vent magazine june

JUNE 2009

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07 Barbecue State

08 Commonwealth: a ReviewMullets, Right-Wing Ex-Millionaires and Pro Wrestling

10 Ride of the month

12 Young Artist: Summer time fun

13 Cheri’s Creations

14 This Plus That Doesn’t Always Equal the “Jah, mon.”

16 Art of the city: Carol Colburn

17 The plug: Jeremy Calloway

19 Lighter Living: The dark side of the light bulb

20 Should I Stay or Should I Go?: High School Seniors Surveyed About Future of Ow-ensboro

22 Could You Do My Job, Please?

23 Famous Bistro

24 Vent

To promote awareness about HIV/AIDS and encourage community unity, the

Owensboro AIDS Task Force is teaming up with Tri-State Alliance to host a health

fair on June 27 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on the 1000 block of E 4th St. behind Wel-

born’s Floral Co. and Equals Bar. There will be games for kids, vendors, food and

speakers. Proceeds from the event help fund HIV testing supplies and the AIDS

Christmas Project, providing gifts for people and families affected by HIV/AIDS.

Come visit VENT’s booth at the fair.

NationalHIVTesting Day June 27

Isaiah Ratliff, son of Troy and Jessica Ratliff was born 15 week pre-mature and suffers from periventricular leukomalasia. Due to Isaiah’s illness, he needs expensive specialized medical equipment. A fund raiser will be held Sat., June 20 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Pleasant Valley Community Church located at 800 Pleasant Valley Rd.

Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) is the most common ischemic

brain injury in premature infants. The ischemia occurs in the border zone at the end of arterial vascular distributions. The ischemia of PVL occurs in the white matter adjacent to the lateral ventricles. The di-agnostic hallmarks of PVL are periventricular echodensities or cysts detected by cranial ultrasonography. Diagnosing PVL is important be-cause a significant percentage of surviving premature infants with PVL develop cerebral palsy (CP), intellectual impairment, or visual distur-bances. source: http://emedicine.medscape.com

Isaiah Ratliff

Contacting VENT

Advertising:[email protected] or

call (270) 314-0196

Questions or Comments: [email protected] or

[email protected]/ventmag

w w w . v e n t m a g o w b . c o m


Art work by: Cynthia Freer for VENT Magazine


At approximately noon, the radio buzzed that familiar, ear-splitting emergency broadcast alert. The meteorologists announced tornado watches and severe thunderstorm warnings, threatening to break up the International Bar-B-Q Festival in our soon-to-be-bustling downtown.

The constant alerts of 70 mph. winds did nothing but stir excitement about which tent was going to be flung into the air courtesy of whichever wind deity decided to disturb the Fest. Is it a coincidence that every year Festival-goers are watching the skies? Five hours later, the potential mut-ton gluttons were scoffing at the T-storms.

Events started Thursday with the judging of the Miss Bar-B-Q Fest in various age groups. The tiara-clad champions then judged the pie eating contest. The contest, I regretfully inform you, was for kiddos.

This wannabe competitive eater was excited about the prospect of scarfing many blueberry pies as an ode to Stand By Me, but was not given the chance. Instead, there was a group of about six children sitting at picnic tables in front of a stage, where the band Insulated was sound checking. In between yelling at the band to hush, one of the Bar-B-Q Fest officials spat the rules and, “GO! EAT! EAT! EAT!”

I’m not sure, but I think there was a winner. Her name was taken for the local newspaper. I can’t remember if it was the child that ate the entire pie or the one that put it over her head immediately when the contest started.

Regardless, I was hankering for the Bar-B-Q. The dilemma? Several or-ganizations crank out some serious Bar-B-Q. I chose a local church and double fisted with two chopped mutton sandwiches. The largely family-based crowd reflected the time; it was early enough for the beer gardens not to be in full swing yet. And what does an of age patron of the Fest do

until the crowd transitions to an older crowd? Make the rounds. The vendors, musical performances, and rides kept me entertained. I

seriously considered a foot long corn dog or funnel cake even after my mutton sandwiches, but the Bug Jewelry tent distracted me. There was an array of scorpions, butterflies, and what I was told to be a brown recluse frozen in a clear glass-like stone. Mayor Ron Payne swooped by, but didn’t stop, maybe due to an aversion to insects. He smiled and waved none-the-less.

I hadn’t completed chin ups or push ups in at least a couple of hours so I visited the Military wing of the Fest. There was loud music, barkers like at a circus, and a walking inflatable 8-foot-tall soldier. We snapped a picture in front of the mobile rock climbing wall, which looked like fun.

