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Teams from Smith Barney and St. John Westshore were among the participants in the inaugural Corporate Challenge in 2007.

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Annual event aims to strengthen community bonds

"Ohana" is a term originating from the Hawaiian culture meaning family. The familial bond of Ohana extends beyond blood relation to include both adoptive and intentional relationships. These bonds within the corporate community of Westlake have inspired this year’s theme for Westlake Recreation Center’s 12th annual Corporate Challenge. Ohana is where we are stronger. Ohana is where we encourage and support one another. “Ohana is where it all begins!”

In 2007, Bob DeMinico, director of the Westlake Recreation Center, launched the first Corporate Challenge. This friendly, week-long competition was designed to foster relationships and camaraderie between Westlake businesses. Participants for the inaugural games were Cleveland Clinic Westlake, Scott Fetzer, St. John Westshore Hospital, Smith Barney, UFCS, Western, and the City of Westlake. Activities and games covered a variety of interests and abilities including a 5K race, corn hole and sand volleyball. Families attended the event to cheer on their friends and loved ones.

A dog from R.E.A.L Rottweiler Rescue at the market last year. Photo by Pam Mills

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BAYarts has amped up the Farm & Art Market, going into its fourth year. There will be expanded theme nights running throughout the summer, every Thursday night from 5 to 8 p.m.

More vendors will be in attendance, with local produce, cheese, jewelry, bread, massage, honey, ceramics, baked goods, salsa, garden goods and more. Staple favorites will be mixed with new faces.

Market manager Pam Mills says this will be the market's best year yet. "The idea is to shop local and eat local," she explains. "It's a real passion of mine. Thursday nights in Bay Village will be a destination for families to enjoy a variety of activities through the summer."

Dover Congregational United Church of Christ in Westlake will celebrate its 10-year anniversary as an “Open and Affirming” congregation on Sunday, June 24, at 7 p.m. in Thomas Hall. A round-table format will explore the history of the church’s decision to celebrate the human family together without fear or exclusion.

In 2005, the church responded to the charge from the 25th General Synod to support equal marriage rights for all. The church council agreed to the two-year ONA discernment process advocated by the United Church of Christ National Office.

A task force was formed in July 2006, led by Bill Wilkins, who died this past year, and Martha Vivona, the church’s current lay leader. “Over the next 18 months, we offered 15 different programs attended by most of our congregation,” said Vivona. The discussion topics included working on a definition of what “welcoming” really means.

Dave Patzwahl kicks off the annual July 4 Bay Days 5-Mile Run with "The Star-Spangled Banner." Photo by Dan Straitiff

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Jazz is a musical style where you spontaneously riff upon a theme. For the 44th time, the Bay Days 5-Mile Run will be held on July 4 with a mix of traditions and variations. One thematic tradition is that for the sixth year in a row, the Bay Days Kids Run and 5-Mile Open will be graced with the Bay Community Band playing Dixieland jazz while for the 11th year in a row the band’s trumpeter, Dave Patzwahl, will be calling runners to the start line and playing "The Star-Spangled Banner."

As it has for most of its 44 editions, the 5-mile race will start in front of Bay High School at 8:30 a.m. and head west on Wolf Road. Five minutes later the Kids Run will begin in the same spot and direction.

Cover of Dover Bay Estates brochure, showing 966 Cahoon Road. Westlake Historical Society Collection

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In 1911 Dover Village was incorporated and in 1922 Dover Village created its first Planning Commission. One of the first subdivisions of land approved by the Planning Commission was the 87-lot Dover Bay Estates.

The majority of the lots were 50 feet wide and they fronted on Cahoon and Dover Center roads and the newly platted streets of Ellington, Langale and Richmar. The plat also created Valley Ford Road which gave the subdivision an entrance on Cahoon Road by literally fording Cahoon Creek. The right-of-way for Valley Ford Road was vacated in 1965 and now forms part of the shared driveway for 990 and 1006 Richmar Drive. The westerly end of the street climbed out of the valley of Cahoon Creek where the large brick home at 931 Cahoon Road was constructed in 2005.

