When we go to the theater, we all know the drill — we keep quiet and we stay in our seats.

Little Art Theatre patrons in the mood for some music might just be tempted to ignore those typical guidelines during an upcoming double-bill performance from electronic duo Extraordinary Twins and local rapper and artist Tronee Threat.

The show, billed as “A Multimedia Extravaganza!” is set for Wednesday, July 1, beginning at 7 p.m., and will feature visual elements, including a light show, and a pair of acts who are joining forces based on a shared vibe rather than a shared genre.

Tronee Threat — Guy “Tron” Banks — has been making music in and around the village for four years, and is well-known about town for dealing in vibrant hip-hop, with lyrics that often lean into political and social justice themes.

Extraordinary Twins — Caleab Wyant and Andrew Halsey — with long pedigrees in the Dayton music scene, held their first live show as a duo in April at Dayton’s Tooth Lodge, debuting a danceable electronic sound rooted in nu-disco and what Halsey called “that old ancient bloghouse stuff” of the mid-to-late 2000s, and older “French house stuff,” as Wyant said.

Wyant, who manages the Little Art, has been booking live music at the theater for the last couple of years, with help and curation from Dayton-area musician Kyleen Downes. When Extraordinary Twins was looking for someone with whom to share the bill for their second-ever show, Downes suggested Tronee Threat.

“As soon as she suggested him, I was like, ‘Of course,’ because it’s super high-energy — thick beats, and loud — and really perfect in combo with what we’re doing,” Wyant said.

After Tronee heard a sample of the Twins’ work, he said, he was on board, too: “The hip-hop and the EDM feel with that bass is gonna hit, and then for the theater itself, with that cinematic vibe, we’ll be creating that cinematic type of energy.”

In other words: Folks should expect a good show, and if they’re able, they should get ready to move.

Extraordinary Twins’ live setup is part musical performance, part technical choreography. Halsey triggers tracks and sequences live, while Wyant plays synthesizer; the two have worked to make their equipment speak to each other, so that changing a song or section can automatically cue synth tones, presets and lights. Halsey said that, though the duo has only performed live once thus far, they’ve spent a couple of years honing their sounds and sequences.

“We’re trying to come out of the gate and have something slightly more polished, rather than feeling like we’re just kind of winging it,” he said, adding with a laugh: “I’m tired of winging it for my first shows.”

Wyant and Halsey became friends by way of the Dayton music scene; Wyant, who has lived in Yellow Springs for 17 years, was part of the punk-prog-electronica outfit He Laughs He Learns He Loves, while Daytonian Halsey was, at the time, part of the prog-punk band Abertooth Lincoln.

The two later worked together when Halsey helped produce an early album for YIKES! (A Band), another of Wyant’s earlier projects. They started working on Extraordinary Twins in earnest in 2023, building on what Wyant described as overlapping tastes with just enough difference in approach to keep the collaboration interesting.

“I have more of a background in songwriting, and he has way more experience with recording and sound design,” Wyant said. “We complement different parts of each other — but I also feel like I’m learning more about the production side of things, and he’s been bringing in a tremendous amount of the writing stuff. So it’s all started to blend together.”

The upcoming show marks the Twins’ village debut; at the same time, Tronee Threat has become a familiar presence in town within the span of just a few years — though he said that stretch feels longer just because “it’s been eventful.”

To that end, Tronee has performed widely in the village and surrounding area, dropping new music regularly via online platforms. Earlier this year, he debuted a music-driven film project, “In the Bluff,” a meditative, dream-like short filmed in the historically Black Oak Bluffs community on Martha’s Vineyard.

With so much exposure in and around town, Tronee said he aims not to repeat himself; around the time of his interview with the News, he said he was gearing up for performances at Herndon Gallery and the Levitt Pavilion in Dayton and a Juneteenth show at the Bryan Center, and none of them will feature the same set.

“If somebody wants me to be with them in community in the spirit of music, I already made a promise that if I can do it, I’m going to say ‘yes’ to it,” he said. “And the good thing about my creativity is that I’m going to do all of those shows, and you’re not going to hear or see the same thing.”

