The Devil Strip, July 2021 | Vol. 9, Issue 7 by The Devil Strip

JULY 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7 · thedevilstrip.com

Could a new city flag really make a difference? PAGE 13

“The Other Town” is strange and heartfelt (just like Akron) PAGE 22

What happens if your life gets lost in translation? PAGE 34

FREE

Back to the loo-ture: Urine Luck returns! PAGE 46

2021 KNIGHT ARTS CHALLENGE

Hey, AKRON, what’s your best idea for the arts?

Join us to learn more about the Knight Arts Challenge, offering $1 million to the best ideas that connect people to place and to each other through the arts. KF.org/kac21 | #knightarts

2 | The Devil Strip

july 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

thedevilstrip.com

IN THIS ISSUE Summit Artspace 140 East Market Street Akron, Ohio 44308 Board of Directors: Philathia Bolton, Rita Kelly Madick, Sharetta Howze, Emily Dressler, Michael Gintert, Richelle Wardell, Marc Lee Shannon, Katie Robbins, Frank Varca, Kally Mavromatis directors@thedevilstrip.com

13 19

Publisher & Interim Editor: Chris Horne chris@thedevilstrip.com Audience Development Director: Floco Torres floco@thedevilstrip.com Membership Director: Jessica Goldbourn jessica@thedevilstrip.com Client Services Director: Anna Adelman anna@thedevilstrip.com

Public Health Reporter: H.L. Comeriato HL@thedevilstrip.com Economic Development Reporter: Abbey Marshall abbey@thedevilstrip.com

Digital Media Manager: Sonia Potter sonia@thedevilstrip.com

Client Services Assistant: Allyson Smith allyson@thedevilstrip.com Distribution Manager: Derek Kreider derek@thedevilstrip.com Layout & Design: Jenn Shaw Copy Editors: Megan Combs, Dave Daly, Emily Dressler Freelance Contributors: Ilenia Pezzaniti, Emily Anderson, Angie Agnoni, Abbey Bashor, Martha Belden, Nahla Bendefaa, Julie Ciotola, Kyle Cochrun, Jeff Davis, Nic deCourville, Megan Delong, Ken Evans, Charlotte Gintert, Dan Gorman, Charlee Harris, Zinga Hart, Jillian Holness, Todd Jakubisin, Dani Jauk, Jamie Keaton, Diane Pitz Kilivris, Laura Lakins, Marissa Marangoni, Sandy Maxwell, Brandon Meola, Vanessa Michelle, Yoly Miller, Melanie Mohler, Brittany Nader, John Nicholas, Brynne Olsen, Susan Pappas, Michael Roberts, Arrye Rosser, Mark Schweitzer, Marc Lee Shannon, Teresa Sroka, Karla Tipton, Paul Treen and Steve Van Auken

Want to help make The Devil Strip? Write to holbrook@thedevilstrip.com. Find us online: www.thedevilstrip.com Facebook: facebook.com/thedevilstrip Twitter: @akrondevilstrip Instagram: @thedevilstrip

Our Mission

rip.com Akron’s Community-Owned Magazine

7 THE NIGHTLIGHT’S NEW CHAMP 9 TAROTSCOPES 10 IT’S PATIO SEASON AT EL PATRON 11 MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: HEATHER LOVE 13 THE ‘VEX’-ING PROBLEM WITH AKRON’S FLAG 8 TODD ZVERLOFF EXUDES ‘CONFIDENCE 19 THE JUNKMAN WIZARD’S ART SHOW 22 INTO THE WEIRD WITH MARCY BONES 24 HIGHER ED IS THE KEY TO AN INCLUSIVE AKRON 26 HOW THE PANDEMIC CHANGED ELLET STUDENTS 29 IT’S SPELLED FLOCO. NO A. ONE C. 30 ALL THE BACON IN THE WORLD ON A PLATE 31 WHY FRED IS FEELIN’ FROGGY 32 500 TOOLS FOR $50 33 THE JAMAICAN PIADA 34 WHAT MOST OF US TAKE FOR GRANTED 35 ALL AKRON, ALL DAY, EVERYDAY 37 SCOUTING OUT GOODYEAR HTS. 38 A WAY OUT FOR YOUTH IN POVERTY 41 YOU HAVE TO READ IT TO BEELIEVE IT 42 OOOO, BURN! (BUT IN A GOOD WAY) 43 LIVING RELICS OF THE ICE AGES 45 MARC LEE IS A FROG 46 URINE LUCK NOW!

July 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

The Devil Strip exists to help more people care more about Akron and all its residents. That’s why we’re building a community of Akronites committed to making this a better place to live by connecting you to your neighbors, our city and a stronger sense of shared purpose through stories and meet-ups that showcase the folks who make this place so unique. The Devil Strip is published monthly by the Board of Directors of The Devil Strip Local News Cooperative. Distribution: The Devil Strip is available free of charge. Copyright: The entire contents of The Devil Strip are copyright 2021 by The Devil Strip Local News Cooperative. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission of the publisher is prohibited. Publisher does not assume liability for unsolicited manuscripts, materials or other content. All editorial, advertising and business correspondence should be sent to the addresses listed above.

The Devil Strip

| 3

Summit Artspace congratulates this year’s talented and hardworking group of Arts Alive Award honorees!

ARTS Aa Lw a rV E ds

Emerging Artist Alexandria Couch Outstanding Visual Artist Leandra Drumm Outstanding Artist in Music Floco Torres Outstanding Artist in Theatre Jairo Cuesta

Thank You to Our Sponsors!

Outstanding Artist in Dance Jane Startzman Arts Educator Andrea Karcic

Brio Performance Solutions, LLC Pickard Commercial Group John Fitzpatrick & Arrye Rosser Witschey Witschey & Firestine Co., LPA Kleidon & Associates Meaden & Moore, Ltd.

Collaborative Project Curated Courthouse IDEA Leader Wendy Duke Rising Arts Leader Courtney Cable

Arts Patron Herbert and Dianne Newman Arts Alive Award Howard Parr Scan code or go to summitartspace.org/arts-alive-2021 to learn more about the honorees!

Come Celebrate The Arts! Join us in our 42nd year at Hardesty Park, featuring over 100 juried artists from around the country. Glass, clay, metal, mixed media, jewelry, photography and more at our open-air market. Free Admission.

Summit Artspace Champion GAR Foundation Lifetime Achievement Dr. Leslie Barnes

ARTxLOVE.com | contact@artxlove.com | 330.238.8588 | @ARTxLOVELLC

Saturday, July 24 10 am–6 pm

Sunday, July 25 10 am–5 pm

Journalism about akron By AKronites

Editors Note Everyone counts or no one does BY CHRIS HORNE efore I was an editor, I was a staff writer and before that, a nightlife columnist selling print ads on commission to make rent.

Any job at The 11th Hour, an indie mag in Macon, Georgia, was better than the string of disappointments that preceded it: answering phones in a GEICO call center, waiting tables at Applebee’s, crawling under houses for Terminix, etc. My friend Roger Riddle, who’s now a VP at United Way of Summit & Medina, knew Brad and Meagan, the owners of The 11th Hour, so he introduced me. Then he nudged me until I applied for the columnist gig. It wasn’t lucrative, but it changed my life.

There’s a Chris Horne in the multiverse who didn’t have this strange career, those experiences, dozens of friends or the chance to meet the woman who married me. Without Heather, I wouldn’t have Maddy, Akron, The Devil Strip or most of my grown-up clothes. Most publications would’ve passed on me, a college dropout with a spotty job history and no professional journalism experience, which is why we keep that door open at The Devil Strip. The magic isn’t just that we’ll give any local a chance to write, take photos, illustrate or edit for us or that hundreds of our members give their financial support so we can. The stories our folks craft have the power to change lives too. If you’ve ever taken a risk to try something, you know what it means to have your effort recognized. I’m

What we believe: STORIES MATTER. We believe the most important stories are the ones we tell ourselves about ourselves, and that this is as true for cities as it is for individuals. For better or worse, every city’s chief storyteller is its media. We take responsibility for our work because we know it shapes the way Akronites see each other, and the way we see each other influences how we treat one another. OUR WORK IS FOR AKRON. This is our reason for existing, not merely our editorial angle for stories. We are advocates for the city of Akron and allies to its people, so we may be cheerleaders, but that won’t keep us from challenging the city’s flaws. What’s the point of being part of the community if we can’t help make it a better place to live? OUR WORK SHOULD BE DONE WITH

AKRON. We would rather build trust through cooperation and collaboration than authority. Our place in the community is alongside it, not standing outside looking in or standing above it looking down. WE CARE ABOUT YOU, NOT JUST YOUR EYEBALLS. Sometimes, we love a good fight with the status quo. But conflict and antagonism will never be a way of life for us, especially not to boost clicks, views, comments, shares and “eyeballs.” We are watchdogs to hold our leaders accountable, not to keep the neighbors up all night with our barking. WE LOVE OUR NEIGHBORS. Our stories humanize the people in our city. We not only want to counter sensationalized and alarmist reporting but to eventually render it obsolete. We advocate for justice, freedom and equality because

Akron’s Community-Owned Magazine

elated when someone deems The Devil Strip worthy of their spotlight. That pat on the back can keep you moving forward long enough to beat the odds. But what if it’s who you are, not what you do, that’s being validated? After their first year with us, our reporters, H.L. Comeriato and Abbey Marshall, said they saw how simply listening to someone can change the way they see themselves.

itself isn’t the point. The Devil Strip is community-owned to make us accountable to you so our incentives stay aligned with our collective wellbeing. What we are matters less than how we do our work and why. We believe in Akron. We believe local journalism can make our city stronger by reinforcing our shared humanity instead of denying it. We can’t do that without you. After all, that’s what community looks like.

We do this almost entirely to serve Akron. That last little sliver is reserved for changing the business of local news. For a couple hundred years, our industry has profited off communities of color, who have been ignored as customers and exploited by coverage whose primary purpose is to juice outrage and conflict for cheap clicks. We want to change that. Yeah, it’s weird and often confusing that we’re a co-op, but our structure

those qualities make this city, and our lives, better. JOURNALISM SHOULD LIVE BEYOND THE PAGE. Information without context or connection is inert. We believe journalism can connect people to each other, our city and even a sense of purpose. Though our work begins on the page, both printed and web, we promote and plan events so people can meet faceto-face where real life still happens. PEOPLE OVER PROFITS. The local businesses, nonprofits and civic organizations who support The Devil Strip are part of our community and are as vital to our culture as our artists and musicians. That’s why we don’t accept ads for national chains, things in large metros outside Summit County or businesses that profit from the exploitation of women. We are not a coat hanger for advertising. WE GET ONE SHOT AT LIFE, SO LET’S HAVE FUN. We want our readers to fall

July 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

Want to talk? Reach me at chris@thedevilstrip.com

in love with Akron (again and again and again), to buck the temptation to only live vicariously through the people they follow online. One thing that makes art, dance, theatre, music, film, food, civic engagement, biking, hiking, and public space so great is that all these things can bring us together, helping us find new friends and have fun with the ones we already have. That makes us all a little happier. That’s what it’s all about.

What is a devil strip? The “devil strip” is the strip of grass between the sidewalk and the street. The precise origins of the term are unknown, but it’s only used in Akron. Today, the devil strip is what connects residents to the city — its public space, its people and its challenges. The Devil Strip seeks to do the same thing.

The Devil Strip

| 5

The wit

Market Day 2021 Akron Honey Company brings the one-day only block party back to the bee farm WRITTEN BY DEREK KREIDER; PHOTOS BY CHRIS HORNE

hat has eight local small businesses, three food trucks, a DJ and was gone too long? It’s Akron Honey Market Day, which returned June 27, 2021 after a long pandemic absence. Akron Honey Company founder Brent Wesley — known by everyone as Wesley or Wesley the Keeper — couldn’t wait to get people together outside the family apiary again after weathering 2020’s event wasteland. “What other market takes place in the city, in a neighborhood, on a street, in front of a bee yard?” Wesley asks rhetorically. “It’s like a party where there happens to be really cool, superhero small brands, and there’s food... You need to come hungry.” DJ Forrest Getemgump, known around town for co-hosting Mighty Soul Night, returned to get people dancing while they milled around and waited in lines. This time, there was a new twist to the tunes as Wesley’s former Honeytones bandmate — Wesley the Keeper is also soul-singer Wesley Bright — alto saxophonist Nathan Paul-Davis accompanied Getemgump for a five-song set.

6 | The Devil Strip

Market Day vendors were as eager as the crowds to join the celebration. “Market Day is one of our favorite events every time it comes around,” says Charly Murphy of Stray Dog Cafe. “This might be the first Akron appearance of our Big Blue Barbeque truck, which is new this year.” Cristina González Alcalá, co-owner of Not Yo’ Daddy’s Mexican Hot Sauce, quickly sold out of limited edition flavors she brought specifically for the event that got them rolling. “Being able to come back is quite emotional. The market is the one that gave us momentum when the hot sauce was on its way to kickstarting,” Alcalá says. “It really is, for us, a way to say, ‘Welcome to our family,’ when we share our hot sauce.” After a long year inside, Market Day proved there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. “People are finally going to be able to get back to the best vibe they can experience,” Wesley says. //Derek Kreider is a general assignment reporter and distribution manager for The Devil Strip july 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

thedevilstrip.com

The Nightlight rolls out the red carpet with a new leader and renovations Local indie theatre re-emerges from the pandemic with safety upgrades

Previously, Kidd worked for three years as the general manager of Musica, overseeing the day-to-day operation of the venue and putting marketing strategies into action, as well as working as Creative Director of the Historic Arts District.

co-founder and founder of the Akron Independent Film Festival. Those renovations were funded by donations from Lucas’ family after he passed last July at the age of 41, following a seven-year battle with cancer.

WRITTEN BY DEREK KREIDER; PHOTO OF JENN KIDD, COURTESY OF THE NIGHTLIGHT

A self-described “cultural logistics coordinator,” and lifelong film buff, Kidd is looking forward to sharing the magic of movies with Akron.

The theatre has been upgraded with an HVAC and UV-C air filtration system designed to reduce airborne contaminants, as well as plexiglass shielding around the box office, hand sanitizing stations and “markers for socially distant check-in and seating,” according to the Nightlight’s website.

owntown Akron’s art house theatre has a new champion. Shuttered by the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020, The Nightlight Cinema reopens June 11 with a new executive director leading the way.

“I am an artist, and I love connecting people with art,” she says. “I enjoy the challenge of introducing people to something they may not be familiar with.”

Jenn Kidd, who has been a longtime advocate for the Historic Arts District, was announced ahead of the reopening as The Nightlight’s new leader, which she describes as her dream job.

Matthew Wachter, a trustee of the non-profit cinema who served as its interim executive director, expressed his confidence in a press release, saying, “The Nightlight is in great hands moving towards a bright future.”

“To me, it’s the gem of downtown,” Kidd says, adding that working there “checks off all the boxes of things I love to do.”

When fans return, they’ll also find some significant changes, beginning as they enter through the Rob Lucas Lobby, named for The Nightlight

rip.com Akron’s Community-Owned Magazine

The Nightlight and see a movie’,” she says. The Nightlight, which opened in 2014 with grants from the Knight Foundation and the GAR Foundation, debuted the Rob Lucas Lobby and their new safety measures with two films to kick off the 2021 season: Melvin Van Peebles’s “The Story of a Three Day Pass” and “The Perfect Candidate” by Haifaa al-Mansour. A good film might be what Akronites need as we emerge from our pandemic-induced hibernation, and The Nightlight’s welcoming, air-conditioned arms beckon. “There’s something very comforting,” Kidd says “about sitting in the cinema just with you, your thoughts and the film.”

And not a moment too soon for Kidd.

The Nightlight will operate at halfcapacity for the immediate future. Tickets can be purchased in advance online at nightlightcinema.com.

“During COVID, when I was sitting at home last year at this time being sad, I was like, ‘Gosh, I wish I could go to

//Derek Kreider is a general assignment reporter and distribution manager for The Devil Strip.

Present

Retro by P.R. Miller “The Grizzled Wizard”

July 10 – September 25

Betty and Howard Taylor & Welcome Galleries

P.R. Miller showcases his life’s work in Present and Retro. Experience the evolution of his work in this retrospective exhibition and witness his three principal identities as a junk man, artist, and wizard. “The Grizzled Wizard” alters the viewer’s reality by making trash into treasure. Present and Retro will include works made from glass, metal, clay, and more, chronicling the artist’s journey over the course of his decades-long career.

