Robert Fitch celebrated his 102nd birthday in November of 2024!
Mayor Bryan K. Jensen
Council President
Brian Fischer
Council Members
Mary Berges
Jennifer Demaline
Dennis McBride
Tony Moore
Michelle Patton
Scott Radcliffe
City of Avon 36080 Chester Road, Avon, OH 44011 • 440-937-7800 cityofavon.com
Departments
Building 440-937-7811
City Hall 440-937-7800
Fire ........................ 440-934-1222
Parks & Recreation 440-937-6106
Planning/Zoning 440-937-7823
Police 440-934-1234
Senior Center 440-934-2417
Service/Streets 440-937-5729
Utilities 440-937-5740
www.loraincountyohio.gov/cvb ggibbs@loraincounty.us FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION, CALL 216-377-3693.
Ph:
UPFRONT
4 Conversation with the Mayor
Mayor Bryan Jensen talks about his role connecting Avon’s past to its future.
6 A New Place to Nosh Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant offers three dishes to try at the new Avon location.
FEATURES
8 Growing Avon
Avon’s garden centers and nurseries have been at the core of the city’s growth and character.
PLUS Avon Dining Guide: A full list of the city’s restaurants
AVON FOOTBALL – 2024 DIVISION II STATE CHAMPIONS COMMUNITY PROUD
Conversation
with the Mayor
Mayor Bryan Jensen bridges Avon’s past and progress, working to maintain a thriving community environment.
During his 10 years in office, Mayor Bryan Jensen has guided the community through transformative development and thoughtful growth, lending his business acumen to the city as a leader who grew up working at the family nursery and garden center, Pinehaven, where he retired as co-owner just before taking office.
Mayor Jensen shares perspective from Avon’s agricultural past and its progress as an amenity-rich community that residents are proud to call home.
How have you seen Avon evolve through generations?
My father, Niels Jensen, immigrated to Avon from Denmark and was sponsored by his uncle, who had a greenhouse. He worked there and eventually had an opportunity to buy a house with my mother, Sally, in Avon Lake in 1966. Then they purchased land in Avon in the early ’80s, where Pinehaven stands today. Pinehaven still operates on the original 10 acres on the far west end of Avon. My brother, Bruce, and his son, Chris, run the the operation today. There are several other farm and nursery businesses that are still thriving today, and I’m proud to have been part of carrying on our family’s legacy.
How has Avon maintained a community focus while growing?
Our forefathers set the stage for a lot of the success we’ve had in the last decade, and my goal has been to create a stable business economy. We are fortunate that as big as we have gotten, we are community-based, and we have been able to manage development and deliver the city services residents appreciate.
Our police and fire departments are part of our family, and they are out in the community having personal interactions with people who live, work and visit Avon. Our schools have grown to accommodate more residents, and the great schools are a big reason why people want to move here.
Avon has attracted quality businesses, and we have been very intentional about development. We do not spend taxpayer dollars to encourage housing development like some communities do.
As we have grown, the necessary infrastructure has been put in place to manage traffic and maintain that community feeling in our neighborhoods. While you can look down Detroit Road and see traffic, when you get to your housing development, it’s that family atmosphere with kids playing outside in yards. We have a city pool that attracts everyone, and we keep expanding
our playground areas. Everything you need is right here: retail, restaurants, health care, great schools and city services, recreation.
What do you hope to be known for during your time in office?
The key is to stay grounded and listen to residents. I watch social media to see if there are ideas we can put into play and find out what matters most to community members. I hope I’m known for helping preserve some of our parkland and trails, along with important landmarks like The Jameson House, which is now an antique shop, and the Wilbur Cahoon House Museum, the home of one of Avon’s first settlers in 1814. If I can be known for anything, I hope it’s how we preserve tradition and continue to be a family here in Avon.
Family is very important to me — my wife, children and grandchildren. I want to leave something here for them that makes them proud that they grew up here and are proud to call Avon home. My goal all along has been to leave a legacy for all of our children in the community.
The City of Avon, working in cooperation with the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT), will be improving the Detroit Road and Center Road (SR 83) intersection.
