DINING OUT

UNDER THE STARS

Ely Square in downtown Elyria was taken over by Moss' Prime Rib & Spaghetti House Sunday when they hosted the first ever "Dining Under The Stars".

Sandy Laubenthal, owner of Moss’, said that the idea came to her about 2 months ago. “We decided one day, out of the clear blue sky, while walking past the park that someone has to do something here and here we are.” Laubenthal said that after her revelation she returned to her restaurant and sat down with her staff to discuss how to make it work. They decided to have a dinner / dance in the square. “We want people to come downtown, we’re a bunch of downtown small business people who want people to come back down here. We’re not out to make money, believe me cause we’re not making any.”

Tonight was a advance sale event and although Laubenthal said there will certainly be another one the date has not yet been set. If it were up to Mike Moore and his family they would like to see Laubenthal do this again very soon. “I have family in town this weekend and this is amazing. Downtown is beautiful, it’s a hidden treasure. We are enjoying the atmosphere, the music is great, the food is great and the company is awesome.” Moore said he appreciates the efforts of Moss’ organizing this event and putting it in the square. “I love it, I think it’s a great idea. I think we should do more of this kind of stuff, get people downtown to appreciate what they have in their downtown area.” When asked how the food was so far Moore said awesome while a family member sitting with him said phenominal.

Anoter diner was Paul SantaMaria who said the event has exceeded his expectiations. “I love it. I think this highlights the downtown area. Our Mayor has done a great job with this area and Sandy has really gone out on a limb to do this tonight.” SantaMaria said when he first heard about the idea of dining in Ely Square he had no, and excuse the pun, reservations about coming. “Absolutley not, sounded like a great idea and I’ll tell ya it’s really a lot nicer then we even anticipated.”

Laubenthal said that her biggest disappointment tonight was that no city official and no Mayor. “They all thought it was a great idea, they all said Sandy this sounds great go ahead and do it. Not one of them have shown up, not even one of them have come by during the day today to say hey this is awesome. One of the guests here tonight called the Mayor at home and asked “where the hell are you, you need to be here to see this. Look what they are doing in your downtown and you’re not even here.” It’s disappointing, it really is.” Laubenthal said that the last visit by Mayor Grace to her restaurant has been so long ago she forgets but said the date is marked on her calendar. “He supports Fridays and Applebee’s out by the mall, he supports the chain restaurants not his locally owned small businesses.”

Guests were entertained tonight by the Ernie Krivda Swing Band out of Cleveland. Krivda also has a 19 piece orchestra and Laubenthal said maybe for the next "Dining Under the Stars" they’ll get the full orchestra.

Stay tuned to TMC NEWS for your next shot at "Dining Under the Stars" in Ely Square. Once Moss’ sets the date we’ll bring it to you. We’ll even extend an invitation to Mayor Grace to sit at our table.

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