Hello Everyone,
For those seeking baseball games, hiking in county parks, or celebrating Christmas during July, the Akron/Medina area has the answers. Double A minor league baseball games occur in the stadium on Akron’s South Main Street. Summit County’s 16 Metro Parks offer a plethora of hiking trails and other outdoor activities. In nearby Medina, Castle Noel celebrates Christmas year round with actual artifacts from Christmas movies, animated department store displays, and toys recalling memories.
WHO ARE THE RUBBERDUCKS?
When the Akron Double A baseball team changed its name from Aeros to RubberDucks on October 29, 2013, it brought everything from glee to consternation. Many thought of rubber duckies floating around in a bathtub. Yet, the name actually reflected the city’s early history when every company from Firestone to Goodyear to B. F. Goodrich had their roots in Akron. Though only Goodyear remains, it’s a way to honor these “Rubber Barons.”
The Akron franchise’s birthplace was in 1980 in Lynn, Massachusetts where it received the name Lynn Sailors. From 1980 to 1982, they were the Double-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners and of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1983. Four years later, the team moved to Burlington, Vermont where, from 1984 to 1987, they were known as the Vermont Reds. It was a nickname that was appropriate since their affiliation changed to the Cincinnati Reds. In 1988, they became a Seattle Mariners franchise again with the new name of Vermont Mariners. They won three straight Eastern League titles from 1984 to 1986.
The team moved to Ohio in 1989 and became the Cleveland Indians’ Double-A affiliate. During their eight years at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium in Canton, Ohio, the Akron-Canton Indians made five straight playoff appearances from 1989 to 1993 but never won the championship.
On November 22, 1994, the club signed a lease agreement with the city of Akron to move the club to that city into a new stadium that was completed in February 1997. They played under the name Aeros until the name changed to RubberDucks in 2013. They played their first game at Canal Park stadium against the Harrisburg Senators on April 10, 1997 with 9,086 fans in attendance. The team has been in the playoffs ten times since that date. In 2017, they completed the season with a 69-71 record.
Over the years, the team has had several notable players who made it to the major leagues. Among these are pitchers C. C. Sabathia, Charles Nagy, Danys Baez, and Jaret Wright. Known infielders are first baseman Sean Casey, second baseman Jason Kipnis, and shortstop Jhonny Peralta. Among the outfielders have been Ryan Church, Manny Ramirez, and Grady Sizemore. Catchers Victor Martinez and Carlos Santana saw action on this team, too.
TICKETS AND SEATING
The mission at Canal Park is to provide affordable family fun. Through daily and special promotions, interesting food, seating innovations, and affordable tickets, they have succeeded.
We went to a game in September and were surprised at how beautiful the park is. I was impressed that it had two scoreboards. One primarily showed balls and strikes while the other had more detailed information about the game including videos of the players.
The price of tickets is affordable for a family and an inexpensive way to spend an afternoon or evening. General admission is $5 with reserved seating at $11. For seniors, ages 60 and older, and youth, ages 12 and under, the cost is $10. They offer special seating in Serra Auto Park Fowl Territory, in KeyBank Duck Row, and in Homerville.
Serra Auto Park Fowl Territory is a spacious tiered picnic area located down the left field line. The buffet features a ballpark style meal while seating eight guests at tables comfortably. The picnic buffet includes hamburgers, hot dogs, BBQ pulled chicken, macaroni and cheese, potato salad, potato chips, cookies, iced tea, and lemonade. The service for the picnic begins one hour prior to the start of the game and lasts for two hours. Individuals can buy tickets for this on Memorial Day and Labor Day at $22 a person. If you have a group of at least 24, it can be reserved for one game in April at $22 a person or for one game during the rest of the season at $25.
KeyBank Duck Row is located at field level directly below the Serra Auto Park Fowl Territory. It consists of two rows of swivel-style seats and has such amenities as in-seat food and beverage service and drink rail counters. Seating is $17 per person.
Homerville consists of two rows of 11 swivel-seats in right field with drink rails. It’s located in front of the Tiki Bar in the Bud Light Lime Lime-A-Rita Terrace. Besides a seat in Homerville, it includes two 16-ounce beers or four 24-ounce sodas which are redeemable at the Tiki Bar. Homerville does not have wait staff and costs $25 a seat.