He said his forthcoming album, “Hero Villain,” will delve into heavier material — including the way his own stage name references both affection and perceived menace. Taken from his middle name, Latron, he said “Tronee” was the nickname his grandmother called him “out of love.” “Threat” was initially meant in the same way one might use the term “triple threat” to mean multitalented — “but when I said it, everybody took it in a negative way,” he said, and he was led to explore why.

“So later, it became more about how people see me as a Black man in America — a threat, right?” he said. “So [“Hero Villain”] arises from my day-to-day experience, and talking about that.”

For the Little Art show, however, he said he’ll be in what he called “Summertime Tronee” mode — lighter, playful, a little bit of release.

“Summertime Tronee is all light, because it’s gonna get real heavy when his album comes out,” he said. “This is a trying time, and we have a lot of serious work we gotta do, so this is kind of like my summer vacation from the serious work.”

He added: “It’s like taking a quick breath, and I’m gonna do that through the music.”

That breath will still likely be loud, Tronee said — his Little Art set will include on-screen visuals, and he said he hopes to make audience members feel like they’re watching a movie. Wyant said the Twins have a similar goal, and that the theater lends itself to that kind of performance — focused, cinematic and big.

“It will be loud, but loud in the way that a movie is loud,” he said. “And it’ll sound good, too.”

The performers said they hope audiences come with an open mind — and perhaps a willingness to participate in the Yellow Springs way. Tronee described local audiences as ready to participate, but not pushy about it.

“They will if you ask,” he said. “And they won’t if you don’t, but it doesn’t mean they don’t like it.”

Wyant said he hopes the show opens the door for more like it: high-energy collabs based on shared feeling, but with a diversity of sound — acts that are game to team up and see what happens.

“I would argue that what we’re doing and what he’s doing is more compatible than the punk bands we would traditionally have played with,” he said. “I think it’s gonna be a lot of fun.”

Tickets for “A Multimedia Extravaganza!” with Extraordinary Twins and Tronee Threat at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 1, are $15 in advance and $20 at the door; for advance tickets, go to http://www.littleart.com

At its Wednesday, June 10, regular meeting, the YS Board of Education received an update on the district’s ongoing facilities project, which is entering its final summer stretch; the meeting was held at MVECA while both Mills Lawn and YS Middle and High School remain under construction.

Superintendent Megan Winston opened the facilities discussion by noting a false start earlier that day at the middle and high school campus, where demolition of the former high school tower had been slated to begin that morning.

“Well, it’s been a day,” Winston said.

Staff and community members had gathered at the school in anticipation of the demolition, she said, including a group of Mills Lawn students who sat nearby cheering for the building to come down.

However, demolition was halted soon after it began: The demolition crew’s excavator poked a large hole in the tower and revealed an insulation material with which workers were unfamiliar, and the crew halted work until they could determine whether or not the material contained toxins or carcinogens.

“Unfortunately, in phased projects, it’s very common for those to be rescheduled for many reasons, and safety is our number one priority,” Winston said.

The material was later found not to contain harmful substances, and demolition resumed Monday, June 15, again witnessed by a group of students, alumni, community members and staff; by Monday evening, enough of the tower had been deconstructed to reveal a cross-section of the rooms inside the three-story facility.

After Winston’s brief report on the demolition stall, Director of Operations Jeff Eyrich delivered the district’s master facilities update, beginning by thanking district staff, administrators, custodians and summer workers for clearing out classrooms ahead of the final leg of the project.

“What a year it’s been,” Eyrich said.

At Mills Lawn, he said, the district is currently in the third phase of renovation work.

The school’s kitchen has been demolished and is expected to be rebuilt soon. East-side classrooms are nearly complete, with carpet, ceiling tiles, cabinetry and sinks nearing completion. Eyrich added that work on the Mills Lawn gym is expected to begin within the next few weeks, with rooftop and gym work forthcoming. A larger “facelift” of the gym — painting, new pads and updates to the stage — is set to begin in early July.

