Interview: Robin Smiley 

Interview with Robyn Smiley 

As a multi-faceted artist from Dayton, Ohio, she was raised on the county line of Beavercreek and Belmont. She is a singer and songwriter, a crafter, a video producer, and Photographer. Robyn turned her love of restoring old video, film, and photos into a small business in 2020 and lent her talents to the final version of The History of Belmont, A Dayton, Ohio Neighborhood.

“The bones of the book were written, and the photos were all deteriorated from age or copies of copies, when I first saw the project ”, she said.  “I was honored to be able to lend my support to the completion of this book and all that it represents.” 

“ I have my own special memories of Belmont. My first real date with my late husband was to see the movie “ Tommy” , The Who’s  musical,  at the Dabel Theater in Quadrophenia sound, in the mid 70’s.  When I was a little girl ,my parents would take me to the double features at the Belmont Drive in. I would watch the first feature, usually a Disney film and then I would go to sleep on the back seat while they watched the more adult 2nd feature.  I remember the cows at Moler’s Dairy on Smithville and getting an ice cream was a special treat.  I also remember the State Farm on Patterson Rd. which was part of the Dayton State Asylum and the smell of their cows in the fields which have now become part of Research Park.  Sometimes I think I can still smell them at the ponds overpass on Patterson. ”  

Robyn’s skills for photography and editing, along with her own love of Belmont,  have brought to life this wonderful glimpse of the days of old, as Belmont looks to the future and what is yet to come.