FASCINATING FOOD
Specialty stands are located in the upper level above the seats. Standard ballpark fare such as peanuts, nachos, and popcorn are sold at stands throughout the park. However, Canal Park is nationally famous for its unique stands and some extreme dishes. Godfather’s Kitchen sells pizza, sausages, pizza pretzels, panini sandwiches, and cannoli. The Dawg Pound offers sausages and kosher dogs with specialty toppings including the Three Dog Night which is a kielbasa split in half with a bratwurst inside, split in half with a hot dog inside of it. It is topped with sauerkraut and served on a sub bun.
Want to share ice cream with a bunch of friends? Get the Screamer. It’s 21 scoops of ice cream, a one pound brownie, four whole bananas, hot fudge, and sprinkles served inside a full-sized RubberDucks batting helmet.
If you really want to go over the edge, head for The Game Grill + Bar. It’s open two hours prior to the game’s scheduled start time and remains open throughout the game. It serves a wide range of appetizers, unique sandwiches, and entrees to fit one’s taste from the simple to the extreme.
The Grill is the ONLY place you can find the Squealer at Canal Park. It’s a foot-long Five Star Meat hot dog, stuffed with pulled pork and wrapped in bacon. It is then deep fried until crispy and topped with shredded cheddar cheese and a drizzle of tangy BBQ sauce.
At the Bier Garten, The Notorious P.I.G., for $15, starts with two fried pork tenderloins as the bun. It’s filled with a stack of pulled pork; pecanwood, smoked shoulder bacon; and maple honey mustard, sauerkraut slaw. If you want a little less, the Bier Garten offers a fruit cup, assorted vegetables, salads, and wraps. This is the place to come for a draft beer while the Tiki Bar serves mixed drinks, wine, hard slushies, and sodas, and Jobu’s Craft Brew window, behind homeplate, has a long list of assorted microbrews.
PROMOTIONS
What amazed me are the variety of promotions the park has with something for every day of the week. They work with community organizations and businesses to offer these.
Sunday -"Family Funday" - With a pre game catch on the field and post game Kids Run the Bases
Monday - “Charity Begins at Home” - The RubberDucks and a local nonprofit organization team up to raise funds for a particular group.
Tuesday - “Two for Tuesdays” - Show your Acme Fresh Market Savings Card at the box office to receive a buy one, get one, reserved seat
Wednesday - “Wellness Wednesday” - Summa Health presents fun ways to get active and stay healthy.
Thursday - “Thirsty Thursdays" - $1 draft beer and soft drink specials
Friday “Electric Blue Fridays” - The RubberDucks will wear their “electric blue” jerseys.
Saturday “Giveaway Saturdays” - A premium giveaway to the first 1,000 fans. It also involves celebrity appearances.
Activities take place at the stadium as well. Youngsters will enjoy the inflatable slides at just $1 a ride and the antics of the three mascots: Webster the duck, Orbit the cat, and Homer the pigeon. In 2018, on 23 Friday and Saturday nights, after the games, from May through September, there are fireworks. Between innings, they give away prizes, have live music, and make announcements such as birthday wishes.
Canal Park is located at 300 S. Main Street. Their telephone number is (330) 253-5151. You can see their schedule on their web site.
SUMMIT METRO PARKS
One aspect of Summit County we thoroughly enjoyed when we lived in Akron was the wealth of parks the county has supplied. Except for Silver Creek and Munroe Falls, which offer lake swimming facilities, the parks are free for anyone to enjoy. The majority of funding is from property taxes with some state grants and federal funds.
The park system was started in 1915 when the Ohio General Assembly passed legislation allowing metropolitan park districts to form. In 1921, the county founded Summit County’s parks. Four parks have been open more than 85 years: Sand Run and Goodyear Heights in Akron, Furnace Run in Richfield, and Gorge Metro Park in Cuyahoga Falls.
The early Board of Park Commissioners included Frank A. Seiberling, who served from 1924 to 1935. Seiberling, the founder of Goodyear Tire and Rubber, hired the Olmsted Brothers, who were landscape architects. Their father, Frederick Law Olmsted, was the one who designed Central Park in New York City and the Boston Commons. Seiberling also gifted the first land to the park system. It became Sand Run Metro Park.
