Sat 6/1 @ 6:30-11PM
There’s an awesome back story to the title of the Nature Center at Shaker Lake’s benefit Flyways Not Highways. Back in the 1960s, a major battle emerged over a series of east side freeways that would have torn through Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights, and demolished many of the neighborhoods and landmarks that people enjoy today. The creation of the Nature Center was part of the pushback: the protection and conservation of wild areas that would have been plowed under.
The highways were dead by the early 70s, and the flyways were protected for posterity as the environmental movement began to flower. The Nature Center welcomes summer and raises money for its programs with this benefit, which offers bars, cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, strolling dinner stations and desserts. Food and drink is provided by very local businesses mostly from Cleveland Heights: the Wine Spot, Doug Katz’s Fire Food and Drink, Gigi’s on Fairmount, Luna Bakery & Café and Marigold Catering.
Tickets start at $125. But it’s not a fancy affair; come dressed casually and take time to bask in some of what the Nature Center has preserved.