At YS Middle and High School, Eyrich said, work has focused on preparing for the demolition of the tower and removing modular classrooms from the campus.

Two modulars had already been removed by the time of the meeting, and Eyrich said all modulars were expected to be gone this week, after the tower is fully demolished. He also noted that work has begun in the existing gym, which is being converted into the school’s new auditorium, and is expected to be completed in October; the rest of the school is expected to be ready for students by the time the new school year begins.

“I appreciate your support and the ongoing unknowns that we get through,” Eyrich said. “But we make it happen. We will be ready again.”

The June 10 meeting also marked Winston’s first as superintendent, following the retirement of former Superintendent Terri Holden at the end of May.

“Just finished Day 8 of superintendentship,” Winston said during her superintendent’s report. “I feel really lucky to be here in Yellow Springs with such creative students, dedicated teachers, committed family members and definitely the community.”

Exam exemption policy updated

During the latter half of the meeting, the board approved updated student handbooks for Mills Lawn and YS Middle and High School. The new handbooks reflect the shift in school-day start and end times for the coming year: Mills Lawn will operate from 8:15 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. for students in kindergarten through fourth grade, and students in grades five through 12 at YS Middle and High School will attend from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The updated handbook for YS Middle and High School also includes a new policy regarding exam exemptions; as the News reported previously, in March, a group of students spoke before the school board about the attendance-based exam exemption policy, which grants one or two exam exemptions if students maintain at least a 94% attendance rate.

The students asked that the district reconsider the policy on two fronts: first, that illness be taken into account, since sick days count against the attendance threshold for exam exemptions; and second, that the three excused days juniors and seniors are allowed each school year to visit college campuses should not count against potential exam exemptions.

The new handbook policy now allows those excused college visits without a penalty for exam exemptions.

“[YS Middle and High School Principal] Jack Hatert heard from the students and heard from the parents, and they have changed the policy,” Winston said.

Though the policy does not include new language around illness exam exemptions, it does retain previous language stating that “catastrophic student injury or illness may be taken into consideration when determining eligibility for an exemption.”

Owing to summer schedules, the next regular school board meeting will be held Tuesday, July 7, beginning at 6 p.m., at MVECA, located at 888 Dayton St.

Contact: chuck@ysnews.com

By Coach Yunus Brevik

We’ve entered the sixth month of the year, home to the strawberry moon and longest day of the year, and — unique to our little spot of the earth — the time of year when T-ball season starts. Elise, who just turned 6, spoke for us all on opening night Friday, June 5, when she noted she’s been taking a break from Perry League “because it wasn’t summer.”

While a severe thunderstorm watch was in effect for the weekend, Friday night was as gorgeous as we could hope for and a nice contrast to last year’s opening night no-gamer because of a too-muddy infield.

Five minutes before game time, a steady line moved through registration and about a dozen young ones roamed the infield, at least half in this year’s new tie-dye shirts, with a variety of the past few years’ tie-dye shirts as well. A few children were dragging the tee around, several were throwing or chasing balls, some were just running or chasing others, a few were huddling and socializing, and at least one really little person was sitting and just soaking it all up.

We had to make a pre-game decision on what to do with the bleachers, given the recent addition of more formal dugouts to the field. This was the first game to our knowledge during which the bleachers sat behind the fence. We were worried those waiting to bat would be too far from the field, or the view wouldn’t be as nice, yet it all seemed to work out fine. It definitely made a difference with sending out one player at a time to bat, which, if you’ve witnessed any games in the past, is a bit of a challenge when you have so many eager young batters and they are all just a few feet from the pile of bats.

T-ball is only possible because a handful of adults are willing to volunteer their time and help to ensure the game runs smoothly. Thanks to those who answered the call and joined us on the field or on the bench. Even the writing of this article is a group effort. We made a call for someone willing to jot down notes while positioned near home plate. At the beginning of the game Cissy and her mom, Liz, took note of each player’s name as they came to bat. By mid- to late-game, Ender’s mom, Jen, had a turn and added a variety of comments. This is incredibly helpful for us coaches.

