SOLON, Ohio – Author Jeff Knowles will recount the “five scorching summers” he spent working at a former aluminum castings foundry when he addresses the Solon Historical Society meeting Feb. 21.
Students Sam Parmentier, left, and Hunter Nalepka face each other in St. Joan of Arc Catholic School’s annual academic challenge. St. Joan of Arc School
The author, who now resides in Columbus, published his memoir, Cuyahoga’s Child: Growing Up in the Valley of the Crooked River, in 2015. In the 334 page book Knowles writes about the foundry that was located behind the city center along railroad tracks west of the state Route 91 bridge.
Along with “dodging molten metal splashes,” the young Knowles learned about the mill workers while playing on an industrial softball league. He said he did not appreciate the full context of the culture and landscape of northeastern Ohio until his middle age.
In his book he describes his boyhood home that overlooked “the magnificent river valley” and the overgrown ruins of a lock on the Ohio-Erie Canal which contributed to the region’s economic growth and where waters flowed that once marked the western boundary of the US.
The book’s foreword was written by Stephen Paschen, Kent State University professor emeritus, and several photos were provided by Ohio nature and landscape photographer, Ian Adams. The book is available at Loganberry’s in Shaker Heights and Mac’s Backs Books in Cleveland Heights.
St. Joan Academic Challenge: Students at St. Joan of Arc Catholic School in Chagrin Falls squared off recently in an academic competition during Catholic Schools Week. Two teams were formed, a blue team and a gold team, with four students from each grade in kindergarten through eighth grade. The remaining student body cheered them on as contestants answered questions from all subjects, ranging from geography to religion and science. In the end, the blue team prevailed with the most points.
Earlier in the day, eighth-grader Sophia Gildone took top prize in the school’s annual spelling bee. Runner-up was seventh-grader, Lilly Price. The students also took part in a community service day and student appreciation day. Catholic Schools Week is celebrated during the last week in January.
No Bad Luck Here: Although opening an umbrella indoors has been thought to bring bad luck, the Lake/Geauga Education Assistance Foundation will display some 70 student-painted umbrellas starting Feb. 8 from the skylights of the Great Lakes Mall in Mentor.
For the project, 130 students from eight high schools teamed up to design and paint their own interpretation of the theme “Our Community” onto plain, white umbrellas using waterproof markers. The student-designed umbrellas will be judged by volunteer community artists and each umbrella team will participate in a crowd-funding event. The first place team will win a $1,500 college scholarship, and the second place team will win a $1,000 college scholarship.
High school engineering students at the Lake Shore Compact, a technical education consortium of Euclid, Wickliffe and Mentor High schools designed and engineered the umbrella display holders. One engineering team will receive a $1,000 college scholarship from LEAF.
The project will culminate with a live umbrella auction and “Singing in the Rain” fashion show 5:30 p.m. May 4 at the mall. The top five student teams, along with 20 local community artists, will walk the runway with their umbrellas. Visit shopgreatlakesmall.com.
Chardon Workers Give to Community: Employees from the Fairmount Santrol plant in Chardon worked with United Way Services of Geauga County and Walmart to assemble 1,200 care packages for local middle school and high school students in need.
With the boss’s permission, they shut down the plant and loaded their trucks with items not covered in SNAP programs, such as shampoo, deodorant and feminine products donated by Walmart and toothbrushes and toothpaste donated by Chardon Smile Center and Delta Dental.
“After discussing the needs of local students with Joan Blackburn of Chardon Schools, we decided this project was the right one for our team,” said Josh Holbrook of Fairmount Santrol.
One in five Geauga County students receives free or reduced lunches, which means those families are struggling economically, according to UWS. The packages were delivered to Chardon and Newbury schools as well as Berkshire High School in Burton.
In the past, Fairmount employees planted trees with the Geauga Park District, helped paint and refresh the Dog Warden’s building, worked on projects at Santa’s Hide-A-Way Hollow, and assisted the Department on Aging with spring/fall yard cleanups.
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