By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
How long have you known your pizza delivery person? If your answer was 26 and three-quarter years, then the person most likely showing up on your doorstep with a stack of Pisanello’s pies was Bucyrus community staple, Dave Miller.
Whether he is delivering pizzas, performing with the John Kennedy Band, putting on solo shows, or serving as master of ceremonies at the Bucyrus Bratwurst Festival’s Queen’s Pageant, the Bucyrus community has welcomed Miller with open arms.
Miller started working at Pisanello’s Pizza right after Thanksgiving in 1989, an entertaining story in itself. After he graduated from Morehead State University, Miller spent some time in the radio business, including stints at WBCO, WMRN, WDIF, and WYAN, before making the switch to sales and then marketing down in Columbus.
In 1989, friends of Miller’s in Nashville had a recording project going and contacted him to help out. He researched the project, contacted the principal people involved, and decided to drop everything to make the move to Nashville. Miller stored most of his personal belongings at his parents’ house before loading the rest up in his van and making the drive south, but the gig wasn’t to be.
“The day that I got there I was informed the project blew up,” Miller said.
He stayed in Nashville for a few months doing a few projects, but ultimately decided to return home.
“That was right around Thanksgiving,” Miller remembered. “I came back up here and thought, ‘Gee, I’m out of money. What am I going to do?’”
Miller knew the then-owner of Pisanello’s and stopped in.
“I said, ‘D.J., I just need a job,’” Miller recalled.
He was hired on the spot and the rest is Pisanello’s history.
Miller said his years at Pisanello’s have been enjoyable. “That’s why I continued it this long,” Miller explained. “Being a musician, I already knew a lot of people around town anyway. I just thought it was a fun occupation to have.”
Miller couldn’t pinpoint one delivery story that has been his favorite, but he did find one benefit from delivering pizzas for so many years: he’s made many a friend.
“I’ve made hundreds and hundreds of new friends over the years around town. If I decide I want to stop and get a cup of coffee somewhere, I don’t have to ask anybody – I just do it,” Miller said with a grin.
Though Miller couldn’t pick a specific story to tell, he said he liked occasionally playing one harmless prank.
“Someone would order a pizza,” Miller said, “and, say, 30 minutes later I’m at their door knocking, right? And then you hear somebody inside go, ‘Who is it?’ So what I would always say – if you remember from old Saturday Night Live – I would go, ‘Candygram!’”
There was only one time a person didn’t open the door when he said that.
He also liked joking around with the little kids when their parents answered the door. They would ask his name and he would respond: Alexander Aloysius McGillicuddy. His favorite response to that line? “My grandma has a long name!”
After 20 years of delivering pizzas, Miller made friends and saw families grow up. Those children who came to the door with their parents are now grown up, raising families of their own, and ordering pizzas from Pisanello’s.
Just as Miller’s face is familiar on pizza night, he has become equally familiar as a musician, playing the saxophone, flute, and keyboard, and putting on hundreds of performances each year of his adult life. He has performed with numerous bands across North Central Ohio over the years and has played with the John Kennedy Dance Orchestra for well over 20 years. For the last 13 years he has played as a solo musician at mostly private functions.
Though Miller may be retiring from Pisanello’s, he isn’t completely calling it quits. He plans to continue to perform as a musician and hopes to move forward on a couple of music recording projects that he has in mind.
“I’ll have more of a block of some time here where I can sit down and develop that more. I’ve got some things to look forward to,” he said.
Miller will walk out the doors of Pisanello’s tonight for the last time as an employee. He does not think he will feel too much different, mainly because he plans on stopping by every once in a while.
“There’s an old joke kind of among musicians, you know. Somebody plays music – yeah, they’re delivering pizza. Like they can’t make it in the music business,” Miller explained. “I thought, no, I like that. I like deliveries – I split it up.”
Though it may have seemed like Miller was at Pisanello’s every night delivering pizza, that certainly wasn’t true. He had been part-time for a while and now he will be retiring.
“They can’t believe I’m going to be retired from here,” Miller said with a laugh. “It’s been a lot of fun over the years. I’ve made a lot of friends. It’s been countless little experiences; there’s been too many to list.”