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Looking for unique, handmade gifts for the holidays? Look no further than the Cleveland Potters Co-op annual pottery sale, Dec. 6, 7, 8 and Dec. 14 and 15.

Taking place the first two weekends in December, the sale will feature one-of-a-kind art created by co-op members, including mugs, bowls, planters, trinkets and more. Visitors will have the opportunity to meet featured artists, learn about pottery classes taught by co-op members, and explore the studio space.

Winter Wonder will offer family fun, a parade, unique shopping and more.

On Saturday, Dec. 14, Coventry Village will host Winter Wonder—a festive day filled with fun activities, unique shopping experiences, arts, and culture.

Coventry Village has long been celebrated as a small-business destination, where buying local is part of the community spirit. On Dec. 14, a full schedule of free Winter Wonder activities promises additional fun for all ages, with live music, warm drinks, ice sculptors, and photos with Santa—all within a five-minute walk.

Discover holiday treasures and one-of-a-kind gifts at Steve Presser’s Big Fun Vintage Toys, Grog Shop’s Jingle Bell Shop, and a pop-up from Brittany’s Record Shop—all spotlighting cherished pieces of Coventry’s vibrant retail scene.

Shoppers can find something special for everyone on their list, from Made Cleveland (voted Cleveland Scene's best gift shop) to Passport to Peru, Mac’s Backs, and more, including gift cards, stocking stuffers, and sweet treats.

Fresh donuts from the famous donut machine.

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Church of the Saviour, located at 2537 Lee Road, will host its annual Advent Festival & Holiday Gift Market on Saturday, Dec. 7, from 9 a.m. to noon.

This free-of-charge, popular community event will be chock-full of family-friendly attractions. 

Live holiday music acts provide a festive backdrop to an extensive fair-trade and local gift market, featuring vendors such as the Interreligious Task Force on Central America, Women of the Cloud Forest, Amani Children's Foundation, and many more.

Awards emcee Rachel Vadaj, Super Cooper, and Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan.

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A super time was had by all at the 2024 University Heights Civic Awards on Nov. 13. The city celebrated its Superman origins with the event’s “A Better Tomorrow” theme, while it recognized people who are working hard to make University Heights an even better place to live, work and raise a family.

The theme is a shout out to Superman’s new motto, “Truth, Justice, and a Better Tomorrow.” The creators of the Superman comic book, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, both lived in University Heights.

John Carroll University (JCU) graduate and Channel 19 News reporter Rachel Vadaj returned for the second consecutive year to host the event.

Days after our deadline for this column, the Nov. 15 “Cleveland Heights City News” presented the Seren administration’s 135-page draft Climate Action and Resilience Plan (CARP) for public review and feedback. The deadline for responses: Nov. 20. A quick scan revealed a dense compendium of data and charts, missing essential elements and containing multiple errors. Absent from CARP's mile-high view are concrete action steps, benchmarks and timelines, plus any indication that implementation plans and budgets might follow. 

We hope a completed CARP can guide Cleveland Heights in preparing to face the challenges ahead. Otherwise, this document will join the 2017 master plan and similar civic exercises gathering dust in a virtual attic.

James E. Frolking at his 100th birthday party at Manikiki Golf Course, April 29, 2024. [photo: Jane Kaufman]

When U.S. Army Air Forces fighter pilot James E. Frolking’s P-51 Mustang was shot down on Oct. 7, 1944, he parachuted to a sandbar in the North Sea, landing in water chest deep. 

His first act was to light a cigarette.

Frolking, then 20, stayed put overnight, awaiting rescue. The next morning he paddled a dinghy to Noord Beveland, a German-occupied island in the Netherlands. The Dutch Underground safeguarded him on a farm, and he was liberated by Canadian forces who returned him to England about 30 days later.

This wasn't our sign. Ours was in blue and white—cold colors—with what looked like snow on top of the letters. 

Sitting in Chester’s, a bar and restaurant on Coventry Road, one afternoon in 1976, with a few friends, one of us said we wished there was some place we could go and hang out that wasn’t a bar.

So, I hatched a plan right there. I announced that I was going to find an apartment where the rent was, maybe, $160 a month, and if those three friends, and four others, would all pay $10 a month, they could each have a key and total access to the place. It could be like a club. They readily agreed and so did four other friends. Most of us were artists, of one kind or another—musicians, visual artists, a writer, a dancer.

I found a basement apartment on Euclid Heights Boulevard, a block west of Coventry, that was perfect (for this), with its one bedroom all the way in the back, so it was separate from everything else.

ROOTS Executive Director Michele Colopy presents the William Woods Excellence in Teaching Award to Mary Matisak.