Public Hours

Fridays 12 p.m. - 7 p.m. Saturdays from 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

summitartspace.org

July 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

140 E Market Street Akron OH 44308 330-376-8480 The Devil Strip |

2021 AKRON RUBBERDUCKS SCHEDULE

GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY! AKRONRUBBERDUCKS.COM • 855-97-QUACK 8 | The Devil Strip

july 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

thedevilstrip.com

rip.com

Tarotscopes Be careful what you wish for… BY ALLYSON SMITH

uly may bring along some confusion and a rollercoaster of emotions. We’re being called to keep things balanced and in perspective, and to remember the old saying, “Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it.” A little awareness can go a long way this month. With the world opening back up, and everything returning to “normal” (whatever that actually means), it may be easy to get carried away and overindulge. Imbibing a bit, going out here and there, and creating space for fun and social activities is perfectly fine, as long as it’s kept in moderation, which is what Temperance is trying to remind us. It can be so easy to get in over our heads, especially when we have an entire year to make up for!

In addition to moderation, Temperance is also encouraging us to pay attention to how balance naturally occurs in our lives and where balance needs to be implemented. Reinforced by a combination of the Ace of Pentacles and IX of Swords, we are reminded that while we may thrive in some aspects of life, we may struggle in others. It is possible to have financial or material success, but for some, that can take a toll on our mental and spiritual well-being, or vice versa. For some of us, the gift that is the Ace of Pentacles — career success, material wealth, money — may come at an unexpected price. Once again, Temperance encourages us to be wary and make sure that the gifts that come our way align with our values and purposes so we can minimize the fear and anxiety that comes with the IX of Swords.

Just remember, most things are healthy in moderation.

The King of Swords helps us find the truth in any mirages we may encounter: those things that seem too good to be true. His sword and sharp intellect cut through the garbage, the negative self-talk and all the noise that causes distractions and threatens to push us off course.

Tarot cards: These cards are from the Rust Belt Arcana tarot deck, released in 2018 by Belt

Balance, mindfulness and focus are the keys to getting back on track and keeping your cool this summer.

Publishing. Each card in the deck features a creature from Northeast Ohio, illustrated by David Wilson.

Now Registering! 8/6 6-9 PM

DIAMOND KITES DETENTION ALEX BEVAN FOOD TRUCKS, VENDORS FREE FAMILY FUN

SummitChoralSociety.org 330.434.SING(7464) Akron’s Community-Owned Magazine

Info betterkenmore.org

Goodyear Hts. Clean-up

n a drizly, gray Saturday in early May, several members and staff of The Devil Strip joined neighborhood volunteers and Akron City Councilwoman Sharon Connor (D-Ward 10) for a clean-up of Goodyear Heights to collect roadside litter from devil strips with bags and equipment supplied by Keep Akron Beautiful.

opening night back then, and those memories influenced his strategies this time around. His degree has shaped his business and management philosophies. Being so processoriented helps him and his team stay organized, which makes everything flow.

El Patrón Tequilería opens in time for outdoor dining season WRITING AND PHOTOS BY EMILY ANDERSON

here’s a new tequila bar downtown called El Patrón Tequilería & Cuisine, and it’s just what we’ve been missing. As the weather warms for summer, you can expect their beautiful rooftop patio to fill up with Akronites. When the time is right, owner Luis Escudero plans to host live music there, too. Escudero, who set an ambitious sixmonth opening plan after he signed a lease for the Gothic Building space that once was home to “Nuevo Mod Mex,” completely remodeled the interior of the space with some help from friends and family, then developed bar and kitchen menus,

10 | The Devil Strip

and trained a full staff. His success so far, he says, is owed to his experience at his family’s restaurant and to his engineering education from the University of Akron.

Escudero’s favorite part of starting his own place from scratch has been building his team. He says he’s been particularly blessed in this area, and that his staff has values that align with his when it comes to work ethic and a focus on positivity. So what’s been the hardest part?

“Engineering is all about systems, and a restaurant is made of systems.”

The original El Patrón in Seville was opened 10 years ago by Escudero’s father. Like the rest of his family, Luis Escudero worked there through high school and college. When he graduated college, he took over as operations manager in Seville.

Executive chef James Phillips and Escudero developed the menu with help from his mom, Gabriela, and her recipes from Mexico City. He loves sharing his culture with his team, so they can share it with guests. Phillips is an Akron kitchen veteran.

“I’ve worked every position, from busboy to general manager.”

Given the loungey vibe of El Patrón, most of the menu is organized into small plates — everything from vegan paddle cactus tacos to Kobe tartara. The ingredients are super fresh and most items are sharable, especially the big fajita plates.

Watching his father open a restaurant as a teenager taught Escudero a lot. He remembered specifically how unprepared they had been for the

Behind the bar, you’ll find classic Mexican beers on tap, and of course, a huge selection of tequila and mezcal. Cocktails are organized into sections: Palomas, Traditional Margaritas, Craft Margaritas, and Craft Cocktails - all of which include tequila or mezcal. (Yes, you can get margarita flights!)

july 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

“Actually running the business — doing everything — it takes an immense amount of brainpower,” he says. El Patrón is open for lunch at noon Monday through Saturday; they close at 10:00 pm Monday-Wednesday, but on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays they’re open until 2:00 am. They’re closed on Sundays. // Emily Anderson thinks a classic marg on the rocks with salt is perfection.

thedevilstrip.com

Trivia Night at Vinifera Wine-toWhiskey Bar

s folks got vaccinated and the world began to reopen, we at The Devil Strip were wondering if anyone would actually show up for an event if we held one. The answer was a resounding yes on Wednesday, May 19 at Vinifera, which was the perfect place to restart our members-only events. That’s because this new restaurant in Cuyahoga Falls not only has a killer patio and an incredible selection of whiskey and wine, but it’s owned by Michelle and John Bisson, who are active members and avid readers of The Devil Strip. Local trivia master Rob Core, who also joined The Devil Strip member ranks, made this a member trifecta, quizzing our crew with his Akron-centric questions. If you’re a member, keep an eye out for the next meet-up coming soon. If you aren’t yet, visit thedevilstrip.com/ co-op to learn how we’re creating a community of people making the most of their lives here!

Member Spotlight If Heather Love had to put a label on themself, it would be an “anarchist witch through and through.” For Heather, that means working with crystals or tarot, spending time in nature and helping the community anyway they can. After growing up on a 1,000-acre property where they were free to explore nature, Heather moved to Akron to live in the Merriman Heights and Highland Square neighborhoods. “Small towns just aren’t as friendly to LGBTQ, so not only do I identify as queer, but our youngest child identifies as queer in a way as well. So it came down to safety. Akron is a very safe space for us because we just kind of go unnoticed. There’s other families that are similar to ours so no one really bats an eye,” they explain.

Heather and their family spend a lot of their time exploring the different trails of Summit County’s metroparks and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park on “anything with two wheels.” “We love Cuyahoga Valley because we ride motorcycles. We’re big cyclists. So we try to ride, that’s usually the route we take, is through the park,” they say. Before the pandemic, Heather and their wife used to volunteer at Lock 3 in the summer. “It was a great excuse to leave the kids at home, to have a date night, to not spend any money and we usually ended up pooling tips at some point in time, at least enough to buy fast food on the way home.” Heather decided to become a member of the co-op because they

rip.com Akron’s Community-Owned Magazine

felt it was another way to contribute to the community, and it reflects their own views. “I don’t care what USA Today has to tell me. I care about what’s directly impacting me. Where does the community need help? What’s going on that’s great in the community? What voice am I overlooking or not understanding? And I think that’s what The Devil Strip does,” they say. “We waste more money on gas station stops and Redbull. It just makes sense. Where’s our money going and how is it impacting, not only us, but maybe our membership is what keeps it free for everybody else.”

July 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

The Devil Strip

| 11

j u ly 9 j u ly 11

AKRON S Y M P H O N Y O R C H E ST R A SUMMER CONCERT SERIES

OUT SIDE VOICES

hale farm & village Christopher Wilkins, conductor July 9 — ASO Strings July 11 — ASO Symphonic Winds

August 1 - Goodyear Metro Park August 8 - Firestone Park August 15 - Forest Lodge Park

2 0 2 1

A FREE community-wide celebration featuring the works of: J. ROSAMOND JOHNSON . FLORENCE PRICE JULIA PERRY . JAMES WELDON JOHNSON NKEIRU OKOYE . WILLIAM GRANT STILL GEORGE WALKER . JESSIE MONTGOMERY KIMBERLY ARCHER . CLARICE ASSAD OMAR THOMAS . MIGUEL DEL AGUILA FREE ADMISSION — All performances subject to change — All performances begin at 7:30 pm For more information, please visit akronsymphony.org

12 | The Devil Strip

july 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

thedevilstrip.com

T T

kro In

In fact, ac are taking the conce systemic f and wide — flag de priority. H importan communi solving bi

When it’s a city flag between symbol an to rally be

“If the fla designed, work as a is a lost o the city,” a nationa vexillolog expert).

Few mun embraced because t adequate or inspire When tha residents teams, co chambers or to cele historical institution tarnished values, it pride. The being a p

While a w panacea f it can hel identity, m easier to

An advoc design, p joined Ka the case t communi citizenshi complex p connecte

The Worst-Designed Thing You've Never Noticed WRITTEN BY KEN EVANS

kron’s city flag is kind of awful. In fairness, most are.

In fact, across the United States, cities are taking a fresh look at theirs. Given the concerns facing residents — systemic failures, environmental issues and wide-ranging social changes — flag design may seem like a low priority. However, the city flag is an important yet often underutilized community asset that can make solving bigger civic problems easier. When it’s embraced by the public, a city flag fosters shared identity between residents by serving as a city symbol and a literal banner for locals to rally behind to address challenges.

“As we move more and more into cities, the city flag will become not just a symbol of that city as a place, but also, it could become a symbol of how that city considers design itself,” Mars said during a 2015 TED Talk about city flags.

critical issues and create stronger connections among residents, businesses, and nonprofit and government leaders,” according to the NCL’s website. That honor, combined with the completion of the Inventors Hall of Fame Museum in 1995, motivated Mayor Don Plusquellic and his chief of staff, Joel Bailey, to create a new city seal that incorporated these accolades. Unlike the 1965 design, this version was never formally adopted by the City Council. The 1996 design can still be found especially on older city trash cans.

So what is Akron’s city flag anyway?

This update design again was never fully embraced by residents. Former Deputy Mayor Dave Lieberth says a commission was established in the mid-2000s to explore adopting a new symbol. However, they determined an updated symbol offered little value to Akron and plans to revisit the design were dropped.

While a well-designed flag is not a panacea for economic misfortunes, it can help establish a broad civic identity, making many challenges easier to rally behind. An advocate for the power of good design, podcaster Roman Mars has joined Kaye on his crusade, making the case that a well-designed flag communicates how a city imagines citizenship, how it approaches complex problems and how connected its communities are.

A new design was adopted in 1996 after Akron won the coveted National Civic League’s “All American City Award” for a second time in 1995. The award, which is only granted to ten cities annually, “recognizes the work of communities in using inclusive civic engagement to address

rip.com Akron’s Community-Owned Magazine

• Keep It Simple: The flag should be so simple that a child can draw it from memory. • Use Meaningful Symbolism: The flag’s images, colors, or patterns should relate to what it symbolizes. • Use 2-3 Basic Colors: Limit the number of colors on the flag to three, which contrast well and come from the standard color set.

• Be Distinctive or Be Related: Avoid duplicating other flags, but use similarities to show connections.

The first seal was designed by Sam Scherr of the industrial design firm Scherr & McDermott Inc. and adopted by the City Council in 1965.

This original seal found little public use. There is even an anecdotal story of a former mayor removing that flag from his office and stuffing it into a box so he would no longer have to look at it. This seal can still be seen in a few places around Akron, primarily in some older government buildings and a few documents that missed being updated, like the parking tickets for some downtown garages.

From Ted Kaye’s “Good Flag, Bad Flag” pamphlet, which spells out the five core principles of good flag design.

• No Lettering or Seals: Never use writing of any kind or an organization’s seal.

Akron has had three flags with all of them consisting of the city seal on a white background.

“If the flag is poorly designed, if it doesn’t work as a flag, then that is a lost opportunity for the city,” says Ted Kaye, a nationally recognized vexillologist (aka - a flag expert). Few municipal flags are embraced by the public because they fail to adequately symbolize or inspire people. When that happens, residents turn to sports teams, corporations and chambers of commerce or to celebrities and historical figures. If those institutions or individuals leave, are tarnished by corruption or change values, it can be another blow to civic pride. The loss of the rubber industry being a prime example.

Five Principles of Good Flag Design

The city seal in use today was revealed in Mayor Don Plusquellic’s 2009 State of the City address. Its design, by Akron artist Nick Betro, Vice President of Hitchcock Fleming and Associates, reflects both Akron winning the 2008 All-American City Award and the departure, in 2009, of the Inventors Hall of Fame Museum, which moved to Alexandria, Virginia.

July 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

Take up the flag New city flags don’t design and adopt themselves. It takes effort by residents, artists, designers and elected officials. To do this well, Kaye says, we must answer these questions for ourselves: • Do you believe Akron is a great city? • Does a great city deserve a great flag? • Is our city flag a great flag? • What are you going to do about it?

Ready for a new city flag? Join this free event If you’d like to learn more about city flags and what it takes to get a new one adopted, please join us for an online event at 5:30 pm on July 15, 2021 for a special presentation with vexillogist Ted Kaye and Lee Snelgrove, the organizer behind the successful adoption of a new flag in Columbia, SC. To register, visit https://devilst.rip/FlagEvent

The Devil Strip

| 13

So what makes a “well-designed” flag? The city of Chicago offers a classic example of a well-designed flag embraced by its community. Appearing everywhere in the city and tied to the very idea of what it means to be a Chicagoan, the flag is firmly part of the iconography of the city and can be found everywhere from coffee cups to tattoos. When a police officer or firefighter dies, it is often not the United States flag that drapes their coffin but the city flag of Chicago. Mars said in his 2015 TED Talk, “It isn’t just that people love Chicago and therefore love the flag. I also think that people love Chicago more because the flag is so cool.” That’s because, as Kaye was quoted saying in the same TED Talk, the Chicago flag created a positive feedback loop between “great symbolism and civic pride.”

At a minimum, the design should be recognizable from a distance while it is waving in the wind. That’s why seals make poor flags. The same is true for putting words on a flag. If you have to put your name on a flag, Kaye says, “then your symbolism has failed.” Want to see if your own design can pass the test? Kaye says to draw a one-inch by half-inch rectangle then make your design fit inside. The “vexing” problem with Akron’s current flag When the North American Vexillological Association published their 2004 ranking of US municipal flags, Akron’s ranked #126 out of 150. A cheeky article at the time, by Beacon Journal staff writer Jule Wallace, quoted former city spokesperson Mark Williamson admitting, “the present flag sucks.” That was about the 1996 version, but reception to the current flag is generally tepid at best. In a September 8, 2016 column, Beacon Journal columnist Bob Dyer noted Akron’s flag may be distinct but it was complex, writing, “nobody could draw that thing from memory — maybe not even the person who designed it.” Dyer quoted Roman Mars, who pointed out: “...flags are designed [generally] to be displayed where you can see both sides. …With this design, all the lettering would be backward for a lot of the people viewing it and the image would lose some of its impact.” On the positive side, Mars told Dyer the graphic could make a great t-shirt.

To better communicate good flag design, Kaye consulted academic journals, design experts and amateur flag enthusiasts. The result was “Good Flag, Bad Flag,” a 15-page pamphlet that spells out five core principles: Keep It Simple, Use Meaningful Symbolism, Use 2–3 Basic Colors, No Lettering or Seals, Be Distinctive or Be Related.

14 | The Devil Strip

july 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

Dyer’s next column featured reader comments that largely agreed with vexillologists, but one, by Rev. Michael B. Smith, offered a design suggestion of his own: “The city flag of Akron should be the University of Akron Colors: a blue field with [a] yellow triangle in the middle from base to top, [and] a gray tire tread along the horizontal base of the flag. No words, no numbers, no foolin’.”

thedevilstrip.com

Smith conceded, however, it may require an “act of God” to get the city to adopt a new flag.

Here’s a mockup by Ken Evans of what that flag could look like.