A few minutes after six, the whistle was blown and children were called to line up on the third baseline. I’m not sure if any of us counted, but we started the evening with a lot of players. There wasn’t an official count of how many players had braids, but we had quite the range, as some came with a single braid, or two or three, some with five or more. There’s also a good chance the number of players with shoes was about the same as those without. A small handful brought their own bats, including a Savannah Bananas bat. That was a first.

As is customary, everyone runs, walks, or gets carried to the outfield for a warm-up. Usually a few hats are picked up on the way. You’d understand if you saw how fast some of them sprint. The coach tries to be mindful to warm up with movements that prepare parts of the body used in baseball, such as wrists, shoulders and hamstrings, to name a few. However, the warm-up is much more like play than anything else. Throwing our arms up while riding a rollercoaster, or crawling on the ground like a cat or dog are common moves.

Warm-ups done, children back on the third baseline for a safety debriefing, and then a scramble to find a spot in the infield or on the bench to bat, and it was game on. We often have a few older and savvy children who know how the bench system works and make every effort to be first to sit so they’re first to hit. On opening night that older child was River Brevik, 7, who considered T-ball as extra practice since he now plays in the Yellow Springs minor league. He called foul on his first hit and found redemption in his second swing. Younger brother Cassian, 3, had followed River to the bench, so was up second. Because he chose a bat bigger than his body, it took a few swings to make contact before he was off and running for first.

Kai, 6,  was up third. I observed that we both had the same shoes on. He looked down and said, “But I don’t have shoes on,” to which I responded, “No shoes are a type of shoes. You got your feet on.” He thought for a minute then broke into a smile. He too had a solid hit, and then our game was in full swing, bases loaded.

One of opening night’s many joys is seeing children return year after year. Camilla, 6, approached the tee and, after reminding me of her name (my memory has some lapses during that long break between summers), was engaged in small talk before hitting. I said, “I remember you from last year. You have a brother, right?” Rather quickly she replied, “Yeah. He’s in my mom’s tummy.” That’s likely not the brother I was remembering from last year, so I followed up, “Do you have another brother?” She pointed to the baseball field at the other end of the park and said, ‘Yes. But he plays over there now.” Time flies.

Another joy is watching how much a child can change in the short span of one evening. Luna, 5, started the game quite unsure of what she’d be dealing with. There were tears before the game started and a considerable amount of apprehension early in the game. By her second time to bat, which was an impressive line drive, she was wearing a smile that was all the more beautiful after those early tears.

Apologies to Cameron, 4, who was announced as Carmen. There are children who correct me when I attempt to confirm their name, and there are children who smile and nod as I mispronounce their name. Cameron was the latter, with an enthusiastic nod and broad smile as I said, “Carmen. It’s Carmen? Am I saying that right? Carmen?” I’ll try to make sure I get it right next week.

We were blessed with several new faces on Friday. Ellie, 3, Stone, 5, Jory, 3, Jamon, 2,  and Frankie, 2, all made their Perry League debuts. You would have never known it was Ellie’s first time given her ability to hit. Jory was new, yet showed up in a 2010 Perry League shirt from the Clarks. He fit right in. Stone brought such infectious joy, and was enthusiastically cheerleaded at the tee by his father, Shane. Jamon approached the tee holding the bat like a cue stick ready to play billiards, and was gently encouraged to experiment with a standard bat grip instead. Frankie explored about every square inch of the infield for the first half of the game, and was incredibly helpful with bringing balls to the tee. She waited until late in the game to have a go at hitting, and seemed to enjoy that as well.

That’s a snippet of what was our first night of this season’s Yellow Springs Perry League T-ball. Our all-volunteer program is noncompetitive, free and open to children aged 2-9, regardless of their race, color, creed, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity, spiritual inclination or practice, ability or disability. All are welcome to join us each Friday evening through Aug. 7, except July 3, starting at 6 p.m. in Gaunt Park.