Roots of American Music (ROOTS) held its annual fall event on Oct. 24 at the Music Box Supper Club in Cleveland. As part of its yearlong refresh, the Cleveland Heights-based nonprofit celebrated its story and service to the community. 

A vignette of ROOTS’ own “Blues is the Backbone” music education program was interactive, with teaching artist Jack Mizenko conducting the audience in the refrain of a blues song, and then of one adapted by students at Halle School.

Singer Evelyn Wright, accompanied by guitarist Michael Haburay and pianist Sebastain Mango, led guests through a vignette of the “Food for the Soul” program for seniors, which connects music with current topics, and sparks discussions among the seniors that encourage them to share their life experiences and revisit memories inspired by the music.

In 2023, the Coventry Village Library partnered with CHGT to host an Eco Fest.

Heights Libraries has joined the Sustainable Libraries Initiative (SLI) and officially started the process of becoming a certified sustainable library system.

SLI is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide libraries with resources and guidelines to shift toward a cleaner, greener, and more equitable future for the people in their communities.

“We are excited to be a part of a network of libraries making informed long-term decisions that are environmentally sound, socially equitable, and economically feasible,” said Heights Libraries Director Nancy Levin.

Nov. 5 was an exciting day for me. It was democracy in real time—the foundation on which democracy works.

I stood at the polls 8–10 a.m. and gave last-minute mini-lessons on Issue 1, the ballot initiative which, if it had passed, would have addressed gerrymandering by changing the way Ohio draws its maps for state and congressional voting districts. Our current maps are unconstitutional yet still in use because the seven-person commission charged with drawing them followed a partisan agenda. No one could stop them.

The day was sunny and warm, and people swarmed to the polls. The line at the CH Community Center snaked all the way to Mayfield Road.

Simba [photo: Merry Lugasy]

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Simba Lugasy died on Oct. 19 at the age of 18.

Simba was the self-appointed Ambassador of Hampshire Road. He lived with his family in their bungalow between Middlehurst and Wilton roads. The entire neighborhood was his district, and anyone who passed by was his constituent.

The Lugasy family adopted Simba from the former Petland store on Lee Road when he was about eight weeks old. His mom, Merry Lugasy, said, “Simba made it clear from the start that he was a people person. He would jump up and cling to the window screen, begging to go outside.” She finally relented and his career was born.

Well-maintained streets free of potholes, reliable refuse and recycling, responsive emergency services, robust parks and recreation are all services residents expect from their municipal government. These services, however, come at a cost to taxpayers. The costs and ultimately the tax are determined by so many factors, but for “bedroom” communities without much industry, like Cleveland Heights and University Heights, the most important factor is population.

U.S. Census Bureau data estimates that University Heights has had a 5.1% population loss, and Cleveland Heights a 3.1% loss, since April 1, 2020. Between the two cities, there are estimated to be 2,119 fewer residents in just the last three years.

The new giant cardinal structure perched in the upper play area of the new Coventry PEACE Park, along with climbers, slides, and a zipline.

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Our Coventry PEACE Park has been under construction since June. The giant cardinal structure is perched in the upper play area, along with climbers, slides, and a zipline, and toddler play equipment is in place in the lower area. The site has been gently graded, and concrete paths are in place to provide sure footing and easy rolling; the retaining wall is in place beside the basketball half court; and the concrete pad is ready for the performance pavilion. Trees are being planted alongside other plantings and ecological features. The construction site is adorned with fence art crafted from upcycled materials, designed and installed by Debbie Apple-Presser, Coventry Village Library Branch Manager Maggie Kinney, and neighbors.

Coventry Village Branch
1925 Coventry Road, 216-321-3400

Tuesday, Dec. 17, 7 p.m.

Ukulele Jam. Bring your ukulele for an evening of strumming, singing, and generally having a good time. All levels, and listeners, are welcome. Music will be provided.

Noble naturalists group picture.

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Fifth-grade students from Noble Elementary School immersed themselves in hands-on learning  and made unforgettable memories at Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP) on Oct. 30.

The young naturalists disconnected from their daily classroom routine and explored Ohio’s native beauty by hiking, climbing and exploring Kendall Ledges. 

Students squeezed inside of the caves and gorges to discover the unique art carved into the stunning sand ledges. The interactive program centered around the ledges’ astonishing transformation over the course of millions of years of weathering, erosion and degradation.

On June 25 I sent a letter to members of CH City Council and Mayor Seren voicing concern regarding the Turkey Ridge development. Each member of city council responded. Mayor Seren did not. And so, I now write a public letter to the mayor:

As a resident of Cleveland Heights for over 40 years, I have always been proud of Cleveland Heights as a city that cares about its residents, cares about the environment and values green space.

Mayor Seren, you appear not to share these values. I am talking about the notion that, as our mayor, you would allow development of the Turkey Ridge site.