What does it take to adopt a new flag? The 1965, 1995 and 2009 designs are what vexillologists like to call S.O.Bs or “seals on a bedsheet.” A hidden problem in our S.O.B. is that even if proud Akronites wanted to embrace the current flag,say by putting it on a beer can, the seal is copyrighted by the City of Akron government so it can’t be used without official permission. It doesn’t have to be this way. Akron can have a true symbol that is embraced by the community because it truly represents its residents, which starts by asking Akronites to get involved and listening to them when they respond. Other cities — from Norman, Oklahoma to Columbia, South Carolina — have done this, collaborating with local artists and designers to create flags that are publicly owned and establish what Roman Mars calls a graphic design language for the city that’s “remixable” into new forms. Serving as shorthand for what it means to be a resident.

The good news, Kaye says, is that designing a city flag is fairly easy once locals decide that’s what they want to do — “98% of the work is a political and public relations campaign to get people to agree that the current flag should change.” During the reporting process, The Devil Strip contacted members of Akron City Council and the Mayor’s Office to let them know this story would be coming out so they aren’t taken by surprise. After all, this can’t happen without them. In those informal conversations, the consensus response was positive and supportive of exploring a change. All Akron needs now is for you to pick up the flag. If you want to share your ideas, feedback or even your own concept for a new Akron city flag, reach out to us at flags@thedevilstrip.com. // Ken Evans is a new Akronite attempting to better understand his adopted home while endeavoring to learn what it actually means to do good in the world. If you have questions about this article please reach out to akronevans@gmail.com.

rip.com Akron’s Community-Owned Magazine

July 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

The Devil Strip

| 15

/// Our Fruited Sour, Brewed with Raspberry & Blackberry Purée /// 7.0% ABV /// AKRON, OH

WRIT PHOTO

Eighty-ThreeBrewery.com

 

This advertisement has been purchased through a generous gift from the Republic Services Foundation.

ince Awa acco communi artists as advocate Akron’s a

SUMMER

EXHIBITIONS

This year’ familiar fa Strip. Floc Strip’s Co received t Artist in M

July 10 – September 25

Present

by P.R. Miller

Retro

“The Grizzled Wizard”

A hip-hop and write from New and even 2017, be music sce

Included But Not Limited To

Group Exhibition

“The mai is perseve motivatio and getti for itself a I’m locate

Artwork by Christopher Hoot

But he’s n cynics he stays pos

Digital Constructs Visual Music Liquid Landscapes

Digital Constructs Visual Music

Botanical Voices

“Anytime win some practice g people th and peop things an

A Solo Show by

Liquid Landscapes

Helen Wilson Mixed Media Artist

Public Hours Fridays 12 p.m. - 7 p.m. 11Strip a.m. - 5 p.m. 16Saturdays | The Devil

Grassland Diaries - Autumn Glory

140 E Market Street Akron OH 44308 330-376-8480 summitartspace.org july 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

thedevilstrip.com

2021 Arts Alive Awards recognizes Akron’s artists and advocates WRITTEN BY ALLYSON SMITH; PHOTOS COURTESY OF SUMMIT ARTSPACE

ince 2002, the Arts Alive Awards has recognized the accomplishments of local art community,showcasing work by artists as well as the contributions of advocates and patrons who support Akron’s art scene. This year’s winners include a few familiar faces for fans of The Devil Strip. Floco Torres, who is The Devil Strip’s Community Outreach Director, received the award for Outstanding Artist in Music. A hip-hop musician who produces and writes all his music, Floco moved from New Jersey to Macon, Georgia, and eventually came to Akron in 2017, becoming a pivotal part of the music scene here. “The main theme in a lot of my music is perseverance, resilience and selfmotivation, getting knocked down and getting back up.The work speaks for itself and it doesn’t matter where I’m located,” he says. But he’s no longer just fueled by the cynics he’s encountered. Instead, he stays positive. “Anytime I get acknowledged or I win something, I try to make sure to practice gratitude and think of all the people that helped me along the way and people who gave me a shot for things and people who come to the

shows,” he says. Many of this year’s Arts Alive recipients have been featured in The Devil Strip. Alexandria Couch, recipient of the Emerging Artist award, was first featured on the cover for her piece, “Embody”, which she describes as a neo-heritage piece. “Being an African-American, I don’t know particularly where I come from, and so we’re always taking bits and pieces of things that we like and putting them together to make something that we’re proud of.” (“Meet Alexandria Couch, a ‘neo-heritage’ painter” | April 2019) Leandra Drumm, winner of Outstanding Visual Artist, comes from a family of artists. Her father is the sculptor, Don Drumm, and her mother is Lisa Drumm, a textile artist. The Devil Strip featured Leandra’s glass and pewter creations on the cover along with profiling her personal story and contributions to the arts scene. (“Leandra Drumm creates whimsical designs in pewter and glass” | March 2021) Jairo Cuesta, recognized as the Outstanding Artist in Theatre, is the co-founder of New World Performance Lab and has been featured in The Devil Strip a few times. The first time was for NWPL’s one-man play featuring Jairo, “The Death of A Man: The Devil’s Milk Part 1”, which shows audiences how the rubber industry impacted indigenous people in the Amazon. (“The Wheels

rip.com Akron’s Community-Owned Magazine

are Coated with Blood | March 2016) Curated Storefront, which partnered with Summit County Probate Court, received an award for their Collaborative Project, Curated Courthouse. The Curated Storefront, created by Richard Rogers was designed with the intention of beautifying and revitalizing downtown Akron, and later, other places in the city. “Ultimately, we hope that businesses, restaurants, and cultural institutions will recognize the potential of downtown and reseed Main Street with vibrant cultural and commercial activity,” says Rogers. (“Knight Arts Challenge Winner Spotlight: The Curated Storefront” | March 2017) Wendy Duke, accepted the Idea Leader Award, on behalf of the Center for Applied Drama and Autism (CADA). CADA’s program, Theatre on the Spectrum, was created to help people with autism learn about and participate in the theatre, while also practicing real-life skills. “It’s about communicating and being a part of the world rather than hidden away,” says Wendy.” (“Theatre on the Spectrum creates space for artists with autism” | July 2019) Courtney Cable, recognized as the Rising Arts Leader, is also the Creative Director of Curated Storefront. Her work has helped bring many art installations to the City of Akron, including the Devo energy dome sculptures all around the city, the LED installation at Akron City Center Hotel, and has even been featured

July 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

alongside the Summit Lapidary Club. (“Summit Lapidary Club brings gem and mineral enthusiasts together | April issue 2020) Howard Parr, recipient of the Arts Alive Award, is the director of the Akron Civic Theatre, the cultural heart of new downtown development and a staple in Akron’s art scene, hosting performances from artists locally and from around the country. The Civic has also supported The Devil Strip in several ways, including as our fiscal sponsor for grants. The Arts Alive Awards trophies themselves were crafted by glassblowing artist Jennifer Worden, whose work appeared on the cover of our April 2018 issue. Her husband Pat Worden has had several stories published in The Devil Strip too. While these are artists and organizations that have been featured in The Devil Strip so far, many more were recognized for their talent and contributions, including Diane and Herbert Newman (Arts Patron), Dr. Leslie Barnes (Lifelong Achievement), Jane Startzman (Outstanding Artist in Dance), GAR Foundation (Summit Artspace Champion), and Andrea Karcic (Arts Educator). Bio: Allyson Smith is The Devil Strip’s client solutions assistant, a content creator, and writer of the monthly Tarotscopes column.

The Devil Strip

| 17

‘Snatch,’ or ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.’ Not that I love those movies, but I love the way those movies flow. Everything is so snappy and quick and that’s what I was going for.” Zverloff always loved fiction, getting a minor in creative writing and becoming an English teacher for a while before getting serious as a creator.

Local comic book writer shows “Confidence” with Kickstarter Campaign BY ALLYSON SMITH

odd Zverloff’s love for comic books started with a gift from his uncle when he was a child. At the time, Zverloff didn’t realize it would spark an interest that would lead to him publishing his own comic books in the future. His love for comics began with Batman and Robin and turned into Zverloff working with other Ohio writers to create “Along The Burning River,” an anthology of stories about Ohio, and then venturing out on his own to write “Confidence.” “You follow this character named

18 | The Devil Strip

Allen along as he goes through various different groups of people and you see that he’s conning each one of them in a different way to get something. I don’t want to say it’s a surprise or twist ending, but you do finally get uncovered… ...what’s being hinted at in the whole story,” Zverloff explains. While “Along The Burning River,” Zverloff’s first project, was created to celebrate the pride and resilience of Rust Belt residents, “Confidence” is meant to be a story that readers can simply pick up and enjoy. “It’s inspired by movies like ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ or Guy Ritchie movies like

“I sort of dabbled in it for my entire adult life, but never really did enough with it beyond hobbies and free time and such,” he says. “But in the last couple years, I’ve gotten more active, trying to get published, and I’ve been a lifelong comic book fan. So those two parts of my life were married in the idea of creating comic books,” he says. Although Zverloff had no experience writing comic books, he turned to the internet and social media to learn those skills and create connections to bring “Along The Burning River” to life. “What I learned is it’s not as hard as I thought,” he says. On Facebook, Zverloff was also able to connect with Reinaldo Lay, an architect from Chile, who would become the illustrator of “Confidence.”

Zverloff says that while the stigma surrounding comic books is decreasing, it is still there. “Reading is reading,” Zverloff says. “It helps expand your mind and imagination, and comics, I think, expand your imagination even more so to a degree because you get the pictures there to tell the story with it, and you get this appreciation of not just printed art, but visual art as well. It’s like looking at a painting and reading a book at the same time.” His perseverance has paid off. The Kickstarter campaign for “Confidence” ended May 27 with nearly $4,200 in contributions, exceeding his goal. Now Zverloff will use the funds to publish the first volume so comic book enthusiasts, local and worldwide, can pad their collections with the work of one of Akron’s freshest writers. //Bio: Allyson Smith is The Devil Strip’s client solutions assistant, a content creator, and writer of the monthly Tarotscopes column. //Images from “Confidence” are used with permission from Todd Zverloff.. Photo of Zverloff sitting is by Lumos Photography. Used with permission.

“I gave him my script, and he turned it into magic,” Zverloff says.

july 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

thedevilstrip.com

Out of the Blueberry Fields P.R. Miller re-emerges from his Wizard’s Lair with a new gallery exhibition WORDS AND PHOTOS BY DEREK KREIDER

unkman, artist and self-styled wizard P.R. Miller returns to Akron with a showing of his work entitled “Present and Retro,” opening July 10, 2021 at the Summit Artspace in the Betty and Howard Taylor & Welcome Galleries. “Present and Retro” spans Miller’s entire art career, from his early ceramic work as a freshman in high school to the blown glass pieces from his time at Penland School of Craft in 1980, as well as more contemporary, newer work, like his flower sculptures made from scrap metal and pieces that will debut at the show opening,

including, as Miller puts it, “One of the best lamps I think I’ve ever made.” The show is his first after a long hiatus. “I’m trying to, shall I say, come back out of the closet,” Miller says, “and at least show myself that I’ve still got something. I don’t know what, but something.” Akronites may recognize Miller’s work. He’s responsible for the humongous, rusted metal frog outside the Highland Square Library

and was Stan Hywet’s artist-inresidency in 2008. “The only one they ever had,” Miller says, “and they haven’t done it since. I had 125 of my giant flowers all over Stan Hywet for a year.”

from recycled goods. Whether it’s scrap copper wire people throw away or this black thing,” he says, picking up a piece of equipment that already looks like a sculpture. “That’s actually part of Ohio Edison’s devices for attaching power lines to the telephone poles.”

Gypsy Grace and the Vintage Goat, a boutique shop on W. Market Street, carries wizard wands he made from gnarled blueberry roots found on the farm where he lives.

The tables he’s making for the show are topped by solid plastic puddles repurposed from the Rubbermaid plant on Gilchrist Road.

“The majority of my artwork comes

“Every time they change a product

HELPING YOU

LEARN

HE LP IN G YO U CONN ECT I C REATE I EXPLO RE I LEA RN

rip.com Akron’s Community-Owned Magazine

July 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

The Devil Strip

| 19

This advertisement has been purchased through a generous gift from the Republic Services Foundation

Hot Glass Jam

Outdoor Glassblowing Demonstrations and Neighborhood Social First Saturday of the month: June 5, July 3, August 7 - 10 am to 3 pm

Free Glassblowing Demos Meet some local businesses Neighborhood Network - The Well CDC Elizabeth’s Bookshop - Gardening 101 with Barb

Make a glass Flower! $25 No experience needed 15 years and older Limited spots available - First come first served

Akron Glass Works Hot Glass Studio and Gallery 421 Spicer St. Akron 330.253.5888 www.akronglassworks.com This advertisement has been purchased through a generous gift from the Republic Services Foundation.

20 | The Devil Strip

july 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

thedevilstrip.com

Blueberry Hills Family Farms Blueberry Hills Family Farms is a certified organic 66-acre farm with 15 acres of pickthem-yourself blueberries located in Glenmont, OH, 16 miles outside Loudonville. When they open in July, you can make the trek to pick some blueberries seven days a week, from 9am-4pm. Opening-day details can be found on their Facebook.

or change color, or the machine goes wrong, they can’t leave it in the machine; it’ll harden, and the machine’s dead,” says Miller. “So, they purge it out onto the floor, and it forms puddles.” Miller is always on the lookout for something he can use, either rehabilitating what he finds or incorporating it into a project.

oundation “My hobbies are dumpster-diving,

trash-trolling, garbage-gathering and rubbish-ruminating. I’m never not looking.”

bullying their way along. Provided you aren’t run into the Mohican River by a wheat thresher, you arrive at a steep driveway leading up through the trees. At the top of the incline, the sun bursts through the tree cover and onto the farm itself. And there’s Miller, motoring around in an electric golf cart. The fields, he says, are finally up to snuff. The bushes bursting with fat, green berries turning pink and beginning to ripen. His job on the farm is to mow the blueberry fields.

His break into the public spotlight was a one-man show at the Massillon Museum. After that, Miller lived fulltime in Akron until 2013, moving to Blueberry Hill Family Farms deep in the forested recesses of Glenmont, Ohio, on land owned by the Nabor family, who also also owns the Mustard Seed Markets.

“In the 11 years I’ve been here, I’ve never seen them like this,” Miller says. “In the summer it’s constant mowing,” he says.

The trek to Blueberry Hill begins with simple highway driving, but then, there is a marked change and only the most rudimentary paving remains.

Cacti pop out of hand-thrown ceramic pots, and chunks of inprocess wood sculptures dot the landscape. Tables, half-completed, stand outside a garage, waiting to be assembled and given purpose, surrounded by a rough horseshoe of shipping containers full of whoknows-what that ring the space like wagons circled against wolves gathering in the dark.

So it makes sense when you’re greeted by a sign reading “Travel at your own risk.” Hemmed in by trees and farmland — and at one point confronted by a decrepit barn that’s practically in the middle of the road — you round a corner and are threatened by farm equipment

Present and Retro, a retrospective of P.R. Miller’s work July 10 — Sept. 25, 2021

Miller calls his studio The BIZ, or the Berry Industrial Zone, an area littered with projects in various stages of completion.

“Very few people, especially Margaret P.R. Miller — aka “The Grizzled Wizard” — works with recycled scraps, reimagining them as largescale, whimsical sculptures. His work has manifested in public sculptures around the city of Akron. This exhibition includes works made

rip.com Akron’s Community-Owned Magazine

and Philip [Nabor], they try not to come past here,” Miller says at the entrance to the BIZ. “Many people cannot handle chaos.” Past art supplies cleverly disguised as trash, Miller enters what he calls “The Wizard’s Lair,” a decommissioned refrigerated truck body pressed back into service as his living space. Walking in is a visual assault. “I love chaos because I love putting things in order. I took a ton of scrap, and I made a frog!” Everything that can hold something, does. Books hide behind what look like electrical components. Newspaper clippings are affixed to shelves. Tools dot a desk midway through the dwelling. In the back left corner, above a bed, the radio plays “Heaven is a Place on Earth” by Belinda Carlisle, which weaves around in the background as he explains his art and life. “To me, this is like, next to nothing,” Miller says, gesturing widely. “When you grow up on a junkyard, and every Friday night you burn three or four automobiles at once, and it’s seven acres of scrapyard — this isn’t even a quarter-acre that I have here,” he says, describing how his childhood in Mars, Pennsylvania molded him.

