Cleveland Magazine - January 2023

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ON THE COVER

MOST INTERESTING PEOPLE Meet the New Guard of Cleveland hustlers and change makers taking our region by storm. Edited by Ron Ledgard and Dillon Stewart Photographed by Angelo Merendino Makeup and Hair by Riley Gable

FEATURED

SHINING A LIGHT ON SOBRIETY Read a personal essay from one of our editors, find tips for staying sober and meet Clevelanders choosing healthier lifestyles. Edited by Anthony Elder

FROM THE EDITOR

CONVERSATION LAY OF THE LAND

LOOK TO THE SKY We take you on an exclusive ride on the Goodyear blimp.

TACKLING THE REST Browns legend Joe Thomas takes on his second act.

WALKABLE CLEVELAND Efforts are underway to make downtown more accessible. Population growth is the key to success.

FORAGE & FEAST

REVIEW: JAJA From eclectic cocktails to a diverse menu, discover the newest restaurant in Ohio City's Intro building.

DINING GUIDE: CHAGRIN FALLS This picturesque suburb is a foodie oasis.

GRIT & GLAMOUR

TRENDING HUE How to implement Redend Point, Sherwin-Williams' Color of the Year.

MADE WITH HEART Step inside Sozo, a new farm-to-table clothing concept located in Pinecrest.

LOOK BACK It's 1942, and Standard Brewing is delivering beer on horse-drawn carts through the ice and snow. SPECIAL

SECTIONS

LILA MILLS: ANGELO MERENDINO / MARY SANTORA: KEN BLAZE GOODYEAR BLIMP: KATIE HOLUB

WALKABLE CLEVELAND: JEANI BRECHBILL PHOTOGRAPHY / JAJA FOOD: MARINA GOLDI SOZO GARMENT: COURTESY SOZO

BOAT SHOW: COURTESY LAKE ERIE MARINE TRADES ASSOCIATION

Discover Early Childhood School at Laurel for young girls and boys.

Families choose our Early Childhood program because it fosters a child’s sense of wonder, encourages curiosity and inspires a desire to learn. Spend your Saturday morning with us to understand the benefits of a Laurel education for your young daughter or son.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

managing editor Ron Ledgard senior editor Annie Nickoloff

associate editors Anthony Elder, Gracie Wilson editorial assistant Becky Boban editor - at - large Colleen Smitek

contributing writers Jacob DeSmit, Linda Feagler, Vince Guerrieri, Kristen Hampshire, Kate Bigam Kaput, Dennis Manoloff, Mike McKenna, Mark Oprea, Henry Palattella, Lisa Sands, Ken Schneck, Lynne Thompson

editorial interns Berkeley Chadwick, Cassidy Gladieux

art director Erin Stinard assistant art director Abigail Archer

contributing artists Ken Blaze, Jeani Brechbill Photography, Megann Galehouse, Kendra Huspaska, Michael Larkey, Rustin McCann, Angelo Merendino, Alejandro Vergara illustration intern Alexandra Schmitz photography intern Katie Holub editorial@clevelandmagazine.com

advertising vice president Paul Klein senior account managers Sarah Desmond, Tiffany Myroniak account manager Julie Bialowas traffic manager Corey Galloway associate marketing manager Julianne Radish adsales@clevelandmagazine.com

marketing Jennifer Bowen Sima director Rayanne Medford Ann-Marie Vazzano director Megan Rosta contentmarketing@glpublishing.com

production manager Jennifer Roberts manager Alyson Moutz Cowan production@clevelandmagazine.com

digital media strategy Jacquie Chakirelis manager Daniel Klinzing coordinator Camille Ross

Denise Polverine publisher

Dillon Stewart editor

ly news. As a manager, I’d inspire without ever raising my voice, hit every deadline without micromanaging and be the mentor I so craved as a young writer. Plus, I’d do it all by 5 p.m.

That last part — OK, fine, a lot of those things — I’m still working on.

Getting into a leadership position is a surprisingly easy first step. Once the congratulations subside and it’s time to get to work, you often learn to have new appreciation and empathy for the challenges that faced those who came before you. I know I do.

This month, we put a spin on our annual Most

forward thinkers and energetic dreamers have stepped into new roles. They are eager to redefine what it means to live, work and play in Cleveland. But many of them are probably learning the same lesson I’m learning: It ain’t as easy as it looks.

That’s why the old guard — nay, seasoned veterans — have such an essential role to play, too.

When things get hard for me, I turn to more experienced members of our Great Lakes Publishing Co. family. Publisher Denise Polverine, who earned a spot in The Press Club of Cleveland Hall of Fame for her leadership in the digital space for WKYC and cleveland.com, is both a mentor and a connector. Editor

Jim Vickers, who has revitalized Ohio Magazine since taking over its editorial, is probably the only person in Northeast Ohio who’s walked in my shoes.

Fresh ideas are needed to combat the huge issues we face, but to execute them we need the people with a proven blueprint to get things done and the institutional knowledge to not repeat the past.

After all, building the Cleveland of the future is a task big enough for all of us.

Dillon Stewart, editor stewart@clevelandmagazine.com

Discourse

Following our December issue, one reader reached out concerned with the headline used in the Studio West 117 article, "A New Queer Haven." Their letter references talks with LGBTQ+ and straight friends alike over their discomfort with the word "queer." Read our response below and the reader's letter at: clevelandmagazine.com/letter

Cleveland Magazine acknowledges the tumultuous history and use of the word “queer” as seen in the headline for December’s Studio West 117 story. When handling the term, the magazine deferred to the Associated Press Stylebook and usages from NPR and The New York Times. Within those guidelines, “queer” is considered an inclusive term for non-cisgendered, non-heterosexual community

FROM OUR READERS

Senior editor Annie Nickoloff recently reported on Cleveland poet Siaara Freeman’s latest collection. Her response on social reads:

"Our conversation was so Midwest, so Cleveland. After five minutes it was catching up with an old friend. I found myself in what I call a porch conversation. We talked about a lil of everything and yet Annie managed to glean the most important parts and place them exquisitely within the article. Thank you @clevelandmagazine for continuing to make a home for me and other Cleveland artists "

To read the article, visit clevelandmagazine.com/siaarafreeman

members — a label the article’s writer, Anthony Elder, uses to identify himself. However, this does not erase the troubled history of a word once used as a slur to demean and denigrate. With this in mind, as media coverage of LGBTQ+ spaces evolves and adapts, Cleveland Magazine welcomes discourse as the organization pursues growth alongside the community.

2023 in The CLE: This year brought Clevelanders joy in many ways. Donovan Mitchell coming to the Cavs, a Guardians division championship and a whole slew of new restaurant openings we have loved sampling. In 2023, our dreams are just as big. Instagram user @sunie13 says they are hoping 2023 takes the Guardians to the World Series. While most Clevelanders stated that they would not make New Year’s resolutions, 36% of people are. Here's what they're aiming for:

On the Web

QUESTION OR COMMENT ABOUT THE MAGAZINE?

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Silver Spoon Voting

Our annual foodie event, which supports the Arthritis Foundation and celebrates Cleveland's best restaurants, returns in 2023. Cast your vote for the city's best bites at clevelandmagazine.com/ silverspooncle to see your favorite spots appear in May's Best Restaurants issue and at the party.

THE LCADA WAY PEARLS OF WISDOM ANNUAL BENEFIT & RECOGNITION DINNER |

THIS ANNUAL EVENT supports the LCADA Way mission, this year raising $175,000 for addiction relief. The night brought in 425 attendees who enjoyed president and CEO Dan Haight's presentations of the President's Award to Ridge Tool, the Community Service Award to Discount Drug Mart and The John Longlais Award to Joel Karabinus. In addition, TV personality Dr. Drew Pinsky delivered the keynote speech, touching on the topics of addiction medicine and his experience with recovery patients.

1) Joe Matuscak, Michele Golob and Dan Haight

2) Cleo Miller and Judge James Walther

3) Brad Forward and Hollie Strano

4) Kevin and Eleanor McLaughlin, Kim and Kyle Rose and Heather and Alan Molina

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PHOTO CREDIT

THE LAND

FAS C I N A T I ONS IN THE PASSENGER AND PILOT AREA of the Wingfoot Two, it was easy to feel small in the sky — to forget that a helium-filled behemoth hovered just overhead, powered by three oversized propeller engines. The Wingfoot Two, at 246.4 feet long, is only 55 feet short of the FirstEnergy Stadium football field it floats over on many Browns game days in downtown Cleveland. It can look small in the sky, but standing in front of it, preparing to run forward and board the few steps that led into the passenger area, the gigantic vehicle filled our field of vision. It moved with any slight breeze, bobbing above the grass like a huge, awkward bumblebee. Earlier that day, we received a text from a Goodyear representative: “The crew is monitoring some wind gusts this morning. They are going to do everything they can to safely fly but if the winds pick up, flights might be affected today,” … gulp.

Four Goodyear blimps exist in the world, with one in Europe and three stationed in the United States — one in Florida, one in California and one near Akron and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.'s headquarters.

Unsurprisingly, blimp flights are hard to come by; Goodyear’s three U.S. blimps regularly tour across the country for games and other events. When we asked if we could take a blimp ride during a Browns game, Goodyear declined. Instead, we headed out on a brisk Thursday in October, following a couple of previous rain delays.

Open only to members of the media, Goodyear customers and local charity auction winners, Cleveland Magazine luckily got in on one of just a handful of flights left before the Wingfoot Two left for a Columbus trip to a Buckeyes game.

An informational safety video ahead of the blimp ride let me, photography intern Katie Holub and four other passengers know: “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

There’s a lot of truth in that, since there aren’t a lot of blimps left in the world. Goodyear has a big stake in the blimp biz, operating about a third of all blimps globally. According to a Goodyear representative, only about a dozen operable airships exist in the world and Goodyear’s blimps are the only ones that fly on a consistent, year-round basis.

A blimp is not a cheap thing to operate, considering high helium prices. According to U.S. Geological Survey data, in 2021, government users paid $3.61 per cubic meter for helium, and private industries paid $7.56 per cubic meter. Let’s take the average of the two numbers for a conservative estimate, and say Goodyear might get its helium for roughly $5.58 per cubic meter.

That means it might cost $47,011 to fill Wingfoot Two’s 8,425 cubic meters to take flight.

Why pay so much to essentially unleash a massive balloon into the sky?

It comes down to branding.

Goodyear’s been making blimps for nearly 100 years, placing its signature blue-and-yellow emblazoned blimps into the sky since 1925.

“We’re proud that we’ve been adorning the skies ever since,” says Emily Cropper, the director of Americas communication at Goodyear.

So, what, exactly, is it like to fly in the sky? During our windy excursion: a bit bumpy.

Instead of driving ahead like other modes of transportation, a ride in the Goodyear blimp is more a form of calculated meandering, slowly

making your way and watching a massive shadow of the oblong beast track the land below you. A commercial plane travels at 550 mph; a blimp’s maximum speed is 78 mph.

As we traveled, the pilots happily shared highlights of the scenery below us. Jerry Hissem, one of two pilots on our flight, has been flying Goodyear’s blimps for nearly 25 years.

“I compare flying in a blimp to floating in a bubble,” Hissem says, standing in the aisle and swaying to the side as the blimp takes a turn.

Myself, Holub and four other passengers filled the seats behind the pilots, buckled in for takeoff and landing but were otherwise free to roam around the small space, which included a bathroom. (If you’re wondering what the inflight experience was like, it was pretty close to a

tiny commercial airplane, complete with folding trays attached to each back, a compartment with informational materials and, yes, barf bags.)

Let’s reiterate: Unlike in other modes of transportation, you can really tell it’s windy when you’re 1,500 feet in the air, especially when you’re prone to motion sickness like me.

As the other passengers oohed and aahed at downtown Akron emerging below us, I took deep breaths, wondering if I’d waited a little too long to take a Dramamine pill that morning. The turning and shaking became a lot to combat while taking in all those beautiful views.

That “once-in-a-lifetime” reminder again rang in my memory, even as I — and this is true — threw up inside the Goodyear blimp. It’s certainly an experience I’ll never, ever forget.

Goodyear blimps have been staples in the skies of Northeast Ohio and events around the world since 1925.

HEALTHCARE IS ABOUT MORE THAN MEDICINE.

Dr. Airica Steed, President & CEO MetroHealth

At MetroHealth, we believe every person in our community deserves access to high-quality care. Vision and innovation have brought us to this moment, and we’re excited to move forward with our President and CEO, Dr. Airica Steed. Dr. Steed—alongside the more than 8,000 dedicated providers, specialists, nurses, and staff who call MetroHealth home—will shape a future dedicated to a healthier community.

It’s about hope, equity, and a healthier community.

Heat in the Kitchen

Pickleball, once considered a hobby for elderly vacationers, is booming as exercise and sport.

In early 2021, Cleveland residents Michael Jurek and Madeline Hutchinson took a vacation to Hutchinson Island, Florida. The goal: relaxation. Instead, they found a sport that would change the trajectory of their lives. Pickleball, they discovered, is an amalgamation of tennis, ping-pong and badminton featuring paddles and a perforated whiffle ball. For two weeks, the duo spent nearly every waking hour swatting balls under the Florida sun.

“We became obsessed,” Jurek says.

Returning to Cleveland, the duo researched Northeast Ohio's pickleball scene in the hopes of making the sport more accessible locally. That research led Jurek to create Cleveland Pickleball, a website dedicated to helping aspiring players find courts, instructors and tournaments. Now, a few years later, Cleveland Pickleball boasts an annual tournament that garnered 100 players in 2022, a monthly newsletter with 500 subscribers and a rapidly growing player base.

Invented in 1965 by three middle-aged fathers, pickleball is America’s fastest growing sport, according to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association, with an estimated 4.8 million players at the start of 2022. That growth took a huge spike in October when Akron kid LeBron James announced his investment in a Major League

Pickleball team, a move that MLP founder Steve Kuhn called a “watershed moment.” A month later, Anheuser-Busch announced it had purchased a MLP team, becoming the first Fortune 500 company to buy a professional pickleball team.

“I haven’t seen a sport grow this fast in my lifetime,” Jurek says. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime moment, which is why we’re so excited.”

While pickleball is still a favorite of snowbirds, it's gaining momentum among 20- and 30-somethings across the nation.

“A lot of our friends were laughing in the beginning because pickleball is seen as a retiree sport when it really isn’t,” Hutchinson says. “Cleveland’s always been great about having intramural sports for younger people, and it’s cool to see pickleball become one of those things.”

When David Barr purchased the Wembley Club in 2014, he was one of those naysayers. But, after a steady uptick in interest, he installed the club’s first pickleball courts in 2018.

Some of the best pickleball players in Cleveland and even the nation play at Chagrin Falls' Wembley Club.

Then, during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns, Barr renovated the fitness center with pickleball in mind. Now,

the Chagrin Falls-based club boasts more than 300 pickleball players, with two separate nights of open play on the club’s eight pickleball courts.

But these days, there are plenty of places to play, such as Bleser Park in Avon Lake (the court where Jurek hosts his tournament), the Broadview Heights Recreation Center and North Ridge Racket and Paddle in North Ridgeville.

“It’s a really fun way to exercise with others,” Barr says. “It really helps build camaraderie among the players.”

Court etiquette will be familiar to anyone who’s ever hooped at their college's recreation center. During open hours, it’s first-come, first-served. Barr says that easygoing attitude along with the sport’s easy-to-learn, hard-to-master gameplay has pushed the sport to new heights.

“Pickleball is easy to learn,” Barr says. “I think people feel like they can just pick up a paddle and start playing.”

Wembley Club is now home to some of Cleveland’s best picklers, such as club teacher André Mick and instructor Katie Allan. (Both are in the top 100 for their gender in the world.)

“I hope that we’re in stadiums someday,” Barr says. “Cleveland doesn’t have professional pickleball representation yet, but I could see that as something that would happen in the long term.”

Until then, Barr, Jurek, Hutchinson and other members of the pickleball community are doing their part to help build the game in courts and gyms across Northeast Ohio.

“If there’s one thing we’ve learned in recent years, it’s that it’s really important to be healthy,” Barr says. “This is a new avenue where people can come out, play and get exercise while having fun.”

Tackling The Rest

Browns legend Joe Thomas finds new pace by making time for his family, friends and the great outdoors.

more time with my family and friends and being able to focus on things I love that I didn’t get to do when I was playing.

Q. While still playing, did you put together a plan for retirement that included NFL Network analyst?

A. I really wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, other than spend more time with my family and friends. And I also wanted to get more into hobbies such as hunting and fishing and other outdoors stuff. I sort of fell into the media world. I enjoy doing it.

Q. The analyst job on Browns radio, alongside Jim Donovan, came open after last season when Doug Dieken retired. You were the heavy favorite to replace Diek — if you wanted it.

Nathan Zegura got the job and has done well.

A. I don’t want to make it seem like it was my job and I turned it down and Nathan got it, because I love what Nathan does. But it was easy for me to pass and give way to somebody who can give it the time and commitment it deserves.

I talked with the Haslams about that job, and I told them from the heart that it’s my dream job. But unfortunately, my time is too limited to be able to commit to it the way I need and the way the job deserves. So it was an easy call. I would love it if I were living a different life.

JOE THOMAS’ “SECOND ACT“ was not going to be easy, simply because of what he accomplished as an NFL player. Thomas was a perennial Pro Bowl left tackle during an 11-season career, all with the Browns, from 2007 through 2017. He played a mind-boggling 10,363 consecutive snaps at one point. A bronze bust will be on display soon enough at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. How could Thomas replicate that level of accomplishment, that type of rush, in retirement? Thomas’ answer would be that he couldn’t — but it doesn’t mean he can’t have a blast. These days, Thomas, who played at a bulky 325 pounds on a 6-foot-6-inch frame, is looking lean and feeling healthy at just over 255 pounds. His calendar is packed with everything from calling Browns preseason games to media engagements, hunting and fishing, and even some grilling at family gatherings. He is slated to be the emcee of the annual Greater Cleveland Sports Awards on Jan. 25 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. In a recent chat, the brown-andorange legend shares why, in some respects, he wouldn't trade retirement for anything.

Q. Do you miss playing?

A. I certainly miss parts of it. If I could still play, I would love to. There’s no better way to make a living than playing in the NFL. Being in that locker room, grinding day in and day out, the commitment that it takes, and then … the payoff on Sundays of success or failure. There’s no gray area: If you put in the work, it shows up on Sunday. Then you get to do it all over again the next week. I loved playing, there’s no doubt about it. Obviously, I don’t miss the pain or the injuries, things like that. When you struggle as a team or personally, it hurts a lot. But it makes success that much sweeter.

Q. What ultimately made you decide it was time?

A. I knew I couldn’t do it physically anymore. I was just suffering so much physically my last couple of years. It was constantly on my mind, and it was affecting my outlook on life. Anybody who has been in really chronic pain I’m sure can empathize a little bit with that. I’ve always been pretty good about accepting the reality as quickly as possible, and I realized that nothing was going to change with my own health — my left knee, specifically. So I am totally at peace with not playing because I’ve definitely enjoyed the things that retirement has brought, namely spending

I played 11 years in the NFL so I could coach my daughter on the weekends in basketball and volleyball and go on trips with my family on weekends. I wanted to see my friends on Saturday and Sunday. I wanted to watch the [Wisconsin] Badgers on Saturday.

Q. What is one food you eat in retirement that you didn’t eat as a player?

A. That would be a food group: vegetables. Lots of vegetables. I hardly ever ate vegetables when I was playing because I didn’t want to waste any space in my stomach on things that weren’t high in calories. I needed to be full, and I needed to be full of carbs. Now it’s the opposite challenge.

Q. Being the emcee of anything typically requires some humor. You are a naturally funny guy. Do you feel pressure to be funny at the GCSA?

A. Anytime you feel pressure to be funny, it probably doesn’t play very well. I definitely feel pressure to facilitate everybody having a good time. Hopefully, we can do it with humor, but it’s also important to be serious out of respect for the athletes and what they’ve accomplished. I want everybody to find it entertaining.

MARK OPREA

Will Clevelanders Buy In?

To reach developers' goals of creating a thriving midsize city, Downtown needs to become more walkable and populated.

IF ANY ONE OF DOWNTOWN’S 20,500 RESIDENTS can safely call themselves a Cleveland socialite, Pete Marek is the man to get away with it. Walk up Euclid, and you’re likely to bump into him leaving morning yoga, catch him flirting with the bartenders at Yours Truly Restaurant or tending to vandalized storefronts on Euclid and Prospect. A “Pete Sighting.” Such ubiquity has earned Marek, a 56-year-old part-owner of a Maple Heights-based chemical distribution company, the moniker “Mayor Pete” or to others, “Downtown Pete.”

“He knows every single person in the city,” says Grace Noall, a resident on East Fourth Street. “Well, maybe like 90%. But still, he’s Downtown’s biggest ally.”

“I sometimes feel like Norm walking into Cheers,” Marek says. “I love it. I know a shit ton of people.”

Marek’s 25-year voyage from stale suburban marriage to downtown bon vivant may have all begun with actor Kevin Bacon. This was 1986, Mayor George Voinovich-era Cleveland. Marek, a 20-year-old Cleveland State University student, had just seen Bacon’s Quicksilver, a crime-drama about a bike messenger in the big city.

“I remember he lived in an old loft building in some warehouse in [Los Angeles],” says Marek. “I love that look: brick walls, high ceilings, big windows.” He sighs in brief nostalgia. “I fell in love with the whole thought of living downtown.”

That love went unrequited. Instead, Marek slowly tiptoed into family life on Cleveland’s fringe. At 24, he got a job selling copy machines and moved to Old Brooklyn. He met a girl in the Flats, got married and moved 30 minutes south to Brunswick in 1997 to raise a daughter and son. Twenty-plus years clawed at Marek’s suburban promise. He came to hate his life. “Homeownership seems to be an American dream,” he says. “Until you own one. And then you’re like, What the hell did I do this for?”

Marek and his wife divorced in 2012. His kids fled Brunswick for downtown jobs. In 2018, filled with anxiety around his life’s new act, Marek went apartment hunting with his son in Ohio City. Driving on Detroit Avenue, agog at the new mid-rises, Marek’s urbanite limerence kicked in. His son noticed: “He said, ‘Dad! Why

look at it, when you could live in it?’”

Marek laughed. “I was like, ‘You know what? Damn it, that’s a great idea.’” He moved into Euclid Avenue's Halle Building seven months later.

Marek’s residential volley — downtown to suburbs and back again — is, perhaps, a microcosmic representation of a new era in American living. Since 2012, when new urbanist author Jeff Speck’s Walkable City was published to great acclaim, the so-called Great Inversion to center city living has grown exponentially. Today, after the pandemic, a make-up-for-lost-time spike has put the onus on city planners, politicians and glint-eyed developers to respond aptly to that demand. Speck reports in the new, 10th anniversary edition of his book that although 45% to 55% of millennials want to live in a walkable city, only 1 out of 10 do. “Unlike when I wrote Walkable City a decade ago, we now have what’s understood to be a crisis in affordable housing in our cities,” Speck says. “Ten years ago, that crisis was not yet fully grown or certainly not understood.”

It’s a Rubik’s Cube that city boosters are twisting today. Depending on what report you read or what street you walk down, the outlooks lean toward promise or skepticism. On Aug. 22, the Downtown Cleveland Alliance gloated in its biannual report about a post-pandemic residential boom: from the Sherwin-Williams HQ-influenced micro units at the Rockefeller Building to the Beaux Arts-tinged “workforce living” reviving the dusty Huntington Bank Building — a resounding “3,000-plus” planned units across some 25 projects (968 units in progress). It’s Speck’s classic chicken-or-egg dilemma: “You need to have the amenities to attract the people,” says Michael Deemer, DCA’s president, "but you need the people to establish the amenities.”

Paired with Mayor Justin Bibb’s administration’s $500,000 lakefront master plan feasibility study, its Complete and Green Streets initiative (i.e. bike lanes and Smart Parking) and DCA’s updated housing study and shining Downtown Now plan, 2023 could be the year Cleveland’s boosters finally get their full credence.

But will Clevelanders buy in? Since Mayor Lawrence Halprin’s booster-friendly Outcalt "Civic Center" plan in 1957 — which famously included a lakefront makeover — and Tom

L. Johnson’s 1903 breakout, Clevelanders have entertained a smorgasbord of eye-roll marketing rhetoric (“Cleveland, Lil' Chicago”), front-page worthy architectural drawings (“Civic Vision 2000 Downtown Plan”), and morale upping slogans (A "Plum"?) while still managing to lose nearly a half percent of its people every year.

Hence Speck’s dilemma: to make Cleveland a walkable city — a vibrant, 15-minute, pedestrian haven — walkers are first needed. Reality might be different. Despite its highest foot traffic since January 2019, up to 14.4% of Downtown’s offices are still vacant; 14% of its retail is empty, as is 9% of its housing. Stroll on a Friday evening from the Playhouse marquees to Public Square’s fountain, and you will wonder what there is to boast about: Eighteen vacant storefronts, sparsely populated sidewalks, bare restaurant seats with DCA’s neon-hued banners reading “GHOST YOUR COUCH” or “DOWNTOWN HITS DIFFERENT” waving outside in the wind.

But Downtown Pete isn’t swayed. “You want to get to 30,000 people?” he says. “Just build apartments. I swear to God, they’ll be filled.”

Thirty five years before starchitect I.M. Pei designed the Louvre-like pyramid for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he pitched the Cleveland Development Foundation, a precursor to DCA founded in 1954, to recreate New York’s Rockefeller Center on East Ninth Street.

Imagine, Pei told CDF, the Terminal Tower area was “Wall Street.” Euclid was “Fifth Avenue.” An early blueprint for Pei’s Erieview Tower resulted in, come 1964, nearly 6,000 units of housing, accentuated by the glitzy Chesterfield. “With a couple thousand people moving in and out of the Town House every day,” one backer envisioned, “there won’t be much danger of East 13th Street looking like a ghost town.”

Directors balked. They had seen the simmering of Halprin’s $315,000 “people-oriented” Concept for Cleveland, or entertained, in 1957, the Outcalt "Civic Center" Plan’s promises to extend Mall C over the rail tracks. Cleveland “isn’t an apartment house town,” one director complained, as retold in J. Mark Souther’s Believing in Cleveland. Another said he was “perfectly content with his 50-minute commute” from Cleveland Union Terminal to Geauga County.

By 2010, Erieview sat one-third vacant. (“It’s desolate,” Marek says. “No reason to walk over there.”) Ironically enough, after being purchased by developer James Kassouf for $17.7 million, the Tower’s now being refitted into 210 hotel rooms and 227 units of apartments.

The need for a culture shift to accompany developer optimism is clear to Joyce Pan Huang, Cleveland’s chief of city planning. At 37, two years Bibb’s senior, Huang says she's exploring upgrading Cleveland’s zoning code from Euclidean to form-based zoning, a method of redesigning districts based on walkability data — think: lofts above a dentist, a daycare and a taqueria. This complicated work is just beginning.

“We have to shift our mentality,” says Huang. “Otherwise, we’re going to continuously have this pop-in, pop-out, drive-in and drive-out culture. Not a neighborhood.”

So, the Cleveland skeptic should ask, why Bibb? After all, Carl Stokes gave off messiah mayor vibes with his $1.5 billion “Cleveland: NOW!” plan, hired young staffers hip on making Mall C “a people place” and Downtown “people-oriented.” (Like Bibb, Stokes also took heat for a snowstorm gaffe.) Yet, still — to Strongsville, Brunswick, Garfield Heights, to Texas and California — people fled. And just in December, the City of Cleveland and Bedrock announced a new plan for riverfront development in Downtown near Collision Bend with a $3.5 billion price tag.

“It’s important that people in the suburbs recognize that we are a city,” Bibb said in a recent phone interview with Cleveland Magazine. He vows that passing his Green Streets ordinance — “protected bike lanes, traffic calming, pedestrian walkways” — will boost Walk Scores. He plans to create a cabinet position to monitor the millions of American Rescue Plan dollars that he says will surge Downtown growth, as well as his Northeast Lakefront Master Plan. “That has never been done in Cleveland,” Bibb asserts. “That’s why I’m in the position to get this done now.”

On Nov. 3, Bibb invited more than 100 Clevelanders to City Hall’s rotunda for the first of six Lakefront Plan town halls. For an hour, Marie Keister, head of Engage Public Affairs in Dublin, steers the crowd through a cinematic retelling of Cleveland’s false starts (“We’ve been talking about a pedestrian bridge for a long time”), followed by a table-to-table survey of our Lakefront wish list. Or, as Bibb calls it in his brief speech, “the long, long road ahead.”

Marek, in a brown flannel and a cyclist’s shoulder pack, is at Table Five watching the presentation as if sitting through a lecture on breathing. Also there is Christian Nohade, a 50-something security professional in a red tie and a Cavs hat. “If you end [state Route 2] at East Ninth, commuters are going to have a fit,” Nohade opines, regarding a potential land bridge. “There’s going to be congestion. You don’t want congestion.”

“Oh, please,” Marek says. “Seattle knocked out an entire highway, and traffic didn’t change. We have to figure out how to move people besides cars. The earth is on fire for chrissakes.”

“Well, I don’t know if —”

“Are you East Side or West Side?”

“Westlake.”

Marek turns to the table. “I know this might blow people’s minds, but some of us want to be closer to downtown, not further away.” His voice rises to a clamor. “We need to put as many people in our city as possible. WE. NEED. DENSITY.”

Nohade nods. He pauses, chews on Marek’s words for a second or two. “That’s what I love about this country,” Nohade says.

“We can agree to disagree, yet still have a conversation.”

It was something

Pete Marek; Joyce Pan Huang, chief of city planning; and Grace Noall extol the virtues of city living.

about the Warehouse District’s prewar facades — all that red brick, just lovely — that brought newlyweds Rykiel and Charles Kent to live Downtown this summer.

The other half was habit. For years, they grew their medical careers while paying $3,200 a month for a one-bedroom on Manhattan’s Upper East Side (Walk Score, 98 out of 100). On June 11, about a year after Charles took the knee on the Brooklyn Bridge, they married. By July, with jobs lined up at Cleveland hospitals, he was tasked with finding housing. “In New York, neither of us had cars,” says Charles. The 34-year-old sits on a couch in their apartment off West Sixth Street. “We walked to work every single day.”

“It’s, you could say, one of our favorite casual activities,” adds Rykiel, who is 31 and pets their dog, Penny. “It’s why we picked the apartment.”

Though just four months into their lease, they have started to question what is often on the minds of the Downtown couple: How long exactly can we live here?

