Here’s To The Night
Capturing life after hours around Kent

Story by Jessica Ball
Photos by Amy Mitten

At some point during my college career, I blinked and found myself a senior ready to graduate. I don’t want to do it all over again, but I wish I’d left myself a little more time just to be here instead of working my way through.

I’m not saying all should hand up their degrees for a good night of all-out-fun. I am saying that all work and no play leads to forgetting who you are, where you’ve bee and what’s happening right now.

Tonight, I’m going out.

Club Khameleon 8:48 p.m.

It is almost déjà vu, but walking into smiling faces, elbow-room and $1 Pabst Blue Ribbons isn’t what I remembered from the bar formerly known as The Avenue. Everything looks brand new, and there is no faint scent of urine guiding your way to the bathroom.

The Avenue has changed its colors and has become Club Khameleon, but that doesn't keep Kent grads from returning. {larger}

I see an unfamiliar, friendly face, the kind you could have sworn you’ve seen before.

His name is Curt Hutton, a 2000 Kent State information systems grad. He works at Infocision in Fairlawn and still hangs around his old stomping grounds. For him, graduating from this university isn’t enough to make him skip town.

“This town is like a cul-de-sac. You try to leave, but it brings you right back in here,” he says. “If you can find a hole in the fence, let me know.”

I nestle in the corner booth under the red lights with that in mind. Why do so many people stay here after they graduate? Do they get stuck, or do they just see something in this college town?

My thoughts are interrupted by the people at the next table.

“Party-foul!” a guy yells, pointing to a nasty spill. “Girl, we can’t take you anywhere.”

Not everyone is into wisecracks or making the girl feel bad about knocking over her precious $1 draft. Well-mannered Matt Mukavetz comes to the rescue, armed with napkins.

“This kid can sing the Rolling Stones like no other,” his friend, G.T. Link says.

Matt gives the yeah-you-know-it look as he wipes up the spill. He apparently had a wonderful karaoke experience the night before and assures me he was one of the band’s biggest fans.

“It’s real. Go ahead, touch it.”

He doesn’t look 25. He modestly sports an AC/DC iron-on decal.

“It’s real,” he says. “Go ahead, touch it.”

Matt is another Kent State grad—working in Akron and playing in Kent.

“I’m not into going to Cleveland or Akron to all those professional bars you’re supposed to be going to when you’re 25,” he says. “I’ll pay a $3 cover to see a band.”

Professional bars? I’m not dressed for success, but I think I’ll check them out. But first, I want to go elsewhere to explore new territory.

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