Savino's Ponzos ~ Fairborn, Late 70's/Early 80's (Cincinnati, Springfield: buy, high school)

[SWOH]

Phil A. Delphia, if you have any more stuff like this please post it!

I'm not that old, but I love to read about what Dayton was like back in the day. Most all of my family is from here so it's nice to hear some about that lost heritage. I know I for one miss the DHBO boards even if I never knew enough to comment.

Great to read about all the memories!

[luv my dayton]

Dayton history is still missed by all who were on it and Curt did a wonderful job running it. All were at some time Daytonians and had a lot of insight on what used to be. Sight still up but the threads can no longer be added to. Met wonderful people on it and still miss them all.

[Phil A. Delphia]

Originally Posted by SWOH

Phil A. Delphia, if you have any more stuff like this please post it!

I'm not that old, but I love to read about what Dayton was like back in the day. Most all of my family is from here so it's nice to hear some about that lost heritage. I know I for one miss the DHBO boards even if I never knew enough to comment.

Great to read about all the memories!

Don't fret. I never let some hit-and-run hate monger who emboldens the word "I" when talking about what he remembers while criticizing other people for getting nostalgic on a broad topic forum.

In doing simple math, I stated I was a teen (barely actually) in the early eighties, so add 32 years, that puts me at age 50 or a little younger (5 years - in six weeks anyway - younger actually). I hate to think there's a millennial spending their life on this site, racking up little emerald points to confirm their self-importance. Then again, some members do give out rep points as a form of sarcasm. I know I do, but that's me just being some old-timer. But since I am some old-timer, I'm old enough to know that people can come back and apologize just as easy as they can come and attack for no decent purpose at all.

But enough of dealing with that nonsense.


I didn't live in Fairborn long, just three years. I still have family in the area, so I get back there every five years or so. It amazes me how Main St basically never changes. (As of last time I was there - 2010) Foy's is still there - been expanded actually; the news stand and book store still there; Shenanigan's; Giovanni's (also expanded). The only notable closing is the drug store. I remember there used to be a donut shop just off of Main, but it's not there anymore. I used to deliver the Fairborn Daily Herald in the neighborhood across from the YMCA. I lived on Green and I had a friend on South. We used to run the streets (either on foot or on bikes) from Main up to the shopping center that had the Elder Beerman - mostly to the arcade that was next to the grocery store. We spent a lot of time at Foy's. I used to take the money I made on my paper route to go see the movies at the theater two blocks from the end of Green St (It was adjacent to one of the base gates, I think the street is still called Broad up that way). I also spent some of my earnings at the nearby Rax restaurant when they opened up. What can I say? I was 13 and had a little of my hard-earned coin.

I remember the Skyborn XXX drive-in theater right next to the roller rink (polar mix!) just outside of town; Frisch's Big Boy on Broad; and I got to see the Space Shuttle visit WPAFB a few months before it exploded on tv. I remember moving away (at what will some time this month will be exactly) 30 years ago, coming back in just a few months to visit and witnessing the boom that had taken place near Wright State. It's sad to see the neighborhood stores shut down in the town proper now, and I imagine it's super inconvenient for grocery shopping, especially for a quick run.

Do I miss it or want to move back? No, but as a kid, I had a good time there in the three years I lived there. Of course, having my own little bit of income helped.

As far as Savino's, I found this old article:

GAZETTE Friday, August 2a, 1976 KROGER EXPANSION Excavation began this week for a nearly 16,000 square "foot addition to the old Food World building on Dayton Ave".. That-building is slated to become a new Kroger superstore. Italian family opens restaurant A Dayton family of. five; originally from Bari, Italy, has re-opened an. Italian food restaurant in Fairborn. Savino's Italian Food, formerly Pete's Pizza, 11-W. Dayton-Yellow Springs Rd., in the ''Bonomo Plaza, is holding a grand opening this week, and according to Vita Savino, will offer Italian foods "prepared as they would be at home." Cosmo Savino, the "big don," said it is the family's first business, and he opened it primarily to introduce the Ponzo, a menu item which he said is made from an old family recipe. "Even some -Italians have never experienced the Ponzo," he said. Othe menu items include lasagna, spaghetti and meatballs, submarine and hoagie sandwiches, a variety of pizzas, other Italian foods, and hamburgers, hot dogs, fish sandwiches and more, cooked in their oven, which Vita said, gives an effect different from those cooked on a grill, Savino explained, he,. his father .and mother, Jim and Anna, and two sisters, "Big Toni" and Vita, run the restaurant 'when they are not on their regular jobs. He said he chose Fairborn mainly for its ideal location -- -about 10 minutes from their home -- and for other economy reasons. The Savinos came to the United States in 1964, Savino said, and he and Vita graduated from Stebbins High School. Although they like to visit Italy sometimes, he explained, the United States is their home, and they like living here.

