper microfilm— are available to browse during regular Reading Room hours. Most other materials are stored in environmentally controlled closed stacks and are retrieved by staff upon request.

Visitors are encouraged to schedule an appointment in advance, especially when accessing closedstack collections.

Appointments can be made online using a simple reservation tool, available on a rolling twoweek basis, at ohiohistory. libcal.com

Researchers of all kinds— genealogists, journalists, artists, students and curious Ohioans—use the archives each year. While it isn’t a lending library, the staff of 11 archivists, cataloguers and Ohio Memory specialists are experts at helping visitors navigate collections and uncover stories.

More information, hours and research guides are available through the Ohio History Connection website.

PHOTO BY TIM JOHNSON

Mill Hollow Park February 1981

NeuroAnimation Debuts First Therapy

Proven to Grow Brain, Delivering LifeChanging Results for Alzheimer’s, Dementia, Stroke, and Parkinson’s Clients

“I thought I had lost my partner forever. This program reversed what I thought was irreversible—it’s nothing short of a miracle.”

— Spouse of NeuroAnimation client with Alzheimer’s

Ahead of World Alzheimer’s Day, Columbus-based NeuroAnimation announced that every client using its brain health therapy has shown measurable improvements in memory, mobility, or cognition—some described as miraculous.

Based on over a decade of research, the program is the first to show real-world brain growth in regions affected by neurological decline.

Key outcomes:

100% of clients improved in memory, cognition, and/or mobility, with an average 38% cognitive function increase in just 3 weeks.

Hippocampal subregion growth: Subiculum (4–6%), CA3 (5–10%).

Major functional gains:

improved hand control, restored independence, and better executive function.

The therapy works by increasing blood flow to brain regions that typically shrink with age. A study by Dr. Michelle Carlson (Johns Hopkins) showed the therapy increased hippocampal volume in TBI patients.

NeuroAnimation merges neuroscience with Hollywood technology—clients perform guided physical movements while controlling a virtual animal in an immersive underwater world. This stimulates specific brain areas, resulting in consistent improvements in cognition and movement.

“This is a paradigm shift—like discovering penicillin,” said Dr. David Whitt. “Clients aren’t just stabilizing—they’re reversing disease.”

Dr. Omar Ahmad, CEO,

called it “the only known therapy to achieve such results,” backed by rigorous science and imaging. “This is about rebuilding the brain for the future.”

called it “the only known therapy to achieve such results,” backed by rigorous science and imaging. “This is about rebuilding the brain for the future.”

Co-founder Tom DeSanto (Transformers, X-Men) said, “It’s like Star Trek’s holodeck meets X-Men’s Cerebro. Clients become the heroes of their own story—and leave better than they came.”

Co-founder Tom DeSanto (Transformers, X-Men) said, “It’s like Star Trek’s holodeck meets X-Men’s Cerebro.

Clients become the heroes of their own story—and leave better than they came.”

Programs offered:

Programs offered:

Neuro-Recovery: 3-week bootcamp (3 hrs/day, 5 days/ week) for stroke, TBI, or advanced conditions.

Neuro-Recovery: 3-week bootcamp (3 hrs/day, 5 days/ week) for stroke, TBI, or advanced conditions.

Neuro-Strength: 12-week program (1 hr, 2 days/week) for boosting cognition or early decline.

Neuro-Strength: 12-week program (1 hr, 2 days/week) for boosting cognition or early decline.

The Columbus center is the first of its kind, with plans to expand and present further scientific findings soon.

The Columbus center is the first of its kind, with plans to expand and present further scientific findings soon.

Remembering That Other Paper

An ode to Columbus’ hilarious, long-dead alt weekly.

By Karen Simonian

Club 185 in German Village was already doing a bustling happy hour when dozens of new arrivals started streaming in.

They came bearing scrapbooks, newspapers, swag. A Columbus Mad Cows T-shirt, just in from the ’90s, caused a stir.

The occasion? Thirty-five years (and 18 days) after the first bundle of The Other Paper hit the streets with a thud.

No matter that the irreverent weekly is no longer, having folded 13 years ago. That night in November 2025, just steps away from the original TOP HQ, former staffers from New York, Atlanta and around Ohio were convening to mark the would-be quintricennial. I was part of the editorial staff for the paper’s first eight years and a reader ever after. It looms large still.

Launched by Max Brown, who owned Columbus Monthly and Suburban News Publications at the time, TOP was conceived as a brash metro newsweekly covering the latest (and sometimes funniest) news. With Columbus having become a one-newspaper town five years earlier, TOP served as the “other” to The Columbus Dispatch.

Often amused by the town’s goings-on, the free upstart tabloid boasted blaring headlines, tracked the city’s titans, from Wolfe to Wexner, and provided cut-out Halloween masks of notorious local celebs. No mishap was too small to chaff, such as the news anchor referring to Ohio State University’s Don Scott airport as “Don Knotts Field.” The paper also relished taking on the Dispatch’s sacred cows.

The Other Paper staffers, from left, Margaret Newkirk, Danny Russell, John Elsasser, Karen Simonian and Chad Painter at the paper’s 35th anniversary party in 2025.

PHOTOS FROM TOP BY JULANNE HOHBACH AND TIM JOHNSON

But forget sacred cows—back to the Mad Cows. It was the moniker dreamed up in fall 1997 by the paper for the city’s NHL expansion team, going all-in on our cow town image. A front-page story led to a season opener featuring the thenChill hockey team morphing into the Mad Cows for one night, complete with Mad Cows jerseys and the fairgrounds rink dubbed “the Meadow of Doom.”

During its tenure, the paper covered the implosion of the venerated Players Theatre and touted artist Todd Slaughter’s blue glass serpent design for the Broad Street Bridge (“Why it’s perfect, and why they’ll kill it,” the subhead read). In politics and hard news, a call from investigative reporter Margaret Newkirk surely struck fear in the hearts of the city’s movers and shakers. She followed the money, shedding light backroom deals for $250 million highway projects and uncovering that a campus landlord was running his business from prison.

“The Other Paper was my go-to,” posted a reader on Facebook in the fall. “I still miss TOP every week,” wrote another. John Elsasser from the original staff noted on LinkedIn that The Movie Grid—a chart showing screening locations with pithy starred reviews—was “WAAAAAY ahead of its time!” One Ohio State professor recalls ducking into Bernie’s Bagels and Distillery every Thursday to read the latest issue over a bagel. Music critic John Petric’s reviews still rankle some of my friends—and yet we’re still talking about him.

For me, the paper offered a plum journalism opportunity in my hometown. In the early days, staff was deployed to hand out papers on Capitol Square to drum up interest, starting with the first issue (featuring “BUCK TALKS BACK,” a frontpage interview with our never-boring

mayor, Dana “Buck” Rinehart). This was 1990 Columbus, a rapidly growing burg on the verge. Alternative rock station CD101 had hit the airwaves two months before TOP launched. The Wexner Center for the Arts and Columbus City Center (the now-demolished Downtown shopping mall) were just a year old; the Short North was burgeoning. As arts editor a few years in, I worked with exceptional and witty critics and reporters to capture the scene, refusing to handle the arts with kid gloves. In my own pieces, I tried to heed founding editor Danny Russell’s mantra to “punch up the lede”—that crucial first sentence—often requiring multiple takes to meet TOP’s high bar.

At one point in the ’90s, Columbus had three major metro/alternative weeklies. Following the closure of the Columbus Alive in 2022 by the parent of the company that owns Columbus Monthly, that number is now down to zero. Former TOP arts editor Chad Painter, now an associate professor at the University of Dayton whose dissertation was actually on alt weeklies, calls the trend bleak. National data on alt weeklies, as they were once defined, is murky: AAN Publishers, originally Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, now includes niche, non-weekly and online media outlets, rendering apples-to-apples comparisons challenging (Pew Research Center does cite an AAN membership high of 135 in 2009, a number that has declined since).

Here in Columbus, what’s sure is that no other local news organization has replaced TOP’s distinctive brew of bemusement, swagger and rigorous reporting on the city’s ups and downs. While TOP-esque flickers appear here and there in today’s more fractured media landscape, I rue the tabloid headlines we’ll never see

or the humorous “Media Morsels” never highlighted. In July, reader Roger Rill urged Columbus Monthly to “come up with a new version of The Other Paper we could really use it now!”

I’m happy to report that back issues of the paper recently have been transferred to microfilm by the Columbus Metropolitan Library’s staff, with select articles available online via CML’s site. Props to longtime TOP-er Richard Ades, who provided the library with print issues spanning the full 22-plus years.

He isn’t the only one who has held the paper close. One farflung alum wrote that, while he couldn’t make it to town for the reunion, he’d “raise a glass and pour one out to all things Other.”

Cheers, indeed, to all that. ◆

Danny Russell was the first editor of The Other Paper.

Front & Center | Everyday Kindness Heroes

Healing With Horses

Dreams on Horseback launches cancer support group as new executive director takes the reins.

By Sophia Veneziano

In October 2024, several months after Erich Hunker became CEO of Columbus Humane, he was diagnosed with breast cancer.

While he was able to work through the first round of chemotherapy, the second round led him to resign from the position to focus on his health.

He decided to begin volunteering at Dreams on Horseback, a therapeutic equine center where he already served on the board, as his own form of therapy.

“Just being here, even though I wasn’t able to do the same things I had done, because I was still recovering from my surgery, mentally and emotionally, it was making me feel so much better about myself,” Hunker says. “I was getting myself back into shape.”

After surviving his treatment and losing a friend to cancer, Hunker felt it was time to “pay it forward and help other people.” In January, Hunker took over the reins as executive director of the Blacklick nonprofit.

Drawing from his own healing helped by the horses, Hunker is now launching a cancer support group in partnership with Rona Orbovich, a Dreams volunteer and fellow breast cancer survivor. Orbovich connected Cancer Support Community Central Ohio—where she is a board member—with Dreams on Horseback to start the new program.

The program will use Equine Assisted Learning—which builds skills and confidence through horsemanship—to help restore calm, connection and emotional grounding for individuals affected by cancer.

After gaining all the required certifications, Orbovich will invite her first group of program participants to the equine center in April.” I have goosebumps every time I talk about it,” she says. “I get to help show people how horses can help

calm their nervous systems, get them into the present moment and forget about their worries on a daily basis. I’m so excited.”

Dreams on Horseback’s development director, Ellen Lee, says kindness has been at the heart of the organization from its start in 2002, when founder and previous CEO, Jennifer Hansen, began providing equine experiences to kids in urban areas who might not otherwise have access.

“The kindness in our horses, kindnesses of volunteers, kindness of our staff, that theme runs throughout every-

thing that we do here at Dreams. It’s the steering principle of the organization,” Lee says.

Beyond the new program for those affected by cancer, Dreams on Horseback programming extends to lessons and therapeutic rides for children and adults with special needs, military veterans and senior citizens. ◆

This article was made possible by the Center for HumanKindness at The Columbus Foundation, which partners with Columbus Monthly to showcase kindness in the community. Learn more at ColumbusMonthly.com/Kindness.

BY

Erich Hunker with Charlie at Dreams on Horseback

PHOTO

TIM JOHNSON

Tell Us About Your

EverydayKindness Heroes

Kindness

Sometimes the beneficiary is a stranger. Sometimes it’s a friend, acquaintance or colleague.

We look to honor those who perform extraordinary selfless acts to improve, heal and unite our community.

Consider lifting up the volunteer quietly aiding their neighbors or the community member tirelessly advocating for change. We need your help to recognize the kind, selfless heroes among us.

The Center for HumanKindness at The Columbus Foundation has partnered with The Columbus Dispatch to highlight those making our community a better place. Help us inspire kindness by suggesting people, initiatives, or organizations to feature by emailing kindness@dispatch.com. The Dispatch retains full editorial independence for all content. Learn more at Dispatch.com/Kindness LOOK FOR

Wonderball at Columbus Museum of Art

More than 1,500 guests gathered at the museum to celebrate Columbus’ vibrant creative community. The 2026 theme was baroque, with attendees adding opulent flourishes to the events’ signature black-and-white attire. Under the leadership of event chairs Corey Robinson and Justin Flowers, Wonderball raised nearly $300,000 to support CMA’s creative programming.

1 Justin Flowers and Corey Robinson 2 Robbie Banks and Jonna Twigg 3 Drew and Deanna Flora with Kelly Boggs Lape and Ted Lape 4 Gretta Goodbottom 5 Eric Lears and Jon Ho 6 Lee Lochtefeld and Hilary Marshall 7 Samantha Correia and Tasha Walls 8 Penny Smith, Deidre Hamlar and Shawn Ireland

Columbus Museum of Art held its annual Wonderball on Jan. 31.

COLUMBUS WITH INFORM, INSPIRE

Best New Restaurants

We thank our restaurant participants for bringing their creative dishes—and the pages of Columbus Monthly—to life at our Best New Restaurants event on March 18 at Vitria on the Square. 202

Del Mar • h d pants for bringing ages of Columbus w Restaurants e M

Astra Rooftop • Del Mar • Fiery Sky Asian Kitchen • Food Street • Gene's • Isla • Metsi's • Mezcla • Osteria Pizzeria

Coordinated Complete

A bright, classic kitchen sets the tone with crisp white cabinetry, a generous island, and polished metal accents that feel clean and timeless. Underfoot, refinished hardwood brings warmth and continuity, tying each space together with a finish that looks new yet still honors the home’s character. In the living room, subtle cosmetic updates allow the brick fireplace and built-ins to stand out, creating a setting that feels calm and inviting. Two refreshed baths round out the remodel with comfort, balance, and lasting quality.

So You Bought a Fixer-Upper

With the beauty of an old home comes pain. Sometimes a lot of it. Here’s how to handle those tough projects—and remember everything feels sweeter when you have to work for it.

Sandy Miller and Jon Tafel with Samantha Ferris, a designer with J.S. Brown & Co.

Story by Joshua M. Bernstein

Photos by Tim Johnson

One morning last winter, after dropping my daughter off at middle school, I returned home to what sounded like a hissing river rushing through my basement. I dashed down the creaky stairs of our two-story Craftsman, built in 1925, to discover a water heater disgorging dirty liquid across the floor. I needed to think fast, but to do what, exactly?

My wife and I bought the house in summer 2024 after nearly a quarter-century of renting in New York City apartments. Landlords were always responsible for repairing housing calamities, be it cockroach infestations or a busted furnace. Amid the panic flooding my brain, a small thought bubbled up. We had a water-cutoff switch. Right there, in the corner. I sloshed over and ceased the deluge, solving the pressing problem. Now I just needed to clean up gallons of water and replace a water heater.

Buying an older home is equal parts charming and exasperating. All that architecture! All those headaches! Over the decades, previous owners repaired and renovated properties to their best of their abilities and inabilities, leaving current owners to contend with the ghosts of renovation projects past and aging infrastructure. Nothing lasts forever, especially root-clogged sewer pipes. Homeowners in historic older neighborhoods such as German Village, Olde Towne East and Clintonville often face major home challenges, from upgrading knoband-tube electrical wiring to contending with cat pee, fixing crumbling chimneys and remediating lead paint.

I canvassed Columbus for stories of fixer-upper housing woes and how homeowners overcame unforeseen obstacles. Let’s hope raw sewage never tsunamis across your basement.

THE CASE OF THE UNEXPECTED CAT PEE

During the 2020 pandemic, Renee Woodtke and her husband, Troy, thought they’d found a deal on a circa-1916 Clintonville home with four bedrooms and two bathrooms. Each time the couple had toured the house, the air conditioner was off and the scent of Glade Plugins perfumed the air. “It always smelled nice,” says Renee, who teaches physical education at a local elementary school.

“I thought we were fine.” The Woodtkes ordered a housing inspection and the

basement seemed spic-and-span, though bleach lingered in the air. “The home inspector was like, ‘Well, I think they had their cat box down here, but if it smells, it’ll be easy to clean up,’ ” she recalls.