In interviews with a half dozen Downtowners, many lauded their rooftop pools and high-gloss kitchens, while scratching their heads at the lack

of services and retail diversity in the surrounding blocks. Their wants seem natural corollaries to modern life: a vet or doggie daycare; a hardware store; a Target. “What about late-night food?” says Taylor Savarino, a 26-year-old resident who relocated to The Archer on West Ninth Street to “regain years lost to COVID,” sitting with her dog at Lighthouse Park. “I can’t eat anywhere decent past 9 or 10 o’clock.”

Deeper worries plague Grace Noall. She adores her $965 loft on East Fourth Street, but, 29 and engaged, she feels suburbia's tug. Preparental questions abound: Will an affordable grocery store open nearby? What about a good school? Where are all the school buses anyway?

“Honestly, I don’t feel like there’s enough here yet,” Noall says. But good friend Pete’s there for the convincing. “He tries talking me out of [moving] all the time.”

Such doubts rarely arise in Marek. He sees his Man About Town persona as both an advocate and credentialed critic. He rarely eats dinner in. WEWS uses Marek for Downtown comment like CNN might an ambassador. “It’s changed my political views,” he says. “I’m much more lib-

eral, more forgiving.” He sees his son, Kevin, who lives down the street at the Residences at 1717, more often. Coincidentally, Kevin is helping construct the new City Club Apartments.

Downtown living has also made him a better man, he says. “I think of who I used to be, the people I used to work with,” he says, sitting at the bar at Yours Truly, dressed in a tight polo and clean-cut, silvering hair. As he chews his hamburger, Marek adds, “I think of them often. Just living this existence. Kids in college. Married. Sitting at the fire pit every damn night.”

After lunch, Marek walks up to his apartment, which is spacious and white-walled. In the hallway is a photo of a snowed-in car (a Twitter joke), a gifted 3D map of Downtown above a “Cleveland Shrine.” Over there, bike gear. By the bar, his prized 1875 press chisel which was discovered at the Cleveland Flea. Marek walks to his 10-foot windows and grabs a pair of binoculars. He looks southward, over Huron Street, toward the pitcher’s mound at Progressive Field.

“You can watch balls and strikes from here,” he says, lowering the binoculars. He beams. “I mean, how could anyone not love this?”

PHOTO BY MEGANN GALEHOUSE

A Magical Treehouse

The final piece of Intro Cleveland's hospitality offerings is a stunning Latin American steakhouse with unforgettable decor and a new spin on an old-school menu.

main entrance is unassuming, practically hidden across from the West 25th Street RTA entrance, but as soon as you open the door, you enter a sort of otherworldly waiting area, where the hostess greets you from beneath climbing vines, brightly colored flowers and taxidermic birds. When your table is ready, you’re ushered into a jungle-inspired elevator that delivers you to the second floor of the 115-foot building — and as the doors open, you step into a tropical Narnia.

“Everywhere you look, there’s a small surprise waiting,” Dan says.

When you think of steakhouses, it’s no surprise if your mind immediately turns to a dark, moody space made for sipping scotch over rib-eye and mashed potatoes. But let’s get this out of the way up front: Jaja is not that kind of place.

“Steakhouses always have a masculine, old-school feel to them,” says restaurant director Dan Whalen. “We really wanted to not do that.”

Whalen is president of Harbor Bay Hospitality, the developer behind Ohio City’s dazzling, multi-use Intro building. Jaja, which opened in mid-October, was the final piece of the building’s suite of hospitality concepts, following Edda, an ethereal coffee shop, and Pioneer, a camping-themed sports bar. As an upscale, special-occasion spot, Jaja rounds out the vibe — but the steakhouse label is a bit of a misnomer.

“If you’re reading through our menu and wondering, ‘What side do I order with my steak?’ then you’ve missed the point altogether,” says executive chef Brian Whalen, Dan’s younger brother. The Whalens have created a hip, buzzy spin on those stuffy steakhouses of yore. In other words, this is not your grandfather’s restaurant. (No offense, Grandpa.)

Before you even look at the menu, it’s clear that Jaja isn’t just a restaurant; it's an experience. The

Indeed, Jaja’s 75-seat dining room is awash in colors, patterns and prints, from the lush flora that adorns the vaulted glass ceiling to shimmery pinned butterflies on the walls and animal-shaped brass lamps that provide soft, sultry lighting. The least subtle but perhaps most stunning surprise is floor-to-ceiling windows, which provide an unparalleled view of the skyline and allow light to stream in during brunch.

Earth tones meet natural light and city views in this intimate, unforgettable new space.

“The exotic nature of the room is reflective of the idea of being transported somewhere else — really being in a different place,” Dan says. “We wanted to mix cultures to create something you just can’t find anywhere else, especially locally.”

That vision extends to Jaja’s cuisine, which is as eclectic and enchanting as its ambiance, heavy on Latin flavors with glimpses of Italian and Mediterranean influence. The menu is built around the kitchen’s pièce de resistance, a 20-foot, Argentinian-style wood-fired grill, shared with Pioneer downstairs. Diners are encouraged to share each dish (yes, even the steak) so that everyone can try a bit of everything.

“We’ve combined the ideas of small, shared plates in a social setting with a celebration of this amazing wood-fired grill that cooks meats in an authentic, Argentinian manner,” Dan says.

Sourced from farms in Kansas and Colorado, Jaja’s eight cuts of steak range from $45 for a 10-ounce prime hanger steak to $185 for a 44-ounce dry-aged Tomahawk rib-eye. They’re only lightly salted, the Argentinian way, and served pre-sliced with a side of house chimichurri. But unlike the traditional, cilantro-based condiment popular in Latin America, Brian’s version incorporates burnt scallions, charred mint, shallots and other unexpected flavors.

Where other steakhouses tend only to offer vegetables in the context of accompaniments to the main event, Jaja’s non-steak dishes are so

Though Jaja is much more than just a steakhouse, the menu, which also features seafood and small plates, centers around classic cuts of beef with Latin flair.

compellingly unusual that even the staunchest of carnivores may feel inclined to skip old standbys in favor of something new.

“We put out high-quality meat, but there are also 20 to 25 other dishes that we want you to pass around the table,” Dan says. To that end, Brian, who has worked at local favorites like Fahrenheit, Chinato and Parallax, has re-imagined classic steakhouse sides for interpretations you won’t find anywhere else.

Instead of creamed spinach, there’s sformato Toscano ($14), a light-as-air, melt-in-yourmouth savory spinach flan drenched in a delicate but decadent Parmesan sauce. And instead of steamed broccoli or mashed potatoes is a turmeric-spiced riced cauliflower dish ($13), just as tasty eaten by the spoonful as it is spread over charred bread.

The menu is also surprisingly heavy on seafood, with just as many fish dishes as steaks.

“I put a lot of focus on the seafood because I love that you can cook it in so many different ways — the color and texture you get by searing or braising it, all of that,” says Brian.

High-end of-the-sea options include a tender, grilled octopus served suckers-on and all

over a Salvadoran cabbage slaw and paper-thin potato “dominoes” ($20), and jumbo seared scallops ($30) caramelized with a brown citrus butter and paired with cauliflower gnocchi. One of Brian’s finest and most extraordinary creations is the grouper crudo naranja ($19), in which candied blood orange slices serve as tiny tostadas for thin slices of raw fish, topped with heirloom tomatoes and bulbs of juicy “caviar” from finger limes. The result is feather-light and delightfully citrusy.

Throughout the menu, in fact, citrus makes a play for the spotlight, showing up in an homage

to one of Argentina’s most prominent and profitable exports.

“I love that hint of acid in my food, but I don’t always want it to be vinegar,” Brian says. “Plus, it’s fun to manipulate the same ingredient in so many different ways.”

His pork belly ($16), cooked sous vide and wood-fired, comes with a lime aioli, while the truffle pasta ($22) and warm olives ($8) are both enhanced with preserved lemon. And the burrata ($18) is practically a work of art alongside candied, sugar-encrusted lemon slices that lend a wonderfully unexpected chewiness.

No less critical or creative is the drink menu, intentionally short on beer but big on colorful cocktails with playful names like She Only Wears Green ($15) and Expat in Peru ($14).

Instead of the Napa cabernets typical of steakhouses, beverage director and sommelier Nora O’Malley has carefully curated a regional wine list featuring unexpected locales like Uruguay and Slovenia.

“She’s put together a really cool, precise, eclectic wine list that goes with the vibe of the room and the menu Brian has created,” Dan says. “It’s not trying to do too much, but it also has a lot of things that you can only get here.”

That, as it turns out, is a perfect summary of Jaja overall: It’s not trying to do too much, but somehow, it’s still doing a lot. Under lesser leadership, so many moving parts could’ve devolved into a mismatched mess. But under the Whalen brothers’ vision and direction, it feels nothing short of magical.

In Portuguese, já já means “already” or “soon,” a translation that is, in this case, worth heeding as instruction: You’re going to want to nab a reservation at this exquisite, unusual restaurant right away — if you can get one.

FESTIVE FOODS

Good Fortune

Li Wah offers a seat at the family table during Lunar New Year, China’s most important (and most delicious) holiday.

As Randy Hom grew up, the celebration around Lunar New Year, sometimes called Chinese New Year, morphed and changed.

In the beginning, when his family just owned King Wah, the 50-year-old Rocky River restaurant, Hom spent most New Years around a big table at his grandmother’s house in the AsiaTown neighborhood with family and close friends. Elders would stuff red envelopes full of cash and pass them to younger family members that were unmarried — many of whom would later take that dough to a local watering hole for gatherings similar to “the night before Thanksgiving,” says Hom. In fact, this holiday of homecoming, which is observed by billions across the planet, spurs the

largest annual mass migrations of people.

“We didn’t have a lot of family in the area,” says Hom, “but we had a lot of close friends.”

Eventually, his mother, Donna, the restaurant’s original owner and a legend for her work in the Asian community, opened her second and third restaurants, Ho Wah in Beachwood and Li Wah in Asian Town Center, which she helped develop. More and more, the Homs spent the most important Chinese holiday serving their new extended family: the customers.

Today, the annual celebration at the restaurant, which kicks off the year of the Rabbit on Jan. 22, is still going strong many decades later. For more than 40 years, the Kwan Lion Dance group has swayed to the steady beat of the drum and the jittery tune of firecrackers, which are used to scare off evil spirits. A special menu of Cantonese cooking — inspired by Donna’s native Guangzhou, China, just north of Hong Kong — includes good luck foods like longevity noodles for long life, leafy greens for wealth, sesame balls for happiness and pork or steamed whole fish and lobster for prosperity.

Though the family circle has grown and Donna passed away two years ago, Randy is certain that seeing the tradition live on would make his mother smile.

“I think she would be very happy to see us doing our best to keep it going,” he says. “If we could make it another 10 years, she would be really happy. That would be a miracle.”

WHEN YOU GO

Li Wah 2999 Payne Ave., #102, Cleveland 216-696-6556 liwahrestaurant.com

Dining Guide

THE BEST RESTAURANTS IN CHAGRIN FALLS

BATUQUI

WHY WE LOVE IT: The second location from chefs Carla Batista and Gustavo Duarte features show-stopping Brazilian food and beverages in a restored Victorian home. TRY THIS: The refreshing Brazilian Wax cocktail ($11) feels like a mini getaway, showcasing Cachaça, pineapple juice, passion fruit puree and club soda. 17 E. Orange St., 440-600-2122, batuquicleveland.com/chagrin-falls

BELL & FLOWER

WHY WE LOVE IT: This “social kitchen” in the heart of Chagrin Falls is a cute, casual eatery with exposed brick walls and elevated American fare. TRY THIS: There's nothing like a crispy Nashville hot chicken sandwich ($16.50) with pickles, spicy mayo and a brioche bun. 86 N. Main St., 440-600-7755, bellandflower.com

CHAGRIN FALLS POPCORN SHOP

WHY WE LOVE IT: This shop has its own special spot in history, having served fresh popcorn to celebrities, governors and even U.S. presidents in its 70-year history. Its unique shop location overlooks the waterfall. TRY THIS: Visitors must grab a bag of the shop’s double cheese & kettle Chagrin-Style mix ($5.20). 53 N. Main St., 440-247-6577, chagrinfallspopcorn.com

17 RIVER GRILLE

WHY WE LOVE IT: Open in 2020, this bright, modern American restaurant sports an idyllic view of the babbling Chagrin Falls waterfall and focuses on simply grilled fresh fish and quality steak with locally sourced ingredients. TRY THIS: All the Cleveland Instagrammers rave about the Heavenly Biscuits appetizer ($8), baked from scratch and topped with honey butter. 17 River St., 440-893-0797, 17rivergrille.com

AURELIA

WHY WE LOVE IT: Classically trained chef James Balchak whipped up this American-style bistro when he moved back home to Northeast Ohio after almost 20 years of work in the fine dining industry. TRY THIS: Guests love the shrimp rice bowl ($28) featuring domestic Gulf shrimp, egg, carrot, cabbage, mushrooms and sweet soy sauce. 16 N. Main St., 440-600-7770, aureliabistro.com

CRUMB & SPIGOT

WHY WE LOVE IT: Crumb & Spigot serves up lighter American comfort fare revitalized in a funky, upbeat tavern atmosphere. TRY THIS: Munch on the distinctive wood oven spicy soppressata ($18) pizza with salami, fresh mozzarella, aged provolone, pecorino, banana peppers and fresh oregano.

16783 Chillicothe Road, 440-384-3035, crumbandspigot.com

ETALIAN

WHY WE LOVE IT: Naples style wood-fired pizza with a soft crust and charred edges should be a staple of any Clevelander’s diet. TRY THIS: A true test of any pizza shop is its margherita ($13). This one knocks it out of the park with its garlic oil and fresh mozzarella. 13 Bell St., 440-6002001, etalianpizza.com

HEARTWOOD COFFEE

WHY WE LOVE IT: Coffee aficionados love the full espresso and pour over bar with industrial vibes at this shop’s second location. TRY THIS: “Our star menu item is a single-origin cappuccino ($3.25) featuring espresso and Hartzler whole milk,” says co-owner Jim Sanders. 20 N. Main St., 440337-0089, heartwoodroastery.com

HUNAN BY THE FALLS

WHY WE LOVE IT: For inventive Hunan cuisine, visit this eight-time Silver Spoon Award winner, featuring an extensive wine list and decadent desserts. TRY THIS: The hot Bangkok Duck ($20.95) makes for a flawless meal. 508 E. Washington St., 440-2470808, hunanbythefalls.com

JOJO’S BAR

WHY WE LOVE IT: Dubbed as an Italian American steak bar, this upscale gem is perfect for special occasions and meals with friends. The seasonal “Backyard” patio is stunning. TRY THIS: We’re here for the (heavily marbled) savory 15-ounce prime Delmonico rib-eye ($59). 87 West St., 440-394-8120, jojosbar.com

KELSEY ELIZABETH CAKES

WHY WE LOVE IT: The Chagrin Falls branch of this booming sweets boutique “is a special location, because it has a fun, tourist shop feel to it with our custom mural (by the owner’s sister),” says Juel Rose, a manager. TRY THIS: Birthday cake macarons ($2.50) are a fan favorite. 69 N. Main St., 440-318-1309, kelseyelizabethcakes.com

LEMON FALLS CAFE

WHY WE LOVE IT: Discover fresh pastries, seasonal salads, gourmet sandwiches and soups at this local bakery where everything is cooked from scratch. TRY THIS: Munch on an everything cookie ($3.75). 95 N. Main St., 440-247-8000, lemonfalls.com

M BEVY

WHY WE LOVE IT: Handcrafted cocktails, wine, champagne and a cozy atmosphere make this a must visit. TRY THIS: Discover an elevated classic cocktail like the Naples spritz ($14), featuring Botanist gin, prosecco and lemon juice. 87 West St., 440-600-7189, mbevy.com

M ITALIAN

WHY WE LOVE IT: This first-rate Italian spot stands out from the crowd. An open kitchen allows for extra entertainment. TRY THIS: The shrimp fra diavolo ($20) with mushrooms, spicy tomato cream sauce and tortellini is a seafood lover’s delight. 22 W. Orange St., 440-247-7474, mitalian.com

PUB FRATO

PARIS ROOM BISTRO

WHY WE LOVE IT: This bistro hosts Jazz Mondays, featuring established local jazz musicians. TRY THIS: The owner swears by the French lamb meatloaf ($25) with mushroom, Kalamata olive, bleu cheese and smoked paprika aioli. 7 N. Franklin St., 440-247-0444, parisroombistro.com

PONYBOYS

WHY WE LOVE IT: A family-owned, elevated take on Mexican street food and cocktails brings tasty authentic eats and trendy casual décor. TRY THIS: Regulars love the carnitas tacos ($14) with blistered Fresno pepper salsa, green salt, pickled onion and queso fresco. 506 Washington St., 440-247-8226, ponyboys.com

THE RESERVE

WHY WE LOVE IT: Formerly Umami, the restaurant reopened last year with a new bar and an elevated Asian menu of small plates. TRY THIS: Seafood lovers will adore the scallops with butternut squash puree and sweet tamari ($21). 42 N. Main St., 440318-1492, thereservechagrin.com

SAPPHIRE CREEK WINERY & GARDENS

WHY WE LOVE IT: Known for its wine, food, scenic patio and elevated rustic indoor space, perfect for special occasions like weddings, Sapphire Creek is a chic winery channeling Napa Valley. With 28 feet to work with, Sapphire Creek's floorto-ceiling windows give dramatic views of surrounding gardens and outdoor spaces. TRY THIS: “Our menu varies seasonally, but currently some of the favorites are the short rib lettuce wraps, surf and turf pasta and our apple cider glazed salmon,” says co-owner Kathleen Birkel Dangelo. 16965 Park Circle Dr., 440-543-7777, sapphire-creek.com

WHY WE LOVE IT: For creative twists on old favorites, visit the approachable gastropub (one of two sister restaurants) showcasing inventive eats, inviting cocktails and craft beers. TRY THIS: You can’t go wrong with the short rib melt ($17.50) on sourdough with Swiss cheese, caramelized onion and mushroom and horseradish aioli. 25 Pleasant Dr., 440-600-7029, pubfrato.com

SUSHI JUNKI

WHY WE LOVE IT: Whether it's sake, suburban sushi rolls or Japanese mainstays, Sushi Junki takes the downtown Chagrin food scene to a new level. TRY THIS: Start with perfectly prepared pad thai lettuce wraps ($12) with chicken, onions, carrots, egg, mushrooms and cilantro. 79 West St., 440-600-7084, sushi-junki.com

WASHINGTON STREET DINER

WHY WE LOVE IT: Breakfast and lunch at this cozy old-fashioned diner is sure to start anyone’s day smoothly, whether it’s with a juicy burger, freshly made wrap or salad, or a plate of syrup-drenched sweet waffles. The unassuming joint has been open since 2004, slinging breakfast and lunch favorites for local diners for nearly two decades. TRY THIS: Treat yourself to The Builder ($15.75): three eggs, two strips of bacon, two sausages, crispy home fries, toast and two pancakes. 8233 E. Washington St., #4507, 440-543-0436, washingtonstdiner.com

YOURS TRULY

WHY WE LOVE IT: Located at the heart of a Victorian village, Yours Truly Chagrin Falls Kitchen & Bar is a longtime staple owned by four siblings known for homemade American fare and all-day breakfast. TRY THIS: Notso Fries ($8.30), the Yours Truly original, "have become synonymous with the brand,” says coowner Lawrence Shibley. 30 N. Main St., 440-247-3232, ytr.com/chagrinfalls

WANT MORE?

Check out more recommendations at clevelandmagazine.com/food-drink

COURTESY SUSHI JUNKI

GLAMOUR

GRIT &

WARM AND COZY

SHERWIN-WILLIAMS’ COLOR OF THE YEAR 2023 has arrived in the form of Redend Point, a cozy beige color “reflective of skin tones and earthy elements.” Each year, Sherwin-Williams’ Global Forecast Team picks a color of paint that highlights the year based on design trends but also reflects the human condition. “This year, it’s really about grounding ourselves,” says Sue Wadden, director of color marketing at Sherwin-Williams. Redend Point intends to keep homes cozy and warm, a sanctuary to find comfort in. “It’s beautiful in the selfcare zones: your bedroom, your bathroom, spaces where you’re getting ready," she says. “The cosmetic nature of the color looks very balanced with all skin tones.” To accent Redend Point, Wadden suggests supplementing with deeper colors like Urbane Bronze, a neutral shade like the blue-toned Homburg Gray or an earthy hue like the 2022 Color of the Year, Evergreen Fog.

A T H O M E

SHOP LOCAL

Made with Heart

Sozo comes to Cleveland with farm-to-table clothing concept.

WALKING UP TO SOZO, it doesn't look much different than the other sleek store exteriors at Pinecrest. That is, until you open the door and immediately see the showstopper in the back: a floor-to-ceiling glass wall revealing employees at work, making Sozo products on-site.

Past the rows of wine red track suits, where stormy blue tees and forest green sweatpants hang on floating wooden shelves, a modern workshop whirls with sewing machines. Three to four creators work magic beneath walls adorned with spools of thread in colors across the rainbow. It’s mesmerizing to watch, especially when you know that everything made there will end up a few feet away in the storefront.

“[It’s] to show people our great materials and quality but also show what goes into making it,” says Danielle Pusateri, lead designer at Sozo. “We’re standing behind our brand and showing that we’re actually making it. You never really get to see who makes your clothes.”

The clothing makers are fellow Clevelanders, bringing Pusateri's designs to life. The backroom sees constant activity among tables fully covered in

KATIE HOLUB

colorful fabrics, all of which are “hand-selected and ethically sourced,” says Sozo COO Christine Rizk. While most items are made back-of-house, the Camp Flannels ($168) and Tech Pants ($148) are made elsewhere in the U.S., using those same selected-with-care materials.

Winding through the store, you can’t help but stop to feel the quality of the brand, smoothing your thumb over a hand-stitched Sozo crest design on a Casual Heavyweight Hoodie ($128).

“The whole concept of why we were so excited about having a store is so that people can really touch and feel and, at the same time, have the experience coming in,” says Rizk. “And, seeing someone back there making it might make them think more about what they’re consuming.”

Pusateri says that though the cost of Sozo products might be higher than other brands, you walk away knowing you got something well made and built to last. She believes it also teaches people how to care for their wardrobes better.

“We wanted to approach it from a sustainability aspect. We’re the opposite of fast fashion,” says Rizk. “We’ll always think about local first.”

– GRACIE WILSON

PRODUCTS WE LOVE

Sozo Lightweight Sweatsuit ($236)

This combination screams style and comfort, coming in an array of colors that fit into the current monochrome trend and are functional for any wardrobe. “I have three little kids at home," says Rizk. "I wear these all the time."

City Beanie ($98)

We are in the thick of a classic Cleveland winter, and this cashmere hat comes in a multitude of colors that will fit snugly to keep you warm. They are Rizk’s favorite because of their softness and versatility.

Heights Blend Tee ($98)

The softness of this polyester and rayon tee has a feeling akin to cashmere. “Elevated tees are my favorite because they’re structured, sturdy and look good on all body types,” says Pusateri.

COURTESY SOZO

NEW GUARD

In every city's history, there are points when the next wave of leaders, entrepreneurs, activists, athletes, makers, thinkers and doers come together to build on the past and carry us into the future. This month, we shine a light on 19 Clevelanders who are forging the way forward for Northeast Ohio.

MOSTINTERE S TING PEOPLE '23

Photographs by Angelo Merendino � Illustrations by Kendra Huspaska Edited by Ron Ledgard and Dillon Stewart

Stories by Jacob DeSmit, Anthony Elder, Linda Feagler, Vince Guerrieri, Kate Bigam Kaput, Ron Ledgard, Mike McKenna, Annie Nickoloff, Henry Palattella, Lisa Sands, Ken Schneck, Dillon Stewart and Gracie Wilson

MAYOR

JUSTIN BIBB

Feel like you’re having deja vu? Don’t worry. Your eyes don’t deceive you. For the second consecutive year, Mayor Justin Bibb kicks off our annual Most Interesting People issue.

Bibb isn’t our first two-time Most Interesting People pick just because we couldn’t imagine exploring the New Guard of Cleveland leadership without him. (Though, that’s certainly true.)

When the young businessman, having never held office, was elected mayor in 2021, it shocked the region. He earned the voters’ nod over far more experienced candidates, and he replaced Mayor Frank Jackson, who retired after four terms and 16 years. In the same way "Jackson" became shorthand for slow and status quo, "Bibb" became synonymous with young leadeship. His election sent a tidal wave of change across the city — with up-and-comers wondering Can I do it, too? and men and women in boardrooms looking for the “Bibb” in their organizations.

“Change is a good thing,” says Bibb. “I think you’re seeing a turning point in America as a new guard emerges to confront a lot of these age-old problems with bold solutions.”

However, that’s not why we picked him again. Bibb deserves this unprecedented honor because, a year into his first term, things are now starting to get truly interesting. Bibb is learning that salesmanship and flash aren’t enough to stay in a city's good graces. He's being tested, both by dissenters on the street and in City Hall, and he's had his fair share of missteps, including his inability to retain the head of Cleveland Metropolitan School District, Eric Gordon.

Becoming a symbol for bold change has made him a spiritual leader and a case study of fresh ideas going up against the mechanisms of legacy and bureaucracy.

But it's also made him a target.

“Any mayor would tell you, this is probably the second-hardest job in American politics outside of being President of the United States,” Bibb says. “The biggest thing I’ve learned in my almost first year in office is that progress takes time.”

But patience is a tough pill to swallow for voters who bought into his “Cleveland Can’t Wait”

slogan. He hears from them often as he’s walking to work from his downtown apartment. They tell him about big and small issues they face, from rats in Public Square to violent crime on residential streets. He feels like all of their problems are his own, he says. Those conversations also offer revelations. One case he points to is when, during NBA All-Star Weekend, he chose not to extend bars' closing time from the typical 2:30 a.m. to 4 a.m., as was done during the Republican National Convention. “I wanted to prioritize the safety of our residents,” he says. But he admits communication could've been better with the city’s small business community.

“I need to get things done now because if I don’t, someone is going to tell me about it in the barbershop, or at church, or in the grocery store — what’s working, what’s not working,” says Bibb. “Residents think that you can solve every problem immediately, which unfortunately is not the case.”

Though he understands the gravity of the battles he’s chosen, such as climate change and revitalizing Cleveland’s schools, Bibb even admits “the speed is frustrating sometimes.”

In April, Bibb, flanked by City Council President Blaine Griffin, hand-delivered a box containing court motions to expunge more than 4,000 low-level marijuana convictions. This was the big, bold change Bibb had promised. Unfortunately, the young mayor hit legal roadblocks, and some felt his inexperience was showing, as he should have known the move wouldn’t be successful.

Bibb sees it differently.

“That’s the case in point of me testing the limits of the law,” he says. “I want to be disruptive, and that was our attempt to try a different approach.”

After all, isn’t that why we seek the “Bibbs” of the world? The mayor is the first to admit that he won’t accomplish everything he wants to in his first term — let alone his first year. But if his election truly has the ripples some say it does, we just might be able to make the big, bold changes our city needs together.

“We need to make sure we are not just elevating new leaders … but encouraging a collaborative spirit of community service and activism,” he says. “Because I, as mayor, can’t do it alone.”

Three Suburban Mayors to Watch:

Marie Gallo

The four-term City Council president was elected Mayor of Parma Heights in 2021. She’s 43 and working to help residents confront basement flooding, improve roads and maintain the city’s cultural resources.

Meghan George

The 41-year-old grew up in Lakewood, where she’s confronted neighborhood safety, housing affordability and ways to effectively use $47 million in American Rescue Plan funds in her first term as mayor.

Kim Thomas

Since getting elected the mayor of Richmond Heights in 2021, the 58-year-old former councilwoman has held listening meetings, helped seniors find housing and hosted monthly food pantries for those in need.

Despite learning in his first year that progress takes time, Mayor Justin Bibb forges forward.

NIC BARLAGE

CEO 38

Why He’s Interesting: Taking center court as one of the NBA’s youngest chief executives, Nic Barlage, who oversees the Cavaliers, Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse and Rock Entertainment Group, is bringing fresh ideas to a Cavaliers team primed to enter an exciting new era with Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and a young group of star players. With a community-minded approach to building the brand around the team, he has his sights set on reigniting Cleveland basketball and other businesses, downtown and beyond.

Humble beginnings: Despite having 172 resume submissions go unanswered during his senior year at St. John’s University in his home state of Minnesota, Barlage resolved to pursue his passion for sports. “I’m a firm believer that everything you go through in life, you can grow from and become bigger and better because of it. When you see a challenge, don’t look at it for the challenge that it is but for the opportunity it creates.”

One for All: Whether interning for a summer baseball league in small-town Minnesota or rising through the NBA’s business ranks in Charlotte, Phoenix and Cleveland, Barlage has always loved how sports can unite a city. “I think what sports teams can do is build a sense of pride, belonging and momentum attitudinally within our community, and experientially through what we provide in our venues. We’ve got a long way to go, and that’s what we’re excited about.”

Crisis management: Barlage is proud of how the renovated Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, which re-opened in September 2019 during his stint as the Cavaliers' president of business operations, served downtown through its navigation of the COVID-19 pandemic. “When we transformed the FieldHouse, we found out that we were one of the largest drivers of economic activity in Cuyahoga County and Northeast Ohio. To be able to bring tens of thousands of people downtown for a Cavs game 41 nights per year, and to fill the restaurants and hotels, and to host concerts, we feel that’s our role and responsibility.”

Big Swing: NBA legends he’d most like to join golfing: Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and David Stern.

LILA MILLS

editor 48

MOSTINTERE STING PEOPLE '23

Editor-in-chief Lila Mills is well suited to guide the effort at Signal Cleveland.

Mills leads a staff of 19 reporters and editors at the brand-new nonprofit newsroom, not to mention freelancers or the robust 600-person Cleveland Documenters team. It’s clear, from the get-go, that Signal isn’t duplicating the design of a classic media outlet. While it works to build up its reporting, it also aims to build up the community, too.

“I can’t over-emphasize enough how much we want to be hearing from people,” Mills says. “Our primary goal, right out of the box, is just to build trust with people.”

With her background in both reporting and community building work, Mills culminates the many facets of her career into this new role.

But let’s back up a little. Mills was first pulled into journalism while getting her bachelor’s degree in film at Columbia College in New York. During a Disney internship, Mills felt acutely aware of the mid-1990s welfare reform affecting her community back home.

“I grew up on the southeast side of Cleveland, and my mom was a Head Start teacher. I would come home on my breaks, and I would sub into the classroom so folks could take time off,” Mills says. “It was massively impacting parents and children, and meanwhile, I was in New York in an office building. It was totally disconnected. I got interested in journalism, really, from the perspective of wanting to tell real stories that were happening in Cleveland.”

She got her master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University and started her career in TV, then worked as a police reporter at The Plain Dealer, which employed hundreds of reporters at the time.