This side of the Fest was obviously geared more toward the middle school/high school age patrons. The School Age Stage was loud and enter-taining. I couldn’t help but jump in the tiny moshpit driven by the power-ful double bass drum. The quality of the music and size of the crowd was surprising — another addition to the Fest that I hope becomes a staple.

What’s left after food, vendors, and music? The beer garden or at least I thought. The time was about 8:30 p.m. and the crowd consisted mainly of couples sitting quietly enjoying the fair weather. I believe the band was setting up, but I was deafened by the hush of timid beer-gardeners. Un-fortunately, I was not able to see the final stage of the Bar-B-Q Fest, the brawling, beer-bellied, “I’m alright to drive,” spectacle.

All in all, I got my belly full, I was entertained, and I was not squashed in between two drunken, obnoxious brutes while shaming the city for what it’s done for entertainment on a hot, steamy weekend in May.

Written by: Casey Aud

VENTMAGAZINE MAY 2009 | SOLUTION #6 07.



I often find myself tired of dull, predictable books, or books that are just too darn happy. It is during these times that I turn to Joey Goebel. His books are consistently brilliant. His characters are well-written. They aren’t always likeable, but they’re always loveable. And his plots are full of unforeseeable twists and genius arcs.

Having read and loved Goebel’s first two books, I was excited when I finally got my hands on Commonwealth. It took me a while to get through the book (perhaps because I bought it during the last week of school), but it was well worth the read. In fact, I read the last hundred pages in one go.

The book surprised me in how different it is from his other novels, especially regarding the characters. Only Joey Goebel could make a mullet-wearing, gay-bashing, right-wing, ex-millionaire work as a main character, though, oddly enough, this is exactly the last person you would expect to be shown in a favorable light in his books. I guess this shows a growth of character development in Goebel’s writing. Instead of artistic, moody dreamers, he’s now in the heads of more off-beat and seemingly unlovable people (no offence to all of you mulleted, gay-bashing ex-millionaires).

I didn’t particularly care for Blue Gene Mapother at first. He is abra-sive, uncultured, and a downer in general. In his eyes, everything sucks. To top it all off, he is boring. The height of his excitement is someone buying a used toy at his flea market booth. He just isn’t the kind of character that someone wants to read about.

The funny thing is, Blue Gene grows on you, and with him, so does the book. Unlike Goebel’s previous novels, Commonwealth doesn’t focus entirely on what’s wrong with the world. The tone isn’t as dark as Torture the Artist, and the characters aren’t as angry as those in The Anomalies.

Instead, Commonwealth presents America as it is: flawed, but still a

won-derful country. The characters honestly strive to better the country, though they may do so in all the wrong ways. Their hope and ignorance lighten the tone of this novel.

I enjoyed both of Goebel’s previous books, but reading Commonwealth made me realize just how depressing his writing was before. I honestly prefer the lighter tone and more well-rounded charac-ters in his latest novel.

The main problem that readers have with Commonwealth is not Goebel’s writing style (which is brilliant in its wit and sarcasm), but rather the way he ended it.

Don’t worry; I’m not going to spoil anything for you. Though many found the ending to be a touch unrealistic and disap-

pointing, I thought it was the best way Goebel could have concluded the book. It did feel a bit rushed, I admit, but each character and each plot line came to a logical and realistic conclusion.

Commonwealth may have its shortcomings, but the brilliant charac-ters and wonderful story make the novel worth reading. I recommend Commonwealth to anyone interested in politics, philanthropy, or profes-sional wrestling.

a ReviewMullets, Right-Wing Ex-Millionaires and Pro WrestlingBy Katie Beyke

aren’t always likeable, but they’re always loveable. And his plots

Having read and loved Goebel’s first two books, I was excited when won-derful

“My inspiration is this constant disgust I feel for everything

that passes for entertainment and that passes for culture

these days. . . . The recurring theme in everything I write

is that people are basically ignorant. Sorry if that sounds

mean. I’m ignorant myself for saying so. “– Joey Goebel

Joey Goebel, a Henderson, Ky., native and Brescia University graduate,

has published three books, The Anomalies (2003), Torture the Artist (2004)

and Commonwealth (2008).

His books have been printed in 10 languages and he has been nominated

for and received several awards.

Goebel teaches writing at Henderson Community College and recently

finished the screenplay for Torture the Artist, which has been optioned to

be made into a feature film. He is currently brainstorming for his fourth

novel.

