Connor's Place grand opening is tonight; regular business hours to commence tomorrow.

We are beginning the week with a sad farewell ... and a joyous new beginning.

Rick Carmickle’s funeral is today. He died last Thursday, and will be sorely missed downtown. Oft-quoted words written by Kurt Vonnegut, another pure Hoosier original just like Rick, seem highly appropriate as we celebrate Rick's life:

"Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you've got about a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies -- 'God damn it, you've got to be kind.'"

Rick didn't get his hundred years, but he was kind, and he did much good. I’ll have one in his memory tonight at Connor’s Place, the new eatery and bar owned by former Bistro New Albany co-proprietor Dave Himmel.

That's because Dave is having an official grand opening party and ribbon cutting from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. this evening.

As a reminder, Dave won’t be open for lunch today in preparation for this evening’s event, but regular business hours (Monday-Saturday, lunch and dinner) will begin on Tuesday.

As a recently minted board member of Develop New Albany, and as longtime co-owner of the New Albanian Brewing Company, I’m very happy to represent both my organizations at the ribbon cutting.

With relaxed sports bar ambience and casual dining in a historic building at 207/209 E Main (next to the Parthenon), Connor’s Place is the newest downtown New Albany drinking and dining entry. Dave has another knockout outdoor seating area to go along with the Bistro New Albany beautiful patio, and a fine draft lineup: NABC Community Dark and Elector, Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA, Spaten Premium Lager, Franziskaner Hefe, and a sixth rotating choice. There’s also wine and full bar service.

Readers are invited to come down and see us on Monday night.