The project will include the following improvements:
• The intersection of Detroit and Rt 83 will be widened for a dedicated right turn lane in all directions
• Two dedicated left turn lanes on Rt 83 in both directions
• Two dedicated left turn lanes on Detroit Road eastbound
• One dedicated left turn lane on Detroit Rd westbound
• Other improvements, east and west of the intersection, will also be completed at this time
The construction for this project is scheduled to begin in July of 2025 and completed within 14 months.
The cost of this project is $11,500,000 with State and Federal Funding paying for $6,116,000 of the total.
The City of Avon would like to extend our sincere thanks to the following individuals who made this project possible:
Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant swooped into Avon on Chester Road with a grand opening in November.
Known for its award-winning winery, restaurant, artisan market and Napa-style tasting room concept with headquarters in Countryside, Ill., the Avon establishment is Ohio’s seventh location, according Avon’s General Manager Dominic Kandrach.
With a culinary team led by Kevin Cassetto, the menu includes contemporaryAmerican dishes for dine in, carry out, brunch and happy hour. Dishes on the menu include a bin number to guide
customers to the perfect wine pairing for each meal.
Among the noteworthy decor is a mural made entirely from duct tape, “a nod to Avon’s designation as the duct tape capital of the world,” according to a press release.
— Christine Schaffran
Three to try
With so many dishes competing for attention, it’s difficult to pare it down to just one. Cooper’s Hawk Director of Culinary Operations Stephen Puhr suggests trying a few of his favorites:
01 RED WINE BRAISED SHORT RIBS
Select beef ribs are seasoned, seared and deglazed with red wine in a bubbling, slow-cooked medley of flavors. Served with a side of Mary’s signature mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables tossed in garlic butter and parmesan cheese, a side of grainy Dijon mustard butter finishes off this masterpiece. $35.99
02 SMOKED BRISKET HASH
A slow-smoked brisket sliced thin mingles with crispy fingerling potatoes and a rich chipotle crema sauce bursting with peppers, onions, crushed tomatoes and beef stock for a savory sensation. Topped with Ancho sour cream, cheddar jack, mozzarella and white cheddar cheeses, a sunny-side up egg and pico de gallo complete this melodic mountain of flavors. $17.99
03 COOPER’S HAWK LUX PINOT NOIR
Awarded 99 points out of 100 at the San Diego Wine Festival, this smoothas-silk red wine is known to please any palette looking for outstanding flavors at an affordable price. $16/glass
Who is Eligible for the PACE Program?
• 55 Years and Older
• Live in Cuyahoga & Lorain Counties
• Meet Level of Care
• Live Safely in the Community
PACE provides the following services:
• Primary Care physician
• Medical Specialist
• Prescription Medication
• Medical Clinic
• Transportation
• Durable Medical Equipment (Canes, Walkers, Wheel Chairs, Hospital Bed, Commodes, Shower Bench) Live At Home. Your Goal. Our Priority! The PACE model of care includes a specialized trained team of medical professionals that works together to coordinate your medical and socialization needs. PACE gives you peace of mind while you live at home.
• Adult Activity Center
• Home Health Care Meals
• Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapy
• Dental, Vision, and Hearing
• Home Care Nurse
• Social Services
• Respite Care
Growing Avon
A legacy of working the land carries on at generations-old farms, nurseries and greenhouses across town. BY KRISTEN HAMPSHIRE
Horse-drawn plows churned up soil and helped harvest horseradish at Fitch Farms, and acres of greenhouses across town were brimming with produce and plants of all kinds.
“Avon was the greenhouse capital by 1970,” says Jim Brady, owner of Sunbeam Nurseries, reflecting on the city’s evolution over generations. Jay Pickering drops the same accolade, rewinding to a time when the landscape along modern Detroit Road and State Route 83 consisted of farms and barns. Tractor traffic rivaled vehicles. Most residents owned both.
Robert Fitch recalls waving at passersby, knowing each on a first-name basis.
Avon’s historic agricultural roots are still visible at the handful of working farms and nurseries that consume remnants of land, and farmers’ markets offer sought-after fresh produce that customers value because they can buy and support longtime local businesses.