The couple closed and moved in. They turned on the air conditioner and the “smell of cat urine was so bad that we couldn’t stay,” Renee says. “The cat pee had permeated the wood.” Three days after moving in, the couple called BioOne of Columbus, which focuses on biohazard decontamination and biohazard cleanup. Workers in hazmat suits pulled the basement walls down to the studs, ran an ozone machine for multiple days to mitigate the feline stench and sealed the floor.

“That was like an extra $5,000 right when we moved in,” says Renee, who added several more layers of sealant for good measure. Today, the family is settled into their home and a new headache: the bathroom renovation. “We still don’t have a bathroom sink hooked up, so we brush our teeth and wash our hands with the bathtub faucet,” Renee says. “I guess we’ll be doing that until the weather warms up.”

FIXER-UPPER ADVICE

“Ammonia in cat urine is one of the most difficult odor abatements,” says Tim Lockard, owner of Bio-One of Columbus, which cleans up crime scenes, blood spills, rodent droppings and other hazards. “It’s so caustic.”

The challenge is reaching the odor’s source. Cat urine can soak through carpeting and into subflooring, sometimes contaminating baseboards and drywall.

Spraying bleach and running an ozone generator isn’t enough. Biohazard workers must remove impacted areas, which could include porous concrete. “You can use gallons of enzyme and not reach soaked-in urine,” Lockard says.

After chemical treatment, the surface is encapsulated with sealant and repairs can proceed. “We do as little demolition as needed because we know on the other end, it costs money to put it back together,” Lockard says. To uncover issues prior to purchase, pay attention to odorous red flags. If a for-sale home smells strongly of Glade Plugins, windows are wide open or cookies are baking, “those are signs that you might want to dig a little deeper,” Lockard says. “That could mask a bigger problem.”

TAKING A HOME FROM LEADED TO UNLEADED

One day in late 2016, Lindsey Loman took her youngest son for his one-year checkup. A blood test uncovered elevated lead levels. This led the Columbus Public Health department to inspect her home, a 1922 Craftsman bungalow in Clintonville, discovering that the property’s soil contained 33,000 parts per million of lead. The Environmental Protection Agency recommends that a child’s outdoor play area shouldn’t exceed 400 parts per million.

“A neighbor said they recalled the previous owners scraping white paint off the siding and looking like snow on the ground,” Loman says, adding that drop cloths weren’t used. “Anywhere there’s chipping or peeling and cracking paint, there’s lead dust. And lead dust is one of the biggest culprits of childhood lead poisoning.”

The city placed the house under a lead hazard control order, preventing the family from moving or renting the house during remediation. The inspectors informed Loman that she must replace

every window and door and the top eight inches of soil. “It was going to be $30,000 of work,” says Loman, a hair stylist and mother of three. “Everything about our lives changed in one day.”

After spending sleepless nights researching solutions, Loman discovered Tamara Rubin, a.k.a. the activist Lead Safe Mama. Rubin pointed Loman to Ohio grant programs to eliminate leadbased paint hazards from pre-1978 homes. The family met grant guidelines and so began a multi-year odyssey of anxiety, unease and heightened safety.

“My house became a nightmare,” Loman says. “I cleaned all the toys that touched the floor and mopped weekly.” The full lead abatement took more than two years, during which Loman tried to stay outside of her house and visit parks as much as possible. “We didn’t stay here and play much,” she says.

In the end, the grant funds led the family to prioritize new windows over removing the soil, which is now safely covered with a brick patio and grass. Loman is now on the board of trustees for the Ohio Healthy Homes Network nonprofit that focuses on preventing lead poisoning. The experience has left Loman’s family with lingering habits, including one that everyone should follow. Says Loman, “We all wash our hands before we eat.”

FIXER-UPPER ADVICE

Prior to 1978, paint commonly contained lead, and the lingering “danger comes from paint chipping and producing dust that can be ingested or inhaled,” says Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, director of the Ohio Department of Health. Lead dust is especially dangerous for pregnant women and children under the age of 6, as they absorb lead more readily.

He recommends a blood test for children at ages 1 and 2 to check lead levels; a heightened reading signals a likely need for remediation. The ODH can help with resources, and the Ohio Lead Abatement Tax Credit Program provides up to $40,000 in state income tax credits. Many local health or housing agencies also offer income-based grants, too.

If an older home is well cared for, and the paint around the windows and doors remains intact and not peeling, adults can lively safely by taking basic

Lindsey Loman’s home during lead remediation

precautions. They include wet-wiping surfaces and vacuuming with a HEPA filter. “The good news is that lead-based paint isn’t going to be automatically hazardous,” Vanderhoff says, cautioning homeowners to pay attention during drastic temperature swings when paint issues often appear. Head to the ODH website for resources. “That’s a good time to look into options for an EPA-certified renovator,” Vanderhoff says.

OH, SHEET (PAN)

There’s typically a honeymoon with homeownership before the first unforeseen problem. Not so for Emily Whittaker, a middle-school drama teacher. The day she and her husband, Steve, moved into their two-story Clintonville home, built in 1938, their parents came over to unpack and rearrange furniture. Emily’s dad flushed the toilet in the upstairs bathroom, and it rained in the dining room.

“We had a home inspection, and they ran water in the tub and flushed the toilet to make sure that everything was fine,” Emily says. “My dad was also a home inspector for a long time, and he came and looked through and saw nothing weird.” The culprit was a cookie sheet. At some point, someone secreted a sheet pan inside the ceiling, beneath the toilet, to catch errant drips. One final flush started the indoor deluge. “Why would you put that there if you didn’t think something was going to happen?” Emily says. The sellers had no idea there was a cookie pan in the ceiling, and the insurance company refused to cover repairs for supposedly known issues. “We were supposed to have X-ray vision and know that there were baking items under the toilet,” Emily says.

After fixing the leak, the hole in the ceiling remained open for more than a year until Steve covered it. Says Emily, “It just became part of our landscape that you don’t realize until somebody else walks in your house and is like, ‘Whoa, what happened?’ ”

FIXER-UPPER ADVICE

“Water is so destructive,” says Chris Scott, a local Columbus plumber. “It goes places where it shouldn’t.” Preventative maintenance is paramount, both

inside and out. A water heater should be flushed annually, “which hardly anybody does,” Scott says, while outdoor water spigots must be winterized by shutting off the water supply, draining the faucet and removing and emptying the hose. Pay attention to leaky fixtures, a running toilet or listen for unexpected drips. Every so often, flush a toilet and wait a few minutes to ensure the tank empties and fills properly. Water issues are often ongoing, and the challenges can compound with delayed action. Homeowners should also make sure they know the location of their main water-shutoff valve. Should a watery emergency emerge, it’s imperative to turn off the water before investigating the issue and, ideally, calling a trusted plumber. “Not being aware of what’s going on in your house is one of the biggest issues that homeowners have,” Scott says.

THE BASEMENT POOP FLOOD

As a realtor, Heather Gott cautions clients about old homes and sewer lines.

“You need to scope and clean them out every couple of years because mature trees want water,” Gott says. She regularly hired a septic service to clean the sewer lines for her 1923 Clintonville home overlooking the bucolic Walhalla Ravine; the only issue was that the equipment emerged somewhat dirty. “I thought it must’ve been mud,” says Gott, who purchased the home in 2015 with her husband, Jeremy.

Last spring, warning lights flashed brown. The finished basement’s toilet clogged, but Gott ignored the issue. “It was peak real estate chaos, so the last thing I wanted to do was spend 20 minutes trying to unclog the bathroom,” she says. Several days later, Gott was in the basement finishing multiple rounds of laundry when, instead of draining, water filled the laundry sink. Her husband flushed a toilet upstairs, or maybe the dishwasher emptied. Either way, water fast flowed over the toilet with “waves of toilet paper, poop and the grossest stuff,” Gott says.

Kat Swank and Brandon Turner have been gutting and renovating their Olde Towne East home.

Her husband came downstairs and they watched, horrified, as fetid sewage flowed toward them, reaching the drywall and covering the carpeted basement bedroom. The basement required toxic remediation, but repairs needed to wait until the clog was cleared. They called in Chuck’s Septic Tank Sewer & Drain Cleaning Inc., in Grove City, to investigate the blockage. In the meantime, Gott showered at a gym, while her husband took lightning-quick showers, plugging up the drain and slowly, over hours, trickling water down the drain. Basement biotoxins caused Gott to fall ill with a norovirus infection, leading the couple to perfect a two-bowl system. “I’d puke into a bowl and he’d give me a new bowl, then take the gross bowl outside to wash with the water hose,” Gott says.

After a week or so of investigating sewer lines, the septic company removed a congealed, permeable mass of shaving cream, hair and toilet paper, and more. In the end, fixing the line ran around $1,000, but the basement cleanup cost $30,000 that was covered by insurance. “We’re not going to ask for anything else from insurance for a long, long time,” Gott says.

FIXER-UPPER ADVICE

Inspecting sewer lines before buying a home is a must, says Steven Besse, president of CST Utilities (the parent company of Chuck’s Septic). “You can tell the owners, ‘Let’s clean out the roots and then inspect the lines for breaks,’ ” Besse says, adding that repairs could cost more than $20,000.

He recommends a video inspection every five years or so, or anytime there’s slow draining. Problems regularly occur with strain on a home’s sewer system. The company’s call volume increases significantly over the holidays when people “have 13 people in their house,” Besse says. Blockage culprits accumulate over time, from disposable wipes to flushed diapers and grease dumped down a drain. Older Columbus homes also sometimes have combination sewers that mingle sewage and the storm water in the same underground pipes; heavy storms can cause water to flow into homes. Besse suggests installing a sewer backflow preventer, which is basically a one-way toilet flapper that prevents water from flowing into a home.

Whenever a sewer snarl occurs, call experts to clear the clog and assess damage before cleaning up with bleach or calling a restoration service for more substantial problems. “We’ve seen it where sewer backed up and filled an entire crawl space with waste,” Besse says.

THE CASE OF THE COLLAPSING CHIMNEY

As the owner of a 1902 house in Old North Columbus, Wendy Everett has no shortage of old-home horror stories. A flea infestation broke out soon after she bought the house in 2001, and sewage twice backed up into the too-damp basement. “The people that sold us the house realized it was a money pit and were just

trying to get the out of there,” says Everett, a massage therapist.

About three years ago, Everett heard a sound in the basement and went down to investigate. The chimney’s bottom part disintegrated, leaving the rest hanging with no support except for the house’s frame. “I didn’t know if that would collapse too,” Everett says. The chimney ran through the center of the house, part of a series of different heating systems throughout, including a coal room and a secondary chimney off the kitchen might’ve been attached to a pot belly stove. “At some point, there must have been a radiator, too,” Everett says.

The chimney’s fall pointed toward another source of heat: the furnace. Installers

Turner and Swank’s bathroom was tiled by Brandon Turner.

vented it through the chimney, and heating and cooling cycles likely caused structural degradation. “The bricks became powder,” Everett says. Plaster encased the rest of the chimney, leaving its integrity a mystery. Everett called the insurance agent, and the situation left him flummoxed. “He was just like, ‘Well, this has never happened,’” Everett says. Several fingernail-biting months later, a structural engineer arrived. If the chimney fell, he said, it would likely just cave in on itself and fall down the shaft. And yes, it was safe to live inside the house. “That was at least some comfort,” Everett says. The next step was hiring someone to remove the chimney, but no one wanted to take the job due to her

house’s slate roofing, which can be slippery and fragile. A friend recommended an unlicensed contractor, whom she hired from Facebook Marketplace to remove her chimney.

She lowered all the sketchy red flags and hired him, desperation leading to bad decisions. He removed the roof chimney, “but he’s just hitting me up for more and more money,” Everett says, hiring men off the streets to assist with tearing walls and ceiling to studs. Brick dust, plaster dust, and greasy soot stained every surface because nothing was covered. “It cost $2,000 to do soot removal for one room, and insurance didn’t cover that,” Everett says. “This was a nightmare on so many levels.”

The contractor covered the roof hole with a tarp, but it didn’t hold. Rain poured inside. And then the contractor disappeared. Everett cleared out much of the debris. That left a house with no walls, ceiling or heating. “For two years, we don’t have heat,” she says. Eventually, a friend connected Everett to a contractor who did the drywall and brought in a roofer. Her bedroom and the living room need to be finished, but the homestretch is here. “The project’s not done, but at least we have walls and heat,” Everett says.

FIXER-UPPER ADVICE

If a homeowner rarely uses a fireplace, a chimney is often out of sight, out of mind. And that’s when problems can stack up like firewood. During the winter, condensation inside a chimney can freeze, causing leaks and compromising the structural integrity. “That can cause the chimney to collapse,” says Jason Charles, who owns the Honest Chimney & Masonry Company in Grove City with his wife, Karianne Boden-Charles. Knowledge is the best defense against disaster. “You should have a yearly chimney inspection,” Charles says, adding that venting furnace exhaust through a chimney also can create corrosion issues. (Carbon monoxide also can be present.) A specialist can seal a chimney to keep out moisture, including replacing bricks and repairing mortar. Resist the urge to DIY mortar with household adhesives such as Liquid Nails or silicone, which can create additional repair headaches.

A slate roof also can make repairs pricier and more challenging. “Even on a 90-degree day with no rain, it’s like ice up there,” Charles says. “You’ll fly right off and fall. It’s very dangerous.” To reach the chimney, you can use special ladders or build scaffolding, but oftentimes a homeowner must rent a boom lift that can cost more than $1,000 a day. Most chimney problems can be solved, but “it all comes down to budget and cost,” Charles says. Always check if workers are certified, ideally by the Chimney Safety Institute of America. “They will verify workers right over the phone,” Boden-Charles says.

THE NEW FAMILY HOME IN OLDE TOWNE EAST

Parents with growing families often walk a well-trod path to the suburbs for more

Sandy Miller and Jon Tafel picked the lighting for their downstairs bathroom in German Village.

square footage. Brandon Turner and Katherine Swank, who lived in Whitehall with their young daughter, instead headed to Olde Towne East for a sprawling 4,500-square-foot brick mansion built circa 1909. “We fell in love with the character and the woodwork,” says Turner, a professor in the psychology department at Ohio State University.

Turner and Swank, an orthopedic surgery specialist, purchased their home in fall 2023 and enlisted Columbus design firm Urbanorder Architecture to help orchestrate a drastic overhaul. Take a deep breath and read the list of renovations: Knob-and-tube wiring needed to be replaced, some of the 17 pieces of stained glass repaired, the bathrooms redone, the woodwork and doors restored and new floors installed. “This is our third home renovation, but not quite this magnitude,” Turner says, laughing. The couple requested quotes from general contractors, ranging from $700,000 to $1.2 million. “General contractors take

the scope of the work and then add their fee,” Turner says. That could be anywhere from 10 to 20 percent of the total cost. To stretch their dollars, Turner decided to take on general contracting duties, allowing them to finish the raw third floor attic with office space.

In between teaching classes, he picked up a sledgehammer and spent the first three or four months doing demo work and taking down walls. “He personally removed 60,000 pounds of plaster from this house, which we know because you pay for dumpsters by weight,” Swank says. While a previous owner had lived in the house for three decades, a more recent flip job left the property with improperly waterproofed and unpermitted bathrooms. Moreover, windows were painted shut, and “everything was covered in lead paint under some layer of something.”

Safety hazards with children were a paramount concern, as Swank became pregnant with her second child during

renovations. “Being pregnant during your remodel timeline adds a certain element of pressure,” she says. Her husband removed and refinished all the wood trim, in addition to the towering doors that weigh around 90 pounds each. The 13 radiators were functional and kept the house warm, but “then we started getting the bills,” Turner says. “It was like, ‘Wow, we can’t keep this.’ ” They turned to Craigslist to find someone from Indiana to buy and remove the radiators.