No matter your age, it is never too late to return to the classroom.

Learn about the academic and career training opportunities available at Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) during an Adult Student Visit Night at Corporate College West from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Monday, June 25.

The free event offers a one-stop shop for nontraditional students interested in pursuing a degree or professional certification to improve their career outlook and future.

I buy organic products, but inconsistently. I buy organic milk, but not organic yogurt or butter. I track the Dirty Dozen, but balk at the cost of organic strawberries, and how fast they rot. It’s fair to ask how do organic foods, a palmy 46-billion-dollar industry, actually benefit us?

Good Earth policy?

Pouring less chemicals into the soil and water is a good thing. But massive imports of organic produce from overseas creates pollution. It makes equally good sense to buy local produce, and reduce food waste.

Better nutrition?

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) states organic food doesn’t provide “any meaningful nutritional benefits or deficits” over conventionally grown foods. An apple is an apple is an apple. With or without the organic wink, potato chips will – always and above all – be a junk food.

At the end of last year, I joined the board of The Village Project, a small nonprofit in Bay Village whose mission is to bring the community together through a common cause. That cause is making and delivering meals to local families who have a family member fighting cancer.

One of Village Project’s fundraisers is called Project Pedal, in which participants choose from a few different bike routes around Bay Village to ride. The event this year was held at Cahoon Park on Saturday, June 14, as part of Destination Bay, and it was a success!

A few weeks ago I asked the event coordinator if we could talk about ways to reduce waste for Project Pedal. My main goal was to stop the distribution of single-use water bottles, and encourage participants to bring their own and refill at Cahoon.

With the mega-hit Broadway musical "Hamilton" arriving in Cleveland next month, join us at the Bay Village branch library on Monday, June 25, at 7 p.m to get some insight on the production. Daniel Goldmark, director of the Center for Popular Music Studies at Case Western Reserve University, will present some background on the musical and also discuss how these massive Broadway productions have developed over the last 40 years.

Cool off with some delicious Mitchell's ice-cream at our annual ice cream social while listening to the music of the '60s and '70s performed by Desmond and Molly on Wednesday, June 27, from 6-8 p.m. We hope to see you there!

CHILDREN

Join us a the Bay pool every Monday and Tuesday at 2 p.m. as one of our children's librarians hosts storytime during the 2 p.m. rest break.

Weekly Storytimes: 

• Mondays (10 a.m.) Toddler Storytime – ages 19-35 months
• Tuesdays (10 a.m.) Toddler Storytime – ages 19-35 months
• Tuesdays (6:45 p.m.) Family Storytime – for all ages
• Wednesdays (10 a.m.) Baby and Me Storytime – ages birth-18 months
• Thursdays (10 a.m.) Preschool Storytime – ages 3-5 (not yet in kindergarten)
• Fridays (10 a.m.) Family Storytime – for all ages

Saturday, June 23 (10 a.m.) Drive in at Bay – Ages 2-4: Join us for a Bay Library “drive-in” movie! Work with your child to transform a plain box into a personalized car that your child will proudly take to the drive-in. Once the cars are “parked,” we will enjoy selections from the Disney movie "Mater’s Tall Tales."

Monday, June 25 to Friday, June 29 (10:30-11 a.m.) Chalk the Walk – Bring your imagination and creativity to the library and decorate our sidewalks with colored chalk after storytime all week. Budding artists of all ages are welcome!

Tuesday, June 19 (1-3 p.m.) Career: Motivating Yourself to Life Success – Motivation is a crucial element in setting and attaining goals. It is necessary when making a transition or changing to something new. You can influence your own levels of motivation and self-control to be successful in your job or career with ideas learned here.

Tuesdays, June 19-July 17 (3-4 p.m.) Summer Brain Games – Keep up your skills during summer vacation! Kids in grades 1-3 can drop in each week for grade-appropriate educational games. Teen volunteers and staff will be on hand to assist.