While development and progress has changed Avon over the years, its growing heritage is ever present. “We are appreciative of being in this community and proud to still be here,” says Emily Showalter, third-generation chief of human resources at Willoway Nurseries. “And we look forward to continuing on for many generations to come.”
The goal is always local and
A FRESH FOCUS AT PICKERING HILL
Six generations of loving the land and tilling its soil continue a nearly 200-year run in the Pickering family, where its Pickering Hill Farms, which operates a market, bustles with autumn hayrides, an expansive corn maze, wagon rides and pumpkins galore. The season starts with strawberries in spring, edges into sweet corn in summer when stalks are way past knee-high and includes farmstand veggies that lure customers to what was once a simple outpost for selling goods.
Today, Pickering Hill continues a legacy while embracing nearby development that brings regulars to the doors of a robust market, reimagined in 1996 just before Avon Commons was constructed. The Pickerings offer produce from their
12-acre ancestral farm just beyond the market and 45 acres of produce from its Grafton Township land, worked by fatherson team, Jay and Jason Pickering.
Additionally, they source from 70 other local growers to fully stock the market.
“We are an outlet for them, too,” says Jay Pickering, noting the goal is always “local and homegrown.”
Jason will be the first dedicated, full-time farmer since Pickering’s great-grandfather Frank. Jay’s great-great-grandfather, John, was also a full-time farmer. He immigrated from England to the area, acquired land, farmed, ranched and at one time, ran a butcher shop, too. “There are stories of him going out west to buy cattle and chipping ice from Lake Erie for the icehouse to keep meat cool,” Pickering says.
Pickering and his father were both teachers in Lorain and Avon, respectively, and Frank was a local businessman. Now that Pickering is retired, he too, is in the business full-time with his wife, Lillian, and son Jason
The land where Pickering Hill Farm in Avon is located now is property Frank acquired — along with tracts of surrounding acres that were sold over the years. “It used to be a farming capital,” Pickering quips. “You could stand in front of the market, look left and right up the road and see four farm markets from the top of Pickering Hill.”
The family adopted the name upon hearing that the local police and fire departments’ nickname for the spot.
Pickering shares how the market evolved. At first, Frank sold vegetables at the Cleveland Food Terminal and from a cart he rode through Rocky River and
Lakewood every week while his wife ran the roadside stand.
It expanded in the 1970s after his father, John, took the helm. “It’s a good thing we constructed this building in 1996 because it’s further back from the road from the original stand,” Pickering says. “Otherwise, we’d be sitting right in the middle of traffic.”
Retail, restaurants, businesses and housing development have created a level of traffic the Pickerings embrace. “With more people who come here shopping, we can do the market in a bigger way,” he says.
During sweet corn season, Jay, Jason and the family dogs, Barley and Tucker, start the day by harvesting the freshest on the lot and transporting it to the market before opening. So, while many things have changed over the years like farming, technology and Avon development, some things are still the same like taking to the fields and an appreciation for fresh foods. “Success is a combination of making the business sustainable income-wise and also making people who come here happy,” Pickering adds.
SOWING CAREERS
More than 2,500 varieties of plants, trees and shrubs grow on Willoway Nurseries’ properties, including its 500-acre hub in Avon, where the third generation of family are continuing a legacy while cultivating careers. It all started in 1954 when Lester Demaline started a landscaping and nursery business at age 18. He and his high-school sweetheart, Marilyn, tied the knot and continued growing the business, stepping away from landscaping to focus on the nursery operation. They located it to Avon in 1960 — the same property where Willoway Nurseries Inc. stands today.
“As a child, I was involved in the family business and I really enjoyed learning what goes into producing plants,” says Emily Showalter, the third generation and chief of
• Short-term training programs, associate and bachelor’s degrees
• Career guidance and employer connections
• Flexible class schedules that fit with your life
• Online and in-person classes
• Scholarships www.lorainccc.edu • 440-366-4032
human resources. The second generation, Tom Demaline and Cathy Kowalczyk, are president and vice president, and her brother Eric is logistics manager.