08. VENTMAGAZINE JUNE 2009 | SOLUTION #6

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Summer break is the pinnacle of the year for kids. They wait all school year for those few, short, savory months of sun and fun.

Every year, my family plans a summer vacation but work always gets in the way and we have to cancel our plans. So my two kids stay home with nothing to do.

My nine-year-old daughter is creative and loves to draw, sing, do crafts and dance. Having to cancel the summer trips breaks my heart.

But this year will be different. The Summer Institute for Young Artists camp is put on by a partnership

between Owensboro Public Schools 21st Century Community Learning Centers Team, City of Owensboro, Daviess County Fiscal Court and Insti-tute for Young Musicians. SIYA offers kids the avenue to indulge in various mediums of art over the summer.

The camp will be from June 8 to 19, 8:45 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, for students entering grades five through nine. Bus transportation is available for regular OPS routes.

The camp allows students to explore their artistic creativity during the summer. Students select an area to study, a major, out of five choices: band, orchestra, visual art, drama or choir. The students also select an elective class: drama, dance, visual art or instrumental exploration.

Camp culminates with a performance by the students and is open to the public on June 20 at 7 p.m. at Owensboro Middle School.

Each day begins with morning assembly with an ice-breaker, special guest speakers and SIYA discussions.

All students then participate in the all-camp choir before spending two one-hour periods for their major classes and then 30 minutes for the

elective. Lunch is provided and all students walk a half mile on the Owensboro

Middle School track to keep their creative energy flowing. Students end the day with a free recreational period including open

art, gym, board games, fitness activities, OMS’ ropes course, OMS’ indoor climbing wall, inflatable obstacle course and extra practice in the student’s major class or rehearsal for SIYA talent show.

This year, the SIYA camp is doing something new. The camp is going green. On June 10, staff and students will spend all day at the Western Kentucky Botanical Gardens.

On June 14, the students will be the featured artists at Botanical Gar-den’s Picnic in the Garden “Youthful Talents.” The SIYA choir will perform drama, music and art presentations at 2 p.m.

The popularity of SIYA grows every year and OPS expects the camp to see full enrollment this year. Space is limited.

SIYA shirts as well as lunch, snacks, notebooks and transportation will be provided.

So, parents, if you’re stuck working all summer don’t let you children suffer from it. Consider enrolling them in SIYA and fuel their creativity with a memorable summer.

For more information, contact Mark Moore, OPS 21st Century Co-ordinator at (270) 686-1000 or visit the Web site www.owensboro.kyschools.us/21cclc.

SUMMER TIME FUNWritten by: Kitty Kizer


Cheri Landis was the Clown Around Town in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her business, Clown Around Town, started as a singing telegram ser-

vice, and she delivered the telegrams herself. As the business grew, she added floral bouquets and served the city for 13 years until she had an accident, which forced her to close.

But this did not deter her entirely. She worked from home, decorat-ing floral and fruit bouquets for every season for about a year.

Then the Springfield, Ohio, native took a job as a district manager for a local retailer for a couple of years and moved to Owensboro.

She quit to work with her fiancé, Ray, creator and owner of One Time Fab. One day, while working at the shop located on Daviess St., Landis noticed that the building had some potential, enough potential to reopen another store.

Returning to her roots, Landis convinced her fiancé to let her use the space in the front of the building. After giving the building a facelift, Cheri’s Creations Inc. opened its doors on June 1, 2008.

Business rolled to a slow start. So Landis hit the streets to promote her treats, delivering miniature candy bouquets. She traveled around Owensboro offering her creations to any business or individual she encountered.

Within one year, Landis landed 12 corporate clients and built an

online store in which customers can purchase her creations and ship them across the country.

Cheri’s Creations offers a wide selection of candies and souvenirs from across the U.S. Landis makes her bouquets for any occasion from grievance bouquets to birthday bouquets.

Landis is planning to establish a warehouse in the future to expedite her orders and facilitate the creation of bouquets.

But for now, her location at 1122 Daviess St. works just fine.Landis’ goal is to create three bouquets a day, which she easily ex-

ceeds thanks to the people of Owensboro, she said. “They have re-ceived me very well.”


Written by: Kitty KizerPhoto by: Ashley Evans

Cheri’s bouquets make great Fathers Day gifts.

™

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Initially, it sounded like a good idea. And I certainly see how it could be: a drink special for the ladies, a relaxed atmosphere and a DJ spinning reg-gae and dancehall music. But inevitably, all non-honest-effort endeavors go wrong and do so noticeably within the first five minutes (This is not a professional opinion).