With a handful of recent storefront closures in downtown Yellow Springs, a pressing question naturally arises: Is the village at all in jeopardy of losing its longtime grocery store?

Not in the slightest, said the new interim general manager, John Mabbott, last week. 

“I guarantee it,” he told the News. “In fact, I’m going to make it dance.”

Such a feat began with small-town exuberance on Tuesday morning, June 16, when around 100 villagers crowded the shoulder of Xenia Avenue to watch the ceremonial ribbon cutting — an occasion that marked the end of Tom’s Market and the beginning of Springs Market, and what could one day become a community-owned grocery store.

For now, villagers can expect business as usual at the downtown market — the same hours, operations, friendly staffers and inventory.

News readers will recall that the Yellow Springs Community Foundation announced late last year its intentions to facilitate the transition of Tom’s Market into a co-op, with the organization keeping in view the Gray family’s desire to step away from the business, and at the same time, seeking to retain local ownership and control of the downtown staple.

On Monday, that transition officially kicked off.

Jeff Gray, son of the store’s former namesake, turned over the keys to Tom’s Market to the foundation. The purchase included all Tom’s inventory, most of the coolers and machines, and full operational control of all 6,800 square feet of retail space and all products coming in and and going out.

Changes are underway: The building’s facade got a new coat of burgundy paint and soon, a new awning will hang over the entrance. The seasonal pop dispensers went away and in their place are the ice machine and firewood. New bike racks were installed and additional accessible parking spaces were added — now with a wider berth.

Inside, the store no longer sells tobacco products — which don’t align with the Foundation’s values, the News was told — and the overhead shelving above the front register is gone.

This is all just the beginning, Mabbott said. Drawing from his decades of experience sprucing up stores across the country, he has a few more tricks in his apron. 

The interim general manager hails from the Pacific Northwest, where he came of age in the grocery business. He started out at a Safeway — the West Coast-version of a corporate supermarket — in the late ’70s. He eventually worked his way to owning a neighborhood market and wine shop — the kind like Tom’s, he said, where meetings of the mind happen in the produce aisle and everyone knows your name.

Throughout his career, Mabbott’s been a fierce advocate for both worker rights and equitable retailing. In the late ’80s, he was a leader in the massive, 81-day labor strike among grocery clerks and meat cutters in the Puget Sound area, and later, worked for the largest consumer-owned food co-op in the U.S. — the Puget Consumers Co-op.

Nowadays, he works as a consultant  — simply put, helping small-town markets make it work.

“There was only one I knew I had to close before I even walked in, the rest I’ve fixed,” Mabbott said.

“And trust me,” he added, gesturing at the new Springs Market. “This place is fine.”

His interim role as the store’s general manager over the next six months — that is, before the Community Foundation hires a permanent manager — is straightforward, he suggested. He isn’t there to help with the creation of a co-op model, but rather to make the grocery store more financially viable and evermore responsive to the needs of the immediate community.

“I want people to feel like they’re voting for the future of the store, the town, when they shop here,” Mabbott said. “We want to be a compelling store — one that makes you feel like s- -t for shopping at the competition, when we’re giving $150 to your kid’s robotics team.”

Mabbott said the new Springs Market will likely boast more regularly marketed specials, a diversified inventory and reduced prices throughout most sections of the store.

“We absolutely need more things on special — and you know, every store should always have two [frozen] pizzas for $12. I think that’s even in the Bible,” Mabbott quipped.

He plans to bring back paninis in the deli, consolidate the number of places where cheese is displayed and possibly revive an in-house butcher station, or at the least, partner with local meat producers to better stock the shelves. If he had his druthers, a stage for regular music performances would be behind the store.

Though he has these big ideas, he’s still a realist. 

“No matter what, the math needs to work,”  he noted.

He knows there’s no price-point comparison with what neighboring Kroger can offer — especially the “baby-sized $5 watermelons they’re getting by the semi-load” — but perhaps there are other avenues that a Yellow Springs store can tread that corporations can’t. To him, that looks like strengthening local relationships.

