You Are Here #5

Sarah Henderson
54 years old
Former 6^th Grade Teacher; Currently teaches Tai Chi
Lakewood resident for 20 years

Favorite Place(s): The Coffee Pot and Lakewood Home Furnishings, both on Madison Avenue in Lakewood.

Sarah enjoys Monday mornings at The Coffee Pot with her husband, Bill.
Photography by Kristine Williams

It's Like Living In A Small Town
"One thing I love about Lakewood is that it’s like living in a small town but it’s not as limiting as a small town. I have lived in a small town before. We can walk places, we can walk to the Library from where we live, we can walk to the park from where we live. We have two dogs, we love the dog park and the dog swim and just how the sidewalks, we walk the dogs all over the neighborhood. We’ll often drive to a neighborhood just so we can enjoy the neighborhood with our dog.

And I really like that, this is like a small down, in here, Julian, Mama and Papa (of The Coffee Pot) know our names. Same with the shop next door, Lakewood Home Furnishings, so there are places like that, where you’re not an anonymous person. And we always run into people we know, which is fun, and that’s like a small town.

I really like the schools. I taught in the schools and my oldest daughter, Amanda, went to the schools from 4^th Grade through High School, and she got a great education. She went to Hiram [College] and her English teacher asked her where she learned to write so well...

I love my house, and it’s affordable. You know, I could live in Avon or Westlake, but I just couldn’t have that much house elsewhere. And I feel safe. I’m a single mom, or I was single until Bill moved in, but when I was a single mom, it was still safe. You know, with trick-or-treating, you feel safe for them to go on French or Andrews. My daughter has babysitting jobs right on the street and the people are friendly."

You Are Here* is a project that highlights what Lakewood residents think and feel about their city. We feel that a project like this shares a great affinity with many of the community efforts beginning and ongoing in our city. We are witnessing the emergence of an engaged, pro-active and committed community dedicated to creating the kind of place that we want to live in. But the question remains: who are you? To that end, we would like to use this project as a forum to meet as many Lakewood residents as possible. We would like to photograph you in your favorite place in Lakewood and discuss with you what you feel makes Lakewood a special place. These biographical vignettes will regularly be published in the Lakewood Observer. Publishing them in the Observer means that you get to share, and other people get to learn about, who you are and what you feel makes Lakewood a special place. Ultimately, a quilt of individuals and experiences will be available to all who live here, and those who do not live here yet, strengthening the sense of community that is Lakewood, Ohio.

Are you interested in participating? Contact Jason Weiner and Kristine Williams at lakewoodandyou@yahoo.com or by calling 216.221.5146.

*A photo-documentary project highlighting the individuals who live in the city of Lakewood, Ohio.

Jason Weiner lives in Lakewood with his wife, Kristine. He teaches Sociology, does research and plays drums. His favorite place in Lakewood is the Purple Martin house in Lakewood Park.

Kristine Williams lives in Lakewood with her husband, Jason. In addition to teaching 3rd grade, she paints and knits for local galleries. Her favorite spot in Lakewood is under the oak trees in her own backyard.

They enjoy gardening and watching the birds in their backyard with their two dogs (Max and Gracie), cat (Emily) and several fresh water fish.

You Are Here # 4

Bill Pearson

68 years old
Former Lutheran Pastor; Currently an Intake Worker for Lakewood Christian Service Center
Lakewood resident for 6.5 years

Favorite Place(s): The Coffee Pot and Lakewood Home Furnishings, both businesses on Lakewood's Madison Avenue.

Bill enjoys "The Coffee Pot" on Monday mornings with his wife, Sarah Henderson.
Photo by Kristine Williams

Lakewood's Diversity and the Appeal of The Front Porch
“Someone said to me recently that twenty-six languages [are spoken] in Lakewood High School, I think it was the Spanish teacher that said in her classes, twenty six different languages, and they’re primary languages. And we’re seeing, at the Center [Lakewood Christian Service Center], we’re seeing an increasing number of Albanians, Lebanese, Syrians, and African Americans are on the increase at the High School certainly and probably at all the other schools. I ran across a gentleman from the Republic of Congo who lives here in the area and his son is one of the top cross country runners, not only from Lakewood, but he’s one of the top in whole area..

...it’s been an ethnic community, if you look at "Bird Town" especially, I think that it kind of has a reputation for being ethnically diverse, and again, it’s close to church, it’s close to downtown, it’s close to whatever work it is that people are doing. It’s typical of first-ring suburbs; it has a lot of multiple housing so that we see families where you’ve got two or three generations living in a double, so it’s an easy place to do that.

Lakewood is a community with a lot of front porches. So we see, there’s a lot of people, ourselves included, that sit on their porches in the summer and just enjoy watching people go by and throwing stones at them… It helps you know who lives in your neighborhood, and I tend to talk to people, even if I don’t know them. As we look at French, several new families have moved in [over] the last year with small children so we see them pushing the kids in the strollers and it’s fun to get to know them and watch the kids grow. You miss that if you don’t have a front porch.”

You Are Here* is a project that highlights what Lakewood residents think and feel about their city. We feel that a project like this shares a great affinity with many of the community efforts beginning and ongoing in our city. We are witnessing the emergence of an engaged, pro-active and committed community dedicated to creating the kind of place that we want to live in. But the question remains: who are you? To that end, we would like to use this project as a forum to meet as many Lakewood residents as possible. We would like to photograph you in your favorite place in Lakewood and discuss with you what you feel makes Lakewood a special place. These biographical vignettes will regularly be published in the Lakewood Observer. Publishing them in the Observer means that you get to share, and other people get to learn about, who you are and what you feel makes Lakewood a special place. Ultimately, a quilt of individuals and experiences will be available to all who live here, and those who do not live here yet, strengthening the sense of community that is Lakewood, Ohio.

