I first met Matt Bohlander at the Church of the Brethren Regional Youth Conference (RYC) held at Manchester College in Indiana during the early part of April 1990. Matt was the youngest of the Bohlander brothers and I had seen him around Camp Woodland Altars several times in the past. His oldest brother Chris was actually a counselor at camp my very first year there in 1981. His brother Brian had been a counselor both of my years at Eco-Adventures, and was actually my counselor the second year. My friend Lee introduced me to Matt and we got to talking about music while stealing away to smoke cigarettes throughout the weekend.
It wasn’t long before Matt began making treks from his home in Pleasant Hill to my house in Beavercreek. We spent dozens of Summer nights sitting out on my patio chain smoking cigarettes, me drinking beer and him drinking wine coolers, and playing something akin to ‘dueling CD players’ as each of us tried to ‘up’ the other by playing selections of our favorite music. We had some of the same interests of course, but some bands that I became more acclamated to because of Matt included The Doors, Pink Floyd, The Grateful Dead, Marillion, David Bowie, Frank Zappa, and later Tori Amos. He also introduced me to the Hair soundtrack which I am eternally grateful for. In fact, we even went together to see a production of the play on October 11, 1990. We didn’t attend many concerts together but one other one that we saw was Morrissey at Riverbend on June 27, 1991.
I’m not sure if it was either one of our favorite places, but somehow our tradition each time Matt visited was to eat at Pizza Hut in Beavercreek before heading back to my place. Meat lovers we were (and I still am, but he’s not – having become a vegetarian). He would always load the jukebox with a few bucks and without fail, “Hold on Loosely” by .38 Special would always fill the restaurant. Matt came along with my family on one very enjoyable trip staying in the chalets at Woodland Altars. Styx music was the theme of that weekend as I recall. And again, there was alcohol and cigarettes aplenty.
If I had to guess, I’d say that Matt and I would hang out routinely for at least two years. Gradually we began to see less and less of each other up until I made the move out into my apartment. I do not recall Matt visiting at all for the two years I lived at Woodman Park, but I do think it was during this time period that I finally made the trip to Pleasant Hill to stay with him for the night. Matt did come to visit one time in 1996 after I was living in the Peppertree Apartments. The last time I recall seeing Matt was briefly at my wedding to Lisa on June 12, 1999. He had blown into town to attend the wedding but had other plans that night, so I vaguely remember seeing him at the reception sitting with Shirley Yaussey.
Katie, Megan, and Matt
I first saw Matt again on October 15, 2007. He was back in the area for the week, visiting with family, showing off his new little baby girl Megan, now three months old. Although he had an extremely full schedule visiting with family and friends, we got the chance to catchup at the Olive Garden in Beavercreek. Jackie joined us for dinner and she and Matt’s wife had the distinct pleasure of listening to us recall the old times and our lively discussions about music. His wife Katherine and he are currently living in Omaha, Nebraska. Matt works at a local TV station – a CBS affiliate – and Katherine is studying to be a nurse practitioner. They had moved around quite a bit living in Florida, Georgia (working in Atlanta for CNN), and Columbus among other towns. From all indications, they are still not done moving and would like to find their way back to Ohio at some point.
It was great to see Matt and meet his very nice wife. I told him that he had done very well for himself.
Return to October 2007…
Continue to the next reunion…
Did he mention how Chris and Brian are doing?
Aaron
October 28th, 2007
Thanks for the write-up, Brad. It was a blast seeing you again and catching up.
Chris and Brian are both doing well. Chris is living in Brazil with his partner and Brian is still living near Pleasant Hill and teaching Spanish at Covington High School.
Matt
October 29th, 2007
Thanks for the update, Matt. I had heard that Chris and his partner were in Brazil, but that was some time ago. Hadn’t heard the latest on Brian, and I’m glad that he is doing well, too. Please give them both my best if you have the opportunity.
Aaron
October 30th, 2007