Fresh out of college and disillusioned with the idea of being an art teacher (Miller has a degree in art education), he took a job as a repo man. Later, he was a demolition contractor. “What is a wizard’s purpose? The purpose is to observe the flow of energy and direct it to its proper place,” Miller says. “Everything, if you let it, can be art. It depends on your modifications.” He practices what he preaches. In his hands, everyday detritus cast aside by humanity becomes ladybugs, tables and giant flowers. He is also a monument to willful living with few concessions made, and then only when absolutely necessary. Good and bad and blasphemous, unprintable profanity sprouting amongst picturesque blueberry fields — you take what you get with P.R. Miller because that’s all he’ll give you. “I am who I am, and I’m doing the best I can with what I’ve been given,” Miller says, “And you can’t really expect much more than that out of anybody.” That’s what makes him an unvarnished original.

“Life,” Miller says, “is about discovering your destiny.”

//Derek Kreider is a general assignment reporter and distribution manager for The Devil Strip

from metal, glass, clay and more, chronicling the artist’s journey over the course of his decades-long career.

Summit Artspace 140 E. Market St. Akron, OH 44308

Public, in-person viewing (FREE) Fridays, from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays, from 11 am to 5 p.m.

Virtual exhibit and details at summitartspace.org

July 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

The Devil Strip

| 21

Design, Bones saw classmates getting internships with major TV networks. After learning that some internship programs require artists to pitch an animated series, she figured she’d better have an idea in mind. In 2016, she sketched Spike for the first time. Beneath the image, she scrawled ‘The Other Town.’ “I remember thinking, ‘I don’t know what this means, but I’ll make it something.’ Bones initially didn’t feel prepared to enter the industry, and she moved to Los Angeles with no prospects. After a challenging year, she flew back to Akron to stay with close friends and regroup — all the while, developing “The Other Town” in whatever ways she could.

Marcy Bones tells a strange, heartfelt tale in animated series "The Other Town" WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY H.L. COMERIATO; ILLUSTRATIONS BY MARCY BONES At the iron gates of Brahamsville Cemetery, Spike McCaulkey brandishes a squirt gun. The gun — like everything else in the town of White Hill — is slightly unusual.

To do that, Spike will have to cross over into the Other Town — a mirrored, ethereal place that exists within the town of White Hill itself. “The Other Town is a world overlaid onto ours, the ‘backstage’ to our reality,” reads an early description of the series. “It’s a world inhabited by spirits, demons and even ghosts of the past!”

In fact, Spike says the gun is more like a key than a weapon — a way to open doors and passages between realities by harnessing the energy of emotion.

Spike aims the gun and pulls the trigger, opening a tear between worlds where matter and emotion collide.

Tonight is Mischief Night, the night before Halloween. And Spike’s ghost-hunting grandma, Carol-Anne, has sent her on a mission to free a distraught ghost from a painful past.

In a single day, Spike grapples with an unrequited crush, frees the ghost, fashions a last minute costume for the annual Pumpkin Mash Halloween dance, fends off a clique of high

school bullies and defeats a dark, shape-shifting entity in the attic of a church. Marcy “Bones” Jones, who was born and raised in Akron, has been developing “The Other Town” since she was in college. Today, she lives in Burbank, California, where she’s worked on several major productions as a TV animator and storyboard artist. Currently, Bones is working on the third season of Hulu’s animated series “Solar Opposites,” an adult comedy about a family of extraterrestrials forced to live in middle America. More than 2,000 miles away, “The Other Town” ties her back to her Akron roots. “It’s a show about teenagers. It’s a show about humanity, and it’s a show about Akron,” Bones says. “And I hope those three things will be interesting enough for people to want to watch it.” “I remember thinking, ‘I don’t know what this means, but I’ll make it something.’ Bones, 26, developed “The Other Town” with help from cocreator and fellow Akronite Colin Daugherty. “The setting is just a fictional Akron,” Bones says. “There’s a rubber corporation that’s a big part of the plot. It’s our world, just a little bit different.” Nearing graduation from the Savannah College of Art and

22 | The Devil Strip

july 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

In 2019, Cartoon Network selected Bones as one of six artists to participate in their inaugural Storyboard Artist Training Program. She was selected from over 2,000 applicants, according to a January 2019 press release. Bones moved back to California to attend the program, where she met other animators, learned about expectations within the industry and honed her craft as an artist and a storyteller. Afterward, she landed a job writing for “Close Enough,” an adult comedy also produced by Cartoon Network. After years of focusing on intricate world-building, Bones says working on “The Other Town” has redirected her focus to more complex character development. As her life changed, so did Bones’s vision for “The Other Town.” “I thought I’d take suburban supernatural horror and make that into an interesting thing and do some world-building with that,” Bones says. “But giving it more autobiographical elements has really helped me write better characters — characters who I care about and who I feel like are people.” “I keep going back to places that I’ve been before.” When Bones came out as transgender in 2016, emotions and experiences from her own teenhood surfaced, spurring autobiographical elements that appear throughout the series. “When I was a teenager, I was going thedevilstrip.com

s getting through a lot of bad stuff at home tworks. and at school,” Bones says. “I felt rnship like I was going through bad stuff, tch an and everyone I knew was going she’d through really bad stuff, and most of the adults in our lives weren’t really paying attention or weren’t really for the taking it seriously.”

wled ‘The hinking, ‘I , but I’ll

pared to moved to ts. After back to nds and eloping ver ways

artists ral ogram. 2,000 nuary

nia e she d about stry and nd a nded ugh,” ed by

tricate working “I could go to someone and say, ‘Hey, directed I’m really hurting over these things haracter going on,’ and they would be like, ‘You’ll be fine. You’ll grow up. It’s nothing.’ And that may be true,” ones’s Bones adds. “But what I want to ” hear is that what I’m going through matters.”

e that do at,” ore as really acters — and who

After three years of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), Bones feels more like herself than ever before and more connected to teenage experiences than other writers and artists her age.

“It’s funny to think that being on HRT, I’m basically hormonally a that I’ve teenager again,” Bones says. “I’m going through some of the same things, where I’m freaking out about nsgenderstuff in my life thinking, ‘What is iences going on with my brain?’ It’s funny to aced, be trying to write a story about that ements perspective again.” series. “It definitely influences my writing in as going that way,” she adds. “I keep going

back to places that I’ve been before.” The TV animation industry is changing Over the last decade, independent animation has been on the rise. With the advent of media sharing sites like YouTube and Vimeo, along with crowdfunding vehicles like Patreon and GoFundMe, many artists and animators now have the ability to produce and distribute their own creative content. Bones runs her own Patreon, where people can contribute monthly to the production of “The Other Town” and gain access to exclusive content as she develops the series. But production is still time-consuming and expensive, especially for an ambitious series like “The Other Town.” Right now, Bones plans to produce the pilot episode on her own, but she hopes to see a network pick up the series for further development. “The dream is to find a network,” Bones says. “I have such a scope in mind that it would be hard to achieve on my own, but I'm trying. Usually the feedback I get is, ‘Oh, we love this idea. We think this idea is really cool. We love your passion for it, but we don't think we can sell it right now because it's too weird.’” For Bones, the focus on teenage characters is what makes the series special. But for major networks, that focus seems to be part of the problem. In Korea and Japan, Bones says major networks produce animated series for a much wider range of audiences. In the United States, storytelling geared toward different age groups and demographics hasn’t received as much attention from major networks.

rip.com Akron’s Community-Owned Magazine

Often, TV animation is either geared toward children 11 and younger, or adults. “The Other Town,” Bones says, stands firmly in between — which makes it difficult to pitch and categorize. “It's a show that I feel like doesn't really exist right now,” she says. “[I want to] show characters, especially teenage kids, going through everyday drama and everyday angst, but making that just as real and as important and as dangerous as the supernatural stuff that they go through.” The show is written explicitly for a teen audience, but Bones doesn’t plan to shy away from important conversations. “I need to have the freedom to have these characters actually grapple with real life,” she says. “I don’t want to defang anything. I don’t want to have to avoid using the word ‘die.’ I don’t want to have to avoid mentioning a character being on drugs.” Bones also won’t compromise on plot points or conversations about gender or queerness. “Obviously, everything I’m going to write is going to be super queer,” Bones says. “But I want people to realize that non-queer people can relate to queer narratives [too].”

Spike finally arrives at the Pumpkin Mash Halloween dance, she’s the only person wearing a costume. She’s dressed as a ghost — a white, wrinkled sheet pulled over her head. The other students dance and mingle, sporting expensive formal wear. The Claras — a clique of too-cool bullies each conveniently named Clara — jump at the opportunity to embarrass Spike. When her crush arrives as someone else’s date, she makes a trip to the bathroom, where a dark, supernatural figure seems to summon her away from the dance. Squirt gun at the ready, Spike follows it. In the basement of the Brahamsville Community Center, a handful of students huddle around the punch bowl. Above the community center, in the high towers of the Brahamsville Cathedral, Spike fights off a dark, shape-shifting entity. Someplace beyond, the Other Town hums with an ancient, wondrous energy. In her Burbank apartment, so does Bones.

Further, Bones hopes teens will find both comfort and power in seeing themselves reflected on screen, especially in the Rust Belt: “That’s what I want to write.” A wondrous energy Someplace deep in “The Other Town,” Spike aims her squirt gun at the rickety door of a cemetery chapel. She shoots — this time, opening a door back to the town of White Hill. Later, when

July 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

The Devil Strip

| 23

her interest in DEI issues as a member of Class 35 for Leadership Akron’s 10-month Signature Program. Her path in Akron started earlier, at Buchtel High School, where she fell in love with creating pipelines for educational access as she connected with Akron Public Schools (APS) through the Upward Bound program. “[It] sung to my soul in a way nothing else has ever done to this day,” Dana says. “I walked beside families seeking to better themselves through education. For some students, I am still a part of their stories even into their 30s.” As a federally-funded program developed out of the Civil Rights era, Upward Bound cultivates opportunities for low-income students. Dana got her start there as a graduate assistant after completing an internship during her master’s program for the Summit Education Initiative, where she was inspired by Barbara A. Greene. This experience opened Dana’s eyes to the many, different adversities that students faced on their way to attaining higher education. All along the way, she encountered Akronites doing whatever it takes to engage within their educational journeys.

Dr. Dana Lawless-Andric_s goals include facilitating structural change as a board member of the East Akron Neighborhood Development Center, where she is standing inside of. Photo Ilenia Pezzaniti

The Journey to Equity in Higher Education How Dana Lawless-Andric became a champion for educational access and opportunity BYLINE: WRITTEN BY ZINGA HART, PHOTOS BY ILENIA PEZZANITI To bring in the summer, Dr. Dana Lawless-Andric wears her sunniest shirt. Her office windows at Kent State University’s main campus open to the afternoon sun. It’s cold outside, which comes across even in an interview on Zoom, but a recent and much-needed staycation leaves her cheerful. Dana has worked at Kent State for over 15 years, currently serving as the associate vice president for Outreach

24 | The Devil Strip

and Engagement. Her career focus has been diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Although her position is in Kent, her roots run deep in Akron. “I was born and raised in this area my entire life,” she says. “I grew up right off South Main Street.” Early in her career, Dana focused on college access and policy work for the state, region and nation, but as she pursued her Ph.D, she realized how much she could still contribute in her own backyard. So she applied

She folded these observations into her doctoral study, where she focused on what affects a student's persistence to degree attainment. In short, societal, systemic and economic barriers lead to disparate educational outcomes. To improve outcomes, the structure must change. Since then, facilitating structural change has been the core of Dana’s efforts in Akron, working with the East Akron Neighborhood Development Corporation (EANDC) to make housing affordable and foster pride in homeownership. EANDC executive director Cheryl Stevens is “one of the region’s bestkept secrets,” Dana says. She also serves on the economic inclusion committee alongside Robert DeJournett, the Greater Akron Chamber’s Vice President for Opportunity and Inclusion. They work to provide “robust resources'' to minority-owned small businesses in Akron so entrepreneurs who are Black, female or live with a disability can get access to the same opportunities historically afforded to

july 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

White and male business owners whowho didn don’t have a disability. Recently, the committee gathered “I write a diversity professionals to discuss the is a mech GAC-led Elevate Akron initiative, engineer which urges decision makers to back toge dismantle the barriers that limit a life path participation in — and leadership criminalit of — local economic policies by Black and Brown people so Akron can She reflec embrace the abundance of talent in turned ou areas that are often overlooked. cousin sh That reflects Dana’s shift in perspective from a focus on needsbased services to asset-based development.

“I am the to go to c understan away from doesn’t m Through her work at EANDC, she she says. adopted an equity-driven approach Kenmore that means working alongside I think th residents toward achieving their own we come goals instead of potentially forcing invest in a an organization’s well-intentioned communi objectives on them. Dana’s co “We look at the work we do from equity an a place of value. We’re not coming her from in and saving the day,” she says, that lens emphasizing the primary difference she’s grow with the needs-based method, which can breed skepticism among “Most of the very people nonprofits want to mostly Bl serve. That’s because the traditional some yea approach doesn’t usually consider what they actually want or empower them to achieve it. Dana thinks education is the heart of actually addressing the linkage between income, access and opportunity for people in historically marginalized groups. That requires engaging and improving the pipeline from K-12 to higher education. Partnerships with the LeBron James Family Foundation (LBJFF) and APS Career & College Academies have accelerated student progress. For example, Kent State recently welcomed 193 eligible juniors from LBJFF’s iPromise program as freshmen who received free tuition and one year of free room and board. Her vision is for “every one of our students to have a choice and be prepared for college whether they want to or not. Every point of data shows that educational attainment feeds into health care, voting participation, etc.” The challenge is still tremendous, but Dana’s personal experience fuels her. In her dissertation, she describes the differences in the paths taken by students who had the opportunity to attain higher education and those

thedevilstrip.com

ners whowho didn’t. One is close to home.

hered “I write about my brilliant cousin. He uss the is a mechanical genius who could tive, engineer an entire car and put it to back together,” she says. “He had mit a life path that went into drugs and rship criminality.” by Black can She reflected a lot on how her life alent in turned out so differently from the ed. cousin she adored.

“I am the first person in my family to go to college and it helped me understand that you are one degree away from a different life, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have value,” , she she says. “I lost my cousin from proach Kenmore to the heroin epidemic, and e I think the work is looking at how heir own we come to the table and uplift and orcing invest in all people and in all of our oned communities.”

needs-

Dana’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion hasn’t protected her from challenges, but by applying that lens to herself, not just her work, she’s grown as a person.

from oming ays, erence d, among “Most of my career, I worked with ant to mostly Black and Latinx families, and ditional some years later, the students would nsider mpower

remember their first impression was, ‘Who is this white girl?’,” she says. “There is something important about understanding your role as a White person being an ally [and advocate] in communities of color.” The long-term journey and deep personal investment DEI-related work requires may not be easy, but it is a path she thinks local leaders must want to take. “While my work is not about me, it is core to me,” she says. “It is a commitment to allies to change. It is political, but it doesn’t have to be partisan. Why wouldn’t we all want safety and education and healthcare for our communities? The thread that helps us have a desire for public good doesn't have to be for some but not for others.” Inclusion for all is an Akron worth envisioning. // Originally from Brooklyn, NY, Zinga Hart fell in love with the artist spirit that vibrates in Akron. She is called to writing about economic development at a personal and community level. Dr. Dana Lawless-Andric stands in front of a mural across from the East Akron Neighborhood Development Center. Photo Ilenia Pezzaniti

heart kage

torically quires pipeline on.

James d mies gress. ntly s from reshmen d one

GIVE THE GIFT OF READING

United Way’s Imagination Library gives kids one free book a month from birth until their fifth birthday, giving them a head start in school. It supports our Bold Goal 1– to raise third grade reading scores for Akron students. The result? More early readers means more kids ready to succeed in the classroom and beyond.

f our d be r they f data nment g

ous, ce fuels escribes aken by tunity nd those

rip.com Akron’s Community-Owned Magazine

To register a child you love, scan this code or visit uwsummitmedina.org July 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

The Devil Strip

| 25

As part of their Report for America service project, corps members and staff reporters Abbey Marshall and H.L. Comeriato worked with an Ellet Community Learning Center news writing class, taught by Emily Lees, to help students write narrative pieces about their lives as high school students during the COVID-19 pandemic. These are student dispatches from various points of the previous school year.

