The Pleasant Ridge Courant
• Winter 2023 •

A warm winter greeting from the Pleasant Ridge Community Council. We hope our quarterly finds you with a sense of joy as we enter the holiday season. Read on to find out more of just some of the goings on in our neighborhood, including annual events, action taken down as city hall, and spotlights on our history and local business. To spread the love of "the Ridge," please share with friends and family, near and far!

If you have a flair for marketing and communication, and would like to take the reigns of our outreach efforts, PRCC is looking for a communications chair. Please email information_prcc@pleasantridge.org if you are interested!

A look out the window of PRCC VP Andrew Bernier's house, facing Arrow and Grand Vista, January 22nd, 2023.

Submitted by Emily Frank

The Pleasant Ridge Shop Hop is back for its 5th year! Come out on December 9th from 12-4pm a visit business across PR!

Always taking place the 2nd Saturday of December, the Pleasant Ridge Business Association (PRBA) created this event as a way to encourage people to shop small for the holiday season while experiencing new businesses within our district. 

We bring in about a dozen vendors from throughout the city and set them up inside participating members of the PRBA.  It started as a way to provide more foot traffic for our members during the holiday and provide an opportunity for shoppers to check out businesses they may not have frequented before.

For example, one vendor is Niche Terrariums (see picture below) will be over at Make.Do. For more information visit the Pleasant Ridge Shop Hop Facebook page for the most up-to-date information.

After the Shop Hop, be sure to Light up the Ridge!

Contributed to by Jeff Syroney and Denise Hovey

Join your neighbors, family, and friends for Pleasant Ridge’s annual luminaria event. After spending the day at the shop hop, help illuminate the long winter night by displaying luminaria at your home, creating a festive glow throughout our community.

Luminaria kits are on sale now for $20 each and have everything you need to create 12 lighted lanterns. Kits can be purchased here and will be hand-delivered to your home the week of the event. A limited number of additional kits will be available for sale on December 9 at Community Happens Here (6238 Montgomery Road) from 11am - 1pm.

TODAY (12/6) is the last day you can order

to have kits delivered to your home!!!
 

All proceeds benefit the Pleasant Ridge Community Council so consider buying some for your neighbors!

Light up the Ridge has been a part of our neighborhood for a long time, at least a quarter century (which is still only 1997)! While leading it has changed hands over the years, such as the swim team managing sales for years, with St. Peter's and The Coffee Exchange serving as bag filling and pick-up spots, it has been a full neighborhood effort.

To date, our best selling year was 596 kits in 2020, and we hope to out-do that! Thanks goes to Anne Ramsay for having managed the program for the last three years, and for Jeff Syroney to taking it on this year.

If you need help with your kit, check out these instructions from 1997!

The Caring Place: Support Needed to Find a New Home

Submitted by Clint Bourgeois, President, Board of Directors, The Caring Place

The Caring Place of Cincinnati is a 501(c)(3) that has served the Kennedy Heights, Pleasant Ridge, Silverton, and Golf Manor communities for over the past 40 years. Each month we help around 250 households, providing services such as a choice food pantry for our clients, a clothing and home goods boutique, and delivering boxes of food to our seniors.

Recently we have learned that we are losing the space we have called home for that time, and we are looking for a new home and also additional funding in anticipation of rising costs as a result of the move. Our goal is to keep our doors open and continue to provide our critical and needed services.

The Caring Place has regularly been recognized as one of the top food pantries in the area for the past few years by Cincy Magazine in their yearly Greater Cincinnati Nonprofit of The Year Awards. But we are looking to the support of our community to help us in this next chapter.

Please review this letter for more information and how you can help us.

For more information about the Caring Place, visit our FaceBook page.

Business Spotlight: Argos Pet Food & Supply

Submitted by Elisabeth Mayer, owner, Argos Pet Food & Supply

In December 2021, Argos Pleasant Ridge opened its doors. While business growth initially progressed at a slower pace than anticipated, there has been a noticeable uptick in foot traffic and delivery sign-ups over the past couple of months. Mayer notes, "I think that the recent recall of various dog food brands has not only prompted people to explore our offerings but has also contributed to the growing awareness in the community about the quality of our products."

