President’s Blog: The Dayton Anthology – Be Part of It!

Being a printing and communications company located in the rapidly evolving place that is Downtown Dayton is exciting, to say the least! I feel like Dayton is truly turning a corner lately, what with the new brew pubs, the restaurants, the Levitt and the condos being built – to say the least about the general restoration and Urban renewal that has been happening. When I think back to when I started working in the Fire  Blocks District in the late 70’s, I can say confidently that the changes have been happening gradually over time, but that it all looks very different today than it did back then. The cool thing is, we all see revival from our own perspective and that makes all our stories unique.

Yes, I’m going somewhere with this, as I think about what an Anthology of Dayton might look like.  Belt publishing (think rust belt), is a Cleveland publishing company that has had great success with publishing anthologies of cities like Detroit, Pittsburgh and Youngstown. I enjoy these anthologies tremendously, and feel that what makes them truly special is that they are comprised of essays written by local writers who all have a personal connection to what they’re writing about.

Belt is currently in-progress with a number of new anthologies and I’m thrilled to say that one of them is for Dayton!

We are all aware of the stories about the Wright Brothers, John Patterson and Charles Kettering. But there are also a lot of untold stories, from the old narratives that live in people’s memories to stories about the renaissance Dayton is undergoing at present. Dayton resident and writer Shannon Shelton Miller will be the anthology’s local editor and she is putting out a call for personal essays or stories about Dayton.

So, I’m urging anybody that has what they think is a great Dayton story to reach out to Shannon. If writing is not your strong suit but you have a story to tell, you can also partner with a friend or colleague to get your story on paper. I’m personally hoping to get WYSO involved and am looking to my personal connections to help solicit material for this anthology.

This project has the potential to turn out as a great story of Dayton, Ohio.