Showalter recalls closing the nursery vents by pulling on chains. “Now, it’s all automated with environmental controls,” she says, noting that she learned the business side of nursery operations from her grandmother. “She was very smart in accounting and could operate a computer. She told me, ‘Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you,’ and I really looked up to her for how she learned by doing.”
Come spring, Willoway’s operations across Lorain, Erie, Cuyahoga and Franklin counties will employ 450 people, fueling a 150-person fulltime team with seasonal support for the busy season.
Willoway primarily sells to independent garden centers and landscape companies that can receive deliveries or pick up orders at one of its three distribution centers in Broadview Heights, Avon and Columbus. “They can specify plants on site,” Showalter says. The nursery does business with customers in 26 states, is one of the biggest in Ohio and was reported as the 47th largest in the country by trade publication, Greenhouse Grower.
The family is invested in the thriving business and green industry, with its owners serving as board members and association presidents for the Ohio Green Industry Association and AmericanHort, of which Showalter holds a board post. “It provides so many valuable connections for advocacy and education,” she says, revealing her grandmother’s influence on
building a strong culture and talent base to sustain a large-scale operation.
Showalter shares that her grandfather and founder passed away in October 2024 at 89. He got to see the business turn 70. “Without him and my grandmother starting this company, 450 people wouldn’t have these great jobs,” she says.
Ingrained in the Avon community, Showalter says the nursery supports organizations such as Harvest for Hunger and the Lupus Foundation. In 2023, Willoway held its first annual Community Day Plant Sale and raised more than $10,000 for Avon Local Schools.
She hopes the Willoway story inspires others with a dream to persist through challenges and sow your own path. “Everyone has an opportunity to do something like my grandparents did — it just takes hard work,” she says.
Rose Villas, located
Rose Senior Living Avon campus,
Rose Senior Living, Avon, is a senior living community with 175 apartments offering maintenance-free independent living, assisted living, and memory care, with a wide range of assistance
square feet.
A PERENNIAL PICK
He’s been on the perennial scene longer than any grower in Ohio. “Knowledge of the plants makes all the difference,” says Jim Brady, owner of Sunbeam Gardens, located on Center Road. “I deal with most of the major [perennial] breeders in the U.S. and the world.”
And he’s choosy.
When Brady took over the then Westlake-based farm and moved it to Avon in 1983, he gradually culled out the mix of annuals, perennials and traditional greenhouse crops like trees and shrubs to specializing in perennials. He now grows about a thousand varieties, from herbs and grasses to pollinators such as butterfly weed, and the list goes on. He suggests groupings to achieve native landscapes that nurture nature.
Ultimately, he relates, he’s taking his time and selling his patience. While there is still a market for tiny pots, larger containers and 2- to 3-gallon products are what the end consumer wants to see installed by a landscaper. Sunbeam sells
to independent garden centers. Though, neighbors know his gates are always open.
Jim and Mary Brady own the 30 acres they originally acquired, though they lease about half of it to an Avon farmer who maintains a number of plots throughout the city, where available.
Brady says the city’s horticulture professional often refers residents to Sunbeam when a question about “what to do” with
a plant on their property crops up. “Go see Jim, he’ll tell you what to do,” Patrick Hogan tells them.
Brady reflects on the move to Avon more than 40 years ago. “We were welcomed, we were ‘ag’ and we have stayed that way,” he says.
The Brady family lives on the property, along with Sunbeam’s second generation — their son, Tommy. His fluffy-
white Pyrenees named Riley is the welcome committee. “He greets everyone who comes here,” says Brady, calling the pup a fourth employee. When Riley sounds, someone’s at the garden.
“That is part of the fun of keeping the industry going — you have to have fun,” Brady says. “It’s the joy.”
That is part of the fun of keeping the industry going — you have to have fun.”
JIM BRADY
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SUSTAINING A FARM TRADITION
Picking strawberries at Fitch Farms is a family tradition for customers who return every year to fill a peck or a pail with sweet signs of spring. They’re often greeted by 102-year-old Robert Fitch, the fifth generation, who would cultivate the land by tractor while his father drove a team of working horses through the fields along State Route 83.