Are you interested in participating? Contact Jason Weiner and Kristine Williams at lakewoodandyou@yahoo.com or by calling 216.221.5146.

*A photo-documentary project highlighting the individuals who live in the city of Lakewood, Ohio.

Jason Weiner lives in Lakewood with his wife, Kristine. He teaches Sociology, does research and plays drums. His favorite place in Lakewood is the Purple Martin house in Lakewood Park.

Kristine Williams lives in Lakewood with her husband, Jason. In addition to teaching 3rd grade, she paints and knits for local galleries. Her favorite spot in Lakewood is under the oak trees in her own backyard.

They enjoy gardening and watching the birds in their backyard with their two dogs (Max and Gracie), cat (Emily) and several fresh water fish.

Cleveland Colectivo Has Opened the Next Round of Funding

Cleveland Colectivo Has Opened the Next Round of Funding

Do you have an idea that you think would make a difference in Cleveland? We’d like to help you make it happen. The Cleveland Colectivo is seeking projects to support.

The Colectivo is a group of friends, neighborhoods and colleagues. We pool our funds and share our energy to invest it back into projects that we see as worthwhile and exciting in Cleveland. Each member contributes to the Colectivo quarterly and together we choose projects to support. Every month we gather to discuss ideas, learn about area initiatives and organizations, network with a growing circle of members, and continue building the Colectivo.

So now we are again looking for innovative ideas in which to invest. That’s where you come in!

If you have a project that you would like to make a reality, take the first step—visit www.clevelandcolectivo.org and send us your answers to these three simple questions.
Or send your answers to info@clevelandcolectivo.org.

1) What is your proposal?

2) How will this project strengthen our community?

3) What makes your project unique, and why are you the right person to do this?

We welcome individuals, new businesses, and community projects to participate. Grant amounts will range between $500 and $5,000, based on the number of projects selected.
The deadline for submissions is January 15, 2007.
Please keep your response to one page.

Bring your idea to life, and let us help!

Creme de la Femme

A little plug...

I've been involved with Women's Community Foundation, a small philanthropic organization dedicated to funding programs that optimize the potential of women and girls in the Greater Cleveland area, for nearly six years.

In my time with the Foundation, I have served in many roles (strategic planning, allocating funds, raising funds). Obviously, I'm a big fan of their work, I believe in their mission and I greatly enjoy attending their events, including the upcoming Creme de la Femme - an incredible feast put on by Cleveland's finest female chefs.

This year, Creme happens on Monday, November 13, 2006, 6 - 8:30 PM at the Cleveland Play House (8500 Euclid Ave.) Attendance includes:

• An endless supply of the savory and sweet samplings prepared by Cleveland's featured female chefs;
• Two complimentary glasses of wine;
• Free parking (Please park in lot off Carnegie and enter through the farthest door on your left. Look for signage. For more information call (216) 622 - 0920).

So what's the bottom line? $65.00 per person. Not for everyone, but if you can, I hope you'll consider attending this year's event. It's always a lot of fun and it would be great to see you there. The dessert 'wing' is worth the price of admission alone - believe you me. The chocolate goes quite well with the wine.

Please visit www.wcfcleveland.org for more information or to purchase your ticket, or you can email me with any questions.

The women and girls supported by the Women’s Community Foundation have hopes and dreams – just like we all do. They have the will and determination to make things happen, but sometimes, assistance is needed.

As you were...

You Are Here # 3

Paul Beegan
35 years old
Architect
Lakewood resident for 11 years

Favorite Place: Celeste Park

“We walk up to the library, we walk up to get ice cream, we walk over to the video store where we’re at and it’s nice to be able to do that, not to jump in a car to go somewhere to do something. I think the other thing too is that our street is very diverse and I think that is something that we want our kids to grow up and experience. Next door to us we have an older woman whose husband passed away and she’s living in this house and next door to her is another older woman who has a two family house and she’s probably in her eighties. There’s a couple rentals, there are different races, different creeds, different political affiliations, a little bit of everything and everybody still watches out for each other, with all of the differences that everybody has. And that community around you, you know, I don’t think you’d notice it but every once in a while when it kind of hits you, it’s a neat thing. It’s a neat thing being able to go to church or go to the grocery store or see at the ice cream store all the people, they’re teachers or the person who’s a teller at the bank or the librarian, all those different people are all involved around us all the time and it’s kind of a neat thing. I think that’s the biggest piece of it. Both of us kind of grew up in suburban areas where I maybe knew the guy next door on both sides and that was about it because you get in your car and drive somewhere. And maybe you knew the people at your church but those aren’t the people that live near you.”

***

You Are Here* is a project that highlights what Lakewood residents think and feel about their city. We feel that a project like this shares a great affinity with many of the community efforts beginning and ongoing in our city. We are witnessing the emergence of an engaged, pro-active and committed community dedicated to creating the kind of place that we want to live in. But the question remains: who are you? To that end, we would like to use this project as a forum to meet as many Lakewood residents as possible. We would like to photograph you in your favorite place in Lakewood and discuss with you what you feel makes Lakewood a special place. These biographical vignettes will regularly be published in the Lakewood Observer. Publishing them in the Observer means that you get to share, and other people get to learn about, who you are and what you feel makes Lakewood a special place. Ultimately, a quilt of individuals and experiences will be available to all who live here, and those who do not live here yet, strengthening the sense of community that is Lakewood, Ohio.

Are you interested in participating? Contact Jason Weiner and Kristine Williams at lakewoodandyou@yahoo.com or by calling 216.221.5146.

*A photo-documentary project highlighting the individuals who live in the city of Lakewood, Ohio.