During the Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps completed a number of park projects. These ranged from the bathhouse and lake at Virginia Kendall Park to planting more than 350,000 seedlings at Furnace Run’s Everett Nursery. Virginia Kendall is now part of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
Over the years, the park system gradually expanded as three directors held long-term reins. At present, the park district manages 14,300 acres including 16 developed parks, several conservation areas, and more than 125 miles of trails with 22.4 miles of these being the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail. The yearly attendance averages five million visits a year with November the busiest month because of their hiking spree. Sand Run is the busiest park.
THE TRAILS
Trailsl range from easy to moderate and vary in length as well. The best way to learn about the trails is to go to their home page and check out Explore Parks and Trails. You can filter them out by trail type and trail difficulty, obtaining a list of ones that might interest you.
What is unique is that the park system has held a hiking spree for 54 years. Hikers must travel eight of 14 trails between September 1 and November 30 with one hiker’s choice of any trail in the park system. It is free to Summit County residents. Out-of-county residents must pay $10 the first year and $5 afterwards to receive their hiking awards of a staff the first year and a pendant to put on the staff in following years. Each year 11,000 to 12,000 people complete the spree including five who have done it every year since 1964.
Summit Metro Parks has a Spree for All between May 1 and June 30. This is the opportunity to hike flat, easy trails that are good for strollers, wheelchairs, walkers, and canes. This is again free to Summit County residents. The awards are a lanyard and pin the first year and pin after that. For non residents, the awards cost $10 the first year and $5 afterwards.
OTHER ACTIVITIES
Not all the parks have the same activities except for hiking the trails. For example, archery is available at Hampton Hills in Cuyahoga Falls, Silver Creek in Norton, and Liberty Park in Streetsboro. Baseball and softball are found also at Liberty but then only at Goodyear Heights and Cascade Valley which are both in Akron.
Nimisila Reservoir Metro Park in Green is the only one with camping. It has 29 individual sites located near the reservoir. Each has a fire ring and a picnic table while six sites have electricity. A maximum stay is 10 consecutive nights in a 30-day period. There are no showers or drinking water at the campground, but it does have a dump station. Campsites are small and can only accommodate tents or RVs with a floor space of less than 200 square feet. Alcohol is prohibited..
In 2018, Summit Metro Parks will extend its camping season to year round. During the peak camping season, May 1 through October, sites with electricity are $30 on week nights and $35 on weekends and holidays. Non electric sites are $25 on week nights and $30 on weekends. From November 1 through April 30 will be considered off season. During those months, only the six electric sites will be available to all campers for $22.50 per night.
This year, starting in May, the park system will offer a 25% senior discount to people over 60 years old at the campground. It is offered on camping stays of Monday through Thursday. Reservations are done on line. There is a processing fee through Reserve America of $3.50. Only individuals ages 18 and older can apply.
Both Munroe Falls and Silver Creek charge $5 per person for ages five and over for their swimming facilities. Swim areas will be open 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on weekdays, and 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. during weekends and holidays. For more information, call (330) 867-5511 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Pedal boats can be rented for $5 a half hour or $30 a day at Munroe Falls Metro Park while canoes, a kayak, or rowboats can be rented for $10 a half hour and $30 a day at Silver Creek. A $20 refundable deposit and valid driver's license are required to rent boats. At least one person in the boat must be 18 years or older.
The park system has an incredible number of events - lectures, walks, yoga sessions, children’s programs that it conducts almost daily. If you are going to be in Summit County, I strongly recommend downloading their brochure Green Islands which contains a calendar of everything going on in the parks.
F. A. SEIBERLING NATURE REALM
When we lived in Akron, one of my favorite places to enjoy the outdoors was the Nature Realm. It was originally a terradome, a building built underground. However, due to leaks in 2015, the soil on top was removed, and the dome waterproofed. The building, now on top of the ground, uses solar panels and LED lights as some of their green elements.
Seiberling donated more than 400 acres to expand Sand Run Metro Park that he owned from 1920 to 1948. In 1964, that land became the Nature Realm.
