Wednesday, August 20, 1997
Marvin moves more than limos to OTR
BY JIM KNIPPENBERG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Whew, that was a close call. We almost had a bunch of celebrities hitchhiking around town instead of sprawling in a cushy limo seat.
But, thanks to a generous offer and a change of heart, Marvin Butts will be there to give them a lift.
Butts, see, owns Air Marvin, a limo service located on Eastern Avenue for the past 10 years. In those years, he has carted around the likes of James Brown, Patti LaBelle, Barry White, Bread, Jimmy Buffett, Alanis Morissette and who knows how many more.
Visiting celebs like him because he not only drives, but doubles as a bodyguard - he's 6 feet 10 inches tall and, well, you don't fool with him.
But a couple of months ago, he got word that the Verdin Co., owner of the building where Air Marvin and its Mr. Bubbles (car wash) subsidiary were located, needed to expand.
That left Butts with three limos, a day coach (a customized bus, complete with sofas, easy chairs, bar, potty) and nowhere to go. He decided to close.
Jim Verdin to the rescue. Move to Over-the-Rhine, he told him. Do for that community what you did for the East End and you can have a building free.
What Butts ''did for the East End'' is throw in all kinds of moral and financial support, including fund-raisers in the form of garage sales and car washes; setting up a basketball court in his garage for neighborhood kids; giving kids a couple bucks to sweep the garage or something so they'd have spending money; and taking Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners to neighborhood families.
Why? Because, as he puts it so simply, ''if not me, then who will do it?''
Anyway, Butts decided to take Verdin up on his offer. He moves to 13th Street in September, which is to say you won't be seeing visiting celebs whining about not having a ride.
Likewise, you'll be seeing more activism in OTR because, as good as Butts is at driving and bodyguarding, it's what he does best. And most.
Faking it
Now the fur's really flying. Fake fur, mind you, but it's keeping Donna Salyers busy nevertheless.
Salyers, recall, owns Fabulous Furs, the Covington business which has built a national reputation making coats and accessories from real-looking fake fur.
In the recent past, she has outfitted TV shows (Another World for a winter wedding; All My Children for a little hormone cha-cha by the fireplace); movies (Tony Danza in A Brooklyn State of Mind) and Broadway shows (Rue McClanahan in Afterplay).
Now this . . .
Salyers toted 25 coats to Los Angeles last weekend for a Humane From Hollywood benefit chaired by Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas with Liza Minnelli as the floor show and Salyers as the Fashion Queen. The $100 to $1,000 a head do at the Beverly Hilton raised bucks for wildlife causes.
She got back from L.A. Sunday and immediately went to Owensboro, Ky., for a fur-selling segment on QVC, the cable shopping network which sells, sells, sells. It airs today, sometime between 3 and 6 p.m.
On the air
Hey, wasn't that Jackyl lead singer Jesse James Dupree wearing a WEBN T-shirt last week on Bill Maher's Politically Incorrect?
Sure was, says 'EBN operations manager Jim Richards. It was the station's spring model (Attitude Adjuster), designed by house artist Dave Ritter.
Jackyl will perform (4 p.m., P&G Pavilion) at the Aug. 31 Riverfest and Toyota-WEBN Fireworks. Richards was chatting it up with him on the phone, ironing out details, when Dupree said he was doing Incorrect Aug. 11.
Richards being radio people - meaning they love getting those call letters out - a light bulb went on. He asked Dupree to wear the shirt and Dupree agreed.