A year of virtual learning as a high school student: What it’s like playing high school sports during a pandemic WRITTEN BY ALESSANDRA PINTO; PHOTOS BY BECKY TUCKER

t’s sad thinking about how much our lives have changed in such a short amount of time, even the little things. Last year, we had a normal soccer season and this year we barely got one. The day that the Akron Public Schools Board of Education decided if we would be able to continue with sports at Ellet CLC High School, I was at home. I had asked my parents if I could go to the field to play soccer with a bunch of people, but I received a message from our coach a few minutes before I got there: “It saddens me to send this message out, but APS has suspended all sports immediately.” Once I showed up, I told my friend who was sitting on the bench watching the others play. Soon after, many students and coaches from APS protested in front

26 | The Devil Strip

of the Board of Education on North Main Street. It was rainy outside, but that didn’t stop them from showing up and fighting for their season. Our captain, Kayla Suansing, and Ellet Coach Justin Dimengo were among those who participated. I wasn’t able to go. Not too long after this protest, the Board of Education decided that they would allow sports with health and safety rules in place. As soon as we got a yes on sports, our coach started practices the following week. At the practices, we were full of joy because even though we weren’t allowed to start games right away, we were just happy to play. Personally, I was excited to play; the field was one of the only places outside of school where I was around people. We took precautions, including social distancing and wearing our masks coming to and leaving practices. We only played inner city schools and everyone was socially distanced while sitting on the

bench. Even our belongings had to be distanced at least six feet apart. I think that this experience brought our team closer together. The team always had fun together, but this year, knowing that we were close to canceling the season made it more fun and full of joy. Some of the rules that the board set were that we could only play district teams, which was disappointing for us because only two other schools have a girls soccer team. That meant 10 games: five against each team. “I was grateful that we were able to play against any team at all. Yes, I was disappointed but under the circumstances, I understood,” said captain Kayla Suansing. “At first, I dreaded the same game five times, but each game was just another chance to play some soccer,” said Suansing.

july 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

I knew playing the same two teams wasn’t the ideal season, but we were all happy to get to play and knew that the board was doing their best to keep us safe while at the same time letting us have fun playing sports. We made the most out of the season and played the best we could, winning all 10 games and making it past the first round of the playoffs. Next year, I hope to get back to the regular season like we had my freshman year, play different teams, and go to tournaments. Alessandra Pinto is a student at Ellet Community Learning Center. This piece was published as part of a collaborative project between Report for America corps members Abbey Marshall and H.L. Comeriato and Ellet CLC’s news writing class taught by Emily Lees.

thedevilstrip.com

A year of virtual learning as a high school student How COVID-19 got teens thinking about politics BY SEBASTIAN SHUMATE

on a national scale.

efore the presidential election, my dad and I would sit on the couch watching the news, and inevitably, COVID-19 updates would pop up at the bottom of the screen.

I talked to a few people who have also been following current events to find out how national politics have influenced the way they deal with the pandemic.

Over the last year, news coverage has focused on two things: COVID and national politics. If you use a social media platform, have a TV or talk to family or friends, then you have likely heard how much COVID and politics are intertwined. COVID is one of the biggest problems that the U.S. has ever faced, and it has changed life for teens across the country, from distance learning and limited interaction with friends and family, to the way young people think about national politics in their own lives.

My dad, James Shumate, has been more involved in politics than I am. “My decision was almost set in stone, but I wanted to see how these candidates handled the virus and what they were going to do with it,” he said in regards to voting for president.

Some Americans have chosen to accept the reality of the virus, while others have not. Some people choose not to wear a mask, social distance, or practice basic hand sanitizing. Lawmakers have played such a big role in how Americans are dealing with COVID, and as a result, teens are becoming more aware of politics

Adults aren’t the only ones interested in politics. Many teens are very proactive and have strong opinions on this matter. Everyone has a voice, and now more than ever teens have been strongly interested in having theirs heard. For example, I cannot vote yet, but I have been more involved and focused on politics than ever before. Maybe it comes with age, but I do not think that is the case. Things felt different in 2020, anda president should be able to handle a national pandemic

accordingly and safely. I believe we cannot keep denying the numbers of cases and deaths, and that something has to be done. Between February 2020 and May 2020, there were more than 38,000 cases and more than 900 deaths in Summit County. 541,013 people live in Summit County. If you compare this to 2019, a total of 83 people died in Summit County. The numbers went up drastically from pre-COVID days. But my opinion alone isn’t going to cut it, so I asked people my own age what they think about the connection between COVID and national politics. I asked my friend, Jagger Cook, if his response to COVID was influenced by the political candidates he supports. “At first it did,” Cook said. “Then I looked at the numbers and I realized that [President Trump] was an idiot.” “No, I didn’t treat COVID [differently] based on who I support,” my other friend Trevor Ingham said. “My family is Republican but we didn’t treat COVID any differently than a Democratic family would’ve.

We wore our masks and followed the regulations given by the government.” In my opinion, I think things are going to change. We have elected a new president, Joe Biden, who has different ideas and a different plan to try and stop the spread of COVID-19. However, how is this going to shape us? This is how a lot of kids are growing up now, so will this have a long lasting effect? Will this situation change how teens see politics and will they stay more involved? The future may be full of questions, but for now, we can try to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Wear your mask and stay safe! Sebastian Shumate is a student at Ellet Community Learning Center. This piece was published as part of a collaborative project between Report for America corps members Abbey Marshall and H.L. Comeriato and Ellet CLC’s news writing class taught by Emily Lees.

A year of virtual learning as a high school student: How the pandemic gave me renewed confidence WRITTEN BY ERICA KELLER

uring the pandemic, there’s not much to do besides going on social media. Spending hours online during quarantine affects teens’ confidence and mental health in both positive and negative ways, but for me, it has made me more confident and has had a significant improvement on my mental health. While we had in-person school, I was extremely insecure and had terrible social anxiety. I felt a need to fit in. But for the past year, I haven’t been worried about others’ opinions because you can’t see anyone during quarantine. This helped me become more confident and express who I am. When school shifted to online classes, I took the time to focus on my mental health. I redecorated my

room, bought new clothes that made me feel comfortable, started eating healthier and working out more. I stopped focusing on the negative. This helped me a lot and made me feel better about my life. Focusing on the positive can have a huge impact on your life. Some of my friends are also using this time to improve themselves. My friend Savanna Collier said, “I grew closer with many of my friends and being around healthy friendships made me love myself.” But not everyone is feeling as optimistic as I am during this time. While having extra time to be online and improve myself has been good for me, more teenagers are experiencing mental health issues. A 4-H study analyzing the mental health effects of the pandemic on youth found 55% of teens say they’ve experienced anxiety, 45%

rip.com Akron’s Community-Owned Magazine

excessive stress and 43% depression. The study also found that during the pandemic, teens report spending 75% of their waking hours on screens. One of my friends told me they had already suffered from anxiety and depression before the pandemic. Isolation has only made those mental health issues worse, they say. “I developed an eating disorder during quarantine,” they told me. “I ended up seeing a psychiatrist for it because I was in danger of heart failure and organ shutdown.” What I’ve learned during this time is that everyone has a different life and therefore different experiences. The pandemic has impacted our lives in many ways, from our confidence to our physical health. Discovering what made me confident is extremely important. I’m planning on continuing to look on the bright side

July 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

and be grateful for what I have. Erica Keller is a sophomore at Ellet Community Learning Center. This piece was published as part of a collaborative project between Report for America corps members Abbey Marshall and H.L. Comeriato and Ellet CLC’s news writing class taught by Emily Lees.

The Devil Strip

| 27

You

A R A D I O S TAT I O N A S UNIQUE AS YOU ARE, POWERED BY MUSIC, COMMUNITY &

L I S T E N O N - A I R , O N L I N E AT T H E S U M M I T. F M O R D O W N L O A D T H E S U M M I T A P P 28 | The Devil Strip

july 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

thedevilstrip.com

dollar.” In addition to his work as a musician, Torres works full time for The Devil Strip as the director of community outreach. He has been involved with the magazine since he first arrived here in Akron. “The Devil Strip is one of the many organizations across the nation that is navigating away from what journalism has done wrong for a very long time financially to how it serves the people,” Torres says. “So that part has always been dope. We’ve just been trying to break down the barriers.” He credits The Devil Strip for allowing him to see the city from a different perspective and having the opportunity to meet a variety of innovative people. Torres’s role is heavily focused on audience engagement for TDS, which entails a lot of behind-the-scenes work.

Floco Torres From Jersey to the Deep South to Akron BY LAURA LAKINS

n 2017, Floco Torres made the move from Macon, GA, to Akron, and our city has benefitted from it ever since. From musician to producer to community outreach director for The Devil Strip (TDS), he pours his heart into every role he has. In just four short years, Torres has made his mark on Akron, especially in the music scene. It wasn’t until Torres graduated high school, though, that he began taking his career as a musician seriously. “I played a bunch of instruments when I was a kid and I hated it. I can’t remember whose idea it was, probably my parents just trying to keep me busy,” Torres says. “But I was into writing, and writing turned into music after a while because I was writing stuff for my friends who were rapping, and eventually people told me I should save some of it for myself.” His “a-ha” moment as a creator came during his high school graduation party where he performed his music for a group of people for the first

time. It was at that moment he knew he was meant to be on stage. “It was dope. I got that rush of people reacting to what you’re saying, and your performance,” Torres says. “That reaction was something I had never gotten from anything else I had done.” Since then, Torres has recorded and produced countless projects. He has found inspiration from the classics, such as Jay-Z, Biggie Smalls and Nas, as well as St. Vincent, and Cleveland’s own, Kid Cudi. Over time, Torres has found his own everchanging, alternative hip-hop sound. Having spent the majority of his career as a solo artist, it wasn’t until he worked with Akron’s Holbrook Riles III (HR3) that he considered teaming up with someone. At first, the two would send each other beats and verses, as well as perform at each other's shows. One thing eventually led to another, and in 2018, the duo officially formed under the name Free Black! “When we decided we were going to become a group, I came up with the name Free Black! because we kept having conversations about the Black experience. Holbrook would tell me stories about people telling him what kind of Black he should be, and people were telling me the same stuff,” Torres says. “We decided to make it this thing that continues to grow into everyone being free to be

rip.com Akron’s Community-Owned Magazine

whatever they want to be.” Together they have released two albums, their self-titled “Free Black!” and “Freedom Summer!” Their third studio album is set to be released later this year. “It’s been a cool experience having someone to bounce stuff off of, and having someone else to consider. It’s just been fun,” Torres says. Aside from his work with Free Black!, Torres has other collaborations and solo work that he plans to release throughout the year. He aims to empower and motivate those who listen to his music, all while bringing awareness to real-life issues. “With America, you don’t have to change up your lyrics to match the times. The same songs I put out 5-10 years ago are still relevant today,” Torres says. When you listen to Torres’s work, it is evident that he has used his platform to educate and inspire. You can find his individual work as well as Free Black!’s work on all major streaming platforms, as well as the more artist friendly service, Bandcamp. “Supporting our work on Bandcamp and buying merch makes all the difference,” Torres says. “I know it’s a hassle getting the digital download, but it’s the difference between an artist making 89 cents on the dollar compared to .003 cents on the

“I lead our audience team in trying to get as many people in our audience funnel as possible. That hopefully leads to people becoming engaged readers/followers, members, and more involved Akronites,” Torres says. Torres’s influence can be seen throughout the Northeast Ohio music scene, as well as in the magazine we all know and love. Whether he will plant permanent roots in Akron is still up in the air - but he will always have a home here, that’s for sure. To keep up with Torres you can follow him on Instagram, @flocotorres, and Twitter, @FlocoTorres. You can also read and subscribe to his newsletter, www.nobodycaresnews. com. There you will find information about his upcoming shows in June and September, as well as his music releases scheduled throughout this year. // Laura Lakins is an educator and freelance writer from Akron, Ohio. Disclosure: Every story we publish is the product of an independent editorial process that no one, including our board of directors, can directly influence. However, we want to let you know Floco Torres is our Community Outreach Director, and we wanted to pursue this story because of his good work in Akron outside of The Devil Strip.

The Devil Strip

| 29

Fred’s Diner: Eat. Pay. Get Out. ‘We’re kind of joking, but kind of serious.’ BYLINE: BY DUSTIN BIRD

red Spencer may have been destined to run a diner. As a child, Spencer ran a hot dog stand out of his parent's backyard. His Uncle Fred, whom he’s named after and was involved in the restaurant business, inspired Spencer to enter the food industry. It seems only right that he’s been serving the community breakfast for the last 32 years at Fred's Diner. "Back in the day, in my parents' house when I was about 12, there was a little clubhouse in the backyard,” Spencer says. “For some reason, in one of my dad's business dealings, he got six cases of tin foil and my mom gave me one of the cases. So, I took them in, stapled gunned tin foil to the walls of this clubhouse and started selling hotdogs out of it. I called it Fred's Diner.” After being inspired by his Uncle Fred's ability to provide for his family throughout the Great Depression, Spencer felt that running a restaurant was something he would love to do himself. While he was never particularly interested in being a chef, he admits that he often finds himself in the kitchen to help his team out. During the last three decades of running Fred's Diner, there have been the expected hard times, but Spencer

Above: Fred’s Diner Inside, photo by Debra Spencer. Used with permission.

has always valued the community and his family to keep him going.

WRITT

"The best highlight is all four of my kids and all their spouses have worked here at one point,” he says. “That's really cool. If you're going to work 70 hours a week, that's one way of being able to spend time with your family." Many Akron residents may be familiar with Fred's Diner's famous shirts that read, "Eat. Pay. Get Out." Though Fred’s has a friendly staff, they also embrace doing business and leaving so the next person can enjoy their breakfast.

After clos year ago, taproom

While the beers dur visitors to dedicated curbside.

At the gr was filled delicious shandy.

"It’s not for everybody,” Spencer says. “It's a busy place. It's tiny. People are standing on top of you, but it's not a place where you sit around and talk to your friend. That's why the shirts have the saying on the back. ‘Eat. Pay. Get Out.’ We're kind of joking, but kind of serious."

Hoppin' F right in th shaking h at his new the tapro be back?

“It feels a he says. “ I couldn’t

Fred's has dropped to serving breakfast three days a week since the pandemic started, but their large portion sizes are still the same. While all orders are currently still to go, he has plans to reopen the dining room in early June. "We're known mostly for our breakfast anytime and big portions,” Spencer says. “Bacon is probably the number one seller since we give close to a half-pound per order. Before the pandemic, we were at 14 tons of bacon in a year."

Before re the belov “revampi redid the appliance seating. “ time to in

The most was the f has a han of diet. I chicken f vegan sau They’re a with Stric Akron foo

I can speak from experience. They serve great portions for great prices.

Above: Fred’s Diner Outside Below: Original Fred’s Diner Picture Photos by Debra Spencer. Used with permission.

Fred's Diner is located at 930 Home Ave in Akron, where they serve breakfast-to-go FridaySaturday 6 a.m.-3p.m. To place an order, customers can call (330) 535-3733.

The Hopp training s new orde menu, bu right at h somehow nearly his have wor years.

Dustin Bird is a recent resident of Akron. He loves spending time with his pet’s and traveling when able. He has always enjoyed meeting the locals during his travels and hearing their stories. Dustin hopes to be a voice for Akron residents and tell the unique stories they hold.

30 | The Devil Strip

thedevilstrip.com

, D O O F , C I MUS ! N U F , S D FRIEN R) (OH! AND A BA

Hoppin'’ Frog Taproom WRITTEN BY EMILY ANDERSON After closing for COVID-19 over a year ago, Hoppin' Frog’s beloved taproom has finally reopened. While the brewery continued making beers during the last year, the only visitors to the facility were those dedicated fans picking beer up curbside.

ROOM

Hoppin' Frog’s owner Fred Karm was right in the middle of all the action — shaking hands and spinning records at his new DJ booth in the corner of the taproom. How does he feel to be back?

Before reopening to the public, the beloved taproom got some “revamping,” as Karm puts it. They redid the floors, upgraded some appliances and added outdoor seating. “You know, now’s the time to invest,” he told me. The most noticeable change for me was the food menu. It’s all-new and has a handful of options for any type of diet. I especially appreciated the chicken from Premium Pastures and vegan sausage from Picked Proteins. They’re also making beer milkshakes with Strickland’s ice cream, which is Akron foodie heaven. The Hoppin' Frog staff had a few training sessions to acclimate to new ordering systems and learn the menu, but they seemed to be feeling right at home on opening day. Karm somehow managed to bring back nearly his entire staff. Many of them have worked for Hoppin' Frog for years.

M F 7/16 THE LADIES NIGHT 8P M 8P E VOTED BEST S 7/17 THE SCENIC ROUT | M 8P YS KE HIC TH WI NS LIVE MUSIC F 7/23 LIBRARIA PM 1O VENUE IN THE 33O. THE JETBEATS | M 8P AIR .CH S 7/24 MR PM JT’S ELECTRIK BLACKOUT 1O $5 COVER - ALL SHOWS. 8PM F 7/3O THE ZYDECO KINGS Know Before You Go: S 7/31 MATTHEW ALEC & THE SOUL ELECTRIC 8PM Please review important new health,

MUSIC

At the grand reopening, the taproom was filled with smiling faces enjoying delicious oatmeal stout and fruity shandy.

