Star-Sighting Guide

In this day and age of do-it-all cell phones and cameras smaller than your compact, the work of a wannabe paparazzo is so much easier. Just grab your cutest purse, slip on your sexiest shades and you’re off for a non-stop day of celeb stalking.

And here in Cincinnati it’s especially easy right now with a number of events featuring local celebrities taking place in the upcoming weeks. Here are just some of the highlights:

Who Dey?
As football season heats up, so do your chances for catching your favorite players on and off the field.

  First up is the Bengal’s fourth annual “Real Men Wear Pink” Campaign, honoring the strength and courage of breast cancer survivors. Representing the team are Coach Marvin Lewis and defensive back Leon Hall, who will be part of the pre-game ceremony for the Sept. 28 game versus the Cleveland Browns that will feature 40 breast cancer survivors invited to attend the game as guests of the team.

Hall will be at it again as he plays host at an Uncorked Connoisseur Night on Sept. 29 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Grand Banquet Hall in Covington. Tickets start at $100 and provide you with the chance to cozy up to the Bengal’s cornerback and some of his fellow players while sampling delicious food and tasting some incredible wines — all to benefit the Leon Hall Foundation and the Institute for Science and Health.

Taking a break from his ubiquitous Furniture Fair commercials, Bengal’s Hall of Famer Anthony Muñoz’s Foundation and Cincinnati Bell present the seventh annual Youth Leadership Seminar, Oct. 2 at Xavier University’s Cintas Center.

Finally, less than a week later, the Bengals go for a true team-building exercise with the Hometown Huddle‘s building a new playground and youth fitness center in North Avondale or creating a wilderness trail and challenge course to be used for the rehabilitation of children at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital’s College Hill Campus. on Oct. 7. Each year, this event teams more than 200 area volunteers with Bengals players to accomplish something big whether it’s building a new playground and youth fitness center in North Avondale or creating a wilderness trail and challenge course to be used for the rehabilitation of children at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital’s College Hill Campus.

On the Air and In the Community
When they’re not hard at work in front of the camera or microphone, delivering the news on your TV or radio, these local personalities are busy making the news in our community.

Local 12 news anchor Kit Andrews brings her familiar face and voice to support the International Adoption Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center as the emcee for their eighth annual Passport to Forever event. The dinner and fashion show takes place Saturday, Sept. 13 at the Schiff Conference and Banquet Center at Xavier University.

Now retired from the air, Reds Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Brennaman must have plenty of time for golf, which explains why you should join him for the fourth annual Marty Brennaman Golf Classic. The two-day event takes place Sept. 21 and 22 at Belterra Casino and Resort, and it benefits the Reds Community Fund. The event promises to feature numerous Reds players and staff, as well as local and national broadcasters and media representatives.

WLWT Channel 5 news anchor Courtis Fuller will also be making an upcoming appearance, serving as emcee for the third annual Salute to Excellence in Education Awards & Banquet. The event, to be held Oct.18 at 6:30 p.m. at the Sheraton Cincinnati North Hotel, is an outreach of the Project Nehemiah ministry at Church of the Living God and will honor 10 Greater Cincinnati teachers for their dedication and commitment to the field of education.

Speaking of dedicated educators, University of Cincinnati President Nancy Zimpher is the honorary chair for the 2008 Women on the Move event Oct. 7 at 11 a.m. at the Hyatt Regency Ballroom. The event benefits Dress for Success Cincinnati. Billed as “A Fashionable Afternoon,” the event includes a reception and raffle followed by a luncheon program and the “Saks Fifth Avenue Fashion Show.”

Music, Food and More
Nothing brings out the rich and the famous like good music and good food.

The 2008-2009 Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra season starts Sept. 12. with a Mega-Watt Opening featuring local celeb and CSO conductor Paavo Järvi guiding the impressive pianist Andrè Watts through a vibrant all-Russian show including Tchaikovsky’s “Festival Coronation March” and Rachmaninoff’s stirring “Piano Concerto No. 2.”

Then pizza connoisseur T. D. Hughes, Jr., the chairman of the Board and former CEO of LaRosa’s Pizzeria, shows that being able to read well is essential to any career as he takes part in the Mercantile Library’s By the Book series. The event is part of a series featuring the best in their field talking about the books that have influenced their careers, and it takes place at noon Thursday, Sept. 18 in the Mercantile Library’s reading room.

Things really get interesting the end of the month as the seventh annual MidPoint Music Festival gets underway Thursday through Saturday, Sept. 25-27. A great place to see both the many hard-working musicians of the local scene as well as bigger national acts, this year’s festival features popular local bands such as 500 Miles of Memphis, Bad Veins, Buckra, Buffalo Killers, Eat Sugar, Jake Speed & The Freddies, The Lions Rampant, Pomegrantes, The Seedy Seeds, Sonny Mormon Group, The Turnbull ACs, and Wussy, as well as Cincy-related national acts The Purrs, Why?, and Robert Pollard’s Boston Spaceships.

Then, coming soon this fall, the dynamic duo of culinary expert Jeff Ruby and funk legend Bootsy Collins collaborate on what is likely to be Cincinnati’s most entertaining hangout: Booty’s produced by Jeff Ruby. Including a Rock and Roll Museum featuring music memorabilia collected by Collins during his thirty years in the music business, the restaurant will have a club area for nightly DJ music and a Spanish-influenced menu with tapas and a sushi bar.

To See and Be Seen
From Party in the Park to One World Wednesdays, Cincinnati is all about seeing and being seen. This coming month especially provides several high-profile city-wide events to show off yourself and to see who else shows.

The 14th annual Rubber Duck Regatta gets things started as part of Riverfest, prior to the WEBN end-of-summer fireworks on Sunday, Aug. 31. Benefiting the Freestore Foodbank, it’s the only place to watch 85,000 ducks paddle their way down the Ohio River. This year also includes a Celebriduck Auction, with ducks autographed and dressed like local celebs Brandon Phillips, Bronson Arroyo, Enrich Kunzel and more.

Later that evening, things heat up with the WEBN Fireworks, the largest fireworks celebration in Cincinnati. Previous years have featured local celebrities like Bootsy Collins, and it’s anyone’s guess who you’ll spot among the crowds at Sawyer Point.

And if that’s not big enough for you, then stop by the second largest Oktoberfest in the world (behind only Munich, Germany). The 33rd Oktoberfest Zinzinnati will be Saturday and Sunday Sept. 20 and 21 this year and promises to provide plenty of brats, metts, beer, music and fun. And don’t forget the Guinness Book of World Records-winning World’s Largest Chicken Dance, which has formerly featured such local celebrities as Chad Johnson and Joe Nuxhall.

Ready, Aim, Fire!…Your Camera That Is
Yep, it’s that easy to find local celebrities out and about, supporting important causes, cleaning up the city, or just enjoying all the big Cincinnati events we all look forward to. Have fun as you seek out your favorite local celebrities this summer and fall.

PHOTO CREDITS:
Photo: Courtesy of www.jamd.com