Founded in the mid 1800s, Fitch Farms, its market and greenhouse are now surrounded by a golf course and housing developments, which has opened up retail opportunities over the years. Richard (Dick) and Rita Fitch, the sixth generation overseeing farm and market operations with their sons, Adam and Dan, take pride in offering fresh produce and plants and a farm experience to guests.
“Customers tell me they’ve been coming here for 30 and 40 years,” says Dick Fitch, who farmed while working in a factory for seven years after graduating from Avon High School, until his first son was born. Then, he moved to fulltime farming while
Rita taught school in North Ridgeville, and in the early 1980s they started Fitch’s Farm Market.
Unlike most markets, 92% of produce sold at Fitch’s is grown on the 60-acre farm.
The bounty includes asparagus — the only local farm growing 2 acres of this tender veggie — along with strawberries, potatoes, lettuce, onions, squash, melons, tomatoes, sweet corn, all kinds of peppers and soughtafter small pickling cucumbers.
“We’ve had people come in and say, ‘We entered our pickles at the Berea Fair and won first place,’” Fitch says with a chuckle.
“We have one customer who drives all the way from Texas to pick hot peppers because he can’t grow them where he lives,” Fitch says, relating that the former Northeast Ohio native hauls home about 10 bushels.
The Fitch’s grandchildren collectively entered 50 top picks at the Lorain County Fair and won 30 ribbons, Fitch says with pride. Winners included the largest watermelon, weighing in at about 160 pounds.
Reflecting on Avon’s evolving, growing landscape as a residential community filled with commerce, Fitch says advances on the farm have also changed the way they work. “With the equipment and technology, the work we do is still hard but it’s easier than it was — like using your head instead of your back,” he relates.
In many ways, the experience Fitch Farms offers is a novelty for customers. “Families come with their children and see a tractor going by,” he says. “They may have never seen that before.”
PLANTED IN AVON
What started as a backyard greenhouse brimming with tomatoes and cucumbers has evolved into a bustling retail garden center and greenhouse operation in its third generation. Pinehaven Garden Center & Greenhouses started as Bislich Greenhouse in 1959. Niels Jensen and his wife, Sally, purchased the Bislich greenhouse in 1983. When Niels and Sally took over they expanded the business to houseplants, annuals and a garden center.
At that time there were many indoor and outdoor vegetable greenhouses. Bislich was one of the last to move away from the vegetables. There were large vegetable greenhouses located where the Aquatic Facility currently sits, as well as another large vegetable greenhouse that was located where Eagle Point Park is now, all the way to Case Road.
“My grandfather immigrated from Denmark when he was in his twenties and had some family here in Avon, so this was his first stop,” Chris Jensen says of Pinehaven’s founder, Niels, who eventually moved to Avon Lake while working for B.F. Goodrich (now Lubrizol).
Niels ran the Greenhouse with the help of his sons, Mayor Bryan Jensen and his brother, Bruce.
When customers choose to spend their extra money at Pinehaven, we are so appreciative that they entrust in us.”
CHRIS JENSEN
Currently, Pinehaven is run by Bruce and his son, Chris.
Today, Pinehaven grows plants for customers such as Cedar Point and Crocker Park, along with golf courses, country clubs and landscapers who rely on the greenhouse for its variety of annuals, including a fall crop of mums and poinsettias for the holidays.
Pinehaven also grows perennials, trees, shrubs and houseplants. And, the garden center stocks essential supplies including mulch, topsoil, pottery and hardgoods.
The retail mix is a departure from how Pinehaven started as a wholesaler with only 5% of sales stemming from retail. Now, the business is 70% consumers who stop in to purchase plants and 30% is contract growing for large clients.
Chris Jensen says it’s gratifying when customers visit and take home fresh nursery stock and plants to enjoy at home. “We are a 100% luxury business,” he relates. “When customers choose to spend their extra money at Pinehaven, we are so appreciative that they entrust in us.”
Historic Stomping Grounds
Avon’s culture and commitment to preserving its past while celebrating progress is evident in the many landmarks that tell the story of Olde Avon.
AVON ISLE
37080 Detroit Road
A channel was cut in the 1850s to increase waterflow to a sawmill, leaving behind an island that became known as Avon Isle. By the 1870s, it was a public gathering space, and during the 19th century it had evolved into a place for the U.S. Army to buy horses for the Spanish-American War. Today it is a city park facility that community members can book.