“It feels amazing. Long time coming,” he says. “Now that we’re back open I couldn’t be happier.”

july re-open!

safety & security policies: www.jillysmusicroom.com/info

111 N. MAIN ST, AKRON, OH! WWW.JILLYSMUSICROOM.COM

According to Karm, he was “blown away that all the staff but one came back. I thought it would be the opposite,” he tells me. “I thought one or maybe two would come back. Everyone’s working and showing up, so we have a staff. That’s the thing I was most concerned about. So for them to all show up, we knew we could do it.” Hoppin' Frog is one of Akron’s most respected breweries. They proudly wear gold and ribbons from all around the world, including four medals this year at the Australian International Beer Awards. The taproom is celebrating its 8th anniversary this month. Last year they didn’t get to throw their annual party, so I have a feeling they’ll be making up for that this time around. Go check out Hoppin' Frog’s taproom Tuesday-Thursday from 3-10 pm, or Friday and Saturday from 11 am-10 pm. // Emily Anderson has to read the beer menu for at least 10 minutes before she picks one.

rip.com Akron’s Community-Owned Magazine

The Devil Strip

| 31

but may not know about or be comfortable with specialty equipment like the drywall lift, scaffolding sets and inspection cameras, among the 500 options available at the Community Tool Library. Chris says they can help nervous doit-yourselfers learn what they need and how to use it.

“So they come in, and we can explain how to use them and give them a little rundown of what can help them with their job.”

or the Jamai signa has been Since the The Well CDC also offers home maintenance classes that range from prospecti been inqu $5 to $10. date. “That way when a contractor shows up and tries to sell you something, you can know if it's genuine or if it's not something that is necessary if somebody is trying to swindle you,” Chris says.

How The Well’s Community Tool Library powers projects and empowers homeowners WRITTEN BY ZINGA HART; PHOTOS BY MICHELLE HILL, COURTESY OF THE WELL

hen you think of The Well Community Development Corporation, you may recall the church on E. Market St. You may have gotten coffee from Compass Coffee or browsed the literature at Elizabeth’s Bookshop & Writing Center or tapped into one of the plethora of services offered. The people behind these familiar spaces have helped the Middlebury neighborhood grow. For example, they recently hit their goal, early, of developing 60 homes within 60 months.

development conference, which promoted tool libraries as a way to help people maintain their homes. To start their own, The Well partnered with AmeriCorps VISTA, a community service program that pays participants a small stipend to captain a project. Kelly Ashley, The Well’s business manager, began by organizing and researching the process. Once her VISTA term ended, Ken Evans took over to get it launched, working with The Well’s housing coordinator, Chris Norris, to buy all the tools, get donations and build partnerships.

But they aren’t done yet.

“We have everything from nice quality drain snakes to wheelbarrows, chop saws, shop vacs — you can find it all on The Well website,” Ken says.

Take a right on Adams Street and you will find the Community Tool Library where any Akronite who joins for $50 a year can get tools as easily as one borrows a book from the library.

They also broadened their scope by stocking up on equipment for organizations that don’t have their own stash of shovels and rakes for volunteer community service projects.

The staff first learned about the idea in 2018 during a national community

“We wanted the tool library to kind of fill that gap,” Ken says.

32 | The Devil Strip

Their tool library opened in June 2020, and membership growth has been steady but slow because their initial plans were stifled as community projects were paused while organizations navigated the complexities of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, a year after opening, their vision is coming to fruition. On May 16, they provided tools for 50 volunteers who planted nearly 100 trees for an effort led by Akron Parks Collaborative, Keep Akron Beautiful and the Davey Tree Expert Company. Still, The Well remains committed to empowering homeowners. “The vision for the tool library has always had a real emphasis on homeownership and in supporting that pathway supporting people in the home because one of the most intimidating factors of owning a home is maintaining it and knowing what you need to do,” Ken says.

The initia May 18. H service, o Omar Mc official gr soft launc They hope now to spread awareness can head 10 pm an that the CTL is here and open to anyone, whether it’s to build a Walking i Little Free Library or snake a tricky Irie vibes drain. To get tools, members must pronounc sign a waiver, provide their own missed. T transportation and return items colorful a within a week or risk a late fee. beachside seating o As the program grows, Ken, who also writes for The Devil Strip, will be the patio to groups watching from a distance because VISTA terms last three years and his also set u “build yo ends in July 2021, turning control

over to Chris. Although he’s looking for his next challenge, Ken envisions The Akro Irie Jamai a long-life for the CTL. Chef Om seven yea “I'm hoping, in a few years, we'll have over 2,000 tools in here, we'll 2017, the opened it have a paid staff member, and I would love to see 100-plus members location i location w by the end of 2021,” Ken says. months l Anyone can sign up for membership neighbor through The Well’s website or reach the idea o came up out to volunteer their skill sets or donate tools. For more details, visit decided t thewellakron.com/community-tool by runnin a weeken

The menu options fo spicy food

The challenge now is to reach those who need access to these tools

july 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

thedevilstrip.com

Irie Jamaican Kitchen brings sunny flavors to Highland Square just in time for summer NAHLA BENDEFAA

or the past few weeks, Irie Jamaican Kitchen’s colorful signage on West Market Street has been garnering a lot of attention. Since the beginning of March, prospective Akronite clients have been inquiring about an opening date. The initial opening date was set for May 18. However, to ensure perfect service, owner and executive chef Omar McKay decided to push the official grand opening and went for a soft launch instead. Lucky customers can head over between 11 am and 10 pm any Tuesday through Sunday. Walking into the restaurant, the Irie vibes (from Jamaican English, pronounced eye-rie) cannot be missed. The restaurant’s decor is colorful and convivial, reminiscent of beachside food joints. A plethora of seating options, both indoors and on the patio, make the space accessible to groups and individuals alike. It is also set up as a service line with a “build your own entree” process. The Akron location is one of three Irie Jamaican Kitchens operated by Chef Omar. The first location opened seven years ago in Richmond Mall. In 2017, the Irie Jamaican Kitchen team opened its first brick-and-mortar location in East Cleveland. A second location was opened a few months later in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood in Cleveland. When the idea of opening a third store came up in 2020, Chef Omar decided to try out the Akron market by running the No-Hi Pop-up for a weekend last October. The menu offers a diverse array of options for meat-lovers, vegans, spicy food lovers, and more. The jerk

chicken Jamaican bowl is a staple with a mixture of warming spices and a classic kick from scotch bonnet peppers. It is juicy and crispy and goes wonderfully with the rice base, caramelized plantains, and flavorful cabbage. The oxtail, one of the most iconic Jamaican dishes, is mindblowingly fall-off-the-bone tender with a mild spiciness to it. For people who cannot handle the heat from scotch bonnets, the curry chicken is a mild option while the chicken stew is not spicy at all. For a decadent treat, you can’t beat the Baby Lobsta for seafood or the 3 Likkle Birds, which offers chicken in all three forms: Jerk chicken, chicken stew and chicken curry. For vegans and vegetarians, the vegetable buddha is a coconut-based curry protein that pairs perfectly with the island salsa offerings. As for the mac & cheese base, Chef Omar calls it “the fusion part I bring to Jamaican food. Everyone loves mac & cheese.” The menu does not stop there! Honey butter roti, the classic Jamaican beef or chicken patties, and the infamous Ting carbonated drink all make an appearance. A number of salsas can also top off any bowl or box. Visit Irie Jamaican Kitchen at 837 West Market St., or sign up for their newsletter for updates and deals. Nahla Bendefaa is a journalist, photographer and content creator from Akron, Ohio by way of Kenitra, Morocco. She enjoys rewatching Friday Night Lights, painting and confusing Spotify’s algorithm while making her way through a seemingly never-ending tea collection.

rip.com Akron’s Community-Owned Magazine

The Devil Strip

| 33

Left: Juma Momand watching YouTube videos to learn some conversational English

Laliberte, Education Manager at the International Institute of Akron, says. “Whether that meant helping [students] get hooked up with the internet or helping them navigate how to use the Chromebook and get on a video call.” In addition, many of the teachers are volunteers and the programs have limited resources to fulfill all the needs. “My class is only two days a week. The next week I return to the class, I do not remember anything from the last week,” Baryalai says. “They do not assign enough homework to keep me engaged in learning throughout the week.” The International Institute of Akron does have a full-time ESL instructor, but Laliberte recognizes the need.

Lost in translation North Hill refugees facing challenges due to language barriers WRITTEN BY NOORULBARI MAL

tility bills, parking tickets, correspondence from his kids’ school and plenty of junk mail. These all go together in Juma Momand’s mail bag. The mail remains untouched in a big blue reusable grocery bag, waiting for a volunteer who visits Momand once a week. “If the volunteer does not show up for some reason, I will be paying late fees,” Momand says. The 52-year-old refugee from Afghanistan speaks three languages but struggles with spelling his name in English. From making a phone call to his doctor’s office to writing a check to his utility company, Momand counts on his friends and community organizations to interpret for him. Alamgeer Watak, another Afghan refugee, was involved in a car accident a year ago, and he believes that it wasn’t his fault. Because he could not properly explain the situation to the police officer with his broken English, the other party did not accept the blame. Momand and Watak are not alone.

34 | The Devil Strip

The most recently available data from the United States Census Bureau estimates that almost 6,000 citizens 18 years and older living in Summit County speak English less than “very well.” According to research by the International Institute of Akron, the North Hill neighborhood in Summit County is home to residents from more than 14 nations. The research indicates that refugees are facing challenges due to language barriers. This includes difficulty forming social bonds, mental health problems, crosscultural issues and misconceptions and challenges in accessing services. “I have had people who have collected many, many, many parking tickets,” says Linda Goeke, a volunteer at Crossings Akron, an organization that helps refugees and immigrants in Akron. “They found a piece of paper, and they did not know what the paper said. They didn’t know they were supposed to send in $2, so they didn’t. Well, now they have raised it to $4. Now they got a warrant out for their arrest because they never paid all those parking tickets.” To integrate, immigrants and refugees need to know the language of their new home. According to Immigration Policy Report cited by The York Review, the need for English as a Second Language (ESL) Programs for adults is greater than the need for

such programs for school children. The Akron Public School district provides ESL services and ESL-certified teachers in all 47 schools. None of the schools, however, have an English language learning program for adults or parents. Although there are organizations in Akron that offer ESL classes, the COVID-19 pandemic has heavily impacted them. “Because of COVID, our class is no longer providing childcare services,” Zahida Baryalai, an English language learner at Crossings says. “So a lot of my classmates who have kids can no longer attend.” Other organizations like the International Institute of Akron have moved their ESL classes to online only. This has made it harder for the refugees with limited computer literacy and limited access to the internet to participate.

“The demand is high… we have great community partners that do a great job also teaching English,” he says. “I think the resources will never be fully enough [and] we have ways to go for addressing the need in the community regarding language learning.” While people like Momand and Watak might be able to glean some conversational English from living here, without proper adult ESL and literacy programs, they may always struggle with the everyday challenges that English-dominant speakers take for granted. // Noorulbari Mal is a freelance journalist in Akron. Mal worked as a writer and reporter for various newsrooms in Afghanistan before he immigrated to the United States, in 2017. Follow him on Twitter @ MalNoorulbari

To bridge the gap, the International Institute of Akron acquired local funding to provide their students with Chromebooks. However, the students still needed to know how to use the Chromebook and navigate through the video calls. “We then kind of shifted to being a tech support department and making sure that everybody was able to get connected,” Adam

july 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

thedevilstrip.com

After residing in Akron for a few years, Rachel began to notice Twitter and Instagram “takeover” accounts for other cities, including Cleveland and Charlotte, NC.

ideos to

Meet New Akronites Weekly Through Everyday Akron REPORTING, WRITING AND PHOTOS BY MELANIE MOHLER

f you use Instagram and follow any local businesses, restaurants or semi-famous Akronites, there is a chance you may have come across the Everyday Akron account. If you’re not familiar, Everyday Akron is an Instagram “takeover” account with a different host each week. Anyone with ties to Akron can sign up on the Everyday Akron website to take over the Instagram account for one week. Hosts are encouraged to post photos and share stories of their favorite places, people or other things that make them call Akron home. The mind behind Everyday Akron is Rachel Whinnery. Although not originally from Akron, you could say Rachel is a big fan of the city and supporting local. She graduated from the University of Akron in 2012 and has lived in Akron full-time since 2013.

“I kept thinking Akron needs something like this...someone needs to start this,” she says. She discussed this with a few people who encouraged her to start it herself, so she did. The account started in April 2016 on Twitter under its former name, Summit Peeks. “I don’t think Instagram was as popular back then. At the time, it felt like tweeting about your life in Akron would be easier than coming up with a photo and having enough content for Instagram.” Summit Peeks remained on Twitter for about a year and a half. By that point, signups had started to dwindle and Rachel felt the need to take a break. She put the project on pause in order to reflect and brainstorm ways to improve the account. Summit Peeks reemerged on Instagram in February 2019. Early on in the reboot, the name Summit Peeks had become trademarked by another group. Rachel decided to rebrand the project in summer 2019, changing the name to Everyday Akron and hiring local artist Lindsey Jo Scott to create a new logo and artwork. “I don’t know if it was a convergence of Instagram becoming more popular,

rip.com Akron’s Community-Owned Magazine

the rebrand, or people just finally understanding what it was all about, [but] it was a blessing in disguise,” Rachel says. “[Everyday Akron] has been doing better than ever.” Rachel hosts the Instagram account for a week nearly every quarter. She does this with the goal of answering any questions, encouraging followers to sign up to host, and generating blog post ideas from followers. She last hosted in March of this year, and Everyday Akron seems to have become even more popular since then. Weeks to host are typically filled up to six months in advance, but currently, the next available week to host is in January 2022. Rachel is shocked and pleased to see the increased interest. Although only coffee mugs and hats are available, Rachel has run merchandise campaigns via Bonfire in the past. Other merch has included sweatshirts, face masks and tote bags. 50 percent of the sales go to a local charity or organization. The two merch campaigns brought donations of nearly $300 to both the Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank and Open Tone Music. If all goes according to plan, there will be another merch campaign this August. Rachel hopes to partner with a local art organization to create limited edition designs, with half of the proceeds going back to the art organization. Besides the weekly Instagram takeover, there are other ways to get involved and interact with Everyday Akron. The Everyday Akron website includes features on local nonprofits, posts from Rachel with input from Instagram followers such as ”How

July 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

to Make Friends in a New City as an Adult...During a Pandemic,” and a blog component that Rachel calls #blogpostcard where anyone can submit a guest blog post to share something they love about Akron. Rachel offers this as an alternative to hosting the Instagram account for a week. “Some people are just really intimidated by a whole week of content,” she says. Rachel argues that everyone has something interesting to share. She has had many people tell her that they are too boring to host Everyday Akron. Then after those same people host, Rachel has found they end up doing a great job. And even she has learned of some new local businesses and hiking trails from Everyday Akron hosts. One of Rachel’s goals for Everyday Akron is to reach 10,000 followers on Instagram by the end of 2021. But it’s not all about the numbers for her. She wants to promote more diversity, whether that’s in the people hosting, the neighborhoods they’re from, or the content they’re sharing. Overall, she wants Everyday Akron to promote more people-to-people connections. “It’s fun to not only see new places... but also just genuinely meet people,” she says. You can follow Everyday Akron on Instagram (@everydayakron). You can also sign up to host the Instagram account and learn more about Everyday Akron on the website, everydayakron.com Melanie Mohler is a West Hill resident with a love for baking, cross-stitch and local history.

The Devil Strip

| 35

WRITTE PHOTO

WHAT’S NEXT? Do you want to get a head start on the path to retirement? We have the tools and we have the strategies. Let us coach you through it and put your plan into action.

I want to retire early… 36 | The Devil Strip

Plan. Build. Retire... presperfinancial.com 330.253.6000 july 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

thedevilstrip.com

ny he few challenge America i sexual ab members last year. future is s no doubt a highly v across Am century.

