Farewell, 2023. Hello and Happy New Year, 2024: Around The Town

BEREA, Ohio — As 2023 draws to a close, it’s hard to resist musing over the people, places and events that have appeared in this space over the past year, so let’s take a quick trip down memory lane.

JANUARY

The start of a new year 2023, sparked speculation as to whether the development of El Niño over the Pacific Ocean would result in a winter that would be warmer, colder, or somewhere in between.

Here we are at the threshold of 2024, and “The Little Boy” is still going strong.

If Monday’s (Dec. 25th) temperatures flirting with 60 are any indication, he appears to be working his magic by bringing us unusual warmth for this time of year, but on a cautionary note — let’s not count our chickens just yet. There are approximately three months of winter yet to come.

In January 2023, the Kiwanis Club of Berea announced the rollout of a new grants program focusing on certified nonprofit organizations within the Berea City School District.

Kiwanis spokesman Jeff Haas explained that a maximum of $10,000 will be awarded to qualifying organizations demonstrating “a visible and tangible commitment to the Kiwanis mission, by striving to positively impact children and/or positively enhance the community.”

“The maximum award for any single grant will be $2,500,” Haas said, explaining that the evaluation of applicants will be done by Berea Kiwanis members.

Residents of our Southwest communities were reminded that a little freight depot, built more than a century ago, and stood for decades along the Baltimore & Ohio tracks on the south side of Fowles Road in what was then Middleburg Township, can be visited in its fully restored glory at Grand Pacific Junction in Olmsted Falls, where it currently houses Renee’s Unique Boutique & More.

FEBRUARY

As a part of Baldwin Wallace University’s Annual Mark Collier Lecture Series “The Enduring Questions,” Rhodes Scholar and founder of Black Girl Environmentaist Wajiju “Wawa” Gatheru spoke on “How Everyone Can Be An Environmentalist.”

Gatheru told her audience at BW’s Gamble Auditorium in the Kulas Musical Arts Building, that while farming with her mom and grandmother as a child, conversations would often turn to saving the earth.

Today, she is a climate justice storyteller who has become the voice of her generation, working collaboratively alongside other creatives, including musicians and culture shapers to bring climate justice to the mainstream.

MARCH

A few days after learning how the effects of a Feb. 3rd train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, had threatened the purity of the city’s water supply, Lee Stancu (a.k.a Barber Lee), owner of Barber’s Den & Save Shop, 167 Front St. in Berea, set a goal to collect as much bottled water as possible via donations that would be dropped off at his barber shop.

And the donations rolled in. By mid-April donors had contributed 200 cases containing an estimated 3,000 bottles of water. Stancu and his brother loaded them into the cargo area of a Ford F150 and onto an 18-foot trailer behind it.

Many of the town’s 4,000-plus residents living within a 1-mile radius of the Feb. 3 train derailment had been evacuated from their homes and feared that their drinking water might be contaminated following the release of various toxic substances.

Upon his arrival in East Palestine, Stancu said the residents expressed gratitude for all of the many donations they have been receiving. “And they seemed full to the brim with a lot of non-perishable food, clothing, and other items,” he said.

The City of Berea got a New Mexican restaurant when co-owners Juan DeLeon, Esmeralda DeLeon, and Felipe De Leon debuted their new El Dorito Taco Mexican Bar & Grill at 126 Front St.

El Torito seats 120 diners who are accommodated in spacious booths lining floor-to-ceiling windows on the eatery’s north and west walls.

The restaurant features a full-service bar serving tequila, gin, whisky, and bourbon, as well as imported and domestic beers and are array of top-shelf margaritas from “Skinny to “Coco Loco,” and “Blueberry.”

The menu, of course, includes just about every type of meal you would expect a Mexican restaurant to have, along with a selection of “El Torito Samplers,” vegetarian combos, and a “Create-Your-Own-Combo.”

APRIL

Cleveland Metroparks announced that work would soon be underway, aimed at making summer days spent soaking up the sun and playing in the sand at Wallace Lake Beach in Berea even more enjoyable.

Metroparks’ Chief Operating Officer Joe Roszak said improvements were to begin in the summer of 2023, replacing all onsite amenities, including bathroom facilities, the concession stand, and lifeguard facilities, and the Wallace Lake upgrades were to include construction of a new pavilion and an upgraded concession stand.

The 125-acre Baldwin Wallace University campus, adorned as it is with ancient trees and venerable sandstone buildings dating back over a century, got a new attraction — a majestic pair of red-shouldered hawks nesting on a third-floor window ledge at Marting Hall.