Later, she became editor of the Greater University Circle Neighborhood Voice, a community newspaper run by Neighborhood Connections. Mills stayed on at Neighborhood Connections, an organization focused on community building, for more than a decade. Through her roles as communications manager and associate director, she worked with the Cleveland Documenters, a part of the national Documenters network that pays people to attend and report on public meetings.

When Signal came together in 2021 and 2022, the Documenters folded neatly into the publication’s ethos.

So did Mills.

“Really when we started, we just thought, ‘Hey, if we get some people who are interested in this like we are, that’d be a huge win.’ So to have so many hundreds of people come out and be interested in this has been mind-blowing,” Mills says, “but then to have the opportunity to say, ‘OK, you can build a team around this that’s directly responsive to what people are interested in’ — we could never have imagined that.”

The project found widespread support, gaining $7.5 million in seed funding from organizations like the Cleveland Foundation, the American Journalism Project, Visible Voice Charitable Fund and more.

Mills says Signal is designed to make Cleveland’s news as accessible as possible. In its initial weeks, Signal published stories about wage theft, literacy rates, local entrepreneurs and governmental organizations’ inner workings. Along with its stories posted online, Signal aims to utilize text messaging services, pamphlets and fliers, videos, podcasts and social media for its storytelling and news-sharing.

It’s not your average media outlet, and it’s not trying to be. Mills says Signal doesn’t compete with other local media outlets directly.

“We want to be additive,” Mills says. “If we get up to a staff of 20 — you could drop 10 Signal Clevelands — and you still wouldn’t be at the level of original reporting that was out in the Cleveland media landscape 10 to 20 years ago. I think there’s enough room for us to be added.”

In a lot of ways, Mills sees Signal as a potential path forward in navigating a news climate that’s seen shrinking newsrooms here in Cleveland and across the country. If it can prove its concept after an initial four-year run, Mills hopes to see the model catch on and ripple into new markets.

Named after Cleveland inventor Garrett Morgan’s traffic signal that’s still widely used today, Signal Cleveland’s name taps into its spirit. In her editor’s note introducing the publication, Mills wrote: “A signal — similar to a lighthouse — can be a beacon, a trusted guide that lights the way. We aim to be just that, a trusted source of daily news and information for Greater Clevelanders.”

Signal Cleveland is a new nonprofit newsroom with community building at its core.

JESSICA PARKISON

restaurateur

Why she's interesting: Free time? Jessica Parkison's never heard of it. Since 2016, she's co-owned Salt in Lakewood with chef Jill Vedaa. Now, they plan to open two new restaurants: the East Side's Poppy and the West Side's Evelyn.

An unexpected path: Parkison learned to cook from her father and her grandmother. She even took part in Lakewood High School’s first culinary arts program. “I wanted to be a chef like my dad, but the universe had a different plan for me,” she says. While pregnant with her first child, she took front-ofhouse jobs to pay the bills and eventually landed in restaurant management.

California dreamin’: Parkison first fell in love with wine on a trip to Napa, California, with her aunt. “That’s when I started this huge journey to become a sommelier,” she says. Since then, she’s befriended countless winemakers as she builds out Salt’s wine program.

Rosé all day: Before going into business

together, Parkison and Vedaa were just strangers who met in a bar. Parkison, by then a certified sommelier, was the manager at Humble Wine Bar when Vedaa came in looking for a bottle of rosé.

An old soul: Poppy is named after Parkison’s grandmother. “When you walk up, it’ll be like you’re sitting on your grandma’s porch when you were a kid,” she says. In colder months, they'll winterize the patio to become a speakeasy, Etta’s Place — Poppy's middle name.

All in the family: Though not a professional chef, Parkison still loves cooking, especially for her husband and six kids ages 13 to 27. Her go-tos include spaghetti, lasagna and meatloaf: “I’m a mom, so it’s all that cozy stuff.” She often brings food for the restaurant staff, too, for what they call “family meal.”

Musically inclined: This live music buff frequents Blossom Music Center and the Agora. “I’m not crazy about death metal, but for the most part, I’ll see anything,” she says.

Ismail Samad

entrepreneur 43

Why He’s Interesting: Ismail Samad launched a restaurant in rural Putney, Vermont, operated a catering company on Martha’s Vineyard and co-founded a market in Boston. Now he runs Loiter, a social enterprise project creating an equitable future for his hometown.

The Chameleon: Samad’s superpower is a natural ability to fit in. He’s an unassuming provocateur, eager to challenge perceptions about Black identity. “I was raised by parents that instilled an activist DNA that is impossible for me to ignore.”

Disruptive Transformation: Samad recently acquired Wake Robin Fermented Foods in East Cleveland as an economic driver for small businesses and rural and urban farms. “The perception of East Cleveland has made East Clevelanders hesitant to invest in our own community and outside investors not willing to see value in the city’s people and infrastructure.”

Flip The Script: His Loitering & Unarmed podcast explores systemic issues of excluded communities. “The criminal justice system doesn’t allow Black folks to exist in spaces. We’re not going anywhere. We need to express ourselves without being criminalized.”

Full Circle: At 23, Samad opened a small cafe called Crust and Crumbs. At 43, he’s building an ecosystem in his hometown and running an urban farmstead. “Reconnecting with the people the furthest away from the conversation, yet at the center of it, has me grappling with how to bring the voices of the oppressed to the doorstep of the holders of the wealth to make change.”

GABE WASYLKO

Why he’s interesting: Gabe Wasylko always figured he’d make an impact in Cleveland. He just never thought it would be as a photographer of sports and cityscapes. When the pandemic shut the world down at the start of 2020, Wasylko dove fully into photography, giving himself a goal of posting a picture to Twitter every day. In the time since, he’s parlayed breathtaking images of Cleveland’s skyline into tens of thousands of social media followers and a job as Destination Cleveland’s social media manager.

He didn’t plan this: After graduating from the College of Wooster in 2019 with degrees in mathematics and political science, Wasylko had his eye set on law school and a career working in professional sports. But thanks to the pandemic, he ended up shifting his focus to photography (a part-time hobby at the time). “It’s kind of weird to think back on where I was three years ago. It shows that following your heart will get you opportunities you didn’t know existed.”

Locked in: Wasylko’s biggest celebrity moment came this summer when, after taking some photographs in the Flats, he drove a bachelor party to another bar after the group missed its Uber. When Wasylko introduced himself, almost everyone in the party immediately recognized him and said they had one of his photos as their phone lock screen. “I love that photography can help bring people together.”

First pitch: In April, Wasylko captured an image of the jet flyover at the Guardians’ opening day, a photo that has quickly become one of his favorites. That said, he had to work for it. After getting through the security checkpoint in center field at 6:57 p.m., Wasylko sprinted to the top of the grandstand behind home plate right at 7 p.m. to capture the flyover over the field in the nick of time. “When I got my seat, my friends had a Summer Shandy waiting for me. It tasted amazing.”

70,000: The number of miles he’s put on his car since he started photographing fulltime. “It’s my second office. A lot of times I have to use it to stay warm when I take photos in the winter.”

photographer 25

CHRIS RONAYNE

Politician 54

Chris Ronayne’s schedule is packed on a Monday in late November.

In fact, he has been busy for two decades. Ronayne started his career as campaign manager and planning director for Mayor Jane Campbell. Since 2005, when he became president of University Circle Inc., he’s worked to support the development of Cleveland’s East Side by increasing business activity and improving public spaces like Wade Oval. But even outside of the Circle, you could expect to see his suited broad shoulders and everyman-tousled head of gray hair pop up pretty much anywhere something good was happening in Northeast Ohio.

In November, Ronayne was elected as the third-ever executive of Cuyahoga County. The position, which was most recently held by Armond Budish (to mixed reviews), is one so quietly powerful that some consider it just steps beneath Governor.

So yeah, this Cleveland cheerleader’s plate is full more than 50 days before he’s sworn into office in January — which is fine when there is so much cheering to be done.

Today, for example, starts with the announcement of a new professional soccer team coming to Cleveland. The move creates “a more-global Cuyahoga County,” Ronayne says from the stage.

A few hours later, he’s off to the Greater Cleveland Partnership’s All In Summit. On stage at The Madison event venue, next to members of Congress and City Council, Ronayne shares dispatches from the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, at which he recently spoke as a representative for the Great Lakes. “Our freshwater resource is the envy of the world,” he tells the Cleveland crowd.

Taking advantage of Cleveland’s natural assets is pivotal to Ronayne’s vision for a “New Cuyahoga” — the one he pitched and refined over a year of campaigning. With our natural resources and the success story of the Cuyahoga River, which has taken major strides toward being delisted from the EPA’s Areas of Concern 50 years after it caught fire, Ronayne believes we deserve the title of the “Waterborne Capital of the World.”

“My vision is to make Cuyahoga County the most sustainable place

on the planet,” says Ronayne. “We are sitting on a treasure we need not neglect.”

The cause is nothing new to Ronayne. In 2004 as planning director, he led the Cleveland Lakefront Plan. But nearly 20 years later, that cause is more urgent. After all, a United Nations report predicts that global warming, drought and famine might uproot 143 million people over the next 30 years, and Cleveland has a moderate climate and access to the Great Lakes, 20% of the world’s surface freshwater supply. By orienting our infrastructure around freshwater and courting green tech jobs, Ronayne believes there is an economic opportunity in welcoming them.

“Over a year and a half of campaigning, I laid out my vision,” he says, “and I heard ways in which we needed to refine it down to things like better transportation systems, more complete housing offerings, communities connected by parks and transits.”

Finally, he heads off to his most important meeting of the day: Hockey practice at Winterhurst Arena. Ironically, this group of 14-year-old constituents might just have the most to gain from Ronayne accomplishing those lofty goals for our county’s future.

“That’s my joy,” Ronayne says. “I put down the phone. I’m in the moment, and I’m teaching kids the game of hockey.”

Hockey has been a mainstay in Ronayne’s life for four decades. Before his kids Audrey and Joe picked up sticks, Ronayne learned to skate on that Lakewood rink. He then played for Bay Village High School and was captain his senior year, which is how he believes he learned to be a leader.

“One of the benefits of team sports is you learn about life,” he says. “As a coach, trying to create chemistry, I’ve learned that you elevate and organize the strengths of each individual player for the benefit of the whole.”

Funny — whether it’s between leaders on the local or national level, from the new guard or old guard and even among surrounding counties, that same spirit he preaches on the ice might just be the key to capitalizing on this pivotal time in our region’s future.

“It’s a really historic and unique moment to have so many new civic leaders all at once,” he says. “Politically speaking, the next generation, millennials, are really driving change in this town. Cleveland is a midsized city with big city assets. And now we’re about to use them.”

Cuyahoga County's new Executive brings energetic vision to this powerful office.

REBECCA MAURER

Why she's Interesting: Rebecca Maurer, a lawyer and community advocate, ran for Cleveland City Council on a platform of bringing transparency and accessibility to City Hall. In November 2021, she defeated a 16-year incumbent by fewer than 100 votes and became the first openly LGBTQ+ woman to serve on city council. She represents Ward 12.

Towering Inspiration: For a real-life political role model, Maurer turns to Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. “She lets people see her being human, especially when Roe v. Wade was struck down and you could see her shaking in a way that we all were that day.”

Knope We Can: Maurer draws comparisons to Leslie Knope, Amy Poehler’s endlessly upbeat civil servant on Parks and Recreation. “I recently spent a day finding out if there was a rabid raccoon in a tree. Turns out, it had distemper, but I was basically living an episode of Parks and Rec that day.”

Team Goals: When asked for a favorite

LGBTQ+ icon, Maurer can’t select one person and instead picks the Women’s National Soccer Team. “They fight to take up space. Period.”

A Teenage Wonk: As a teen working at the Beachwood Public Library, Maurer learned the Dewey Decimal System, something she says prepared her for Cleveland Codified Ordinances. She remembers her training well. “597.9. Yeah, that’s absolutely books on reptiles.”

Morning Routine: Maurer is quick to extol the virtues of Ward 12's breakfast options. “I have a sincere and beloved breakfast circuit of rotating between the Harvard Inn, Red Chimney, Gabe’s Family Restaurant, Steve’s Family Restaurant and the Rowley Inn.”

Robert’s Rules: Maurer appreciates the opportunity to amend legislation, like when she helped create alternative police responses for people experiencing mental health issues. "There’s nothing cooler than making the language more effective for Clevelanders.”

Craig Hassall

chief executive 57

Why He’s Interesting: After visiting Playhouse Square once, Craig Hassall didn’t think twice about leaving London and making the move across the pond to Cleveland.

No Joke: Hassall, who’s been the Royal Albert Hall’s chief executive since 2017, didn’t apply for the Playhouse Square position. He readily admits he was dumbfounded when a recruiter approached him. “I told the search firm I’d never heard of Playhouse Square, so why would I go from the Royal Albert Hall to a series of venues in the Midwest? I wasn’t even sure where Ohio was.”

Game Changers: It didn’t take long for Hassall to be charmed by the majestic and historic spaces. “They’re extraordinary. To have this collection of exquisite theaters outside of Broadway is amazing."

Love at First Sight: A devotee of historic preservation, Hassall is captivated by the fact that the Cleveland theaters were destined to be razed before being spared in the early ’70s. “Venues like these are so precious all around the world but, sadly, there was an era back in the ’70s and ’80s when they weren’t appreciated and recognized. Luckily that has changed.”

Interesting fact: Hassall grew up on a wheat and sheep farm in the southeastern Australia state of New South Wales. “Because I was a little kid from the middle of the countryside who eventually felt that I could go to an opera, ballet or theater show anywhere in the world, I want Playhouse Square to be accessible to every person who comes here or might want to come here.”

ASHLEY WEINGART

Why She’s Interesting: Ashley Weingart, the founder and CEO of Real Food Remedy (formerly Perfectly Imperfect Produce), is on a mission to increase sustainability. How? By getting to customers the produce that hasn’t been picked for grocery stores because it is not “perfect” by societal standards. Working out of Produce Packaging in Willoughby Hills, Weingart is finding a home for foods that would otherwise go to waste.

Switching Gears: Weingart was exposed to the industry when she did marketing and communications for her family’s produce business. After learning more about food waste, she switched careers and started her own business. “There’s so many people in our community going without fresh food, and I wanted to find a way to utilize more of that produce to feed our community.”

Food as Medicine: Real Food Remedy aims to improve patient well-being, especially for those with chronic illnesses. “We’re going to be launching in the beginning of 2023 a new program with customized combinations of fruits and vegetables that we’re developing in partnership with some of the large hospital systems.”

Healthy Lifestyle: Weingart is a marathon runner and recently took up weightlifting as a hobby. She also enjoys Cleveland’s Metroparks. “I’ve experienced for myself how fulfilling life can be when you feel good and you’re feeding your body the things it needs to thrive.”

Super Mom: Weingart runs a business all while being a mom to three children. She’s up before the sun and after work, she takes her kids to swim and golf practices, cooks dinner (tacos are a family favorite) and does it all again the next day. “It’s a busy season in my life, but I feel very fortunate to have been given all these opportunities.”

Be the Change You Wish to See: “I have always had the outlook that anything is possible. When you recognize a problem and you have a potential solution for it, and you have access to resources and relationships that help you bring the solution to life, if you don’t chase after that at some point you might regret it.”

DR. ANDRE MACHADO & DR. IMAD NAJM

What Makes Them Interesting: In the past year, Dr. Andre Machado and Dr. Imad Najm, two Cleveland Clinic clinicians and researchers, have embarked on one of the most ambitious studies of brain disease ever conducted. They hope their work transforms how neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, stroke and epilepsy are diagnosed. The two are leading a team that has begun collecting data on a planned sample of 200,000 participants. The dream is that these diseases can even be prevented altogether.

What Makes This Different: The Cleveland Brain Study is one of a kind in three considerations — the size of the sample, the time scale it’s following, and the significant thoroughness of the data collection. The study, which is on track to enroll its first 3,000 individuals next year, Najm says, includes comprehensive cognitive testing, brain scans, biomarker collection and eye imaging over a 20-year period to see how currently neurologically healthy adults' brains change. “You cannot predict the future. You can’t do it in health. You even really can’t do it in financial markets,” Machado says. “Most [participants] will age without an issue, but we know by the numbers that some will develop a disease. Once they bifurcate, some age healthy, some age sick. We can rewind the movie."

Prevention over Treatment: The hope is that this longitudinal trick can help deter-

mine what the early signs of neurological disorders are, years before onset. Most experts in the field, including Najm and Machado, believe that prevention of neurological diseases will prove more fruitful than a focus exclusively on treatment, when neuronal death has already occurred. “Everyone has been finding the same thing,” Najm says. “The damage is there. We want to do something that will give us insight on why things happen, detect them early, and get treatment started early."

Why Cleveland? The two study leaders are accidental Clevelanders. Both are immigrants, and they came for training at the Cleveland Clinic with the intention to move on after a year or two. Machado, originally from Brazil, joined Cleveland Clinic in 2004 to complete a fellowship after completing his residency with the University of São Paulo. “I was welcomed into this community like I couldn’t imagine. Our kids were born here, they are Clevelanders for life."

He works as the chair of the Cleveland Clinic’s Neurological Institute.

Najm has a similar story. From Lebanon, he joined the clinic in 1991 for a neurology residency following a stint in California. He had a tough first day. "When I got to Cleveland from Los Angeles, the first thing I saw was a foot and a half of snow. The next day, I had to go to work very early. It took me almost an hour and a half to get through the snow.”

Najm is the director of the Cleveland Clinic's Epilepsy Center.

Why She’s Interesting: A self-proclaimed “sustainability junkie,” Cierra Boyd, the CEO of FriskMeGood, creates fashionable styles from preexisting pieces. It's a passion of hers, but the practice also cuts back on the harmful effects of fast fashion. Her pieces are summed up as “retro futuristic fashion,” a vision of the way people of the past used to dream the future would appear.

Fashion Meets Passion: Boyd says sustainability chose her. Fresh out of college, the Ohio University graduate didn’t have the finances to keep up with skyrocketing fabric prices, so she started to create clothes from what she had at home. “Eventually I was able to afford the fabrics, but I started to notice a difference in the way people responded to my upcycled stuff.”

Make It a Major : At the state school in Athens, Boyd enrolled as a business major but requirements like high-level calculus made her decide to follow a path that seemed a little more fun: fashion school. She graduated with a degree in retail merchandising and fashion product development. “I started meeting other people around campus who dressed like I did and they were very flamboyant with their style. [We'd dress] to the tee for class everyday.”

Shoes are a Girl’s Best Friend: Boyd was in the attic of her mother’s house trying to make an upcycled shirt out of shoes for a competition when inspiration struck. “When I put the top on it wasn’t looking right, so I don’t know if I was taking it off or happened to move it down, but when I put it around my waist I was like OK, this is cute.”

Party with Cardi: Her shoe corsets got so popular, they caught the attention of Cardi B’s fashion team, which flew Boyd out to L.A. to create a corset for the rap star to wear to her husband's birthday party. “I didn’t know that I was going to be at her house or go to the party or be on her team that night. I felt like I was in a dream.”

Local Celebrity: Boyd spent more than a month in L.A. filming for The Hype, a design competition show. Though she did not win the grand prize, she did end up with connections and opportunities to collaborate. “It was dope just getting to meet other designers and test my skills and abilities as a designer.”

The Ongoing Dream: Her connections from The Hype got her in front of Beyonce’s designer. She's still dreaming of styling other celebrities like Nicki Minaj and Rihanna. “If Rihanna wears it, I’m done. That would be so awesome.”

CIERRA BOYD

MAC ANDERSON

Why He's Interesting: Mac Anderson, his brother Drew Anderson and his brother-in-law Luke Visnic took an odd college hobby and turned it into a side hustle. That company now supplies different styles of fermented food across the country. Initially called Cleveland Kraut, the company has grown over the past seven years and is now called Cleveland Kitchen. “It was a strange hobby,” says Mac Anderson. “Three 20-somethings all fermenting sauerkraut. You would have thought it would have been beer.”

on the path: Cleveland Kitchen purchased a pickle manufacturer in California recently. The company now produces four fermented foods: sauerkraut, kimchi, dressings and pickles. The company points to Europe and Asia, where fermented food is eaten with most meals, as a path to growth potential in the United States. “It is a really great way to bring flavor and great health benefits."

Helping Hands: From a young age, Mac has

been around local farmers, makers and chefs. That continues through today, where he receives and gives advice as the company expands. Cleveland Kitchen has seen 65% growth year over year for the past three years. Most of its partners, from produce to packaging, are Ohio companies. “It is really important for us to not only support our local economy and drive growth, but also to do what we can so that it's very sustainable."

from mama: When they were young, their mother Donita Anderson — a chef who studied biology — took Mac, along with Drew and their sister, Emma, to Ohio farm areas in pursuit of fresh farm-raised meat and organic produce. Donita went on to start the North Union Farmers Market network in Northeast Ohio with the first market in Shaker Square. “Child labor laws aside, we were out there schlepping produce and working with farmers. From that very young age and all the way up through high school and college, that was our weekend and summer job."

Why he’s interesting: Chances are you’ve benefited from Jason Russell’s innovation. Prior to joining Bedrock real estate company, Russell was the general manager of Shaker Heights' vibrant Van Aken District, which he transformed from a pile of dirt into a sparkling shopping center. He also served as a city planner in Lakewood, where he created the Solstice Steps, one of the town's most popular attractions located at Lakewood Park, along with other projects. In January, he started at Bedrock as vice president of operations, where he’s hoping to help craft the future of Cleveland’s downtown. One aspect of his and Bedrock's work is a decades-long, multibillion-dollar Cuyahoga riverfront development project, which was announced in early December. “What I’m doing now might not pay dividends for years down the road, but I’m hoping that when I’m 60, I’ll be able to point to something downtown and say, Look what I did.”

It’s a simulation: When Russell was in fifth grade, his mom bought him SimCity for his computer, where he lost countless hours creating, designing and tweaking the perfect city. And even though Russell spends all of his workday helping design Cleveland’s downtown, he still finds time to sneak away at night and build a virtual city or two in Cities: Skylines. “The original SimCity really got me on my current trajectory. I’ve owned every version since.”

Keeping up with the Russells: When Russell isn’t working, he’s most likely in his yard watering his plants or perfecting his lawn. “When you work in development, the things you’re working on take months or years to manifest. When you’re landscaping, you’re done in two hours.”

Learning on the job: One thing Russell loves about city planning is that Clevelanders always find a variety of uses for the spaces he creates. While he knew that weddings and sunset-watching would be frequent occurrences on the Solstice Steps, he never imagined that the space would become a go-to spot for everything from yoga and organized exercises to massive festivals. “It’s things like that that show the creativity we have as humans.”

76: Russell’s number when he played offensive tackle at Lehigh University. Along with providing him the opportunity to play Division I football, Russell credits the experience with helping him learn how to work toward a common goal. “When you’re on the offensive line, there’s no superstar. All five of us had to work together.”

JASON RUSSELL

CHRISTI PAUL

TV Personality 54

In the moments leading up to this evening's newscast, 3News anchor Christi Paul seems at ease. Sure, the 20-year veteran of CNN and HLN has done the news more than a time or two. But in August, the Bellevue native returned to Ohio to join WKYC’s hour long “What’s Now” broadcast.

Though the downtown Cleveland studio is still new to her, she already fits right in. Ahead of air time, she reassures her coanchor Carmen Blackwell on her outfit choice: a purple top and a pink skirt. After a spot from meteorologist Betsy Kling, a WKYC legend, Paul lays on the table and flaps cardboard wings imitating a bird, a reference in jest to the day’s forecast. In her show’s second half-hour, when Blackwell and Paul are joined by Kling and Jay Crawford, she even tosses a jab at the former ESPN host’s physique that leaves the desk laughing.

“I’ve seen situations where people are one way on camera and one way off, and I never wanted to be like that,” she says. “What are we doing if we’re not transparently who we are?”

Paul, despite looking as stunning today as she did in 1993, when she was third runner-up to Miss Ohio, didn’t always feel so confident in her skin. A year before that, Paul was a student at University of Toledo when her friend Melissa Herstrum was murdered by a campus police officer. “It just shook me up,” she says. “I didn’t want to leave home. I didn’t want to leave my family. I was searching for security. I spent a lot of years just lost.”

So, she got a slow start on adulthood, working in Cleveland, sticking close to Bellevue.

Out of the blue, she got a break after singing the national anthem at a Cavaliers game. A sports radio host asked her to sing the anthem on his show and that turned into a job opportunity as an anchor in Clarksburg, West Virginia. For $12,500 per year, she worked as a bootstrapping journalist: editing, writing, shooting and starring in all her own pieces.

“Wherever I went from there, jobs just came up immediately for me,” she says. “I really felt like God had my back.”

But God also tested Paul’s faith.

She followed a coworker from West Virginia to Boise, Idaho, and then Phoenix. They got married, and she worked the news beside him.

It seemed like a picture-perfect story. But behind the scenes, he was physically and verbally abusive. Couples counseling didn’t help. Promises weren’t kept. Paul had crafted an escape plan with a therapist but didn’t have the courage to follow through — until finally she did. One day, she boarded a plane. When she landed in Ohio, thousands of miles away, she called her abuser to tell him the marriage was over.

Paul detailed how faith and therapy helped her overcome the years of abuse in her 2012 book Love Isn’t Supposed to Hurt.

Just before she left her first husband, Paul met Peter Wurm at a party in Chicago, where she’d been visiting a friend. They hit it off. She kept thinking about him. Once in Ohio, Paul’s friend reconnected the two. Despite what she’d endured, Paul felt comfortable jumping into a new love.

In 2003, Paul moved to Atlanta, where she was a weekend anchor for New Day Weekend on CNN’s sister network HLN. Over the next decade, Paul and Wurm built a family together with three daughters, while Paul made a name for herself on CNN.

But in July 2020, her faith was tested again. Wurm entered a three-week battle with COVID-19. He was hospitalized, fighting for his life. “There were three or four days I thought I was going to be a single mom,” Paul remembers.

All the trials of illness and political tension in the country made the call to come home louder.

After Wurm recovered, the couple decided to move home, either to Ohio or Wurm’s native Chicago, where they’d be closer to their aging parents. As they’d done with Crawford and Russ Mitchell before her, WKYC welcomed the big network star with open arms.

Today, Paul still lives with the trauma of her first marriage and even, still, of Herstrum’s death. Her college pal has been in Paul’s mind again lately, especially when she sent her oldest daughter off to The Ohio State University.

“You don’t recognize how that lingers,” she says. “I still fight that. God, please just get her home every night.”

But thankfully, Paul has the tools to cope now. “My innate needs are approval and acceptance, respect and harmony,” she says.

All things you find when you finally get home.

The WKYC anchor finds comfort coming home after navigating trials in her early life.

GABRIEL POLLACK

Why He’s Interesting: Gabriel Pollack knew he wouldn’t be the best trumpet player in the world. Instead, he set his sights on another musical goal. “It’s funny. I always wanted to run a venue.” After an eight-year run at the Bop Stop in Ohio City, Pollack assumed the mantle of director of performing arts at the Cleveland Museum of Art in October. There, he inherits programs like the well-loved City Stages series while spearheading expansion at the museum-owned Transformer Station.

Blazing a Trail: While music industry management increasingly gains popularity in college curriculums, that wasn’t the case when Pollack was in school. Taking the road less traveled — for a music major, anyway — he customized a new major at Oberlin College for himself: Jazz Entrepreneurship. “It was a fight. Now, the school loves that I have this major. At the time, I was really fighting for it.”

Achieving a Goal: When Pollack met previous director of performing arts

Tom Welsh nearly a decade ago, he felt inspired by the man and his position, fantasizing about earning the same title one day. “It was the first time where I was like, Oh, wow, that’s at the museum It’s kind of a big deal. In my mind as an outsider, I was like, I can put this music in front of a lot more people at an institution like that.”

Art and Sound: One of the benefits of Pollack’s new museum gig includes the blending of mediums — art and music coming together in a single space. “I’m looking forward to coming up with creative ways to kind of link the art to the performance, which is something that Tom did a lot. Weaving in the collection or current exhibits into performances, it’s a learning experience for me.” He pictures music directly relating to the visual art; freeform jazz beneath abstract works, folk music played in the shadow of folk art.

Minor memento: Pollack still carries the business card Tom Welsh handed him nearly a decade ago.

steven kwan

athlete 25

Why he’s interesting: Steven Kwan made his major-league baseball debut this spring after only 21 games at Triple-A, the top minor-league level, and became a breakout Guardians star. He won a Gold Glove in left field, the first Cleveland rookie to do so since Sandy Alomar Jr. in 1990 and was a finalist for American League Rookie of the Year.

A rough patch: After a history-making April, Kwan fell to earth with a thud, hitting .173 in May. “You start to think, ‘Maybe that first month was a fluke, and I’m finally getting exposed.’"

Getting back on track: Kwan was able to center himself, thanks to some advice from teammate Austin Hedges. “He said, ‘You showed what you can do in April. You can play at this level. Your skills haven’t changed, and you’ll be fine.’ I think the biggest thing I needed to hear was that things were going to be OK.”

Big hits: Kwan hit a grand slam in a win against the Texas Rangers to clinch the division title, but two back-to-back nights stand out to him: a game-winner by Josh Naylor and then a walkoff by Andrés Giménez, both against the Chicago White Sox. “It was a team we needed wins against, and we battled back. It was storybook stuff. The kind of stuff you think about when you’re 10 years old.”

Becoming a mentor: Seventeen Guardians players made major-league debuts this year, the most for the team in a century. Kwan became a leader in the clubhouse. “I’d played with most of them in the minors, but the older guys said, 'Hey, Kwan, you’re still a rookie, but you’re less of a rookie than they are.’”

LAURA WIMBELS MOSTINTERE

writer and creator 39

Why She’s Interesting: While many know Laura Wimbels from her 2016 book Faces of Cleveland — a compilation of everyday people you’re likely to see around The Land — she’s become the regional Queen of Horror as Lenora, the writer and creator of Midnight Rental and formerly the co-host of The Big Bad B-Movie Show Equipping that Elvira-esque persona, Wimbels hypnotizes viewers into an education on her favorite thing: ghoulish, ghastly and ghostly cinema.

Full Circle: As a kid, Wimbels stayed up late to watch her first horror movie (Psycho) on Channel 43. The genre hooked her. So, it felt like fate when a friend at WUAB and WOIO, Zachariah Durr, reached out in need of a co-host for the station’s new B-list horror showcase. It didn’t take long for the fans to flock, which Wimbels accredits partially to 2020’s lockdown. “We had such a massive response to the show. I mean, I have baskets of fan mail. We got more fan mail than the station has ever seen — like, physical, handwritten fan mail. And I knew that meant that there was a thirst for that type of show.”