To keep costs low, Turner laid much of the bathroom tilework, while craftspeople laid wood floors and added new stairs with ornamental woodwork. Franklin Art Glass repaired the stained glass of Juno, the Roman goddess of marriage who protected women, and created a companion piece with a peacock, which Juno considered a sacred animal. By December 2024, the repairs were far enough along for the family to move in— soon before their second daughter was born. A final few items remained on the

Hidden door bookshelf and pantry area by the kitchen in Kat Swank and Brandon Turner’s Olde Towne East home.

Stained glass between the dining room and a first floor bathroom in the Turner-Swank home.

checklist, including a planned basement speakeasy, the mudroom and backyard landscaping, but renovating an historic home is a marathon, not a sprint. Says Turner, “I don’t know if we’ll actually ever be done.”

FIXER-UPPER ADVICE

Anyone looking to remodel a historic home must first balance the purchase price with the renovation cost. “You need to talk to people who have done this and be realistic about what to expect,” says Steve Hurtt, the principal partner at Urbanorder Architecture in the Short North. His firm approaches client projects by focusing on big-picture goals and scope. Want four bedrooms and three bathrooms? Great! Here’s what’s feasible.

Hurtt’s team typically will provide three different options for reconfiguring spaces that might range from major modifications to a more affordable plan to accomplish the stated goals. “We’re going to make it work,” Hurtt says. Kitchens and bathrooms are often showpieces, and cost can be limitless. Instead of focusing on pricey tiles and tubs, Hurtt recommends shoring up a home’s bones and the mechanical systems. “Then you spend the money on the finishes,” he says.

Avoid fluorescent-pink paint, baroque chandeliers and that koi pond if a resale looms in the near future. One person’s treasure is another person’s episode of Zillow Gone Wild. “We try to advise people not to do highly specific things unless they’re living there long term,” Hurtt says.

FLIPPING FOR A KITCHEN IN GERMAN VILLAGE

Kitchens are a home’s social hub, equally fun and functional. At Sandy Miller and Jon Tafel’s German Village home, built in 1920, guests beelined to the back of the house’s cramped kitchen. “I could be at the stove, open the refrigerator, and touch the sink in one sweeping move,” says Miller, now retired from an early childhood education career. The kitchen, though, was starting to show its wear and tear, leading the retired couple to take on another renovation in the home Tafel bought in 1991.

“We love living in the German Village,” says Tafel, formerly the vice chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents, ticking off the walkability, restaurants and sense of community. They considered an addition to create a guest room with a full bath, but the costs and strict rules of the German Village Commis-

sion, which protects and preserves the German Village Historic District, made more square footage a nonstarter. Seeking solutions, the couple called a local realtor who took note of the two living rooms, back-to-back, leading to the kitchen. Why not flip the kitchen and living room? “And that’s how it started,” Miller says. They hired J.S. Brown & Co., a design and build remodeling company experienced in navigating the historical requirements of German Village.

Work began in July, and Tafel and Miller embraced sitting on the front porch and cooking workarounds. The basement held the only microwave, and a crockpot sat upstairs. “The only way we could wash dishes was the shower,” Miller says. Turning the living room into a kitchen with floor-to-ceiling cabinetry required covering a chimney wall and installing shallow cabinets ideal for spices. “It’s one of my favorite pieces in the kitchen,” Miller says. “Now I don’t dig for spices.” Kitchen appliances were covered with panels to create a symmetrical flow, and a central island added ample space for sunny entertaining.

Miller made her first meal in the new space on Christmas Eve, and cooking now helps up her daily step count. “I’ve been getting exercise working around the island,” she says, laughing. The couple is back to hosting to friends and neighbors. “When they walk in, they can’t believe the difference in the space,” Miller says. And yes, everyone still gathers in the kitchen.

FIXER-UPPER ADVICE

Remodeling older homes requires patience and a great working relationship with the construction team, counsels Samantha Ferris, who works in sales and design at J.S. Brown & Co. “It will take longer than you think with inspections and unknown challenges,” she says. For this remodel in the German Village, hurdles included remediating asbestos and the lack of insulation in the former kitchen.

“There was moisture coming through the wood siding that caused staining on the wall,” she says. Adding insulation required waiting for a dry spell. “So many things come up that you don’t expect,” Ferris says. Living in a construction zone can be the ultimate stress test for relationships. “I always tell my clients, if you can get through the renovation without getting divorced, you’ll be fine,” Ferris says. “You’ll never get divorced.” ◆

WHERE REMODELING STARTS

A conversation with the experts at Dave Fox Remodeling

Have you thought about remodeling your home but keep asking yourself, “How do I even get started?” Dave Fox Design Build Remodelers has been helping homeowners navigate this exact question for more than 40 years—guiding projects from that very first “What if” conversation all the way through a finished home that truly fits the way homeowners really want to live.

The Columbus company is pulling back the curtain on how great remodels actually begin and how they progress. The goal is simple: to help homeowners understand what to expect, what questions to ask, and how to start and oversee the remodeling journey with clarity.

“We want people to take that journey because these projects are

By Laura Newpoff

so meaningful for families,” says CEO Gary Demos. “We’ve seen clients add additions onto small homes that makes them feel as if it is double the size. This gives them the room to entertain the entire family at once for the very first time. The projects have so many positive impacts on our clients. We really are in the life-changing business.”

How Early Should You Get Started?

Remodels involve several different phases: the planning phase, selections and permitting, construction and final finishes. Of these, the planning phase is one of the most critical. Demos recommends beginning the planning phase and interviewing contractors about a year before your desired start date.

“Every project is different, and things can change as the work progresses,” says Demos. “You need time to plan for materials that must be ordered, as well as permits and inspections.”

Starting the conversation early is essential. Beginning the planning process roughly a year in advance gives you ample time for design and layout development, material selections, ordering, and scheduling, setting your project up for success.

Michelle Mixter, interior design manager, says many clients will strategize based on their current life experiences or by backing into a desired completion date. “For example, if your work schedule has you traveling January through March and you find a company you trust in your home, that might be a great time to begin the construction process,” she says. “Or, for a family with children at home, summer outdoor grilling season might be the best time for a kitchen remodel. If you want to host Christmas by cooking in your new kitchen, let’s get you in contract and be in construction by July to guarantee that completion date.”

Narrowing Down Choices and Embracing Trends

In the planning phase, clients will have a bevy of options to choose from to customize the project, from paint color, tile selections and countertop materials to flooring, finishes, cabinetry, hardware, light fixtures and more. Mixter and design consultant Aaron Whaley visit with clients to gauge whether their style is more traditional or more

contemporary and then collaborate with them by viewing past projects and remodels featured on Pinterest and in magazines to get the creative juices flowing and narrow down the options.

A current trend is what Mixter calls “organic harmony in colors in finishes.” This includes introducing stains and textures to cabinetry, incorporating jewel tones that clients have a personal connection with and bringing nature into the home with natural stone and wood—all to create calming spaces.

“The word for 2026 is authenticity,” Whaley says. “Our clients want authenticity in their materials and also to incorporate vintage elements and antiques into their spaces.”

Mixter says clients often want to curate their project based on the return on investment they’ll receive if they

sell the home. She explains they can look at it in a different way. “No matter what trend or design style you choose, the next homeowner who comes in is going to say, ‘Why did they pick that stone? Why did they pick that tile?’ “ she says. “Invariably, they are going to change what you do. So, this project is for you. It’s the vacation you get to experience every single morning when you wake up. It’s about the pure joy of living in a space designed exactly for you and the way you want to live. That return is unmeasurable.”

What Good Communication Looks Like

Once the construction phase begins, clients often are pleasantly surprised at how fast the demolition and framing work gets done. Once work begins on the mechanicals, the project is still moving forward, but it’s harder for the client to visualize progress. Delays can occur if subcontractors get tied up on other projects or if inspections take longer than usual. It’s often during the middle and toward the end of the project that clients feel like things are taking too long and nothing is getting done. This is why good communication throughout the process is a priority for the Dave Fox team.

“Issues are going to come up, and that’s why good communication means actually talking to each other,” says production manager Dave Shicks. “Your project is too important to me for something to be misinterpreted through a text or email. When the project is finished, I want us to highfive, be friends and stay in contact—and be confident about starting that next remodeling project when you’re ready.”

3505 W. Dublin-Granville Road Columbus 43235

614-459-7211

Tell us about your remodeling needs at davefox.com/contact

2026 Summer Camp Guide

From traditional day camps to specialized offerings for art, STEM, drama, special needs and more, here are 25 programs to keep kids engaged when school ends.

Spring has barely sprung, but for parents and grandparents, it’s a great time to start thinking about summer and how the kids will spend their time after the last school bell rings.

We are pleased to bring back a smaller, curated version of our signature Columbus Parent Summer Camp Guide, featuring 25 listings from a variety of arts organizations, parks and recreation departments, nonprofits, private schools and more.

This is a condensed version of the guide, the full version of which is available at columbusmonthly.com/ columbus-parent and in our March issue. All information was submitted by camp organizers. Several organizations opted not to participate. If you don’t see your favorite program listed, try the organization’s website. Happy hunting!

ARTS

Columbus Children’s Theatre: Summer Theatre360

Our one-week, full-day camps are bursting with hands-on opportunities to perform, create and explore the stage. Students won’t just shine in the spotlight. They’ll roll up their sleeves behind the scenes, discovering scenic design, costuming and all the magic that brings a story to life. Camp location: CCT Studios, 177 E. Naghten St., Columbus

For more information: David Glover, da vid@columbuschildrenstheatre.org, 614224-6673; columbuschildrenstheatre.org

Columbus College of Art & Design: Creative Summer Workshops

Creative Summer Workshops allow kids in grades 1-12 to be creative, develop new techniques, and explore art and de-

sign. Led by skilled artists and educators, classes are held in weeklong increments. Customize your experience by signing up for one or more weeks of creativity. Camp location: Columbus College of Art & Design campus, 60 Cleveland Ave., Columbus

For more information: Ellen Ellis, takea class@ccad.edu, 614-222-3242; ccad.edu/ take-class/creative-summer-workshops

Columbus Museum of Art: Summer Art Workshops 2026 Students entering grades 1-5 can participate in five days of in-person instruction at the Columbus Museum of Art. Summer Art Workshop educators and teaching artists will lead children through lesson plans using a variety of materials to explore themes and engage their creativity.

Campers at Columbus Academy’s Summer Experience

Camp location: Columbus Museum of Art, 480 E. Broad St., Columbus

For more information: learning@cma ohio.org, 614-629-0328; columbus museum.org

The Contemporary Theatre of Ohio: Summer Theatre Camp at the Riffe Center Students will work as a team to learn the full range of theatrical skills—from creating characters and scripts, to crafting costumes, to taking their final bow. They’ll have the opportunity to learn from experienced theater artists. Camp location: Riffe Center Theatres, 77 S. High St., Columbus

For more information: education@the contemporaryohio.org, 614-453-4602; thecontemporaryohio.org/education/ camps-and-classes

Lincoln Theatre: Patternz Summer Camp

Facilitated by graduates of the Lincoln Theatre’s “Expand Your Horizon” Artist Incubation Program, campers will rotate through workshops in dance, theater, music and visual arts. At the end of each week, campers will put on a program for their families to show what they’ve learned.

Camp location: Lincoln Theatre, 769 E. Long St., Columbus

For more information: Quianna Simpson, ltsummerartscamp@gmail.com, 614-500-3252; lincolntheatrecolumbus. com/programs/patternz

New Albany Ballet Company: Summer Dance Camps

We offer fun summer, themed dance camps for ages 2-9.

Camp location: New Albany Ballet Company, 5161 Forest Drive, New Albany

For more information: Ellen Selegue, ellen@newalbanyballet.com, 614-9399058; newalbanyballet.com

Ohio Craft Museum: Young Masters and Teen Camp

We offer five weeks of arts, crafts and camaraderie for children entering grades 1-6 and an additional two weeks of Teen Camp for 13- to 17-year-olds that feature more detailed workshops. All supplies and light snacks are included in the cost.

Camp location: Ohio Craft Museum, 1665 W. Fifth Ave., Columbus

For more information: Judi Young, jyoung@ohiocraft.org, 614-486-4402; ohiocraft.org

The Ohio State University School of Music: Ohio State Youth Summer Music Programs

Student musicians participate in programs designed to further their skills and their understanding of and love for music. Our dedicated faculty craft diverse and rich activities that provide meaningful musical experience. Select from one of 10 residential programs (with a commuter option) or day programs.

Camp location: The Timashev Family Music Building, 1900 College Road, Columbus, and Ohio Stadium, 411 Woody Hayes Drive, Columbus

For more information: youthsummer music@osu.edu, 614-292-5272; go.osu. edu/ysmp2026

EDUCATIONAL ENRICHMENT AND STEM

PAST Foundation: Summer Experiences

Our STEM-focused summer programs give students the opportunity to explore real-world challenges through immersive, hands-on experiences. Whether indoors at our Innovation Lab or outdoors in the community, every program is designed to spark curiosity, build confidence and develop future-ready skills.

Camp location: PAST Innovation Lab, 1003 Kinnear Road, Columbus, and the Lawn at CAS, 2540 Olentangy River Road, Columbus

For more information: Ashley Price, programs@pastfoundation.org, 614-3401208, ext. 1208; pastfoundation.org

The Sewing Hive: Teach Me To Sew Camp

In Teach Me To Sew Camp, children learn to sew on a machine as they create three fun projects. They also learn about mending and making fashion that lasts. Several other youth camps also will be offered.

Camp location: The Sewing Hive, 3455 Indianola Ave., Columbus

For more information: Jamie Hevener, studio@sewinghive.com, 614-549-6693; sewinghive.com

Thurber House: Thurber Summer Writing Camp

Participants will write, draw and sometimes even act out their own stories and poems. Learn from real guest authors, artists and teachers who bring their passion to life with fun, wacky activities. A two-week Teen Summer Writing Intensive also is offered.

Camp location: Thurber Center, 91 Jefferson Ave., and the Carriage House, 65 Jefferson Ave., Columbus

For more information: Meg Brown, megbrown@thurberhouse.org, 614-4128840; thurberhouse.org

MULTIPLE CATEGORY

Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Ohio: Central Ohio Summer of Success

This full-day summer camp offers kids a safe, engaging place to learn, grow and have fun. Daily activities support academic success, healthy habits and leadership development through handson enrichment and group experiences. Campers build confidence, friendships and life skills.

Camp location: Six locations in Columbus, Marion and Newark

For more information: Kedada BethelThompkins, kbethelthompkins@bgc centralohio.org, 614-221-8830, ext. 228; bgccentralohio.org/membershipenrollment

City of Dublin Recreation Services Division: Summer Camps

Summer camps for preschoolers through teens promote fun, learning and personal growth. Activities include sports, arts, swimming, nature exploration, field trips and team building, with specialty areas like STEAM, dance and athletics. Options include introductory camps, multiweek camps, teen adventures and leadership-focused Counselor-in-Training opportunities.