It wasn’t long before Marting Hall, BW’s home to the humanities, became home to two downy baby hawks.

MAY

In Middleburg Heights, the local Women’s Club awarded its 2023 scholarships to Berea-Midpark seniors Summer Zeleznik, Ciara Zeleznik, and Miriam Myers.

Summer Zeleznik said she intended to attend Bowling Green State University where she would major in early childhood education, while her twin, Ciara, would attend Cuyahoga Community College and study veterinary technology. Meyers intended to major in psychology at The Ohio State University.

JUNE

Thanks to local forester Marc DeWerth, we learned that an ancient tulip tree gracing the front lawn at The Little Hermitage, 445 South Rocky River Drive in Berea is an awe-inspiring creation of Mother Nature — especially when standing beside its massive trunk, measuring nearly 18 feet in circumference.

DeWerth said the tree “probably predates the house,” built in 1834 by John Wheeler, who served as the first president of Baldwin Wallace College.

“There’s no question that the tree is in the top ten of the biggest tulip trees in Oho and is likely to be as much as 250 years old,” he said.

The Tree of Knowledge, a sculpture that for nearly a half-century had adorned the former Berea High School’s Bagley Road facade, can now be viewed on foot and close up, revealing it as a captivating work of art.

Following more than a year of restoration work by Austin Finishing Co., the 15-foot-by-10-foot metal-cast work by Robert Fillous — a 1935 Cleveland Institute of Art graduate — was remounted in April close to ground level on the east-facing wall of the new Berea-Midpark High School building’s performing arts wing.

A sign vanishes: The sudden disappearance of an outdoor wall sign advertising The Shoppe at 128 Front St. in Berea stirred nearly as much talk and suspicion around town as a good “whodunnit.”

The eye-catching sign, an iconic fixture in the local community, had been a familiar sight for years and its removal sparked speculation and discussion of motive and fate among Berea residents.

As it turned out, the hand-crafted sign, which was mounted at the second-floor level of the historic 19th-century structure that was once a part of The Shoppe, but is now home to Mike’s Bar & Grille at 130 Front St., had to be removed when a painting crew arrived to apply a fresh coat to the building.

As it was being removed from the wall, the nearly 40-year-old, hand-crafted wooden sign reportedly began to crumble and was unsalvageable.

For those who continue to lament its passing, there is an exact, albeit smaller, replica of the “For Everything Under the Sun” sign situated prominently above the main entrance to The Shoppe on Front Street.

JULY

Time flies: “It’s July 6th 2023, and as I am writing this, the images of fireworks — red, white and blue, signifying the Fourth of July, the height of summer — still linger.

And to think that a mere six months ago, it was January, the bottom of winter.

In a few days, the ascent toward spring will be underway, slowly at first, then little by little, the days will grow longer and winter will its grip.

I like to compare the annual climb from the depths of winter to the heights of summer with climbing the first and highest hill of your favorite roller coaster.

July 4 marks the summer season’s summit — and then the thrill of the coaster’s plunge begins, soon to be a free fall into autumn.

This is foreshadowed by a quick dive into August, a return to school, the appearance of Halloween items in September, and soon, we are contemplating the holiday season ahead.”

And just like that, here we are, again contemplating the arrival of a new year. Tempus fugit!

AUGUST

Each year, Berea Kiwanis awards five scholarships to graduating Berea-Midpark High School seniors.

One scholarship is designated for a Key Club member, another for a Polaris Career Center student and the remaining three are open for any senior to apply.

The club’s 2023 scholarship winners include Isabella Baglier of Brook Park, Hannah Check of Brook Park (Polaris winner), Elijah Davis, Henry Hoeu of Middleburg Heights (Key Club winner), and Kylie Rump of Berea.

Kiwanis spokesman Jeff Haas said the club has been awarding scholarships since the early 1970s, “so we’ve been doing this for 50-ish years.”

The scholarships are funded by the Kiwanis’ annual American Flags Over Berea project and its annual 100/100 drawing.

SEPTEMBER

Russell G. Hill was named the 2023 recipient of the Berea Chamber of Commerce Grindstone Award.

Hill graduated summa cum laude from Capital University in Bexley, Ohio, with a bachelor of arts degree in business communications.

He served as vice president and president of the Berea Chamber of Commerce from 1994 to 1996 and introduced some of the chamber’s very first discount telephone and worker’s compensation programs to members.

In 2000, Hill was appointed chairman of Berea’s first Heritage Architectural Review by then-Mayor Joseph Biddlecomb. He served in this role for six years, writing and overseeing the City Council’s approval of the city’s first historic preservation design standards.