Tuesday, June 19 (6:45-8:30 p.m.) League Park and Cleveland Sports History – For more than half a century, League Park was the center of the Cleveland sports scene and one of sports’ most important venues. Built for the Cleveland Spiders of the National League, the ballpark was home for the Cleveland Indians, the Cleveland Rams of the NFL and the Cleveland Buckeyes of the Negro Leagues. Come listen to local author Vince Guerrieri talk about this storied park. Please register.

Wednesdays, June 20 and 27 (10:15 & 11 a.m.) Let’s Sing and Dance! – Sing and move to the music with Miss Nancy! For children ages 2-6 with a caregiver. Arrive early to receive a ticket.

Wednesday, June 20 (2-3 p.m.) Self Defense – The martial arts experts at Horizon ATA will teach us some self defense techniques and basics of conflict avoidance to help keep you safe. Please wear comfortable athletic attire and shoes. Grades 7-12. Please register.

Wednesdays, June 20 and 27 (4-5:30 p.m.) and Thursdays, June 21 and 28 (6:30-8 p.m.) Bow Wow Books – Stop by Youth Services to sign up for a 10-minute reading time with one of the reading therapy dogs! Registration begins each Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. and Thursday at 6 p.m.

Wednesday, June 20 (6:30-8:45 p.m.) Cuyahoga West Genealogical Society – Ohio Genealogical Society trustee Dr. Deborah Abbott will speak on "Cluster Genealogy: Finding Your Lost Ancestors."

Thursday, June 21 (10-10:45 a.m.) Signing Dr. Seuss – Participate in a lively reading of a Dr. Seuss classic with Bill Morgan, SignStage Artistic Manager of the Cleveland Hearing and Speech Center, and learn American Sign Language for words in the story. For children ages 3-1/2 to 7.

Thursdays, June 21 and 28 (2-3:30 p.m.) Teen Crafts – Bring out your creativity every Thursday throughout the summer! Drop-in for a new craft each week. Grades 7-12.

Thursday, June 21 (2-5 p.m.) Classic Arcade Fun with Lego – Bricks4Kidz will help participants use Lego to build all kinds of arcade-style games, including a marble run! Grades 3-5. Please register.

Thursdays, June 21 and 28 (4-5 p.m.) Code Club! – Learn how to build an app, design a video game, and change the world through code! Grades 3-4. Registration begins one week before each session.

Friday, June 22 (9:30-10 a.m.) My First Summer – Celebrate your baby’s first summer with a simple sunshine footprint craft. For babies age 0-18 months with a caregiver. Please register.

Twenty-two graduating Westlake High School seniors received a total of $22,000 in scholarships from Westlake PTAs.

Westlake Council of PTAs and its member PTA units are proud to announce 22 recent Westlake High School graduates as recipients of the 2018 PTA scholarships.   

Since 1968, Westlake Council and its member PTAs have continued the proud tradition of awarding scholarships to deserving Westlake High School seniors who plan to pursue higher education at a college, university or technical school. The Westlake Council and its member PTAs raise funds for these scholarships in many ways, including the annual Dollars for Scholars basketball game event, membership drives and programming.

Venture capitalists from around the world will soon meet in Cleveland to hear proposals from 18 startup companies seeking investors, according to County Executive Armond Budish.

Speaking to the Bay Village Democratic Club, Budish said creation of the Global Center for Health Innovations is one of local government's best achievements.

The Center was created largely after it became clear that the former Medical Mart near the new convention center in downtown Cleveland would not be a success. The mart concept failed because medical equipment buyers don’t do business to “warehouse” environments, he said.

There are boxes, cartons and packaging material lying all around my home at present. Yes, we are moving. From my current home to a new house. Everyone at home appears to be hassled by so much stuff on the floor. Even my 13-year-old seems frustrated when he walks with me and accidently brushes his foot against one of the boxes. He makes a hurtful expression at first then supposedly an angry one later on for all the trouble.

