July 7, 2011
Merion Village Garden Tour has 14 stops By GARY SEMAN JR. ThisWeek Community Newspapers Jed Thorp and Sarah Harrigan have cultivated quite a garden at their Merion Village home. More than 200 plant species, from rustic perennials to vibrant annuals, are featured. “We’ve got a little bit of everything,” Thorp said. The garden boasts hostas, foxgloves, peonies, annual lilies, coneflowers, daisies and roses, plus trees and shrubs. They’ve installed some water elements, too — a bamboo-spout fountain and a fish pond. “We did some things to ‘green’ the garden a bit,” Thorp said, pointing to a compost bin and a 50-gallon rain barrel. The couple’s house at 389 E. Gates St. is one of 14 stops on the 12th annual Merion Village Garden Tour, to be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, July 10. The tour will feature 10 gardens and four special stops. Thorp said he and his wife have continued a tradition set by the previous owners and tweaked it a little. Friends and neighbors talked them into joining the tour this year. See GARDEN TOUR, page A2 Photos by Eric George/ThisWeek
If you go Merion Village Garden Tour Gardens • 283 Siebert St. • 326 E. Deshler Ave. • 389 E. Gates St. • 325 E. Gates St. • 60 E. Gates St. • 49 E. Gates St. • 1295 City Park Ave. • 241 Moler St. • 233 Moler St. • 185 E. Welch Ave.
(Above) Tom the cat rolls in a patch of sunlight on the grass in the garden owned by Jed Thorp and Sarah Harrigan at 389 E. Gates St. in Merion Village. (Left) Harrigan and Thorp swing in a hammock in their garden June 28. The couple’s home is one of 10 gardens, and 14 stops in all, on the 12th annual Merion Village Garden Tour, to be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, July 10.
Special stops • St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 322 Stewart Ave. • Plant Pride on Parsons at Hal & Al’s, 1297 Parsons Ave. • Merion Village Dental, 1250 S. High St. • Merion Village Association information center, 1330 S. Fourth St.
New pizzeria to use local ingredients
Glick: Recent carjacking a reminder to be watchful
By GARY SEMAN JR. ThisWeek Community Newspapers Harvest Pizzeria is the latest central Ohio restaurant to look to local sources for most of its ingredients. Chris Crader will open the store with his fiancée, Bethany Lovell, and investor Richard Sapienza. The pizzeria is slated to open July 15 at 495 S. Fourth St. in German Village. Crader said Ohio is replete with some of the best nature has to offer, including vegetables, pepperoni and cheese. “I don’t think it’s a fad, either,” Crader said. “I thought the village could use something that embraces the whole local thing.” Crader is not only building relationships with local growers and producers; he is doing his part by harvesting tomatoes and peppers on a one-acre plot he calls Goose Foot Farm in Canal Winchester. When the season won’t allow fresh vegetables, he’ll turn to the bounty of the Buckeye State as often as possible. For example, he plans to use Dei Fratelli tomato products. The Naples-style pies will have a thin crust, using fresh dough tossed by Amy Lozier at Omega Artisan Baking in the North Market. Space constraints prohibit Harvest Pizzeria from preparing dough on site, Crader said. Harvest Pizzeria takes over roughly 1,200 square feet of space in a once-vacant unit just south of East Livingston Avenue. Crader said he liked the neighborhood’s atmosphere and the cozy storefront, which seats 28 inside and another 20 on the patio.
Police luncheon
By GARY SEMAN JR. ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By Eric George/ThisWeek
Chris Crader and Bethany Lovell, along with investor Richard Sapienza (not pictured), plan to open Harvest Pizzeria this month at 495 S. Fourth St. in German Village. They plan to use mostly local ingredients.
Pizzas will be baked in a 3,300-pound Forno Bravo pizza oven, shipped in from California. It was assembled, with considerable work, on the premises, Crader said. The gas oven gets the temperature up to 800 degrees, while burning wood raises the temperature another 100 degrees. The menu will offer a dozen signature pies, plus a build-your-own section. All pizzas will be 11 inches and priced from $11 to $15. In the tradition of an Italian pie, toppings are
applied judiciously, so as not to overwhelm the crust or overburden the senses, Crader said. “Nothing’s piled on too much,” he said. Chef Matt Owens, an Ohio State University graduate who studied cooking at the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont, agreed. “It’s all about balance, finding the right balance of everything,” Owens said. Owens formerly worked at the various sta-
A recent carjacking incident should serve as a reminder to German Village residents to be vigilant about crime prevention, said one local official. The incident, which was discussed June 30 at the monthly police luncheon at the Meeting Haus, occurred in the early evening hours of June 25 while nearby neighbors enjoyed a PreTour party. A woman was getting into her car at the corner of South Sixth and Sycamore streets when she was approached by three men. One of the men drew a gun and ordered her out of the car. The woman exited the vehicle unharmed and the other men ran away. One of the men then drove the car to a nearby grocery store. A special-duty police officer working there recognized the suspect’s description and arrested the man, whose name has not been released See POLICE LUNCHEON, page A2
See PIZZERIA, page A3
Classic comedy to be screened at Frank Fetch Park By GARY SEMAN JR. ThisWeek Community Newspapers “Some Like It Hot,” the 1959 comedy classic featuring a cross-dressing Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis trying to escape mobsters, will kick off the season’s first movie night in Frank Fetch Park. The movie will be shown at 9 p.m. Saturday, July 9, at the park, located at East Beck Street and Dixon Alley. It is free and open to the public. Spectators are encouraged to bring their own chairs and refreshments.
The inaugural movie night was held last year with a screening of “The Sound of Music.” Jerry Glick, who helps organize the movie nights, said it was wellreceived, paving the way for more outdoor shows. The German Village Society’s 50th anniversary committee, organized last year to celebrate the society’s founding in 1960, donated an outdoor movie screen and projector as a gift to the park and the GVS, Glick said. Glick is among a small group of people who select the movies.
“We get other people’s suggestions,” he said. “And ‘Some Like It Hot’ was suggested more than any other film. So we thought that was a good sign.” Another movie night in the park is planned for later this year, he said. Outdoor movie nights have cropped up all over central Ohio, in places such as Columbus Commons, Creekside in Gahanna, Goodale Park and Easton Town Center. The Wexner Center for the Arts, 1871 N. High St., is celebrating its sixth annual Wex Drive-In series this summer,
said Karen Simonian, director of media and public relations for the center. The next film, “Battle in Outer Space,” will be shown at 9 p.m. July 21. “There’s nothing quite like watching a movie under the stars on a warm summer night, surrounded by a big crowd of people just kicking back, enjoying popcorn or ice cream or a beverage with friends and family,” Simonian said. “It feels very nostalgic and old-fashioned.” Beth Ervin, communications director See MOVIE NIGHT, page A2
A closer look “Some Like It Hot,” the 1959 comedy classic featuring a crossdressing Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis trying to escape mobsters, will be shown at 9 p.m. Saturday, July 9, at the Frank Fetch Park, located at East Beck Street and Dixon Alley. It is free and open to the public.