The grounds involve several trails. Cherry Lane is .6 of a mile and is handicapped accessible for most of it. Seneca, at 1.4 miles, is not accessible and is rated moderate because of some steepness. Highlights are the suspension bridge across a 45-foot-deep ravine, two ponds, wetlands, and a tall-grass prairie. Most of the vegetation has plant identification.
Inside is a large observation window that lets you view the bird feeders. You will also find a naturalist on duty to answer questions, changing exhibits on animals, a children’s activity area of books and puzzles, and an art exhibit. We saw a taxidermy display of a raccoon, salamander, and a sharp-shinned hawk.
Their live animal section consisted of all native reptiles and amphibians in glass cages. There were 12 animals which they mostly obtained from situations where they can’t go back in the wild. These included a Fox snake, spotted turtles, a box turtle, Tiger salamander, and an Eastern Fence lizard.
Impressive exhibits were on exotic and native plants, how to create a backyard for wildlife, and one on wetlands. The one on wetlands displayed 20 wetland plants and animals while explaining the habitat’s benefits and how people can treat it properly. I also liked their gift shop with items made in the United States.
DETAILS
The Nature Realm is located at 1828 Smith Road and is open from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. The visitor center is open 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. from Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. Their telephone number is (330) 865-8065. Admission is free.
CASTLE NOEL
If you want to enjoy Christmas year round, head for downtown Medina, Ohio, a city located west of Akron, Ohio. It’s a 40,000 square foot present from Mark and Dana Klaus (yes, that is their actual name) for anyone who has enjoyed toys, Christmas movies, and admiring the stunning animated holiday displays in various store windows. The attraction has been seen on Entertainment Tonight, SyFy channels: Profiles in History, and Treasure Hunters Road Show.
Mark, a master sculptor and artist, is responsible for all the work in transforming what had been a church into the castle. He has also themed a couple of restaurants and bars.
He will tell you that the seeds of doing something special for Christmas date back to his grandfather, who during the Depression built Christmas villages out of wallpaper torn down from old houses. Mark’s father dedicated every inch inside and outside of his house to Christmas. People came from everywhere to see the house with its 16-foot tall Christmas tree.
Mark and Dana developed their plan over a period of 25 years at a barn they rented in Hinckley, Ohio. Twenty thousand people came to the barn to see their displays. They acquired all their artifacts from Hollywood auctions, private collections, and other museums. Since November 2013, people can see it in Medina by touring their exhibits occupying two buildings, the former Medina United Methodist Church and School.
You start your tour in the gift shop loaded with all kinds of Christmas goods. Mark is known for his hand sculpted and hand painted ornaments with different scenes in the front and back.
Your first stop is the Hall of Musical Memories which is lined with Christmas record albums completely covering the walls. Then step outside to see two figures, Clara’s toy nutcracker and the Mouse King, from the Nutcracker Suite in downtown Cleveland. One set was at the Tower City Center and the other at Playhouse Square. Mark made them for the Cleveland Ballet in the 1990's. They were taken to San Diego, California when the Cleveland Ballet moved there. It took many years to bring them back both sets, but Mark succeeded.
You will also see a Condor 1973 motorhome used in the movie National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation starring Chevy Chase.
Inside, you’ll find scenes of Santa and Mrs. Claus. One represents them in their mail room loaded with letters and packages. Look for the 2015 Lord & Taylor, 10 foot tall coo coo clock. You’ll also pass through a hall of photos of numerous television and movie stars that line both walls. A few of these are Shirley Temple, Frank Sinatra, Jim Henson and some Muppets, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, and Bob and Delores Hope. A whole wall is dedicated to the film White Christmas.
You will make your way through the swirling Blizzard Vortex before coming to Toyland, seven window cases of toys from the 1950's through the 1980's. Some of the toys I recognized are the Top Gigio doll, Mr. Potato Head, and Easy Bake Oven. You can also see the Stop Motion Animation movie set and Buddy puppet from Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas.
The Hollywood Portion is next. Castle Noel has the world’s largest privately owned collection of Hollywood movie props and costumes from Christmas movies including “The Grinch, Elf, Santa Claus the Movie, Fred Claus, The Santa Claus 1, 2, & 3, Jingle All the Way, Christmas Carol, Deck the Halls, and more.
