As CoolCleveland celebrates our 20th year (I was just a teenager when we started, of course), we can tell you that this region does not stand still. CoolCleveland was launched before LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, Skype, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok. We’ve seen a lot of changes.Take flight this week as CAN Triennial draws to a close, as Akron Pride converges on Lock 3, as Garlic Fest permeates Shaker Square, and as Cedar-Fairmount hosts their final summer music event. Join a Flamenco flashmob at Edgewater Beach, One World Day at Cleveland Cultural Gardens, or the Golden Hour party on top of The Lumen at Playhouse Square.
Put on your jetpack and make a positive change in our community. Join Legal Aid’s second Jam for Justice benefit at Brothers Lounge, ask questions as the City Club explores juvenile justice, and take CoolCleveland commentator Anastasia Pantsios’ suggestion that we replace our scandal-ridden governor with former Dayton mayor Nan Whaley when we have a chance in the November election. Someone’s gotta keep this ship from crashing.
Cleveland Independents is the largest group of independent chefs in the nation. Part of their mission is to host special events and to bring chefs together for education, collaboration and camaraderie.
CoolCleveland spoke with Daikel Holton, executive chef at Blue Canyon Kitchen and Tavern, about his recent visit to Chef’s Garden and Farmer Jones Farm in Huron, Ohio.
Daikel traveled there with other area chefs on a trip sponsored by Cleveland Independents to learn about soil and nutrition, and to pick up ideas and inspiration to build his craft. Read more.
No, the BOP STOP’s beloved Gabe Pollack, who has run the club for eight years and built it into a major force with a national reputation, isn’t leaving town. He’s just moving east a few miles to take over as Director of Performing Arts at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Read more
Brad Savage, program director of Akron’s The Summit (WAPS-FM), was recently named 2022 Triple-A Program Director of the Year, beating out nominees from stations in New York City, Philadelphia, Minneapolis and Los Angeles, at the national convention for Triple A radio programmers. Read more
Kent’s FJKluth Gallery will be hosting an exhibit called Pride in Kent September 24-October 22. It’s currently soliciting work in all media from LGBTQ+ artists or work with LGBTQ+ themes. Submission deadline is September 6. Read more
Spend a delightful evening sipping cocktails from Cleveland Whiskey, enjoying a fresh spread from Spice Catering, listening to live music and participating in raffles. Watch a featured film from the Wild & Scenic Film Festival and HHMI Tangled Bank Film Studios, and learn from the CMNH staff at Flora & Fauna Fest on Thu 9/1 at 6PM at Cleveland Museum of Natural History.
Explore diverse plants and animals in the Museum’s two living collections: the natural area and wildlife ambassadors, and spend time with some of the animals in the Ralph Perkins II Wildlife Center & Woods Garden-presented by KeyBank. If you’re 21 and over, don’t miss the fun. Registration closes on 08.31. Read more.
Last week we learned, courtesy of Ohio Capital Journal, that Governor Mike DeWine and his lieutenant governor Jon Husted are up to their eyeballs in the FirstEnergy bailout scandal, allowing the fox to guard the henhouse of ratepayer money, while receiving big campaign contributions.
Does anyone else remember when such a scandal would’ve created a storm of negative coverage in the media, suggesting that this likely doomed DeWine’s re-election chances? Because it’s not happening now. But it’s more imperative than ever that we elect Nan Whaley and Cheryl Stephens in November. Read more
The Can Triennial, sponsored by NE Ohio’s quarterly visual Arts magazine CAN Journal, draws to a close August 31. So hurry out and catch some of the work on display in more than a dozen spaces spread over Cleveland six neighborhoods. You’ll see a lot of the area’s most celebrated artists among with newcomers and unknowns.
Yeah, that’s a lot to do with just a week left. So we visited most of the venues to check out what’s most worth seeing. (Don’t miss Kasumi’s short film “Correlation”!) Join us for some of the highlights. Read more.
MON 8/29 Rollin’ Off the Lake All summer, Slow Roll Cleveland rides explore a different Cleveland neighborhood each week. This week, riders will take off from the East 55th Street Marina, with its striking view of the downtown skyline.
TUE 8/30 Old Wives Tales? Learn if there’s any scientific truth behind those old sayings predicting the weather at an educational program at Hudson’s Wood Hollow Metro Park.
Jason Reid, a longtime sports analyst for ESPN and other outlets, delves into the history of quarterbacks of color in the NFL in his new book, Rise of the Black Quarterback – What it Means for America. Cleveland plays a significant part in the book based on interviews with former Cleveland Brown John Wooten, who is Black. Wooten recalls the day back in 1959 when his teammate, Bernie Parrish, who is white, was forced to leave the hotel room that they were to share. Parrish apologized and said this was not his doing. Read more
Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Ohio voters are fiddling while democracy is being torched in the Ohio legislature. We may think that banning Anne Frank is not important. But it’s a first step down a slippery slope. And suddenly we discover that we no longer live in a democracy and folks are burning books. Stop by your local library and pick up a copy of The Diary of Anne Frank — while it’s still on the shelf. That way you can decide for yourself whether it is subversive and dangerous to our children’s education and maybe learn a little something about yourself in the reading. Read more
