Childhood ‘mess’ couldn’t stop this centenarian
By Haley Parnell
Anita Ciafardini may have just turned 100, but she still lives alone and even voted in the 2024 general election.
Ciafardini, born in West Virginia on Nov. 22, 1924, is the youngest of nine children. Her mother died shortly after giving birth to her, and she and some of her siblings were placed in various orphanages.
When asked what life was like growing up, Ciafardini said, “Oh, it was a mess.”
Ciafardini’s parents were Italian immigrants who arrived at Ellis Island on April 23, 1908.
Her family was scattered between West Virginia and Ohio. Ciafardini was around 6 or 7 when she left West Virginia for Northern Kentucky. She was eventually placed at St. Joseph Orphanage in Cold Spring, where she received her first communion.
Cafardini said she would never forget Christmas at the orphanage. They got a stocking.
“I can still see that orange right on the top and a candy cane,” she said. “It was a big thing for us. It was some Christmas candy – no toys.”
When she was 8, Ciafardini met her two sisters, Gilda and Gloria, during Orphanage Day at Coney Island. The three lived together at the Sisters of Good Shepherd in Fort Thomas until age 14, when another sister, Lena, took her into her care. Ciafardini eventually met the rest of her siblings at a family gathering.
‘Get her a job’
Ciafardini said she wanted to go to Newport High School but had to stay home to help her sister care for her niece and their home. After graduating from the eighth grade, Ciafardini never returned to school. At 17, she began working.
“My sister Gloria was working at Wadsworth watch company [in Dayton, Kentucky], and Lena said, ‘Get her a job.’ And Gloria said, ‘I can’t. She’s not old enough.’ Lena said, ‘We’ll make it – she’ll get there.’ So, Lena lied. She was a sharpie.”
Continues on page 3
Brighton Center toy drive brightens holidays
By Haley Parnell
Brighton Center is helping to relieve the burden on families during the holidays.
The organization holds two annual events that assist families with getting toys under their trees and holiday meals on the table. Brighton Center’s used toy drive, started in 1969, and its holiday drive are opportunities for families to receive support and for the community to volunteer to make the events successful.
The event is all about the kids. Children ages 2 to 12 can go in with their nickels, dimes and quarters and shop for gently used toys, including items as big as bicycles.
Adults are not allowed to shop. Children shop with a Brighton Center volunteer or staff member.
“It’s not about the money; it’s really about the kids, empowering the kids and families,” said Eric Owsley. He’s the Brighton Center’s community resource center director.
The used toy drive has hot chocolate, and Santa usually makes an appearance.
Brighton Center collected toys until just before Thanksgiving. It does not accept puzzles, board games or stuffed animals. The toys are cleaned and double-checked to ensure all the pieces are there. The center also installs batteries if needed (donations of batteries also are accepted).
“The money that we do raise, which is very minimal, goes straight back into the emergency system to be able to buy food and hygiene products to put back in the pantry,” said Brighton marketing and communications specialist Deana Sowders.
The holiday drive allows needy families to get new toys through the organization’s Amazon wish list. The list includes items families have directly asked for. The holiday drive runs Dec. 16 through Dec. 20.
Companies can get involved with the holiday drive through a wish tree, which can be requested by emailing the Brighton Center; however, anyone can see the requested toys through the Amazon list.
The families receiving the items must be enrolled in Brighton Center programming. Anyone struggling that is not enrolled in a Brighton Center program can go to 799 Ann St. in Newport. Walk-in times are Monday, Tuesday or Thursday from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m.
“That financial shock during the holidays can have a ripple effect throughout the year for a family already struggling
Continues on page 4
Anita Ciafardini in 2023 at her granddaughter’s 50th birthday party. Provided | Ciafardini family
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During World War II, Wadsworth changed from a watch company to a gun-parts maker. Ciafardini would bring her money home to help the family.
“The more [parts] you made, the more you made your salary,” she said. “I kept my family there. They made it. I made it.”
Ciafardini worked at Wadsworth for much of her early working life, but, for most of her adult life, she worked as a waitress. She retired when she was 75. Ciafardini said waiting tables allowed her to support her family, which eventually came to include her own daughters, Barbara, Carmella (known as “Decca”) and Donna. They were born in 1954, 1955 and 1956.
