Author Archives: Editor

XAMA Events Planning & Mural Society Meetings April 17

XAMA Events Planning Committee will meet on April 17th from 6:00-7:15 pm at the Oasis Cafe at the corner of Detroit & Main Streets. For more information, contact XAMA

The Mural Society will also meet at the Xenia Area Chamber of Commerce Board Room located 334 W. Market Street at 7:30 pm. Community and merchant interest has grown to the point that it may be beneficial to form a local group to promote, guide, and find financing for the production of multiple murals in Xenia to reflect the historical and cultural heritage of our area. Successful local initiatives in several cities including Portsmouth and Franklin, OH and Lake Placid, FL will be discussed. All are welcome. For more information, contact Barb Zajbel

Up Coming Art Event On April 6 & 13

“Three Artsy Ladies Spring into Spring”

Three artsy ladies, Linda Keller, Jane Trame and Connie Weber, spring into Spring with a combined media exhibit including acrylic, watercolor, watermedia and oils at the Fairborn Art Association Gallery, located at the rear of the Fairborn Central Senior Apartment Building, 221 N. Central Ave., Fairborn.

They will be exhibiting their artwork there on two Sundays, April 6, with an Open House from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. All three of the ladies will be on hand to greet guests on April 6. Refreshments and snacks will be served.

Linda, Jane and Connie have been painting for over 25 years and have studied with many well-known and famous artists. They enter and exhibit in juried and non-juried art exhibits each year and have won numerous awards and ribbons. Many of their paintings hang in business, corporate and private collections throughout the U.S.A. Besides their art experience and activities, they are all quite active in their communities; enjoy many other hobbies and family/friend activities.

Some Famous People of Xenia, Ohio

Samuel Martin (1796-1879) was born in Ireland. He came to Xenia, Ohio in 1834 and purchased the practice of Dr. Joseph Templeton. Dr. Martin served as a medical teacher to a number of men wanting to become doctors in the Xenia area. (For more info, go here.)

Tenskwatawa, brother of Indian chief Tecumseh who was born near Xenia, was considered a prophet who prophesied William Henry Harrison’s short presidency. (For more info about Tecumseh, go here. More about Tenskwatawa, go here andhere and here.)

Joseph Warren Keifer (Jan. 30, 1836 – April 22, 1932), soldier, congressman, and Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, was born near Springfield, Ohio. Keifer was educated at home and in the district school. He taught for one term (1852-1853), worked on the family’s farm and attended nearby Antioch College (1854-1855). In 1856, after studying some on his own, he began reading law with a Springfield firm and was admitted to the bar in January 1858. Following a two-month tour of various Midwestern cities, evaluating them as possible sites for relocation, Keifer returned to practice law in Springfield, where he remained for the rest of his life. (For more info on Keifer, go here.)

Whitelaw Reid (1837-1912), editor of the New York Tribune, was born in Xenia and educated in Oxford, Ohio. He was the candidate for vice-president on the unsuccessful 1892 Republican ticket and later became the U.S. Minister to France. His work Ohio in the War became the definitive work on the subject.

Whitelaw was a journalist and diplomat. In 1868 he became leading editorial writer for the New York Tribune and in 1872 principal proprietor and editor in chief. He served as minister to France 1889–92 and as US ambassador to Britain 1905–12. His publications include After the War: a Southern Tour 1866, Ohio in the War 1868, Problems of Expansion 1900, and American and English Studies 1913. (For more info on Whitelaw, do here and here and here.)

Thomas Barlow Walker (1840–1928) was a Businessman, collector, and philanthropist, born in Xenia, Ohio. (For more info on Barlow, go here.)

