Here’s a look at some stories from the week of Nov. 10-16.
Nov. 12, 1939: Armistice Day dedicated to peace
Dayton joined in the national Armistice Day observance with what was considered the most elaborate ceremony in the city’s history.
Thousands of war veterans marched in a parade with thousands lining both sides of Main Street to witness it.
The demonstration marked the first time Armistice Day, commemorating the end of World War I, had been declared a national legal holiday.
At 11 a.m., marchers paused in their procession, faced the east and paid tribute and honor to the memory of hundreds of Dayton and Montgomery County residents who died for the country.
At a luncheon at the Biltmore Hotel that followed the ceremony, speaker Judge Thomas Morrow said, “Armistice Day is not to recall the battles in which this nation engaged in the World War, but to commemorate the advantages of peace.”
Nov. 11, 1959: Fickle TV fans heckle Kettering boy
Nine-year-old Dwight Compton was excited when his mother won a player piano and a freezer on “The Price is Right” in 1958.
His teacher brought a television into the classroom at Kettering’s Oakview School so the whole class could watch when the episode aired.
But then a congressional investigation a year later determined that many quiz shows were rigged, and Dwight’s fellow students wondered if his mother was “a crook.”
In response, Dwight sent a letter to the editor of the Dayton Daily News to set the record straight, asking the paper to tell everyone the show was not fixed.
A reporter then interviewed an executive with the firm that produced the show, and he said that investigators had given the show a “clean bill of health,” and that it had been determined that the show was “absolutely honest.”
Nov. 13, 1969: New Air Museums await war’s end for births
In Washington, D.C. and in Dayton, plans were on the drawing board for two giant new air museums.
In Dayton, fundraising efforts, which stared in 1965, had gathered $4 million of the $10 million needed for an Air Force museum.
In Washington, the Smithsonian’s proposed National Air and Space museum was on hold, expecting funds after the hostilities in Vietnam ended.
Officials with both museums agreed there was no conflict between them, and that they were actually working together.
While the national museum was looking at the “big” picture, the Air Force museum in Dayton was to concentrate on the history of the Air Force.
The new Air Force museum, designed by Kevin Roche, John Kindeloo and associates, was planned as a 700-foot wide wedge-shaped eight-acre canopy to be put up on Wright Field on Springfield Pike.
Nov. 11, 1979: Brand new L’Auberge can make Cincy restaurants take notice
Daily News restaurant reviewer Charles Riesz was excited about “a major new restaurant” in 1979.
He reported that The Inn had transformed into L’Auberge and in the process went from being a good restaurant into an excellent one.
Chef Dieter Krug, who had been part owner since 1973, had formerly cooked at the Maisonette in Cincinnati and at King Cole in Dayton. His new partner was maître d’, Joseph Reif, who had also worked at King Cole.
The restaurant was decorated like a French Inn, with brass chandeliers, copper pots, tapestries and paintings on the walls, lace tablecloths and comfortable upholstered chairs.
It was considered expensive at the time, with a main course of duck and sides costing $13.25 and lamb costing $14.50.
L’Auberge earned a coveted and rare four-star rating from the Mobil Travel Guide the first year it was eligible and held the rating for 19 years through 2002.
Demolition began in 2013 at what was once the most highly credentialed restaurant in the Dayton area.
Nov. 12, 1989: Charlie Dungan celebrates 2 decades as UD Arena security chief
In 1989, UD Arena was 20 years old, and Charlie Dungan had been the chief of security the whole time.
Dungan was a former Dayton police sergeant before joining UD, where he supervised a crew of 12.
He had occupied a choice spot at one of Dayton’s prime entertainment facilities and in his role got to meet a lot of big time stars.
Among his favorite memories were escorting Elvis from the building three times, meeting Frank Sinatra at the airport and sharing a limousine ride and chatting with Ronald Reagan during his unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 1976.
Dungan was usually seen in his standard arena uniform, a blue blazer and gray slacks, worn with a red tie and blue stripes that picked up UD colors.
His primary concern was always safety, but he also focused on the hospitality of the entertainers.
When Sammy Davis Jr. performed at UD, he wanted the locker room where he dressed “to be made up like a hotel suite with big chairs and a big TV set.” Davis got his wish.
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