Lenora Reborn: The Big Bad B-Movie Show came to an end on Channel 43, but it wasn’t the end for Wimbels and her beloved persona. She took the character into a new format, a YouTube series that Lenora hosts before delving into video essays on individual movies, franchises or directors. She maintains a positive, campy levity despite the change. “I didn’t want it to be a show where — you know how you can get on YouTube — you see people just bashing movies and saying like, ‘Oh, this movie f**king sucks.’” Episodes include "A Love Letter to John Carpenter," "Based on a Novel by Stephen King" and quirkier dives like "Horror Movie Sequels Set in Space."

D.I.Y. or Die: In true YouTube fashion and without a production crew, Wimbels learned Adobe’s video editing software in three months to edit her own series. “It’s been a labor of love. [But] I have total creative freedom because it’s just me writing it.” The horror hostess tackled the set herself, as well, modeling the shelving and quirky aesthetic after the Hollywood Video she once worked at before streaming services took those physical sanctuaries away.

Pen pals: The fan mail sent into Big Bad B-Movie Show included more than 2,000 handwritten letters. Reminiscent of the old days of mailed newsletters and post-based clubs, Wimbels sent back a signed head shot to every person.

By ANTHONY ELDER

VOICES OF HOPE

In 2007, according to the Ohio Department of Health, overdoses became the No. 1 cause of death in our state. In 2020, Ohio set a new record for itself, with drug-related deaths increasing by 25% through 2019. But Cleveland knows what it means to wrest vitality back from an impossible history. The Cuyahoga River — the once-burning punchline of the city — became a poster for successful environmental reform. In 2016, the city erupted as the Cavs flipped a 3-1 deficit for the championship win. So, why couldn’t we do the same with substance abuse? As the holidays usher in a new year, people talk of growth. Our beer-loving city throws around the term “dry January,” and there is no shortage of support groups, recovery centers and halfway homes facilitating second chances. As you read, listen for those moments of growth; voices of hope from a city where falling down once or twice never stopped anyone.

NEVER SAY DIE

AS A TEEN, I USED TO WALTZ into the holidays like a guest in Gatsby’s mansion. Everyone you love (and sometimes hate) gathers together; teachers, deans and principals can’t hound you and everyone drinks. A lot.

My friends and I were punk kids, or something adjacent, and the winter season meant less time at school, more time to do whatever. Usually, we picked someone’s house and spent the days and nights there sneaking alcohol — or just openly drinking — and practically competing to see who could smoke more weed and cigarettes.

Now, for those of us who made it to the chapter titled, “StrugglingTo-Be-A-Sober Adult,” the holiday stress beckons us again toward liquor and smoke.

As teenagers, we just didn’t care.

The original group — my best friends Mike and Jimi and myself — bounced around each others' houses showing each other music and raging around our rooms with bargain instruments. For years I never saw Jimi more than an arm’s reach from a guitar. I always wanted to be as good as he was.

Before long, however, we’d set down the strings in favor of silver-canned light beer stolen from Mike’s dad. We partied at Jimi’s when his dad was away, chatting about rock star dreams as the nights died down.

ities mounted. The drugs we snuck around felt less adventurous. We went from cool punk kids to deadbeat local adults.

I remember feeling truly worried watching Jimi pop painkillers on the couch at noon on a weekday. I wasn’t much better, treating myself to a blunt and a Xanax most nights to fall asleep.

Eventually, the thing that stopped us was ourselves.

I remember waking up from a nap just a few days after New Year’s Day in 2019 to a phone call. My gut sank to the earth’s core as Mike told me our immortality was a lie. Jimi was dead. He’d simply taken one too many pills the night before, went to bed and never woke up.

NOW, FOR THOSE OF US WHO MADE IT TO THE CHAPTER TITLED, “STRUGGLING-TO-BE-A-SOBER

After that, change came. I knew my own self-destructive abuse put me on the same dark path. I had just begun classes at Lakeland Community College and decided the academic grindstone sounded better than death. I cut back to only smoking marijuana and drinking (although still a bit too much). A year later when I transferred to Kent State University, I took it further, cutting all substances entirely: no cigarettes, no booze, no weed.

ADULT,” THE HOLIDAY STRESS BECKONS US TOWARD LIQUOR AND SMOKE.

Eventually, someone took another step. I’m not sure who went first, but it didn’t matter in the end. We did most things together.

Jimi introduced me to cocaine. I remember walking out of his bathroom and introducing myself to everyone at the party a second time. I was 17.

On my 18th birthday, Mike showed me acid. We lied on the floor of my first apartment listening to Phil Collins while the ceiling crept and danced above us.

We came from broken homes. Single parents like my mom or Jimi’s dad had no idea what we were up to while they worked or slept. Mike’s parents divorced and didn’t seem to communicate much.

As we delved deeper into the pills, powders and pale ales, I wondered how long it’d take for an adult to say something. None of us wanted to get in trouble, but we didn’t do much to avoid it.

After high school, things turned grittier. Suddenly the responsibil-

I’d never felt so irritable, but eventually the roar quieted down — life hushed a bit as I gained the focus I needed to chase my dreams.

Mike took a different route. He’d dropped out of school in favor of a music career, something he thought he’d do alongside Jimi. After a period of soul searching and the trial and error of music production, he scored an indie film set to release in 2023, Daddy Loves You.

Not long after Mike landed his first real gig composing, I graduated with a higher GPA than I could’ve dreamed of in grade school and landed my first job, here at Cleveland Magazine.

Over the last few holiday seasons, I believe we’ve learned to waltz again, albeit trading drinking games with board games.Things feel somber around Jimi’s anniversary, we lost Mike’s dad to alcoholrelated organ failure two Decembers ago — but we smile and comfort each other nonetheless. We congratulate ourselves on our accomplishments and dedicate them to our lost loved ones. We look ahead to the future with optimism, and now, the drinks are for cheering, not spiraling.

GETTING SOBER

Despite seven years of relapses, musician and actor Chrissy Strong made good on her name, willing herself to keep trying. Her biggest motivators came in the form of a son, nearing 20 now, and fellow women in recovery who showed her how to get back up again. “Usually, treatment is made up of more men than women,” she says, “but at the end of the day, these women in my life have given me hope. And they’ve given me an example of what it’s like to be a mom and I can include that into my life with [my son].” Outside of motherhood, Strong channeled her newfound clarity into art. Her album Bones dropped in 2021, and she worked as an actor on the recent Clevelandfilmed White Noise

A PROBLEM FOR KIDS, TOO

For Strong, substance abuse started early. “I think it typically starts at a young age,” she says. “It’s not like I had these major issues as a teenager — it’s not like I was afraid to not pay my mortgage or my bills — but those issues that I go through, that I went through, those were huge.” She had no coping mechanisms to deal with her stressors, and she found comfort in the instant relief a joint or a shot could bring her. It was just easier.

TALKING AS A FAMILY

Now with her own child, Strong leads by example. Her parents were in recovery themselves, but the structured preventions introduced to her at a

young age went in one ear and out the other. “The counseling that I went to and the Alateen meetings (for teens of alcoholic parents) that I went to didn’t [help], not at that point in time,” she remembers. While 12-step programs became a helpful guide later in life, she takes a more hands-on approach in talking with her son. “What didn’t work for me was being coy, kind of in a bubble that they put me in,” she says. “I approached it in a way of just being honest right away, [considering] his age, what he could handle. But I had to be mom and dad, so I had to do it all. I just talked about addiction, I had to talk to him about sex and condoms. I didn’t balk at that ... I didn’t cringe out. I just went into it with love and hope and honesty.”

RIGOROUSLY HONEST

That honesty provided the necessary puzzle piece the artist needed in her life, as well. She describes the way an addict, or at least herself, might lie about their time, hide the way they’re feeling or struggle communicating with people. “I guess being rigorously honest was tough for me,” she recalls, “and following simple directions. Like, ‘Hey, don’t get a job right away, you can’t handle money,’ you know. Being really vulnerable was rough for me. And I think that’s an issue for a lot of other people, too. It’s really about being rigorously honest ... it’s vital.” She credits this openness with keeping her sober through life’s stressors, referencing again the women in her life whom she talks to when she needs help with the heavy lifting.

CHRISSY STRONG

HOLIDAY SOBRIETY ADVICE

Michelle Westerkamp of the Ohio Recovery Center offers insight for those in recovery and their relatives.

Handling Stress in Recovery

“At the holidays, there’s a lot of demand for your time. For us in recovery, generally, we have a routine that we do daily. It’s really important that those people stick to those routines, [and] we’ve done the things that we need to do every day to ensure that our recovery came first that day. I have a ton of prayer and meditation in the morning, and then I do a gratitude list that I share with all my sponsees.”

Akron-based musician and actor

GETTING SOBER

In 2015, when Keith Johnston heard the news of a friend’s son overdosing, he decided to act. His response: Running2BWell, fitness-based running groups for people in recovery. “I still wasn’t thinking of myself, I was just thinking of helping other people,” he says. After a year, Johnston confronted his own demons, using the resources he’d discovered and cultivated to overcome a porn addiction. “It really started to come into focus to me as ‘I’ve got an addiction. I’ve got to deal with this like it’s an addiction,’ because it is,” he says. Now, when Johnston isn’t challenging R2BW members to races, he works with Community Assessment and Treatment Services for more in-depth time with those in need.

FITNESS AND RECOVERY

According to Johnston, fitness and recovery make a wonderful pair. “It scratches the same itch,” Johnston says. “People just kind of understand that on this basic physical level. It's not like this knowledge thing — we're just working out or we're running. Now, it doesn’t mean that that will be sufficient to keep you motivated, and that’s where a group like ours can really help to keep that motivation coming from different angles.” People facing court-mandated recovery meetings may choose R2BW in conjunction with traditional 12-step programs. The organization also makes it a point to put members in positions of mentorship if they’re interested and comfortable with it.

RECOVERY POST-PANDEMIC

As the stricter days of the pandemic waned, Johnston noticed a decrease in participation with R2BW and other recovery programs across the board. He credits this to the broken habits and heightened workloads typical of the shutdown. “People that are working are getting overworked like crazy,” he says. “The way the labor shortage is made it even harder for those people to actually show up.” That’s why Johnston believes in the inpatient treatment he’s recently turned to. A similar program to the communal R2BW groups, work in a facility focuses his and the patients' efforts on sobriety. “That’s a hard sell,” he says, “because their motivation is so low. But it’s a little bit easier in that environment than it is out in the community.”

VISIBILITY FOR OLDER ADDICTS

Johnston reckons you’ll jump quicker to the word 'overdose' when someone young dies as opposed to an older community member. “I think it does everybody a disservice,” he says. “Addiction crosses all barriers.” Despite Johnston's comfortable suburban environment and successful retirement at 55, addiction didn’t care. He chuckles at an interaction with a non-addict member of R2BW, Holly, who mentioned that people assumed she was in recovery from her tattoos and skinny physique. “That’s pretty funny,” Johnston told her. “Because they look at you and assume you’re an addict, and they look at me and assume I’m not — they’re both wrong.”

KEITH JOHNSTON

Running2BWell

Outside Support

“Go ahead and put in place exit plans for each situation you get into, also making sure that you have somebody that you can call — you know, ‘Hey, I’m going to be at this family event or a work event. Can I walk away and give you a call?’”

Coping as a Family “A lot of times families have high expectations of somebody who’s just gotten sober. They have this expec-

tation that this person doesn’t have drugs or alcohol in their system, so everything’s going to be perfect at the holidays. I just ask that families offer grace to those in recovery, because this is the first time that they could possibly be experiencing the holidays in many, many years without substances in their bodies.”

Signs of Relapse

“They become very talkative, and/ or they’re nodding off at the dinner

table. And they’re saying, ‘Oh, I’m just tired.’ [Look for] some of the signs that the person did when they were drinking before or they were using before. If you start seeing any of those signs start up again — being secretive, having to leave a lot and not explain where they’re going to — those are things that you want to look at and maybe have a conversation with them. It’s really important that we have a support system, so they can help us navigate that."

Founder of recovery running group

GETTING SOBER

Before Larder baker George Callas first laid eyes on his daughter, Rhea, he felt it was time to make that final stand against the smoking, the drinking and the opiates that marred his life previously. “It kind of forced me to question what can I do to stay sober, be a person I want my daughter to look up to,” he reflects. But, staying sober isn’t always easy in the culinary world — long, stressful hours and drugs and alcohol are commonplace. Now, however, Callas calls Larder Delicatessen and Bakery his home, a place that values a 40-hour work week and promotes a sober environment for workers.

RECOVERY IN THE KITCHEN

Cooks and drug use went “together like peas and carrots; you can’t have one without the other.” He recalls going to rehab for opiates, spending six months sober before his return to the industry spurred a relapse. “You know, a place that I have never been sober,” Callas says. “So, naturally that was very overwhelming for me." The switch to baking became part of the solution, offering earlier work hours in the

day and a beneficial partnership with sober owner Jeremy Umansky, who Callas appreciates for putting employees first.

THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM

Callas cites therapy as one of the greatest things to come out of his sobriety. “Honestly, I’ve gotten to the roots of a lot of the pain that I was trying to cover up with various things that I would ingest,” he says. That work included learning to communicate with his loved ones and bringing people into the loop when he’s stressed. “That’s the hardest part is just living life without that crutch," he says. "You have to learn all these coping mechanisms and constructive ways to get through your day."

FILLING THE SPACE

Alongside the coping mechanisms comes the need to fill time. For Callas, that meant picking up some tools.

“I started doing a lot of house projects … figuring out how stuff works,” he says. “You definitely need something that fills the void, and it’s not so bad filling it with things that are constructive.”

GEORGE CALLAS

Baker at Larder Delicatessen and Bakery

GETTING SOBER

Cleveland Comedian Mary Santora quit booze in 2019 after two previous attempts didn’t stick. The comedian recalls leaning into the life of the funny party person, bragging to friends about crashing six cars or using Cleveland’s craft beer culture as a guise for alcoholism. “Deep down, you know that something is wrong,” Santora says. “So you try to justify it any way that you can.” After a full departure from alcohol, the comic brags of things like her first comedy album, Hillbilly Boujee , which reached the number one spot on iTunes and fifth on the Billboard comedy chart following its release in 2021.

ADDICTION AND COMEDY

For many comedians, stand-up and drinking need each other. Santora often took her first drink of the night with her on stage, and gig payment frequently came in the form of a free bar tab. But, it was her performance that benefited most from tossing the sauce aside. “I was stuck in this rut, where I wasn’t progressing," she says. "Compared to where I was, I’m in such a better place — as a comic, as a writer.”

STAYING THE COURSE

Despite the positive effect on Santora’s career, she needed a way to resist old habits. “Drinking and comedy do not go together,” she cautions. “They will ruin your career." She motivates herself by comparing times when she heckled other comics performing at Hilarities 4th Street Theatre to the positive friendships she has developed now. Other tricks include holding a soda water with lime at parties to mimic a drink: sobriety, incognito.

FILLING THE FREE TIME

Getting sober meant finding new ways to stave off boredom — not unlike the sourdough bread we all learned to make during the pandemic. Santora sounds exasperated recalling the amount of time she truly spent drinking, the difficulty in replacing it with something constructive. “In the last couple years, I’ve been trying to find my non-destructive habit,” she says. “I do love reading — that is one of the things where I never [did it] before.” Having the space in a day to slow down and read, as opposed to mapping out the cheapest bar crawls, came as a blessing.

MARY SANTORA

Comedian, Co-host of WMMS' Alan Cox Show

RESOURCES FOR RECOVERY

American Addiction Centers Recovery Program Search Engine recovery.org

Asurgent Health –Addiction Treatment Center

Intensive Outpatient, Outpatient Treatment 2490 Lee Blvd., #319, Cleveland, asurgenthealth.com

Alcoholics Anonymous Cleveland Support Group Various locations, 216-241-7387 aacle.org

Aware Recovery Care In-Home Treatment 6161 Oak Tree Blvd., #200, Independence, 216-200-4415 awarerecoverycare.com

Cleveland Comprehensive Treatment Center Medication-Assisted Treatment 8101 Euclid Ave., #21, Cleveland, 855-668-4832 ctcprograms.com/ location/cleveland Community Assessment and Treatment Services Residential, Outpatient Treatment 8411 Broadway Ave., #3932, Cleveland, 216-441-0200 communityassessment.org

Edna House for Women Residential 2007 W. 65th St., Cleveland, 216-281-7751 ednahouse.org

Ethan Crossing Addiction Treatment Residential, Outpatient, Intensive Outpatient Treatment 20611 Euclid Ave., Euclid, 855-967-2436 ethancrossingcleveland. com

Forward Health Intensive Outpatient Treatment 6020 Groveport Road, Groveport, 614-662-4544 forwardhealthohio.com

Hitchcock Center for Women

Residential, Outpatient Women’s Treatment 1227 Ansel Road, Cleveland, 216-421-0662 hcfw.org

Lantern Center for Recovery Residential Treatment 12160 Triskett Road, Cleveland, 216-941-5005 thelantern.info

Northern Ohio Recovery Association

Residential, Outpatient, Medication-Assisted Treatment 1400 E. 55th St., Cleveland, 216-391-6672 norainc.org

Ohio Addiction Recovery Center Inpatient, Outpatient Treatment 3880 Jackpot Road, Grove City, 866-288-7544 ohioarc.com

Recovery Resources Outpatient Treatment 4269 Pearl Road, Cleveland, 216-431-4131 recres.org

Restore Addiction Recovery Residential Treatment 2650 Sanitarium Road, Akron, 800-357-8684 restoreaddictionrecovery.com

Running2BWell Fitness-based Support Group

Various locations, running2bwell@gmail.com running2bwell.org

Signature Health Intensive Outpatient, Medication-Assisted Treatment Various locations, 440578-8200 signaturehealthinc.org

Stella Maris Outpatient Treatment, 24-hour Detox Care 1320 Washington Ave., Cleveland, 216-781-0550 stellamariscleveland. com

St. Vincent Charity Medical Center Outpatient Treatment 2351 E. 22nd St., Cleveland, 216-861-6200 stvincentcharity.com

Women’s Recovery Center

Women’s Intensive Outpatient Treatment 6209 Storer Ave., Cleveland, 216-651-1450 womensctr.org

HOME DECOR IN THE LAND

Old school to new wave, thoughts and ideas to give your place a freshening up.

WRITTEN BY BECKY BOBAN & LYNNE THOMPSON ILLUSTRATED

BY ALEXANDRA SCHMITZ

1/31/2023.

EVAN MOBLEY & The Cleveland Cavaliers

HOME RENOVATIONS: OHIO CITY FARMHOUSE

Transforming history into a living space.

Antonia Marinucci knew the challenge she was facing in 2016 when she, husband Jeff Green and brother Dante Marinucci bought one of the oldest houses in Ohio City to renovate and sell.

Only historical and cultural significance had saved the early to mid-19th-century Greek Revival farmhouse from the wrecking ball. The Cleveland Landmarks Commission found that it had been purchased and occupied by freed slave Alfred Greenbrier.

Years of moisture accumulating in the sandstone basement rotted the first-floor joists and sheathing to the point that the floor actually collapsed under the weight of a few contractors. And 150-plus years of supporting a sagging roof had visibly bowed the side walls’ structural columns.

“As a restoration architect, the last-case scenario is demo-ing a house,” the owner and principal of

BY LYNNE THOMPSON

Ohio City-based The Architetta architecture practice says. “This one, I will say, structurally speaking, was a wreck.”

But Marinucci was unfazed. Over the next 18 months, she and a team of contractors turned the two-story structure into a showplace that combines historic elements with a modern floor plan and renders amenities in materials appropriate to the house’s age and architectural style.

“I always tell people, ‘The bigger the dump, the better,’” she says. “I just love it!”

The transformation began with contractors gutting the interiors and reinforcing the fragile exterior walls with triangular wood braces to prevent the house from literally twisting onto itself. They then jacked the house up just enough to install a new first floor — a process that revealed a 4-foot-long stretch of sandstone foundation that required replacing. The visible

slope on the second floor was corrected with sleepers, which she describes as thin, hand-cut wooden wedges installed so the thickest portions taper to the thinnest, from the floor’s lowest point to the walls.

A beam was installed under the roof gable. They created a vertical midpoint support and reinforced the front and back facades so they could support the roof’s redistributed weight. Contractors creatively suggested straightening the bowing side-wall columns by placing anchoring hardware on the tops, connecting them with a band, and cranking them up into place.

Outside, existing lap siding was augmented where necessary and painted a crisp white. Marinucci was able to salvage what she believes may be the original trim around the front and some interior doors.

“The keyed tops are a hallmark of Greek Revival style,” she notes.

Inside, the newel post, balusters and handrail of the foyer staircase were incorporated in the construction of a much wider, more user-friendly counterpart. “If not original, they were very appropriate to the Greek Revival style, too,” Marinucci says. The foyer and front room retained what she believes to be their original uses in the floor plan she subsequently devised. But the rest of the 1,600 square feet is clearly designed for modern living. “I like to strike a balance of not too wide open but not too closed off,” she says.

Marinucci finished the house in a timeless simplicity. She ordered the walls painted white and the trim highlighted in a soft, warm gray. The combination contrasted nicely with deep, moss-green

Shaker-style kitchen cabinetry.

“I felt that this was an earthy, natural color that was unexpected, would age well and also felt a little rustic, like a farmhouse should feel,” she says.

Marinucci says the people who purchased the house, as well as the buyers they sold it to, were delighted with the interiors. Still, she isn’t sure what Alfred Greenbrier would think of her work.

“The two-story portion of the farmhouse is the same configuration that it would have been [when he lived in it] — that’s what historic evidence tells us,” she adds. “I would hope that he would recognize it.”

THREE THINGS TO DO BEFORE RENOVATING A HISTORIC HOME

1. DETERMINE LOCAL GUIDELINES AND CONSTRAINTS

Building and zoning codes, historic designations and HOAs may considerably limit what a homeowner can and can’t do to a property. Marinucci gives the federally designated historic district as a prime example. “There is a literal list of criteria, goals and directions that is mandated by the government.”

2. CONSULT WITH A PRO

“Most people don’t know anything about building,” Marinucci observes. That deficit of knowledge can be costly when dealing with a historic home, particularly one requiring extensive repairs and updates. She urges hiring an architect or contractor experienced in historic renovations to evaluate any house 50 or more years old, preferably before buying it.

3. BUDGET FOR ADDITIONAL COST AND COMPLETION TIME

Marinucci tells homeowners to plan for projects to cost 50% more and take 50% longer to complete than they think. “Once you do get the estimate back from the contractor, have a reserve of about 20% more for those unforeseen conditions that come up. When we open up walls, we will find something that we weren’t expecting," she says.

Only Mother Nature Does It Better.

THREE VINTAGE WALLPAPER

DESIGNS TO BE INSPIRED BY

BY LYNNE THOMPSON

Pamela Barron was captivated by the rolls of discontinued wallpaper she discovered in the warehouse of the U.S. Wallcoverings store in North Olmsted. The retired Diebold Nixdorf marketing director was a lover of all things old, including the vintage-style patterns she saw on those rolls. She asked the owner, her friend Gary Levine, if she could try selling the long-forgotten stock online.

“He thought it would be difficult for customers to be able to make a wallpaper decision on a screen,” the Bratenahl resident recalls. “That’s when I said,

‘Yeah, but I’m going to offer free samples.’”

A decade later, Barron’s For the Love of Wallpaper is filling orders amid a wallpaper resurgence, part of a nesting trend that developed when people retreated to their homes during the pandemic and discovered the sleek, streamlined interiors weren’t as welcoming as they’d like. “[Wallpaper] adds such warmth,” she enthuses.

The choice of pattern depends on personal taste as well as how it will be used: to wrap an entire room, create a feature wall or draw the eye up to a ceiling. Barron offers three trending styles.

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Pandemic nesting instincts play a part in the trend.

1. WILLIAM MORRIS-STYLE ARTS & CRAFTS

Barron notes that the 19th-century British wallpaper and textile designer’s style is distinguished by “simple, elegant, clean lines,” geometric patterns and earthy tones. “It harkens back to a time when craftsmanship was important, when you had something that was unique and special and perhaps handmade, not just something that comes off a factory floor from China,” she says.

2. VICTORIAN-STYLE ENGLISH COTTAGE

Barron calls these patterns “the wallpaper equivalent of sweats" — soft, smaller-scale florals reminiscent of an age that wasn’t as complicated and stressful. “Our world is so crazy now,” she observes. “With people feeling so distressed and so anxious about what’s happening and going to happen in the future, they actually crave a return to something that sells comfort.”

3. GRASSCLOTH

Barron attributes its big comeback to the interest in natural, renewable materials. “It speaks to your value system,” she says. Today’s grasscloth, she adds, isn’t the basic beige-colored wallcovering of decades past. “You can get it in deep jewel tones, deep greens and deep reds and deep blues,” she says — colors often achieved with vegetable dyes. The latest iteration: large-scale floral patterns.

SIX INTERIOR DESIGN TRENDS TO EXPECT IN 2023

Multipurpose areas grow in use, as do warm colors.

BY BECKY BOBAN

The Midwest isn’t the West Coast. When design trends reach Northeast Ohio, homeowners make them their own. The projected trends of 2023 are no different. Both Halle Chiappone, interior designer and selections coordinator for JEMM Construction in Painesville, and Michelle Liebendorfer, head designer and project manager at Kitchen & Bath

Design in Mentor, note the gradual evolution of theme and style for their clients. “The kitchen is still the heart of the home,” Chiappone says, but mentions the open plan continues to speak to multipurpose areas over individual occasions. Meanwhile, Liebendorfer sees a clear “back to nature” theme emerging with granite and metals. Here are six trends that they point out.

1. WARM WALLS

Lake Erie’s gloomy effect is being evicted from Cleveland homes long shackled in somber grays. Both Chiappone and Liebendorfer see a step away from industrial vibes and an embrace of warmer neutrals, like ivory, bleach tones, white oak and rustic alder. The clean yet cozy look makes homes livable and allows other textures and curated trinkets to shine. “We all got forced into our houses and started to take a look at how important your environment is,” Chiappone says. “Things got a little too stark and too sterile.”

2. Full-Height Backsplashes

Not far from the vein of metal mixes, Liebendorfer says she is also seeing clients turn to full-height backsplashes, whether they be for the kitchen or bathroom. These full-size quartz slabs not only give the room a cohesive, creamy, organic rock look that varies from agrestic to bone white; they’re easier to keep clean and maintain. “Previously we were using a lot of tiles, and we still do, but tile can look busy,” she says.

3. TUSCAN TEXTURES

The homeowner’s fascination with Italy’s Tuscan finishes is resurfacing, fused with a certain nostalgia for the 1990s. Remember the painted plaster swirls that looked like they were made by a trowel? They’re back, albeit in warmer neutrals. “Not the bold spice colors,” Chiappone says. “They're again taking some things that are a little more traditional but cleaning them up for today’s living.” Even wallpaper is being made to mimic this texture.

4. Ceilings That Sing

Ceilings might go over homeowner’s heads, but current trends show they are finally getting some love. Exquisite trims, tray ceilings, stained wood box-outs, curved ceiling illusions — a ceiling trick catapults any room to the next level. Add the perfect chandelier and you’re crafting ether. Chiappone says a smart ceiling can prep a “swing” room for multiple purposes. For example, a home office set to become a dining room after retirement. Floors are also seeing more details, typically from wood patterns, even if they’re vinyl replicas.

5. Metal Mixes

A stoic, stainless steel fridge may come to mind when metals are mentioned in design, but Cambria is challenging us to rethink how metal is, in fact, a part of nature. Borrowing from the marble’s lightning-streak aesthetic, the company is infusing copper, brass, pewter and silver into quartz countertops. Straying from glitz, Liebendorfer says these metals are muted for a more subtle enticement.

6. BOLDER CURATIONS

Don’t be embarrassed of tchotchkes! The favored neutral palette easily accommodates a desire for bolder fabrics, furniture and linens, as well as antiques. Chiappone explains these items enhance a room’s personality and contribute to the cozy look while calling out details. “It feels more like furniture rather than functional cabinetry,” she says. “Even the appliances; the appliances are incredible, the finishes that they’re coming in. I have one now that’s doing white appliances and they have rose gold accents on them, rose gold metal handles.”

BRING

VISION TO US

Monrovia Kitchen

Inspiration, layouts, decor: those are the elements Cook attributes to E-Design. Self-starters who want professional advice on their artistic vision are E-Design’s ideal clientele. It’s great for those seeking to spice up a small apartment space on a budget. It’s also an ingenious way to try on a design company before plunging into large-scale projects. “It’s a nice little step in the water to test out BLDC,” Cook says. “We establish a relationship with [the] client and then they’re coming back.”

HISTORIC HOMES

HISTORIC HOMES

WHAT PACKAGE DO I WANT?

E-Design models can offer different packages and accompanying price points. BLDC’s starts with paint schemes for up to three rooms ($500) all the way up to full floor plans, concept boards and furniture delivery in its premium package ($2,000). Cook and Smith used common design questions to conceive these options. “A homeowner who’s completely savvy with everything still struggles with paint colors,” Smith says. “We strongly felt that was something that will always be out there.”

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WHOLE-HOUSE

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Cleveland Magazine, published monthly at 1422 Euclid Avenue, Ste 730 Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio 44115 as filed September 29, 2022. The general business offices of the publisher are located at 1422 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio 44115. The names and addresses of the Publisher, Editor and Managing Editor are: Publisher, Denise Polverine, 1422 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio 44115; Editor, Dillon Stewart, 1422 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio 44115; Managing Editor, Ron Ledgard, 1422 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio 44115. The owner is Great Lakes Publishing Company, 1422 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115. The names and addresses of stockholders owning or holding one percent or more of total amount of stock are: Lute H. Harmon Sr., 1422 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 44115; Susan Harmon, 1422 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44115; George F. Sedlak, 1422 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, Ohio 44115; Frank Bird, 1422 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, Ohio 44115; Lute Harmon Jr, 1422 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, Ohio 44115. The known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning or holding one percent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages or other securities are: None. The average number of copies each issue during the preceding 12 months are: a) Total Number of Copies, Net Press Run: 21693 b) Paid and/or Requested Circulation 1). Paid/Requested Outside-County Mail Subscriptions Stated on Form 3541: 9009. 2) Paid In-County Subscriptions: 8371. 3) Paid Distribution Outside the Mail Including Sales Through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, and Counter Sales: 0. 4) Other Classes Mailed Through the USPS: 0. c) Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation: 2176. d) Free Distribution by Mail: 1) Outside County as Stated on Form 3541: 0 2) In-County as Stated on Form 3541: 0. 3) Other Classes Mailed Through the USPS: 17. e) Free Distribution outside the Mail: 130. f) Total Free Distribution: 147. g) Total Distribution: 19703. h) Copies Not Distributed: 1990 i) Total: 21693. j) Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation: 99 % The actual number of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date are: a) Total Number Copies, Net Press Run: 22621 b) Paid and/or Requested Circulation 1) Paid/Requested Outside-County Mail Subscriptions: 8375. 2) Paid In-County Subscriptions: 9237. 3) Paid Distribution Outside the Mail Including Sales Through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, and Counter Sales: 0. 4) Other Classes Mailed Through the USPS: 2165. c) Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation: 19777. d) Free Distribution by Mail: 1) Outside-County as Stated on Form 3541: 0. 2) In-County as Stated on Form 3541: 0. 3) Other Classes Mailed Through the USPS: 0. e) Free Distribution Outside the Mail: 130. f) Total Free Distribution: 130. g) Total Distribution: 19907. h) Copies Not Distributed: 2714. i) Total: 22621. j) Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation: 99 %. I certify that the statements made by me are correct and complete.