Offering their exclusive line of all-natural pet food, premium treats, raw pet food, and a complete selection of pet supplies, Argos Pet Food & Supply caters to pet owners prioritizing a healthier, more natural approach to feeding their pets. Mayer underscores, "Customers are consistently amazed to discover that Argos pet food not only excels in quality but is also less expensive than the big-name brands." And don't overlook the added perk of FREE pet food delivery in Pleasant Ridge!

Pleasant Ridge Goes to Bat at City Hall for Traffic Calming Funding

Submitted by Barbara Didrichsen , Pleasant Streets Committee Chair

This isn’t the first time members of Pleasant Ridge’s traffic committee, Pleasant Streets, have learned that in-person advocacy with city leaders can be an effective tool for improving the safety of our neighborhoods’ streets – and it won’t be the last.

Speakers all made a common request: that the Budget committee approve a referendum from several city council members to reallocate a portion of the carryover budget funds for road safety enhancements. All shared personal anecdotes about how they’d been affected by common traffic violations like speeding, running red lights and crashes. One of the speakers was a student, Iris Feltman-Herrin, who had this to say about her experience:

“I spoke to the Cincinnati City Council because I felt it was important for the children in Pleasant Ridge to be able to use our streets without fear of being hit. The community of Pleasant Ridge is working hard to keep kids safe but it is still not enough. The City of Cincinnati needs to provide us with the funding we need to make important changes. I am glad I spoke to the Council members and I hope they listened to my message.”

Even if none of the additional funding goes to improving traffic safety in Pleasant Ridge this time, these funds will improve traffic safety across the city. That helps all of us.

Email us at  pleasantstreetsoh@gmail.com if you’d like to get more involved in traffic safety in Pleasant Ridge

A Little Pleasant Ridge History: Dallman's Corner

 Submitted by Jim Cundiff, revered unofficial historian of Pleasant Ridge

Those who’ve been around Cincinnati may be familiar with Knowlton’s Corner, Peebles’ Corner, and DeSales Corner - the first in Northside, the latter two in Walnut Hills.  But how many know Pleasant Ridge also has a named corner?  Our corner’s name has fallen into disuse over the years, but at one time Ridge and Montgomery was known as Dallman’s Corner.

So - who was this Dallman? William (Bill) Dallman was a Pleasant Ridge businessman.  In the early years of the last century he ran the tavern located in the building known to most as the Pleasant Ridge Hotel, perhaps the oldest building still standing in the Ridge.  The hotel is now part of Goodfellas Pizzeria, and is easily identified by the exterior’s old exposed brick, three stories high, on the Ridge side of the pizza parlor.  Dallman also ran a feed store, and outside his establishment had scales, used by farmers taking hay to market via Montgomery Road, then known as Montgomery Turnpike.

Mr. Dallman and his wife Anna sold their establishment in 1921 to a Mr. John Oppliger, in the process setting what was billed by the Cincinnati Enquirer as “a new record for real estate values in the northeastern part of Cincinnati.”  The sales price?  A whopping $18,000.Beyond that the records are a little sketchy but it appears that during that same decade the Dallmans sold their home next to the old hotel and moved to Woodsfield St.  Mr. Dallman died in December of 1928; his widow in October of 1941.

Meanwhile the building that housed their business lives on, and surprisingly, so does their Montgomery Road home, although no longer in its original location.  In 1927 the old house, to be subdivided into apartments, was moved to a new location on Woodford Rd., where it remains to this day.

One final note on the old hotel, unrelated to Mr. Dallman but still worth sharing.  Apparently Mr. Dallman’s successor, Mr. Oppliger, had ambitions for that property.  From the 1921 Enquirer article: “Mr. Oppliger believes there is room for development of the business district of Pleasant Ridge, making it live enough to draw trade from Norwood.”