Surprisingly, I do not seem to mind any of this discomfort. Maybe because I am not seeing any of that stuff. All I see are the memories. Memories that are present in every inch and corner of my home. Memories of all the parties and fun we had, of all the beautiful moments, of all the get-togethers.

Sean Crum engages his audience with with a presentation on Michelangelo. Photo by Robert Pearl

Merging modern technology with the works of Michelangelo, historian Sean Crum captivated and enlightened his audience at Porter Library on June 11. Underlining the importance of his subject, Crum said if anyone is asked to name five famous artists, Michelangelo will usually be the first or second mentioned. He added that there has never been, before or since, an artist of the caliber of Michelangelo.

He provided his audience with a handout, “The Touch of Genius,” listing the 31 sculptures Crum discussed in his presentation. Outlining Michelangelo’s early fascination and talent for art, Crum said this brilliant artist was only 16 when he carved his first major sculptures and by 21 was invited to the Vatican in Rome, to produce sculptures. It was in Rome that Michelangelo created the "Pieta."

The Herb Guild will hold its 34th annual Scholarship Luncheon on Wednesday, Aug. 1, at LaCentre Conference and Banquet Facility, 25777 Detroit Road in Westlake. This year, the theme is "Under the Tuscan Sun."

The events include raffle baskets, a silent auction, a tasting table with herbal products for sale, and a craft boutique featuring garden gifts and baked goods. Credit cards will be accepted at the event.

From left are Bay Men's Club Vice President Iggy Gannon; President Sean Riley; mother Karyn Evans; scholarship committee chairperson Pete Gierosky; Anna Evans; father Paul Boutros; Semaan Boutros and mother Chrystal Boutros.

The Bay Men’s Club has awarded two $1,000 scholarships to two very deserving Bay High students: Anna Evans and Semaan Boutros.

Scholarships are awarded based on need, character, scholastic achievement and leadership qualities. The two students and their families were honored recently at the club’s annual golf outing and pig roast at the Bay Lodge.

Evans plans on studying speech therapy at The Ohio State University. Boutros plans to study biomedical engineering at John Carroll University

There’s nothing anecdotal about the term “silver tsunami.” According to Wikipedia, it is “a metaphor used to describe population aging.” One oft-reported effect is how people are delaying retirement or coming out of retirement to rejoin the workforce.

For the latter rejoiners, what do you do when you were previously in a field/career that didn’t require learning or using digital world tools such as a computer? I bet the ink ribbon of your Smith Corona in the attic is bone dry. And even if you can ask your friend to order a replacement ribbon, that job application process requires an electronic version of your resume.

A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away (especially if you were walking), called Detroit, it was a period of market share war, and the Ford Motor Company wanted to inflict pain upon the evil empire (at least, that’s how Ford saw them), known as General Motors.

It was the late 1950s, and the deep thinkers at Ford decided to name a new car model they were introducing the “Edsel.” Edsel Ford was the only son of Henry Ford, and succeeded his father as president of Ford Motors until his death in 1943. It was fortunate for Edsel that he didn’t live long enough to see his vehicular namesake introduced, because the Edsel bombed – big time.

Marvel Sebert, pictured in the 1947 Bay Blue Book.

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On the third floor of old Parkview School in the northwest classroom with two walls of windows overlooking Cahoon Memorial Park and Lake Erie, Marvel Sebert held court, teaching English to Bay High School students for 36 years. It was the "coolest" classroom in the building. Miss Sebert was greatly admired by her students. She made you understand and enjoy the English language.   

The class of 1947 dedicated their Bay Blue Book to her. Here is what they wrote:

"We the senior class of 1947, wish to dedicate this book which means so much to us, to one who has meant even more to us. She has encouraged us when we were troubled, scolded us when we needed a restraining hand, laughed with us in our fun,  assisted all along the way, and has been not only an adviser but a pal. This friend whom we so greatly appreciate is Marvel E. Sebert."

Dr. Philip Barry shared his public-speaking success story during a recent Toastmasters meeting.

Dr. Philip Barry, the owner of Barry Chiropractic Wellness Center in Westlake, was the keynote speaker at the recent open house for Westlake Toastmasters Club 497 at Westlake Porter Public Library.

