Sawyer Point
June 3, 2011

Robin Lung and Josh Hosking

Bacchus, the Roman god of wine, commanded the worship of his ancient, prosperous civilizations due to the frenzies he induced (known as bakkheia). He was known as the “Liberator,” whose divine will freed one from his normal self by means of madness, ecstasy and red wine. Today, in our nine-to-five culture, this deity is lost, but the passion to liberate oneself from the cage of normalcy is kept alive by Cincinnati’s Bacchanalian society… liberation by libations.

Let's get liberated!

Typically the social forces of the Queen City sweet life commune under Friday night lights, but this past Thursday, the weekend jumped off to an early start. Sawyer Point played a welcome break from “the ushe.”

Maggie Smith and Kristin Nunn

The faces in the pretty glow of starlight and satellites sampled over 300 bottles of wine, brown bagged for the sake of keeping the experience a mystery. But if drinking like a true American socialite and playing blackjack with event-sponsor Pure Romance isn’t enough to incite your interest, then I should remind you that Sawyer was stocked with dining for the most executive palettes. Keystone Bar and Grill was on the scene with gourmet macaroni and cheese, as well as rich pate from Lula’s for Lunch. *If you are not a fan of French cuisine, you might not realize that pate is an eloquent word for describing chopped liver.

Nevertheless, it was delicious way to immerse yourself, or better yet, lose yourself in the glamorous rapture of French culture and feel like the visiting dignitary of a far away land. All guests qualified for a raffle of sweet prizes like an iPAD, a $350 gift certificate redeemable at Over-the-Rhine merchants and a subscription to next year’s theater season.

The only silver lining with all the storms has been the beautiful rainbows

The evening was a welcome absorption of the Roman sweet life into the streets of Cincinnati – from a time where self-indulgence leads to self-discovery instead of hindering it. Now let’s raise our glass to that Great Liberator, whatever his name, “may we always be original yet never traditional.”

*Special note: All proceeds from the event went to support the Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati.

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