“Maybe there’s a day when a portion of our sales go to ‘Who’s Hungry?’” Mabbott mused.

With all those logistical and operational changes coming down the pike, there’s an above-all, imperative call Mabbott’s career has primed him to answer: how to keep taking care of his new people — the 26 stalwart staffers and department heads working through the store’s ongoing transition in ownership and management.

“I truly believe that customer service is a spiritual undertaking and, at the same time, a selfish act — you give great service to protect your future,” Mabbott said.

He continued: “But that service begins with learning to love yourself and knowing how not to take s—t from anybody — and getting a fair wage from doing the best you can and feeling safe. This place needs to be safe. The world has never been easier to be an asshole, never easier to hate.”

All his grand ambitions for the new Springs Market notwithstanding, Mabbott said he’s still open to suggestions — there’s a box near the front where patrons can write in a word of advice for new products, aesthetic changes, or any concern that strikes someone in the check-out lane.

But as a reminder: Mabbott’s here as an interim manager — a role he’s filling for six months until he returns home to the Pacific Northwest. 

Kumar Jensen — longtime local and the project manager for the Community Foundation’s efforts to build a co-op in Tom’s Market’s stead — said that he and his team received about 20 applications for the permanent manager position.

“The vast majority were from locals,” Jensen said.

Jensen added that the Foundation aims to have interviews completed by the end of the month, with a final selection ready to hit store’s tiles as the long-term manager of Springs Market by July 4.

That person will shadow and learn from Mabbott until the expiration of his interim position. All  the while, the Foundation will continue to lay the groundwork for a potential co-op model. The nearest steps include forming a steering committee of interested community members, which will be led by Co-op Dayton.

Additionally, three community open houses are being coordinated by Co-op Dayton to build local involvement in a potential co-op model. They’re scheduled for:

• Thursday, June 25, 6 p.m. at the YS Senior Center, 227 Xenia Ave.;

• Saturday, June 27, 11 a.m., at Agraria, 131 East Dayton-Yellow Springs Road; and

• Tuesday, June 30, 1 p.m., at MVECA, 888 Dayton St.

A retirement, finally

In true Gray fashion, father and son duo Tom and Jeff Gray beamed with quiet humility at Tuesday’s ribbon cutting when, before the big cut was made, Mayor Steve McQueen proclaimed June 16, 2026 as official “Gray Family Day.”

The proclamation read, in part: “The Gray family has provided over 25 years of local investment and grocery leadership in the Yellow Springs community. Tom’s Market has employed hundreds of local residents, invested in local businesses and vendors, and supported Yellow Springs’ vibrant downtown community.”

(Even this reporter worked behind the deli counter for a summer in 2011.)

In speaking with the News following the ribbon cutting, Jeff Gray said he’s overcome with gratitude — namely for his fellow villagers who supported him over the last four years — and even a little grief to be passing the torch of his family’s store.

“It has been the biggest challenge of my life, and now it’s over,” Gray said.

He moved back to Yellow Springs in 2021 to take the reins from his father — a concerted attempt to give his father the retirement he sought for so many years. Tom had, after all, worked at the store for around 57 years, starting as a bag boy at Luttrell’s Market. He became owner in 2001, succeeding Bud Weaver. 

But Tom’s retirement never fully happened — after taking over, the younger Gray often relied on his dad’s practical advice and sometimes even his physical help in the meat department.

By his own admission, Jeff’s not a grocer — he’s an electrician who happened to run a grocery store. What ultimately made that unlikely occupation work, he said, were his staffers.

“I brought together the best crew I could imagine having,” Gray said. “I feel comfortable and confident in their ability to continue upholding the level of service and gratitude necessary to make our local grocery store an outstanding success.”

Local chess instructor Tony Mumford has been working on a grandmaster plan for quite a few years now. And like any good strategist, he always has an eye on the next move.

Since 2021, Mumford has been building a youth chess program in Yellow Springs — one designed to teach village kids not just the fundamentals of the age-old game, but also to foster confidence and critical thinking that can be taken well beyond the checkered board.