A Columbus Children’s Theatre summer camp

Camp location: Dublin Community Recreation Center and other local sites

For more information: Euan Baker, ebaker@dublin.oh.us, 614-410-4557, dublinohiousa.gov/dcrc/camps

Columbus Academy: Summer Experience

Summer Experience 2026 is designed to meet the diverse interests of families and students from prekindergarten through 12th grade. Campers can explore a wide range of options including academics, arts and sciences, athletics and more, creating a customizable summer. Register for a single week, multiple weeks or all summer long. A new Adventure Day Camp allows students to explore trails, craft in the woods and play games across Columbus Academy’s 231 acres. Camp location: Columbus Academy, 4300 Cherry Bottom Road, Gahanna

For more information: Alyssa King, summer_experience@columbus academy.org, 614-509-2267; columbus academy.org/summer

Columbus Recreation and Parks: Summer Camps

A variety of weeklong day camps are offered to pique the interest of any camper, including community center camps, therapeutic recreation, outdoor recreation, sports, drama, arts and ceramics. Camp location: Various sites throughout Columbus

For more information: Sheri-Lyn Wynn, crpd_camps@columbus.gov, 614-6457000; columbusrecparks.com

Girl Scouts of Ohio’s Heartland: Day Camp, STEM Camp and Resident Camp Girl Scouts of Ohio’s Heartland offers day camps, STEM camps and resident camps where girls can get unforgettable outdoor adventures, hands-on STEM exploration and confidence-building experiences that last a lifetime. GSOH camps are open to all girls in grades K-12. Camp location: Day camps, multiple area locations; STEM camps, Battelle STEM Leadership Campus at Camp Ken-Jockety, 1309 Hubbard Road, Galloway; resident camps, Camp Molly Lauman, 9130 Big Bear Creek Road, Lucasville

For more information: Patsy Sullivan, camp@gsoh.org, 614-878-3422; gsoh. org/en/members/for-girl-scouts/camp -and-outdoors.html

JCC of Greater

Columbus: JCAMPS

For 75 years, JCamps has welcomed campers from all backgrounds to learn, play and grow together. What began as a place to connect has become a beloved tradition filled with joyful Jewish moments, lifelong friendships and unforgettable summers that offer an exceptional camp experience. Camp location: JCC of Greater Columbus, 1125 College Ave., Columbus

For more information: Raeann Cronebach, rcronebach@columbusjcc.org, 614559-6253; columbusjcc.org/jcamps

The

Wellington

School:

Wellington Summer Program

The Wellington Summer Program provides children entering prekindergarten through grade 12 the opportunity to discover new talents, learn essential skills and build lasting friendships through half- and full-day camps including STEM, literacy, art, sports, yoga, nature, music, theater, chess, robotics, cooking and more. Camp location: The Wellington School, 3650 Reed Road, Upper Arlington

For more information: Gina Spicer, summer@wellington.org, 614-324-1646; wellington.org/summer

Westerville Parks and Recreation: Westerville Parks and Recreation Camps Westerville Parks and Recreation camps provide a variety of structured activities that encourage creativity, teamwork and physical activity. Daily activities may include outdoor games, sports, arts and crafts, and group activities. Camps emphasize positive social interaction, active play and age-appropriate learning experiences. Camp location: Various sites in the city of Westerville

For more information: Chelsea VanAssche, camp@westerville.org, 614-9016566; westerville.org/camps

Worthington Parks & Recreation: Community Center Summer Camps

Worthington Parks & Recreation offers a variety of engaging summer camps designed to keep kids active, curious and connected. Programs include recreation-based day camps, sports and swim camps, creative arts, specialty camps and off-site adventures, all led by trained staff in a fun, supportive environment.

Camp location: Worthington Community Center, 345 E. Wilson Bridge Road, Worthington

For more information: camps@worth ington.org, 614-436-2743; worthington. org/summercamp

YWCA Columbus: YWCA Kids Place Summer Day Camp

YWCA Columbus Kids Place is an all-inclusive, eight-week program of enriching experiences, field trips and more. Campers will have fun and learn something new each day. With over 30 years of experience offering high-quality summer programs, YWCA Kids Place offers expert staff and flexible scheduling.

Camp location: Six sites in Columbus, Gahanna and Westerville

For more information: Kristy Hylton and Mandi Buchwald, khylton@ywca columbus.org and mbuchwald@ywca columbus.org, 614-224-9121; ywca columbus.org/summercamp

NATURE/OUTDOORS

Camp Kesem: Camp Kesem at Ohio State University

Camp Kesem is a weeklong sleepaway summer camp that supports children through and beyond their parent’s cancer diagnosis. By offering free, creative, fun-filled programs that foster a lasting community, Kesem aims to ensure that every child impacted by a parent’s cancer is never alone.

Campers at Blendon Woods Metro Park learn archery skills from counselors.

Camp location: YMCA Camp Tippecanoe, 81300 Stewart Road, Tippecanoe

For more information: Emily Pfarrer and Anna Couch, osu@kesem.org, 614-3000241; kesem.org

Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks: Metro Parks Nature Camps

Nature camps aim to provide children with the opportunity and encouragement to foster a deeper connection with nature through the following principles: exploration, education, community building and stewardship. Campers will participate in outdoor recreation and education programs daily.

Camp location: Various Metro Parks

For more information: Macy Tallarico, naturecamps@metroparks.net, 614-8956213; metroparks.net

SPECIAL NEEDS

Easterseals Central and Southeast Ohio: Hilliard Summer Day Camp

Our camp days are filled with fun activities like arts and crafts, hands-on learning, group games, outdoor play and self-directed playtime. This structured setting is designed to make sure that campers don’t lose the progress they’ve made in school the previous year.

Camp location: Easterseals, 3838 Trueman Court, Hilliard

For more information: Kathy Cordova, kcordova@easterseals-cseohio.org, 614228-5523, ext. 1107; cseohio.easterseals. com/get-support/areas-of-support/ youth-programs/summer-day-camphilliard

Recreation Unlimited Farm and Fun Inc.: Recreation Unlimited

Recreation Unlimited provides year-round programs in sports, recreation and education, while building self-confidence, self-esteem and promoting positive human relations, attitudes and behaviors for individuals with disabilities and health concerns. Recreation Unlimited offers weekend camps, summer day and residential camps and a winter residential camp.

Camp location: Recreation Unlimited, 7700 Piper Road, Ashley

For more information: Natalie Hutton, camps director, nhutton@recreation unlimited.org, 740-548-7006, ext. 103; recreationunlimited.org

Go to columbusmonthly.com/ columbus-parent to see the full guide.

Retirees have long faced an either-or choice in long-term care planning: stay at home without any provisions for care or move to a senior living community before you’re ready. But all-or-nothing thinking didn’t lead you to your cherished lifestyle. And it’s not what will help protect it.

ENTER A NEW MODEL that preserves your ability to age in place with asset protection, health navigators and a path to a senior living community only if — and when — you ever need it.

Summer—So Much More Than Just a Season

It’s a time for children to grow as they meet new challenges, supported every step of the way at Columbus Academy Summer Experience.

By Alyssa King

Summer has a way of staying with us.

The smell of the pool on a hot summer afternoon, when your skin is warm and the cool water feels like instant relief. The sharp snap of an archery bow cutting through the quiet. A leather name badge, carefully burned letter by letter, worn proudly with beads earned for challenges met and good choices made. Small symbols of growing confidence and character. Unexpected rain after a sweltering day, met not with groans, but cheers. Team competitions that reveal strengths you did not know you had. The steady rhythm of dipping candles again and again, watching layers slowly build. Snapping dandelion heads, dipping them in batter, and carefully cooking them over a fire, amazed at how something so simple could

become something entirely new and delicious.

Summer was where many of us received our first nickname. Independence arrived in steady moments: walking into an activity without knowing anyone, trying something new without being certain of the outcome, discovering you could stretch beyond comfort and still be OK. It was freedom with guidance. Risk with support. Challenge within community.

Summer experiences hold independence and belonging in careful balance. They invite children to test themselves while knowing caring adults are nearby. They gently expand routines not to overwhelm, but to build confidence. Growth feels natural because it is woven into shared experiences: games, projects,

teamwork, laughter, and even moments of frustration that turn into pride.

These moments do not happen by accident. They are designed with intention. Thoughtful structure, supervision and encouragement give children the space to explore who they are becoming.

That is why summer matters so much.

In a world that moves quickly and often demands early specialization, summer offers something different. It allows children to explore broadly. To create. To build. To collaborate. To make mistakes and try again the very next day. It offers space to discover interests they may not have known they had and strengths they did not realize were there.

At Columbus Academy Summer Experience, that belief shapes

COLUMBUS ACADEMY SUMMER EXPERIENCE columbusacademy.org/summer Ages: Pre-K through Grade 12

Contact: Summer_Experience@columbusacademy.org or 614-509-2267

everything we do. We welcome campers from all over, from our local community and beyond, giving children a dynamic environment where they can explore, discover and belong. Our Summer Experience is intentionally designed to create hands-on discovery, meaningful connection and guided independence within each day.

We offer two distinct pathways because children experience growth in different ways.

For some, summer is about exploration and choice. Our Discovery Day Camp allows families to design a week around their child’s interests, drawing from a rich variety of themes that foster creativity and curiosity. Each day is dynamic, offering children opportunities to experiment, pivot and uncover new strengths.

For others, summer feels best with rhythm and shared tradition. Adventure Day Camp embraces outdoor exploration, daily swim, team challenges and communitybuilding activities. Familiar routines and consistent adult guidance create an environment where children can stretch, try new things and build lasting friendships.

Though the structures differ, the purpose is the same: to create spaces where a child feels safe to grow, supported enough to take healthy risks and known enough to belong.

Summer carries nostalgia, but its true power lies not only in memory. It lives in the confidence children feel when they master something new. In the pride of holding a finished candle. In the laughter that follows a sudden rainstorm. In the realization that they are capable of more than they imagined.

When designed with care, summer becomes more than a season. It becomes a place where children begin to understand who they are and what they are capable of becoming.

And that is exactly what we strive to create each day at Columbus Academy Summer Experience. ◆

1

10 Things to Love About Westerville

A City Within a Park

Featuring more than 40 parks, 600 acres of parkland and more than 50 miles of recreational trails, Westerville offers something for every outdoor enthusiast. A five-time national gold medal recipient from the National Recreation and Parks Association, the city is truly committed to providing quality outdoor spaces for all community members to enjoy.

2 Exemplary Municipal Services

Westerville owns and manages its electric and water utilities, which contributes to affordable, reliable service for residents and business owners. Municipal ownership and management supports program innovation, including energy efficiency offerings and recycling services for batteries and lights.

3 Safe and Vibrant Community

Westerville residents take pride in the city’s public safety and the vibrancy of our neighborhoods. The proximity of neighborhoods to parks and open spaces and public safety response times that rank among the fastest in central Ohio all contribute to the city’s vitality.

4

Authentic and Alive Uptown

Uptown Westerville encapsulates the heritage and pride of the city while offering unique shops and a wide array of dining experiences that foster a sense of community for people of all ages. Whether you are meeting friends to grab a bite to eat or boutique shop hopping, there is always something for everyone.

5 Thriving Business Community

Westerville is a forward-thinking community that provides a unique blend of authentic charm and hightech resources. The city is home to world class brands and Fortune 500 companies including Vertiv, DHL Supply Chain, The Marzetti Company, Central Ohio Primary Care Physicians, JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America. The Westar district steadily attracts new businesses to the community, resulting in new and exciting work

opportunities for residents.

6 Connected and Engaged Residents

A strong community is essential for driving significant progress. Westerville fosters a connected environment where residents actively engage with each other, city government and the business sector. Opportunities for participation include serving on boards and commissions, enrolling in citizen academies and volunteering to support recreational activities and environmental sustainability initiatives.

7 Enrichment Through Education

Westerville offers other traditional and explorative learning opportunities for community members in various stages of life. The city is home to Otterbein University and the Westerville City School District, both of which are recognized for their innovative programs and successful integration of faculty, staff and students into the wider community. Additional learning opportunities are available at the Westerville Public Library and also offered through the Westerville Parks and Recreation Department.

8 Prime Location

Conveniently situated in the northeast corner of Ohio’s fastest

growing region, Westerville offers a quick commute to downtown Columbus and just a 15-minute ride to the regional airport. City leaders actively seek growth opportunities, providing new businesses and residents with excellent amenities of a full-service municipality and while hosting world-class events that draw visitors.

9 Support and Belonging

Westerville is a vibrant community enriched by the diverse cultural, ethnic and social backgrounds of the people who live, work and play here. It is an appealing place for people of all ages to grow and learn together. The community is characterized by its charitable spirit, active grassroots advocacy and neighbors who look out for one another. In Westerville, kindness is a fundamental value.

10 Transformational Leadership

City leaders are focused on the future, committed to responsibly planning for new development, diligently expanding renewable energy sources and continuously improving the quality of life for residents, increasing experiences for visitors and expanding opportunities for members of the business community. Our efforts have led to a vibrant community fostered through attentive listening and transparency.

10 Things to Love About Grove City

1

A welcoming, inclusive community

Grove City is a place where people of all ages, abilities, backgrounds and life experiences feel they belong. Inclusion isn’t just something we talk about—we build it into our programs, spaces and everyday interactions.

2 Connection and community pride

As the city grows, it maintains a personal, connected feel. People recognize familiar faces, take pride in where they live, and feel invested in the community’s well-being.

3 Safety, reliability and trusted City services

From police and fire services to snow removal and parks maintenance, we take pride in doing the basics well. That reliability gives us peace of mind and helps make Grove City a comfortable place to call home.

4 Town Center brings all together—now and for generations to come Historic Town Center anchors our community with dining, events and shared spaces. Ongoing investment is

focused on fostering a vibrant, walkable area that connects generations and supports everyday moments and lifelong memories.

5 Housing options for every stage of life

Grove City offers a range of housing choices, from established neighborhoods to new homes, multi-family homes, senior living options and affordable housing. This variety makes it easier for people to find a place that fits—and stay as their needs change.

6 Easy access to parks, trails and green space

With 30 parks and a paved trail network of nearly 40 miles, green space is always close by, supporting recreation, wellness and the simple joy of spending time outside in all seasons.

7 Scioto Grove Metro Park—for more outdoor adventure

Scioto Grove Metro Park adds exploration opportunities through river access, scenic trails, the ever-popular Fire Tower and wide-open natural space. The park offers a 620-acre outdoor experience that complements the city’s local parks.

8 Events and entertainment, big and small, bring the community together

From relaxed weekly activities to large regional festivals, Grove City hosts events that fit every pace and age. Live music, performances and celebrations are part of how we connect and enjoy our community together.

9 Education, career growth and economic opportunity

Strong schools, access to higher education, workforce training, and nearby employment opportunities support lifelong learning and career development. Many people come for opportunity and stay for the quality of life.

10 Respect for service, civic involvement and long-term stability

Throughout the community, Grove City honors veterans and those who served and continue to serve our country, state and city through memorials, events, and ongoing support. At the same time, thoughtful planning, fiscal responsibility, and community engagement help ensure the city remains strong, connected and livable for generations to come.

Grove City Memorial Day parade

Rome in Black and White

Rome is called the “Eternal City” as it has thrived, fallen and flourished again in its almost 3,000 years of history.

Our son’s high school graduation trip to Italy was canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19. But we were fortunate to be able to plan another trip with both kids over the holidays in 2025.

The city today is thriving! Packed crowds gathered in the pouring rain outside the Vatican to watch Christmas Eve Mass, visitors queued up to get into the Colosseum and Pantheon and bustling crowds filled the cobblestone streets exploring the multitude of restaurants and unique shopping.

Along the twisting ancient streets

are high-end fashion boutiques in the shadow of ancient cathedrals. Roman columns, unchanged and unmoved over hundreds of years, tower over the scooters and Ubers zipping along the modern roads.

As much as the antiquity of the city fascinated me, photographically I was equally drawn to the quiet moments of life in the streets.

For my work at Columbus Monthly, I tend to haul a backpack and lighting bag full of equipment. But for this trip, I wanted to get back to simplicity and chose to just take one camera with a fixed 35 mm lens. Shooting in black and white was a nod to the timelessness of the city and took me back to my photographic roots. ◆

Visitors in front of the Spanish Steps

The Colosseum is one of the most visited sites in the city.

Story and Photos by Tim Johnson

A photo essay from a recent trip to Rome from Columbus Monthly’s photo editor.

Photos clockwise from top: A street performer does an interpretive dance; life is lived on the streets and cafés in Rome; a woman passes a display outside the Vatican on Christmas Eve; chefs at work

The Iconic Beaches of... Arizona?

Looking for a beach escape that’s not in Florida, Mexico or California?

Try Lake Havasu, Arizona, popular for outdoor activities.