COMMUNICATION IS KEY

Because email or video calls are an E-Design client’s primary source of communication with the designer, clear and concise descriptions of your home and vision are indispensable. “Because it is a paper-based conversation, essentially, it has to be very finite with what is being said on our side and also the questions we ask the clients,” Smith says. Also, be sure to follow the designer’s instructions, from taking accurate measurements, photographing each corner and mentioning any quirky nooks.

OUTSIDE THE HOME

The concept of E-Design is still being tested out by many companies, but BLDC believes it’s here to stay. Cook and Smith are already brainstorming where the platform could take them, from Airbnb hosts to local shops. “I would love to see it go into small businesses, like a salon or something small that needs a little design to it,” Cook says. Choosing a certified designer for E-Design has its advantages over an online DIY guru, especially when ordering items, because of their vast knowledge.

THE PLACE TO BE

FROM SKYLINE VIEWS to barn vibes, chic warehouses to spaces that surprise, today’s brides and grooms are focused on creating memories. But memorable can also mean turnkey. “Definitely the one-stop shop is very popular so couples can knock off as many items on the wedding planning list as possible, and unique spaces are appealing, too,” says Allie Hippler, senior sales manager at Metropolitan at The 9, who is seeing guest lists more in the 170 range versus 250 several years ago. After a rush to schedule belated nuptials that were put on hold during the pandemic, couples are slowing down. “They are spending more time planning their wedding and want venues they want rather than the quick turnaround,” Hippler says. “Also, we are seeing a move toward heavy hors d’oeuvre receptions and casual talking, than the formal sit-down meals.” Here’s a look at the range of venues available in Northeast Ohio, whether you’re looking for something barn chic, an elegant historic site, a high-energy environment or views, views, views.

CLEVELAND BOTANICAL GARDEN

It’s a natural fit for the wedding day — with formal landscaped settings, blooming gardens and lush indoor gathering spaces. Cleveland Botanical Garden provides custom menus from Marigold Catering. Hold the ceremony onsite in the Japanese or Sunken gardens, or indoor in Clark Hall. Reception venues accommodate up to 220 guests. 11030 East Blvd., Cleveland, 216-7211600, holdenfg.org/cleveland-botanical-garden

COLLISION BEND BREWERY

If you're more barley-and-hops than wine-andcheese, this Flats brewery offers a range of packages and a menu with locally sourced ingredients. Guests can enjoy the waterfront patio and watch ships edge their way around the Cuyahoga River's U-shaped bend. 1250 Old River Road, Cleveland, 216-296-6601, collisionbendbrewery.com

THE ELLIOT

The iconic Holy Ghost Byzantine Catholic Church in Tremont offers 10,000 square feet of refurbished space underneath barrel-vaulted ceilings and chandeliers. Ballrooms can seat up to 200. Service include bars, planning, rentals and valet. 1415 Kenilworth Ave., Cleveland, 216200-8506, theelliotcle.com

GISH BARN

More than 100 acres of farmland offer a relaxed, natural setting at this 1820s Germanic-style bank barn with a combination of woods, manicured lawns and gardens. Since it was renovated (with a mind to retain its original character), modern amenities accommodate vendors including catering and audiovisual. The 200-person capacity venue includes covered outdoor spaces and indoor event spaces such as a ceremony area. 530 Gish Road, Rittman, gishbarn.com

GLIDDEN HOUSE

If a classic touch is your taste, consider an elegant wedding in this French gothic mansion circa 1910. You'll feel like vintage royalty at this spot on Case Western Reserve University's campus in University Circle. The venue can accommodate guests overnight in 60 boutique hotel suites. Outstanding gardens, an outdoor gazebo for unique ceremonies and indoor event spaces can host up to 150 for a romantic affair. 1901 Ford Dr., Cleveland, 216-231-8900, gliddenhouse.com

21 places to celebrate the Big Day that aren't a party center. BY KRISTEN HAMPSHIRE

Collision Bend Brewery

The Lantern Room Red Space

THE LANTERN ROOM

The downtown views from this rooftop venue situated at the Church + State building offer a vintage-vogue vibe for an intimate celebration of up to 150 sit-down guests. It’s all about the surroundings here, plus it’s available seven days a week and has some high-tech features like a high-end sound system. Take advantage of services including catering, bar, rental and staff. 2818 Church Ave., Cleveland, 216-534-1206, lanternroomcle.com

LUCA ITALIAN CUISINE

A rooftop eatery with authentic Tuscan cuisine, Luca offers spaces for intimate celebrations, yet can host up to 200 guests with indoor and outdoor spaces. Located on Cleveland’s Superior Viaduct, guests can take in skyline views. A patio converts into an enclosed veranda with floor-toceiling windows. 2100 Superior Viaduct, Cleveland, 216-318-5500, lucacleveland.com

M CELLARS WINERY

We still think Ohio's wine country doesn't get enough love. Imagine wedding photos among the vines; wining, dining and celebrating in the Grand River Valley at a family-owned boutique winery with rolling views. Add access to the indoor, vaulted-ceiling barn, and it's enough to fulfill the wildest wedding dreams 6193 S. River Road W., Geneva, 440-361-4104, mcellars.com

MAPLESIDE FARMS

If country close to the city is what you’re after, Mapleside Farms delivers and accommodates parties of more than 300, offering indoor and outdoor spaces, a reception area and a slew of settings: ballroom, barn, farm and ranch, beach, waterfront, historic venue, loft, tented, vineyard. You can also access its catering along with planning and rentals, making this farm venue a turnkey experience. 294 Pearl Road, Brunswick, 440-845-0800, mapleside.com

METROPOLITAN AT THE 9 Swanky, luxurious and cosmopolitan: If this suits your theme, Metropolitan at The 9 is a fit. Exchange vows on the rooftop lounge with views of the city skyline, or plan an intimate gathering in the speakeasy. The Mint Ballroom, with its golden walls and crystal chandeliers, accommodates up to 250 guests. Amenities include full-service food, beverage, planning, rentals, equipment and staff. 2017 E. Ninth St., Cleveland, 216-331-6194, metropolitancleveland.com

MOORELAND MANSION

Say “I do” in a neoclassical mansion among picturesque gardens. Centered on Lakeland Community College's campus, the venue’s amenities include a dressing room, full catering, rentals and staffing. It hosts up to 150 guests. 7800 Clocktower Dr., Kirtland, 440-525-7306, lakelandcc.edu

MUSIC BOX SUPPER CLUB

This Flats West Bank venue offers three customizable wedding packages and a choice of spaces: the supper club, private dining room and mezzanine, rooftop or concert hall. Amenities include premium bar service, cuisine from Chef Dennis Devies, along with the tech and furnishings you need to host a memorable affair. 1148 Main Ave., Cleveland, 216-242-1250, musicboxcle.com

NAUTICA QUEEN

Take to the lake! There may be nothing more Cleveland than cruising, dancing, dining and celebrating with guests on Lake Erie. With two enclosed decks, an open-air space and full entertainment packages, the private charter ship can accommodate up to 270 guests — or keep it to a close-knit crew. 1153 Main Ave., Cleveland, 216696-8888, nauticaqueen.com

PINSTRIPES

Upscale, sophisticated and equipped for indoor and outdoor weddings, Pinstripes ItalianAmerican restaurant has a wine cellar, ballroom, rooftop, and patio with fire pit and Adirondack chairs. Reserve the complete venue and host up to 1,000 guests, or reserve the bowling alley, bocce court or other intimate spaces. 111 Park Ave., Beachwood, 216-415-8380, pinstripes.com

RED SPACE

If you’re looking for a modern, blank canvas, Cleveland’s Red Space includes an 8,000 squarefoot Grand Warehouse with 15-foot ceilings that can accommodate up to 450 seated guests. Settings include a ballroom, historic venue, industrial warehouse space, rooftop and loft. Plus, it provides a bar and catering. 2400 Superior Ave., Cleveland, 216-223-7731, redspaceevents.com

THE ROOKERY

Go rustic at this 562-acre park with a covered bridge and The Great Heron Lodge. While there is no kitchen, you can invite in an approved caterer — and bring your own bar. Amenities include tables, chairs, setup and cleanup. Affordability is a highlight, costing $100 for a ceremony and reception with 17 hours of rental time if you’re not a county resident. 10110 Cedar Road, Munson Township, 440-286-9516, geaugaparkdistrict.org

SQUIRE’S CASTLE

This historic venue in North Chagrin Reservation is a gatehouse from the 1890s. It includes expansive green space for outdoor celebrations, along with indoor spaces. 2844 River Road, Willoughby, 440-473-3370, clevelandmetroparks.com

Tenk

Squire's Castle

The Elliot

TENK WEST BANK

It was a machine and tool factory; now it’s a character-rich warehouse with two event spaces featuring exposed brick, metal beams and expansive windows. North Bay can accommodate 250-450 at ceremonies or receptions, and the more intimate Atrium seats 80. Some extras: a bridal suite and Tenk’s mahogany chairs and tables. A dedicated planner, Marigold Catering & Events, makes this a full-service venue. 2111 Center St., Cleveland, 216566-5400, marigoldcatering.com

TRUSS CLEVELAND

Have a rooftop in mind? Truss delivers. From 100 feet up, guests can take in views of the historic West Side Market across the street. Truss is inside Intro, the tallest mass timber structure in the country — and aside from accommodating 300 guests, it has full catering, planning, equipment and staffing services. 2061 W. 25th St., Cleveland, 216-294-1900, trusscleveland.com

WHITE ROSE BARN

If elevated rustic is your vision and a country venue suits your taste, White Rose Barn on Dalton Fox Lake in North Lawrence is less than an hour south of Cleveland, close to Canton. Natural light pours from the high barn ceilings into the space, setting the stage for stunning photography. The site lends itself to couples who are going for bold, boho or even farmhouse glam. Keep your party to less than 250 guests and take advantage of the planning, rentals, equipment and tent services. 4499 Dalton Fox Lake, North Lawrence, 216299-5662, whiterosebarn.com

Cleveland Botanical Garden

Music Box Supper Club

BEHIND THE VEIL

SMALLER WEDDINGS, NONTRADITIONAL venues and a move toward ball gowns are a few trends Patrice Catan says are taking over the aisle in a fast-changing industry. Catan is the entrepreneurial creative behind one of the country’s largest bridal boutiques, formerly Catan's Fashions, which sold an average of 2,000 wedding gowns annually (not counting other formalwear). Having designed more than 220 different wedding dress patterns for sizes 0 to 30 and served as a speaker at national wedding industry shows, Catan now hosts a podcast, Tales from Behind the Veil on Evergreen Podcasts, Apple, Spotify, Pandora, Google Podcasts and iHeartRadio. Catan is truly Cleveland's expert on all things nuptials. Right now, the most dominant theme she's seeing: anything goes. “You’ll always have traditional weddings," says Catan, "but life is changing and inflation and COVID have played a large part." Here, she offers candid answers to common wedding questions.

Q: What is one key to success that helps create a smooth wedding planning process, no matter the size or cost?

A: Weddings are an investment and couples have different ideas about what they want and how much they can afford. So, sit down and take a good, hard look at the budget and come up with a bottom line for the event. Then, make a list of everything you need for the wedding, from attire to the reception

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From dreams to reality

It takes a lot of time and planning to make sure your special day is a dream come true. Trust Charles Scott Salons & Spas to be the exclusive provider for all of your wedding day beauty needs. Our team of experts will create a look that you will never forget!

It takes a lot of time and planning to make sure your special day is a dream come true. Trust Charles Scott Salons & Spas to be the exclusive provider for all of your wedding day beauty needs. Our team of experts will create a look that you will never forget!

RIVER

With world-class galleries and artist studios just steps away— 78th Street Studios is located in the heart of Cleveland’s hottest neighborhood, the Gordon Square Arts District one minute off the Shoreway and minutes from Downtown Cleveland.

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19025 Old Lake Rd., Rocky River 440.333.7997

RIVER

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WEST 34970 Detroit Rd., Avon 440.899.1957

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hall and so on. Identify what is most important to you and direct the budget there. For some, it’s the music and for others it’s the food. It’s no different than decorating a home where certain projects are a priority and others are secondary. Budgeting is important because if you decide you can spend $2,000 on a dress but you overspend on the cake or DJ, then when you find the gown you really love you either have to stretch beyond what you can afford or settle for something less.

Q: What wedding dress style would you like to see come back and stay?

A: What’s starting to come back in is the gorgeous Grace Kelly look, more ball gowns and higher necklines. From 2008 until about 2021, it was all about fit and flare, the straight gown that shows more of a bride’s shape. But the Grace Kelly look is timeless, and we are also seeing lace necklines and beautiful embroidery sneak back in. We saw this with the Naomi Biden and Pippa Middleton weddings.

Q: Speaking of gown selection, how many people should a bride include when selecting a dress?

A: I’ve seen groups come in with paddles they make with “yes” on one side and “no” on the other. There are 10 bridesmaids and family members jammed into the room, and they all have an opinion. If possible, limit the “crowd” to a few guests in the dressing room and lean on the consultant to suggest dress fits and styles that you might not have considered. (Remember, they do this every day.) And another tip: Think twice about cocktails. After one too many mimosas, those opinions get louder and you can lose sight of

what’s a great fit.

Q: What can a couple do to avoid the wedding drama?

A: The bottom line is, the wedding belongs to the bride and the groom. They should respect suggestions, especially from their parents, but the anxiety ramps up when the whole world has to know all of the details. You are putting on a story about the binding of a husband and wife. And that story should not be open to the public until the day of the event. Your wedding doesn’t have to be anyone else’s business.

Host

HERE TO SAVE ‘THE DAY’

CATERING, MUSIC, PHOTOGRAPHY — oh, my. The reel of to-dos required to plan a wedding are enough to send the most organized type-A person into a tailspin. The good news is, you can orchestrate an ideal Big Day without all the pressure if you partner with a planner.

“I love weddings because they are so high-stress, and you get one chance for everything to go right,” says Jessica Kraner, who runs Oh Hello Event Planning with Amanda Metcalf. (Kraner’s adoration for complex, emotional wedding coordination is a relief to many couples who hand off the details.)

But even wedding coordination isn't one-size fits all. Kraner offers a few different types of wedding planning services:

Full planning: A turnkey program that goes from selecting vendors to clean-up after the reception.

Month-of planning: A consultant comes in after a couple retains vendors and manages final details, including creating a timeline of the wedding day.

Day-of planning: This is more of a coordination effort with a third party acting as a go-to for questions and ushering the bridal party and guests through the schedule.

Kraner recommends full or month-of planning so the consultant can get to know the couple and execute on their vision. Here are a few reasons why.

that walks them through their wedding day from start to finish. A planner should point out scheduling logjams or missing pieces that a bride and groom might not consider. “Say a photographer is contracted for eight hours so the bouquet toss needs moved or the DJ was contracted for four hours but the reception is longer,” says Kraner. "We see how things fit into the day."

DETAILS, DETAILS. Are there enough centerpieces for every table? Have vendors been contacted, and do they understand the timeline and their responsibilities? If the wedding involves bringing in a lot of setup supplies like furniture and table settings, are rental agreements squared away and delivery times arranged? “There are little things that can slip through the cracks, like in one instance, there were not dessert plates and then a family member had to run out to the store,” Kraner says. “It helps to have someone who plans weddings every day be there to double check all the details.”

A GO-TO FOR ‘ALL THE THINGS.’ “Having someone there on the day as a point of contact is important for vendors and family members, too,” Kraner says. Otherwise, the bride and groom — or their parents — are left to coordinate vendors, answer questions about “what happens next” and basically herd cats. “That way, they don’t have to deal with the questions and everyone can enjoy themselves.”

Located in Downtown Cleveland, Lake Affect Studios offers an industrial atmosphere with warm, updated finishes. With options for on-site ceremonies, a beautiful outdoor courtyard, and a 200 person event space, it ’s the perfect place to make any occasion all yours.

Now booking weddings in 2023 & 2024

CALLING OUT RED FLAGS. One feature that couples appreciate is a timeline

78 TH STREET STUDIOS

The Venues at 78th Street Studios provide modern, industrial spaces to host every aspect of your special day! Book your ceremony, photo ops, cocktail hour and reception all under one roof — complete with free, ample parking, ability to bring in a full-service caterer of your choice and generous advance preparation time to personalize your venue.

With seating for up to 300 people, or intimate space to seat a smaller gathering, the Venues at 78th Street Studios offer five gorgeous options to create a memorable wedding celebration!

events@78thstreetstudios.com venuesat78thstreetstudios.com

CHARLES SCOTT SALONS & SPAS

Take some time for yourself before your big day. Charles Scott Salons & Spas will leave you refreshed and ready for the wedding day. Schedule your pre-wedding prep appointments with your bridal party; manicure and pedicures and spray tans for all.

34970 Detroit Road #230, Avon 19025 Old Lake Road, Rocky River 440-899-1957, 440-333-7994 charlesscott.com

GORDON GREEN

Cleveland’s most special event venue in the heart of Gordon Square! 20,000 sq. ft. of gorgeously restored interiors are complimented by a large, private outdoor courtyard and on-site parking. Our knowledgeable team helps guide you through your special day. Gordon Green is perfect for on-site ceremonies and receptions!

gordongreenevents.com @gordongreenevents

SAPPHIRE CREEK WINERY & GARDENS

Your wedding will be a memorable occasion at Sapphire Creek Winery & Gardens with our modern, exquisite winery and extensive gardens that serve as the perfect setting.

The photo opportunities at Sapphire Creek are endless. Additionally, you and your guests will be in awe of the amazing culinary creations and white-glove service. Our entire staff is geared toward exceeding your wedding expectations.

440-543-7777 sapphire-creek.com

THE AVIATOR CLEVELAND

The Aviator boasts one of Cleveland’s most modern and trendy wedding venues. Consider it a one-stop shop to take all the stress away in planning your big day! With four different event spaces and a luxurious rooftop bar, we are ready to watch your dream wedding take flight.

info@aviatorcle.com 216-770-5300 aviatorcle.com

CLEVELAND METROPARKS ZOO

Host your wedding, rehearsal dinner or shower at Stillwater Place at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. Stillwater Place features a gorgeous ballroom, picturesque views of the zoo’s scenic Waterfowl Lake and the option for a one-of-a-kind animal encounter to make your special day even more memorable.

3900 Wildlife Way, Cleveland 216-635-3304 clevelandmetroparks.com/weddings

LAKE AFFECT STUDIOS & EVENT SPACE

Lake Affect Studios is located in Downtown Cleveland, offering an industrial atmosphere with warm, updated finishes. The venue offers a ceremony site that can accommodate up to 170 people and an adjacent reception space that can seat up to 200 people. Guests can also enjoy our outdoor courtyard area, perfect for taking advantage of the warmer months.

lakeaffectstudios.com/weddings

OHIO IS ALL IN

ON SPORTS GAMBLING

Here's everything Clevelanders need to know to get in the game.

ONCE UPON A TIME, sports gambling existed in the dark underbelly of society, eliciting images of a cigar-chomping bookie beating a degenerate gambler silly over an unpaid debt.

But today, the practice has gone legit. Sports betting is now legal in more than 30 states, and a recent Pew Research Study estimated that 19% of Americans gamble on some sports contest — be it an office pool or placing a bet at a sportsbook. Modest bets of $10 or less keep most of them from having to leverage the house.

And now, the Buckeye State is going all in on the action. At the end of 2021, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill legalizing sports betting in the state starting Jan. 1. Since then, local gaming companies and sports teams have been ramping up in preparation, aiming to draw in potential new customers. A sports-crazed region, Ohio is prime to instantly become one of the biggest sports betting states in America. In fact, PlayOhio, a gaming industry trade publication,

expects wagers totaling $8 billion in 2023. (By comparison, the budget for the city of Cleveland for 2022 was $1.8 billion.) Most wagers will be on football or basketball.

“People who bet on sports might not be your typical slots player,” says Adam Suliman, Jack Entertainment's senior vice president of sports and digital gaming. “I think there will be a new customer base that will be attracted. It’s fun just to have $20 down on a game.”

Of course, you won’t be able to legally bet on everything in Ohio. You can bet on sporting events, but not, say, the Oscars. A lot of prop bets — such as an individual player's performance rather than the outcome of the game — will be off the table. And though it's popular on the black market, betting on high school games or any contest where more than half the participants are 18 or younger is prohibited.

But other than those few restrictions, gambling on sports is incredibly simple. Of course you'll be able to pick a few games before heading to the blackjack table at Jack Casino, which just revealed a movie theater-style area to watch and bet on games. Many places with existing liquor licenses — including Hooley House and the Clevelander Bar downtown — are also permitted to have gambling kiosks, much like

Keno machines in bars. Guardians, Cavs and Browns fans can look forward to putting a little money where their mouth is ahead of games at Progressive Field, Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse and FirstEnergy Stadium. And it truly doesn't get easier than the mobile apps offered by BetMGM and DraftKings.

If you're itching to get in the game but not sure where to start, follow our guide to gambling in the state of Ohio. Oh, and good luck!

Betting In Person

BETRIVERS SPORTSBOOK: Part of the multimillion-dollar Pro Football Hall of Fame Village project, the sportsbook sits in the Fan Engagement Zone, a plaza including Don Shula’s Steakhouse and the Brew Kettle. 2626 Fulton Dr., Canton, betrivers.com

JACK CLEVELAND CASINO: The Las Vegas experience comes to Cleveland at the downtown casino. Recliners and banquette booths let you lounge as you place live bets, play video and table games and watch all the action on a 35-foot wall of TVs. 100 Public Square, 216-297-4777, jackentertainment.com/cleveland

Ohioans can finally legally bet on sports – and they likely will, in grand style.

JACK THISTLEDOWN: Expect a similar experience to the casino but without the table games. 21501 Emery Road, North Randall, 216-6628600, jackentertainment.com/thistledown

MAHONING VALLEY RACE COURSE: The horse track that also offers slot machines partners with Barstool to offer in-person sports betting. 655 N. Canfield Niles Road, Youngstown, 877788-3777, hollywoodmahoningvalley.com

ROCKET MORTGAGE FIELDHOUSE: Through a partnership with Caesar’s Entertainment, the Cavs are on target to open a 10,000-squarefoot sportsbook at the northwest corner of the arena, near Ontario Street and Huron Road. With a bar and lounge, the entertainment space plans to hold regular hours, in addition to being open on game days. 1 Center Court, Cleveland, 216-420-2000, rocketmortgagefieldhouse.com

Additional sportsbooks are being planned at the two other major league sports venues in Cleveland — FirstEnergy Stadium and Progressive Field — as well as Northfield Park. Expect them to open in 2023.

Mobile betting

The legalization of sports gambling also allows Ohioans to place bets with a variety of online sportsbooks, many affiliated with in-person betting sites. A few things to note. For one, odds may vary on the same game from site to site. Additionally, most apps and sites are linked to bank accounts or credit cards, so bettors are urged to use care with their phone access.

BETJACK: Jack Casino’s online component, the virtual sportsbook includes a “training camp” to help guide novice gamblers through what can seem like an onslaught of information. betjack.com

BALLY’S: Currently available in five states, the Bally’s app and site offer a series of “predictor” opportunities, with questions that can be bet on individually or as a parlay. ballybet.com

BARSTOOL: The brash “Saturdays are For the Boys” media company has ventured into sports

betting as well. (They’re partnering with Mahoning Valley as well as Hollywood Casino in Toledo.) barstoolsportsbook.com

BETMGM: A one-stop shop for everything from in-game wagering to parlays — which are relatively easy to build on the app, compared to others. oh.betmgm.com

CAESAR’S ENTERTAINMENT: With the acquisition of the legendary William Hill sportsbook, Caesars has become a major player in online sports betting, with an easy interface and good (if high-priced) bonus offers. caesers.com

DRAFTKINGS: Already a popular daily fantasy sports site — where users can assemble a fantasy sports lineup for one game, instead of an entire season — DraftKings has already ventured into sports gambling in 14 other states. draftkings.com

FANDUEL: Another daily fantasy sports site, FanDuel has one of the largest ranges of sports to bet on, from badminton to rugby. fanduel.com

Glossary of Gambling Terms

MONEYLINE: A wager that is placed on who will win a game, with no point spread.

POINT SPREAD: A wager that considers a margin of victory. If the Browns are favored by seven points, that means that you are wagering that they will win the game by more than that margin. If they do that, it’s known as covering the spread.

PICK’EM: An instance where two teams playing are so closely matched, there is no point spread.

BAD BEAT: When an expected gambling win becomes a loss late in the game. Many bad beats are the result of a backdoor cover, which is when a late score by a team doesn’t affect the final outcome of the game but makes a difference to gamblers who are betting with a point spread.

FAVORITE: Team that is predicted to win. Also sometimes called “the chalk.” The team that isn’t predicted to win is the underdog (dog for short).

FUTURES BET: A wager on a future event. For example, placing $20 on the Guardians to make the World Series during spring training.

LIVE BETTING: Betting on a game while that game is going on. Also called in-game betting or microbetting.

OVER/UNDER: A number that reflects the cumulative score of two teams in a game. If you’re betting the over, you’re betting the combined score will be more than that number. If you’re betting the under, you think they'll score fewer.

PARLAY: A wager that involves several games and outcomes, with cumulative results. If you bet on a three-game parlay for the Cavs, Pistons and Bulls, you’re betting that all three teams will win.

PROP BET: A wager that isn’t necessarily dependent on game action. They’re popular during the Super Bowl. Examples: The coin flip result, the length of the national anthem, what team will score the first touchdown and what color the Gatorade dumped on the winning coach will be.

You’re playing for entertainment, not money. It’s fun to have a little action on NFL Sunday, or play a pool for college football bowl games. But remember: You want to win. You shouldn’t need to win for your own financial health.

Remember: You’re going to lose sometimes. The outcome of sporting events combines skill, talent … and chance. Just like the ball doesn’t bounce your favorite team’s way sometimes, the ball won’t always bounce your way as a bettor. A healthy relationship with losing means a healthy

relationship with betting.

Not all gambling losses can be financial. You may not be betting more than you can afford to lose, but if gambling is taking over your life at the expense of your job and personal relationships, that still may be a sign you have a problem.

If you do develop a problem, don’t be afraid to reach out for help — it's just a phone call away. The Ohio Problem Gambling Helpline, which connects players with counselors, can be reached at 1-800-589-9966.

Safe betting

Betting can be a fun way to watch sports. It can also potentially be a dangerous addiction. Here are some tips to ensure that you bet safely. Never bet more than you can afford to lose — and never chase your losses. “Chasing your losses” is a term for increasing the amount that you wager to recoup what you’ve already lost.

How do you get on the water?

Great Lakes to Grand Rivers, there are so many ways to make your life a water life. Our focus is on water education, inspiration, and access to Ohio’s Waterways. We seek to share this knowledge and connect with programs and places on the water throughout the heartland.

WELCOME TO OUR EXPERIENCE!

OUR SOLE OBJECTIVE THIS YEAR is to immerse you in a totally redesigned experience in the newly opened I-X Center showplace.

Yes, the boat show may be opening for our 66th annual cruise, but you won’t recognize it. From the moment you enter the new east grand lobby and become focused on a totally new floor layout, we intend for you to be submerged in an atmosphere of summer fun on the water.

In addition to hundreds of new boats waiting for you to board, you’ll see more than 300 displays of boating and fishing accessories, marinas and clubs, service firms, nautical fashions, boating destinations and much more.

You can also engross yourself in our expanded opportunities, such as learning to kayak and paddleboard in the Paddling Pool; catching expert fishing clinics on two fishing seminar stages; casting for live trout in the Trout Pond; playing in the Kids Zone; kicking back on the Great Lawn with family lawn games; listening to live music on the Main Stage; sailing a match-race

aboard two sailing simulators; and docking a powerboat in a docking simulator, just to name a few.

Still the oldest and largest boat and fishing show in Ohio, the lucrative manufacturer winter incentives are back, making buying very attractive right now.

More than 3 million Ohioans will go boating this summer.

I’m delighted my family will be among them. We hope we’ll see you out there, too. Meanwhile, have a great day at the show.

MICHELLE BURKE, PRESIDENT Lake Erie Marine Trades Association

SHOW AT A GLANCE

Jan. 12-15, 2023

I-X Center • 1 I-X Center Drive, Cleveland, OH 44135

TICKETS:

General Admission (ONLINE & AT THE GATE) ....................... $20 Children 6 and younger FREE Senior and military discount tickets $15** **Available for purchase onsite at the box office ONLY

HOURS:

Thurs., Jan. 12 Noon–9 p.m. Fri., Jan. 13 .......................... Noon–9 p.m. Sat., Jan. 14 10 a.m.–9 p.m. Sun., Jan. 15 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

BUY YOUR ONLINE TICKETS AT CLEVELANDBOATSHOW.COM. Use promo code CLEMAG for a discount.

Tickets also are available to purchase at the I-X Center box office.

Boat Ambassadors Help Non-Boaters Enter the Boating Lifestyle

Ohio has some of the best boating north of the Caribbean, but non-boaters may not know where to get started. To answer your questions and provide you with a continuing source for boating information, this year’s boat show will feature boat ambassadors — experienced boaters from the U.S. Power Squadrons, who can talk with you about the various types of boating, regional venues, legal and insurance requirements, training, purchase, maintenance, storage and any other boating questions you may have. Whether you are interested in power or sail boating, kayaking our rivers or cruising the Great Lakes, our boat ambassadors can help you make informed decisions about entering the boating lifestyle. They will be available throughout the boat show and accessible during the year at no cost.

SENDING SUMMERTIME

VIBES

BY RUTH CORRADI BEACH

Summertime is in full force from Jan. 12 to 15, 2023. That’s when the Progressive Cleveland Boat Show drops anchor at the I-X Center. There are exhibits, activities, events and seminars to attract anyone with even a passing interest in boating, let alone all of the lifelong lake lovers who look forward to the show year after year. Here, we showcase the top 10 reasons to attend this year’s on the water extravaganza.