A restaurant with many memories for her is The Avenue, which was in Bellevue, where she worked in the early 1960s. Among her customers were Reds greats Pete Rose and Johnny Bench.
“When I started at The Avenue, I didn’t know one drink from the other,” she said.
“You couldn’t tell me what was what. So, when I had to wait on my customers and ask them what they wanted, I said, ‘OK, but when I bring them back, you tell me what’s what and who gets what.’ They came every weekend for me, I had regular customers”
Ciafardini said she was also an entertainer at The Avenue. She would walk around and sing, go around to the tables and hit the “old men” on top of their heads. “I just sat at the bar and entertained the guys,” she said.
Her partner for nearly 40 years, Don Hall, worked with her as a bouncer at The Avenue. They met in the late ’60s and were together until he died in 2009.
Ciafardini also worked at places like LaRosa’s in downtown Cincinnati.
“She never had her [driver’s] license,” daughter Decca Buechel said. “She walked everywhere and took the bus, and I think that’s a part of why she lived to be 100.”
Stories, swimming, Frisch’s
For much of her life, Ciafardini lived in Dayton. One of her favorite activities was going to Tacoma Pool. Buechel said the family had passes to the pool and practically lived there every summer.
Aside from Dayton, Ciafardini has lived in Alexandria and Highland Heights.
“My favorite [memory] was when I was in grade school,” said Stacey Ridpath, one of Ciafardini’s granddaughters. “Don and grandma would pick me and my cousin Laura up and would just call them and say, ‘Can we come swimming? And when we were done swimming, we’d go to Frisch’s. She’d always take us to dinner before we went home.”
While living in her condominium in Highland Heights, Angela Spaulding said she visited her grandmother every day on her lunch break while attending Northern Kentucky University. “My favorite part is listening to her stories and our conversations and always just aggravating her,” Spaulding said.
Ciafardini in her Steelers gear with her granddaughters. Photos provided | Ciafardini family
Ciafardini at Beltera Park race track over the summer.
Steelers, racetrack fan
Ciafardini is an avid sports fan. Her teams are the Cincinnati Reds and – to her granddaughters’ dismay – the Pittsburgh Steelers. Granddaughter Annie Spaulding said one of her favorite memories is of taking her grandmother to the Bengals vs. Steelers game at Paul Brown Stadium on Nov. 21, 2004, as an 80th birthday gift.
Ciafardini grew up listening to Reds’ games on the radio. Ciafardini became a Steelers fan thanks to Terry Bradshaw.
“He was a young quarterback,... and he was great,” Ciafardini said. “He was good, and that’s when I became a Pittsburgh Steelers fan.”
Ciafardini also likes to go to the racetrack at Turfway Park. Hall got her interested in horse racing. Buechel said all the grandkids would go to Ciafardini and ask her who to bet on because she studied the jockeys. She gives the grandkids and even her great-grandchildren singles to make a bet.
“We always went to the racetrack, starting when I was like 20,” said granddaughter Bridget Donovan. “We’d go every weekend to Turfway or River Downs.”
Ciafardini has 12 grandchildren, 33 great-grandchildren and eight great-great-grandchildren. Phil Ciafardi-
ni, longtime finance director and then city manager of Newport, was her nephew.
Ciafardini also liked to go out dancing, her favorite dance being the jitterbug. She would also go bowling and didn’t hesitate to remember that her bowling average was 125.
Aside from walking everywhere, Buechel said Ciafardini also swears by olive oil, which she puts in her bathwater, and eats a lot of garlic. Buechel said her mom was never a smoker and not much of a drinker except for the occasional glass of wine.
Though Ciafardini never got a driver’s license herself, in 1971 she bought Buechel her first car for her 16th birthday. “It was a white convertible Mustang,” Buechel said. “She didn’t have her license, so the purpose of me getting this car was to take her to the laundromat – that lasted a week. But I loved that car.”
Buechel said she never thought her mom would see 100. She said Ciafardini had pancreatitis four times and almost died in the hospital twice. She has broken both of her hips – the second just two years ago.