By Michael Salerno

Lake Havasu’s lighthouses are navigational beacons that scaled down replicas of some of the most famous lighthouses around the country.

Ohioans craving a beachy escape that’s off the beaten path can consider a lakefront destination in the northwest end of Arizona.

Lake Havasu attracts about 835,000 people per year for its beaches, outdoor recreation and attractions such as the London Bridge. The outdoor recreation that ranges from boating to fishing and wildlife viewing plays a big part in Lake Havasu’s national recognition as one of the top beaches in the U.S.

It’s an especially popular spot in the spring months, as visiting college students flock there to experience the place dubbed “the West’s biggest spring break party.”

Here’s what to know about visiting Lake Havasu in 2026.

The Details on Lake Havasu

The lake was formed as a reservoir behind the Parker Dam, a concrete arch dam along the California-Arizona border. It was finished in 1938 and is known as the world’s deepest dam.

Lake Havasu City is located about 190 miles northwest of metro Phoenix, close to a 3½hour drive, according to Google Maps.

To get there, take Interstate 10 west and get off at exit 45. From there, head north towards Vicksburg and turn left at State Route 72. Follow State

Routes 72 and 95 to get to Lake Havasu City.

People like Lake Havasu for its beaches and outdoor recreation. Lake Havasu City has 400 miles of beaches, including Lake Havasu State Park, London Bridge Beach and Rotary Community Park.

Depending on the beach, activities include swimming, boating, nature and wildlife trails, sand volleyball and water sports such as wakeboarding. Some beach parks also include picnic areas and campsites.

USA Today 10 Best named Lake Havasu the No. 10 lake in the U.S. and the No. 6 lake for water sports, while its Windsor Beach was the No. 6 lakeside beach.

Lake Havasu State Park recently ranked alongside Florida, Hawaii and California beaches on Conde Nast Traveler’s list of the 15 best U.S. beaches in its 2025 Readers’ Choice Awards. Its inclusion was notable for the fact that Arizona, unlike the other three states, is landlocked.

How Many Days to Spend in Lake Havasu?

For most travelers, around two to three days is ideal, including side trips to surrounding areas. Go Lake Havasu, the tourism marketer for Lake Havasu City, offers recommendations for a three-day itinerary. Outdoor enthusiasts may consider longer trips.

Lake Havasu City is home to more lighthouses than any other town in the country.

Sunset in Lake Havasu City

Walking tours of London Bridge history are offered November through April by the Lake Havasu City Visitor Center.

Some side trips from Lake Havasu City that visitors may consider include:

• Bill Williams Wildlife Refuge, located about 21 miles away. It marks where the Sonoran and Mojave deserts meet and is home to hundreds of native and migratory bird species and wildlife like bighorn sheep, javelina, coyotes and beavers.

• Buckskin Mountain State Park, a scenic park where the main attraction is the craggy mountains along the Arizona-California border. Hiking, boating, swimming and camping are among the popular activities.

• Desert Bar (also known as the Nellie E Saloon), the remote and off-grid

*Mural by: Sarah Dugger

Tuscarawas County

watering hole near Parker. Getting there requires a high-clearance vehicle that can handle the unpaved road that leads to it. It’s also cash only and operates on a seasonal basis, from October to April.

• Oatman, a town along Route 66 about 55 miles northwest, popular for its vintage saloons and wild burros.

• Quartzsite, a mining town near Interstate 10 located about 73 miles south. Attractions include the tomb of historic camel driver Hi Jolly, numerous rock shops and Joanne’s Gum Gallery, a museum displaying a resident’s collection of historic gum wrappers. ◆

Kayakers paddle on Lake Havasu

London Bridge in Lake Havasu

9th Annual Columbus Chamber Foundation Golf outing

Title Sponsor

Monday, June 15, 2026

The Medallion Club 5000 Club Drive, Westerville, OH 43082

The Columbus Chamber of Commerce Foundation leverages the connections and expertise of the Chamber to eliminate barriers to prosperity across the Columbus Region. All proceeds benefit the Columbus Chamber Foundation, a 501(c)3.

Chairman’s Circle

Presenting Sponsor

with media support from:

The Rooster Crows

Some people hate D.J. Byrnes’ confrontational ways as he collects fodder for his political blog, saying he plays loosely with the truth. Others say he’s reporting what no one else will. One thing has become clear: He is difficult to ignore.

By Aaron Marshall

Photos by Tim Johnson

D.J. Byrnes at the Ohio Statehouse

The Rooster is perched. In the narrow Statehouse stairwell outside the Ohio Senate chamber, the gangly blogger waits for lawmakers who routinely use this side entrance to enter the chamber. As a bipartisan group of state senators shuffles by, the Rooster—government name Donald J. Byrnes—begins to crow as his cameraman records.

“I knew it was over as soon as you jumped in on his side,” Byrnes tells Republican Sen. Tom Patton, referring to a late boost Patton gave Sen. Bill Reineke in the behind-the-scenes race to become the next Senate president. “Minority leader, can we get a comment on the Rosenberger fundraiser?” he calls out to Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, a Lakewood Democrat, who keeps walking. She declines to discuss the fundraiser she held a few weeks earlier that was co-hosted by former GOP House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger, who resigned in 2018 while under FBI investigation.

Such ambush interviews are the calling card of D.J. Byrnes and the newest wrinkle in the Statehouse dynamic, as the blogger has carved out a lane for himself as a bipartisan wrecking ball and indispensable outlet for Statehouse gossip, innuendo and scoops of varying newsworthiness. No subject is off-limits, and continuing to film his interviewees, even after they have declined to talk, is just part of the game for the in-your-face Byrnes.

“My ultimate goal is the ultimate truth of journalism—it’s to make powerful people feel uncomfortable and to leverage your voice for the voiceless,” he says. Love him or hate him—and there are plenty of folks firmly planted in both camps—Byrnes is a new breed of muckraker who works without a net. No publisher, no editor and no brakes temper his largely left-wing takes that spit out four times a week to 2,800 paid subscribers on Substack.

“There’s no boss that they can go crying to, and worse, I’m good at my job,” he says. “I actually have an audience and leverage. I can disseminate and push an agenda, and that’s what they ultimately hate.”

Says one longtime lobbyist: “He’s not anti-Democrat or anti-Republican. He’s anti-power. If you are The Man, he’s going after you.”

Hope, Optimism and Darkness

While the Rooster has commandeered a space at the Republican-ruled Ohio Statehouse and the Democrat-run Columbus City Hall with his confrontational tactics and progressive (and sometimes questionable) journalism, it’s been a long and winding road for Byrnes.

Along the way, Byrnes faced felony charges in 2008 for helping plan a robbery, a stinging loss in a race for state representative in 2018, the death of a close friend, and a crippling drug and alcohol problem.

So who is this troublemaker from Marion? Like most things about D.J. Byrnes, the answer gets complicated—but it begins with a man from Hope.

It was Jan. 20, 1993, and 6-year-old Byrnes and his mother had traveled from Marion to Washington, D.C., for the inauguration of President Bill Clinton, the Hope, Arkansas, native who became the first Democrat to occupy the White House in 12 years.

A sunny and pleasant day, it became a watershed moment in Byrnes’ political upbringing. “Seeing my mom’s pas-

sion, I felt like we are in this new era, and anything is possible,” he says. Yet, as the Clinton era wore on with jobs being shipped overseas and Marion rotting economically, it became a lesson for Byrnes in how politics lets you down. “It kind of set the stage for the jadedness and cynicism of my current politics,” Byrnes says. “Behind every person like me in politics is a broken optimist.”

A reluctant student with a talent for stringing together sentences that made people angry, Byrnes got in trouble at Marion Harding High School for a snotty blog called The Rooster that took aim at students and teachers. Transferring to River Valley High School (also in Marion County), Byrnes graduated 111 out of 122 in his class in 2005 before deciding on a whim to head off to the University of Montana rather than join the military.

A social work major, Byrnes was in his third year studying in Missoula when he took an acting class in the spring of 2007. During a class ice-breaker, Byrnes mentioned growing up in Marion, drawing an excited response from Greg Coleman, a dreadlocked classmate and a talented

running back on the Grizzlies football team. “Do you know about the Little Red Caboose that sells ice cream by the park?” Coleman asked, referring to a Marion ice cream shop he had visited with his grandmother, who lived there.

The two clicked, becoming fast friends, bonding over blunts and marathon sessions of Madden NFL on PlayStation. Before long, Byrnes’ social circle had widened to include athletes who had plenty of bad ideas in their playbook. One night, while Byrnes and Coleman were playing Madden, friends began planning to rob a local drug dealer—the same Oregon man who supplied Byrnes with high-grade marijuana from California. “In my mind, well, if this guy is going to get robbed anyway, I might as well profit from it,” he says.

The group—including Coleman and three other Grizzlies players—devised a plan: Byrnes would scout the dealer’s house and relay information about the money and marijuana present. Byrnes says the plan involved no violence, just a stick-up. Nobody move, nobody gets hurt.

On Nov. 7, 2007, Byrnes arrived to find a small party at the dealer’s home. He says he texted the others to call it off and went home, but they proceeded anyway. According to newspaper accounts, several men forced their way in, pistol-whipped the dealer, tied up his girlfriend and fled after the dealer escaped through a window. Police soon responded to reports of a robbery by men in ski masks.

Coleman and three players were arrested quickly; Byrnes was not initially identified. In March, he transferred to Ohio State University. As others cooperated with authorities, his role began to surface—though he says Coleman “never said a word.”

On May 10, 2008, the Missoula, Montana, newspaper reported Byrnes had been charged with four felonies, with bail set at $100,000. Facing possible prison time, it was a period of soul-searching for Byrnes as he felt the gravity of the charges facing him. “Every night you’re lying awake thinking, is this going to be the last night sleeping in a bed?” he says. “What do I tell my family? I’ve never

been involved in anything like this.”

While Byrnes eventually would lawyer up, turning himself in to receive a twoyear suspended sentence for his role, he remained friends with Coleman, who served a prison sentence in Montana before moving back to Ohio.

The Quixotic Run for Office

After dropping out of Ohio State with his life adrift and no degree several years later, Byrnes took an unpaid job with an upstart sports blog—Eleven Warriors— that was dedicated to covering Buckeye sports in 2011. Having worked his way up into a senior editor role with the growing website, Byrnes moved to Troy to join his girlfriend in 2016. After becoming involved with the local Miami County Democratic Party, Byrnes quit his journalism job in the summer of 2018 to run for state representative in a stonecold Republican district.

It was an audacious enough move that it attracted the attention of documentary director Benedict Kasulis, a fan of Byrnes’ sports writing who was familiar

with The Most Hated On, a historical fantasy novel Byrnes had written depicting a resurrected President Warren G. Harding as a cocaine dealer and highstakes gambler.

Soon, a camera crew was following Byrnes and his GOP opponent, Jena Powell, as they campaigned among the small towns and pancake-flat fields across the 80th district in rural western Ohio. “You had a former sports blogger who had written a book about Warren Harding making money off of cocaine and gambling versus a 23-year-old woman who had won a shocking primary victory, upending the more well-known Republicans in the area,” Kasulis says. “We thought it would make for a great 50-50 documentary.”

Kasulis says Byrnes was “an open book” who was seeking to get his foot in the door in Democratic politics with his long-shot run. “I think he was under the impression that taking a risk and putting his own money on the line would be a way to further his career in politics,” he says. Byrnes might have been seeking

D.J. Byrnes is blocked from following a lawmaker by a state highway patrolman at the Statehouse

D.J. Byrnes

voters’ support as he plowed more than $36,000 of his own into the campaign, but the movie shows him refusing to modify his beliefs, even to attract votes.

In one scene, Byrnes’ campaign manager tries to convince him to make a post honoring the recently deceased John McCain. But Byrnes refuses, instead ticking off reasons why he doesn’t like the maverick U.S. Senator and presidential candidate. Election Day brought a reality check when Powell smashed him by a 50-point margin. “The grace of being smoked like that is: Nothing I could have done would have mattered,” Byrnes says.

The director says he wrapped up the 2021 documentary—Touch the Boulder—with an impression of Byrnes as someone whose heart was in the right place. “He’s a caring person who wants to do the right things and has principles,” he says. “I feel like if there were more D.J. Byrneses in the world, we would have a much better place, but maybe a little more chaotic.”

The Rooster Crows Again

Returning to Columbus to lick his wounds and figure out how to support himself, Byrnes took his old blog name and began The Rooster, a subscription newsletter intended to be heavy on sports and politics. “It was basically an entertaining, somewhat alarming newsletter from a guy who would be fun to sit next to at a bar,” he says. “It was very clear from the traffic and the people who were subscribing that the political stuff was the seller.”

On a Saturday night in early October 2021, Byrnes was half in the bag when he received a text from a source at Urban Chophouse, a Short North restaurant co-owned by former Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer and entrepreneur Chris Corso, with a salacious video clip.

The clip showed Meyer—then coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars—at a restaurant with a woman who was not his wife, receiving a lap dance. Byrnes posted it to one of his burner Twitter accounts and watched as the video spread like wildfire. As the story gained traction online, Meyer apologized to his team for the distraction, calling his behavior “stupid.”

“There was a big group next to our

restaurant, and they wanted me to come over and take pictures, and I did. They were trying to pull me out onto the dance floor, screwing around, and I should’ve left,” Meyer said during a weekly news conference, downplaying the incident. Hours after Meyer’s comments, a different source sent Byrnes a second video of the now-infamous episode. The clip, taken from Snapchat, appeared to show Meyer touching the woman’s backside. Byrnes immediately posted “the second shooter” video, drawing further criticism from Jaguars owner Shahid Khan, who called Meyer’s conduct “inexcusable.” Meyer was fired 10 weeks later with the team holding a 2-11 record.

Byrnes’ role in exposing Meyer’s actions became public after The Wall Street Journal published an interview with him under the headline, “The Electrician Who Shocked the NFL With Videos of Urban Meyer.” Byrnes says he knew the interview could backfire, but he agreed to it anyway. “I mean, how many times is The Wall Street Journal going to hit me up?” he says.

In the aftermath, Byrnes was fired from his union job as an apprentice electrician, being told the reason was that he posted a photo to social media of work equipment while on a work site, violating a nondisclosure agreement. The job loss accelerated what Byrnes describes as a long slide into alcoholism and cocaine abuse. Even a serious car accident while drunk in July 2020 didn’t slow down Byrnes, who was living in Franklinton with

a liquor store across the street. “If you’re ever hanging out in a liquor store and complaining because the clerk is three minutes late—and you know all the other alcoholics that are mad—you might have a problem on your hands,” he says.

A former co-worker at Eleven Warriors confronted him about his substance use problems in the summer of 2022. “He said, ‘It’s getting unfair to us that you’re asking us to have a front-row seat to you basically trying to kill yourself,’ ” Byrnes says. The intervention resonated. “I was lucky to have friends who stayed with me and a partner who can hold me accountable,” he says.

A few months into his sobriety, Byrnes was tested when his old friend from Montana, Coleman, was killed after being sucker-punched during a fight outside a bar on North High Street. Byrnes was around the corner from a South Side bar when he got the news. Who would have blamed him if he tossed back a few drinks?

But instead of drinking, he says he used Coleman’s death as fuel to stay sober. “What an insult that would be to him—to use this as an excuse for my own selfish behavior,” he says.

Going to Work at the Statehouse Anyway Byrnes poured more time into his blog and began making regular trips to the Statehouse in 2023 and 2024, developing his ambush interview style after seeing a blogger known as the Tennessee Holler pursue lawmakers in that state.

State Representative Melanie Miller asks for help from a state highway patrolman to avoid questions from D.J. Byrnes.

“The wages of my past sins are that now I have to hang out at the Statehouse and fraternize with the worst people alive,” Byrnes says.