1CURE YOUR WINTER BLUES

January in Cleveland can be a tough slog. But for four days smack in the middle of the month, summer is at the I-X Center. Not only are visitors surrounded by boats and other outdoor watercrafts such as kayaks and jet skis, but the entire vibe is summertime. On Thursday, Put-in-Bay day, visitors can sample some famous Boardwalk lobster bisque and groove along to Westside Steve Simmons, Ray Fogg, Mike “Mad Dog” Adams and Pat Shepard. Friday is First Mate Night, featuring Tricky Dick & the Cover-Ups and The Island Doctor, who returns for Saturday and Sunday as well. Saturday’s Mid-Winter Rendezvous welcomes The Jimmy Jack Band and Nashville Crush. Sunday Funday is billed as Family Fun Day.

“The winter holidays are fun, with family and friends and all, then after there’s that quiet part of winter where spring can’t come fast enough,” says Tom Mack, founder of South Shore Marine. “The boat show offers the energy of anticipation of springtime and boating on the water. You can see by the grins on people’s faces, ‘I’m in my happy place with all of these boats around me, I can’t wait till spring.’ There’s nothing better than boating if you’re a boater, but the anticipation, that’s fun, too. The boat show turns into a communal event.”

The live island music, marine products and family games on the Great Lawn are just the beginning.

“It’s an immersive experience,” says Norm Schultz, presidentemeritus of the Lake Erie Marine Trades Association (LEMTA). “The show gives all attendees the perception of being surrounded by summer on Ohio’s waterways.”

2CONNECT WITH BOATERS FROM OHIO AND BEYOND

When your beloved activity depends in large part on warmer weather (or at least unfrozen lakes and rivers), it’s hard to stay connected to friends when the weather turns cold. The Progressive Cleveland Boat Show offers a chance for fellow boaters to touch base off of the water.

Ken Alvey, past-president of LEMTA and legislative liaison for the Boating Association of Ohio, notes that the boat show is a “very social event. A lot of people are there to reconnect with their love of the water, boats and fishing. It’s an opportunity to catch up and see people, whether it’s marina owners, boat dealers, friends from the yacht club or boat club — boating friends have the chance to come together.”

In fact, Catawba Island Club has a party for its members on Saturday evening at the show, and many other clubs and marinas

congregate there to see each other during the winter. If you’re not a member of a specific club or are new to boating and looking to make some social connections, this weekend is an optimal time for that too, says LEMTA President Michelle Burke.

“Many yacht clubs at the boat show are there specifically to gain new members,” she says. “People can come learn about different marinas and yacht clubs in Ohio. It’s a winter rendezvous for a lot of boaters. People drive in three or four hours to come to the Progressive Cleveland Boat Show. It’s the largest marine-related event in the state of Ohio.”

3GET A BOAT BY SPRING

“We’re still in a very short inventory supply situation,” says Mack. That’s because a disrupted supply chain over the last couple of years has resulted in a backlog of new boats. And, in turn, people who might have wanted to buy a new boat have instead hung on to the one they already have, resulting in fewer used boats on the market.

“Waiting lists can be six to 12 months on certain models,” says Mack. “So at the boat show this year, it’s about timing and availability. We’ve keyed in on available inventory, and if you want to be boating in the spring, it will be tough to buy a boat in the spring. There are more used boats available now than in the last couple of years. Those will be gone by spring. There may even be some incentives and additional savings [at the show], which is always nice. Everyone wants the best deal.”

4COMPARE DIFFERENT BOAT MODELS UNDER ONE ROOF

“Like at a car show, you can compare all sorts of makes and models at the boat show,” explains Burke. “But unlike a car show, at our boat show you can buy what’s there. You can get financing right there. And getting in and experiencing the physical boat can help answer a lot of your questions. Layout of seating, for example, is important. Getting in the boat gives you a feel.”

Mack points out that the sheer volume of models and watercraft offer consumers an advantage when comparison shopping.

“For someone on the early end of exploring boating and wanting to figure out what fits their lifestyle and is the best investment,

COURTESY LEMTA

seeing more products helps them sort out important considerations, like ‘we like cruising, or small fishing,’ a lot of times you need to see, touch, feel it in person — sit in it, stand on it. Nowhere else are you going to see that many in one place in Ohio.”

And be sure to take advantage of independent experts who aren’t connected to any specific dealer, notes Burke. “Visit our On the Water Ohio Education Center and talk to independent captains who can offer opinions and help answer questions.”

5MEET BOAT DEALERS AND EXPERTS

If you’re buying a boat, there are many questions you’ll want to have answered. But good dealers have a ton of questions for you, too.

“Any great dealership will ask you questions on how you intend to use your boat, on what body of water, how many people you’ll typically take out — they’ll help pinpoint the best boat for you,” says Capt. Jeannette Lloyd with LEMTA.

Once you’re an owner, there’s a lot to learn about your vessel. The boat show has myriad resources for you, explains Lloyd.

“It is important that boat owners take the time to understand the needs of their vessel, particularly the routine maintenance that will help it retain its value and more importantly, keep you safe while underway,” she says. “The boat show is a great place to meet the individuals who work in the marine service sector.”

A new area this year is the Ohio Marine Training Center (OMTC).

“We’ll have hands-on training for people who want to work on their own boats — inboard and outboard engines to learn engine repair, fiberglass to learn care and repair, a shrink-wrapping seminar and general maintenance,” Burke explains. “It’s a great opportunity for boaters to learn more about the care and keeping of their boat.”

6CHECK OUT SEMINARS AND JOB BOARDS

“The boat show is great for exploration and research,” says Alvey. The seminars offered during the show’s four days include something for everyone.

“Topics will range from Seamanship 101 and Deckhand Basics to fishing tutorials with live demonstrations,” says Lloyd. “The seminars

COURTESY LEMTA

provided at the boat show are a great way to bridge the gaps in your understanding, whether you’re a new or lifetime boater.”

Seminars will take place in multiple areas of the show, with some overlapping so there’s nearly always one going on, including Navigating the Great Loop and a ton of offerings on fishing (more on that in No. 8). In the OMTC, in addition to seminars and demonstrations about boat maintenance and repair, visitors can find information about careers in the marine industry, including job boards. Various open jobs will be listed, as well as information about positions and careers that exist in the industry, such as boat dealer sales and even accounting.

Alvey notes, “If you desire a second career or are looking to get into the workforce, this is a great place to look at the burgeoning recreation marine industry. If you like to work on jet skis or yachts, if you’re artistic with painting, there are opportunities in the boating field.”

7DISCOVER INTERACTIVE ACTIVITIES FOR ALL AGES

The many kids in Cleveland and beyond who look forward to a yearly visit with Twiggy the Waterskiing Squirrel will not be disappointed; Twiggy will be back at the 2023 boat show. There are lots of other activities and experiences for the youngest boaters and anglers, too. The all-new Kids’ Center is inspired by a children’s museum, explains Burke.

“There will be a boat, rods, fishing and education on watercraft safety,” she says. Kids can also learn about the different fish in Lake

Erie, actually seeing them in action in a tank the size of a semi-truck. Sunday is Family Fun Day, with a lot of seminars that are geared toward children and family and boating — kids’ fishing seminars and more seminars that have to do with boating with the family.”

Alvey adds that there’s live music experiences throughout the show too, and a lot of sensory and visual experiences.

“The Forever Lawn area gives children the opportunity to run around on a grass-like field and play everything from cornhole to ring toss,” he says. “It’s a day to experience summer in the middle of winter.”

OUT THE LATEST GEAR

The boat show is going big on fishing this year, with a variety of experts on hand to teach visitors about the latest gear and time-tested fishing tips. Jason Fischer, head of Lake Erie Walleye Trail (LEWT) and Lake Erie Fall Brawl owner and tournament director, notes that we’re in the ideal location for putting fishing skill to use.

“Fishing is great right now on Lake Erie,” he says. “There are more fish than ever, and anglers are able to enjoy limits almost every time they go. Catching walleyes is a blast anybody can enjoy.”

The Toyota Tundra Fishing Stage will host walleye fishing pros, including Capt. Ross Robertson and tournament pros Ed Stachowski and Ryan Buddie. Buddie will host a kids’ fishing seminar.

In addition, Fischer notes, “Grant Gallagher and Jeremy Reese will be talking smallmouth bass tactics, and Jason O’Brien will be

talking Musky 101,” offering specifics on a number of Lake Erie species. For informal information-sharing, LEWT Tournament anglers will host a Q&A roundtable every day of the show. To see all of the latest gear and those Lake Erie fish in action, don’t miss Vic’s Sports Center Berkley Tank.

“It’s an aquarium the size of a semi-truck filled with fish,” Burke explains. “Experts atop the tank will show how different fish respond to different lures and casting techniques. It’s a great way to see all that knowledge in action.”

9GAIN KNOWLEDGE ABOUT LAKE ERIE’S RICH PAST

The greatest Great Lake gave rise to a truly great wooden boat company, Lyman Boat Works. Progressive Cleveland Boat Show attendees will have the unique opportunity to learn more

about Lyman boats and even meet Doc Lyman himself — Tom Koroknay, keeper of the Lyman legacy. The show will include a Lyman Historical Museum, which Tom’s son, Ryan, describes as a “glimpse of the company’s history, production process and impact on the boating industry.”

Visitors also will be able to experience a perfect example of 20th century American manufacturing before the use of computers and robots. “The blueprints, patterns, jigs and tooling provided in our example just happen to be related to Lyman boat production,” says Ryan Koroknay. “But the overall engineering and assembly line process used to design and build Lyman boats was the same for automobiles and appliances of the era. It’s a piece of American manufacturing history.”

Don’t miss the 13-foot Lyman boat photo op to have your picture taken with a piece of Lake Erie — and boating — history.

10EXPLORE VENDORS OFFERING THE LATEST BOATING EQUIPMENT

Stop at the On the Water Ohio Pavilion to check out required boating gear, then purchase what you need from an expert. Or fall in love with a clever item such a floating bar for your days at the lake and bring it home with you. There are dozens of vendors at the Progressive Cleveland Boat Show.

“There will be beach glass jewelry, nautical jewelry and knickknacks for nautical decorators,” Alvey says. “For boating, there will be so many things you don’t know about, haven’t seen before

BIGGER AND BETTER BOAT SHOW

CHANGES AT THE I-X CENTER MEAN AN ENHANCED EXPERIENCE FOR ATTENDEES OF THIS YEAR’S SHOW.

Visitors returning to this year’s Progressive Cleveland Boat Show will notice some significant changes at the I-X Center, and all attendees will be able to enjoy an even larger event and a ton of space to gather.

“The thousands of boaters who annually attend the boat show won’t recognize it anymore,” says Norm Schultz, president-emeritus of LEMTA. “The I-X Center has been primarily repurposed and a newly designated exposition area has been set aside.”

The new east side entrance comes right into the center of the show, and the food court is now in the center. It provides easier access all around the show and gives attendees a central place to dine and relax.

Claire Anter, director of sales and marketing at the I-X Center, notes, “The most recognizable change will be two exhibit halls with more than a half-million square feet connected by a full-service food and beverage area offering I-X Center favorites, along with local food trucks ready to satisfy any appetite.”

Cozy Cabin Getaway

at Pleasant Hill lake Park

Snuggle around a blazing fireplace, enjoy the bubbling hot tub, and spend time together in a cabin at the lake. Your winter getaway awaits at Pleasant Hill Lake Park!

or can employ in your boating that you learn about during an educational seminar.”

Burke notes that visiting vendors at the boat show is a great way to support small, local businesses.

“We curate regional and local vendors who sell anything from boating accessories to clothing to jewelry that fill the aisles of the show,” she says.

Boating apparel, home goods for your lake house and all sorts of accessories for your boat, from canine life vests and weather radars to seat cushions and drink koozies — it’s all here in one place. See a list of vendors at clevelandboatshow.com.

Late last year, the boating community bid a heavy, heartfelt ‘Ahoy’ to Samuel E. Insalaco, who unexpectedly passed away on Nov. 19, 2022.

A dedicated contributor to the Progressive Cleveland Boat Show and various Lake Erie Marine Trades Association (LEMTA) publications, Insalaco was passionate about sharing his wealth of water knowledge and boating education and safety. An environmental engineer for his entire career, Insalaco worked and taught meteorology classes at Arcadis International. He also was a member of the South Cuyahoga Sportman’s Association and U.S. Power Squadrons, where he received many merit marks and served as an educational instructor.

“We loved Sam so very much, and his passion and enthusiasm for boating and the boat show made us all better and made the marine community better,” says Michelle Burke, LEMTA president. “On behalf of the Lake Erie Marine Trades Association, Maritime Community and the Cleveland Boat Show, our deepest sympathies and prayers go out to his family.”

HONORING A LAKE ERIE LEGEND

Ken Alvey, LEMTA past-president, and Samuel E. Insalaco enjoying a winter day at the boat show.

COURTESY LEMTA

Introducing life after shoes, also known as our Lake Collection. A new cottage-inspired series of homes combining Wayne Homes’ signature quality and customization with floor plans designed to make life by the water easier, more beautiful and more possible.

Learn about building your custom lake home at WayneHomesLakeCollection.com | Sandusky: 866-649-8678

The objective is to create a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of outstanding attorneys that can be used as a resource for attorneys and consumers searching for legal counsel. We limit the lawyer ratings to those who can be hired and retained by the public, i.e., lawyers in private practice and Legal Aid attorneys. The Super Lawyers selection process involves the steps outlined in the graphic (at right).

INDEPENDENT RESEARCH FINAL

Ahern, Ann-Marie

Bennett, Rebecca J.

Biacsi, Mary J. Blasik-Miller, Susan Bossin, Phyllis G. Brauer, Kami D.

Cozza, Andrea L. DiSilvio, Marilena Essig, Ellen

Frantz Oldham, Megan J. Friedman, Heidi B. Fuhrer, Loriann E. Galeano, Judith E.

Gaunt, Karen K.

Goins, Frances Floriano Hannigan, Erinn McKee

Haupt, Erika L.

Helfman, Jill F. Howard, Barbara J. Hughes, Maura L. Jodka, Sara

Kemp, Jacqueline L. Khouzam, Marie-Joëlle C. Lampe, Lynn Leffler, Amanda M. Lennox, Heather Leveridge, Julia L. Maimbourg, Rita A. Martinsek, Amanda McLafferty, Sydney S. Meister, Julia B. Mirman, Denise M. Mullin, Jeanne M. Myers, Kelly Mulloy Nordstrom, Jennifer K.

Oliver, Jami S. O'Neil, Colleen M. Rhinehart, Erin E. Rittgers, Ellen B. Roach, Adrienne J.

Sansalone, Monica A. Schraff, Patricia J. Sferra, Anne Marie Shlonsky, Patricia A. Silverman, Beth Smyers, Robyn Minter Taggart, Carolyn A.

Turnbull, Tracey L. Valentine, Nancy A. Weis, Amy

Abboud, Antony A. Adams, Gregory L. Ahern, Ann-Marie

Arnold, James E. Bashein, W. Craig Biacsi, Mary J.

Blasik-Miller, Susan Bossin, Phyllis G. Bowman, J. Scott Brauer, Kami D.

Briskin, Seth P.

Burke, James E. Chesney, Michael N.

Ciano, Phillip A. Crandall, Steve Debitetto, Rocco DeMarco, Daniel A. DiCello, Nicholas A.

DiSilvio, Marilena Doyle, Terrence F. (Terry)

Dunlap, Jeffrey S. Farolino, Shane A. Fried, Adam M. Friedman, Ian N. Friedman, Scott N. Fuhrer, Loriann E. Galeano, Judith E. Garner, Richard M. Gilligan, John P. Goldwasser, Andrew Grossman, Andrew S. Harris, Sean

Haupt, Erika L. Haynes, S. Scott

Helfman, Jill F. Holschuh, Jr., John D. Horvath, Dennis E. Howard, Barbara J. Hughes, Maura L. Ireland, D. Jeffrey Jodka, Sara Kadish, Matthew F.

Kelley, James M. Kelly, Brian J. Khouzam, Marie-Joëlle C. Kitrick, Mark Klarfeld, Joshua A. Lansdowne, Dennis R.

Leeseberg, Gerald S. Leffler, Amanda M. Lennox, Heather Leveridge, Julia L. Lowe, James A. Lyon, Michael F. Malemud, Franklin C. Marshall, John S. McCaffrey, John F. Meister, Julia B.

Miller, Brian G. Mirman, Denise M. Mitchell, John R. O'Malley, Anthony J.

Paris, David M.

Patno, Christian R. Pelini, Craig G. Pera, Marc G. Peschke, Joel L.

Price, William J. Ray, Frank A. Reagan, John J. Rhinehart, Erin E. Rinehardt, John K. Rittgers, Charles H. Rittgers, Ellen B. Roach, Adrienne J.

Rourke, Michael J. Rutter, Robert P. Saia, Jon J. Sanchez, Marc A. Schaefer, David A.

Scott, Craig P. Scott, John C. Scott, Stuart E.

BASHEIN,

BOSSIN,

• Ranked Number Two •

GROSSMAN, ANDREW S. PATNO, CHRISTIAN R.

• Ranked Number Three •

RAY, FRANK A. ROACH, ADRIENNE J.

TAGGART, CAROLYN A.

TRENEFF, CRAIG P. UNGAR, MICHAEL N.

• Ranked Number One •

Shea, III, Joseph W. Shlonsky, Patricia A. Shroyer, David I. Silverman, Brent S. Smith, John D. Smith, Zachary D. Sullivan, K. James Taggart, Carolyn A. Thomas, David H. Treneff, Craig P. Tucker, Michael S. Ungar, Michael N. Valentine, Nancy A.

Van Wagner, Jeffrey W. Weis, Amy Williams, Christopher S. Zashin, Andrew A.

W. CRAIG

PHYLLIS G. CRANDALL, STEVE

2023 OHIO SUPER LAWYERS

Ahern, Ann-Marie

Bashein, W. Craig Biacsi, Mary J. Brauer, Kami D. Briskin, Seth P.

Chesney, Michael N. Ciano, Phillip A. Crandall, Steve Debitetto, Rocco DeMarco, Daniel A. DiCello, Nicholas A. DiSilvio, Marilena Doyle, Terrence F. (Terry)

Search for an attorney by practice area and location, and read features on attorneys selected to our lists.

Dunlap, Jeffrey S. Fried, Adam M. Friedman, Ian N. Goldwasser, Andrew Helfman, Jill F. Hughes, Maura L. Kadish, Matthew F. Kelley, James M. Kelly, Brian J. Klarfeld, Joshua A. Lansdowne, Dennis R.

Leffler, Amanda M. Lennox, Heather

TOP 25 WOMEN

Ahern, Ann-Marie

Bennett, Rebecca J.

Biacsi, Mary J.

Bolek, Cathleen M.

Brauer, Kami D.

Coleman, Deborah A.

DiSilvio, Marilena

Frantz Oldham, Megan J.

Lowe, James A. Malemud, Franklin C. McCaffrey, John F. Mitchell, John R. O'Malley, Anthony J. Paris, David M. Patno, Christian R. Pelini, Craig G. Price, William J. Reagan, John J. Rinehardt, John K. Rutter, Robert P. Sanchez, Marc A. Schaefer, David A.

Scott, Stuart E. Shlonsky, Patricia A. Silverman, Brent S. Sullivan, K. James Tucker, Michael S. Ungar, Michael N. Valentine, Nancy A.

Van Wagner, Jeffrey W. Williams, Christopher S. Zashin, Andrew A.

Friedman, Heidi B. Goins, Frances Floriano

Gupta, Manju Helfman, Jill F. Hughes, Maura L. Leffler, Amanda M. Lennox, Heather

Maimbourg, Rita A. Martinsek, Amanda Mullin, Jeanne M.

O'Neil, Colleen M. Sansalone, Monica A. Schraff, Patricia J. Shlonsky, Patricia A. Smyers, Robyn Minter Turnbull, Tracey L. Valentine, Nancy A.

2023 OHIO SUPER LAWYERS

BASHEIN, W. CRAIG

CRANDALL, STEVE LEFFLER, AMANDA M. PATNO, CHRISTIAN R.

UNGAR, MICHAEL N. visit SuperLawyers.com

HARD WORK.

Carianne S. Staudt, the youngest partner at Corsaro & Associates Co., LPA and second-

Carianne S. Staudt CORSARO & ASSOCIATES CO., LPA

OHIO SUPER LAWYERS

Alton, John Arnold, James E.

Barbin, Bradley D. Bowman, J. Scott Cooper, Jr., Charles H. Cozza, Andrea L. Curphey, James D.

Elliott, Rex H. Evans, II, Gordon D. Farolino, Shane A. Friedman, Scott N.

Fuhrer, Loriann E. Furniss, III, John F.

Galeano, Judith E. Garner, Richard M. Gilligan, John P. Gosnell II, Gerhardt Gregory, Donald W.

Search for an attorney by practice area and location, and read features on attorneys selected to our lists.

Grossman, Andrew S. Harris, Sean Haupt, Erika L. Haynes, S. Scott

Horvath, Dennis E. Jodka, Sara

Khouzam, Marie-Joëlle C. Kitrick, Mark

TOP 25 WOMEN

Barley-McBride, Mary

Barnes, Belinda S.

Cozza, Andrea L.

Einstein, Dianne DiNapoli

Fuhrer, Loriann E.

Galeano, Judith E.

Haupt, Erika L.

Hensel, Jan E.

Leeseberg, Gerald S. Leveridge, Julia L. Little, Jr., Marion H. Marshall, John S. McLafferty, Sydney S. Meyer, David P. Miller, Brian G. Miller, Robert P. Mirman, Denise M. Mordarski, Daniel R.

Nolan, William A. Oliver, Jami S. Ray, Frank A. Rourke, Michael J. Saia, Jon J. Schneider, Karl H. Scott, Craig P. Sferra, Anne Marie Shroyer, David I. Stovall, Richard K.

Thomas, David H. Treneff, Craig P. Wagoner, Robert J. Weis, Amy

Jodka, Sara Kemp, Jacqueline L. Khouzam, Marie-Joëlle C. Kirila, Jill S. Krivda, Pamela S. Lasley, Aneca E. Leveridge, Julia L.

McKinlay, Amy M. McLafferty, Sydney S.

Mirman, Denise M. Oliver, Jami S. Probst, Erica Sferra, Anne Marie Sheely, Sommer L. Watt, Kristin L. Weis, Amy Zuercher, Elizabeth J.

2023

2023 OHIO SUPER LAWYERS

FUHRER, LORIANN E.

GROSSMAN, ANDREW S. RAY, FRANK A. SAIA, JON J.

TRENEFF, CRAIG P. visit SuperLawyers.com

OHIO CLEVELAND & COLUMBUS 2023

Administrative Law S-8

Alternative Dispute Resolution S-8

Antitrust Litigation S-8

Appellate ......................................................... S-8

Aviation and Aerospace S-8 Banking S-8

Bankruptcy: Business S-8

Bankruptcy: Consumer.................................... S-9

Business Litigation S-10

Business/Corporate S-12

Civil Litigation: Defense S-12

Civil Litigation: Plaintiff S-13

Civil Rights S-14

Class Action/Mass Torts S-14

Closely Held Business ....................................S-14

Constitutional Law S-14

Construction Litigation S-14

Consumer Law S-14

Creditor Debtor Rights S-14

Criminal Defense S-15

Criminal Defense: DUI/DWI S-16

Criminal Defense: White Collar S-16

E-Discovery S-16

Elder Law S-16

Employee Benefits.......................................... S-16

Employment & Labor S-16

Employment Litigation: Defense S-18

Employment Litigation: Plaintiff S-18

Energy & Natural Resources S-18

Entertainment & Sports S-18

Environmental S-19

Environmental Litigation S-19

Estate & Trust Litigation S-19

Estate Planning & Probate S-19

Family Law...................................................... S-19

Franchise/Dealership S-21

General Litigation S-21

Government Contracts S-22

Government Finance S-22

Government Relations S-22

Health Care S-22

Immigration S-22

Insurance Coverage S-22

Intellectual Property S-23

Intellectual Property Litigation S-23

Land Use/Zoning .......................................... S-23

Legislative & Governmental Affairs S-23

Media and Advertising S-23

Mergers & Acquisitions S-23

Nonprofit Organizations S-24

Personal Injury General: Defense S-24

Personal Injury General: Plaintiff S-24

Personal Injury Medical Malpractice: Defense S-25

Personal Injury Medical Malpractice: Plaintiff S-26

Personal Injury Products: Defense S-26

Personal Injury Products: Plaintiff S-26

Professional Liability: Defense S-27

Professional Liability: Plaintiff S-27

Real Estate S-27

Schools & Education ..................................... S-27

Securities & Corporate Finance S-28

Securities Litigation....................................... S-28

Social Security Disability S-28

State, Local & Municipal S-28

Tax.................................................................. S-28

Technology Transactions S-28

Transportation/Maritime S-28

Utilities S-28

Workers’ Compensation S-28

THE ANNUAL LIST BY PRIMARY AREA OF PRACTICE

The list was finalized as of June 27, 2022. Only attorneys who data verified with Super Lawyers for the current year are included on the list that follows. All current selections and any updates to the list (e.g., status changes or disqualifying events) will be reflected on superlawyers.com.

Names and page numbers in RED indicate a profile on

for attorneys with paid Super Lawyers or Rising Stars print advertisements.

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW

RISING STARS Chandler, Kristopher J., Benesch Law, Columbus

ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION

SUPER LAWYERS

Alton, John

Bixenstine, Barton A.

Coleman, Deborah A., Coleman Law, Cleveland

Dowling, William D. Ernst, Christopher M. Cleveland

Godshall, Douglas N. Hutson, Jeffrey W. Jordan, Michael J. Koesel, Margaret M.

Nemeth, John C. Dublin

Pohlman, William J. Columbus Ray, Frank A.

Repicky, Thomas G., Law Offices of Thomas

Schwartz, Niki Z. Weiss, Jerome F. Woods, C. Craig Columbus

ANTITRUST LITIGATION

SUPER LAWYERS

Collin, Thomas J. Roach, Jennifer S. Scherzer, Donald S.

RISING STARS Mundy, Kara M. Columbus

APPELLATE

SUPER LAWYERS

Bloomekatz, Rachel Giorgianni, Paul Johnson, Brenda M.

Mills, David E. Sasse, Benjamin C. Scialdone, Frank H. Cleveland Sferra, Anne Marie St. John, Kathleen J.

RISING STARS Grube, Louis Host, Aaren Saywell, James R. Scaletta-Bremke, Giovanna

AVIATION AND AEROSPACE

SUPER LAWYERS Lebovitz, Jamie R.

BANKING

SUPER LAWYERS

Dreher, Darrell L. Dyczek, Carl J. Cleveland

Lowe, Lisa Arlyn Lewis, Cleveland Makofsky, Michael D. Nazette, Adam R. Stief, James E. Teplitzky, Ronald J. Tomkies, Michael C.

RISING STARS Diehl, Christopher Hult, Laura L., Benesch Law, Columbus Seger, Ann Z. Vonderhaar, Douglas A. Columbus

Weber, John C. (Chaz)

BANKRUPTCY: BUSINESS

SUPER LAWYERS

Allen, Thomas R. Columbus Barr, Robert D.

Beck, David A. Columbus

Campana, Jeremy M. Cavalieri, Nick V. Cobb, Tiffany S. Columbus

Coffey, Thomas W. Coutinho, James A.

Crist, Tyson A. Debitetto, Rocco

DeGirolamo, Anthony J. DeMarco, Daniel A.

Ehrman, James W. Gertz, Marc P. Greenfield, Harry W. Hardy, Richard G. Kallergis, Gus Lennox, Heather

Lepene, Alan R. Levinson, Jeffrey M., Levinson, Beachwood

Logan, Jr., William B. Columbus

Lowe, Bruce J.L. Cleveland

Malloy, Sean D. Merklin, Marc B. Opincar, Scott N. Oscar, Lawrence E. Cleveland

Parobek, Drew T. Cleveland

Peer, Christopher W. Reardon, Timothy M. Schaeffer, Matthew T. Steel, Michael A.

Stefancin, Robert M. Cleveland

Stovall, Richard K. Terlecky, Myron N.

Tucker, Michael S. Tuggle, Curtis L. Valentine, Nancy A.

Whitmer, Mary K.

Whittaker, David M. Columbus

Wick, Christopher B. Cleveland

BANKRUPTCY: CONSUMER

SUPER LAWYERS

Hobt, Stephen D. Hochheiser, Alan C. Beachwood Inembolidis, Athena Jump, W. Mark Maggied, Pamela Columbus

Nemeth, Richard H. Cleveland Nesbitt, Laura M. Richards, Ken Columbus Romano, Joe RISING STARS McNeil, Ryan R. Ruffing, Lucas

OHIO CLEVELAND & COLUMBUS 2023

BUSINESS LITIGATION

SUPER LAWYERS

Abrams, James D. Columbus

Anastos, Thomas L. Arnold, James E.

Atsou, Komlavi

Barni, Thomas A. Cleveland

Becker, John W. Binau, Dan J. Columbus

Bloomfield, Jr., David S.

Blum, Suzanne Bretz

Brennan, Terry M. Broz, Alycia N. Columbus

Butler, David J. Columbus

Butz, David E.

Casarona, Robert B.

Chaney, John L. Chappelear, Stephen E. Columbus

Chris, William G. Ciano, Phillip A. S-9 PHILLIP A. CIANO

www.c-g-law.com

Clark, Erik J. Clifford, Damion M.

Cohan, Michael C. Cleveland

Cohen, Joshua R. Cleveland

Collins, Tim L. Cleveland

Corroto, Gary A. Crocker, Julie A. Cleveland

Cuppage, David M.

Curphey, James D.

Cvetanovich, Dan L. Dahman, Samir Columbus

DeSaussure, Jr., Hamilton

DiPalma, Douglas Cleveland

Dooley, Matthew A.

Downing, Timothy J. Dublikar, Ralph F.

Dubyak, Robert J. Duncan, Matthew

Dunlap, Jeffrey S. Dunn, Jr., Theodore M. Fairweather, John C. Falin, William H.

Farling, Harold Edward Ferguson, Kate Fitzsimmons, Matthew T.

Fleming, Jennifer A. Lesny Cleveland

Fogarty, Robert J. Fox, Kathleen

Friedberg, Ronald P. Lewis, Cleveland Fuhrer, Loriann E.

Funk, Stephen W. Fusco, Mark S. Garcia, Dolores (Lola) Gembala, Ryan M.

Giffen, Karen L. Gilligan, John P. Goldfarb, Steven A. Cleveland

Gonzales, John M. Gosnell II, Gerhardt Green, Brian J. Grendell, Henry G.

Groza, Jonathon W. Cleveland

Hamed, Michael Harris, Paul R. Hearey, Bruce G.

Hicks, Todd C. Holzhall, Vincent Hughes, Maura L.