Mayor Kahlil Seren delivers his State of the City address.

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On Nov. 7, Cleveland Heights Mayor Kahlil Seren delivered his third State of the City address.

“I'd like to begin our time together tonight focusing on what we have to be proud of and hopeful for in Cleveland Heights,” said the mayor in beginning his address. In it, he highlighted the following:

Development Updates: Mayor Seren outlined the major city development projects underway and forthcoming, specifically the Cedar-Lee-Meadowbrook mixed-use project, with phase one nearly complete; and the Cain Park Village project which aims to revitalize the Taylor Tudor business district and is estimated to bring in an additional $100 million in investment.

Untitled, by Mike Nathal.

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The N.B. White Gallery at St. Paul's has decked its walls with paintings, photographs, and woodworks this winter season. The show opens on Friday, Dec. 6, with an artist’s reception 5–7 p.m.

The bold and colorful paintings were created by DeAnne Smith of Cleveland, and by Jules Briggs, a Detroit-based painter and sculptor. J.W. Cooper’s photographs are on display as well, as are works in wood by Mike Nathal.

Smith creates flow in her art with shapes, patterns, and vibrant colors. Her large-scale, abstract paintings are influenced by her surroundings and by nature.

Briggs similarly uses a bold palette in her personal and fantastical artwork, portraying dreamscapes, fantasy scenes, and fictional characters.

Participants at the recent Crowdsources Conversations forum on Severance Town Center. [photo: Sarah Wolf]

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Crowdsourced Conversations wraps up 2024 with a 40% increase in community participation compared to 2023, and a 107% increase since the program began in 2022.

This forum series, a program of FutureHeights, planned in partnership this year with Home Repair Resource Center, Heights Libraries, Cleveland Heights Green Team, and Heights Bicycle Coalition as well as Heights community members, provides opportunities for residents to gather for action-oriented dialogue around topics they select. This community-building program provides a safe and welcoming space for Cleveland Heights and University Heights residents to come together and brainstorm ways to become more engaged in the community.

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Dec. 6–29, Dobama Theatre will present the professional Cleveland premiere of “Peter/Wendy,” a heartfelt, ethereal adaptation of J. M. Barrie’s classic Peter Pan, by Jeremy Bloom.

Directed by Nathan Motta, Dobama Theatre’s artistic director, this family-friendly holiday show offers an immersive, interactive experience to delight kids and adults alike. Fairies, pirates, mermaids, and more will take the stage, encouraging audiences to think of and share their “happy thoughts.”

“The idea of ‘thinking a happy thought’ might seem trite or childish on the surface, but, as it turns out, happy thoughts can elevate us, and sharing gratitude and happiness with others lifts them up as well. We hope that ‘Peter/ Wendy’ will help do just that for audiences this December,” said Motta.

Heights High 2025 National Merit honorees William Larkin, Remy Bourbeau, and August Szpak. [courtesy Diana Drushel]

Heights High seniors Remy Bourbeau and August Szpak have been named National Merit Scholars in the 2025 competition, and, as semifinalists, have the opportunity to advance to the finalist level and qualify for National Merit Scholarships. William Larkin was named a 2025 Commended Student, placing among the top 5 percent of the students who entered.

Nationally, 16,000 semifinalists were recognized, representing less than 1 percent of the U.S. high school seniors, and there were 34,000 commended students. More than 1.3 million students entered the National Merit Scholarship qualifying competition by taking the PSAT test in the fall of their junior year.

Yard signs from a past recycling drive at the Cuyahoga Solid Waste District's warehouse.

The Cleveland Heights Green Team, in partnership with the Heights Libraries and the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes, will collect campaign and other yard signs Nov. 5–24.

The signs will be transported to the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District (CCSWD) facility, where arrangements will be made for their recycling. Unwanted yard signs are not recyclable via curbside recycling.

Sign materials such as plastic film, corrugated plastic and cardboard, and metal stands are recycled by Northcoast Recycling Specialists in Wickliffe. The plastic is marketed to compounders that convert the material into pellets for making items such as plastic bags and plastic toys.

A scene from the Lantern Festival 2023.

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On Dec. 14, join Coventry PEACE Campus (CPC) for a magical celebration of light, creativity, and community—a day filled with free activities, the beloved Lantern Procession, and more.

Due to the owner’s decision to close the Coventry PEACE Building, this year’s Lantern Festival will be CPC’s final public event. The group invites the community to join in celebrating the creativity, community, and joy CPC has shared within the building’s walls, while it looks to the future with hope and gratitude. 

On Friday, Nov. 22: CPC will host a Lantern Making Happy Hour at B Side Lounge.