Like his political nemesis President Donald Trump, Byrnes has a knack for giving others memorable nicknames in his newsletter. Columbus Mayor Andy Ginther is “Mayor Suburbs” for his love of golf, while grandfatherly Gov. Mike DeWine is “Governor Sleepy Tea” and Secretary of State Frank LaRose is “Third-Place Frank” for his disappointing showing in the 2024 U.S. Senate primary. Reliable GOP voters in Ohio are “hog voters,” while Trump is “President Business Deals,” and one running joke is that House Speaker Matt Huffman doesn’t have an alibi for his whereabouts on April 19, 1995, the date of the deadly Oklahoma City bombing.

Alongside his frequent insults, Byrnes also employs the tools of a traditional reporter by making records requests, suing in the Court of Claims to pry records open, and developing a network of sources in both parties willing to dish dirt. Asked how he categorizes what he does in his newsletter, Byrnes calls himself “a concerned citizen who commits acts of journalism.”

As Byrnes has become a regular presence at the Statehouse in the last several years, lawmakers and other Statehouse operators are learning to adapt to his high-pressure tactics and impertinent questions. “You gotta engage with him,” says one veteran lobbyist. “If you don’t, then he feasts on that and doubles down.”

While some lawmakers would rather walk the plank than talk to Byrnes, others see an opportunity to broaden their audience. One Republican lawmaker who grew friendly with Byrnes was former Kenton Rep. Jon Cross, who Byrnes nicknamed “the Kenton Soldier” for his strong support of public schools.

“I think the new media has finally shown up at the Statehouse,” says Cross, now a lobbyist. He advises lawmakers to calmly answer questions rather than fleeing the camera. “You are a public person, and you have to learn to be ready to communicate in different forms of media. He asked me tough questions, and he asked questions that were a little goofy and

stuff I didn’t really want to talk about, but you have to know how to pivot. It’s a new part of the game.”

At Democrat-run Columbus City Hall—where the Rooster broke news days before Election Day about an $85,000 settlement for harsh treatment paid out to a former legislative aide to Council Member Emmanuel Remy— they have learned to engage.

“I don’t think it has particularly served people well to ignore him,” says Mike Brown, former chief of staff for council president Shannon Hardin. “That’s part of his fuel. He wants you to ignore him.”

Brown says he finds Byrnes’ newsletter to “not be overly fact-based” but entertaining. “I do find him to be inflating things sometimes and taking things people are feeding him and making issues out of them,” Brown says. “I think he publishes before proving things, but that said, he’s not always wrong. He tosses grenades and invites you to disprove him.”

Longtime Senate director of communications John Fortney, a frequent target for Byrnes’ vitriolic reporting, says he considers the Rooster to be a “security threat” and someone best ignored. “I think it’s one thing to want to interview members. It’s another thing to want to constantly get in a person’s face, antagonize and stalk members.”

Calling Byrnes a “narcissistic nihilist” who “hates everybody and everything in a position of power,” Fortney put the blogger on blast. “He’s not really a rooster, he’s a chicken,” Fortney says. “I think he’s been a coward his whole life, and this is his 15 minutes of fame. But I think his mental state really generates a lot of concern for security here at the Statehouse.”

Told some view him as a security threat, Byrnes says he needs only the protection of the First Amendment to do his work. “I’m a habitual line-stepper, but I’m not a violent guy,” he says. “I would never put my hands on someone, because as soon as I did, then this would be all over.” In Franklin County, Byrnes pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor criminal damaging stemming from a drunken property crime in 2012. And he was arrested for misconduct at an emergency during the 2020 George Floyd protests in Columbus for ducking under a police line outside the Statehouse. That misdemeanor charge was eventually dropped. Former lawmaker Bill Seitz, who served for decades in the legislature before stepping down in 2025, agrees that Byrnes is “a little too much in your face.” He says the Rooster’s stories laden with palace intrigue can be hit or miss. “It’s going for the sensational, and sometimes you’re on the money, and sometimes you’re not.”

D.J. Byrnes attempts to interview lawmakers on an elevator at the Statehouse.

Seitz says he sees hints of Byrnes’ old substance use problem in his dogged approach. “So many people with addictive personalities, when they stop one thing, they move onto the next rush,” Seitz says. “For him, it looks like it’s sensational and cynical journalism.”

Byrnes reserves most of his criticism of the establishment media for the C suite. “My beef is with the publishers,” he says. But most reporters seem to view him warily, and with good reason. He frequently calls them out in his blog and on social media, and in 2023, he confronted a politics writer for Cleveland.com in a grocery store on camera, criticizing the writer’s coverage.

But not all mainstream journalists hold Byrnes at a distance. Former reporter Sandy Theis, a Statehouse bureau chief for 16 years at a pair of major Ohio newspapers, was an early paid subscriber to Byrnes’ newsletter and calls herself a big fan of his work. “He arrived as the need for watchdogs was rising, but the number of reporters has been shrinking,” Theis says. “Sure, he sometimes assigns rude nicknames to folks and covers and behaves in ways that would get most traditional reporters fired. But he’s a blogger who breaks important news—a lot of it.”

As examples, Theis cites Byrnes’ reporting on Ohio State’s controversial “crypto bro” commencement speaker in 2024 as well as his repeated questioning of politicians in both parties about their ties to billionaire Les Wexner in the wake of the scandal surrounding convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The Right to Be in Public Spaces

A short statement from the executive

board of the 133-year-old Ohio Legislative Correspondents Association (OLCA) noted Byrnes is not a credentialed member of OLCA. “However, all citizens have a right to be in public spaces, including public areas of the Ohio Statehouse,” the statement concluded.

But exactly where the public space ends and the private space begins is a matter of evolving interpretation. In January 2025, powerful House Speaker Matt Huffman closed the lobby outside the House chamber to everyone except those with floor privileges—lawmakers, staff and media credentialed by OLCA— citing security and efficiency concerns. However, many wondered if it wasn’t at least partially a reaction to Byrnes’ persistent interviews outside the chamber doors. “That’s actually a big deal,” says a longtime lobbyist. “If it wasn’t Huffman doing that, people would actually complain about it.”

And on Feb. 18, Senate security staffers restricted Byrnes from standing near the side doorway into the chamber, telling him he was “creating a bottleneck” in the doorway. Shot back Byrnes: “You need to tell [Senate President] Rob McColley he’s about to find out what hard ball looks like.”

A blow to Byrnes’ reach came in late January, when he was booted from X after posting that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem “will have to die in prison. No other way around it.”

The post was in response to a report that Noem’s agency would be investigating the Jan. 29 killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis at the hands of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

While the Rooster may have been

booted from X, he can still go viral as quick as a right hook with more than 30,000 followers on Instagram. A Feb. 10 video he posted to his account of Ohio State assistant professor Luke Perez assaulting an unaffiliated cameraman quickly racked up millions of views. The incident earned Perez an immediate suspension from the university and misdemeanor assault charges.

The incident happened after Byrnes asked former Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee questions about his connections to the Dr. Richard Strauss abuse case and Ohio State’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

The furor over the professor’s attack on the cameraman prompted Senate spokesman Fortney to write a Columbus Dispatch letter-to-the-editor calling Byrnes and the hoodie-wearing cameraman “clowns” and mentioning his own self-defense training. “The professor had a second to act, and he responded reasonably to defend himself and the people who might still have been inside the classroom,” wrote Fortney of the incident, in which the blogger, who was holding a cell phone, did not touch Perez. “He dislodged what Mr. Hoodie was holding in a well-trained way and took him to the floor. When the threat was over, he let him up. It looked a lot like the drills we practiced in Krav Maga.”

As the Statehouse elevator doors open one day in mid-February, Byrnes steps into a crowd of a half-dozen people and displays a folder with pages from the Jeffrey Epstein file highlighting Wexner’s potential involvement to Rep. Melanie Miller, an Ashland Republican. “Rep. Miller, do you have anything to say? Now this is a serious question,” begins Byrnes as Miller quickly exits the elevator. “You need to stop following me, sir,” says Miller, looking over at a uniformed Ohio Highway State Trooper standing nearby. “I’m gonna go this way,” Miller says as she begins to walk up a flight of steps, trying to escape Byrnes.

As Byrnes returns to his line of questioning, following Miller up the steps, a second burly trooper blocks his path. “She just told me to,” says the trooper to Byrnes. “You can’t—I’m struggling here, dawg. Dawg, you can’t,” pleads Byrnes. “That’s not how the First Amendment works!” ◆

D.J. Byrnes talks with Rep. Jamie Callender

home & style

PHOTO BY TIM JOHNSON

Creative Haven

Two artists turned a Fairfield County grange hall into a home studio, Page 62.

Artistic Escape

Artists Michelle and Nathaniel Stitzlein live and breathe art in their Baltimore home studio.

When someone’s lived in a home for awhile, it becomes more than a place to sleep—it’s a shrine to the life its residents have lived. Michelle and Nathaniel Stitzlein’s combined home and art studio, tucked off a quiet street in Fairfield County, is a vivid example.

The artist couple bought the Baltimore house at auction in 2000, the year they got married. It was formerly a grange hall where farmers and the community gathered for discussions, dances and dinners. Nathaniel spent part of his childhood in

Story by Lucy Clark | Photos by Tim

Baltimore and remembers attending 4-H club meetings in the building he now calls home.

The bottom floor, where guests used to dine after gatherings, now serves as the primary living space. The kitchen is more or less the same, including the cabinets, countertops and appliances. The rest of the space was wide open when the Stitzleins bought it, save for the two bathrooms. They built two bedrooms, while remnants of the home’s past life linger—a bit of tape that held balloons on the ceiling, or the scrap of cardboard that once

served as a menu.

Clever furniture arrangement makes the 2,500-square-foot open living space feel comfortably organized without turning claustrophobic. Bookshelves that Nathaniel and his brothers built section the right half of the room into a personal office and library, the left half containing the combined living room-dining room-kitchen.

The bottom floor is undeniably inyour-face cool. Michelle and Nathaniel’s collections are tantamount to a trip to Disneyland for the tchotchke-lover.

Johnson

Michelle and Nathaniel Stitzlein in their upper floor art studios.

Painted masks join fun statues and a cathouse designed to look like a retro television (which, Michelle affirms, their three cats Tagua, Marfa and Meryl do use).

Don’t confuse the volume of items for clutter, though. Michelle attests—and Nathaniel confirms—that each item has been meticulously and intentionally placed in its spot. “If he moves something half an inch, I move it back,” Michelle laughs. “That’s really what my artwork is—the process of arranging things until I feel it’s in the right spot.”

The bedrooms are rich with tapestries, unique pillows and woven baskets from India, South Africa and Peru. Michelle’s jewelry collection containing many selfmade items ranges from bracelets fashioned from grinders, belts and buttons, to necklaces made from similarly reused materials. They add to the funky, eclectic

energy the whole house carries.

The owners’ artwork is on display throughout the home, such as the flower Michelle made to introduce greenery into the lower level space, or a jointly created piece inspired by Polish pajaki mobiles made from “byproducts from the production of templates at … Timely Products,” she says.

Much of the decor—globes, ceramics, African meat platters, typewriters, baskets, comic books, textiles, shoes—is the work of methodical, artistic curation over 26 years of marriage.

Art studios on the home’s top floor used to be the gathering space and dance floor of the grange hall. There, Michelle creates sculptures with recycled materials including garden hoses. The hall’s stage is now home to supplies and inspirations, including a large collection

Photos clockwise from top left: close-up of one of Michelle Stitzlein’s pieces; library featuring globe collection; artwork by Michelle Stitzlein; antique canisters on display; blanket collection; carved fish by South African artist John Sithole on display in bathroom

of colorful Afghans and textiles. Shelves are organized by color and shape to help with visualization.

Those interested in seeing Michelle’s work in person can do so at the Columbus Museum of Art’s 2026 Greater Columbus Arts Council Visual Arts Awards Exhibition, which will run April 15-Sept. 20. Nathaniel’s half of the upstairs studio space is full of natural elements that inspire him, including the walnuts he harvests from their backyard to make ink that he then uses in his artwork. Large drafting tables hold books and supplies, as if left behind after a long painting

session. The studio itself feels almost as painterly as the artwork being created.

On my wintery visit, the bright teal exterior of the home was a colorful, creative haven from the white waste outside. In the warmer months, though, the couple makes the most of their 1.76 acres by cultivating pollinator gardens prioritizing native plants.

“When it’s warmer, I’m outside all the time,” Nathaniel says. “There’s not a separation between what we do in the studio and our living space. It’s all encompassing. It’s always fueling that desire to look, observe, be in awe.” ◆

in bathroom; vintage tools and brushes; entrance to lower level

Photos clockwise from top right: Textile collection in primary bedroom; work in progress in Michelle Stitzlein’s studio; living room; collection of crosses displayed

Home & Style | What’s Hot

Disrupting the Status Quo

Joy, acceptance and creativity are what’s en vogue at a Downtown boutique catering to transgender women and beyond.

By Lucy Clark

Glamazon Jayne Fashion & Footwear is in the business of spreading joy. That’s apparent from the giant RuPaul painting greeting you outside the Pearl Street boutique to the glittery, eclectic ensemble of clothing and accessories for sale inside.

The store opened in June 2025 as Columbus’ first and, as of now, only clothing store catering to transgender women. The curated stock includes body enhancing accessories (like hip and breast pads), clothing in diverse sizes and shoes that are exclusively women’s size 9 or larger.

The store aims to be more than a place to pad your wardrobe with fun pieces. It’s designed to be a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community and a reminder that they have no intention of going anywhere.

SHORTHAND

GLAMAZON JAYNE FASHION & FOOTWEAR

51 N. Pearl St., Columbus 614-549-7256

Glamazonjayne.com

Hours: 12-8 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday; 1-5 p.m. Sunday

If you go: Glamazon Jayne will host its 2026 Spring Showcase Fashion Show with live music and drag performances 4-7 p.m. April 19 at Buckeye Bourbon House inside the Residence Inn (36 E. Gay St.), featuring original designs from the Glamazon Jayne team and other designers as part of a fundraiser for Columbus Fashion Rebellion. Tickets and more information can be found on Instagram @glamazonjayne.store

Glamazon Jayne came to be when co-founder Halo Koziuk was laid off and struggling to find a job. Halo’s mother, Janus Koziuk, says they were between two options: Move to a rural area and start homesteading or open the boutique.

The location near the Ohio Statehouse was important, Janus says. “We’re in the midst of the lawmakers’ daily lives. They have to see us when they’re getting lunch, when they’re parking their cars. We’re a part of this community, we’re a part of this economy and they cannot erase us.”

More than clothing Columbus’ transgender community, Janus says the shop also fills the gaps left vacant since the closing of the secondhand clothing store Rag-O-Rama and the adult shop The Garden, which were frequented by drag queens and other performers.

Glamazon Jayne sources its stock primarily from people selling or donating clothes, and a rack by the front door displays garments made by local artists and

designers, including Onyx Winters, who serves as the store’s chief marketing officer. Pieces for sale by local artists also decorate the walls.

From the donations unfit to sell, the employees (who are mostly volunteers) select items for a monthly “free store.” Beyond clothes, it also includes hygiene items, craft supplies, pantry goods and more, all available for free.

The store space is small but mighty. A sewing shop in the back is where Janus, a lifelong seamstress and designer, offers alteration and tailoring services. Glamazon Jayne also offers custom design and styling services, and it hosts the nonprofit Columbus Fashion Rebellion, which focuses on health, housing, education, art and justice.

