Jan
27
Well, if the snow and ice has you in more of a football mood than baseball (see below), you’ve got a chance to brush with local greatness in this sport as well.
On Saturday, former Cleveland Browns punter Don Cockroft will be at Buehler’s River Styx (Route 18 and River Styx Road) in Medina to sign copies of his book, “The 1980 Kardiac Kids — Our Untold Stories.”
Man, does it hurt to write that year – 1980. I remember it so well! Could I really have been only 11 years old then?
It was a pivotal year, I guess — for me, and for the Browns. That was the year the Brian Sipe was quarterback, Sam Rutigliano was coach, Mike Pruitt carried the ball, Lyle Alzado was a monster on the field, and the whole town was psyched that THIS WAS OUR YEAR! They did go...
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Jan
26
Mother Nature can’t seem to decide if it’s winter or spring, but at least there’s one hopeful sign of warmer weather right around the corner.
The Cleveland Indians is launching its 2012 “Tribe on Tour” this week. The free event kicks off from 7 to 9 p.m. tonight at the Westfield SouthPark Mall in Strongsville. The roadshow will be at the Summit Mall in Fairlawn from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday.
The events will feature appearances by Indians players, coaches, staff and broadcasters. Fans will have a chance to chat with them and get an autograph.
Slider and (my kids’ favorites) the Hot Dog Mascots will also be on hand.
Fans will have the opportunity to play Indians-themed games to win prizes.
This year’s lineup will include manager Manny Acta,...
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Jan
18
Mention a free sandwich, and my husband is there.
To some people, finding freebies like this is a gift. For others, it’s a disease.
However you see it, Craig and I appeared to be the second and third customers at the new Dickey’s Barbeque Pit restaurant, in the space formerly occupied by Donato’s pizza, in Medina.
As such, we — and the next 97 customers — qualified for a free pulled-pork sandwich, which normally sells for $5. Turns out we needn’t have been worried about being among the first 100 customers. When only a few people had come through the doors while we ate, we tried calling a few people to let them know about the deal. My father and his wife joined us, so we sat and visited while they ate. After an hour and a half, less than 40 people had...
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Jan
13
A Facebook posting today got me thinking. The posting was by a Medina mom who, despite the absence of a school closing today, decided NOT to drive her children to school in Cleveland because she deemed the slick roads unsafe.
I thought: Good for you.
I imagine the school principal would have agreed. Still, it’s hard to make a judgment call that’s contrary to those made by people in authority. And yet, as parents, sometimes that’s just what we have to do.
School superintendents, coaches, instrument instructors and others have a tough job deciding when it’s appropriate to cancel in inclement weather. They do the best they can trying to balance safety with a desire to stay on schedule. It can wreak havoc on a teacher’s lesson plans if one group of students...
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Jan
11
This weekend’s free open house at the Medina Rec Center, unfortunately, has reminded us why we didn’t renew our membership several years ago.
Sure there was the cost. But back then, the annual family membership was still in the $400 range and we hadn’t grown yet in numbers to the point that we would have to pay an extra fee because our family is “too large” in the eyes of the city. We voted in favor of the Rec’s creation and made the investment to be members because we believed it was an excellent addition to the city, and good for all of us to get some exercise.
However, it seems Medina defines a family as being no larger than five people living under the same roof, so our two additional children would require us to fork over an extra $50 on top of...
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Jan
06
If you’re tired of your old Christmas decor or just looking to put something aside for next year, today’s the day to go to Target.
The Target store in Medina has its Christmas items at 90% off.
We always say we don’t need anything else for Christmas, but it’s fun to add some new things to the mix. Like the nutcracker placeholders — highly impractical, but oh so cute. I couldn’t resist at $1.29 for four. I got two packs, but probably should’ve picked up a third so we have enough for company. They say 2011 on their wooden bases… but I figure a quick dab of navy blue paint will cover that nicely.
I also use this opportunity to stock up on things that we’ll use year ’round, like the 2-pack of fancy bows for 40 cents. Some of the...
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Jan
04
My 3-year-old son and I wandered into the Medina Library this morning after dropping his older siblings off at school, and we made a discovery I couldn’t wait to share with you — the library lets you borrow (for free!) video players that come pre-loaded with six stories perfect for toddlers.
The Playaway View all-in-one video player is about the size of the GPS in my car and has 39 minutes of narrated stories with still illustrations that change with each page.
It comes with a charger but when the unit is fully charged it will play for 8 hours. We have been able to play his stories a number of times this morning without having to charge it.
This would have been a real help in the car when we went to visit friends last week on a 9-hour trip to North Carolina for New...
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Dec
27
So, the packages are all unwrapped. The toys have been opened, assembled and played with at least once.
Now what?
The Medina County Park District may have your answer.
Starting today, the park district is hosting “Putt-ing through the Ages,” a free indoor miniature golf park assembled inside Buffalo Creek Retreat, 8708 Hubbard Valley Road, Seville.
As the course is set up, players travel through ancient oceans, swamp forests and glaciers as they encounter dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures, including giant amphibians and Woolly Mammoths. Of course, since it’s put on by the park district, there’s an educational component — teaching us about Ohio’s geologic history — but it looks like a lot of fun too.
It’s open this week, today...
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Dec
23
‘Twas the week before Christmas and all the gifts were purchased. When what to our wondering eyes should appear…a kindly stranger asking our 3-year-old what he had asked Santa for Christmas.
“A Batman with a new cape,” our cherubic son proclaimed. “Gulp!” we explained.
Ah… The closing days before Christmas are always full of surprises. My husband and I say every year that we will hold firm in the waning days before jolly old Santa makes his way down the skinny chimney of our gas fireplace and not make a mad dash for that last extra gift. Yet, it seems about every year somebody in the house throws us a curve with a strange, and somehow necessary, gift request.
The classic example of this in our house was the year our oldest son was also around 3...
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Dec
15
I am the first one to bellyache about being cold, but it would be nice to see a little of the white stuff to cover our green and brown lawn.
When we did get a taste of snow last week, our 3-year-old son was eager to get outside and check it out. We threw a few lame snowballs — he didn’t much care that it wasn’t good packing snow. But he was sure disappointed when most of it melted by the afternoon.
Having spent most of my life in Northeast Ohio, it just doesn’t feel like Christmas unless there’s some snow on the ground. I can remember some Christmas mornings when there was some question of whether we would even be able to make it out of the driveway because there was so much snow.
Then I remember one recent year when it was so warm in Medina, the day after...
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