Beverly Hills

Yesterday marked a grim anniversary in the tri-state area. May 28, 1977 was the date of the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire. 36 years later this tragedy is still felt throughout our region. 165 people lost their lives in an inferno on a night that was supposed to be an elegant evening out for thousands of people.

Though I was only 10 years old, I remember that night vividly. We were at my Aunt Rita's house in Sharonville. My mom's side of the family had gotten together for a Memorial Day weekend party. It was a typical family party until the television was switched on to watch the live news coverage of the fire. I remember the horror expressed by the adults and how they all watched a place burn that they had all visited before. The adults stayed glued to the television until it was time to go home. I know the tragedy continued to unfold long after I was home and asleep in bed. Even though I was too young to fully grasp the gravity of what happened, I remember feeling scared (although I don't know exactly why) and I remember knowing that something terrible had truly happened.

That night obviously must have stuck in my mind. As a college student I read a few books about the tragedy and even did a research paper on the topic. As I grew into adulthood, the subject of this fire fascinated me more and more. The more I studied the fire and all the circumstances surrounding it, the more captivated I became. I won't bore you by regurgitating every little detail of what happened that night (I could probably type for hours), but I will tell you that this event never ceases to amaze me. Only the sinking of the Titanic surpasses my interest in an historical event. I think the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire is more personal to me though. It happened in my lifetime, I saw it happen on television and drove by the site of the tragedy every day on my way to NKU. I also have a close friend who grew up only a mile from where this all happened. He was 9 years old at the time. He said he remembers looking at the sky and seeing smoke and an orange glow. He also remembers  laying in bed hearing sirens all night long. The whole thing creeped him out. I can only imagine what it must have been like for him that night.

If there's anything you want to know about this story... just ask me.  I hope you don't think I'm morbid. I do not enjoy the fact that scores of people died. There are so many side stories, back stories and stories of true heroism around the entire event. However, this is one of those things you can probably file under "Things that interest only me".