The DJ was Dennis Bryant, a.k.a. Selecta Sub, (sub as in a subwoofer) and according to the Jamaican-clad flier, the night was Wine It Wednesday. This led me to believe that there was, in fact, a wine special on this night as well as the ladies’ night special. I was not lucky enough to get some cheese with my wine. No. Just a flyer scrapped together at the last minute indicative of every hastily prepared good idea. Wine It, as I was told, is a traditional spelling of something.

Selecta Sub was late. Well, not really late, but he had to go back home for his records. He is a DJ and all, and his profession necessitates such items. The spinning didn’t start until after 10 p.m. . . . on a school/work night. Going on late in the music biz is very important to any diva wan-nabe. It wasn’t necessarily his fault. In his defense, our Lion of Zion had a splinter in his paw. And you can’t spin with a spleeeenter. Can you?

The music, you ask? Pretty good, actually. Me and my companions lounged in the dark, semi-circular booths and sipped Sierra Nevada soak-ing in the sounds of wailing Caribbean vocalists and stale smoke. Some patrons looked around as though they just didn’t understand why they weren’t listening to lame-o acoustic guitar covers of Dave Matthews and Van Morrison.

There were some tracks where the vocalists seemed to be dealing with some type of tracheal affliction — maybe even polyps on the vocal chords — but their instrumental accompaniment was good enough to keep my attention. From time to time, Selecta Sub would interject with, “Jah!” or

“Yeah!” or “Huh, huh!” in addition to a finger pointing up to an ethereal smiling Marley, or just the smiling Bacchus portrait on the wall. Still don’t know what the finger means. Maybe he was giving the listeners the finger in the style of what a Reggae DJ would do.

Selecta Sub’s style was unique: Think of a modern day Buddy Holly as-suming the form of Eminem. He’s not blond, but with thick, dark-rimmed glasses poking out from under a doo rag with matching sneakers and t-shirt. He’s street. He’s street and old school. He is a character who is who he is, a character Owensboro needs more of.

A reggae night with a drink special in a low-key bar is an awesome idea. The thought of it happening in Owensboro excited me. And if the situation improves, I will come back. But you have to feel it. You have to be confident in what you are doing. You have to sell it and you have to be sure of what you’re selling. Put butts in the seats and keep them there. Don’t nonchalantly spin with headphones tucked on your shoulder like you’re listening to the NBA game behind you on the screen.

In a town such as ours even 100 percent is not enough to survive and the only time you get recognition is after you are gone. Owensboro is on life support with a diverse nightlife and Selecta Sub is an intern doing what he can to sustain us until more help arrives.

Folks, keep this in mind: when the bar was formerly ZAZU, the Merely Players hosted a Tuesday night series of plays, and a drunken, red-faced redneck stood in front of the stage and screamed, “Play some (expletive) music!”

Well, there’s music now, and I haven’t seen the red-faced assailant of social graces lately, so Bacchus must be on the right path. They’ve come a long way, but are only getting started.

Written by: Casy Aud



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For some people, music is just a hobby and singing is something they do when no one else is looking. For Owensboro resident Jeremy Calloway, music is much more.

Surround by gospel music as a child, Callo-way developed a passion for singing at a young age. By age 12, he joined the Calvary Quartet at his church in Whitesville.

Six years later, after a talent contest for solo singers by the National Quartet Convention, a family singing group, The Merediths, from Swan-sea, S.C., approached him. Calloway moved from Whitesville to sing with the group.

Calloway moved back to Owensboro when he turned 21 to pursue a different avenue for music. He performed country rock at the Executive Inn five nights a week with David Vanover and Jewel Dukes for five years. But he was drawn back to gospel music.

Returning to his roots, Calloway became in-volved with churches, performing and instruct-

ing music. Calloway performed locally until he was invited to join Nashville, Tenn., gospel quartet Southern Sound.

He performed with Southern Sound until he met Larry Strickland, Naomi Judd’s husband. Calloway then sang back-up with the Judds in their “Tribute to Elvis” at the Ryman Audito-rium in Nashville. He also sang back-up on the remake of the Elvis Christmas Duet album released in 2008.

Chasing his dream to sing gospel music led Calloway around the country, but he decided to relocate to Owensboro in 2008.

Currently working at Don Moore Automo-tive, Calloway is a single father of two. But he still pursues his dreams in music by leading worship at Christ Community Church and by singing at weddings and family events.