Arthur Meier Schlesinger (1888-1965) was a foremost American historian. Born in Xenia, Ohio, he became a professor of history at Harvard (1924-54) after teaching at Ohio State University and the State University of Iowa. In 1928 became an editor of the New England Quarterly. His well-known works in the field of colonial history include The Colonial Merchants and the American Revolution, 1763-1776 (1918) and Prelude to Independence: The Newspaper War on Britain, 1764-1776 (1958). He is also known for his interest in the interpretation of social history, as in The Rise of the City, 1878-1898 (1933) and Political and Social Growth of the American People, 1865-1940 (1941). His most important work is New Viewpoints in American History (1922), essays on American historiography. With Dixon Ryan Fox he edited the “History of American Life series (13 vol., 1927-48), which remains a valuable examination of U.S. social and cultural life. (For more info, go here.)

Helen Hooven Santmyer was born in Xenia, Ohio (1895). She read Sinclair Lewis’ novel Main Street when it was published in the nineteen-twenties, and it offended her. She decided that she could write a better book about a small town. It took her fifty years to finish, but she wrote …And Ladies of the Club. It was published when she was eighty-eight. A later version was called Ohio Town. (For more info, go here.)

Vic Dickenson was a trombonist who came up with Midwestern territory bands in the Thirties and Forties. He born in Xenia, Ohio in 1906. He played with Bennie Moten, Blanche Calloway and Claude Hopkins in the late Thirties, joined the Count Basie Band in 1940, and later toured with Benny Carter. From the Fifties onward he often played with Bobby Hackett and Ruby Braff or led his own groups. In the Sixties he played in The World’s Greatest Jazz Band and, later, frequently performed in small groups with Bobby Hackett. Admired for his witty, unusual phrasing and inventive sound, he was a major instrumentalist with an instantly recognizable style. Dickenson died in 1984. (For more info, go here and here.)

James P. Vaughn was born in Xenia, Ohio. He did his military service in the South pacific, and received degrees in journalism and in English Literature from Ohio State University. He taught at Southern University in Louisiana and at West Virginia State College. Currently he works as an editor in a New York publishing house while writing plays and poetry. His poems Movie Queen and Morning were publishing Langston Hughes book titled New Negro Poetry. ( For more info, go here.)

Know of other famous personages of Xenia? Let it be known; send an email to xeniacitizenjournal@gmail.com.

Barco launches the world’s first “green” digital billboard

Barco, a world leader in visualization and display solutions, announces the launch of its new DB-x20-the world’s first “green” digital billboard. The new DB-x20 is the first and only RoHS-compliant digital billboard in the world, meaning all product components contain no lead, mercury, cadmium, Cr6, PBB or PBDE. Designed for digital outdoor advertising networks, the DB-x20 range features green components, low power consumption, superior visual performance and maximum ROI. For more information, go here.

Lonely Hearts Club Coming Soon!

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Xenia Merchants Morning Coffee Meeting Thursday April 3 @ Express Yourself Cafe

The Xenia Area Merchants Association will meet for coffee and conversation next Thursday (April 3) at 8:00 AM at Express Yourself Coffeehouse Gallery, 78 East Main St.

On the agenda will be a discussion about the visitor’s guide, the formation of a Xenia Area Mural Society, Mothers Day coordinated events, and Old Fashioned Days.

And, as always, anything else anyone has to share or gripe about…

Does that sound fun or what! I mean the griping part at Express Yourself Cafe.

Be there or be left out.

The Cavern proudly Presents An All-Xenia All-Stars Rock Show This Friday Night

Three of Xenia’s Finest bands will be performing on Friday night. 2006’s Project Rock champions Psylis will be headlining a bill featuring Orange Orange Aqua and Hidden Empire. Show begins at 8 and the admission is only $5 at the door. Capacity is limited, so come early to ensure you make it inside. The Cavern is located in the basement at 78 E. Main St. in Hospitable downtown Xenia.

For more info, go to The Cavern Club on Myspace.com. (Gotta love the pics!)

Here is an alternative to politics as usual

Gallup polls show voters are not satisfied with the performance of politicians of either party. For many there is a sense that one party is about as bad as another. Whether Democrat or Republican, it is very unlikely that meaningful and lasting change will ever occur.

Xenia has been a bastion of Republican politics for many years. The same can be said for Greene County as well. Few Democrats have been able to get their foot in the door or to stay in government very long. I think that is a good thing.

The more I learn the more I see Democrats as a party against the traditions of America. I mean legal, economic, religious, and moral traditions. Democrats and other secular fundamentalist have redefined those traditions in the attempts to create a culture where they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, and however they want. Democrats represent Soviet-style socialism and anarchism, which has been inhibited somewhat by a majority who claim to hold traditional values and views and the Constitution. Democrat socialism is what state welfare is all about. The sexual revolution, easy divorce, single parenting, single parent poverty, gay rights, aids, abortion, sex-related violence represent their ideology and its outcomes. So is lawlessness. They have achieved all of those blessings of anarchy not by changing the Constitution but lying to state officials and judges to get their way. Legal history shows what they mean by Separation of Church and State is not what Congress agreed to either in 1791 or 1871. Congress rejects their attempts to amend the First Amendment to include the phrase separation of church and state or rather separation of religion and its morality from the state and public policy. Yet, they achieved a large measure of their goal through arbitrary rulings of federal courts. That is why I hope Democrats never get their foothold in local politics.

The problem is some Republican insiders have demonstrated they are almost as corrupt as the Democrats. Like in marriage, truth and faithfulness is synonymous to trust. Trust is rock of good relationships. When trusted politicians lie to their constituency, they loose both credibility and trust. That means they no longer deserve to represent the people. It is unfortunate that Steve Austria is that kind of politician. If his mentor had run for office again, I would have voted for someone else. Why? He started compromising with the Democrats voting with them in support of the gay agenda. In other place, Republicans are doing the same. They are beginning to compromise on moral and social values issues not just on economic ones.

Pres. Bush along with Congress declared war against an elusive enemy not merely to rid the world of so-called terrorists but to reenact the cold war and its economic benefits by another name. Corporate finance was built upon war. Wall Street has grown by leaps and bounds to fund war and war technologies. America is one, if the number 1, supplier of arms and other military goods and services. America government is the big consuming Pit Bull of the world. Because it is, the impoverishing machine keeps talking about alleviating poverty and creating new public programs to do so while maintaining it and often increasing the number on their hit list. It is a partnership of public and corporate governance.

An alternative to business and politics as usual does exist. It is called the Constitutional Party. It represents the founding political, economic, moral, and social tradition of the American experiment. The Constitutional Party purposefully seeks to reinstate the kind of public policies informed by the wise counsels of history. That is what the founders did when they created the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. That is purpose of common law precedent, which today is selective used for political agendas. The Constitutional Party endorsed John Mitchel, a local Greene County’s candidate, who was running to carry that goal to Congress in November.

The Constitutional Party is one whose platform Protestants, Catholics, Jews, and Muslims, and Americans who still value the traditions of liberty and human rights informed by morality can support. A couple of excerpts from the party’s preamble will show why:

The goal of the Constitution Party of Ohio is to restore American jurisprudence to its Biblical foundations and to limit the federal government to its Constitutional boundaries.

The Constitution of the United States provides that “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” The Constitution Party of Ohio supports the original intent of this language. Therefore, the Constitution Party of Ohio calls on all those who love liberty and value their inherent rights to join with us in the pursuit of these goals and in the restoration of these founding principles.

The U.S. Constitution established a Republic rooted in Biblical law, administered by representatives who are constitutionally elected by the citizens. In such a Republic all Life, Liberty and Property are protected because law rules.

That history makes clear that left unchecked, it is the nature of government to usurp the liberty of its citizens and eventually become a major violator of the people’s rights; and

That, therefore, it is essential to bind government with the chains of the Constitution and carefully divide and jealously limit government powers to those assigned by the consent of the governed.

As previously stated, Democrats and other secular fundamentalist oppose those founding principles. They have and are usurping our liberty and the rule of law.