[Gumby_in_co]

I remember Ponzos. I lived in Fairborn from 1/82 until 12/83. I went to East Elementary in 6th, then to Fairborn Jr. High (after they changed the name from Baker) in 7th and part of 8th. Ms. Wells was my teacher and she used to let us get Ponzos once in awhile. You were right. There were amazing. I also remember the space shuttle. I walked under the railroad tracks to the WPAFB fishing lakes and it flew right over my head strapped to the back of a 747.

I went back a few years ago when my kid had a hockey tournament in Cincinnati. I took the family on a tubing trip down the Mad River and took them to see Enon Beach, my old schools, my old house and the AF museum.

[ohio_peasant]

Originally Posted by Phil A. Delphia

... It amazes me how Main St basically never changes. (As of last time I was there - 2010) Foy's is still there - been expanded actually; the news stand and book store still there; Shenanigan's; Giovanni's (also expanded). The only notable closing is the drug store. ...

Didn't the bookstore close? I used to frequent their "bargain basement", adding to my library at prices often even lower than those at Goodwill or from the bargain-shelf at Half Priced Books.

One of my very first posts on this Forum was a question about comparing Xenia and Fairborn. The two towns are so substantially alike in their demographics and level of affluence (or absence thereof), and yet Fairborn sports numerous restaurants, bars and retail establishments, while Xenia has essentially nothing. This seems not to have changed (or actually gotten worse) over the years that I've lived in this area.

[SWOH]

IMO Fairborn is close to rivaling Yellow Springs for sheer uniqueness and quirkiness... The two together are definitely the #1 and #2 most offbeat towns in Southwest Ohio!

I'd agree with your analysis Mr. Peasant.

[Phil A. Delphia]

Originally Posted by ohio_peasant

One of my very first posts on this Forum was a question about comparing Xenia and Fairborn. The two towns are so substantially alike in their demographics and level of affluence (or absence thereof), and yet Fairborn sports numerous restaurants, bars and retail establishments, while Xenia has essentially nothing. This seems not to have changed (or actually gotten worse) over the years that I've lived in this area.

Because Fairborn is closer to the base and Wright State? Only reasons I can think of.

[Phil A. Delphia]

Originally Posted by Gumby_in_co

I remember Ponzos. I lived in Fairborn from 1/82 until 12/83. I went to East Elementary in 6th, then to Fairborn Jr. High (after they changed the name from Baker) in 7th and part of 8th. Ms. Wells was my teacher and she used to let us get Ponzos once in awhile. You were right. There were amazing. I also remember the space shuttle. I walked under the railroad tracks to the WPAFB fishing lakes and it flew right over my head strapped to the back of a 747.

I went back a few years ago when my kid had a hockey tournament in Cincinnati. I took the family on a tubing trip down the Mad River and took them to see Enon Beach, my old schools, my old house and the AF museum.

We went to the same schools, roughly the same time. I had Mrs. Dailey in both 5th and 6 grades at East, before graduating across the lawn to Baker.

[luv my dayton]

Savings had a location years ago in the area behind Town and Country. Nice family. Believe it was a more of a deli.

[Strode2]

Originally Posted by SWOH

IMO Fairborn is close to rivaling Yellow Springs for sheer uniqueness and quirkiness... The two together are definitely the #1 and #2 most offbeat towns in Southwest Ohio!

I'd agree with your analysis Mr. Peasant.

Yeah, but since they shut down Route 444, that part of Fairborn is going downhill fast. I grew up near Fairborn and always like it and Yellow Springs. Although my dad called it, "Pinko Springs." And swore he would change his family name and move out of state if any of his kids went to Antioch!