Local chefs and restaurateurs Brian Rainey, left, and Gavin St. Denis opened the YS Smokehouse on Friday, Nov. 1, in the building that previously housed Calypso Grill. Rainey closed Calypso last month after six years of serving Caribbean cuisine. Now, with a scaled-back menu, the pair will offer pick-up barbecue and southern fare. (Photo by Reilly Dixon)
2024 In Review | Businesses & Organizations
- Published: December 31, 2024
NEW ARRIVALS
Winter
Area resident and Mills Park Hotel co-owner Alex Price took charge of the Chamber of Commerce as board chair and interim executive director. Price succeeded Mark Heise, whose three-year term expired in December 2023. Then, effective July 1, longtime villager Phillip O’Rourke took the helm when he was hired as the Chamber’s full-time executive director — a position that had been vacant since 2021.
Village resident, entrepreneur, realtor and all-around sports fan Todd Pultz opened Nukes Warehouse, a 7,000-square-foot professional softball and baseball training facility in a Millworks warehouse.
Emerge Recovery and Trade Initiative, which opened its housing and education campus in the former Greene County Career Center facility on West Enon Road in 2023, opened a new men’s recovery housing facility — called Emerge Springs — on the Antioch College campus. The recovery housing is in the former West Hall on East North College St.
Owner of Lucky Bunny Tattoo — Yellow Springs’ newest tattoo parlor, located where Gailz Tattooz was previously sited, at 115 Glen Street — Dustie Pitstick has already made his mark on a number of clients since opening his shop. Here, he worked on a black-and-white rose on Jacquelyne Postiy’s hand. (Photo by Reilly Dixon)
Spring
Gailz Tattooz closed after nearly three decades of inking up the local community, and Royal Prevail Tattoo moved into the Glen Street parlor. In the months since taking over the shop, the new tattoo collective renamed itself Lucky Bunny Tattoo and has since doled out hundreds of piercings and tattoos of myriad styles and designs.
Sister Trillium, a local nonprofit organization that collects and repurposes used art and craft supplies, moved into the group’s first brick-and-mortar location at 108 Dayton St. — the downtown space that previously housed the YS Community Foundation.
Local farmers Evan Pitstick and Larissa Duprey and florist Brenn Busker purchased 11-acres on Yellow Springs-Fairfield Road to start Butter Flower Farm, a sustainable farm currently specializing in dried flowers.
Summer
In Salon — short for the business’ tagline, “Inclusivity, Independence and Inspiration” — opened up shop at 120 Dayton St., and in addition to offering salon services, also features a small boutique.
Following a grand opening on Wednesday, July 10, area residents and globetrotting couple Dani and Mike Mortell — along with their pooch, Granger — will be the owners of Yellow Springs’ newest business: Nook Overland, a camper dealership located in the Millworks Business Center, 305 N. Walnut St., Building H. Nook’s Scout-brand campers can be affixed to the back of trucks and provide travelers with some rugged comfort on and off the beaten path. Camper prices start at $16,000. (Photo by Reilly Dixon)
Nook Overland, a camper dealership located in the Millworks Business Center, opened its doors this summer to appeal to the outdoorsy spirit of Yellow Springs and its wayfaring inhabitants.
Young’s Jersey Dairy opened Cowtherine’s Carousel, a round-about attraction with 21 horses painted in the colors of Young’s homemade ice cream flavors, six custom-made Jersey cows based on Young’s herd, a pig, a goat and a rooster, as well as two chariots and wheelchair accessible seating.
Emily Jasenski, founder of the Crescent Center in Greenville, began offering thermographic imaging services — infrared imaging that detects a body’s heat patterns and blood flow — at the Mindfully Well Center.
Tom Rathbun, Ryan Taylor and Rebecca Kolssak are among the professional therapists and clinicians who offer their holistic mental health services at the Acorn & Owl, headquartered in a Mongolian yurt behind Stoney Creek Garden Center, just north of the village. (Photo by Reilly Dixon)
Fall
On Saturday, Oct. 12, tens of thousands of attendees came to downtown Yellow Springs for the Fall Street Fair. As is tradition, scores of food and craft vendors lined the sidewalks, and music filled the autumn air.
Located in the former Calypso Grill space at 1535 Xenia Ave. — which closed after six years in October — the YS Smokehouse opened in November. Former Calypso owner Brian Rainey and chef Gavin St. Denis partnered in the new venture. Its menu is slathered in classic southern Americana fare such as brisket, pulled pork, macaroni and cheese, collards and more.
Villager and longtime practitioner of Wu-style tai chi David Goodman will launch his newest series of instructional classes beginning Tuesday, Nov. 12. Wu-style emphasizes slow, deliberate movements and can improve wellness and mindfulness. (Photo by Reilly Dixon)
As he has for many years, longtime Yellow Springs resident David Goodman kicked off another eight-week Wu-style tai chi class this fall — one aimed to help foster balance, mindfulness and overall well being.
