Comments:

1. Laura, 5/29/2004: It looks like the poor Bohrer and Fryman families were completely wiped out in this fire, not to mention countless parents...What a haunting tragedy.
   
   
2. Gene Fuller, 7/9/2004: The Fryman family was devastated. The daughter was in my home room at Harrison County High School. We had already lost a young man from our home room in December 1976. He died when the car he was riding in was struck by a train one week before Christmas. This event really hit hard. Our homeroom teacher called Tracey's name during roll call the first day back from the holiday. She just stopped and looked at all of us. I will never forget when she said "I am so, so sorry. I just am ..... She then ran from the room crying. R.I.P.
   
   
3. Jody Ashcraft, 8/9/2004: My sister and her husband were supposed to go to the show that night. I had just recently had a baby and could not get out to go there, but I remember calling her house and getting no answer. The horror that those people went through was unreal and thank God my sisters son got sick so she was at the hospital......safe. I felt relieved , but sick at the same time that all of these people from everywhere were gone. Thanks to the brave fire fighters that gave there all to do what they could. I will never forget the brave people that died that night, you will be missed.
   
   
4. Michael J. Coulter Coburn, 8/23/2004: Orville Coulter was my grandfather. He was a member of the "Tri-State Roadrunners" He took me with him on a trip to the UK. I am told that my mannerisms and expresions are just like him. I was 15 when he died at the Beverly Hills fire. He was so anxious for me to get my drivers license so we could go back to Maryland where he had been so long, and visit friends. His Wife Lucylle died in '74. These were my grandparents and my friends. My life.
   
   I was a paperboy in 1977 and was delivering the Columbus Dispatch to Mrs. Phillips when she met me at the door. Strange to see her at 6am on a Sunday. My mother had gotten a call from Millie Fowler (her husband was killed too) and called some of the people on my routelooking for me. Mrs. P told me at the door "you need to get home". My father was driving me around because he is a good father and 200 Columbus Dispatches take a car to deliver. I had no idea that Grandad was there but my father knew. We finished the route and went home.
   
   To this day I will think of memorial day as the day my grandad died. I am not sad anymore though. I have him in me, I have the Roadrunners in me. I have memories that I can share with my family and friends that will pass beyond me to future generations. SO My grandad is still here and will always be with us. And this forum allows his legacy to be carried forward. I thank you for the opportunity and wish you all peace and contentment. Remember Orville Coulter and remember the lives of all those we lost and cherished so much. They are alive in us always.
   
   
5. Dave, 11/10/2005: My parents were there that night, after the fire, helping victims.
   
   
6. Terry, 11/12/2005: I was in Cincinnati over the weekend & decided to drive to Southgate to see where the supper club was located. I wasnt sure if something had been built there or not. I never really found it. I drove along US 27 several times. Back & forth thinking I might see some type of monumuent or marker. I went past the Evergreen cemetary. The exit that I took off of 471 was Ft Thomas/Southgate. Was I in the vicinity of the supper club? Which side of I-471 was it located? Maybe you could tell me some of the businesses that surround it now.
   
   
7. Jonathan Wye, 12/20/2005: At the time of this fire I was a volunteer firefighter in New Jersey, having taken a couple of years off from school. One of my good friends from college had continued straight on to his degree and then gotten a job as a Fifth Grade science teacher. The fire was of historical interest because of being a firefighter, and I was definitely not expecting the call I got two weeks after the fire from a college room mate telling me that Russel Gray, our friend, had been killed in the fire. He was at a retirement party for another teacher in the school system. The identification had been delayed in part because his girl friend/fiance (and I am ashamed to say I don't remember her name) had been killed with him. It wasn't until his mother realized a week or so later that she hadn't heard from him for a while that the alarm was raised.
   
   Russ knew from day one that he wanted to be a teacher and I'm sure he would have been a good one.
   
   
8. Shayla Hampton, 3/21/2006: To Terry:
   
   Recently I have begun to research this heartbreaking tragedy. Based on various clues in the readings, testimony from relatives,and a half an hour of driving and searching I found the spot:
   
   Coming from Cincinnati, I took I-471 South and got off at the Ft. Thomas, Southgate exit.
   
   At the intersection, make a left. You'll be in Southgate on Alexandria Pike.
   
   Immediatly on the right hand side, there is a fairly new medical building. This building is sitting at the foot of the Beverly Hills Supper Club property.
   