He was also a member of Rotary International for eight years, from 2009 to 2017, and received the Paul Harris Fellowship Award in 2017 in recognition of his community service with Rotary.

He served as a trustee on the board of the Berea High School Alumni Association in the 1980s, helping to encourage alumni to support the Berea City Schools.

Praise for ARF: Sandy Coesis, a retired NASA employee and an ardent supporter of Berea Animal Rescue Friends (ARF), praised ARF for being “a no-time-limit, no-kill shelter for dogs and cats.”

The animal shelter at 10015 East River Road in Columbia Station places an average of 1,200 pets a year with their ARF “forever home,” Coesis said, explaining that the organization receives no government funding and relies solely on private donations.

Coesis said ARF has an impressive list of “dynamic programs,” including Canine Companions, a fostering program where “foster parents” are trained and supplied with all needed supplies and medications; Cat Companions, where ARF provides kittens and cats to Petco and Pet Supplies Plus to put up for adoption; and Pet Pantry, which supplies needy families with necessary pet food and kitty litter on a bi-weekly basis.

OCTOBER

The ‘“original” Berea High School, built in the 1920s and replaced in 2020 by a streamlined, 21st-century structure, now exists only in memory — and in a collection of memorabilia, many of which were offered for sale from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 21-22 and Nov. 18-19 at the former Vivian L. Smith School, 535 Wyleswood Drive.

Items up for grabs included yearbooks, trophies, swimming awards, plaques, framed artwork, and photographs, all tied to the histories of both Berea High School and the former Midpark High School.

Midpark High School was closed and merged with rival Berea High School after the 2012-2013 year.

Berea High School Alumni Association President Marianna Peris said proceeds from the purchase of memorabilia have been allocated toward funding alumni association senior scholarships.

Ghostbusting: Cleveland Ghostbusters, including Nick Goers, Joyce Ashman, Travis Placedo, and Stephan Manchir rolled into Berea’s town center in their Mini Cooper Ghostbuster car a few days before Halloween.

Their goal was to promote their pop-up Halloween “Nightmare on Front Street.”

During their nighttime visit, the “busters,” were stationed just outside Front Street Social, 107 Front Street, in a building noted for its hauntings, and where they performed a full Psycho Kinetic Scan (known as a ‘PKE’) of the premises and gave them a clean bill of paranormal health while promoting support for several charities including Ronald McDonald House and the Cleveland Animal Protective League.

NOVEMBER

John C. Siodla and Jerome “Doc” Kobie were the recipients of this year’s Berea Historical Society Heritage Awards.

The awards are given posthumously to those who, during their lifetime, contributed to the progress and/or quality of life in Berea through their activities and services

.Kobie, a native Berean, was honored for his service in the Navy during World War II, a 29-year career as a detective in the Berea Police Department, and following his retirement, being a dedicated volunteer at Looking Forward, an organization for those who have lost a loved one.

He was also honored for his work at the Berea Historical Society, where he organized memorabilia and kept extensive notes regarding the city and how he remembered it.

Siodla, also a native Berean, attended St. Adalbert School and worked summers as a water boy, carrying water to workers in the city’s sandstone quarries.

During his high school years, Siodla was an avid athlete participating in many sports. After graduating from Berea High School, he worked at the Dunham foundry in Berea until 1946, when he took a new direction and decided to build homes.

Siodla cut a street through from Prospect Street to Fair Street and named it Jacqueline Drive, then proceeded to construct houses on the entire street.

During his lifetime, Siodla built 110 homes in various areas of the city, not including houses he built in 13 other communities.

In 1995, he was inducted into Berea High School’s Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame.

History goes solar: The Berea Historical Society and History Center pay homage to the past, but it took a step into the 21st Century with the installation of high-tech solar panels.

Thirty percent of the BHS History Center’s roof is now adorned with solar panels — none of which are visible to passersby on East Bridge Street.

Historical Society President Dennis Kushlak avowed that “No (solar) panels will be attached to the roof of our 175-year-old Victorian home,”

He said BHS has been confronted with increasing electric bills, which should be “dramatically reduced” once the solar panels are activated.

DECEMBER

Customers will most assuredly miss Maggie Nedoma’s magnetic presence at the Berea Dunkin’, 789 Front St., as the Brook Park resident moved on to take over as the Titans’ head volleyball coach at Berea-Midpark High School.

After graduating from OU in December 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in communications, she played volleyball professionally in France for four months and in Switzerland for eight months.

Nedoma, 24, who coached weekend camps about three years ago, started as an assistant coach at Berea-Midpark High School last August.