To that end, Mr. Oppliger requested the City of Cincinnati approve his desired expansion to the old hotel; he wanted to build from the front of the building out toward Montgomery Road.  According to a handwritten history in the P.R. Public Library, the city declined, citing road-widening plans.  But Mr. Oppliger had his own plans.  He built a tall fence around the area where he wanted his expansion, and then on weekends and holidays, when the city inspectors weren’t working, he went ahead and built his addition anyway!

Pleasant Ridge Branch of the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library: Updates and Upcoming Events

Submitted by Erik Brueggemann, CHPL

The Pleasant Ridge Branch of the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library will be open Monday and Tuesday from 10AM-8PM and Wednesday through Saturday from 10AM-6PM.  Available services include curbside service, browsing, research questions, computer access, and assistance with faxing, scanning, copying, and printing.   Visit our website at www.chpl.org to access all our eBranch offerings and for the most current information on the services and programs offered through any of the branches.   Registration required for some events.  Call the branch at 513-369-4488 with any questions. 

All Library locations will be closed for New Years Day on 1/1 and for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on 1/15.

The Winter Check Out Challenge returns and will run from January 16 through February 26. Adults aged 18 and up can complete challenges by visiting libraries, checking out physical or virtual items, participating in programs, and more to win prizes.  Available at all library branches in Hamilton County. 

Family Storytime: Every Tuesday at 10:30 with Craftivity at 11. 

Imagination Station.  All month.  January – Laundry Day. February – Construction.

United Way Affordable Connectivity Program Discount Internet Services. 1/3. 11AM.

• Pleasant Ridge Branch Bookclub. 1/11. 2/8. 2PM. Adults.

• Teen and Tween Hangout - Pancake Art. 1/13. 11AM.

• Imagine Lab. 1/17. 2/21. 3:30PM. Youth.

• Nature in Our Neighborhood at Kennedy Heights Park.  Co-sponsored by Kennedy Heights Community Council. 1/20. 2/17. 2:30PM.  (this will be a monthly event)

• LEGO Builders Club. 1/22, 2/26. 3PM. All ages.

• Genealogy for Beginners. 1/23, 2/27. 6:30PM. Adults.

• Pressed Flower Bookmarks. 1/27. 11AM. Adults.

• Fantasmagoria Book Club @ Nine Giant Fermentorium. 1/31. 2/28. 7PM. Adults.

• Stories in the Stars/Telescope Stargazing with UC's Classics Department. 2/9. 7PM.  All ages.

• Family Play. 2/10. 11AM.

• Paint Café. 2/24. 10:15AM. Adults.

More events are added regularly so make you sure you check the website or call the branch.

Meet your new PRCC Secretary, Drew Woodworth

Many thanks to Jerri Schultz, PRCC's previous secretary, for her years of service to the community and keeping us organized. You will be missed and we wish you luck in your family's next steps!

PRCC Committees (always looking for volunteers!)

Committee Spotlight: Safety
Submitted by Brandon White, Safety Committee Chair

The goal of the PRCC Safety Committee is to create community through our shared interest in a safe neighborhood.  It is a fantastic way to get off of social media and meet your neighbors in person.  Our committee is always looking for new volunteers to help organize the community. The safety committee supports Gateway Block Watches, Citizens on Patrol, and advocates for empathetic policing and justice. Several of our block watches evolved from looking out for each other to summertime cookouts and other activities organized by our captains. Our Citizens On Patrol volunteers are certified by the Cincinnati Police Department and canvas the community to report any issues.

To learn more about Pleasant Ridge crime and safety statistics, see City of Cincinnati Police District 2 data.

The Safety Committee meets on the Monday following the PRCC Monthly Meeting at Revolution Rotisserie.  If you would like to get involved, or have any questions, we would love to have you join us!

Event Calendar

We are updating how our webhost integrates the calendar feature, so we hope to have that here next time. Click the button below to visit the calendar on our website. You are also welcome to visit the calendars of our community services, such as the Pleasant Ridge Library Branch, The PR Recreation Center, and Community Happens Here.

Please contact us if you would like your event included in the calendar.

Get in Touch! Here is How