Contact Jeremy at (270) 302-0991, 1-800-

467-2510 or email him at [email protected]

Written by: Kitty Kizer

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If you’re like any average American with the slightest inclination toward lighter living, you have already purchased some Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs. But what you may not know is you can’t just throw CFLs in the trash like your old incandescent bulbs.

CFLs contain mercury; a 25-watt bulb (or smaller) contains approxi-mately 5 mg of mercury vapor. It’s a minimal amount, but when you con-sider that the EPA estimated 400 million CFLs are not being properly disposed annually, that’s approximately 2,000,000 kg of mercury entering the Earth’s ecosystem – picture 527,704 gallons of water if you can.

Human exposure to mercury vapor in CFLS can cause damage to the gastrointestinal tract, the nervous system and the kidneys, causing head-aches, affecting cognitive function and changing nerve responses.

Downey Ward, manager of the Owensboro Sanitation Department, said the city currently does not have a medium to collect CFLs. If sanita-tion workers notice CFLs in the waste stream, they are collected and sent to the Daviess County Transfer Station, which then sends the CFLs on to a recycling center in Evansville, Ind. However, most CFLs that enter the city’s and county’s waste stream are stuffed into trash bags underneath other waste matter and workers may only find a small percentage of the disposed bulbs.

“By the time it gets to us, it’s next to impossible to sort out,” Ward said.

The best method of disposal in Owensboro is Home Depot.At no charge, Home Depot accepts burned out CFLs and ships them

to a recycling center. Home Depot is the only company in the city that currently accepts

the bulbs.Lanny Thompson, owner of Maintenance Solutions in Campbellsville,

Ky., collects fluorescent bulbs from Kentucky area residents and deliv-ers them to an EPA-certified recycling facility for a small fee. Thompson primarily works with businesses, but will accept recyclable material from residential consumers as well.

At the EPA-certified recycling center, 100 percent of the CFL is reused in other capacities. The mercury is often reused in new bulbs or is mixed with the ground glass and infused into concrete. The ceramic base and metal components are also collected and used as well, leaving nothing for the landfill.

Visit Maintenance Solutions’ Web site at www.recycleky.com or call (270) 403-2888 for questions about sending CFLs or setting up a busi-ness account.

While the environmental and economic benefits of CFLs outweigh that of incandescents regardless of mercury content, the energy-efficient lights do pose a potential economic hazard if consumers are not informed of the necessity to dispose of them properly, and manufacturers and govern-ment policy-makers do not implement an easily-accessible, safe system for disposal.

While Home Depot is one of a handful of national retailers stepping up to their corporate responsibilities, a city- and county-wide disposal system would increase consumers’ accessibility to properly dispose the bulbs. Unfortunately, Ward said, there is nowhere locally for the city to take CFLs. So for the time, the responsibility falls on the consumer.

Although some fluorescent lights tout “low mercury,” all fluorescent lighting contains enough mercury to merit caution during disposal.

Despite the mercury content, CFLs are still more environmentally friendly than incandescent lights. More than half of the Unites States’ electricity is produced by coal, which emits mercury into the air when burned. Over the course of five years, burning one incandescent bulb approximately four hours a day will consume enough electricity to emit 26.13 mg of mercury into the air, and will require about eight bulbs, ac-cording to NEMA.

A CFL under the same conditions will emit only 5.66 mg and requires only one bulb. Even with the 5 mg of mercury inside the CFL, incandes-cents still emit greater than 150 percent more mercury.

The Dark Side of the Light Bulb

Lighter Living

Did You Know?If a Compact Fluorescent Light bulb breaks in your home, do not vacuum it up. The vacuum spews mercury around your home. Keep pets and children away. Open windows and ventilate the area well. Then use a damp cloth to blot up the mercury dust. Seal the cloth with the broken bulb in an air-tight zip top bag and dispose properly (not in the trash).



Written by: Matt Weafer

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Owensboro is in a state of flux; city officials are redeveloping down-town, recruiting new businesses and overall making changes for the future of Owensboro for this generation’s children and their grand-

children.One of the goals of these changes is to encourage Owensboro youth to

remain in the city or return after college.But does Owensboro’s youth want to do that? To find out, VENT Magazine surveyed 114 high school seniors in Ow-

ensboro just weeks before they walk the line and prepare to start their futures in the “real world.”

VENT asked questions about students’ plans for college, their opinions about Owensboro and their major concerns for the nation as a whole.

