Irish boxing legend Tommy Connors had a reputation of being tough both inside and outside of the ring in South Boston's "Southie" region. It was a necessary character trait in a neighborhood dominated by Irish mafia, and one his daughter proved to have inherited as she fought adversity to start a business in Opelika.
Lisa Ditchkoff spent her childhood on the run. Shortly after Ditchkoff's mother, Judy Connors, divorced Tommy, and while she began dating another man, black flowers were laid on their doorstep with an ominous note that read, "Just a warning. Keep Judy away from that biker."
Judy knew how life worked in Southie. She knew if a hit was placed on her and her new boyfriend, she did not have long to escape.
Judy moved her family to Tulsa, Okla. She was constantly looking over her shoulder for any hit men that might have followed her family halfway across the country.
Ditchkoff has moved far from her childhood, now. After having her first child at 15, Ditchkoff turned her life around. On her 40th birthday in 2010, she opened the Event Center Downtown in Opelika, following her dream to own a unique venue.
In the heart of downtown, the center holds Wine Down Wednesdays. This weekly event is part of Ditchkoff's plan to make a place for the community where everyone has a friend.
"It is quiet, relaxed and intimate," said Clemon "Bird man" Byrd, director of entertainment. "It's a wine-down time."
Ditchkoff, an entrepreneur, author, mother of two and self-described "service person," capitalized on the struggles of her past to make a gathering place for locals to share their own life stories over $5 glasses of wine.
For the regular patrons of Wine Down Wednesday, the ambiance provides the unique experience that Ditchkoff was aiming for.
"It's a different atmosphere that you can't get at the bars in downtown Auburn," said Dave Herbert, a frequent patron.
Wine Down Wednesday is one of three weekly events at the Event Center Downtown. All Songwriters Night with Marc Kenney is held every Tuesday at 7 p.m., and Byrd plays the saxophone with his band, Satin Soul, on the first Friday of every month at 9 p.m.
Byrd said he has seen first-hand the transformation of the old Coca-Cola bottling building into a local hang out and event center.
"It used to look like walking into a big attic," Herbert said.
The upstairs room of the event center looks far from an attic today. Wood floors and a full bar have replaced the storage boxes and old machinery. A patio over looking scenic downtown Opelika is used during the warmer months, complete with the backdrop of small-town city lights and elaborate church rooftops.
First-time visitors get to sample Ditchkoff's signature martini, the Caterpillar 'Tini, which draws its name from her autobiography, "The Girl With the Caterpillar Eyebrows."
Ditchkoff's Wine Down Wednesday attracts a wide variety of patrons.
"We have a very diverse group of people that come," Ditchkoff said. "From a woman who carries her walker up the stairs to 21-year-old students."
The diversity of people isn't the only quality that makes Wednesday nights in the Event Center Downtown unique. Each customer knows Ditchkoff by name, and new visitors quickly realize this isn't a place to be shy.
"Lisa, I see you dancing," one patron yells as the song changes. "Come here and take a picture with us. You always have to be the one behind the camera."
As the night nears 8 p.m., and people begin to file out, each person says their goodbyes to friends, old and new.
Ditchkoff personally walks each customer out and ends the night in a warm embrace. An embrace carrying with it a feeling of closure.
In 2004, after 27 years of hiding, Ditchkoff reunited with her father. Tommy was still tough despite being retired from his old life, but Ditchkoff instantly reconnected with him. They continue to see each other, and Ditchkoff said she visits him in Southie.
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