The story Akron, w as an imp programm outdoor g that kept involved i In 1915, been ope and their of new h for its em before th importan the neigh becoming In additio

THE GOODYEAR SCOUTING LODGES

WRITTEN BY MARK SCHWEITZER, PHOTOS BY CHARLOTTE GINTERT

nyone who has read news headlines over the past few years knows about the challenges facing The Boy Scouts of America involving settlements for sexual abuse, continuing declines in membership and a bankruptcy filing last year. While the organization’s future is still uncertain, there can be no doubt that The Boy Scouts played a highly visible role in communities across America throughout the 20th century. The story was no different in Akron, where scouting was seen as an important part of youth programming—offering healthy outdoor group activities and training that kept young people engaged and involved in their local communities. In 1915, Goodyear Heights had been opened to Goodyear workers and their families, and hundreds of new homes were being built for its employees. It wasn’t long before the company realized it was important to support activities for the neighborhood, which was almost becoming a small village of its own. In addition to supporting the push

for a school building, it also helped organize music and reading activities, sports events and even gardening programs. Scouting was among the most popular programs for young boys at that time, and Goodyear was quick to support it. With membership growing, the company committed to building a new Scouting Lodge on Goodyear Boulevard, on the small “town square” where it intersected with Pioneer Street and Malasia Road. Warren Manning, the landscape architect who designed Goodyear Heights, had planned for that spot to serve just this type of purpose. With its rustic and quaint associations, the Tudor Revival style was chosen for the lodge, mimicking the look of Frank Seiberling’s own majestic home, Stan Hywet. Completed in 1915, the original lodge featured a brick first story and an upper level with the stucco and half-timber work typically found in Tudor Revival structures. Combined with banded windows, decorative cross-banding on the timberwork, finials at the top of the roof gables and a tall, sweeping slate roof, the new lodge checked all the boxes

rip.com Akron’s Community-Owned Magazine

when it came to being picturesque. It fit in well with the surrounding homes, which used many of the same materials and which were based on cottage-like English house forms. Inside, the building featured plenty of room for group activities as well as a large and inviting fireplace—a true requisite for any scout lodge. As Goodyear Heights continued to expand over the following decades, the need for more space became apparent, and an even larger addition was built next to the original. Strangely enough, the two buildings were never connected, as the 1915 structure became more devoted to administrative and small group needs and the larger building became the center for larger group activities. Completed in 1942, the new lodge maintained the Tudor Revival styling of the original, but provided much more room, including an unexpected and impressive two-story “Great Hall” on the upper floor. Over the Years, Goodyear strongly supported the Boy Scout programs here, even offering specialized training in navigation and aeronautics—a natural fit due to the company’s involvement in

July 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

lighter-than-air flight and zeppelin construction. The lodges continued to be used by the Boy Scouts up until the 1980s, but eventually the buildings became vacant and were sold to Goodyear Heights Presbyterian Church across the street. After acquisition, the church made the original lodge available to Good Neighbors as a food distribution center, which continues to operate to this day. The newer building has served many roles over the past few decades, as a church youth center and also as a home to some small church congregations. Today, both buildings serve as solid and attractive anchors for the neighborhood, and add a lot of visual interest to the surrounding streetscape, with its central park, gazebo, Gothic church and vintage commercial buildings. The scene must look very much like Frank Seiberling and Warren Manning had envisioned it over 100 years ago. Mark Schweitzer is a lifelong resident of Akron who loves old buildings and likes to investigate Akron history. He grew up in Goodyear Heights and currently resides in The Free State of Ellet. The Devil Strip

| 37

Harmony House opens fourth transitional home for youth in poverty WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY ABBEY MARSHALL Lydia Williams says her life has been pretty easy lately. That’s new for the 18-year-old, who has been on her own for three years, since her mom was hospitalized when she was 15 and could no longer care for her. Williams lived with her brother for a short stint, but then ended up at Safe Landing Youth Shelter for more than eight months: an experience she describes as “horrible.” Eager for a way out, she found Harmony House, a transitional and emergency housing nonprofit for young people between the ages of 18 to 26. “It’s been cool,” Williams says of her

38 | The Devil Strip

time at the first-ever Harmony House for young women that opened last fall. “When I came, I had a lot of anger. I’ve matured and learned how to control it... I had to learn to be independent.” Now, after eight months in the home, she is moving to her own apartment: a dream she couldn’t have imagined when she was 15 and bouncing from place to place. Karla McDay saw cases similar to Williams’ every day in her 18 years as a social worker at Summit County Children Services. As someone who specialized in working with young people who aged out of foster care, typically at age 18, McDay helped prepare teenagers to exit for life as legal adults, but she found that many struggled to launch.

“Finding employment, early pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse: all those issues kept resurfacing. When many people turn 18, they go to this semi-structured, semiindependent environment, whether it’s college, military, living with family,” says McDay, the founder of Harmony House. “What’s happening to foster youth and homeless youth is they just kind of go. I had a vision of creating a home to help not only young people who were in the foster care system, but any young person who needed that transition.” In 2014, McDay opened the first Harmony House in East Akron with four bedrooms in a shared living environment available to young men. It was important to her to create a welcoming home environment that differed from a shelter, with bright colors, decorations and furniture. “I really wanted to see change,” she says. “Sometimes change is born outside of systems. Systems and bureaucracies thrive on the status quo. If you want to make change, be innovative and really impact lives, sometimes you have to break out of the system.”

july 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

For $10 a day, the young men had a place to live with lights, heat, cable and WiFi, as well as free haircuts, a laundry room and basic toiletries. A partnership with the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank also ensured meals. “When I came to Harmony House, I didn’t have no money, I didn’t have no job, I didn’t have nothing,” says 25-year-old Jon Bennett who lived in the original Harmony House in 2014. Bennett stayed in the home for two years when he was on the brink of homelessness at age 18, ultimately leaving after securing public housing through Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority. “It gave me more than a place to stay; it taught me to be independent.” With the success of Bennett and several other young men, McDay replicated the model in 2018, opening the doors to the second Harmony House with four beds in West Akron. A year later, the organization received a grant from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development for six apartments at Alphada Place as part of the continuum of care,

thedevilstrip.com

which are more strictly regulated by government guidelines and focused on a housing-first approach.

get into some trouble. This is a time where people really need a safety net.”

The nonprofit also has additional HUD funding, which accounts for about $130,000 of the $300,000 annual budget, to support rapid rehousing for four individuals that find their own apartment. Unlike the homes which support up to age 26, the HUD-funded program assists residents up to 24.

In addition to running Harmony House, McDay works full-time as a licensed therapist at Minority Behavioral Health Group. Through research at her previous job, she found that many adults who were previously in children services struggled with access to mental health care. She notes that while minors were in the care of children services, they had readily available healthcare with someone that helped make appointments and secure transportation. Once they reached adulthood, however, that infrastructure disappeared. Another major problem is homelessness, McDay explains, because oftentimes adults as young as 18 do not understand or have a credit or rental history or an understanding of how to complete housing applications. The pandemic also poses a problem to finding housing, Lydia Williams says, whose stay in Harmony House ended up being longer than she expected. She had difficulty finding and securing an apartment because of eviction moratoriums and lack of rentals before ultimately finding her new place. Harmony House allows people to stay as long as they need until they find housing, and staff works with residents to form a plan.

Even in the past year, the organization continues to expand: McDay welcomed the first ever group of women at a Harmony House in October 2020, and a third men’s home opened its doors at the end of June. Both are located on the same block in Middlebury, a historically disinvested neighborhood. “We have visions to have more impact in this community right here,” McDay says of their houses in Middlebury. “There’s a lot of homeless activity that is hidden in plain sight, and we want to make this a hub to fixing youth homelessness. (The new men’s home) used to house a former street outreach service for shelter care. Young people know this area.” The program now costs $400 a month for those living in the homes, which are rented at a lower cost to Harmony House by property owners, such as Oasis Outreach Opportunity, who are “sympathetic to the cause.” Sponsorship dollars are available for those who cannot afford the rent. A resident advisor on staff also lives in each home.

McDay is addressing both mental health and homelessness issues in the homes she runs, but has visions for a future with even more wraparound services. While the homes currently available are designed as a transition to permanent independent housing, each home has beds designated for emergency housing for those needing to imminently escape a situation. She has visions to expand that option with plans to establish a youth dropin center with eight to ten emergency beds at Oasis Outreach Opportunity next door to the newest Harmony House.

original Harmony House. “Any of us can help people and change their lives. Giving advice, giving resources. That’s what she did for me. I stayed there and worked that program, and look at where I am now.” To donate to Harmony House, visit akronharmonyhouse.org/ donate.html. Abbey Marshall covers economic development for The Devil Strip via Report for America. Reach her at abbey@thedevilstrip.com.

“(McDay) showed me that helping comes from the heart,” says Jon Bennett, the former resident of the

Tenants include not only aged-out foster youth, but young people in the courts system in need of housing, those ready to leave parents’ or family members’ homes, victims of domestic violence and any other extenuating circumstance between what McDay calls the most formative years of life. While the HUD-funded apartments are regulated by government guidelines, the homes have more leeway for staff to implement their own rules. McDay decides who would be the best fit to live in the homes through an extensive intake process with interviews about their situations and life goals. “Eighteen to 26 was the hardest time in my life,” McDay says. “You make the biggest mistakes then. This is the time when you can get a DUI, STD or

rip.com Akron’s Community-Owned Magazine

July 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

The Devil Strip

| 39

40 | The Devil Strip

july 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

thedevilstrip.com

Akronisms | Inside Akron’s backyard beehives Don’t squish the bees! WORDS AND PHOTO BY JEFF DAVIS

ou’ve probably never been inside one of Akron’s beehives, of which there are many more than you might realize. Some are in backyards and gardens. Some are on roofs or porches. Some are hidden behind fences. They are on commercial properties and in neighborhoods. Sometimes there is only one hive. In some cases, a halfdozen or more, with the bees just going about their business and not bothering a soul unless provoked. Note the syllable “hive,” which is not to be confused with a “nest.” A bees’ nest is a collection of wild bees living in the ground, a tree or perhaps a fallen log. These bees might be big, black and fuzzy, like bumble bees

and carpenter bees, which are often solitary and stingless. They could be yellow jackets — which aren’t bees at all — but instead wasps who live in the ground, appear at late summer picnics, and chase people around their yards. These haters can (and do) sting repeatedly. In this case, yellow doesn’t mean caution. It means beware! Here, we are talking about honey bees, also known as Apis mellifera, which scientists say help pollinate about one third of our food supply. Honey bees are generally colored in shades of brown with black stripes and can live in trees and logs. They can also live in a wooden box known as a hive: a bee home that is under pretend-management by a human incongruously known as a “beekeeper.” We choose our words carefully here,

rip.com Akron’s Community-Owned Magazine

because honey bees haven’t yet been domesticated. They like to be fed, but they definitely won’t come when they are called. Even when given a nice home and lots of attention, they will sting those who mess with their honey or babies. Sometimes a bunch of them will pick up and leave like ten thousand lovers scorned, in what we call a swarm. We may say “keeping bees,” but “herding cats” is the appropriate simile here. So, how many beehives are there in Akron? It’s hard to tell. Beehives don’t always survive Ohio’s winters, and keepers aren’t always able to manage a hive’s nutrition or control predation, so the numbers go down. New colonies are purchased from suppliers every spring, so the numbers go up. The wildcard is that beekeepers often divide their hives to prevent half their bees and a queen from departing in a swarm. One theory is that bees swarm when they feel crowded. Splitting one hive into two puts a stop to that. Experienced beekeepers can do this

July 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

a couple times each season, meaning they can split one hive into two, two into four and four into eight in a manner of months. So, the number of hives in town will change through the seasons. We can only guess their number. Still, we do know the number of “apiaries” in the area, which is the number of properties that have hives. Randy Katz, the Summit County bee inspector, says there were 396 registered apiaries in the county in early May. That could easily represent 1,000 to 1,500 individual hives. There could be 200 to 250 hives in Akron. More than you thought, right? Whether people want to profit from the bees’ work by selling honey and wax or take up beekeeping merely for honey on their breakfast toast and more productive gardens, folks who want to keep bees should begin by asking themselves if they are ready for the responsibility. After all, these are living creatures. Continue reading this story on page 44 The Devil Strip

| 41

WORDS

I Wind conditions were monitored carefully at the Borrow Pit prescribed burn, so smoke didn’t blow into the highway. Photo Credit: National Park Service, public domain. By Chris Davis.

Crooked River Reflections: Burning Questions BY ARRYE ROSSER

mokey Bear is recognized worldwide. Created in 1944, he stars in America’s longest public service ad campaign. Given his rockstar image (protected by federal law, no less), many of us have absorbed his catchphrase: “Remember . . . Only YOU Can Prevent Forest Fires.” Well, that was the version I grew up with. For the past 20 years, it’s been “Only YOU Can Prevent Wildfires.” If you are of a certain age, you tend to think of wildfires as a bad thing. For people, they can endanger lives and property. For nature, the story is more complex. Wildfires can provide positive ecological benefits. At Cuyahoga Valley National Park, wildland firefighters conducted two “prescribed burns” this spring. This means we burned the land on purpose — a prescription for better health. This sparked a variety of questions on social media. How can fire be good?

42 | The Devil Strip

The reason for the first burn at Terra Vista Natural Study Area was to knock back exotic plants that have been choking an 80-acre section. A thorny ornamental shrub called autumn olive is a big problem here. Replacing the dense green wall with a mix of flowers that bloom at different times of year will be good for pollinators. We know because a team of volunteers has been conducting Ohio’s longest-running butterfly survey at Terra Vista. They started in 1997. The second burn was at a 13-acre site along Interstate 80 called the Borrow Pit. (Workers “borrowed” dirt and rock while building the original I-80 bridge over Cuyahoga Valley.) Here, fire is being used to control both native and non-native trees and shrubs. Hawthorn is the most common one. We want to maintain this as grassland meadow because it supports a variety of rare plants. For example, this is the best spot for fringed gentian, a delicate fall beauty. But what about the baby animals? Ideally, we would have done these burns a little earlier, but we had to wait for the proper conditions. Blame Ohio weather. Fortunately, neither location attracts grown nesting birds

which are the main concern. In time, having more native plants will be a boon for generations of wildlife. I want to close with a silly insider tip. If you want to annoy rangers like myself, compliment us on our “Smokey Bear” flat hats. This might prompt a huffy little civics lesson about how Smokey Bear represents the U.S. Forest Service. That’s part of the Department of Agriculture. We are the National Park Service, which is within the Department of Interior. Our symbol is an arrowhead with a bison. It’s attractive— but it’s no shirtless bear.