Dr. Barry's involvement with the club began 22 years ago because he needed to be able to speak publicly. He shared that his fear of public-speaking was so intense that he would rather have jumped out of a plane than give a speech!

The turning point came when he was asked to give a presentation at his church and he completely froze. "I will never put myself in that situation again," said Dr. Barry.

BVGC's new officers are Judy Minium, Nancy McGrew, Terry Appell, Kari Eckel and Elaine Hoke.

The Bay Village Garden Club has installed new officers for 2018-2020. Judy Minium and Terry Appell will share the presidency. Judy has been in charge of civic beautification for the club for many years and she will be missed in that position. Terry is our former treasurer and she will be replaced by Nancy McGrew. 

The vice president in charge of programs will be Eileen Ernst and Elaine Hoke will remain as recording secretary. Kari Eckel will continue as corresponding secretary and there will be several new board members. We would like to thank our former president, Kathie Roskom, and wish her well as she leaves Ohio.

Pictured, from left, are: Westlake Police Chief Kevin Bielozer, Q-Lab's Doug Grossman, Gary Simecek, Brad Reis, Greg Fedor, Ron Roberts, Kirk Wilhelm, Westlake Mayor Dennis Clough.

Q-Lab Corporation recently celebrated its third annual Westlake Police and Firefighters Appreciation Day. Held at its Canterbury Road headquarters, the event was organized to honor the men and women who put their lives at risk every day, in support of the local community. 

“Civilized life would be impossible without police protection,” said Doug Grossman, president and CEO of Q-Lab. "The police are required to put themselves in difficult situations in order to protect us. Fire has been destroying lives ever since humans built the first huts out of sticks and thatch. Nowadays, when fire gets out of hand, we, the citizens, can run away – because we know that the firefighters will run toward the danger.”

2017 Westlake in Bloom first-place winner in the Front Yard category, owned by Mary Beth and Jack Bedell (no relation to author).

Attention Westlake gardeners: There is still time to enter the 2018 Westlake in Bloom Competition but you have to act fast! The deadline for entering is Friday, June 29, at 5 p.m. Entry forms are available at Cahoon Nursery, Dean’s Greenhouse, Gale’s Westlake Garden Center, Porter Library, and at Westlake City Hall, Recreation Center, and Community Services Department. You can also download an entry form at www.cityofwestlake.org/Westlake-in-Bloom. 

Properties will be judged on July 9, 10 and 11 and awards will be presented at a ceremony on Wednesday, Aug. 8, at 6:30 p.m. at La Centre Banquet and Conference Center. Pick up an entry form today and make sure to get it to City Hall by the deadline date.

A new chapter is upon the Bay Village Foundation. Many in Bay Village know the organization, especially after the recent overhaul of Play in Bay, but what a lot of people don't know is the man behind the helm. Al Paulus has recently completed his term as president and what a wonderful term it has been. 

Founding member and past President Eileen Verrnon recently stated, "Al joined the board in 2004, before we had term limits. We managed to keep him for 14 years. Even though his newly applied term was up, he agreed to serve as vice president. As that three-year term ended, he was nominated and accepted the presidency. How lucky were we? Al served very actively on the grants committee, chairing the group, and was a very involved and active member of the Run committee. His major contribution, in my view, was to serve on the finance and develop committees, bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience to that important, growing base of our organization. As president he was a godsend, as we jelled as a formal, growing community asset and organized board with term limits. We needed a leader; Al filled that role beyond expectations. He prepared us to move forward as a growing, dynamic organization."

Three residents from Bay Village and Westlake have been hired by The Illuminating Company after graduating from its utility worker training program at Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C).

Thomas Busa, Brendan Teets and Nicklaus Zink were among 27 graduates in the second class since FirstEnergy Corp. reinstituted the award-winning Power Systems Institute (PSI) training program at Tri-C in 2014. The Illuminating Company is a subsidiary of FirstEnergy.