Her granddaughters all recall how Ciafardini would have the family over for dinners until she was about 95, cooking things like spaghetti and meatballs, kale and ham, and liver and onions.
They said the things they admire most about their grandmother are her strength, generosity, sense of humor and ability to be the life of the party.
Sitting in Ciafardini’s living room surrounded by her daughter and granddaughters, the women all joked with one another. They said Ciafardini was looking for a man to drive her around.
Her granddaughters told Ciafardini, “That’s how we’re ending the article. If you would like to go on a date with ’Nita, call….”
Ciafardini cut them off with a drawn-out “No” while shaking her hands furiously.
How to get toys
Brighton Center’s annual used toy sale is 10 a.m. Dec. 7 at 741 Central Ave. in Newport.
• Children age 2-12 shop with a center volunteer or staff member.
• Accompanying adults cannot shop.
• Call 859-491-8303 for more information.
Continued from page 1
or trying to make strides and stabilizing,” Sowders said. “That is oftentimes a tipping point taking on this extra financial burden, so we don’t want that to happen.”
Last year, Brighton Center served 897 families during the holiday drive and 2,904 individuals with both toys and food. There were 342 adults (households with no children) that received food.
Newport resident Desiree Bradley’s family was one of them. Initially from Erlanger, Bradley said she lives in Newport after spending nine months at the Ion Center, a no-cost shelter for individuals and families fleeing partner violence. Bradley is also in recovery.
While she stayed at the Ion Center, she enrolled in Brighton Center’s Center for Employment Training. That’s when she became connected to all of Brighton Center’s resources, including the holiday drive.
“In the Northern Kentucky area, there are a bunch of different families, and a lot of the families are affected by different things, as far as addiction, disability, financial status, and I just feel like kids should not have to be affected during the holiday season,” Bradley said. “Every child should have a fair shot
at receiving things for Christmas.”
Bradley said one aspect of the program that she appreciates is that she gets to fill out a questionnaire based on what her kids want. Even if Brighton Center doesn’t receive exactly what is on her children’s wish lists, they still have toys separated by age.
“What I love about the program is that my kids aren’t going to know that it came from the Brighton Center,” Bradley said.
The center also collects food donations for its holiday food distribution. Families receive items like ham, stuffing, corn muffins, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn and cranberries. The most-needed food items are corn, cornbread, green beans, mashed potatoes and stuffing.
Get involved
Here’s how to help with Brighton Center’s holiday drive.
• Amazon wish list: Find desired toys at amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ ls/2T3C9W55RGAP8.
• Contact Brighton Center: To volunteer or for more information, call 859-491-8303 or email holidaydrive@brightoncenter.com.
“Is it possible to treat the whole me, and not just my cancer?”
- Sue, Ft. Thomas, KY
“Of course The most important part of your cancer treatment is YOU.”
Dr. Lauren Castellini Oncology
Ciafardini and two of her daughters. Provided | Ciafardini family
Brighton Center staff members prepare toys for the 2023 used toy sale. This year’s sale is Saturday. Provided | Brighton Center”.
Ludlow Heritage Museum hopes to renovate historic storehouse as new home
The Ludlow Heritage Museum has partnered with Norfolk Southern Railway to restore a historic 19th-century storehouse in the city. Once restored, the museum hopes to move its operations and exhibitions there.
“We’re raising funds to replace the roof on the building,” said Mark Mitchell, the museum’s president. “That amount that we need to raise is right around $85,000.”
The museum is now located in a building behind the Ludlow Municipal Center. It already has raised about $50,000 for the storehouse roof and has engaged in other rehabilitative efforts on the property, such as vegetation removal and water mitigation.
Andy Wartman, the museum’s rail historian and president of the National Railway Historical Society, said the total rehabilitation, including roof repairs, will cost a little over $2 million. The museum is seeking both donations and grants to fund the effort.
The storehouse was constructed between 1889 and 1892 by the Cincinnati Southern Railway. It was used as a storage facility for engine and rail car parts. The museum now leases the building from Norfolk Southern.
(The Cincinnati Southern ran from Cincinnati to Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was built as the only municipally owned rail line in the country. Cincinnati residents voted last year to sell the railway to Norfolk Southern for about $1.6 billion.)
Because land on the Ohio side of the river was scare and expensive, many of the railway’s operations facilities were built on the Kentucky side.
“The route went through Ludlow, so that was your first stop,” said Patrick Snadon, a retired University of Cincinnati professor of architecture who serves as vice president of the Ludlow Heritage Museum. “It was a very busy, thriving rail yard with dozens of buildings, hundreds of rail cars, and it made the town of Ludlow.
“This is the only historic building left in that once-busy rail yard,” he said, “so it is Lud-
low’s only connection to its railway. So, it’s important historically in that regard, but it’s a fine piece of architecture.”
The building sat next to a foundry (no longer standing) where parts were manufactured. The storehouse’s arched windows allowed natural light to enter the building, making it an ideal place to organize, store and retrieve parts.
“I jokingly say it made a good storehouse,” Snadon said. “It will make a great museum with all that continuous wall surface light from above.”
The museum has partnered with Kenton County Schools for a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) program to educate students and enlist their help in restoring the storehouse. The students even constructed a diorama of what the museum may eventually look like once the rehabilitation is complete.
Covington OKs $8.54M development project in Central Riverfront
An $8.54 million development with single family homes and mixed-use buildings will now officially be coming to Covington’s Central Riverfront Development. located at the former site of the IRS building.
The Covington City Commission approved the development agreement with Covington Pointe Joint Venture, a locally-owned LLC headed up primarily by Funke Real Estate Group, on Nov. 19. The commission vote followed a presentation from Tom West, the city’s economic development director, and Jodi Funke, founder of Funke Real Estate Group.
Under the proposal, Covington Pointe Joint Venture will purchase just under an acre of land from the city on the site’s A block, which runs along Fourth Street, for $1.44 million. The developer will pay half upfront and half upon completion of the first phase of construction: one mixed-use building and two single-family homes. Construction is set to begin in May, with the first homes slated for completion in September.
The completed development will feature 10 single-family homes and two mixed-use buildings. The mixed-use buildings will have room for one commercial operation plus anywhere from four to eight condominiums.
The development’s overall cost is $8.54 million, and the city will be responsible for early filling, grading and infrastructure work. Funke told LINK nky she already was in talks with a potential business tenant, Cincinnati-based coffee shop Black Coffee Lounge, for the first mixed-use building.
The Central Riverfront Development is being built on the site of the former IRS facility in Covington.
Camporosso gives profits from November to support employees, first responders
Fort Mitchell-based Camporosso Wood Fired Pizzeria donated 100% of its November profits to support its staff in addition to funding a Christmas toy drive for local first responders.
The newly established Camporosso Cares Fund, created in partnership with Horizon Community Funds of Northern Kentucky, will allow community members to contribute directly. Donations to the fund will be used to provide holiday meals for families in need throughout the area. Contributions can be made at horizonfunds.org/fund/ camporosso.
Camporosso in August was named Pizzeria of the Year by Pizza Today, a Louisville-based trade publication. The award cited Camporosso’s philanthropic work.
Cannabis dispensaries win licenses in Erlanger, Florence,
Alexandria
Businesses in Erlanger, Alexandria and Florence were among the first medical cannabis dispensaries to be selected in the state’s license lottery, according to an announcement Nov. 25 from the governor’s office.
“Team Kentucky has worked hard to ensure that all medical cannabis business applicants have an equal and fair chance to become a part of this emerging industry,” Gov. Andy Beshear said in a release. “Today’s dispensary announcement moves us one step closer to ensuring Kentuckians with serious medical conditions have access to the safe, affordable medicine they need.”
Thirty-six dispensary businesses across the commonwealth were selected at random to receive licenses in this first lottery round. A second lottery will be held Dec. 16, but Northern Kentucky businesses will not be considered in that drawing.
Other rounds of licensing will occur in the future. A license lottery for the other types of facilities established after the General Assembly voted to allow medical cannabis occurred at the end of October.
Selected from Northern Kentucky in the latest lottery were: Green Grass Cannabis LLC in Erlanger.
• Yellow Flowers LLC in Erlanger.
• Nicole Tirella in Alexandria.
• Bluegrass Cannacare LLC in Florence.
Four medical cannabis businesses won licenses Nov. 25 through a state lottery. Photo by Matthew Brodeur | Unsplash
Owners Eric and Amy Redfield gather with their team to commemorate Camporosso Wood Fired Pizzeria’s being named Pizza Today’s 2024 Pizzeria of the Year. Photo by Josh Keown | Pizza Today
A rendering of the proposed development at the Central Riverfront site. Provided | Covington Joint Venture LLC.
By Nathan Granger
CCovington sues Duke over franchise agreement
ovington is suing Duke Energy over the company’s refusal to enter into a franchise agreement with the city.
“This is a classic case of a big institution thinking it can do whatever it wants and that it can ignore established, reasonable local ordinances,” said Mayor Joe Meyer in a city news release. “We have tried for years to get cooperation, but Duke refuses to follow even common rules of business practice, including following a bidding process and signing a franchise agreement as required by the state constitution and as it willingly does with virtually every other city in which it provides service.
“Duke is not above the law,” said Meyer.
The suit was filed Nov. 20 with the Franklin County Circuit Court and the Kentucky Public Service Commission, which is responsible for setting utility rates in the commonwealth. The city commission voted Oct. 22 to allow the city’s legal department to begin the process of bringing suit against the company.
“Regardless of the outcome, the legal fight will have zero effect on customers’ rates and the availability of electric service,” said the city in its announcement.
Franchise agreements are contracts between utility providers and cities. They usually entail a city charging a fee in exchange for allowing the company to work on and maintain its infrastructure on public streets.
The city passed a requirement for franchise agreements in May and approved a franchise agreement with Owen Electric Cooperative in October. Most city residents get their power through Duke Energy, although some residents of South Covington use Owen.
Duke has repeatedly affirmed that a franchise agreement is unnecessary. Brian Pokrywka, one of Duke’s in-house lawyers, made the company’s case at a city commis-
sion meeting April 9.
“For more than 140 years, since 1881, Duke Energy through its predecessor companies has provided, for a while, affordable electricity to the city of Covington without any form of franchise agreement in place,” Pokrywka said in April.
The city’s suit asks the court to deny Duke’s argument and for the utility commission to force Duke to follow the city’s bidding process as Owen did.
The city’s legal department points to a U.S. Supreme Court case from 1904, Shaw v. City of Covington, involving Duke’s predecessor company, which the city argues extinguished the perpetual franchise Duke argues it has held since the 19th century.
The legal opinion from Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. cited in the city’s announcement, states the “[e]xclusive privilege to operate did not transfer to the electric company….”
In the city’s announcement, the mayor lays out what he sees as the issues with Duke’s refusal to comply:
Business owners and residents are required to inform Duke about painting and other work that takes place around Duke’s poles and wires, “but the company is slow to respond and in one case billed a restaurant owner $3,000 to perform the service.”
Duke will sometimes subcontract and lease their infrastructure to other companies, such as Spectrum, but the city argues Duke rarely informs them when it does so. As a result, the city alleges, “those companies then effectively operate in secret within Covington and are able to evade paying required taxes and fees like everyone else.
Duke’s refusal to provide this simple information also delays streetscape projects and residential and commercial development, leading to increased wear and tear on vehicles, more traffic congestion and increased construction costs.”
Duke does not adhere to city restrictions on right-of-way encroachments.
“Franchise agreements at their core are about establishing a fair, equal and level playing field, so to speak, where there is mutual respect and a strong working relationship beneficial to all sides,” said Frank Schultz, Covington’s city attorney. “Right now, Duke operates as if the concerns of Covington’s businesses, residents and lawmakers are of no importance. Duke has no incentive to listen to the public’s concerns because they think they have the right to operate as the city’s exclusive electric service provider until the end of time. We think the U.S. Supreme Court terminated that alleged right 120 years ago.”
Read the suit
The full complaint in Covington’s suit against Duke Energy is posted at linknky.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/duke-suit.pdf.
In a suit filed in Franklin County, Covington accuses Duke Energy of ignoring Covington utility ordinances. Provided | City of Covington
Address: 1051 Arden Drive, Villa Hills
Price: $759,000
Bedrooms: Four
Bathrooms: Four
Square footage: 3,359
School district: Kenton County
County: Kenton
Special
An exterior view of this Villa Hills home. Photos provided | Christian Lohr with United Real Estate Louisville
A look at this home’s living room with a wet bar.
This home’s kitchen.
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By Maria Hehman
THealthful to hearty – Fairfield Avenue has it
his week we explore some of the quick and casual options on Bellevue’s Fairfield Avenue, a street with endless options for food, drink and dessert. From breakfast to dinner, there’s something for everyone.
Elusive Cow Cafe
The Elusive Cow Cafe offers great variety for those wanting healthful choices in a casual, classic, Americana atmosphere. Of course, it still offers favorites like burgers and fries, but it also has ample options for all diets.
Start with nachos or loaded fries to share with the table before delving into sandwiches. The bulk of the menu covers the Elusive Cow’s famous sandwiches, inspired by cuisines all over the world. There’s caprese for a taste of Italy, falafel pita for a Mediterranean flare, a veggie wrap, burgers, chicken and club sandwiches. Of 13 choices, nearly half are either vegetarian, vegan or pescatarian.
In addition to sandwiches, entrees include tacos, fish and vegetable stir fry.
The drink menu focuses on canned beers and bottled wine, but it also has a full service bar to craft up a cocktail to pair with guests’ meals.
Siam
Orchid
Siam Orchid has a blend of Asian flavors on its menu. The Thai-based meals are some of the best around. Don’t let the small interior fool you: The massive menu has abundant offerings.
Siam Orchid has arguably (well, in my humble yet correct opinion) the best Thai iced coffee in the area. (Believe me, I’ve tried almost all of them.) Coffee may not seem to be the best pairing for dinner, but trust me when I say order the Thai iced coffee (or Thai iced tea for non coffee drinkers). These drinks, made with sweetened, condensed milk, are like a pre-dinner dessert and a good balance to many of the savory dishes.
For starters, one can never go wrong with steamed dumplings or spring rolls, but Siam Orchid’s crab puffs with cream cheese, crab and shrimp are delectable and bite sized – ideal for sharing.
Entrees include a variety of stir fry dishes, noodles, fried rice and curries. Although the pad thai is deservedly a favorite, some other dishes deserve the same recognition. Chicken basil fried rice or pineapple fried rice are excellent options for those wanting familiar flavors while still trying something new. As the months get colder, kuy teav, a chicken thai noodle soup, will be sure to warm guests up on even the coldest days.
Bellevue Bistro
There are few things in life as satisfying as a quality, hearty breakfast with a cup of hot coffee. Bellevue Bistro has nailed that combination, making it the go-to spot for breakfast and brunch in the area. Like its neighbors listed above, it’s also a small establishment – an ideal cozy spot to begin your day.
Its claim to fame – and what newcomers cannot skip ordering – are the breakfast bakes. Served in skillets with breakfast potatoes as the base and topped with two fried
eggs, they come in a variety of flavors. The Bellevue Bake comes with goetta, cheddar jack cheese and sauteed onions. The veggie or Mediterranean are great choices for vegetarians, and the surf and turf will satisfy meat lovers.
Besides breakfast bakes, the bistro has a variety of breakfast benedicts and hot browns, a fun way for out-of-towners to experience true Kentucky cooking. Those with a sweet tooth should opt for French toast, created with homemade cinnamon bread and topped with powdered sugar, whipped cream and a choice of chocolate sauce or, for adults, peanut butter-bourbon caramel sauce. Who says you can’t have dessert for breakfast?
Although breakfast is what made it a local legend, the bistro’s lunches are equally delectable. Choices of French onion panini, cranberry turkey wrap and goetta grilled cheese make it nearly impossible to order just one item.
For refreshments, keep it cozy with a coffee or spice it up with a bloody mary. Whatever your vibe, Bellevue Bistro has it.
What to Know If You Go
Elusive Cow Cafe
Location: 519 Fairfield Ave., Bellevue
Hours: Monday-Tuesday, closed; Wednesday-Sunday, 11:30 a.m.-8 p.m.
Website: theelusivecow.com Phone: 859-291-0269
Siam Orchid
Location: 511 Fairfield Ave., Bellevue
Hours: Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Saturday, noon-8 p.m., Sunday closed. Website: siamorchidbellevueky.com Phone: 859-694-7700
Bellevue Bistro
Location: 313 Fairfield Ave., Bellevue
Hours: Monday-Tuesday, Thursday-Friday, 8 a.m.-2 p.m.; Wednesday, closed; Saturday-Sunday, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Website: bellevuebistro.com/ Phone: 859-581-5600
Bellevue Bistro’s hearty breakfasts have made it the go-to place in the area to start your day. Provided | Bellevue Bistro via Facebook
Siam Orchid boasts a big menu in a small establishment. In warm seasons, outdoor tables let diners enjoy the street scene. Provided | Siam Orchid via Facebook
The Elusive Cow Cafe offers a casual, classic, Americana atmosphere. Photo by Maria Hehman | LINK nky contributor
Strong septet: Latest inductees to NKY sports hall
She also received the KHSAA Outstanding Leadership Award as the top administrator and the Greater Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky Women’s Sports Association’s Lifetime Service Award.
Gunning was a five-sport athlete at Villa Madonna – volleyball (she was an all-state selection), softball, basketball, track and swimming. She played volleyball and softball at Northern Kentucky University.
After college, Gunning coached volleyball, basketball, swimming and softball at Villa and was athletic director from 1983-88.
Athletic Director Ken Ellis confirmed the decision via email.
The Lady Bulldogs went 3-28 during the 2023-24 season, two of those wins against Williamstown, the other against Dayton. Tracy Pope resigned after two seasons with the program and Zuri Hill was named the new coach.
championship, defeating Martin County, 44-7, in a Class 2A region championship game. Clay Hayden threw three touchdown passes, two of them to Tyler Fryman and the other to Luke Erdman, who also recorded an interception. Chase Flaherty ran for three touchdowns, and the defense pitched a shutout for the majority until Martin County scored late.
They played football, basketball, baseball and softball in high school and college, and they ran track, cross country and swam.
They coached teams to state titles and won tournaments and served as teachers and athletic directors, and one became a professional musician.
Yes, the seven newest members of the Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame – Bryan Clemons, Dan Molique, Kim Gunning, Laura Schild, Margaret Wilkerson, Ryan McKenzie and Tom Leonard – inducted Nov. 20 at the Gardens of Park Hills –bring impressive resumes.
• Bryan Clemons (Covington Catholic Class of 1983): Clemons ran track and cross country for the Colonels, and he averaged 12.7 points a game on the basketball team. He’s a member of the Colonels’ 1,000 Point Club for basketball (the Louisville Courier-Journal named him All-State Honorable Mention his junior and senior seasons) and was part of the Colonels 1982 state champion cross country team.
Clemons played basketball at Bellarmine University in Louisville, where he was named top defensive player his senior season. CovCath’s track and cross-country coach at the time, the late Jack Kaelin, recruited him.
• Dan Molique (Ludlow, 1984): Molique was an All-State Honorable Mention selection in baseball his senior season.
Baseball was Molique’s favorite sport. After high school, he walked on at the University of Tennessee, but after a knee injury he transferred to Wilmington College, where he was named Co-Pitcher of the Year in 1986.
Molique has been involved in coaching in the Boone County Knothole, the NKSA Soccer Select Team and the NKY Youth basketball programs for over 12 years.
• Kim Gunning (Villa Madonna, 1978): Gunning is the assistant athletic director at St. Ursula Academy in Cincinnati. Her induction to the hall was the newest in a lengthy list of honors – she’s also in the Northern Kentucky Athletic Directors Association, Villa Madonna and Notre Dame and Buddy LaRosa halls of fame.
• Laura Schild (Notre Dame, 1978): Schild led the Pandas to the 1987 Ninth Region basketball title, but she made a name for herself in golf. Among her tournament titles: three in the Northern Kentucky Women’s Amateur, three Senior events, six in the Greater Cincinnati Public Links and three in the Met Amateur.
She also qualified for the Oldsmobile Championship and the U.S. Golf Association Public Links Championship.
• Ryan McKenzie (Ludlow, 2000): At Ludlow, McKenzie was a four-year letterman in football plus three years in basketball. At Morehead State, he was a four-year starter as a defensive lineman.
• Tom Leonard (CovCath, 1972): Leonard was a member of the Colonels’ 1969 state golf championship team, and he finished second in the regional tournament.
Leonard later won five Summit Hills Country Club championships and was medalist five times, and he’s been medalist and twotime runner-up in the Northern Kentucky Amateur and medalist in the Cincinnati Met amateur.
• Margaret Wilkerson (Beechwood, 1974): Wilkerson’s been a fixture on local golf courses since the ‘70s. She’s won eight Fort Mitchell Country Club women’s championships and two Northern Kentucky Women’s Amateur trophies and been the runner-up 17 times.
Holmes opts out of varsity girls hoops for 2024-25 season
With a roster filled with sophomores, freshman and eighth graders, Holmes High School has decided not to field a varsity girls basketball team for the 2024-25 season. It’ll instead play a freshman and JV schedule.
Hill previously coached the seventh grade girls basketball team at Holmes Middle School. She began her high school basketball career at Holmes and played for the Bulldogs as a sophomore. She concluded her career at Boone County, where she played alongside area great Sydney Moss for legendary coach Nell Fookes.
Holmes was really young last season with just one senior on the roster. The team would have had just one senior this year.
The program is just six years removed from the 9th Region championship game and won 9th Region titles in 2016 and ’17, also making the 9th Region title game in 2015. In 2016 it made the Elite 8 and in 2017 reached the Final Four.
Five NKY teams claim regional football titles
Beechwood, Covington Catholic, Cooper, Highlands and Ryle all advanced to the state semifinals in the KHSAA football playoffs and claimed region titles on Nov. 22.
The Tigers cruised to an 11th straight region
The Colonels stunned Boyle County, 3128, ending the Rebels’ 32-game winning streak. The Rebels ranked as high as 11th in the country in a poll. CovCath brought its rushing attack, amassing 350 yards on the ground with 52 of their 56 plays being rushing attempts. Cash Harney tallied 234 yards and two touchdowns on the ground while also throwing for 102 yards and a touchdown. The win denied Boyle County a bid at a fifth straight Class 4A title.
Cooper cruised to a second straight region title, upending Southwestern, 56-15. Cam O’Hara tossed four touchdown passes, Keagan Maher had two rushing touchdowns and the defense got in on the fun, too. Ryker Campbell returned an interception for a touchdown while Austin Alexander provided a fumble return for a touchdown. Alexander also caught two touchdown passes; Isaiah Johnson and Maher caught the others. Cooper forced six turnovers in the win.
Highlands was in a 10-0 hole before pulling away from Pulaski County, 42-18. Rio Litmer threw for 329 yards and four touchdowns, one each to Adam Surrey, Tayden Lorenzen, Gabe Williams and Ian Garrahan. Surrey added a rushing touchdown while Ethan Grimm picked a pass off and returned it for a score. The Bluebirds picked off four passes in the victory.
Ryle earned its seventh straight running clock on an opponent and took home their first region title since 2010 with a 43-14 victory over Central Hardin. Jaden Galicia had the big night for the Raiders with a rushing, receiving and kickoff return touchdown. Landon Lorms added five catches for 75 yards and two touchdowns, Nathan Verax finishing with three touchdown passes.
The newest inductees to the NKY Sports Hall of Fame are: front row from left, Margaret Wilkerson, Kim Gunning, Laura Schild and Tom Leonard; back row from left: Ryan McKenzie, Dan Molique and Bryan Clemons. Photo by Ray Schaefer | LINK nky contributor
Holmes will not field a varsity girls basketball team for the 2024-25 season. Provided
Beechwood won an 11th straight region championship with a 44-7 victory over Martin County. Provided | Charles Bolton