The Constitutional Party is guided by seven key principles, which are:

1. Life: For all human beings, from conception to natural death;

2. Liberty: Freedom of conscience and actions for the self-governed individual;

3. Family: One husband and one wife with their children as divinely instituted;

4. Property: Each individual’s right to own and steward personal property without government burden;

5. Constitution: and Bill of Rights interpreted according to the actual intent of the Founding Fathers;

6. States’ Rights: Everything not specifically delegated by the Constitution to the federal government is reserved for the state and local jurisdictions;

7. American Sovereignty: American government committed to the protection of the borders, trade, and common defense of Americans, and not entangled in foreign alliances.

For the Constitutional Party to become a viable contender in local, state, and national politics, Americans must join the party and demand its inclusion in campaign coverage and debates. It is not too late to start.

To learn more, visit the Ohio Constitutional Party website.

Easter Today and Tomorrow

Today is a day of vision. Children came to Hospitality East seeing chocolate eggs, chocolate bunnies, tasty jellybeans, and other fantasies children envision during the Easter season. Unfortunately, dark clouds above and raindrops below spoiled the screaming excitement of the annual hunt for the most colorful eggs. Those are the kind bunnies don’t lay.

Hospitality East is where my young 93 years of age father resides. Don’t tell him he is not young; it’ll spoil all of the fun….

Residents like my Dad saw many little festive faces pass by their wheelchair seeking chocolate filled eggs. The joy of seeing those smiling little eyes and hearing thank you was simply delightful. The opportunity to give the sought for candy brought back memories of even more joyful Easters when their own children where on the quest for the delicious treasurers. For many, it was like an NFL instant replay.

But what of tomorrow? What will Easter mean to the aged and young tomorrow? For Easter is not really about bunnies and their tasty eggs. Easter is about new life. When America was a more agrarian society, new life was represented by budding of trees, of flowers, and the beginning of a new harvest season. Few children living in our man-made desert of mostly wood, steel, concrete and asphalt have much appreciation for nature’s natural resurrection. The drab barrenness of grass, trees, and sky reflects the prospects of the aged. Sun may shine and the grass reborn but only on their wilting aged frames.

The ray of hope that Easter brings is a new morning of life without pain, illness, poverty, loneliness, or alienation. Easter sunrise beams the warmth of God’s love manifest in the death and the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus offers a tomorrow of life after death. Jesus gives an eternal tomorrow without the pain of death, whether that death came by the consequences of wrongdoing, or by divorce, or by illness, or by some other circumstance. Jesus became poor so that we may have an abundant life. While Jesus’ death satisfies God’s justice for every moral crime, his resurrection is assurance that he who has suffered as we often do will guide us to life restored to God.

Tomorrow–Easter Sunday–is a day to remember that new life is possible through Jesus. Those who accept Jesus as their covenant with God have seen the vision of tomorrow; and they still see that today’s troubles are temporary in light of the reward of eternal life with Jesus in God’s kingdom.

The aroma of grass reborn and plant life budding anew is another reminder of God’s promise of a glorious tomorrow born of Jesus’ victory over alienation, pain, shame, and death. That promise is one confirmed throughout the life of experienced faith today.

by Daniel Downs

XAMA Events Meeting At Oasis Cafe – Mechants and Citizens Invited

Xenia Area Merchants Association is holding its next planning meeting for 2008 Xenia Merchant events on Wednesday March 19 at the Oasis Cafe at 6:15 PM. Events to be discussed include Hometown Mother’s Day, Old Fashioned Days, & Hometown Christmas. Barb Zajbel of the Xenia Area Chamber of Commerce will be updating us on some ideas concerning the Downtown Murals project with a short presentation. All Xenia Area Merchants and concerned citizens with a willingness to help are invited to attend.

Dinner is available at:
The Oasis Cafe
13 E. Main St.
(937) 372-6500.

For more information, contact Carolyn at Cecarolyn@aol.com

Caroline is owner of C J’s Boutique 72 S. Detroit Street Xenia, Ohio 45385 937-620-5017
Store Hours: Tues – Fri 10:00 -5:00 Sat. – 10:00 – 3:00 Closed Sun. and Mon.