On Saturday, Dec. 14: CPC will host a day of free activities, including:

• Coventry Village Holiday Festival
• Coventry School Alumni Reunion

Dobama Theatre partners with schools and community organizations to bring the art of playwriting to language arts and drama classrooms all over Northeast Ohio, including multiple schools in the CH-UH district. In addition to providing arts education, the program reinforces essential literacy skills in conjunction with established curriculum.

The Young Playwrights Program (YPP) is taught by professional playwrights and theater artists in the classroom. The wide-ranging resources available include single workshops, residencies (three or more workshop sessions), instructional videos, and a fully adaptable curriculum based on grade level.

Rev. Jermaine Ross-Allam is picutured at center, in black. To his immediate right, in front, are co-chairs Marina Grant and Sonji Kenyata, and Mark Chupp. To his left are Rev. Carmen Cox Harwell and Jeannine Gury. In the back row, from left, are Danielle Cosgrove, Quentin Smith and Gordon Landefeld.

Forest Hill Presbyterian Church (FHC) has introduced a racial-equity initiative to address the financial burden of student-loan debt among Black women. The church is accepting applications on a rolling basis for its Racial Repair Education Debt Program, which will pay off undergraduate loans for eligible applicants.

The program will give priority to Black individuals who self-identify as female or non-binary, are residents of Cleveland Heights, and have graduated from a post-secondary institution. To request an application, make a contribution, or get more information, e-mail office@fhcpresb.org.

The program, which launched in September, marks a first-of-its-kind effort in Ohio that is drawing national attention.

Racial Equity Buddies (REB), a multifaith, multigenerational, multiracial group that organizes events, learning experiences, and community-building, invites community members to join in two November events.

On Tuesday, Nov. 12,6:30–8:30 p.m., at Forest Hill Church (3031 Monticello Blvd.), the group will host a community event focused on post-election healing, regardless of the results of the November election. The group is excited to welcome local award-winning poets Quartez Harris and Kortney Morrow, who will lead a poetry-writing session. Harris and Morrow will be joined by Chiq Montgomery, who will engage participants in artistic journaling. The evening will begin with a vegan meal and include music and time for connecting, as well.

Michael Day has owned Flowerville for 40 years. [photo: Michael Day]

Flowerville, a full-service florist in University Heights, celebrated two significant anniversaries this year. Aug. 1, 2024, marked the 75th year the company has been in business and the 40th anniversary of the current owner’s purchase of the business.

Flowerville was founded by Max Meltzer, who started selling flowers in Cleveland in 1949. He opened his first brick-and-mortar store in East Cleveland shortly thereafter. In 1962, he moved to a growing area with a lot of new construction—the intersection of Warrensville Center and Silsby roads, in University Heights. Originally, the shop was located at 2261 Warrensville Center Road, in the building now referred to as Silsby Center.

Flowerville's current owner, Michael Day, started his own florist business as a high school student at St. Ignatius, creating bouquets and corsages for his friends for proms and other special occasions.

Dictionary.com defines gerrymandering as “the dividing of a state, county, etc., into election districts so as to give one political party a majority in many districts while concentrating the voting strength of the other party into as few districts as possible.”

A fair system depends on legislative maps that reflect the overall preferences of voters. Fairly drawn maps lead to competitive districts where candidates have to earn the support of voters, and, once elected, participate in the legislative process in good faith and find common ground with the opposition. A supermajority achieved through maps designed to concentrate power in one party erases checks and balances within the legislative process. It is corruption at its worst, and that is what we have in Ohio.

The city’s Happy 5k/10k & 1 Mile Fun Run and After Party has become a branded event for Cleveland Heights. It is a major regional run attracting people not just from Cleveland Heights and other cities in Northeast Ohio but also from 10 other states and two other countries, Canada and U.K. In fact, 73% of the 665 participants were not from Cleveland Heights.

This year the event added an after party.  With Lee Road closed from Silsby to Meadowbrook, activities encompassed the street. There was a popular bouncy house, face painters, Bubblepalooza, a balloon artist who delighted the kids, and DJ Lily Jade and the band Footprints to delight the adults.

Cleveland Heights resident Sid Lenington’s book-length debut, Donovan’s M.I.A., is filled with taut, lyrical, and funny dispatches from the front lines of the Anthropocene.

He will be joining Dan Chaon, author of, most recently, Sleepwalker, for a reading and discussion as part of the Coventry Village Author Series at the Coventry Village Library on Thursday, Nov.  21, at 7 p.m.

The book comprises two short stories and two novellas filled with images of garden hoses, donuts, lost puppets, troubled characters, and Rust Belt rot. It’s a glimpse into a mind which, blasted and cratered from decades of drinking, is beginning to heal after 13 years of sobriety.

Heights Libraries' board members cut the ribbon at the June 2024 grand opening of the renovated Noble Neighborhood branch.

The Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library is accepting applications for two open board positions. Applications are due Friday, Nov. 22, by noon. The new board members will replace current board chair Vikas Turakhia, who is rolling off the board after serving his full seven-year term, and Melissa Soto-Schwartz, who is stepping down after two years.

Prospective applicants are strongly encouraged to attend an information meeting about library board service on Monday, Nov. 11, at 7 p.m., or Wednesday, Nov. 20, at 7 p.m. The meetings will take place at the Lee Road Branch, 2345 Lee Road, in the administrative office located on the second floor of the library.

Witnessing the long, slow demise of Coventry PEACE Campus since its acquisition by Heights Libraries has felt like looking on while a couple you love battles their way to an excruciating divorce. 

The acronym PEACE originally stood for “People Enhancing a Child’s Environment,” PTA-led volunteers who came together in the early 1990s to build and maintain a then-state-of-the-art playground for Coventry Elementary School.

The Cleveland Heights-University Heights schools closed Coventry in 2007, depriving Coventry Village of a beloved anchor. By 2017, Ensemble Theatre, Lake Erie Ink, FutureHeights, Reaching Heights, ARTFUL and other nonprofits were renting space there, producing a hive of creativity and collaboration.

The annual Art of Community Exhibit at the Coventry PEACE Building.

On Oct. 8, at a joint meeting of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library and the cities of Cleveland Heights and University Heights, library leaders revealed their planned future for the Coventry PEACE Building. It involves the smell of mothballs. The library’s director, Nancy Levin, and its trustees say that a boarded-up building is worth more than a lively art center currently populated by local nonprofits.

The meeting, which you can watch at bit.ly/CHUHLibMtgVid, exposed tensions between the library and the nonprofits, with Levin referring to the nonprofits as “those people,” suggesting the library doesn't see the organizations as part of its community.

The meeting was intended to explore solutions for preserving the Coventry PEACE Building.

Bob Hope, who grew up in Cleveland Heights (and whom I didn't meet that time in 1959), was a minority owner of the Cleveland Indians from 1946 to 1986, which included the seven years Woodie Held played for the team, and lived in Cleveland Heights, starting in 1959.

This month marks my elder grandchild’s 10th birthday. That’s a big deal. I can tell she’s feeling pretty grown up, and, I mean, her age is in the double digits now, so she’s practically almost 20. Well . . . halfway there. But a lot closer than she was 10 years ago, which seems like nothing to me now.

It doesn’t even seem like much time has passed since I turned 10 myself. (Until I try to recall everything that has happened since.) I remember Cleveland Heights in 1959 well.

On my 10th birthday, I got my first new bike, a black Schwinn from Pee Wee’s Cycle Shop, which was right around the corner from my house.

Loose curbside recycling has begun in University Heights.

It's an early Tuesday morning on Glendon Road in University Heights. Today is special—we are experiencing our first curbside pickup of loosely recycled items, deposited directly into an automated recycling truck. We neighbors cheered the service workers in this moment of glee.

It's been a long journey to reach this milestone in our community.  Several years of resident surveys addressing trash collection, arguments over the surveys themselves, more arguments over the survey results, local candidates running for office with trash collection preferences stated on their platforms, the powers that be ultimately realizing that the majority of residents wanted to ditch the blue plastic bags for recycled items (irony noted), and lots of negotiating at various local government meetings led to this morning. Opt-in loose recycling with curbside pickup in University Heights is now official.

We live in a city known for its natural beauty (especially its trees) and climate awareness. Cleveland Heights has been designated as “Tree City USA” for over 20 years and prominently features a tree in its logo. Upon his election, Mayor Seren outlined sustainability and climate action as cornerstones of his new government, hiring a sustainability and resiliency coordinator and announcing the creation of a Climate Action and Resilience Plan.

Seemingly, Mayor Seren and the Cleveland Heights government have failed to remember the importance of these ideals in active governance.

From 2011 to 2017, Cleveland Heights saw a more than 10% decline in tree canopy.

I’m a Cleveland Heights resident who’s been working in solidarity with forced migrants for the past year. While I’m very new to this work and have much to learn, I know enough to be concerned by Alan Rapoport’s August 2024 opinion in the Heights Observer: “Illegal migration is potential problem here.”

Mr. Rapoport gestures toward a hypothetically dire future if a range of “what-ifs” occur, while invoking, seemingly without irony, the xenophobic height of Cold War Red Scare media. But he does little to explore what’s already happening for forced migrants in Greater Cleveland, and how many in Cleveland Heights are already taking action to ensure that this remains a safe and flourishing community for everyone who lives here—no matter what citizenship they hold.

Aladdin's General Manager Carson Zagger with a plastic utensils-free take-out order.

