Awards: Such as Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce annual meeting and Star Awards ceremony at Neon's last week.

        A larger than usual crowd, including suburbanites, police, neighbors, business owners and politicians — Mayor Charlie Luken, city council members Pat DeWine and Jim Tarbell — mingled in the garden, clinked long-neck Buds, cracked jokes and talked about getting back to normal.

        “This is the kind of thing we need,” OTR Chamber director Judith Osborn said. “People coming downtown, having fun, seeing and being seen.”

        After the awards, a large crowd assembled at Liberty and Sycamore to invade Nicola's for dinner. Most everyone walked the six blocks from Neon's 12th Street garden.

        Potluck: That was Sunday afternoon, when business owners, neighbors and OTR supporters did a potluck for the neighborhood. As in free food.

        Main Street closed to traffic — the city was apprehensive, but caved when OTR Foundation director Marge Hammelrath threatened to park her car in the street — with a line a city block long waiting for grilled hot dogs, burgers and tons of baked beans, pasta salads, chips, fruit plates. All donated.

        It's impossible to tell how many showed up, but organizers went through 500 paper plates.

        A major community effort, this: Here's Lisa Mullins, director of Enjoy the Arts/START working the line, serving hors d'oeuvres (cream cheese pinwheels) whipped up by retired P&G exec Vern Rader.

        And Mr. Pitiful's owner Bob Kramer, usually seen behind the bar serving up cocktails, breaking a sweat as he hands out bottles of water by the zillions.

        And musicians Katie Laur and Big Joe Duskin (Joe taking cell phone calls between songs) on the sidewalk, playing for free.

        Tension? Not a hint. All ages and races elbow-to-elbow at long tables down the middle of the street, eating, then dancing.

        “This is how we make things better. Little steps. People like this supporting it,” Hammelrath said, pointing to folks such as Luken, Tarbell and DeWine, “and you know it's going to work.”

        Hammelrath had a busy day handing out ballons and kazoos to the kids, most of whom didn't know how to play them. So they kept bringing them back, telling her they were blowing in but nothing came out.

        “Hum into it, honey,” she told them.

        Breakfast: Heaven only knows how she does it, but LaNormandie server Mary Lou Lind continues to attract top restaurant people to volunteer at her monthly jazz brunch at Mr. Pitiful's.

        Last month, she had Palace maitre'd Richard Brown working the door and Jump Cafe & Bar manager Kevin Armon doing the cooking, apparently in Jump's kitchen because Pitiful's doesn't have one.

        This week, she has Maisonette managing partner Michael E. Comisar at the door seating guests, while Maisonette chef Jean-Robert de Cavel whips up omelettes on a portable stove. He usually brings help from the Maisonette kitchen, but sometimes forgets to bring eggs, as he did in January when he had to send a helper out on an egg run.

        Oh yeah, she also got the Steve Schmidt Trio to play.

        So anyway, there was talk of not doing it this month because of all the unrest, but Lind dug in her heels and insisted as a sign of good faith.

        She's expecting the same upscale, party-crazed crowd that always shows up, usually about 1 p.m., 'cause they can't serve the mimosas and bloody marys any earlier without breaking the law.

        Oh, and don't be surprised if there's a line. All of a sudden, it has become the place to be on a Sunday afternoon.

       Contact Jim Knippenberg at 768-8513; fax: 768-8330. Read his previous columns at the Enquirer Web site on Cincinnati.Com.

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