Jackson, Emily J. EMILY J. JACKSON

www.hmbc.com

Jacobs, Mark R. Jaffe, Ari H. Jett, Stephen H.

Johnson, Gary W. Kaminski, Kerin Lyn Kaufman, Steven S. Kessler, Marc J. King, James A. Columbus

Koberna, Mark R. Kopp, Ronald S. Kracht, Robert R.

Krantz, Brett S. Cleveland Krebs, Patrick J. Cleveland

Kushner, Philip S. Cleveland

Lambert, P. Wesley Larsen, Lynn Rowe Cleveland

Lasley, Aneca E. Lee, Brian C. Lewis, John Q.

Lipps, Jeffrey A. Columbus

Listati, Ezio A. Cleveland Little, Jr., Marion H.

Mace, Damond R. Mack, Edmond J. Martinsek, Amanda

McHugh, James M. McKay, Hugh E. Cleveland

Mendoza, Matthew M. Cleveland

Michelson, Deborah J. Miller, Steven J. Mills, Laura L. Mirman, Joel H. Nakon, Matthew W. Neuman, Todd H.

Niekamp, Christopher J.

O’Malley, Anthony J.

O’Neil, Colleen M.

Organ, Shawn Painter, Nathan Panza, Richard D. Parsell, Stuart G. Patel, Ami J.

Perez, Juan J. Pettit, Christopher R. Columbus

Phillips, Gregory J., Benesch Law, Cleveland Plakas, Lee E.

Poklar, Robert A. Potter, Steven B. Cleveland Probst, Erica

Rarric, Owen J. Rawlin, Dustin B. Rose, Dennis R. Rosenthal, James Cleveland

Royer, Charles P. Ruport, Scott H. Sarkar, Richik

Savage, III, James S. Columbus

Schiller, John Edward Cleveland Sheely, Sommer L.

Silverman, Brent S. S-9

BRENT S. SILVERMAN

www.c-g-law.com

Spellacy, Jr., Leo M. Cleveland Stavnicky, Michael

Streb, Jude B.

Studeny, Nathan F. Cleveland Susany, John P. Suter, Douglas J. Columbus

Thomas, Patrick J. Cleveland Tigges, Steven W. Columbus

Todd, Adam R.

Trafford, Robert Columbus

Triscaro, Joseph J. Turner, Peter Cleveland

Ungar, Michael N.

Vargo, James G. Wachter, Mark I. Wallace, David H. Cleveland

Wallach, Mark I. Wargo, Leslie E. Warren, Daniel R. Weisensell, John C. S-30

Williams, Christopher S.

Wilson, Robin Zagrans, Eric H. Zeiger, John W. Zidar, Rachelle K. RISING STARS Adams, Zachary

Alexander, Elizabeth S. Pease, Columbus

LAW,

1118 Hutchins St. Portsmouth, OH 45662 PH: (740) 354-4878 FX: (740) 354-6038 jared@burnsidelaw.com burnsidelaw.com

Ambrose, Matthew J. Cleveland

Barbara, Matthew Cleveland

Barry, Joseph C. Battles, Christopher S. Cleveland

Bedell, James, Benesch Law, Cleveland Berns, Joshua C. Brown, Brandon E. Cleveland

Burch, Christopher Cavell, Hunter G. Clark, Andrew Columbus

Collins, Elizabeth Cleveland

Coulter, Brian A. Cox, III, McClellon D. Crook, Darren Djordjevic, Gregory Cyril Cleveland Doney, Mathew E. Dorland, Sara S.

With an unwavering commitment to getting injured clients fair compensation and holding the negligent accountable, Jared T. Brankamp is the managing attorney at Burnside Brankamp Law. From his office in Portsmouth, Ohio, he ardently advocates for injured clients across Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky.

Mr. Brankamp served in the United States Peace Corps in Paraguay following his graduation in 2012 from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Science. While in Paraguay, Mr. Brankamp learned to speak Spanish and Guaraní and found his true calling for pursuing justice for underdogs through the court system.

BURNSIDE SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION SUPER LAWYERS OHIO / CLEVELAND & COLUMBUS 2023 S-11

Doyle, William A. Cleveland

Fox, Savannah

Fraser, Kirsten R. Gerken, Jason T. Columbus

Gordon, Christopher Paul Columbus

Hartman, Derek P. Cleveland

Herthneck, Oliver Johnson, Kyle A.

Julian, Maximilian

Kash, Kendall C. Katz, Sarah E. Kilgard-Schnupp, Celia M. Columbus

Klutinoty Edwards, Maria Koenig, Dustin M. Kopcho, Nicholas J. LaRocco, Christopher A. Pease, Columbus Mancuso, Sarah M. Matusicky, Daniel J.

McCallion, Alex

McClurg, II, Warren T., Benesch Law, Cleveland McElfresh, Casey Mchugh, Brandon W. Merino, Ashley Miller, Matthew C. Miller Benoit, Sarah Morrison, Kristin S.M. Olivito, Jonathan N. Columbus

Paez, Daniela Prouty, Erika Dackin Reich, Alexander B. Richards, Adam P.

Rudary, Daniel J.

Saltz, Ashtyn N. Sandy, James W. Schwallie, Halden R. Seaman, Todd M. Stroup, Kyle D. Cleveland

Tackett, Christopher W. Columbus

Tarney, Tyler Columbus

Thomas, Caitlin Rose Thompson, Michelle

Vento, Nicholas Cleveland

von der Heydt, James E., Benesch Law, Cleveland Walsh, Jr., James J., Benesch Law, Cleveland Yarger, Andrew J. Cleveland

BUSINESS/CORPORATE

SUPER LAWYERS

Barrett, Jr., David C.

DAVID C. BARRETT, JR.

Washbush, Thomas C., Washbush Business Law, Dublin

Willis, Jeffrey A. Wolper, Beatrice E.

RISING STARS

Benson, Hunter W. Lewis, Cleveland Cericola, Kessia Chaubey, Shweta Davis, Brandon

Garvey, Katja Columbus

www.ohiocounsel.com

Basil, Brian A. Columbus Behal, Robert J.

Bobrow, Howard Cleveland

Brennan, Kimberly A. Cleveland

Brosse, Peter D. Lewis, Cleveland

Buckley, Brent M. Cardinal, Nicholas J. Firestine, David L.

Hrina, David J. Laliberte, Brian J. Maxfield, Jr., Harold O.

Meyers, Anne L. Lewis, Cleveland Moore, Terry A.

Moyer, Stephen A. Nee, Matthew M. Pinney, Jon J. Cleveland Polinko, John A. Rownd, James H. Lewis, Cleveland Schultz-Horbus, Elizabeth

Seeley, Matthew K. Sweeney, Rosemary Toole, Jeffrey C. Vail, James D. Cleveland Vergilii, Jennifer L. Cleveland

Warner, Timothy G.

Gianfagna, James M. Cleveland Gross, Stephen M. Hasson, Jared P. Hull, Matthew R.

Immonen, III, Allan Liu, Yao Luczkow, Anna M.

Moore, Rod A. Pyatt, Courtney Rasor, Mike Cleveland

Scheiman, Michael J. Schill, Alexandra Lehman Skupski, George R. Smith, Jarman J. Stevenson, Justin Stewart, Brian S.

Thomas, Stefan T.E. Columbus

Weekley, Brandi N. Cleveland Welo, Miles P. Werhan, Molly Columbus West, Megan E. Columbus Wojtasik, Brandon Zonars, Frank C. Columbus

CIVIL LITIGATION: DEFENSE

SUPER LAWYERS

Barley-McBride, Mary

Buchbinder, Robert C. Columbus Campbell, Kristen E.

Carlino, Steven Curley, W. Charles Downey, Daniel T.

Esker, Christopher C.

Gerling, Joseph A. Haemmerle, Todd Hensel, A. J. Holthus, Douglas P. Columbus

Hubbard, Edward G. Kmetz, Kimberlee Jo

Lavin, Angela M. Lavin, Sean T. Littrell, Barry W.

Malone, Sean P. Marvinney, Craig A.

Mathews, James F.

Milligan, Richard S. O’Brien, Gregory E. Cleveland

O’Neill, William J. Pilawa, Dennis M. Cleveland

Rymond, Richard J. Schaefer, David A.

Scheaf, III, O. Judson Columbus

Schrader, Matthew L. Tipping, Christopher A. Weber, Christopher J. Columbus

Wright, Thomas W.

Wyss, Kimberly Kay

RISING STARS

Bernstein, David A. Black, Rebecca M. Coles, Rachel Lee Dahmann, Kristina S. Fisher, John

Glantz, Carly Deutch Lewis, Cleveland

Hopkins, Jr., David Michael, Benesch Law, Cleveland Jarmusz, Angelica M.

Keslar, Steven A. Kita, Kevin W. Kogan, Laura E., Benesch Law, Cleveland Mohan, Adelia

Morris, Amanda M. Padgett, Keona R. Peseski, William Ponikvar, Anthony B. Reese, Jessica A. Columbus Ricard, Paul B.

Sarnowski, Phillip M. Columbus Shafirstein, Tom Columbus

Smartnick, Matthew Teetor, Matthew S. Trent, Brandon O’Brien

Williams, James M. Willits, Whitney L.

CIVIL LITIGATION: PLAINTIFF

SUPER LAWYERS

Garvine, Brian M. Columbus George, Warren S.

Henry, Eric W. Kenney, Jeffrey T.

RISING STARS Atterholt, Nicholas D. Fuchs, Joshua B. Gebolys, Jozeff Wayne Cleveland

Huspaska, Anthony Jacbosen, Susan A. Jeckering, Bradley

Moser, David Pelagalli, Michael J. Stebbins, Andrew C. Walker, Pierce C. Wickham, Jeananne M. Williams, Christina N. Wise, Collin S.

O’SHEA

Selected to Super Lawyers

Michael J. O’Shea has been an attorney for 35 years. Mr. O’Shea is the current principal and owner of the Lipson O’Shea Legal Group, which concentrates on personal injury, family law, business litigation, criminal justice (federal and state) and DUI defense. Mr. O’Shea is a former felony prosecutor for Cuyahoga County, where he is estimated to have tried to verdict over 100 jury trials and appeals. Mr. O’Shea also served as the sole city prosecutor for the city of Rocky River for 15 years, where he prosecuted over 14,000 misdemeanor matters, including approximately 1,200 DUI cases and over 3,500 criminal prosecutions for such things as menacing by stalking, domestic violence, telephone harassment, burglary, theft, drug crimes and sex crimes. Mr. O’Shea is currently the elected law director for the city of Rocky River. Mr. O’Shea has also been appointed special prosecutor for other municipalities.

LIPSON O’SHEA LEGAL GROUP

700 W. St. Clair Ave., Suite 110, Cleveland, OH 44113 PH: (216) 239-0000 | FX: (440) 331-5401 lipsonoshea.com

CRIMINAL DEFENSE: DUI/DWI

MICHAEL J.

OHIO CLEVELAND & COLUMBUS 2023

CIVIL RIGHTS

SUPER LAWYERS

Chandra, Subodh Cleveland

McLandrich, John T. Cleveland

Pattakos, Peter

RISING STARS

Haney, Patrick Keyes, Barton R. Klebanow, Jared Rettig, Madeline J. Columbus

Schlein, Samuel Columbus Schoolcraft, Stephanie Zronek, Mark

CLASS ACTION/MASS TORTS

SUPER LAWYERS

Bekeny, Karl Bollin, Kip T. Boyle, Michael J. Coughlin, Timothy J. Gallucci, Anthony

Judge, Shawn Karon, Daniel Perotti, Patrick J. Cleveland Weinberger, Peter H.

Wilson, Matthew R.

RISING STARS

Babin, Jr., Steven C., Babin Law, Columbus Drocton, Mathew Gregory Columbus

Hamilton, Brooke L. Hulick, Kevin C. Cleveland

Krueger, David M., Benesch Law, Cleveland Marinucci, Dante Misny, Jonathan Columbus Richeson, Marques Hillman

CLOSELY HELD BUSINESS

SUPER LAWYERS Lum, David A.

Miller, Bradley Nemer, Charles A.

RISING STARS Coady, Ryan Jasin, Kelly R.

Martinson, Cory Cleveland

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW

SUPER LAWYERS Murray, J. Michael DeVan, Cleveland

RISING STARS Livingston, William C. DeVan, Cleveland

CONSTRUCTION LITIGATION

SUPER LAWYERS

Alaburda, Justin M.

Appelbaum, Jeffrey R. Cardone, Thomas E. Crist, Thomas O., Benesch Law, Cleveland Cubar, John C.

Dixon, James T. Edwards, Daniel F. Columbus

Fisher, Ken Gregory, Donald W. Gump, Patrick J.

Hager, Robert A. Cleveland

Hahn, Peter W., Benesch Law, Columbus Harpst, Todd A. Haymond, Daniel M. Kruse, Mark Madigan, Michael J. Columbus McGarry, Timothy L.

Miller, Barry J., Benesch Law, Cleveland Natale, Andrew J. Orlandini, David W. Dublin

O’Shaughnessy, Christopher T., The

Patterson, David T. Remington, Royce R. (Rob) Cleveland Rosenberg, Thomas L. Columbus

Sanchez, Marc A. Schockman, Douglas J. Seifert, Patricia L. Soles, Jr., Robert E. Truax, Philip J. Winchester, Brian T.

RISING STARS Carr, Garrison Fortney, Michael R. George, Jameson K.

Good, Andrew Columbus Grashoff, Matthew K. Cleveland Hanna, Andrew M. Lovdahl, Justin M., Benesch Law, Cleveland Luke, Erin Nelson, Lindsay M.

Nocar, J. Thomas Columbus Rose, Tara Santin, Teresa G. White, Susan M., Benesch Law, Cleveland

CONSUMER LAW

SUPER LAWYERS Frederick, Ronald I. Gerling, Andrew J. Gilman, Jeremy Heck, Jeremiah Cleveland Mac Murray, Helen M. Richardson, Randy Shuster, Michele A.

RISING STARS Bosak, Stephen

Brown, Brian Myers, Daniel J.

CREDITOR DEBTOR RIGHTS

SUPER LAWYERS

Blocker, David S. Botti, James P. Columbus Dayton, Joel K. Doucet, Troy

Frankel, Dov Y. Cleveland

Keating, Patrick J.

Levy, Yale R.

McClatchey, Larry J. Columbus

Neumann, David M. Lewis, Cleveland Palumbo, Michael J.

Richardson, Matthew J. Columbus

Schrader, II, Bruce R. Shuster, Michael P. Cleveland

Sinn, Nathaniel R. Cleveland

Trattner, Robert B. Weltman, Scott S.

RISING STARS

Gerlach, Kyle R. Gingo, Anthony Kunc, Hannah Stovall, Philip Columbus Weinberg, Alexander C.

CRIMINAL DEFENSE

SUPER LAWYERS

Belli, Dennis C.

Billak, Damian A. S-29

Blake, Dustin Bradley, Steven L. Campbell, April Daiker, Paul B. Friedman, Ian N.

Funkhouser, Douglas A.

Gentile, Gregory

Goldberg, Michael J. Cleveland

Grant, David L. Holderman, Gretchen A.

Jones, Brian G.

Jordan, Bret

Kersey, James Monroe

Korey, Philip J. S-30

Lear, S. Michael Cleveland

Long, Eric F. Marein, Mark B. Menashe, Diane Milano, Jay

Murray, Brian A. Cleveland

Palmer, Stephen E. Columbus

Reardon, James W.

Robey, Gregory Cleveland

Sabol, Daniel J. Sherman, Terry K. Sidoti, Marcus Cleveland

Stevenson, Andrew H. Tyack, James P. Columbus

Tyack, Jonathan T. Columbus Weisenburger, Dan J.

Whitney, R. Rolf

Wood, Scott P. RISING STARS Cline, Holly Freeman, Wesley Grant, Madelyn Henry, Erik P. Columbus Hiltner, Max Immel, Kristopher Jones, Ashley L. Kalis, Owen Lund, Chelsea Makridis, Dimitrios Marein, Michael McMullen, Justin

Nemecek, Eric Newby, Joel Osorio, Elizabeth

Peters, Colin E.

*Super Lawyers Honoree

FIGHTING FOR THE RIGHTS OF NORTHEAST OHIOANS

Joseph T. Burke

Derek N. Rodstrom

Nathaniel G. Szep

Jay Romer

OHIO CLEVELAND & COLUMBUS 2023

CRIMINAL DEFENSE RISING STARS CONT’D FROM PAGE S-15

Pruchnicki, Katelyn

Pugh, Samantha

Saffold, Sydney Strickland Sorber, Benjamin

Stavroff, Jeffrey T. Columbus

Tamilarasan, Priya D. Columbus

Will, Jacob T. Wolfe, Brad BRAD WOLFE

www.bradwolfelaw.com

CRIMINAL DEFENSE: DUI/DWI

SUPER LAWYERS

Bossin, Kenneth Calesaric, Robert E. Dominy, Shawn Fox, Steven T. Columbus

Hada, Joseph Huey, Donald Timothy (Tim) Columbus O’Shea, Michael S-13

Probst, Michael S. Saia, Jon J. Walton, Robert G.

RISING STARS Hoque, Ajmeri Dublin

Kakish, Jeffrey C. Mallory, Chase A.

CRIMINAL DEFENSE: WHITE COLLAR

SUPER LAWYERS

Axelrod, David F. Columbus

Barbin, Bradley D. Berckmueller, Fritz E. Cleveland

Beyer, William D. Cahoon, Peter T. Cascarilla, Ralph E. Cochran, Robert J. Columbus

DeVan, Mark R. DeVan, Cleveland

Georgalis, Christos N. Cleveland

Lucas, Walter A. (Scott) McCaffrey, John F.

Mitchell, John R. Peterson, Gregory S. Petruzzi, Anthony R. Ridings, Matthew David Cleveland Schneider, Karl H.

Sozio, Stephen G. Thomas, David H. Zukerman, Larry W. Cleveland

RISING STARS

Aftim, Mira Coleman, Tera N. Oleski, Nicholas R. Sukol Karas, Talia Wallrabenstein, Kathryn

Withrow, Justin C. E-DISCOVERY

RISING STARS Curto, Lauren C. Columbus

ELDER LAW

SUPER LAWYERS

Kabb-Effron, Rachel A. Beachwood McMeechan, Allison Mantz Schraff, Patricia J. S-30

Seink, Daniel P. Steiner, Laurie G.

Sutton, Maggie L. Columbus

RISING STARS Eurenius, Erin C. Eyer, Tani L. Palumbo, Jaclyn A. Stickradt, Bethany

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

SUPER LAWYERS

Coyne, Michael P. Gragel, Susan L. Hoffman, Jr., Joseph C. Jackson, Paul L. Love, Julia Ann Miller, Robert A. Cleveland Naegele, Richard A. Shlonsky, Patricia A. Stansbury, Ronald C. Stitt, Scott J. Zimon, Jeffrey D. S-30

RISING STARS Byler, Andrew J.

EMPLOYMENT & LABOR

SUPER LAWYERS

Barnes, Nancy M. Bennett, Rebecca J. Bittner, Paul L. Blackham, Robert E. Cleveland Briskin, Seth P. Callas, Gust Carney, Christopher J. Cleveland Christy, Chastity L. Collum, James J., Law Offices of James Collum, Corrado, Paul J. Beachwood Corso, Jennifer A. Cleveland

Crisci, George S.

Crookes, Thomas R. Crosby, Elizabeth A. DeRose, Robert Columbus Dileno, Jon M.

Downes, Jonathan J. Fishel, Marc A.

Forman, Edward Columbus

Freeman, Barry Y. Galeano, Judith E.

Gilmore, Robert S. Cleveland

Green, Thomas E.

Gross, Joseph N., Benesch Law, Cleveland Hensel, Jan E.

Hyman, Jonathan Jakubs, Michele L.

Kasson, D. Patrick Keller, Donald R.

Keller, Kerri Kelly, Brian J.

Khouzam, Marie-Joëlle C.

Kirila, Jill S. Klingshirn, Neil E. Knueve, Mark A. Columbus Krivda, Pamela S. Kullik, Amy L. Landes, Mark Lazzaro, Anthony J.

Lefton, Karen C.

Letcher, Barbara K.

Lewis, John B. Licata, Louis J.

McKenzie, John W.

McQueen, Jill C. Messeloff, Daniel L. Mirkin, Ira J.

Nilges, Hans A. Nolan, William A.

Nykulak, Nick A. Cleveland

Palmer, Todd F. Cleveland Peters, Patrick Petrie, James G. Columbus

Polk, Shannon J. Pollock, Stacy V. Pressley, Jr., Fred G.

Riepenhoff, David A.

Rodgers, Susan C. Russell, Christopher C.

Sabo Friedmann, Rachel A. Salsbury, Scott Schonberg, Evelyn P.

Stephen, John M. Columbus

Stepter, Rayl L. Stone, James M. Strauss, Catherine L. Tersigni, Vincent J. Thompson, Adrian D. Cleveland Thorman, Christopher P.

Torch, Stuart G. Vance, David Warner, Charles C. Columbus Watts, Patrick M.

Wedel, Jeffrey J.

Wilkins, James P.

Young, David A. Cleveland Zashin, Stephen S.

RISING STARS Anderson, Kyle Columbus Andress, Monica Baylee

Barr, Abigail Brennan, Joseph J. Bryant, Daniel Cellier, Alexa E. Day, Jourdan D. Columbus DeHart, Scott H.

Dubow, Daniel Beachwood Endicott, Samuel E. Frantz, David

Michael Djordjevic

Peter Marmaros

MICHAEL

OHIO CLEVELAND & COLUMBUS 2023

EMPLOYMENT &

Grabelsky, Jonah D. Cleveland

Greenberg, Jessica L. Columbus

Hartzell, Jason T. Herbert, Rhiannon

Howard, Elizabeth Pease, Columbus

Ingles, Sarah Powell

Johnson, Karly B.

King, Jonathan R. Kolecky, Rachel E. Cleveland

Leist, Eric E. Columbus Mansell, Greg Mooney, Kirsten Olivera Mittica, Stephanie

Parker, Mathew

Pokorny, Joseph Lewis, Cleveland

Primm, Adam E., Benesch Law, Cleveland Quan, Amanda

Ramamurthy, Lauren E. Pease, Columbus

Schloemer, Anne Marie Shoenfelt, Michael J. Pease, Columbus Shumaker, Gregory T.

Smith, Amanda S.

Stevens, III, George L. Pease, Columbus

Thomas, Allison R. Ziska, Jessi L.

EMPLOYMENT LITIGATION: DEFENSE

SUPER LAWYERS

Chesney, Michael N.

Edwards, William D. Gerak, John

Gwin, Molly R. Columbus Jodka, Sara Kluznik, Jack S.

McQueen, Karen Soehnlen

Piersall, Drew C.

Pryatel, Keith L. Secrest, Jonathan R. Stevens, Natalie M.

Wiencek, Thomas Zurakowski, Scott M.

RISING STARS Adams, Heather Renée Columbus Bell, Madilyn Cleveland

Brown, Abbey K. Cleveland D’Andrea, Joe Haring, Andrew S.

Jewell, Jackie M. Karst, Michael P. Krol, Jonathan Perez, Sarah C. Stevens, Janay Columbus Valdez, Carrie A. Wolf, Andrew J.

EMPLOYMENT LITIGATION: PLAINTIFF

SUPER LAWYERS

Ahern, Ann-Marie

Besser, Matthew D. Cleveland

Bolek, Cathleen M. Brauer, Kami D.

Bristol, Jason R. Cleveland Draher, Shannon M. Floyd, Lydia

Friedmann, Peter G. Fruth, Daniel J. Gittes, Frederick M. Columbus Glesius, Amy S. Groedel, Caryn Markowitz

Haber, Richard C. Margolius, Andrew L.

Marshall, John S. Moran, Jack E. O’Malley, William J., Law Offices of William John

Petrov, Daniel P. Royer, Christina Wade, Claire I. RISING STARS Breedlove, Trisha M.

Briach, Michael

Coffman, Matthew J.P., Coffman Legal, Columbus Dyer, Carrie Gedling, Adam C., Coffman Legal, Columbus Grimsley, Matthew S.

Hux, James Lalak, Christopher J. Levine, Brad Mapley, Peter

ENERGY & NATURAL RESOURCES

SUPER LAWYERS Williams, William G.

RISING STARS Dove, Robert Columbus Flahive, Devan Columbus Hehmeyer, Kari D., Benesch Law, Columbus Hyzak, Daniel J. Columbus Jacobs, Sean E.

Moore, Bruce A. Columbus Quay, J. Alex Wilson, Craig J.

ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS

SUPER LAWYERS

Nance, Jr., Frederick R. Cleveland

RISING STARS Fedlam, Luke A. Columbus

ENVIRONMENTAL

SUPER LAWYERS

Brubaker, Robert L. Columbus

Caldwell, Jacqueline Bollas

Farolino, Shane A.

Friedman, Heidi B.

Lavey, Wendlene M. Margolis, Kevin D., Benesch Law, Cleveland McMahon, Louis L. McMahon, Michael S. Cleveland

Nash, David E. Samuels, Stephen P. Columbus Schraff, Christopher R.

Van Kley, Jack A. Watt, Kristin L.

RISING STARS

Gagliardi, Danelle Columbus

Morse, Nathaniel B. Pease, Columbus Tharp, Jennifer M.

ENVIRONMENTAL LITIGATION

SUPER LAWYERS

DeGulis, Gregory J.

RISING STARS

Alexander, D. Rees Columbus Lange, Erik D.

ESTATE & TRUST LITIGATION

SUPER LAWYERS

Bales, Stephen M. Fried, Adam M. Malemud, Franklin C.

Meraglio, Jr., Russell J. Thomas, John P.

Weiss, Leon A.

RISING STARS Gallagher, Timothy J. Schneckenburger, Nicholas

Shugar, Paul R.

ESTATE PLANNING & PROBATE

SUPER LAWYERS

Acker, Alan S. Columbus

Adler, Charles F. Cleveland

Apelis, Erika Flynn

Balch, Jacintha, Balch Law, Columbus Braun, Dianne Blocker

Bright, James R. Cleveland

Burke, Richard W.

Culler, M. Patricia Davis, Richard E.

Dietz, James B. Canfield

Dingwell, David L. Dunn, Robert R. Evans, Christina D’Eramo Cleveland

Furniss, III, John F.

Galloway, Robert R. Gariepy, Stephen H. Cleveland

Gibbs III, Arthur E. Cleveland

Goldsmith, James A. Harris, III, Richard H. Haupt, Erika L.

Kacyon, Joseph A. Lenz, David M. Cleveland Lile, Jennifer L.

Lodge, Thomas J. Louis, Harlan S. Meyer, Richard F.

Michael, Jay E. Monihan, M. Elizabeth Bell, Cleveland

Morse, William A. Moushey, Thomas P.

Pacenta, Patricia A. Papesh, Amy L. Peck, Jennifer Elizabeth

Ringer, Charles E. Rowe, Steven D.

CLEVELAND & COLUMBUS 2023

Saccogna, Patrick J. Savage, Jennifer A. Cleveland Seich, John S.

Shumaker, Roger L. Cleveland Taneff, Thomas Vanover, Amie L. Wayne, Ronald F.

Wendel, Lee A. RISING STARS Bennett, III, Lewis ‘Trey’ Edmond

Bizzarri, Ashton E. M. Bell, Cleveland Cicero, Mark Allen DeCapite, Dana Marie Cleveland

Epling, Aaron B. Frye, Danielle Halachoff

Garofoli, Veronica T. Bell, Cleveland

Grecol, John Greene, Christopher M.

Harrison, Allison L. Haughey, Erin Hochstetler, Matthew R. Kuchmaner, Ryan A. Lehota, Stephanie

Lyons, Rachel E. Manna, Cassandra Cleveland Obenour, Abbie

Orr, Christopher Pappas, Abbie R. Sayers, Taylor Sjöstrand-Post, Sheena Ann

Stark, Justin L. Cleveland Trecaso, Joseph Vonau, Christopher Schmitt Columbus

Wagner, Mark FAMILY LAW

SUPER LAWYERS Akers-Parry, Deborah

OHIO CLEVELAND & COLUMBUS 2023

Arthurs, Kaitlyn D.

August, Steven L. Beachwood

Auten, Anthony R. Columbus

Barnett, Troy David Beasy, Joanne S. Columbus

Bergen, Ann S.

Biacsi, Mary J.

MARY J. BIACSI ZOLLER|BIACSI CO., LPA www.zblaw.net

Brill, Douglas M. Brown, Eric M.

Brown, Robert H. Buck, Elaine S. Chandler, Maryann C.

Cope, Jon M. Costabile, Gregory S. Courtright, Joy Zeiler Beachwood Cozza, Andrea L.

Dahlberg, C. Gustav C. GUSTAV DAHLBERG www.bdfamilylaw.com

Delligatti, Michael J. DiPetta, Deanna L. Lewis, Cleveland

Dougherty, Douglas B. Piccin, Columbus

Einstein, Dianne DiNapoli

Fantelli, Anne C. Lewis, Cleveland

Fish, Jeffrey D. Friedman, Scott N.

SCOTT

N. FRIEDMAN

www.friedmanmirman.com

Fritz, Joel David

Gabinet, Sarah J. Cleveland

Gemelas, James

Gentile, Leslie A. Gill, Alison A.

Gillespie, Ross A. Gottfried, Gary J. Graham-Hurd, Melissa A.

Gramza, Michelle L. Grossman, Andrew S. Haynes, S. Scott Heckert, Christopher E. Helfman, Jill F.

Hertrick, Marc R. Hollingsworth, Leigh Ann Horvath, Dennis E.

Houston, Denise K. Ibold, Dennis J. Jambe, Suzanne M. Jansen, Edward R. Johnson, Eric W. Johnson, II, John P.

Kapusta-Dorogi, Jonetta Cleveland Keating, Amy M.

Kemp, Jacqueline L. Kleinman, Roger L. Cleveland Koblentz, Robert A. Kronenberg, Jacob A.H. Law, Cleveland

Kuenzi, Hans C. Laubacher, Eric R. Leveridge, Julia L.

Lewis, Amanda J. Lewis, Gregg R. Loeb, James A. Looney, David A. Lowry, Mora Lowry, Randal A. MacAdams, Pamela J. Mannos, James G. Marks, Richard S.

Massucci, LeeAnn M.

LEEANN M. MASSUCCI www.massuccilawgroup.com McKinlay, Amy M.

AMY M. MCKINLAY

www.mckinlaylawllc.com

Miller, Harvey F. Mirman, Denise M.

DENISE M.

MIRMAN

www.friedmanmirman.com

Murway, Carl A. Cleveland

Nickolls, Lindsay K. Cleveland Nicol, Wayne R. Nigh, Joseph A.