“There are a lot of trans people who are very intentional in how they dress, and that intentionality goes a long way in shaping the world around you,” Halo says. “A lot of culture is shaped through fashion, and it can be used to disrupt the status quo. I think it has its part in really changing the world.” ◆

PHOTO BY TIM JOHNSON

Halo Koziuk, left, with mother Janus Koziuk

Top 25 Home Sales

Feb. 1-28, 2026

PRICE ADDRESS

$3.7M 3940 Ebrington Rd., New Albany

$2.1M 2295 Oxford Rd., Upper Arlington

$1.79M 3450 River Rhone Ln., Columbus

$1.75M 308 S. Parkview Ave., Bexley

$1.61M 2167 Fairfax Rd., Upper Arlington

$1.6M 1023 City Park Ave., Columbus

$1.55M 3920 Lewis Link, New Albany

$1.53M 4640 Donegal Cliffs Dr., Dublin

$1.43M 2320 Red Oak St., Lewis Center

$1.35M 34 Woodland Ave., Columbus

$1.22M 590 Keyes Ln., Worthington

$1.21M 2070 Ellington Rd., Upper Arlington

$1.14M 8216 W. Shore Dr., Westerville

$1.13M 2820 Colts Neck Rd., Blacklick

$1.1M 1450 Arlington Ave., Marble Cliff

$1.05M 4160 Daventry Rd., Upper Arlington

$1M 1112 Elmwood Ave., Grandview Heights

$997,000 419 Westland Ave., Bexley

$990,000 6618 Audubon Ave., Hilliard

$980,000 7580 Skarlocken Green, New Albany

$940,000 3708 Romnay Rd., Upper Arlington

$879,500 714 S. 6th St., Columbus

$871,310 5099 Maple Dr., Lewis Center

$851,000 2463 Brixton Rd., Upper Arlington

$850,000 1744 Pinnacle Club Dr., Grove City

food & drink

PHOTO BY TIM JOHNSON

Sample the Streets of Mexico La Loma serves an authentic Mexican menu, including street corn topped with cheese, chipotle mayo and chili powder. Explore more of its offerings, Page 74.

Home Grown

The first step for many food businesses isn’t culinary school—it’s the home kitchen. Meet three local producers whose homemade goods grew into something bigger.

By Linda Lee Baird

The ultimate compliment for a home cook might be getting asked the question, “Have you considered selling this?” While many of us brush off the idea, it’s led some Columbus residents to found successful food businesses. From bread to baklava to Haitian hand patties, recipes developed at home have turned into something more for these local entrepreneurs.

Bread Pirate Roberts

Though many newly minted sourdough bakers hung up their aprons soon after the COVID-19 pandemic waned, the baking itch grew into something more for Anson Clement. An auto mechanic by trade, Clement turned his burgeoning sourdough skills into a cottage baking business from his home kitchen called Bread Pirate Roberts. Clement says he started baking about six months before COVID hit, but its arrival changed his approach. “Suddenly, I had time, so I did a lot more,” he says.

His food industry network started him on the path toward production for sale. First, his friend from Three Creeks Produce of Groveport invited him to sell via its CSA. “That was really the first inkling that I could do more,” Clement says.

Through Three Creeks, he met the founders of Local Millers Flour, which led to a “co-branded partnership” where Clement used their flour in his breads, splitting the profits from the farmstand sales. Then, he was invited to bake for Emmett’s Café in Old North Columbus. “Suddenly I had a regular weekly bake doing that,” he says.

Today, he’s baking roughly 40 loves every week for these partners from his home,

Food & Drink | Industry

sometimes getting up as early as 5:30 a.m. to mix the dough, which rises and ferments over 36 hours before it’s baked.

While he’s experimented with other baked goods—the Bread Pirate Roberts Instagram account shows the occasional cookie or pepperoni roll—Clement feels he’s found a model that works atop his full-time job and family responsibilities. “I am just kind of in a groove where I’ve found a loaf that I’m happy with, and I’m just hammering those things out a couple of days a week.”

Bibi’s Patties

COVID also was a backdrop to Bibi’s Patties—Joseline Celestin’s savory Haitian hand pies. Celestin’s sister Rosie Dorce Johnson and her husband—a vegetarian—left New York City during the worst

clockwise from top left: Anson Clement delivers sourdough to Emmett’s Cafe; walnut baklava gift box from PureBaklava; chicken, beef and veggie patties from Bibi’s Patties; Bibi’s Patties owner Joseline Celestin

of the pandemic, decamping to Celestin’s Columbus home.

Celestin recalls reframing her meal planning to accommodate her brotherin-law’s diet. “I was trying different recipes, and I ended up making these patties. And Rosie and her husband [were] like, ‘Oh my God, these are amazing. You might be able to sell them.’ ”

They offered to help Celestin get started. Google research led to cottage food trainings, but Celestin soon realized she’d need to expand beyond what she could do at home after surveys from

Photos by Tim Johnson

Photos

TRY IT YOURSELF

Bread Pirate Roberts’ sourdough can be purchased through Instagram by messaging @the_breadpirateroberts.

Visit Bibi’s Patties at 6086 Huntley Road. The restaurant is open Tuesday-Sunday, check hours and menu at bibispatties.com.

Order PureBaklava online from purebaklava.com and find it locally at Weiland’s Market, Littleton’s Market and Vincenzo’s Convenient Elegance.

potential customers indicated “that people love beef,” she says. (Meat products, which require strict temperature controls, are not eligible to be sold as cottage foods.) Instead, Celestin began producing her patties in a commissary kitchen at 1400 Food Lab while building a client base at farmers markets.

The patties proved popular enough that demand grew beyond seasonal markets. She looked at opening a stall in a food hall, but eventually she found an option that worked even better: A restaurant on Huntley Road, which she opened in April 2025. The menu grew along with her business, with several traditional Haitian platters available alongside the patties.

Through these changes, Celestin’s customers have stayed with her. “We have these wonderful people from the farmers market that come in and buy food,” she says. “They supported me.”

While Celestin still holds a job as a service ambassador at OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital, she says she envisions Bibi’s Patties growing in a couple of years. “Maybe we can open a second store, share more of the community. Because a lot of people, when they come in, they are happy to try Bibi’s Patties,” she says.

PureBaklava

Stephen Zonars had a recipe for baklava that his grandmother brought to the U.S. from Greece in 1921. “We had made this baklava and given it away to family and friends and neighbors,” Zonars says. “And they all said the same thing: ‘It’s the best I’ve ever had, and you should start a business.’ ”

They gave it a try. In the early years, the business—then called the Greek Lady’s Baklava—was invited into the Cheryl’s Cookies holiday catalog in 2005. After his retirement from serving as the VP of consumer shows at The Columbus Dispatch in 2021—and with years of recipe tweaks under his belt—Zonars and his wife were able give more attention to the business, renamed PureBaklava.

The early days of the relaunch included Zonars and two contractors working in his home kitchen to handcraft the product. Eventually, he had his kitchen inspected by the Ohio Department of Agriculture, which allowed for retail and online sales. His product has since reached all 50 states and is available locally at places like Weiland’s, Littleton’s Market and Vincenzo’s Convenient Elegance. Zonars also increased seasonal production by utilizing space at Columbus State Community College’s Mitchell Hall.

The baklava chef remains committed to building his customer base, offering tastings at grocery stores and donating baklava to high-profile events including Franklin Park Conservatory’s Hat Day and a Red White and Boom VIP party. He estimates he’s given away over 7,000 pieces of baklava at these events, and he still sees room to grow.

No doubt, his yiayia would be proud to see where her recipe has taken her grandson. ◆

COURTESY PUREBAKLAVA

Food & Drink | Short Order

Colorful Cuisine

Find an extensive selection of Mexican fare and desserts from the owners’ Akron bakery at La Loma in Upper Arlington.

By Linda Lee Baird

Piles of snow surrounded La Loma’s parking lot when I visited for lunch in January. I needed refuge from the record-breaking winter weather, and since I wasn’t in a position to jet off to Mexico, I thought I’d at least try some of its food.

The Upper Arlington restaurant offered the respite I was looking for from the moment I walked inside.

Colorful lamps line the ceiling, matched by the colors that arrived at my table: Red and green salsa, plus a creamy coleslaw came with fresh chips for me to munch on as I perused the menu. And given its size—a whopping 22 pages—I was glad to have something to snack on.

The red salsa, made from guajillo chiles, tomatoes and jalapenos, was similar to what I’ve been served at other Mexican restaurants. The milder green salsa, made with avocado, lime and cilantro, was my favorite of the bunch, while the slaw delivered a cool, crisp bite.

I flipped to the lunch specials and ordered an egg dish since it was still early in the day. Lunch Special 11 offers eggs served one of three ways—con chorizo, a la Mexicana or rancheros—for $16. My rancheros came out quickly, smothered in a warm sauce and served with beans,

SHORTHAND

La Loma

3051 Northwest Blvd.

Upper Arlington 614-874-1190

lalomaohio.com/columbus

Open daily for lunch and dinner

If you go: The restaurant features an extensive menu, including lunch and chef’s specials, robust seafood selections and desserts from the owner’s Akron bakery.

rice and corn tortillas.

A week later, I returned for takeout—al pastor ($3.50), shrimp ($4) and chorizo ($3.50) tacos. I was thrilled chips and salsa were included, though this time, a smoky chipotle salsa replaced the slaw.

The al pastor was a standout dish, served with fresh pineapple that added a sweet tang to the zippy pork. La Loma’s owner, Blanca Saucedo, says it’s one of the house specialties. The other is marinated beef barbacoa.

Saucedo started La Loma in Akron,

where there’s an adjacent grocery, meat market and bakery. She expanded first to Canton and then Columbus in summer 2024. Saucedo brings desserts from the Akron bakery to her Northwest Boulevard restaurant twice a week. While I didn’t get to try them this time, some combination of the churros, flan and tres leches cake ($8 each) will be part of my order next time I visit. ◆

Birria tacos

Al pastor tacos with chips and salsa

PHOTOS BY TIM JOHNSON

let’s eat

WHERE TO DINE THIS MONTH

Editor’s Note: Please call restaurants to check hours and menu availability.

$$$$ Very expensive, $30 and higher

$$$ Spendy, $21–$29

$$ Moderate, $13–$20

$ Affordable, $12 and under

NEW

Restaurant has opened within the last few months.

Outdoor Seating

B Breakfast BR Brunch L Lunch D Dinner

2026 Best New Restaurant

2025 Best Restaurant

Let’s Eat is Columbus Monthly’s guide to area restaurants. The list is updated monthly with picks from our editors. Send updates and suggestions to letters@columbusmonthly.com.

AMERICAN

Abner’s Casual Dining

Home-cooked comfort food served in a relaxed setting. Menu includes a variety of burgers, sandwiches, country-fried steak and breakfast items like omelets and pancakes. 4051 Main St., Hilliard, 614-876-2649. BLD $$

Asterisk Supper Club

Owner Megan Ada offers teatime and suppertime in a bibliophile’s dream atmosphere. Craft cocktails are served at a handsome bar, while the eclectic menu ranges from fancy grilled cheese to lamb chops. 14 N. State St., Westerville, 614-776-4633. LD $$

Cameron’s American Bistro

Open since 1993, Cameron’s is the flagship for Cameron Mitchell Restaurants. The restaurant’s chef-driven menu showcases the diversity of American cuisine with fresh seafood, pastas, steaks and chops. 2185 W. Dublin-Granville Rd., Northwest Side, 614885-3663 D $$$$

Dempsey’s Food & Spirits

Gussied-up breakfast and pub fare for Downtown lunchers and condo-dwellers alike. Serves traditional Irish Breakfast, threeegg omelets, burgers, pot roast and crab cakes. 346 S. High St., Downtown, 614-8690001. BBRLD $$

Visit columbus monthly.com to read about the latest restaurant openings.

Ethyl & Tank

An invention of A&R Creative Group, this arcade, bar, restaurant and coffee shop serves up wings, tacos, burgers and more. 19 E. 13th Ave., Campus, 614-817-6997. BRLD $$

Harvest Bar + Kitchen

From the owners of Harvest Pizzeria, these locations offer the same wood-kissed pies plus salads, sandwiches, burgers and more. 940 S. Front St., Brewery District, 614-9477950; 2885 N. High St., Clintonville, 614947-7133. LD $$

Plank’s on Broadway

Grove City’s oldest continuous business is a great place to kick back with a cold one. The menu includes classic American fare like burgers, pizza, wings and more. 4022 Broadway, Grove City, 614-875-7800. LD $

The Rossi Kitchen & Bar

This Short North hot spot offers a menu of gourmet pizzas, lamb lollipops and pastas in a new-meets-old atmosphere straight out of Manhattan. 895 N. High St., Short North, 614-525-0624. D $$$

SOW Plated

With a “food is medicine” mantra, this handsomely designed restaurant in The Shops on Lane Avenue features a health-conscious menu and cold-pressed cocktails. 1625 W. Lane Ave., Upper Arlington, 614-826-0028. BRLD $$$

Third & Hollywood

Third & Hollywood

The Northstar family’s ambitious, upscale lounge serves contemporary American cuisine, with the Hollywood Burger, Mexicali Steak Salad, slow-roasted chicken and updated classic cocktails. 1433 W. Third Ave., Grandview, 614-488-0303. BRLD $$$

The Wine Bistro

Thick block tables, dark wood and autumn colors create a California-wine-country atmosphere at this local establishment. The menu includes small plates, fondue, bruschetta and antipasti. 1750 W. Lane Ave., Upper Arlington, 614-485-1750. LD $$$

CARIBBEAN

Ava’s Taste of the Caribbean

Authentic Caribbean cuisine is the focus of this carryout spot, with jerk chicken, curry goat, fried plantains and more. 2836 W. Broad St., West Side, 614-266-9308. LD $$

Dave’s Caribbean Food

Jamaican cuisine including jerk chicken, oxtail, curry chicken and more. Food Truck, Citywide. LD $$

Ena’s Caribbean Kitchen

Founded more than 20 years ago by matriarch Vinell “Ena” Hayles, a native of Jamaica, this Linden area restaurant offers authentic Caribbean fare like jerk chicken, callaloo and curry goat. 2444 Cleveland Ave., North Linden, 614-262-0988. BRLD $$

Island Vibes Restaurant

A small, counter-serve eatery offering a selection of traditional Jamaican dishes like oxtail, jerk chicken, plantains and curry goat. 1558 Cleveland Ave, South Linden, 614-4054821. LD $$$

Val’s of the Caribbean

A family-owned eatery serving Caribbean specialties like saltfish fritters, jerk chicken, oxtail and goat curry. 6820 Refugee Rd., Canal Winchester, 614-834-4403. LD $

CHINESE

ChiliSpot

This casual restaurant in Kenny Centre is one of the city’s best options for authentic Sichuan cuisine. Think: mapo tofu, Chongqing popcorn chicken, cumin lamb, dry pot dishes and more. 1178 Kenny Rd., Northwest Side, 614-929-5565. LD $$

Chuan Jiang Hao Zi

From the owners of bygone dim sum destination Fortune Chinese comes this University City restaurant featuring both American Chinese and authentic Chinese menus. House specialties include fish fillet in Sichuan green pepper broth, mapo lobster and tofu, spicy dry pot beef and fried spicy intestine. A dim sum menu is also available. 496 Ackerman Rd., Northwest Side, 614372-5520. LD $$

CoCo Cuisine

CoCo Hot Pot expanded in 2024, adding authentic Cantonese dim sum to its extensive hot pot menu. Six colorful varieties of soup dumplings stand out among the offerings. 751 Bethel Rd., Northwest Side, 614-5020036. LD $$

Fiery Sky Asian Kitchen

This new addition to the Bethel Road

corridor specializes in Chinese dry pot cuisine—think hot pot without the broth, but with the open flame. The extensive menu includes over 100 dishes with a full bar coming soon. 1450 Bethel Rd., Northwest Side, 614-670-5775 LD $$

Hunan Lion Chinese Restaurant

A longtime Columbus staple serving Hunan, Thai and Sichuan cuisines in a whitetablecloth setting, with spring rolls, pad thai, lo mein, Peking duck, Hunan beef and more. 2038 Bethel Rd., Northwest Side, 614-4593933. LD $$

Jade’s Chinese Restaurant

This Chinese restaurant serves all the classic favorites, with General Tso’s chicken, pepper steak, sweet and sour pork, and Thai curries. 8071 E Broad St., Reynoldsburg, 614-8683432. LD $$