Local youth looking to capture those and other skills are invited to attend a slate of upcoming chess camps that Mumford and other expert instructors with the YS Chess Club have planned this summer.

The first two camps are Saturdays, June 27 and July 11, 11 a.m.–2 p.m., at John Bryan Community Center. The other two are Saturdays, July 18, 11 a.m.–2 p.m. and  July 25, 10 a.m.–1 p.m., at YS Community Library.

Courtesy of support from YS Community Foundation, camps are free and open to all kids ages 6–17. To register, email yellowspringschess@gmail.com with the name and grade of the child as well as the chosen dates of attendance.

“These camps are about sharpening your game and your mind. They’re about learning new tactics and strategy, and maybe making a new friend,” Mumford told the News earlier this month.

He added: “And they’re open to all skill levels, beginners who’ve never moved a piece to seasoned players. We have masters on hand who can still teach you a thing or two.”

Though he’s looking forward to these upcoming camps, they’re far from Mumford’s end-game.

He said he aims to put the whole of Greene County on the map in the competitive chess world, and in recent years, Yellow Springs players have become his knights in shining armor.

“There’s so much potential here, so many kids who could be masters before they even get to high school,” Mumford said, and pointed to 13-year-old villager Zander Breza who, in January, finished first in a tournament in Cincinnati.

“That’s what consistency and mentorship can do!” Mumford exclaimed.

Breza was among the original crop of Yellow Springs youngsters who started working with Mumford when he held free after-school programs at the library four years ago, when he began expanding the Fairborn Chess Club’s reach eastward into the village.

As previously reported in the News, Mumford was lured to town after he met former villager Omar Durrani — affectionately known as “Mister Omar” by his Yellow Springs Chess Academy students.  Durrani moved to Florida about nine years ago after nearly a decade teaching chess in the village, resulting in a chess-club-sized gap that Mumford has filled.

Since setting up shop in town, Mumford has established in- and after-school programs at Mills Lawn, occasional open play events at the Emporium, Senior Center and Community Foundation building; as well as reliable summer camps like the ones coming up.  All the while, Mumford has hosted weekly tournaments and instruction at the Fairborn Methodist Church.

“There’s no off-season for chess. It’s year-round,” he said with a laugh.

To prove his point, Mumford said he’s expanding his scholastic program in Yellow Springs Schools when classes start again this fall.

Chess instruction has previously only been offered at Mills Lawn, but will now include YS Middle and High School students.

“We have no shortage of talent and teachers to make this happen,” Mumford said. “It’s my dream to make chess an official part of the curriculum — and not just here, but everywhere.”

The academic benefits, he believes, are manifold.

“After playing chess, interesting things start happening,” Mumford said. “Teachers say their vocabulary is different. Kids start talking about diagonals, algebraic notations.”

He recounted one little girl who was falling behind in her elementary math class, back when Mumford was volunteering in his neighboring Fairborn school district — she was about to leave her friends for a remedial program.

“I learned that if I talked about the pieces in terms of dollar amounts instead of numeric values, she got it,” Mumford said.

In short order, the little girl not only caught onto the game of chess, but all of arithmetic suddenly clicked. When she reunited with her friends, she found herself ahead of the pack.

“That’s what it’s about, and why I do what I do. What a feeling it is to see a child believe in themselves, sometimes when no one else will,” Mumford said.

He continued: “You see? Chess is the great equalizer. It doesn’t care how old you are, how much money you have or what color you are. You can’t let a win get to your head or let a loss into your heart — there’s always another game.”

To support the Yellow Springs Chess Club and Mumford’s efforts to bring more chess instruction to and beyond local classrooms, he said the nonprofit welcomes donations through a GoFundMe crowd-based fundraising page, which can be easily accessed by Googling “Yellow Springs Chess Club GoFundMe.”

To learn more about or to sign up for the upcoming chess camps at the Bryan Center and library, email yellowspringschess@gmail.com

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