Downtown Dayton Has A “Little Bit Of Country”

DAYTON - Shelly Morris has a passion for pies. She likes to bake them, serve them up and watch people enjoy them.

This enthusiasm for sweet, crusty treats led Morris, a Dayton native, to open a new café in historic, downtown Dayton this summer.

"I just like cooking," Mor­ris said. "That's what I like to do."

Shelly's Little Bit of Country opened July 13 on 1st Street in Dayton, where Judith Henderson recently closed the doors at Wildber­ries Café. The cowboy décor, photos of family and friends in western gear, and the country-style table settings all illustrate Morris' person­ality.

"I'm country," she said. "I was born country. I grew up in the country. I'm just a country girl." Open 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, Shelly's Little Bit of Country focuses on country-style breakfasts and lunches. And don't forget to save room for pie, she tells customers. "The way I look at my café," she said. "I want you to feel like you're walking into my kitchen. You can come in, have your breakfast, and we'll talk. I've always liked talking."

The café is closed Sun­days and Mondays "because we love to fish, and we're almost always out fishin' on Sundays."

Morris is married to Steve Morris, a man from Ohio now well-known in town as Steve the Barber, who has owned Steve's Barbershop - right next door to the café - for the last two years. "Everybody knows Steve," she said. "He's quite a character." Morris met Steve, who has been cutting hair for 42 years, on the Internet. The small-town gal took a chance and moved to Ohio to marry Steve nine years ago. They came back seven years later so Steve could meet the fam­ily. He fell in love with Day­ton and within weeks they'd moved to town.

Morris was excited to open her shop next door to her husband, but just two weeks after opening her doors, Steve suffered a mas­sive heart attack.

"He's still in the hospi­tal, but he's doing better," she said. "There have been complications because of his diabetes." Morris had to close her brand new café for sev­eral weeks in order to be with Steve in the hospital, but she's been open again for the last two weeks, ready to serve pie and coffee to neighbors, friends and visitors.

"I really hope I can keep the doors open," she said of how she'll weather this new storm in her life. "It will be years, if ever, Steve can re­turn to his work. I'd like to keep this going." The shop is a bit hidden at its location off main street, but she hopes to put up a sandwich board on the side­walk this week. She already has a small sign on the cor­ner. She also plans to install a hanging sign outside the café when she gets time.