You can watch the video about how the reindeer and sleigh in Santa Claus the Movie were constructed. The miniaturized reindeer, made of foam latex and reindeer skins, had their necks, heads, and legs radio controlled taking over a year to build. Check out Vince Vaughn’s jacket. He played Fred Claus in the movie by that name. They also have the elves’ uniforms.
The tour leads to the Santa’s Chimney Squeeze where music and lights fill the room with a ceiling covered in 100,000 glass ornaments. Visitors squeeze between two cushions as if they were Santa sliding down a chimney.
You’ll appreciate the house from Deck the Halls starring Danny DeVito and Matthew Broderick. It wasn’t a real house but was made from 800,000 fiberoptics. The idea was for Danny, played by DeVito, to illuminate his house with enough holiday lights to make it visible from space.
On London Street, you’ll meet figures from the Christmas Carol television show representing the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. Joel Grey was the ghost of Christmas past while Desmond Barrett had the role of the ghost of Christmas present. All the outfits in the movie were hand sewn by the costume department.
You’ll see from the 2003 movie Elf, Buddy’s North Pole Costume as well as the elf costumes. The 2003 movie starred Will Farrell and James Caan. Watch the video of the scene where Tim Allen is up on the roof with Frosty in Christmas with the Kranks. The Castle also displays Tim’s flannel shirt and overcoat.
Your tour then heads upstairs to see Christmas window scenes from such stores as Bloomingdale’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor, Marshall Field’s Department Store in Chicago, and Higbees Department Store. Mark has brought over 20 sets of windows from New York to Medina and has restored over 15 of these windows to date with the help of family and friends.
Five scenes that grabbed my attention represented the Nutcracker suite. These were in Sak’s Fifth Avenue windows in 1997. The first scene shows Clara dreaming about the Nutcracker. In the second, her godfather Drosselmeier tells Clara she can have it all. The third reveals the mouse king peeking in through the floor. The battle between the mice army and the Nutcracker with his toy soldiers comprise scene four. In the last, Clara takes the Nutcracker to meet the Nutcracker queen.
Our group then walked through the restoration area for all the art. It will later be transformed into an event area for rent.
We also saw the “Little Soul” series from the 1990's Saks Christmas windows and “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.” It was displayed at Pittsburgh’s Macy’s. “The Blue Room” display from Lord & Taylor is visible as is the store’s 2015 “Sweets Shoppe” display of a bakery full of Christmas pastries complete with a long conveyor belt of treats.
We eyed Rusty Bear which was in Canton’s Mellet Mall during the 1960's, “Macy’s Never Never Land,” and Higbee’s “Santa’s Rooftop Glow.” Mark was getting ready to display the 2016 Saks Fifth Avenue “Land of a Thousand Lights.”
In the theater, we watched a video of Mark singing a musical Christmas card with scenes from Castle Noel. Exiting that room, we saw the 2013 Bloomingdale’s “Streets of New York” which includes representations of the Freedom Tower, Empire State Building, and the Chrysler Building.
We headed downstairs to the Grand Hall. Imagine 100,000 ornaments in the ceiling. Each was glued and wired to the ceiling, one at a time. One highlight is the 25-foot tall Christmas tree.
Mark is proud of the movie set from the 2000 movie The Grinch. Among the artifacts is Cindy Lou’s pink bedroom made of carved and coated foam. It even has the items that were on the dresser such as the flower arrangement.
We learned that seven different rescued dogs played Max in the movie. They also have the green public works vehicle. We viewed more props and costumes with some as those such as the police chief’s and band leader’s uniforms from the ABC television network Grinch version.
On display is the 35 pound, green Grinch costume that Jim Carrey wore. He challenged Ron Howard to wear the suit for one day. According to Mark, Howard was ready to strangle Carrey after four hours. It took three to four hours to do Carrey’s makeup daily.
From Jingle All the Way, they have the Turbo Man and Booster costume. Santa Claus II is also not forgotten as they display the props that were penguins and Tim Allen’s Doublemint sweater.
Mark has built an enchanted forest in the Grand Hall with animated bears, raccoons, foxes, owls, mice, and marching geese. All are from New York City’s Lord & Taylor’s 2016 Chrstimas windows.