As we w a distin hadn’t a kid. I finger o smell th searchi Since w water, do to d sources with Ve smellin an eart Peat m moss a many o Peat fo deprive vegetat

Right: Fringed gentian is rare in Ohio and will benefit from the burning of the Borrow Pit. Photo Credit: © Jim Schmidt. Used with permission.

july 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

didn’t k peculiar ago wh have a pe State Nat Scott Ver from Ken friend of of us set night. I smelly, trap in by the surroun They w bush I'v me. At was lin plants. magica wild, at first tim special, purple threate other b

thedevilstrip.com

Bogs | Living relics of the Ice Age WORDS AND PHOTOS BY JENNIFER HOWELL

didn’t know how precious and peculiar bogs were until a few years ago when I had an opportunity to have a personal tour of the Kent Bog State Nature Preserve. My guide was Scott Vernon, a botany graduate from Kent State University and a friend of my husband. The three of us set out to explore the bog at night. I was expecting to find a smelly, swampy decaying death trap in our path. I was surprised by the absolute lushness of the surrounding highbush blueberry. They were taller than any blueberry bush I've ever seen, taller than even me. At our feet, the boardwalk was lined with carnivorous pitcher plants. There was something magical about seeing them in the wild, at night, by flashlight for the first time. They seemed exotic and special, and they are. It turns out, purple pitcher plants are a federally threatened species, among many other boreal plants in the bog. As we went further, there was a distinct smell in the air that I hadn’t experienced since I was a kid. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. It was the kind of smell that turns you into a hound, searching for any other clues. Since we were surrounded by water, there was little I could do to determine any fragrant sources. In a later conversation with Vernon, he suggested I was smelling the peat in the bog itself, an earthy warming floral scent. Peat mostly consists of sphagnum moss as well as a combination of many other decaying vegetation. Peat forms in acidic and oxygendeprived environments when plant vegetation doesn’t fully decay. It

Left: The boardwalk and vegetation at Kent Bog Right: Sphagnum Moss in the Kent Bog

resembles soil and when it’s dried and harvested, it can be burnt as firewood. Sphagnum moss is the foundation and one of the most important plants that help create a boggy environment. Sphagnum moss is partially composed of dead plant material. This is because it grows on top of its own decaying parts. The Kent Bog offers many signs as you walk along the boardwalk to learn about the isolated and special habitat. “Specialized sponge-like cell structures enable some species of sphagnum to hold up to 27 times their own dry weight in water. Dried sphagnum possesses antiseptic properties and is more than twice as absorbent as cotton. Native Americans used it to diaper their babies, and doctors relied on sphagnum for emergency field surgical dressing during the Civil War and World War 1,” one sign read. There are several different types and ways bogs can form. The kettle bogs in Ohio were formed from the Wisconsinan Glacier, a huge glacial deposit that fell off and created these ecosystems. These are remnants of the glacial deposits from the Ice Age, which retreated from Ohio around 12,000 to 14,000 years ago. Vernon explains “kettle bogs are more rare than bogs as a whole, but the species they contain are fragile and unique, and those tend to be rare.” Bogs are nutrient-poor, so the plants that live there have become highly specialized. One of these specialized trees is called the tamarack tree. It’s a “deciduous conifer.” Most trees are categorized as coniferous or

rip.com Akron’s Community-Owned Magazine

deciduous, but the tamarack is both. The tamarack tree has needles like a conifer, and although they look like pine needles, they are much softer. When the seasons change, they drop their needles, like deciduous trees. Vernon informed me that tamaracks can be found not only in the Kent Bog, but in Triangle Lake Bog and Jackson Bog. The Kent Bog holds the largest number of tamarack trees in Ohio. Akron also has its very own bog, the Springfield Bog Metro Park. Springfield Bog is unique because it holds two bogs. It was farmland converted into a prairie, and the Continental Divide runs through it. The Continental Divide is a natural boundary that separates the river systems on a continent. The elevation of the divide separates the flow of the water into two different directions. In the north part of the park, water flows north, towards Lake Erie and eventually into the Atlantic Ocean. Water in the southern area of the park flows all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.

biodiversity each bog holds. I feel thankful to live in an area and ecosystem that can support such a special glimpse into the ecology of the past. It’s been speculated that bogs were the reason for the last Ice Age because of the sheer amount of carbon they can absorb from the atmosphere, cooling the planet over time. Bogs and the peat that grows in them are an important resource for the future of climate control. Ohio has lost many of its bogs in the past decades due to agriculture, development, fire, mining, recreation, or natural succession. I hope with our efforts we are able to preserve and protect these precious relics we are living beside. Resources Local Bogs Tom S Cooperrider-Kent Bog State Nature Preserve, Triangle Lake Bog State Nature Preserve, Jackson Bog State Nature Preserve, and Brown's Lake Bog.

You can view the two bogs from their own observation decks. Young’s Bog is located northwest of the trail and is a naturally made bog. The second is called “baby bog” which is a manmade bog sitting southwest, closer to the center of the park.

Bog Preservation Friends of the Kent Bog help protect and preserve the wetlands. If you are interested in becoming a member, volunteer, or want to learn more about their activities: Email them at fotkb@sbcglobal.net.

“It’s frozen in time a little bit and we’re lucky to see it, and there aren’t a lot left,” Vernon says. “...you also want to make sure that people don’t go and be irresponsible in these places because sometimes you go and see trash there... people need to know that they are entering a one-ofa-kind place.”

Book Recommendations Description of the Ecoregions of the United States by Robert G. Bailey

I am enchanted by the specialized

July 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

Plants and Vegetation: Origins, Processes, Consequences 1st Edition, Kindle Edition by Paul Keddy Botanical Essays from Kent: Some Botanical Features of a University Town in Ohio by Tom S. Cooperrider The Devil Strip

| 43

Bees are like dogs and cats and children: they require care, commitment and some education. Beekeeping classes and a little book learning is a wise idea. Then, and only then, should people gather the appropriate supplies, a $150 to $200 investment to start — not including the cost of the bees. Bees won’t just find a new hive and fly in of their own accord. The prospective keeper has to buy a box of bees and a fertilized queen from a dealer ($150 or so), divide an existing hive or catch a swarm: a big, scary looking bunch of bees that likely belonged to someone else a couple hours ago. But then they just flew away, likely because they were unhappy with their current living conditions. Maybe they felt crowded, for instance. When honey bees swarm, they can’t be stopped. They will march out of their hive with their queen and fly in a low circular cloud until they’ve collected about half their hive mates, then fly to a holding area, where they will hang out for a short time while scouts search for a new home. It’s an amazing sight when a swarm lands. Just try to imagine a big glob

44 | The Devil Strip

of 15,000 buzzing bees. It would certainly be a threatening sight if you didn’t understand what’s happening. So here’s an important personal safety tip for those tripping over each other trying to get away: Bees gathered as a swarm are as gentle and as harmless as they will ever be, because they have no babies and no food to protect. Anyone who says they’ve been attacked by a swarm of bees was probably attacked by two or three bees who were accidentally disturbed or is talking about some other type of flying creature. Don’t run for the pesticide if you see one of these big globs of bees in a tree, a bush or on the tire of a car in a parking lot. They can often be collected and re-homed by an experienced beekeeper. The Summit County Beekeepers Association has a helpful list online if you need a name. One thing that the keeper will try to do is find and save the queen, who is likely buried somewhere in the middle of that glob. If she is there — and she should be — the keeper can start a new colony. Every colony needs a fertilized and productive queen to survive. During her two to threeyear lifespan, she will lay 1,500 to 2,000 eggs per day from late winter through late fall, which is necessary because a typical worker bee (always

female) lives only about six weeks and a critical mass of bees is required if the colony is to survive.

either six weeks or three months? How can a queen survive up to three years? Scientists don’t exactly know.

Most of a worker’s time on earth is spent in the hive, first as a nurse bee taking care of newly hatched brood, then as a house bee, whose job is to keep the place tidy and help make honey. After three to four weeks, she becomes a guard. Only in her last weeks of life will she become a forager, doing her pollination thing and bringing pollen and nectar back to her sisters.

Could it be something in the water? It’s believed Juan Ponce de León came to the New World via the second journey of Christopher Columbus. He stayed in the Americas for many years, but he never found the elusive Fountain of Youth.

There are a few males in the hive called drones, though there are not many. One can imagine what their only job is. They tend to live a little longer than the females, but they are kicked out of the hive and die in late fall. The females don’t want them sitting around all winter eating honey and watching football. A little-known fact about bees is that the queen produces different, fatter bees in the late fall that are able to survive most of the winter. How is it that eggs from the same queen can live for

july 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

Maybe he should have looked in a few back yards in Akron. // Jeff Davis is a retired writer, editor and teacher, and a member of the Summit County Beekeepers Association. He prefers his honey on hot biscuits.

Getting ready to swarm, or just hanging out on the front porch?

thedevilstrip.com

nths? to three y know.

who I want to be or who I am today. In a way, that person is my teacher and my guide — the actor I will never allow myself to become again. Not going back, no way, never.

water? eón came

ristopher Americas found h.

d in a

The Frog in Me BY MARC LEE SHANNON

’m a frog.

I know what you are thinking. , Maybe Marc has lost it a bit, but mber let me explain. I’m speaking about epers oney on a story that I love and the symbolic meaning of its characters. A simple tale about learning to accept the nature of people when they teach us who they may be, and hopefully, not having to learn that lesson repeatedly— also, the healthy but complex art of forgiveness. Come along for a bit of a ride, won’t you? The “Scorpion and the Frog” is a fable about some people who cannot resist hurting others even when it is not in their interest. It goes something like this... A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a babbling stream. It's too treacherous to cross, so the scorpion nicely asks the frog to carry him across on its back. This makes the frog a little suspicious. It asks, “How do I know you won’t sting me?” “Because if I do,” the scorpion says, “I will die too.” That sound reasoning relaxes the frog's nerves, so he allows the scorpion to climb aboard, and they shove off across the flowing water. Halfway across the stream, the scorpion stings the frog directly in the middle of his back. The frog, beginning to sink from the onset of the scorpion's poison, manages one question with its dying breath: "Why?!" “Because I am a scorpion.” In other words, it is my nature. It is what I do, who I am. You may think I am about to preach that we should always be on the lookout for those who may want

to cause us harm. Well, maybe. But more so, I am here to talk about forgiveness. Sitting with a fresh cup of coffee on my son’s 3rd-floor balcony in Wilmington, N.C, I have a lot of thoughts rushing through my consciousness now: How I got here. How I became a parent of three beautiful children, how I fracked things up before my recovery from drugs and alcohol, and how they still love me. How I am moving forward these days as new chapters enter my horizons — many, many thoughts of where I have been and where I am going. Mistakes I have made. All of us have known Scorpions — people who hurt us like it is their nature, carving a path of pain through the landscape of our lives. They rock you and then roll on, seemingly oblivious to the deep well of torment they created in the wake of their tornadic toll and wave. I am a Frog. I always have been and probably always will. Silly me, I want to believe that something in other humans sees my honorable — formerly Catholic — intentions to not cause anyone harm, and failing that, they’ll recognize I am wrapped, as if in a blanket of comforting isolation, by a super Karma force field that protects me against their actions. Ummm no. Nope. Does not work that way, dude. So, how to forgive? That is the real work it takes to clean up the mess in my emotional kitchen. What I know is that resentments towards those who have harmed us act like rust, eating away at the steel of our emotional reserve until we disassemble like the fender of my 1967 Chevy Biscayne, which sat alone and uncovered in the garage after high school. For recovering persons, and I guess all of us, resentments are like trying to kill rats by eating poison ourselves — we’re the ones who suffer most.

rip.com Akron’s Community-Owned Magazine

So, forgiveness. The teachings I’ve studied say all harm comes from ignorance or suffering. I think I have learned, but often need to continue learning, how these three prongs lead to forgiveness. Ask for Forgiveness — When I have caused harm to anyone, I must make amends. Face up and friend up: “Hey, I’m sorry. I did that, but it is not what I wanted. Please forgive me. How can I make this right?” My mess, my job to clean it up straight away. Offer Forgiveness — When I am at the peak of my zen zenith, I can separate the actions from the actor. “Hey man, what you did, that was not cool, but I will let that $#%& go.” Face it, hurt people hurt people. Find compassion for the actor because when people are messed up to each other, it almost always comes from their own dark closet of despair. I can forgive the actor, even if the actions are not forgivable. This is an area I will need to keep working on. Forgive Yourself — The most challenging point for me on this pitchfork of the forgiveness triumvirate is to make amends to myself. I did some really messed-up things in the throes of my demons, and when I look back, I can hardly believe that I made some of the choices that I did in the prison of addiction. But I am not doing those things any longer, and that is no longer

July 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

I guess I will always be like the frog in the parable — someone who wants to believe and trust, who takes the risk of being stung by a predatory arachnid. But here is what I know: The Scorpion is not good or bad; it just is. They wear the armor of those that need to attack and defend. To me, it is very much like the parable. In people who have hurt me, there is often a great need to protect and dispose of those in their path. Again: Hurt people hurt people. The ones who are hurting the most often hurt themselves with their very own pincers. It is what they do. Not good, not bad. Just what they do. In the end, maybe the only salve for that sting is to practice forgiveness with compassion. The one person this Frog needs to compassionately forgive the most is typing this sentence. I’m going to get to work on that today. Steady on.

The Devil Strip

| 45

URINE LUCK WITH EMILY DRESSLER Urine Luck: Don’t Call it a Comeback Live Music Now: And Bathrooms! WORDS AND PHOTOS BY EMILY DRESSLER

h. Hi. You’re still here. Thanks for waiting. Sorry about that extra long bathroom break. There are about one thousand things I want to say, but I don’t know the word for “I’ve missed you so much and I can’t wait to talk to you about bathrooms!”

Above: This plant is a sign of life. Below: Brown on brown on tan on silver on brown.

As you know, Covid + public bathrooms (+ life) have been iffy. Up until recently, I had been limiting my outings and hardly had occasion during the pandemic to use new bathrooms. And then, if I did use a public restroom, I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to talk to people about it because people don’t like hearing about germs anymore. On the first Friday in June, I found myself at First Friday Kenmore, standing outside a little place called Live Music Now. I wasn’t going to use the bathroom, partially because I’ve adopted a pandemic-inspired utilitarian approach to my public outings that I can’t seem to shake and also because the business, Live Music Now, was so oddly named that I couldn’t decide if they were actually open for business. Luckily, my 7 year old always has to go to the bathroom.So, I ventured in and was greeted by a perfect-looking bar but no live music. The bathrooms here were the perfect foray back into the public bathroom scene. That is to say, there was nothing spectacular or horrible about them. They are solidly lackluster.

I couldn’t have handled something other than the bland browns, tans, beige, and for god’s sake, the griege making up this bathroom. A small (fake?) plant on a ledge added a pop of green. That is enough color for now, but I expect more later. The flooring in this bathroom makes me hope that I’ve caught someone in the middle of remodeling. That is the only excuse for this, and it is barely an excuse since you’ve had an entire pandemic with which to remodel your bathrooms. This is no time for sub flooring. I’m pretty sure you can’t even mop this floor. The tin wall wainscotting is cute and unexpected. It’s the only personality in here! The ledge created by the wainscotting provides potential but also danger, as it’s a place for someone to put up a collection of weird knicknacks. Please don’t add candles or trolls or more plants. As you can maybe tell from my photos, I am out of practice. There was even one photo with my thumb in it. Please excuse my sabbatical. I am so thrilled to be back. Go get your vaccine and then you can lick toilet seats with me. In the meantime, I’ve forgotten how to grade bathrooms and I feel oddly demanding, so I am giving this bathroom 2 out of 5 toilets. We can all do better. Emily Dressler has been reviewing bathrooms for the Devil Strip since 2015 if you can believe it. She is on the Devil Strip Board of Directors if you can believe it.

Too much color, at this point, would be too much for my delicate psyche.

46 | The Devil Strip

july 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

thedevilstrip.com

TDS-July-2021-Final-compressed

rip.com Akron’s Community-Owned Magazine

July 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

The Devil Strip

| 47

Saturday, July 24 Sunday, July 25

Saturday, July 3 | 2–7 PM

Downtown Block Party

Featuring food truck round-up, craft beer tasting, inflatables, and live entertainment on the stage, including local band 45 RPM from 2–3 PM and 5-7 PM Realm of the Reptile show 3–5 PM

Sunday, July 4 | 9:45 PM

Sunday, July 25

8 PM

Fireworks

Neighborhood locations: Akron Executive Airport, Patterson Park Ballfields, Summit Lake, and Erie Island

Gospel at LOCK 4 JULY 11 and JULY 25 4-6 PM

Saturday

JUL 2 ESC4P3 JOURNEY TRIBUTE with THE TONY LANG BAND First Friday $5 Admission

7-10 PM

JUL 9 Return to Paradise A STYX TRIBUTE with CHARITA FRANKS

JUL 16 Hollywood Nights

Lock 3 Stage 7-9 PM through Sept 29

A BOB SEGER EXPERIENCE with MICHAEL WEBER

JUL 23 Atomic Punks THE TRIBUTE TO EARLY VAN HALEN with KEROSENE

JUL 30 Hard Days Night BEATLES TRIBUTE BAND with INTO THE BLUE

Visit Lock3Live.com for dates and locations of movies throughout the city. 48 | The Devil Strip

july 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7

Yard games, drinks specials, music, and more! 7-9 PM thedevilstrip.com

The Devil Strip, July 2021 | Vol. 9, Issue 7

Articles inside

URINE LUCK NOW

MARC LEE IS A FROG

OOOO, BURN! (BUT IN A GOOD WAY)

LIVING RELICS OF THE ICE AGES

YOU HAVE TO READ IT TO BEE LIEVE IT

A WAY OUT FOR YOUTH IN POVERTY

SCOUTING OUT GOODYEAR HTS.

ALL AKRON, ALL DAY EVERYDAY

WHY FRED IS FEELIN’ FROGGY

500 TOOLS FOR $50

THE JAMAICAN PIADA

WHAT MOST OF US TAKE FOR GRANTED

ALL THE BACON IN THE WORLD ON A PLATE

IT’S SPELLED FLOCO. NO A ONE C.

HOW THE PANDEMIC CHANGED ELLET STUDENTS

IT’S PATIO SEASON AT EL PATRON

HIGHER ED IS THE KEY TO AN INCLUSIVE AKRON

INTO THE WEIRD WITH MARCY BONES

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: HEATHER LOVE

TAROTSCOPES

THE NIGHTLIGHT’S NEW CHAMP

THE JUNKMAN WIZARD’S ART SHOW