The News spoke with counsellors at Acorn & Owl, a Dayton-based mental health practice operating out of a Mongolian yurt behind Stoney Creek Garden Center. Acorn & Owl offers holistic healing services, clinical therapy, guided meditation, yoga and more.
Yellow Springs resident and former Antioch College student Alex Rolland founded Village Solar in 2020 with the mission to provide sustainable solar power to the village and beyond. Here, Rolland stands by an Ohio first: a floating solar array atop a detention pond in Delaware County. (Submitted photo)
TRANSITIONS, EXPANSIONS
Winter
Village Solar Co. marked its fourth year in Yellow Springs by expanding significantly beyond village limits. Between 2023 and 2024, the homegrown company successfully installed 15 residential arrays and branched into several large-scale commercial solar projects throughout the state. Late in 2023, Village Solar partnered with Appalachian Renewable Power to build Ohio’s first ever floating solar array — composed of 2,700 panels and able to generate 1.5 megawatts.
In recent weeks, Nipper’s Corner gas station and convenience store has undergone a noticeable transformation: Larger shelves have been erected and are now populated by a number of new products. Next month, the gas pumps will be improved, the store’s exterior will be remolded and much more. All this work has been carried out by new owner Mit Patel. (Photo by Reilly Dixon)
Nipper’s Corner came under new ownership when the Waynesville-based Patel family purchased the gas station and market from local residents Dennis and Jane Nipper. Now, with new gas pumps, a remodeled exterior, more products and an updated store layout, Nipper’s Corner is now Yellow Springs BP and part of the Eagle Stores.
Spring
Longtime villagers Shaun Craig and Jake Siemer took over at Arise Café and Catering, a small brunch-and-lunch spot located at 2960 W. Enon Road, in Xenia Twp. Neither Craig nor Siemer still work there at year’s end.
Yellow Springs Hardware officially launched “The Hardware Store Sessions,” an ongoing live performance series from area comedians, improv artists, musicians and artisans.
Longtime kiln master Brad Husk feeds a nearly 2,300-degree blaze in the final firing of John Bryan Community Pottery’s 14-year-old wood kiln. (Photo by Lauren “Chuck” Shows)
John Bryan Community Pottery bid adieu to the organization’s 14-year-old wood kiln — the end of a decade-long era for the local pottery collective. Longtime kiln master Brad Husk told the News that the kiln’s final firing was its 120th.
After several years of attempting to build a public market and eatery, Massies Creek Ventures put the lumber yard at 108 Cliff St. up for sale. Built in 1940 and spread across 11,000 square feet, the lumber yard — as well as the market’s site and concept plans — are presently listed for sale at $899,000, down from the initial listing price of $1.27 million.
Summer
The Spring Street Fair brought an estimated 30,000 attendees — villagers, visitors and vendors alike — to the downtown thoroughfares Saturday, June 8.
Areolieff Aviation Services, a flight-training company that village residents Barbara Wiley and Dan Lieff launched in 2020, marked four years of offering instruction for wannabe pilots with aspirations of all kinds: private flying, commercial careers, military ambitions and more.
With Miguel’s Tacos fully out of Trail Town Brewery, and back in the original food truck behind Tom’s Market, Trail Town Brewery launched its own in-house kitchen that features smoked chicken wings, fries, poutine, burgers and more.
The Yellow Springs Baking Company expanded its operations with a new brick-and-mortar cafe at 108 Dayton St. The baking company still cooks and bakes in its Millworks headquarters.
Local resident Mariano Rios, operator of the former food truck La Pampa Mobile Grill, launched his new pastry business, Matria Argentine Patisserie, last summer. Now, Matria is opening a location in Dayton’s Second Street Market. (Submitted photo)
Mariano Rios, owner of Matria Argentine Patisserie and the former La Pampa Mobile Grill, recently obtained a spot in Second Street Market in Dayton, as well as agreements to sell his pastries at local coffee shops in Yellow Springs.
Local resident Amanda Duprey Hernandez has begun farming a new plot at the Agraria Center for Regenerative Practice thanks to grants from two nonprofits, Hall Hunger Initiative and the Yellow Springs Community Foundation.
MILESTONES
In April, the Yellow Springs News won the top prize at an annual state competition for weekly newspapers — an award the local paper last took home in 2022. The News was named “Newspaper of the Year” in its division at the Osman C. Hooper Non-Daily Newspaper Competition, presented by the Ohio News Media Association.
A presentation on the history, labor and artwork of Antioch Publishing Company, titled “It Started with Bookplates…” was held in the Senior Center’s Great Room in August.
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