Joy’s Village

Joy’s serves a mixture of traditional American-Chinese dishes and more authentic Asian fare, on a large menu that includes a teriyaki and kids’ section. 574 W Central Ave, Delaware, 740-363-6755. LD $

Lan Zhou Noodles

Affectionately known as Chinese Beef Noodle Soup, this casual eatery serves excellent pork dumplings, Sichuan dishes and soups such as tomato and egg noodle, Chongqing noodle and more. 10 E. 12th Ave., Campus, 614-817-1360. LD $$

Wing’s Restaurant

This longtime family-owned Chinese eatery boasts one of the best Scotch selections in the city, with spicy noodles, Mongolian beef and wor sue gai. 2801 E. Main St., Bexley, 614-236-8261. LD $$

INDIAN/PAKISTANI

Awadh India Restaurant

Chef Anand Kumar provides authentic Lucknowi cuisine with fresh ingredients. The ample menu includes kebabs, Awadhi-style biryani, a large variety of curries and Indian breads. 2584 Bethel Rd., Northwest Side, 614-914-8884; 8736 Moreland St., Powell, 740-917-5306; 3011 Olentangy River Rd., Campus, 614-670-4730. LD $$

Cumin & Curry Indian Kitchen

This Indian kitchen features food for vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike, including a weekend lunch buffet. 4155 Morse Crossing, Easton, 614-470-6975. LD $$

Dosa Corner

This affordable, family-owned South Indian spot specializes in expertly thin, pancakelike dosas, uthappam and vegetarian curries. 1077 Old Henderson Rd., Northwest Side, 614-459-5515. LD $$

Food Street

Columbus is the first outpost for this New Jersey-based restaurant specializing

in street food from Lahore, Pakistan. The menu is full of Pakastani and Americanfusion dishes including paratha rolls, chaat, burgers and unique handhelds. House-made traditional drinks round out the menu. 3373 N. High St., Clintonville, 614-670-4061. LD $

Rooh

This San Francisco import serves highend, “progressive Indian” fare. Go for the inventive cocktails, buzzy atmosphere and conversation-stoking dishes, such as sweet potato chaat, paneer pinwheels and lamb shank nihari. 685 N. High St., Short North, 614-972-8678. D $$$

Taj on Fifth

Taj on Fifth stands out among Indian restaurants for its small, well executed menu and full bar with cocktails incorporating Indian spices and flavors. If you’re new to Indian cuisine, the chicken tikka masala and chicken makhani are sure to make you a fast fan. 1021 W. Fifth Ave., Fifth by Northwest, 614-696-4844. D $$$

JAPANESE

The 1126 Restaurant

This cozy and chic sushi restaurant offers an assortment of appetizers, sushi, udon, hibachi and tempura entrées alongside plenty of Japanese whisky and sake options. 1126 N. High St., Short North, 614725-3435. LD $$$

Haru Omakase

Omakase dining leaves the menu selections up to the chef. At Haru, the multicourse sushi tasting menu bursts with flavor and is served with exquisite touches from chef Yudi Makassau. Snag a seat at the chef’s table to hear from Makassau himself about your meal. 2027 Polaris Pkwy., Polaris, 614696-9682. D $$$$

NEW Hokkaido Revolving Sushi Bar

Come hungry to Hokkaido, where all you can eat sushi, ramen, poke, hibachi and more are served daily. Visit for up to two hours and enjoy the wealth of offerings. 1466 Bethel Rd., Northwest, 614-947-0036. LD $$$$

Jony’s Sushi

The owners of South Village Grille opened this takeout sushi shop right next door. The colorful shop offers appetizers, nigiri, sashimi, classic sushi rolls and a variety of interesting specialty rolls. 195 Thurman Ave., German Village, 614-826-0491. LD $$

Kooma Restaurant

A sleek sushi spot near the North Market serving a variety of creative sushi rolls like the Kooma Roll, Buckeye Roll and spicy tuna roll. 37 Vine St., Short North, 614-224-3239. LD $$

Red Rabbit Ramen

Located at Honest Friend Brewing, this Japanese yatai cart serves yakitori and bowls of scratch-made Japanese ramen. 2112 S. High St., South Side. D $$

Rooh

Tensuke Express

A modern and authentic noodle shop located next to Tensuke Market and Sushi Ten in Kenny Centre’s Japan Marketplace, with udon, soba, ramen and curry rice. 1155 Old Henderson Rd., Northwest Side, 614-451-4010. LD $$

LATIN AMERICAN

Arepazo

Owners Carlos and Carolina Gutierrez serve excellent Venezuelan and Colombian fare and cocktails in a hip atmosphere. Don’t miss the arepas, patacón and lomo saltado. 515 S. High St., Brewery District, 614-914-8878. LD $$

Barroluco

Owner Omar D’Angelo has expanded his popular Barroluco Argentine Food Truck by opening a Downtown restaurant. Food truck favorites such as paella and empanadas are joined by new dishes including carne asada, the Barroluco Sandwich and the Lomito Sandwich. 47 N. Pearl St., Downtown, 614450-0777; Food Truck, Citywide. L $$

El Pulgarcito Salvadoran Restaurant

El Pulgarcito offers several different Salvadoran and Latin American dishes, such as the restaurant’s famous pupusas. 5133 E. Main St., East Side, 614-626-0063. LD $$

Mezcla

Mezcla’s menu—divided into vegetarian, seafood and meat sections—is easy to follow but complex in scope. Expect elevated Latin American cuisine served on dishes made for sharing. The original cocktails, many incorporating tequila or mezcal, add a punchy bite. 1022 Summit St., Italian Village. D $$$

Mordisco Food Truck

At this wheeled Venezuelan eatery, whose official home is Olentangy River Brewing Co., you’ll find standout breakfast burritos, arepas, pabellón bowls and more. 303 Green Meadows Dr. S., Lewis Center, 786-557-8828. BL $$

Sí Señor Peruvian Sandwiches & More

Owner Guillermo Perez crafts outstanding handhelds at this casual café. The roasted turkey club, meatloaf and fried pork shoulder sandwiches are hard to beat. Don’t skip the cilantro pasta. 155 W. Nationwide Blvd., Arena District, 614-670-4985; 4189 Weaverton Ln., Easton, 614-383-7329; 1456 W. Fifth Ave., Fifth by Northwest. LD $

MEDITERRANEAN

Aladdin’s Aladdin’s strives to provide its customers with authentic Lebanese dishes. The menu is loaded with fresh and healthy dishes at this colorful eatery, with lots of vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options. 2931 N. High St., Clintonville, 614-262-2414; 1425 Grandview Ave., Fifth by Northwest, 614-488-5565; 9711 Sawmill Pkwy., Powell, 614-389-5438; 6284 E. Dublin-Granville Rd., Westerville, 614656-7060; 7227 N. High St., Worthington, 614-430-1730. LD $$

Brassica

Founded by the owners of Northstar Café, this build-it-yourself eatery focuses on fresh vegetables and proteins spiked with bold Middle Eastern and Mediterranean spices. 2212 E. Main St., Bexley, 614-929-9990; 4012 Townsfair Way, Easton, 614-532-6865; 680 N. High St., Short North, 614-867-5885; 1442 W. Lane Ave., Upper Arlington, 614929-9997. LD $$

Café Illyria

This family-owned restaurant has been a staple of Downtown Columbus since 2009. Here, you’ll find a welcoming atmosphere to go along with staples like French toast, omelets, gyros and panini. 214 E. State St., Downtown, 614-227-3330. BL $

Del Mar

Cameron Mitchell expands into Mediterranean fare with the first Ohio location of Del Mar, which evokes the seaside theme of its Naples, Florida, predecessor with a view of Easton’s fountain plaza. Seafood and lamb are the

stars here, but don’t sleep on the sharables, including an excellent baba ghanoush. 4089 The Strand E., Easton, 614-918-9298. BRLD $$$$

The Olive Tree Mediterranean Café

Traditional Mediterranean fare such as gyros, lamb kebabs and falafel, served in a relaxing café atmosphere. 3185 Hilliard Rome Rd., Hilliard, 614-527-8812. BRLD $$

Pitabilities

This popular food truck offers a variety of fresh ingredients on a pita. Examples include falafel, Philly steak, Buffalo chicken and veggie pitas, plus fries. 5354 Center St, Hilliard; Food Truck, Citywide, 614-216-6310. BBRLD $$

PIZZA

Adriatico’s

Located next to the Ohio State campus, this longtime spot offers authentic New Yorkstyle pizza, with subs, salads, wings and calzones. 1618 Neil Ave., Campus, 614-4212300. LD $$

Aracri Pizzeria

This family-friendly pizzeria is the creation of an Italian whose father owned a small café in Italy. Expect New York-style pies, garlic knots, pastas and more. 51 E. Gay St., Downtown, 614-224-3013. LD $$

Bexley Pizza Plus

With 22 specialty pizzas and 41 toppings, the options are endless at this Bexley pizzeria. 2651 E. Main St., Bexley, 614-237-3305. LD $

Gallo’s Pizza & Bar

You’ll find much more than pizza on the menu at the Gallo family’s newest location including handhelds and chicken wings. The pizzas—available by the slice at lunchtime— spice up traditional offerings with Nashville hot chicken and steak with gorgonzola among the options. 5851 Frantz Rd., Dublin, 614-389-1412. LD $$

GoreMade Pizza

It’s all about the pizza here at Nick Gore’s modest spot. Thin-crust pies are woodfired in an oven imported from Italy, and seasonal toppings are locally sourced. Enjoy solid cocktails and salads while you wait. 936 N. Fourth St., Italian Village, 614725-2115. D $$

Harvest Pizzeria

Some of the best wood-fired pies in Central Ohio are served at this pizzeria owned by Grow Restaurants. 2376 E. Main St., Bexley, 614-824-4081; 940 S. Front St., Brewery District, 614-947-7950; 2885 N. High St., Clintonville, 614-947-7133; 45 N. High St., Dublin, 614-726-9919; 454 S. Main St., Granville, 740-920-4447. LD $$

Massey’s Pizza

This local pizza chain serves award-winning, Columbus-style pizza, plus wings, subs and salads. 261 Lincoln Cir., Gahanna, 614-

Del Mar

PHOTO BY TIM JOHNSON

416-4444; 1229 N. Memorial Dr., Lancaster, 740-653-6633; 1951 E. Dublin-Granville Rd., North Side, 614-888-0022; 440 E. Broad St., Pataskala, 740-927-0786; 9838 Brewster Ln., Powell, 614-799-5777; 7070 E. Main St., Reynoldsburg, 614-8680690; 399 S. State St., Westerville, 614882-6466; 4464 E. Main St., Whitehall, 614-559-2222; 7838 Olentangy River Rd., Worthington, 614-896-9800; 152 Graceland Blvd., Clintonville, 614-5056262. LD $

Osteria Pizzeria

The smell of house-made dough is one of the first things you’ll notice walking into Osteria, and the welcoming scent is just the beginning. From fresh pizzas to sandwiches and pasta—and a full bar—the restaurant offers a cozy space to indulge. 892 Oak St. Olde Towne East, 614-869-0119. LD $$

Paulie Gee’s Short North

A Brooklyn-based pizzeria with Neapolitanand Detroit-style pies and craft beer. Offers traditional and eclectic pizzas with names like the Hellboy, the Greenpointer and the Ricotta Be Kiddin’ Me. 1195 N. High St., Short North, 614-808-0112. D $$

Terita’s

This family-owned, carryout-only pizza shop has been serving up Columbus-style pies for over 60 years on Cleveland Avenue. The housemade sausage is excellent on a pie or on one of Terita’s subs. 3905 Cleveland Ave., North Linden, 614-475-2100. LD $

SANDWICHES

Bears Bagels

After gaining a following at local farmers markets, Bears Bagels opened a Hilliard shop in 2024. The family-owned business serves up handmade bagels, schmears and sandwiches and offers bagel-making classes that sell out quickly. 4142 Main St., Hilliard, 614-319-3561. BL $

Dave’s Cosmic Subs

At this Northeast Ohio-based submarine sandwich chain, rock ’n’ roll meets Italian, vegan, gluten-free and whole wheat sub rolls. Try out the Original Dave’s Cosmic Sub or Dave’s Best Meatball Ever Sub and wash them down with a flavored soda. 1766 N. High St., Campus, 614-824-5494. LD $

Frank & Carl’s

A Bridge Park sandwich shop serving delicious subs and bagel sandwiches. Offerings range from the Roger Roger, served hot with capicola and giardiniera, to the Harvey, a veggie sandwich served cold. 6558 Longshore St., Dublin, 614-389-2851. BLD $

Katzinger’s Delicatessen

A German Village mainstay, Katzinger’s is a traditional East Coast-style deli, with 60-plus sandwiches, potato latkes, pickle barrels, specialty foods and cheeses. 7160 Muirfield Dr., Dublin, 614-389-8444; 475 S.

Third St., German Village, 614-228-3354. BLD $$

The Lox Bagel Shop

Kevin Crowley’s cute Short North shop offers handmade bagels that are boiled and then baked over a live fire. The shop’s namesake sandwich and the egg with pastrami sandwich are standouts. 772 N. High St., Short North, 614-824-4005. BL $

SOMALI

Afra Grill

At this fast-casual spot specializing in East African cuisine, you build your own meal by choosing a base, protein, hot topping, cold toppings and a sauce. Don’t miss the chicken suqaar, malawah (sweet crepes) and spiced tea. 1635 Morse Rd., North Side, 614-5913816; 3922 Townsfair Way, Easton, 614-5913399. LD $$

African Paradise

An authentic African restaurant catering to the city’s Somali population, with spaghetti

Bears Bagels

saldato, zigni (beef stew), muufo (flatbread) and curry rice. 2263 Morse Rd., North Side, 614-476-2163. BLD $$

Darbo Restaurant

A small eatery serving authentic and traditional Somali cuisine, with goat stew, shawarma and pasta dishes. 3764 Cleveland Ave., North Side, 614-475-8004. BLD $$

Hamdi Grill

Authentic food and a friendly staff, with chicken kebabs, roasted goat, lamb chops and salmon. 1784 Huy Rd., North Linden, 614-447-0199. LD $

Hoyo’s Kitchen

This family-run restaurant started serving fast-casual Somali cuisine in the historic North Market in 2019. Order a bowl of flavorful spicy rice (or salad), top with proteins such as chicken suuqar or hilibari (goat) and then choose from a variety of veggies and sauces. Don’t skip the house chai. 6750 Longshore St., Dublin, 614-683-8798; 59 Spruce St., Short North, 614-745-3943. LD $

Creative Space

April Sunami

Multimedia artist April Sunami was awarded the Aminah Robinson Artist Fellowship and has spent three months working in the home and studio of the renowned Columbus artist, whose work is often described as ethereal.

Much of Sunami’s multimedia work is representations of orishas—female spiritual deities rooted in West Africa and revered in New World mythologies. She uses a variety of beads, shells and paint in her portraits of Black women to explore themes of ancestry, spirituality, femininity and power.

“How can you not feel [Robinson’s] presence in this sacred space?” says Su-

nami, who credits a creative boost to working in the studio. “This has helped me get unstuck. I’m much more energized and inspired again.”

Robinson’s art permeates the walls and floors of the home with her drawings and words. “She lived, breathed and walked art,” says Sunami about the inspiration of Robinson’s work ethic and legacy. “Columbus mixed media artists are all the grandchildren of Aminah.”

As her fellowship concludes, Sunami encourages future recipients to walk humbly in the space and “soak it in and enjoy the time. Even after you leave, the inspiration stays with you.” ◆

Photos and story by Tim Johnson

Photos clockwise from top left: April Sunami applies beads to artwork; the artist in Aminah Robinson’s home and studio; art supplies; work in progress; Robinson’s artwork on the walls of her home and studio