Nowlin, Ryan P. Cleveland Okin, Gary S. Pavlidis, Marietta M. Petroff, Ronald

Piatt, Richard A.L. Pozzuto, Bridgette D. Cleveland Rabb, Richard A.

Ramsey, John D. Cleveland Ready, John J.

Reynolds, Christopher R. Rich, Jonathan A.

Roman, Barbara K. Lewis, Cleveland Rosen, Gary M. Santosuosso, Cara L.

Singleton, Jenifere R. Lewis, Cleveland Skidmore, Eric E.

Skirbunt, James R. Slagle, Ehren Somogyi, Robert Eric Beachwood

Sowald, Beatrice K.

Sowald, Heather G.

Sponseller, Nancy L.

Stahl, III, Richard J. Steely, Melody L. Thomarios, Elizabeth A.

Treneff, Craig P.

Trolinger, Christopher L. Columbus Urban, Brian M.

Warnock, Douglas W. Weis, Amy Wolf, Marshall J. Wolinetz, Barry H.

Yaeger, Nicholas W. Zashin, Andrew A. Zollars, Courtney A. Zoller, John D. JOHN D. ZOLLER ZOLLER|BIACSI CO., LPA www.zblaw.net

Zuercher, Elizabeth J.

RISING STARS

Atkins, Arianna Bahnson, Eimear Bedtelyon, Joshua

Borshchak, Dmitriy Boyd, Carly Buck, Thompson E. Cousins IV, John H. Columbus

Dahlberg, Dennis B.

Dawes, Shannon Duvall, DeAnna J.

Fittro, Carolynn Fronefield, Marcie A. Gallant, Amanda S. Linehan, Columbus Gibson, Megan M. Greco, Jr., Anthony W.

Hoover, Tad Orval Huck, Maggie

Jun, Brian S. Kryvokolinska, Valeriya S.

Meis, Michelle J. Miclot, Grace M. Oliver, Brandon Overstreet, Joseph Parks, Kelly Plumb, David Price, Tara R. Queen, Kelly Y. Ryan, William Sathappan, Hari

Schodzinski, Laken L. Sobel, Heather B. Soeder, Carolyn C.

Sohner, Jessica L. Dublin Stewart Scalley, Janet Cleveland Suriano, Susan M. Walsh, Brianna Warren, Elizabeth A. Columbus Weinfurtner, Kyleigh A.

Weiss, Nicholas Woodford, Katherine A. Wrice, Kia M. Columbus Zukowsky, Ami

FRANCHISE/DEALERSHIP

SUPER LAWYERS DeVito, Christopher M.

GENERAL LITIGATION

SUPER LAWYERS

Benson, William B. Carpenter, Michael H. Columbus Castrodale, Joseph A., Benesch Law, Cleveland Cohen, Robert G. Columbus Dortch, Michael D. Columbus

Duhamel, Marcel C. Pease, Cleveland Eklund, Paul D. Cleveland Glickman, Robert T.

Goldstein, David A. Columbus Koblentz, Richard S. Melko, Mark C. Miller, Joseph R. Columbus Mordarski, Daniel R. Phillips, Nicholas E. Porter, II, William G. Pease, Columbus Saks, Jeffrey Saxer, Thomas M. Simpkins, Scott D.

Snow, Randolph L. Stadler, David P. Cleveland Teetor, J. Stephen Tracey, Allison K. Turnbull, Tracey L.

Zimmerman, Robert A., Benesch Law, Cleveland RISING STARS

Ashrawi, Yazan S. Bobb, Nicholas S. Dublin

Burns, Justin M. Dattilo, Alexandra V. DePizzo, Kristen-Elise, Benesch Law, Cleveland Dirisamer, David J. Columbus Eisenbrei, Daniel Kamenitsa, T. Scott Canfield

Lodge, Sarah A. Mead, Daniel Perry Columbus

Motley, Martha Brewer Pease, Columbus Nienaber, Alexandra N. Columbus Organ, Connor Valentine, Sara Whaling, Thomas J. Pease, Columbus

GENERAL

RISING STARS CONT’D FROM

Yocum, Mindy Zorc, Katie L.

GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS

SUPER LAWYERS

Gupta, Manju

GOVERNMENT FINANCE

SUPER LAWYERS

MacDougall, Irene M. Cleveland

RISING STARS

Grossman, Joshua D. Columbus

GOVERNMENT RELATIONS

SUPER LAWYERS

Liggett, Jr., Luther L.

RISING STARS Bowen, Michael W. Cleveland

Feitl, Diana M.

Landgraf, Stephanie Mikkelson, Erik

Whalen, Madison L.

HEALTH CARE

SUPER LAWYERS

Carsonie, Frank W., Benesch Law, Columbus Feltes, Joseph J.

Glessner, Daniel K. Goffman, Ira S. Huryn, Christopher M. Kleinman, Stephen R. Columbus

Martin, Aric D. Norchi, Kevin M. Cleveland Plinke, Eric J. Reisz, Lisa Pierce Columbus Scheutzow, Susan O. Cleveland

RISING STARS Basista, Kristen J.

Fryan, Laura Lansell, Allison Novak, Kelli R. O’Brien, Daniel J., Benesch Law, Cleveland Watson, Ashley B. Columbus

IMMIGRATION

SUPER LAWYERS

Bartell, Jonathan A. S-22

Cozart Martin, Stacy E.

Cuic, Aleksandar Cleveland Dhinojwala, Duriya

DiFranco, Brian Office, Columbus Jolic, Michael M.

Leopold, David W. Pinjuh, Lori A. Shihab, Gus GUS SHIHAB

LPA www.shihabimmigrationfirm.com

Wong, Margaret W.

RISING STARS Gawelek, Melissa Cleveland He, Su Juarez, Jr., Jose A. S-22 Lisinski, Angelyne E. Lugasy, Maya Russell, Kathryn P. Cleveland Wilkinson, Yubia Cleveland

INSURANCE COVERAGE

SUPER LAWYERS

Anderson, Kurt D. Cleveland

WE ARE NOT JUST LAWYERS. We are advocates that understand the stakes. bgjattorneys.com JONATHAN A. BARTELL* LAUREN GEORGALAS JOSE A. JUAREZ, JR.** SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION ATTORNEYS SELECTED TO SUPER LAWYERS AND RISING STARS WERE CHOSEN IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROCESS ON PAGE S-2. S-22 SUPERLAWYERS.COM

Connick, Thomas J. Cleveland

Demian, Mark Evans, III, Merle D. Farnan, John G.

Faust, Laura (Megan) Gallagher, James R.

Gams, Mark H.

Garner, Richard M.

Georgiton, Peter J. Janik, Steven G. Leffler, Amanda M.

Lester, David L. Cleveland

Maluchnik, Crystal L. Masch, Clifford C. Nicholas, Jr., Joseph F. Pousoulides, Dimitrios S., Pousoulides Law

DIMITRIOS S. POUSOULIDES

www.ohiotriallawyer.com

Rathbone, Kimberly L. Cleveland

Rezie, Richard C. Rice, Jay Cleveland

Rispo, Ronald A. Roof, Brian E. Rose, Paul A. Rutter, Bobby

Rutter, Robert P. Sullivan, Brian D. Sullivan, K. James

Travis, John Tucker, Robert L.

Wright, Benjamin

Young, Kevin M.

RISING STARS Baker, Lucas P. Dublin

Chiricosta, Matthew A. Cleveland

Horacek, Sunny Dublin

Immell, Jennifer Lewis Johnson, Rebecca J.

Santagate, Christopher P. Columbus

Talbert, James P. Young, James M.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

SUPER LAWYERS

Barnes, Heather M. Croft, David Cleveland

Dimitrijevs, James A. Cleveland

Emerson, Roger D.

Kwak, James L. Moskowitz, Suzann Beachwood

Rector, Susan D. Watkins, Mark A.

RISING STARS

Alexander, Andrew Cleveland Baker, Brian M. Butler, Christopher Cleveland

Einsiedel, Mark S. Falk, Daniel T. Fichtenberg, Todd A. Fischer, Marcus Friedman, Joshua A. Cleveland

Gordon-Seifert, Andrew Devereaux

Jenkins, Andrew W. Likens, Dustin D. Cleveland

Liu, Brad

Pinter, Kimberly A. Cleveland

Rakocy, Theresa A. Reel, Chris Smith, Jocelyn Sonnenberg, Joel Stevens, Drew Wernow, Howard L.

Wolf, Richard A. Cleveland

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LITIGATION

SUPER LAWYERS

Bautista, Philip Cleveland

Chudakoff, Robert E.

CLEVELAND & COLUMBUS 2023

Kirsch, Kevin W. Rodman, Rachael L. Rothenbuecher, H. Alan, Benesch Law, Cleveland Skakun, III, Mark J.

RISING STARS

Boruchowitz, Arlene L. Columbus Koglman, Thomas S. Samuels, Andrew E. Williams, Aaron M. Pease, Cleveland

LAND USE/ZONING

SUPER LAWYERS

Berns, Jordan Cleveland Berns, Sheldon I. Cleveland

Lesiak, Theodore J. Sugerman, Irving B. RISING STARS Huber, Jennifer L. Columbus

LEGISLATIVE & GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

SUPER LAWYERS Brey, Donald C. Columbus McTigue, Donald J. Columbus

MEDIA AND ADVERTISING

SUPER LAWYERS

Marburger, David

RISING STARS Minc, Aaron M.

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

SUPER LAWYERS

Adams, Jennifer L. Beredo, Cipriano S. Cleveland

Berick, Daniel G. DiPuccio, Dominic A. Cleveland Doyle, Terrence F. (Terry)

Gibson, Rick J. Powell

OHIO

CLEVELAND & COLUMBUS 2023

MERGERS

Kegler, Todd M. Columbus

Kuban, Marie C. Lape, Rodd B. Powell

Lewis, Scott M. Cleveland Malone, Robert W.

Neary, Douglas A. Cleveland

O’Neill, Brian M. Pietrafese, Brent M. Cleveland

Sesnowitz, Douglas K. Stefanik, Jon R.

RISING STARS Davis, Casey J.

Glass, Daniel Joseph Gullett, Ashley Haines, Derrick

Hawley, Christopher G. Cleveland

Java, Sachin V. Letsky, Alyson Michael, Chris Murray, Lucas W. Pasiadis, Charlotte Weatherford

Pretty, Adam Roth, Steven Howard Totino, Salvatore J. (Sam)

Trivisonno, Michael R. Cleveland Willey, Amy

NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS

SUPER LAWYERS

Ball, David T.

RISING STARS

Steiner, Katie Lynn Cleveland

PERSONAL INJURY GENERAL: DEFENSE

SUPER LAWYERS

Barnes, Belinda S. Bush, Kevin R. Cappel, Carolyn M.

Guice, Gregory G. Johnson, Christopher F., Poling Law, Columbus Kerns, Brian D.

Mazgaj, Frank G.

Meola, Margo S. Pelini, Craig G.

Rankin, Gregory D. Roche, Patrick M. Cleveland

Roller, Jan L. Utley, David G.

RISING STARS

Bray, Daniel L. Kidd, Robert J.

PERSONAL INJURY GENERAL: PLAINTIFF

SUPER LAWYERS

Acton, Shawn M. S-7 Alkire, Richard C. Alter, Mitchell J. Columbus

Baker, Andrew S. Columbus Barbour, Mark E. Bashein, W. Craig S-1

Berg, Aaron P. Bolmeyer, Jr., Frank G. Cleveland Bowman, J. Scott

Brian, Steven J. Brown, Chanda L. Brunn, Jr., Thomas L. Cleveland Campbell, William P.

Carney, Christopher J. Beachwood Carrabine, James P. Carty, Matthew Condeni, Joseph A. S-29

JOSEPH A. CONDENI

www.condenilaw.com Cowan, Gary Crane, Kyle L.

Czack, Michael W. Davis, William J.

Defossez, Mark E. Columbus Delguyd, Joseph A. DiCello, Nicholas A. Dingus, Shawn Dodosh, Nicholas M., Dodosh Law Offices, Drakatos, Eleni Andriana Columbus Dunson, Joseph P. Eisner, Michael L.

Elliott, Rex H. Erney, Robert D. Ferruccio, Jr., Samuel J. Fifner, Curtis M. Fisher, Ryan H. Fitch, John Geiser, Michael K. Columbus Gervelis, Mark S. S-29 Goldstein, Michael D. S-30 Goldwasser, Andrew S-9

ANDREW GOLDWASSER

www.c-g-law.com

Goodman, Grant A. Cleveland Grant, David R. Grieco, Paul Gundy, John M. Guttman, Rubin Beachwood Hardman, Kevin P. Harris, Sean

Heck, J. Jeffrey Hoffman, III, W. Andrew Cleveland Horning, Gerald R.

Ice, Matthew E. Columbus Inscore, Michael Joseph, Jr., Joseph T. Beachwood Kalish, Scott

Keefe, Jr., Stephen T.

Kitrick, Mark

Klein, Larry S. Knabe, Kenneth J. Kuboff, Scott M. LaMonica, Deneen S-30

Lazzaro, Lynn A.

Leikin, Jeffrey A. Lenson, Kevin L. Lewis, Mark Liber, II, John R. Cleveland

Linnen, Jr., Jerome T. Luka, Lori A.

Madden, Justin F. Mahler, Timothy M. Columbus

Maillis, Michael J. Poland McLafferty, Sydney S.

McLaughlin, R. Craig Meizlish, Sanford A. Columbus Miller, Brian G. Miller, Michael S.

Mote, Elizabeth A. Nolan, Chris T. Northup, Jarrett J. Obral, Mark J.

Olawale, Emmanuel O.

O’Neil, John P. Patno, Christian R. Perlmuter, Scott Petersen, Susan E. Piscitelli, Jr., Frank E. Polito, Michael G. S-15

Pomerantz, David I.

Price, William J. Reagan, John J. Rinehardt, John K. Romaine, Daniel A.

Roper, James M. Rossi, Gregg A. Rourke, Michael J.

Scott, Craig P. Scott, Stuart E. Silk, Thomas J. Spero, Scott A. Stalzer, John B. Sucher, Daniel M. Tayeh, Ziad Trimble, Thomas W.

Tsarouhas, Antonios P. Van Eman, Timothy L. Vecchio, Robert J. Wagoner, Robert J.

Weisman, Mitchell A. Beachwood Young, Andrew R. Cleveland Young, Shaun E. RISING STARS Alto, Sean R.

Breitmayer, III, George S.

Brouwer, Britney Columbus Cox, Jason Columbus Darwal, Joseph Davis, Michael P. Fijalkovich, Ian Flemming, Matthew S. Cleveland Gribble, Lauren Grimm, Corey J.

Harris, Brandon J. Beachwood Harris, Katie Hayden, Megan R. Heit, Corey Jones, Geoff Kelley, Edward J. Cleveland Klang, Hannah M. Lebovitz, Jordan D.

Lewis, Michael P. Cleveland Lindsey, Mark

Magnone, Antonio Columbus

Manuel, Edward P. Beachwood Martin, E. Michelle L. Columbus

McCoy, C. Joseph, Babin Law, Columbus Melling, Kyle Nichols, Sara C. Columbus Pal, Alexander L.

Papuga, Amy Cleveland Paris, Dana M. Payne, Joshua Ray, Colin R. Rinehardt, Rachel

Rutherford Starling, Ashley Dawn Scebbi, Vincent Slone, Adam Staley, Brandi Columbus Stiffler, Jefferey R.

Stoudt, Jonathan R. Columbus Walton, Jr., Sean Witkes, Ari

PERSONAL INJURY MEDICAL MALPRACTICE: DEFENSE

SUPER LAWYERS Beddow, Kenneth R.

Carulas, Anna Moore Cleveland Foliano, Gregory B. Gannon, Brian T. Hudak, Michael J. Hupp, Steven J.

Kilbane, Thomas B. Lange, Brian F. Cleveland Maimbourg, Rita A. Margolis, Ronald A.

Meadows, William A. Mingus, Ronald A.

OHIO CLEVELAND & COLUMBUS 2023

PERSONAL INJURY

Moscarino, George M.

Mullin, Jeanne M.

Perry, Bret C. Cleveland

Poling, Brant E., Poling Law, Columbus Polito, John S. Cleveland

Prislipsky, Thomas A. Richards, Daniel A. Richardson, Donald J. Riemenschneider, Dirk E.

Rossi, Gregory T.

Rubin, Ryan K. Cleveland Sandacz, Beverly A. Santoni, Christine Sewards, Frederick A. Switzer, Donald H.

Todaro, Gerald J. Columbus Treu, Kris H. Cleveland Van Wagner, Jeffrey W. Walters, Stephen E. RISING STARS Defino, Katie Moscarino

Glinka, Jaime, Poling Law, Columbus Marino, Christina E. Palcko, Joseph T. Sellers, Sabrina S., Poling Law, Columbus

PERSONAL INJURY MEDICAL MALPRACTICE: PLAINTIFF

SUPER LAWYERS

Abbarno, Kenneth P. Abraham, Daniel N.

Beausay, Jeffrey Columbus Becker, Michael F. Cleveland Casey, James S. Chamberlain, Henry W. Cooper, Jr., Charles H. Crandall, Steve

Cullers, Romney B. Cleveland

Davis, Adam J. Debevec, Rhonda Baker Cleveland

DiSilvio, Marilena

Djordjevic, Michael M. S-17 Dougherty, Kathy A.

Eisen, Brian N. Beachwood

Evans, II, Gordon D. Frantz Oldham, Megan J.

Griffin, Stephen P. Gurney, Todd E. Beachwood

Hanson, Robert E. Hawal, William Cleveland

Hill, Michael A. Hirshman, Ellen Hobbs Beachwood

Jacobson, William S.

Kampinski, Charles I. Cleveland

Kelley, James M.

Kremer, Stephan Carl S-1 Kulwicki, David A. Beachwood

Kuri, Phillip A. Lancione, John A.

Lansdowne, Dennis R. Leeseberg, Gerald S. Marmaros, Peter W. S-17

Mellino, Christopher M. Mester, Jonathan D. Miller, Robert P. Mishkind, Howard D. Beachwood Monteleone, J. Michael

Novak, William J. Pantages, Pamela Perantinides, Paul G. Shapero, Neal E.

Shroge, Michael D. Cleveland Shroyer, David I.

Tittle, Allen

RISING STARS Dean, Brandon M. Dimo, Pamela Lewallen, Meghan C.

Markus, John A. Melewski, Ryan Canfield Mellino, Calder C.

Mooney, Matthew A. Roberts, Kristin Michelle Cleveland

PERSONAL INJURY PRODUCTS: DEFENSE

SUPER LAWYERS

Cox, Andrew H. Dickerson, Denise A. Cleveland Klarfeld, Joshua A. Kline, James N. McCrystal, Jr., James L. Cleveland Murch, Kevin O’Connell, Matthew C. Cleveland Ramm, Brian N., Benesch Law, Cleveland Wright, Elizabeth B.

RISING STARS Byrnes, Rachel

Hatzis, Georgia Manno, Joseph A. Sanders, Emmanuel Schiavone, Sara C. Columbus

PERSONAL INJURY PRODUCTS: PLAINTIFF

SUPER LAWYERS

Herman, Dustin Cleveland List, D. Andrew Lowe, James A. Murphy, John Martin S-7

Oliver, Jami S.

Paris, David M.

RISING STARS

Chambers Reichard, Joyce S-7

PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY: DEFENSE

SUPER LAWYERS

Brown, Lori E. Dorman, Andrew J. Graff, Douglas Lammert, Cynthia A. Cleveland

Mathews, Jr., Alvin E. Pyers, Zachary B. Sansalone, Monica A.

Winter, Jason Witkowski, Richard G.

RISING STARS

Froning, Nicholas E.

Jerin, Maia E. Lawson, Shane A. Smith, Brandon M. Steele, Kenton H.

PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY: PLAINTIFF

SUPER LAWYERS

Stewart, Scott E.

RISING STARS Kelley, Brenden Mikhaiel, Mark Cleveland

REAL ESTATE

SUPER LAWYERS

Aronoff, James B. Catanzarite, Nick R. Cusimano, III, Joseph J. Cleveland

Dardis, Bryan J. Cleveland

Daroff, Charles Desberg, Gary S.

Falk, Bryan H. Cleveland Goler, Michael D. Hatzifotinos, Dimitrios G.

Hirsch, Evan S.

Hochman, Jason D. Cleveland Kooperman, Brian T.

Liffman, Kenneth B. Lovett, Mary Forbes Monroe, John William Murphy, Kevin Patrick Cleveland Nitschke, Kathleen A. Perry, Andrew S.

Pittman Haas, Lori A. Raker, Keith H. Robins, Harlan W. Rothenberg, Larry R.

Saponaro, Joseph M. Lewis, Cleveland Schaeffer, Scott N.

Sikora III, Michael J. Singerman, Paul J.

Slagter, John P. Smyers, Robyn Minter

Sonkin, Rick D. S-30 Sosin, Jeremy S. Vasilatos, Jr., Spiros

Viola, Matthew T. Cleveland Waldeck, Jr., John W. Cleveland Wild, Jeffrey J., Benesch Law, Cleveland

RISING STARS Altier, Brett C. Ashba, Amber N. Benson, Sydney L. Berggrun, Josh Cleveland

Cepluch, Joshua R. Colon, Ciera Marie Eddy, Justin J. Fox, Justin M. Gant, Christopher Garson, Danielle

Gold, Rachel Friedman Columbus Grauer, John Cleveland Guttman, Barry J., Benesch Law, Cleveland

Hoelting-Van De Merwe, Jacqueline

Hurtuk, Joshua E. Kaman, Jeffrey E. Katz, Steven Lipsyc, Lauren E., Benesch Law, Cleveland McEvoy, Robert L. McNab, J. Breton Lewis, Cleveland Meinert, Nicholas Mook, Dylan Mykytiak, Christopher Cleveland

Noll, Kelly D., Benesch Law, Cleveland O’Grady, Peter M. Parini, Solomon

Prentis, Mitchell R. Pryor, Stephen Reese, Michelle Schottenstein, Michael L. Seiler, Raymond D. Sharvin, Michael J. Strayer, Matthew L. Wilson, Arleesha Cleveland Wrubel, Lindsey A.

SCHOOLS & EDUCATION

SUPER LAWYERS

Agins, Kerry M. Gingo, Lindsay F. McIntosh, Sandra R. Peters, Scott C. Cleveland Smith, David Kane

DAVID KANE SMITH

www.smithdklaw.com

Stone, Susan C. Cleveland Supler, Kristina W. Cleveland Weiker, Mark A.

RISING STARS

Albeit, Leslie A. Bair, Megan J. Canaday, Chelsea L. Berger Columbus

Derin, Taryn Weiss McWeeney, II, James M. Cleveland

SCHOOLS

& EDUCATION RISING STARS

Sabo, Lauren A. Stromski, Renee

Vajskop, Samantha A. Cleveland

SECURITIES & CORPORATE FINANCE

SUPER LAWYERS

Groedel, Howard M. Hanselman, Suzanne K. Cleveland

Solecki, Michael J.

RISING STARS D’Amore, Sarah Cleveland

Gherlein, Matthew J. House, Nicholas R. Pease, Cleveland

Mielcusny, Brian David, Benesch Law, Cleveland

SECURITIES LITIGATION

SUPER LAWYERS

Berkson, Hugh D.

Blair, Mitchell G. Cleveland Chapman, John S. Goins, Frances Floriano

Koehler, James F. Matasar, Scott C. Meyer, David P.

RISING STARS

Charlillo, Michael J. Nally, Brian P. Vujanov, Philip

SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY

SUPER LAWYERS

Balin, Paulette F. Farrell, Clifford M. Kolligian, Scott M. Margolius, Marcia W. Smith, Scott F.

RISING STARS Boothe, Lawrence I. Liner, Michael Shupe, Matthew J. Tefend, Molly

STATE, LOCAL & MUNICIPAL

SUPER LAWYERS

Byron, Stephen L.

Climer, James Alan Cleveland

Glasgow, Aaron M. Columbus

Hickman, Franklin J. Cleveland

Pitchford, Marshal M.

Zets, Brian M. Columbus

RISING STARS

Imbrogno, Amily Lewis, Cleveland Meager, Christopher J.

Wright, Cara M. Columbus TAX

SUPER LAWYERS Ashton, Rick L. Columbus

Callahan, Thomas J. Corsaro, Joseph G. S-5 Dimengo, Steven A.

Dodson, Katherine R.

Fazio, Mario J. Cleveland Fedor, Jr., Robert J.

Grady, Terrence A. Kadish, Matthew F.

Karas, Kimon P.

Kessler, Russell W. Columbus Shapiro, Michael J.

Widen, Frederick N. Zaino, Michael J. Zwick, Gary A.

RISING STARS Heidinger, Benjamin C.

Hood, Stephen J. Momen, Marzooq Cleveland

Pascu, Sebastian C.

Robinson, Demetrius Columbus Staudt, Carianne S. S-5 Wolnik, Jonathan C.

TECHNOLOGY TRANSACTIONS

RISING STARS Roush, Kari R.

TRANSPORTATION/MARITIME

SUPER LAWYERS

Blubaugh, Marc S., Benesch Law, Columbus Leonetti, III, Frank Pappalardo, Joseph W. Cleveland Turek, James J. Wright, Bradley A. Zalud, Eric L., Benesch Law, Cleveland

UTILITIES

SUPER LAWYERS

Lang, James F. Cleveland Whitt, Mark A.

RISING STARS Keaney, Mark T., Benesch Law, Columbus

WORKERS’ COMPENSATION

SUPER LAWYERS

Barnhart, David B. Columbus Bashein, Richard W. S-1 Brittain, Brian K. Cleveland Canestraro, Carl R. Christine, Anthony P. Coghlan, Scott

Coleman, J. Anthony Copp, Matthew R. Columbus Cowans, Timothy E. Curry, Robert J.

Elzeer, II, Bradley E. Cleveland

Faranda, Christine M.

Fresco, Ronald A. Fulton, Philip J. Columbus

Gallo, Jr., Charles Joseph Cleveland Gallucci III, Frank L. Cleveland

Gardner, James E. Garvin, Preston J. Goldberg, Richard Goodman, Jonathan H.

Hafenstein, Kenneth S. Henrikson, Kirk R. Cleveland Hernandez, Rick Hunter, Douglas S. Cleveland Kranstuber, Charles W.

CHARLES W. KRANSTUBER

www.kranstuberlaw.com

Lawther, Jennifer L.

Marchisio, Abigail I. Martello, James P. Cleveland

McCarty, David M. Columbus

McMonagle, Matthew A. S-7

Meyerson, David L. Beachwood

Mindzak, Stephen E.

STEPHEN E. MINDZAK

Moro, Joseph A. Morrow, Tod T. Murray, Edward D.

Nager, David E. Pitts, Thomas Richardson, Glen S. Scharf, Shawn D. Schneiberg, Jerald A.

Spiker, Douglas Spisak, Michael J. Cleveland Steiger, David J. Tootle, Thomas C.

Ulm, Mary E. (Randall) Wagner, Dean Robert Wahoff, William J.

Weeden, Elizabeth Wiborg, Benjamin P.

Wollam, Shawn M. Columbus

Zamora, Charles Zix, Timothy L. Cleveland

RISING STARS

Bauer, John, Poling Law, Columbus Caspary, Christopher D.

Duffy, Troy A. Gaddis, Tyler Kemp, Lauren A. Columbus Kranstuber, Carley R. Kuzma, Corey Euclid

Lallo, Matthew A. Lanese, Theresa M. Cleveland Marcellino, Samuel

Mineff, III, G. Nicholas Law, Cleveland Moro, Patrick J.

Osborne, Patrick S-7 Wincek, Jr., Christopher Cleveland

GOLDSTEIN

CRIMINAL

BRATENAHL | $775K

BRATENAHL | $775K

The private 1st floor master suite and home office offer the best in one floor living. Elegant dining room. Loft overlooking the great room. 2nd floor offers generous guest space. The kitchen and

LAKEWOOD | $1.5M

Lake Erie. Sheer perfection. Breathtaking NE and NW views. 2-story luxury penthouse condo with flawless decor. Over 5000 sq. ft. of sophisticated style and outstanding finishes. Massive great room with floor to ceiling windows. Balcony with amazing outdoor seating.

CLEVELAND | $700K

Sensational sweeping balcony. Everything redone and upgraded. 2 generous bedrooms. 3 full baths. Completely wired for sound! Maple and stainless kitchen. 2 garage spaces. Outstanding amenities: concierge service, fitness center, car wash, more.

ROCKY RIVER | $800K

Commercial building. Zoned General Business 9019 total finished sq. ft. 1st floor 4564 sq. ft. Finished lower-level 4455 sq. ft. 2 exterior doors. 100’ frontage. 0.46 acres. 5-car garage. 19 parking spaces. Asphalt parking. New windows. Updated heating. Many improvements.

LAKEWOOD | $1.5M

Incredible downtown views. 37x24 master with fireplace, private sitting room/office, Huge walk-in closet with built-ins. Sensational master bath with steam shower, jacuzzi, and so much more. Every detail meticulously done. 4 prime garage spaces with EV charger.

JAN. 8, 1942, yielded an endearing scene Downtown, as Standard Brewing Co.'s red roan Belgian horses, Doc and Don, clopped through Cleveland ice to make deliveries. Elmer Day steered their rattling harnesses, Dan Laux beside him.

Founded by a saloonkeeper, a banker and a brewer, Standard Brewing Co. grew famous for its legendary Erin Brew, a dark lager perfected by Czech-immigrant Jaroslav Pavlik.

Initially housed in a converted flour mill on Train Avenue, Standard Brewing Co. nearly doubled its production from 40,000 to 75,000 barrels between 1906 and 1913, peaking at 550,000 barrels in 1950. During Prohibition, Standard Brewing Co. pivoted to selling ice cream and soft drinks, primarily ginger ale. But “formula ten-O-two” — as Jimmy Dudley would come to broadcast during Cleveland baseball games — returned swiftly in 1933.

By 1945, 15% of the company’s brewed product was consumed by the U.S. military, per the war

effort. It wasn’t the only commodity Standard Brewing Co. and the public were asked to concede.

After Pearl Harbor, there was no access to rubber plantations in Japan-occupied areas like the Dutch East Indies. So by January 1942, the Federal Office of Price Administration issued a strict ration of tires. Drivers could own no more than five tires and were barred from purchasing new ones. Civilians were encouraged to carpool at a preserving 35 mph “victory speed.”

Like Budweiser’s Clydesdales, Standard Brewing Co.’s Belgians were used for advertisement after trucks replaced horse-drawn beer wagons by 1912. But when rubber constraints limited trucks, company manager George Creadon decided to get creative.

In a lighthearted The Plain Dealer article, the gentle giants, weighing almost 2,000 pounds apiece, cheerfully obliged, rousing from their “white-collar jobs" to serve the blue-collar city.