“They’ve shared a lot of special moments with us in the past year,” Zeller said. “It’s just a really cool relationship that we have that has come about naturally. Two groups that just really want to support each other — it’s community.”
The event, which is free to attend, will start off with music and shopping from local vendors with items such as leather goods, jewelry, tarot readings and more from 8 to 9 p.m.
This will be followed by a “Rugby Date Auction” from 9 to 10 p.m. where the highest bidder will win a one hour pizza date with a rugby player immediately following the auction. This will include a small, two-topping pizza.
“It’s not a dating event. It’s really an event for anybody,” Zeller said. “I just want people to come out and have fun.”
Other items that will be auctioned off include Oregon Express merch and rugby specific items.
Rugby first came to the Dayton region in 1969 when a group of University of Dayton students, led by Bob Borgerding, played their first match. The club wasn’t created until four years later.
Today, the club operates two men’s teams in Midwest Divisions III and IV and one women’s team in Midwest Division II.
“We work hard with the little we have and we have built a successful and growing rugby club based on that concept, which most would see as impossible here,” the club’s website states. “We are going to continue to work even harder to make Dayton a well known area for rugby for all ages. Our mission is to grow the sport of rugby starting with youth teams all the way through our adult teams and everything in between.”
Zeller said the club is a nonprofit organization and has many talented players. Some players will be traveling to Ireland to play this year.
Oregon Express is planning to host more events at the bar throughout the year.
MORE DETAILS
If you haven’t been to Oregon Express, the bar is known for its square-cut, tavern-style pizza.
“We have our own special recipe for the sauce, which makes the pizza,” Zeller said.
The bar has a wide variety of specialty pizzas such as the Reuben with thousand island sauce, cheese, corned beef, sauerkraut, rye croutons and Swiss cheese or the Sriracha Pizza with sweet and spicy sriracha, olive oil crust, bacon, spicy chicken, feta, mozzarella, provolone and cilantro.
The kitchen at Oregon Express is open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday with the bar staying open longer.
For more information, visit oregonexpressdayton.com or the bar’s Facebook (@oregonexpress) or Instagram (@oregonexpressdayton) pages.
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