According to data from Upstream, 561 billion disposable food items are used every year in the U.S., from which a staggering 79% comes from takeout and delivery. Take-out plastic and plastic accessories are used for a few minutes or not at all, and they never disappear. Most plastics are not recyclable, and end up littering the environment, filling landfills, contaminating water, or being incinerated into dangerous breakdown products and greenhouse gasses.

“We see the impact of single-use plastic pollution in every cleanup and green-space beautification we conduct in the Heights. Most of the waste we collect is discarded take-out single use plastics,” said Dr. Kathy Smachlo, a member of the Cleveland Heights Green Team (CHGT) and team liaison to Beyond Plastics, a national organization that works to end plastic pollution.

From 2017 through parts of COVID, I, along with other community leaders and parents in the CH-UH school district and Oxford Elementary PTA, identified an issue of equity within our elementary and middle schools that would have a long-term effect on our children's education. Through our then PTA program, we launched Courageous Conversations and held workshops and panel sessions to press the district to answer our long-unanswered questions and encourage parents to speak out. At the time, our specific focus was Oxford Elementary and Monticello Middle schools. What were we eager to bring visibility to, you ask? Redlining and a lack of resources.

As years went by, we continued our fight, and soon 2020 was here and COVID touched all our doorsteps.

The recent Heights Music Hop was a great success. It showed how local merchants can provide the public with some services that Amazon cannot offer. Such a success should inspire Hop organizers to expand the concept on future occasions.

There are not enough promotional events for local merchants in Cleveland Heights or in University Heights. It did take a lot of work to organize the Hop. It might not be practical to have frequent Hops. But less ambitious events in commercial districts certainly could be staged on multiple occasions.

More retail shops should have stayed open at night during the Hop. This was a missed opportunity.

Cmdr. Michael DeBoer passes through sideboys during a change of command ceremony for the USS Asheville (SSN 758) onboard Naval Base Point Loma, Sept. 6, 2024. [Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Aaron Smith.]

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Commander Michael DeBoer, a 2001 graduate of Cleveland Heights High School and son of CH residents Glenn and Kathleen DeBoer, has taken command of nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine USS Asheville.

Known as the “Ghost of the Coast,” Asheville is an improved Los Angeles Class submarine. Home-ported in Apra Harbor, Guam, it is one of four forward deployed fast-attack submarines in the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

After graduating from Heights High as a self-described "lackluster" student, DeBoer enlisted in the Navy and became a sonar technician. While serving aboard the USS Kinkaid, he was selected to attend the United States Naval Academy, from which he graduated with honors in 2007.

I've lived in Cleveland Heights and University Heights for most of my life. I have a good idea of what kind of people live here. And I know that using rhetoric that dehumanizes those that seek asylum or simply a better life is not a great way to solicit votes in this specific part of Ohio.

Referring to undocumented immigrants crossing the southern border as "invasions by criminals, terrorists, and drug dealers" is incredibly xenophobic, harmful, and innacurate. Multiple studies show that immigrants, both documented and undocumented, are far less likely than U.S.-born Americans to commit crimes.

Gabrielle enjoying the Stone Oven patio this summer.

Before our daughter came into our lives, my husband and I frequented the Cedar Lee district, just a five-minute walk from our house. Those were simpler days, filled with leisurely strolls, spontaneous date nights, and discovering all the hidden gems this neighborhood has to offer.

Now, as parents, it's incredible to realize how seamlessly Gabrielle has fit into our beloved routine. Cedar Lee has not just remained our go-to spot, but has evolved with us, supporting our family in ways I never anticipated.

As a new parent, my appreciation for local businesses has shifted. These places have become touchstones of our community—spaces that have embraced Gabi just as they did us.

The University Heights Symphonic Band will present its free, annual fall concert at John Carroll University's (JCU) Dolan Science Atrium on Sunday, Nov. 3, at 3:30 p.m.

The building is located near the Fairmount Circle entrance to the campus, just behind Hamlin Quad where the band's outdoor concerts are annually held.

This year's program, titled Distant Travels, will musically take the audience around the world, and beyond. Conducted by Music Director Devlin Pope, the performance will include the following selections: Four Scottish Dances by Arnold, Sea Songs by Williams, A Nordic Trilogy by Erickson, Metroplex: Three Postcards from Manhattan by Sheldon, Afterlife by Galante, and a percussion feature by Hazo titled A Zillion Nickels.

Close Encounters audiences enjoy an intimate orchestral performance in a unique local home. [photo: Heights Arts]

On Friday, Nov. 1, Heights Arts opens its 23rd annual Holiday Store to the public, offering unique, handmade gifts created by more than 100 local artists. The store holds its general opening 6–8 p.m., following a Heights Arts members-only preview 5–6 p.m. The 2024 Holiday store will be open through Dec. 30.

