Gem City Living | Fall festivals are in full swing🎬

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😊Around Town: 10 things to do this weekend in the Dayton region

Waynesville’s Sauerkraut Festival, Fairborn’s Halloween Festival, Xenia’s Oktoberfest celebration, and the Dayton return of comedian and best-selling author Charlie Berens are among this weekend’s top events.

🎃 Fall Fun: Trick-or-treat times for the Dayton region

Credit: Nick Graham

Numerous communities around the region are gearing up for this year’s round of eager trick-or-treaters. Check out our Beggars Night roundup.

🎵 Music: Tony Danza and his band perform at Troy’s Arbogast Center

Credit: CONTRIBUTED

Sitcom star Tony Danza (”Who’s The Boss?”) and his four-piece band will salute the Great American Songbook at the Arbogast Performing Arts Center in Troy on Saturday, Oct. 12. This reflective evening of stories and songs will center on Danza’s lifelong admiration for Frank Sinatra. Read more about the show.

🍽️ Food & Dining: El Toro celebrates 25 years with weekend fiesta

Happy 25th anniversary El Toro! The popular, locally owned Mexican restaurant will celebrate with a fiesta from 1-6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 12 in the center court of The Greene Town Center in Beavercreek. This family-friendly affair will include food, drinks, giveaways and children’s activities. If you can’t attend you can celebrate at any El Toro location Saturday and receive 25 percent off your total bill. Read here for more details.

🎭 Arts News: Regional premiere of ‘Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson’, Dayton Dance Initiative update and more

Credit: HUMAN RACE THEATRE

A feminist spin on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic sleuths launches the Human Race Theatre Company’s 39th season this weekend. Read more about this local premiere and other arts updates including news from Dayton Dance Initiative.

📷Visual Arts: Free photography art exhibits across SW Ohio: How to go — and which are the stars of the show

Credit: CONTRIBUTED

This year’s FotoFocus Biennial runs through October featuring more than 100 projects presented at more than 80 venues. The event is currently taking place in museums, galleries, universities and public spaces in Greater Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus and Northern Kentucky. Read more about this year’s program, the largest in its history.

🎵Music: Roger Glass Center to host tribute night, ‘Elvis Meets Motown Meets Elvis’

Local Elvis impersonator Ryan Roth and local vocal group Motown Sounds of Touch are joining forces for a nostalgic evening of rock and roll and Motown inside the Concert Hall of the Roger Glass Center for the Arts on Saturday, Oct. 12. Roth has been impersonating Elvis for 15 years. Motown Sounds of Touch were a Top 3 finalist on NBC’s singing competition “The Winner Is…” with Nick Lachey. Read more about Saturday’s concert.

📺TV: Bing Davis documentary premieres Thursday

Credit: EASTERLING STUDIOS

ThinkTV’s documentary about the career of legendary Dayton artist and educator Willis “Bing” Davis will premiere at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 10.

The internationally renowned artist is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2022 Citizen Legion of Honor Award and 2009 Ohio Governor’s Irma Lazarus Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest art award given in the state of Ohio. He is also the owner and curator of the Willis “Bing” Davis Art Studio and EbonNia Gallery in the Wright Dunbar district.

Titled “Willis ‘Bing’ Davis: Reach High & Reach Back” and created in partnership with Public Media Connect, the documentary will air on ThinkTV16, CET, the station’s livestreams, and the PBS app. Read more about the documentary.

🏙️Around Town: Dayton street to be honorably designated as ‘Joe Madison Way’

Credit: FACEBOOK PHOTO

On Friday, Oct. 11 Cowart Street in Dayton will be honorably designated as “Joe Madison Way” in memory of the late, award-winning radio host, activist and Dayton native.

Madison, a 1967 graduate of Roosevelt High School and 2019 Radio Hall of Fame inductee, died Jan. 31 at age 74 having battled prostate cancer. As host of the SiriusXM talk show “The Black Eagle,” he was known for providing a call to action for his listeners: “What are you going to do about it?”

Read more about the dedication and Madison’s impactful career.

🎬Movie of the Week: “Lee”

Credit: AP

Oscar buzz! Academy Award winner Kate Winslet delivers another memorably compelling performance as passionate, headstrong World War II Vogue magazine photojournalist Lee Miller in this gripping drama about art, family, friendship, evil, betrayal, rejection, and forgiveness.

In addition to Andy Samberg’s impressive vulnerability as Lee’s sidekick David Scherman and a beautifully haunting score by composer Alexandre Desplat, I can’t stop thinking about the poignant, surprising finale providing the best ending of any film I have seen thus far this year. “Lee” continues at The Neon. Check neonmovies.com for showtimes.

⭐Community Spotlight: Christie Tilton

Female truck driver Christie Tilton of Eaton recently received the National Driver All-Stars award in Florida. Read more about her inspiring story of breaking barriers in the male-dominated world of truck driving.

📷Photos: Wagner Subaru Outdoor Experience, Blessing of the Animals, and Spirit of Huffman Historic Home Tour

Credit: Tom Gilliam

Five Rivers MetroParks hosted the Wagner Subaru Outdoor Experience at Eastwood MetroPark in Dayton on Oct. 5 and 6.

Epiphany Lutheran Church in Centerville hosted a Blessing of the Animals celebration on Oct. 5.

The biennial Spirit of Huffman Historic Home Tour happened in Dayton’s Huffman Historic Area on Oct. 4 and 5.

📺ICYMI: Episode of ‘Scariest House in America’ on HGTV featuring a Dayton-area home airs Friday

A possibly haunted Dayton-area home will be featured in an episode of “Scariest House in America,” a spinoff of HGTV’s “Ugliest House in America” television show, airing at 9 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 11. The host of the show, Retta, travels to three “scary” Midwest-region homes in the episode. The owners are vying for the chance at a $150,000 makeover by designer Alison Victoria of the HGTV show “Windy City Rehab.”

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Thanks for taking the time to read this newsletter. I encourage you to keep in touch. Share story tips or feedback about this newsletter by emailing me at Russell.Florence@coxinc.com.