On the first Friday of every month Bill and Paula Fritz host an open mike event at their Dover coffee shop, Uncommon Grounds. The event is open to anyone interested in sharing music, short stories or poetry.

Friday, June 3, patrons gathered with laptops, notebooks and, in some cases, their personal journals, to share verse with others in a relaxed atmosphere with the smell of freshly brewed coffee filling the air.

“I spent 33 years in industrial management and then became a school bus driver,” said Bill Fritz. “This is what I have always wanted to do, own a little coffee shop. Even Paula didn’t know I wanted to do this until the opportunity came up and we bought the place. Last month we tried an open mike event and it was a lot of fun. We thought we would try one every month.”

The event attracted members of the Dover High School Book Club, part-time poets and some patrons who simply came to listen.

Paula Fritz got the evening started by welcoming patrons to the second event in as many months, while Bill prepared coffee drinks and other house specialties for patrons.

Alex Karns and Justin Schneider, both sophomores at Dover High School, provided entertainment with an improvisational game they called Alphabet Soup in which the actors must start each sentence of dialogue with a new letter from the alphabet. For example, the first sentence must start with A, the second sentence must start with B and so on.

“We all came last month and it was so much fun,” said Karns. “It’s a great way for us to get together after school.”

Karli Coventry, a 2011 Dover High School graduate, read a portion of an original story she has been working on for two years. “I have been writing since I was in first grade,” explained Coventry. “I will be attending Kent State Tuscarawas in the fall and I will be studying journalism. I love to write and read fiction.”

Mark Orozco, an artist and part-time poet, read an original poem he composed earlier in the day. “I wrote this poem after I had taken a long nap,” said Orozco. The poem detailed his love of flat land and an opposition to hills in a stream of consciousness style of prose.

During the event, 8-year-old Francesca Alguire composed an original poem titled Free Champion, after being inspired by Orozco’s original composition. After her reading, Orozco said, “That poem just spoke to me. It was like it was an answer to the questions raised in my poem.”

Bill Fritz read from The Dictionary According to Dad, a book written by Dover native Doug Domer as he battled cancer, to his 11-year-old son, Christopher. The book encourages other parents to create their own journals in order to provide both a historical foundation and a futuristic perspective for their children.

More Alphabet Soup improvisation took place with story lines becoming quite entertaining as Tony the Tiger had his frosted flakes stolen by Santa Claus.

The couple purchased the coffee shop a year ago last March, and serve light meals, pastries from Rod’s Donut Shop at Uhrichsville and Flat Top Bakery at Dover. Coffees, teas, smoothies and specialty drinks are available with new varieties being created all the time.

The next open mike will take place July 1, at 7 p.m. Musicians or readers can sign up at the coffee shop or simply show up the night of the event.

Uncommon Grounds is located at 243 W. Third St., on the northeast corner of Third Street and Tuscarawas Ave. in Dover. Hours of operation are: Monday through Thursday, from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Friday, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; closed Sunday.

For more information, call 330-343-3178.