Shoppers will find an array of distinctive items, including decorative boxes, candles, jewelry, ornaments, and a wide variety of artworks such as prints, paintings, photography, sculptural glass, and ceramics. The Holiday Store not only provides an opportunity to discover one-of-a-kind gifts, but also supports local artisans and celebrates the creative spirit of the community.

Also in November, Heights Arts kicks off its signature concert series, Close Encounters, with a performance titled "OUVRAGE DE DAME: Music for Winds by Women" on Sunday, Nov. 3, 3–4:30 p.m.

This year's Coventry PEACE Campus Lantern Festival is planned for Dec. 14.

In October, the FutureHeights Neighborhood Mini-Grant Committee convened to consider applications for its fall round of awards. It granted funds, totaling $5,850, to seven groups, to support their neighborhood-level work in Cleveland Heights and University Heights.

Coventry PEACE Campus (CPC) was awarded $1,000 for its “Lantern Festival.” The Lantern Festival brings community members to Coventry PEACE Campus to make art together before they parade into Coventry Village. CPC will use the funds to hire dancers, puppeteers, and musicians to accompany the procession. Funds will also contribute to advance workshops for a small group of arts interns from Heights High who will make individual lanterns for the procession. A dozen nonprofits in the PEACE Campus contribute to the event, providing financial support, food, supplies and music. The event is slated to take place on Dec. 14.

The Cleveland Heights Historical Society is a recipient of a State Historic Preservation Office's Public Education and Awareness Award for 2024.

Nominated specifically was the organization's “View from The Overlook” journal series, of which there have been 50 issues thus far; a 51st journal will soon be printed and sent to historical society members.

All 50 issues are accessible on at the historical society’s website: clevelandheightshistory.org.

Noble Neighborhood Library Manager Constance Dickerson.

With 16 years and two major renovations under her belt, Noble Neighborhood Branch Library Manager Constance Dickerson will retire at the end of November.

Dickerson’s time at the branch was characterized by a keen understanding of, and appreciation for, the Noble neighborhood, both its needs and the rich resources it offered.

“More than just a library services manager, she's truly been a member of the neighborhood working alongside so many others to find creative ways to cause us to thrive,” said Brenda May of the nonprofit organization Noble Neighbors.

On Oct. 8, Cleveland Heights City Council and the Heights Libraries Board of Directors held a joint meeting to discuss Coventry PEACE Campus (CPC)—the building and its tenants.

The library-owned building’s current tenants primarily comprise a mix of nonprofit and arts organizations. Nine tenants failed to renew their 18-month leases by the April 1, 2024, deadline; the library subsequently permitted them to renew for six months, June through December 2024, with a month-to-month renewal option thereafter, subject to termination by tenant or landlord with 60-days’ notice. Three new tenants signed new 18-month leases last spring, effective July 1, 2024, through Dec. 31, 2025.

At the meeting’s start, CH Council President Tony Cuda noted that those present had gathered “in the spirit of collaboration,” to discuss the future of CPC.

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On Oct. 10, join in a “YouTalk I Listen” seminar, hosted by Cleveland Heights City Council Vice President Davida Russell and K&M Partners, to learn essential information on estate planning. The seminar will be held in Cleveland Heights High School’s small auditorium, and will begin at 6:30 p.m.
 
This event is designed to provide vital information for individuals and families who own homes or other assets that they want to ensure are properly protected.

Sue Dean Dyke, right, and Heights resident Nicole Major go where voters are to find people to register.

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Democracy only works when citizens participate. But Ohio’s voter registration can be hard for some citizens: for example, seniors, young people and renters have to reregister every time they change their address.

That doesn’t sit well with Heights resident Sue Dean Dyke. She started Mobilize the Vote NEO to connect with disenfranchised and disengaged voters, develop relationships, and empower people to participate in government. She has inspired more than 700 volunteers working in the Heights and beyond.

“You’ve probably seen us in our neon orange T-shirts,” said Dyke.

Mobilize the Vote goes where the voters are—food banks and farmer’s markets, concert lines and community festivals, HUD apartments and downtown high rises—making it easy for people to register to vote.

“We’ve registered thousands of voters. And we follow up with them to make sure every vote counts,” Dyke said.

Owner Manuel Chincilla inside his new Lee Road bookshop.

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Hexagon Books opened at 2184 Lee Road in July. The store is focused on literature from all over the world. And for those who would like to read in Spanish or Italian but could use a little help with their proficiency, classes in those two languages are offered right in the store.

Owner Manuel Chinchilla explained that, in August and September, he offered multiple sections of beginning Spanish and Italian for adults, with both morning and afternoon sessions to accommodate different schedules, and one section of each of those languages at the advanced level. He hopes to add children's workshops in Spanish and Italian in the near future.