   You'll notice that the building sits at the bottom of a hill of trees. On the left of the medical building is the long narrow driveway that leads up the hill to the site. However, there is a small gate closing of the driveway. I didn't see if the gate was locked though. I'm guessing that nothing has been built up there yet.
   
   I plan to walk up the hill (if I cannot drive up) and place flowers and 2 stuffed animals(for the unborn babies that died) on the site. I was also an unborn fetus at the time of this tragedy, but the family of all those victims, all the surviors, and the rescure workers will always be in my prayers.
   
   
9. James Woody, 5/22/2006: Nothing has been built on the site of the Beverly Hills Supper Club, but the site is quite easy to find (see below for Shayla's directions). Apparently there are still pieces of some of the stone statues that were placed outside the facility for decoration. I watched it burn down that night in 1977. I helped with moving some of the corpses at the Ft. Thomas Armory into a large refrigerated Kroger's truck. For months, when you passed the supper club site you would be able to smell the stink of the charred remains. It took them about a year to knock the whole thing down - I'm not sure why it took that long. I'll never forget hearing about it, driving back from a day at King's Island amusement park. We had the radio on and they mentioned a fire at the Beverly Hills. We all thought "no big deal." They were always having fires there, it seems, but when we heard that at least 90 bodies had been recovered we high-tailed it over to Highland Avenue in Ft. Thomas to watch it burn from the hill side. The Enquirer had a gruesome picture on the front page next day. The whole event was a nightmare for me that I will never forget. Two good friends of my sister perished. I had plans on getting a job there as a busboy, since I heard they were hiring. I'm glad that never materialized. I just can't imagine the terror and pandemonium in the Cabaret Room that night...
   
   
10. Terry, 5/24/2006: Hi Shayla & James
    thanks for the directions.
    
    
11. LeAnn, 5/27/2006: It's been 29 years and it seems like yesterday. Mt grandparents went to the Supper Club to see my granmother's favorite entertainer, John Davidson. They were going with friends to celebrate my grandmothers retirement and my grandfather approaching retirement (he was due to retire that following Monday). We lived at the corner of 19th and Oakland avenue in Covington and could see the smoke from atop the flood wall in the distance. When we heard what had happened, on the T.V, my mother immediately starting calling to try and locate Maw Maw and Paw. Hoping they had stopped off for a drink, with their friends, before going to the club. I fell asleep around midnight and woke the next morning to my mom on the phone with the local hospitals trying to locate Maw and Paw. No one had heard from them as of yet.
    
    I knew they were dead, but I still was making secret bargins with God for it not to be true. 3 days had passed and still no word. Mom and Dad went to the Ft. Thomas Armory daily trying to identify them, but they returned home with no end to the nightmare. On the 4th day, she found Maw Maw. She said she looked at peace. Alittle swollen in the face and her hair was a little burnt around the edges, but she looked peaceful. The gentlemen they found with her could only be identified by dental records. It took a few days to confirm but Paw Paw was found with her. They never let Mom see Paw, they said it was best. They were fund in the Cabaret Room. All she was given were his and Maw's personal affects. It took years after the tragedy, but I finially found the courage to open the yellow manila envelope containing Paw's personal belongings and immediately broke into tears. The coins in his pocket, the rings on his fingers, the watch he was wearing were charred through. I can only imaging the condition he was found in.
    
    To this day I still cry on Memorial weekend. I miss my grandparents so much. They missed so much. They missed seeing their grandson being born. They missed the births and growings up of their 5 geat grand children (and 1 name sake)and their 1 grea-great grand daughter. Our children missed out also. They did not get to know their great grandparents, though they were told all about them and what wonderful peope they were. My grandmother was my best friend when I was very little, but as I grew up I found kids more my own age to replace her as my best friend and I saw less and less of her. The night before she died, I was suppose to go over to her house and spent the evening with her but I was 14 (A freshamn in High School) and my friends seemed like a more interesting time on a Friday night than my Maw Maw, so I promised to spend Saturday afternoon with her, but the next day it was unusually warm so instead I went to the pool with my sister and Aunt. When we stopped by to pick up my Aunt, Maw came out of the house with her hair freshly styled and her nails done. I remember asking Maw why she was so "styled up?" She said she was going that night to see John Davidson and asked if I was coming in. I told her no, I'm going swimming but I promise I would go to church with you tomarrow morning. Tomarrow never came (for her)and I haven't been to church that much since then. I was mad at God for a long time and i rarely spoke to him. The one, heart wrenching favor (to end all favors) I asked of him and he let me down.
    
    Life goes on, but memories live forever in our minds. I am thankful for the time I had with them and will tell them how much I miss them and love them when I go to their grave site tomarrow to place flowers on their head stone.
    
    Thanks for listening and my thoughts and prayers are with everyone who was touched by this preventable tragedy.
    
    
12. Stephanie Barrington, 5/29/2006: My dad was a Southgate firefighter during the Beverly Hills fire. I remember him painting our house that evening when the alarm went off. He left in a hurry, fully expecting another false alarm as there were always calls to the club. As the night went on, I remember the wives of the firemen in town going door to door collecting blankets, water, anything else that may be needed by the victims or rescue workers. We could see the smoke rising from the hill from our backyard, and as kids we knew it was bad. Alot of us kids grew up together at the firehouse and stuck together as our dads were on the hill that night. Going from one house to another, watching news...and waiting. I remember it being hard to sleep that night not knowing when dad would come home. I think he finally came home sometime the next morning for a shower...but was gone for days...searching what was left of that building. He had nightmares for years...and although he will finally talk of certain aspects...usually technical...he never has let us know most of what he saw that night. He thinks of it every year, and as he recalls certain memories you can see the sadness in his eyes...you can almost see a glimpse of the person...the people...he left up on the hill that night in 1977.
    
    
13. David Boyle, 5/30/2006: Thanks Larry for posting this. A sad story indeed.
    
    By the way, when are you going to write a book? You are a repository of so many anecdotes and historical events, it should not be hard for you...
    
    
14. tm, 6/4/2006: I went up to the site today. You can walk up a driveway behind the new medical building. In fact the parking lot of the medical building has parking right up to the old driveway entrance. The walk up the entrance drive is pretty easy. After that, the site has become well overgrown. At this time of year (June 4), most of the growth is about chest high in the areas that used to be parking lots. These areas are easy to make your way through because the growth is mild weed type plants. Oddly enough there were daisies in bloom scattered throughout the weeds. I walked alot of the front area. It was difficult trying to find a landmark or to realize where the buildings used to be. there is alot of heavier growth were the buildings once stood. Not until I got home from this trip could I really figure out on Google Earth, where they were. Knowing what I know now, I would probably go back to find the right places. I'd like to find the place where the Cabara Room was and the circle garden near the chapel. I would suggest maybe going in March. That way the weeds are gone and you should be able to make your way around easier.
    
    I took an old pic and overlayed it on Google Earth. The link is below. It's not the best but it should help you see what it used to look like and where it was located. There are also some pics I took of things I found.
    
    I also created the building in 3-D and placed it on Google Earth. I hope it's in the right place.
    
    http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showthreaded.php/Cat/0/Number/435310/page/0
    
    
15. Bob Schulenberg, 12/23/06: On Feb 1st 2007 I will have been a Northern Ky firefighter for 45 years. I will always remember the night that time stood still. I always and still do go to the Indianapolis 500. Saturday May 28th was a very warm and sunny May Saturday. As always I was filled with anticipation for the next days Indy 500 hoping my driver A.J. Foyt would win his 4th 500. A little after 9:00 word came out the the Beverly Hill Supper Club was on fire. The club was in Campbell County and I was in Kenton County. I responded to our Station #1 and we listened as more and more fire departments were being called to the fire. Then our fire tones dropped to respond to the fire. Upon arrival I was directed to go in for search and rescue. As described in many news articles the smoke was intensely black and thick. Finally I stumbled over a body. I remember make trip after trip in and out of the Caberet room taking victims out, never to know if they lived or died. Finally while I was inside the loud long blasts of the fire truck air horns signaled us to evacuate the building. I suddenly realized I had gotten turned around and was lost. Well, I told the Lord that if he took me now I would not be happy because I would miss the Indy 500. After gathering my thoughts and slowing my breathing as shallow as I could to conserve air I saw light ahead of me. Flowwing the light I escaped thru an opening that had been cut into the wall of the room. I will never forget that night as long as I live. In my entire career that is the most disappointing night of my career. I wanted to do more, I wanted to save lives, I wanted families to still have their loved ones. My heart was present at every funeral. My heart is still with all those who lost their lives and who were injured. My heart is still with all their families who lost so much. Yes, the night of May 28th 1977 goes down as the night I was a total failure. And I will live with that forever.