JAMESON HOMESTEAD
36675 Detroit Road
The Jameson family traveled from
New Hampshire to Avon in 1824 as one of the city’s original settlers. Generations later, Wilson Jameson and his wife, Kate, cleared land at the current site of Jameson Homestead Antiques and built a home they moved into in 1906, where they raised eight children.
TRAXLER FARM
2980 Stoney Ridge Road
The City of Avon purchased 40 acres of mostly undeveloped land that was formerly Traxler’s Nursery, leveraging funding secured from the state to preserve the site as green space for residents.
WILBUR CAHOON HOUSE MUSEUM
2940 Stoney Ridge Road
Wilbur Cahoon was one of Avon’s first settlers in 1814, and his family of 10 lived on 800 acres of land in a log cabin until building a 12-room Greek Revival style home in 1825. Now a museum filled with artifacts of Avon’s past, guests can tour the home April through December.
OLDE AVON VILLAGE AND TOM’S COUNTRY PLACE
Ron Larson’s vision of revitalizing historical buildings to create a unique shopping and dining destination has come to life in Olde Avon Village. This charming location includes the Alten Farmhouse, which has been transformed into the Tree House Gallery, and the Blackwell Barn, which now houses the Strip Steakhouse. Additionally, Tom’s Country Place, a family-run business that opened in 1959, continues its legacy of offering both traditional family recipes and innovative new dishes. It remains a popular venue for both large and small groups.
808 Shave Ice 35715 Detroit Road
Avon Dining Guide
Antica Italian Kitchen & Bar
The MarketPlace at Avon 35568 Detroit Road 440-517-0096
Antonio’s Pizza
City Centre of Avon 35901 Detroit Road 440-937-4992
Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar
Avon Commons 35916 Detroit Road 440-937-3081
Arby’s
Avon Crossing 1331 Center Road
440-934-0661
Avon Corner Deli
34985 Detroit Road
440-937-4422
Avon Dairy Treat
37175 Colorado Ave. 440-934-6118
Avon Nutrition
The Shoppes of Olde Avon Village 36840 Detroit Road
440-695-8656
BAR 41-82 at Residence Inn by Marriott
Cleveland Avon
33040 Just Imagine Drive
440-937-0909
Bar Nova
36816 Detroit Road
440-695-1083
Barry Bagels
2100 Center Road
440-695-1167
Beerhead Bar & Eatery
1813 Nagel Road
440-695-0347
BibiBop Asian Grill
French Creek Square
36050 Detroit Road
440-252-0747
Black Key Coffee 37063 Colorado Ave. 440-382-5864
Bob Evans
French Creek Square 36160 Detroit Road 440-934-7310
Tom’s Country Place –Event Space & Catering 3442 Stoney Ridge Road 440-934-4553
Tree House Gallery & Tea Room
The Shoppes of Olde Avon Village 36840 Detroit Road 440-934-1636
Tropical Smoothie Cafe
French Creek Square 36050 Detroit Road 440-695-1041
Two Bucks 36931 Detroit Road 440-937-8647
Veranda Bistro & Bar 32045 Detroit Road 440-471-7459
Wendy’s Avon Crossing 1487 Center Road 440-937-8180
Wing-Stop
2060 Center Road 440-875-9464
Winking Lizard Tavern City Centre of Avon 2125 Center Road 440-937-7612
Wyndham Avon Restaurant & Bar (Inside the Wyndham Hotel) 35600 Detroit Road 440-517-4124
X-Golf Avon Commons 35948 Detroit Road 440-937-8026
ZZ’s Big Top 35015 Detroit Road 440-695-0536
Every effort has been made to provide a complete and accurate restaurant list for the community magazine. Please contact us in reference to corrections as there are restaurant openings and closings in the area after the magazine is published.
Tree House Gallery & Tea Room
HONORING 45 YEARS OF YOUR TRUST.
Full service facility for complete mechanical repairs and scheduled maintenance on all makes and models of cars, light and heavy duty trucks, semi-trucks, trailers, buses, and heavy equipment.