In an exciting signal of ambitions to grow the reach of the business, Chinchilla added, “I’m hoping to hire more instructors to teach Spanish and Italian lessons for adults next year.”

On Saturday, Oct. 19, 4–7 p.m., Dobama Theatre will present its fourth Annual Heights Halloween Festival in the Cedar Lee Business District.

This free, family-friendly event will feature costumed characters, large-scale puppets, face painting, a DJ, dancing, games, a scavenger hunt, and circus performers from Wizbang.

The Heights Halloween Festival will also include the beloved, traditional Candy Crawl, so families should dress up and bring their goodie bags to be ready to trick-or-treat at participating businesses throughout Cedar Lee.

Adult spotted lanternflies are easy to identify by their spotted wings and bright red hindwings. They're about an inch long. [photo: Mark Derrickson]

The long-anticipated spotted lanternfly invasion has reached Cleveland Heights and University Heights. Cuyahoga is one of 12 counties in the state that are under quarantine by the Ohio Department of Agriculture for having an established population of the pest.

Tree-service companies (like ours) have been fielding phone calls from concerned residents who have found the pests on their property. 

The host tree for the spotted lanternfly is the Ailanthus tree, commonly known as the Tree of Heaven. Both the tree and the insect originally came from China, and both are considered invasive.

Karen Malone Wright

Walter Stinson set a legendary path before me, and now it’s easy to see the dozens of ways University Heights has changed since he accepted his first position with the city in 1976.

When I first moved to University Heights 37 years ago, Walt was one of my first visitors, presenting my husband and me with a friendly, personable smile and a Welcome Basket of information. He seemed to be truly interested to learn what made us choose University Heights for our home, and how he might be able to help us become acclimated to the community and our neighborhood.

Today, my home is a five-minute walk to Walter Stinson Community Park on Fenwick Road, familiar to residents, their children and even their pets. I wasn’t surprised when Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan chose to honor Walter in 2019 at such a community-focused site.

Gather Well Cleveland Heights founders Eric Yarham and Julie Walker outside the HKIC Media Lab

When Julie Walker and Eric Yarham founded Gather Well Cleveland Heights, a grassroots organization focused on creating community connections, they knew a podcast had to be a part of their vision.

“We reached the decision to do the podcast because the medium wasn't being used to spread all the good work happening in Cleveland Heights and University Heights and beyond,” said Walker.

A chance meeting with Heights Libraries Director Nancy Levin led the pair to the media lab at the library’s Heights Knowledge and Innovation Center computer lab.

I did something I never expected to do on Sept.3. I went to the Cleveland Heights City Council meeting in my bathing suit. I wasn’t the only one in swimwear; I was joined by the strong and proud swimming community of Cleveland Heights.

We have been asking repeatedly for the return of public lap, water aerobics, and family swimming hours at the new high school pool, which we enjoyed as a community until 2020. Prior to this, we had available swimming hours for years at the South Pool in the old high school building.

Our community has grown tired of Mayor Seren and the school board pointing fingers over the logistics of this amenity offered by countless other communities in Greater Cleveland and beyond.

The UH Fire Station will host its annual open house on Oct. 6.

This year, Fire Prevention Week is October 6–13. Join your friends and neighbors at the University Heights Fire Station on Oct. 6, noon to 3 p.m., for the annual University Heights Fire Department Open House.

Have fun, while learning how to keep your household safe from fires. This year’s Fire Prevention Week campaign, “Smoke alarms: Make them work for you,” strives to educate everyone about the importance of having working smoke alarms in the home.

In 1925, President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed Fire Prevention Week a national observance, making it the longest-running public health observance in our country.

Many of us know the name of Doan Brook, which traces the southern boundary of Cleveland Heights and was dammed in the 1830s by the Shakers, to provide waterpower for their mills.

Less familiar is Dugway Brook, which originates at Lyman Circle, on a high spot in Shaker Heights. As it flows downhill, Dugway divides in two. Following roughly parallel courses, its east and west branches head northwest, through seven communities. As they enter Bratenahl the branches reconverge to form an estuary, which continues north to Lake Erie. On their way from the Heights, they have taken on runoff, stormwater, refuse and debris from an 8.7-square-mile area—the Dugway watershed.

United Women in Faith host a biannual flea market at Church of the Saviour.

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The Church of the Saviour (2537 Lee Road) will host its fall flea market Oct. 17–19.

All proceeds of this popular, bi-annual event benefit local and global missions of the church’s United Women in Faith.

In addition to the variety of flea-market items, plants, soup, and baked goods also will be available for purchase.

It will cost $10 to shop the first hour of the sale, Thursday, Oct. 17, 3–4 p.m. Admission thereafter is free: