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Award-winning columnist Tom Archdeacon — an old-school storyteller in a brand-new venue — writes about sports, the city, southwest Ohio and anything else that catches his fancy… or yours.Home > Blogs > Through the Arch > Archives > 2009 > May > 20
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Remembering Jay Haverstick
Like a lot of people right now, I’m saddened beyond belief to hear of Jay Haverstick’s death. He’s as good of a man as I’ve ever met. He was my friend.
My wife and I live just a couple of blocks away from his Oregon District restaurant and have spent lots of evenings there, enjoying the food and the wine and, especially, him. I’m going to miss his compassion and the way he used to try to get a rise out of my wife, whom he loved to tease. Mostly, I’ll miss that mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
We’d sit together and dish on the comings and goings of Dayton — he loved the city — and we’d talk about his captivating photographs that adorned the south wall of the restaurant and filled his calendars every year. We’d talk about our family and his family. He was especially proud of his daughter Amy coming back home and taking over the business.
We made sure to spend every Christmas Eve at Jay’s. We’d bring him a present, he’d give us a couple of those special calendars, one for us, one for my aging mom.
He and his wife, Idy, and his daughter made us feel like family. I know a lot of people felt the same way about him.
And yet the most special thing he did came not on Christmas Eve, but Christmas Day.
That’s when Jay would serve a free meal to the needy in Dayton. Initially, he was approached by Vickie Evans, who worked at NCR and used to make soup and ladle it out to homeless people at Cooper Park.
Eventually, she talked to Jay — their families knew each other — and the Christmas Day meal at the restaurant became an annual affair.
Jay did a lot of the cooking and would offer the folks who showed up ham, chicken and all the traditional staples that go with a Christmas feast.
His waiters and waitresses served the people and some of his staff would make cookies for the children who came.
When you’d try to pat Jay on the back for this, he always said he was honored to do it. It was his way of giving back to the community. He said he loved to see so many people smile.
Today, so many people are in tears.
- Related article: Jay’s Restaurant owner dies
- Condolences: Share your memories of Jay Haverstick
- Photos: Jay Haverstick through the years
- Blog: A look back at Jay’s Restaurant’s 30 year anniversary
