Mayor: Gem City Shine event was ‘very Dayton’

— One day after the star-studded Gem City Shine event was held to reclaim the Oregon District, Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley said she was grateful for the “very Dayton” event.

“It was very diverse, very Dayton,” Whaley said.

Gem City Shine was hosted by Dave Chappelle to raise money for victims and survivors of the Aug. 4 mass shooting in the Oregon District, where a gunman killed nine before he was killed by Dayton police.

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Whaley said at one point she went to the second floor of the Dublin Pub and looked out on to the thousands of people gathered for the block party.

“Just seeing the sheer number of people who had come together was the most amazing thing,” Whaley said.

Whaley said she heard police estimates of between 30,000 and 35,000 people who came to the Gem City Shine event.

“Dave Chappelle is such a generous human, it was great for him to champion the city in this way,” Whaley said.

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Whaley said another nice moment during the event was when rapper Teyana Taylor showed a video of those who were killed in the Oregon District shooting during her performance.

“This is our space and no one is going to take that away from us,” Whaley said. “We’ve had all different kinds of pain this summer, so having something like this was important.”

Whaley said it was nice to see people come together on Sunday, waiting in patiently in long lines and showing love to strangers.