The survey showed that while 31 percent of students said they want to live in Owensboro when they graduate college, 22 percent said they don’t and 47 percent marked undecided.

The majority of students that plan to live in Owensboro cited a few recurring reasons: because they have family here, because they think Ow-ensboro is a good place to raise a family, because they like the size (not too big, not too small) or because they are comfortable.

The 22 percent that said they don’t want to live here said no because there are no job opportunities, the city is too small, they hate the city and the people in it or they are just ready to experience something new.

Approximately 57 percent of students said they plan to move out of town to go to college. Some of the common explanations were: because local schools don’t offer the student’s major, out-of-town schools offered more scholarships or the student wants the “real college experience” or the student doesn’t like Owensboro.

Nineteen percent plan to attend Owensboro Community and Technical College; 10 percent plan to attend Brescia University; seven percent plan to attend Kentucky Wesleyan College and three percent plan to join the military immediately after graduation.

As an open-ended question, the survey asked students what they would like to see change in Owensboro.

Students typically responded with more than one answer. The most common response was listed by 27 students: that Owensboro lacked enter-tainment options. The second most common response was a tie between two concerns listed by 16 students each: that Owensboro lacked enter-tainment options for the high school age and that Owensboro needs new retailers or a new mall.

While 12 students said they would change nothing about the city, 11 students said Owensboro needs to make changes to increase tourism; nine students said the city needs more job opportunities; eight students are ex-cited about downtown; four students are not excited about downtown and another four want to see everything about Owensboro change.

OCHS student, Jessica Carter said, “It’s not a town for teens but I can see myself grow old here.”

For the nation, 58 students marked their largest concern as the econo-my.

“I am nervous about my scholarships in the next couple years,” OCHS senior John McNulty said.

The next largest concern, listed by eight students, was a loss of morality as a nation. Other major concerns included fear of the president and the

current administration, the environment, materialism, crime, world peace and abortion.

Students are divided relatively equally between excitement about Ow-ensboro’s future and disdain for the city.

While 31 percent of students cited family and comfort as the reason for staying in Owensboro, none of them cited excitement about the potential for opportunity or the local job market — with the exception of eight students saying they were excited about the development of downtown — concluding that the reason most of the students choose to stay in Ow-ensboro has nothing to do with careers but with the communal, family-friendly environment, and the reason students move is because of the lack of entertainment and job opportunities.

While 47 percent of the students are undecided about where they want to live after graduation, the majority of the 57 percent of students that are not attending college in Owensboro said the reason was because they wanted to live somewhere different for now.

In the meantime, Owensboro high school students are still just looking for something to do on the weekends.

Undecided

No

Yes

Do you plan to live in Owensboro after college?

46%

22%

31%

Should I Stay or Should I Go?High School Seniors Surveyed About Future of Owensboro




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Juicy CoutureMichael Stars

MillyNanette Lepore

Nic & ZoeRebecca Taylor

Seven for All MankindCitizens for Humanity

SpanxSplendid

TibiTrina Turk

VelvetVince

Wesleyan Park PlazaOwensboro:

2738 Frederica St.ph 270.926.8388

Evansville:4910 Lincoln Ave. ph 812.962.4850



Recently, my Internet service went on the blink, so I called my service provider. After going through what seemed like

hours of automated “assistance” — I just kept hitting “0” — I got a live person. Success! I was back online.

Since I had the technician on the line, I asked her to assist me with one more thing — an error, which gave me a specific message and a number in a dialog box. After a couple of minutes, she said, “Please type your company name and the error number into Google, and see if you can find the answer for this.”

OK, I thought, she didn’t understand me. So, I said, “No, this is a specific code for your com-pany. You should have it in your database of er-ror codes.”

She replied, “Yes, I will search Google, and you can, too.”

Mostly under my breath, I laughed because my goal was to have both issues remedied, so that I could get back to work. Little did I know I would be recruited to work for the company that I was paying.

Sometimes this is how sellers feel after they’ve listed their property with a real estate

agent. Rarely, though, is there a chuckle about the situation since our homes usually rank as our largest investments.

Red flags should spring up if your agent asks you to show your own home or hold your own open houses. As a matter of fact, a seller should avoid any contact with the buying public or the buyer’s agent. Why? Your Realtor® is trained to communicate on your behalf so you can reap the best reward from your sale.

Discuss communication with your agent at the listing, and then you’ll know when and how to expect updates. Afterward, if your Realtor® has you sign paperwork, puts a sign in your yard and you never hear from him or her again, the warning sirens should begin to wail. This hit-and-run behavior leaves sellers feeling aban-doned, wondering if anyone is marketing their property. With the right balance of communication, you and your Realtor® will be focused on sell-ing your property.

Finally, you should anticipate feedback from your showings. Calling the buyer’s agent who left his or her card on

your kitchen counter is tempting, but unadvis-able. Let your agent make the call to follow up, so you’re not left wishing you could take some-thing back that you said to the buyer’s agent.

Should you tell everyone your property is for sale? Absolutely. Spread the word on your end of the social spectrum — an ethical, hard-working realtor will do likewise. Have open conversations with your agent, get to know him or her, and you will have a much healthier work-ing relationship. Even more, you won’t feel as if you’re doing the job you’re paying someone else to do.

Questions, comments, or topics you’d like addressed? E-mail Lisa at [email protected].


By Lisa Taylor, Broker/Owner, Maverick Realty


The Famous Bistro, 102 E Second St., is a constantly evolv-ing restaurant offering quality, made-from-scratch food featuring cuisines from around the globe.

When George Skiadas opened the restaurant in 1993, it was origi-nally known as the Famous Deli and served breakfast and lunch. That changed in about six months as he introduced a few unique entrees from traditional Greek, Spanish, Portuguese, Middle East and French cuisine. Now the Bistro serves lunch and dinner Mon-day through Saturday.

Skiadas originally moved to Owensboro after leaving the Army to attend Kentucky Wesleyan College.

After competing in sports parachuting for 10 years and living in Europe for a couple of years, he entered the restaurant world under his cousins just outside of Providence, R. I. From them, Skiadas learned the restaurant industry.

Over the years, Skiadas opened and ran several restaurants in the Delaware Valley, around Philadelphia, Penn.

“The Famous Bistro is my favorite restaurant in that I’m able to offer anything I want without being pigeonholed in terms of type of cuisine,” Skiadas said.

Skiadas’ parents were born and raised in Southern Albania, which is Greek in culture, language and cuisine. Born in Massachusetts, Skiadas was influenced not only by his parents’ traditional Mediter-ranean food but also by north eastern American cuisine.

One of his cousins was the co-creator of the grinder, a sandwich on a hoagie roll, baked in the oven. Skiadas opened the first restau-rant in the U.S. to feature grinders on its menu. He also opened the first restaurant in Owensboro to offer grinders, the Famous Bistro.

The Bistro is a forum for culinary creativity in which Skiadas’ employees are encouraged to create new entrees.

Focusing on quality food requires quality ingredients including steak and seafood. Not only does Skiadas provide superior grade steaks, and locally grown produce, he also serves sustainable, healthy seafood.

Skiadas said he has the best staff that he’s ever had in the Bistro. And with that dependability and the forward momentum of the constantly evolving restaurant, he is considering more restaurant ventures.

“I’ve been approached by several people to possibly open another restaurant,” he said, “one on the river and another on south Frederica. And I’m looking into both those areas with some real interest.”

And while Skiadas has lived in several states and countries over the years, he said he’s happy to be in Owensboro.

“Owensboro is a great place,” he said. ”It’s a perfect place. Owensboro is as nice a place as anybody would want to live. . . . I hear over and over again how friendly Owensboro is to people from out of town. And I consider that to be probably one of the greatest things a community can offer, friendliness. What can be better than that?”



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Worthless

By Chad McCollam

“You’re pathetic, worthless. You’re a sissy,” were just a few of the putdowns that I heard bellow above all the noise and distrac-tions that accompany a typical Saturday night at the International Barbeque Festival.

I was holding my six-year-old daughter’s hand, waiting to get on the Ferris wheel, when the verbal barrage of profanity and deroga-tory comments began. My daughter’s head turned, as did mine and everyone else’s around us, towards the ensuing onslaught of hateful words. It was at that moment that I really wished my daugh-ter wasn’t in attendance. Not just because what we witnessed wasn’t meant for her eyes and ears, but also because her absence would’ve afforded me the opportunity to intervene on the behalf of the little girl at whom the heartless comments were aimed.

She couldn’t have been any older than 10, and she was crying, big tears, mumbling that she was sorry, that she was just scared to get on the rides. The man hovering over her, next to her mother, continued his badgering, in front of hundreds of strangers, for what seemed liked forever, as I attempted to distract my daughter and shield her from bitter reality, at least for another day.

“You make me ****ing sick,” I heard the man say, while the little girls mother nodded in agreement. The crying girl didn’t respond. Instead, she ducked her head, scared, defeated, worthless.

By the time my daughter and I boarded the Ferris wheel, the girl and the two people, who I hesitate to call parents, had disappeared into the crowd. When we got stopped at the top, my six-year-old said, “Daddy, look at the river. It’s so big, so pretty.”

“Not near as pretty as you,” I chimed back unsurprisingly. But, I wasn’t really looking at the river. I was staring at the mass of peo-ple, hoping to catch a glimpse of the little girl. Wishing that I could reach out with an Inspector-Gadget-like arm, dry her tears, and tell her it was OK to be scared of carnival rides, OK to express what she was feeling.

I put my arm around my own daughter instead, although she didn’t need it to feel secure. Her confidence soars much higher than any carnival ride could ever take us. “Did I tell you how proud I am of you yet today?” I asked. My little girl laid her head against my shoulder for a second to let me know that she already knew. She would always know.


The VENT page is Owensboro’s forum for complaints, sugges-tions, comments and concerns. Share your frustration, your rage or your glee with your fellow readers. Submit VENTs at www.ventmagowb.com.

VENT Magazine does not endorse the opinions featured on this page. We are simply the soap box upon which people stand.


Good news: Our OMU bills will be going up.

By Anonymous

How much? If it was up to OMU it would raise by about 27 per-cent, or approximately $20 a month. Sadly, the Owensboro City Commission said a 27 percent increase was too much to drop on the community all at once. The commissioners should know; they received enough flack about raising insurance taxes by four percent at the beginning of the year.

So OMU dropped the rate by six percent and will spread the increases out over the next year or so. I guess that’s OK. Personally I would rather see the 27 percent on my next bill. Go ahead, just rip off the band-aid.

I’m happy to support my local municipality. I think it’s OK that they waited this long until they realized they needed to raise rates. I think it’s awesome that even though they have run out of ways to cut costs they are willing to give a three percent raise to some (or all, I’m not sure) of their employees. And I think it’s even better that they were so nice to wait this long to raise their rates until the absolute last second — when none of the city residents were expecting it — just to make it easier on their customers. This way, customers were able to spend that extra money every month on luxuries like gas, food, insurance and medicine.

I don’t mind spending extra each month. And I doubt other busi-nesses in town don’t mind adding a few extra thousand bucks a month to their bills. I’m sure there will be some layoffs, but that’s OK. Break rooms and parking lots at work tend to be a little crowded sometimes. And people get stuck in depressing routines like knowing how much they will earn a month or saving for future expenses.

Besides, those people can just go work for OMU. They will be sit-ting pretty once those difficult city commissioners finally give in.

A Brawl for a Bra

By Anonymous

I am a shopper and I usually spend most of my day doing so. I have two kids and it takes twice as long shopping with them than it does by myself.

I have a particular problem with a retail store. I bought some boxed items only to realize that there was absolutely nothing in the package. I recently bought an item called Perfect Straps, a product for women used with brassieres. This product should have consisted


of three clips, invisible tape and instructions. It had nothing but cardboard. Literally, the invisible tape was in fact in-

visible. I was irate. I decided to call the manager to explain my situation. His response was, “Just bring it back with a receipt and we will ex-

change it for another one.” There was no apology or anything. So I’m debating whether I should immediately go back or put up the groceries I just bought. So I had to drag my kids back out.

To me, it was a waste of my time and gas. Does ten dollars really mean that much? H$%) yeah it does. So I packed my kids in my car and headed out. I walked to customer service, stood in line for about ten minutes and then I hear, “next.” I walked up to the counter and started to explain to the lady my problem.

She immediately asked me for my receipt. I handed it to her and she gave me a funny look. She hesitated to give me a refund and started whis-pering to a coworker. Seriously, she was making me feel like I took the product out and wanted to return it for a refund.

I stopped her in action and said, “Look. All I want to do is exchange this for another one.

Still with hesitation, she said, “Go get another one and we will check to see if anything is missing.”

I went to get another box, along with my kids and brought it back to customer service. She went through the item, nothing was missing. Finally I got my product after feeling like I have just been interrogated for a crime I didn’t commit and went home. The trip took about an hour. I was driving home and thought to myself, I hope those straps work because that’s a lot to go through to wear a tank top without being able to see your bra.

The motor of the Ferris wheel roared to life, the little angel by my side squealed with delight, and I said a prayer that there would be a mo-ment in the crying girl’s future where she was sure that she mattered.



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