Another highlight is the 80- foot Santa Klaus Mountain Slide as in Christmas Story. Go down the giant red slide like Ralph. During the season, people have their photograph taken at the top with Santa Claus and slide down. Anyone over the age of 80 who does it goes up on their “Wall of Fame.” To date, their oldest rider was 101-1/2 years old.
What is fascinating about Castle Noel is that it never stops growing. For 2018, the Klauses are adding the NYC Bloomingdale’s window displays of “The Unwrapping of the Countries Around the World.” in addition to ones from other department stores. Other improvements will be a circus, a magical fairy garden, and additional movie props from Santa Claus 2 and Elf. Mark also intends to find a Yetti to bring back and is adding a 28' tall castle to Castle Noel.
DETAILS
Castle Noel is located at 260 South Court Street in Medina, Ohio. Their telephone number is (330) 721-6635. Although reservations are preferred, you can walk-in to take the 1-1/2 to two hours tour of Castle Noel. Closed on Mondays. Hours vary depending on the season. Please go to their web site to view the hours and make reservations. Admission is $19 a person with the exception of seniors or military families who pay $18. Children under age three are free.
ALIEN VACATION MINI GOLF
Next door the Klaus’s Alien Vacation Mini Golf reveals what happens when aliens meet Santa Claus. Played in black light with fluorescent balls, it’s a 19-hole journey through 12 completely different themed environments on this indoor course. Patrons will discover lasers, real Sci-Fi movie props, fiber optics, and freaky 3D illusions around every corner. In 2018, new Sci-Fi movie props and costumes are being added to this attraction.
Halfway through is the Mars Bar. Youngsters can get treats like slushies while adults have a glass of beer or wine. The bar is color changing and has a salt water aquarium.
Hours are Monday through Thursday noon to 8:00 p.m., Friday noon to 9:00 p.m., and Saturday 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. For ages four and older, the price is $11 per person. You can save two dollars by combining the two attractions.
For those seeking baseball games, hiking in county parks, or celebrating Christmas during July, the Akron/Medina area has the answers. Double A minor league baseball games occur in the stadium on Akron’s South Main Street. Summit County’s 16 Metro Parks offer a plethora of hiking trails and other outdoor activities. In nearby Medina, Castle Noel celebrates Christmas year round with actual artifacts from Christmas movies, animated department store displays, and toys recalling memories.
WHO ARE THE RUBBERDUCKS?
When the Akron Double A baseball team changed its name from Aeros to RubberDucks on October 29, 2013, it brought everything from glee to consternation. Many thought of rubber duckies floating around in a bathtub. Yet, the name actually reflected the city’s early history when every company from Firestone to Goodyear to B. F. Goodrich had their roots in Akron. Though only Goodyear remains, it’s a way to honor these “Rubber Barons.”
The Akron franchise’s birthplace was in 1980 in Lynn, Massachusetts where it received the name Lynn Sailors. From 1980 to 1982, they were the Double-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners and of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1983. Four years later, the team moved to Burlington, Vermont where, from 1984 to 1987, they were known as the Vermont Reds. It was a nickname that was appropriate since their affiliation changed to the Cincinnati Reds. In 1988, they became a Seattle Mariners franchise again with the new name of Vermont Mariners. They won three straight Eastern League titles from 1984 to 1986.
The team moved to Ohio in 1989 and became the Cleveland Indians’ Double-A affiliate. During their eight years at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium in Canton, Ohio, the Akron-Canton Indians made five straight playoff appearances from 1989 to 1993 but never won the championship.
On November 22, 1994, the club signed a lease agreement with the city of Akron to move the club to that city into a new stadium that was completed in February 1997. They played under the name Aeros until the name changed to RubberDucks in 2013. They played their first game at Canal Park stadium against the Harrisburg Senators on April 10, 1997 with 9,086 fans in attendance. The team has been in the playoffs ten times since that date. In 2017, they completed the season with a 69-71 record.
Over the years, the team has had several notable players who made it to the major leagues. Among these are pitchers C. C. Sabathia, Charles Nagy, Danys Baez, and Jaret Wright. Known infielders are first baseman Sean Casey, second baseman Jason Kipnis, and shortstop Jhonny Peralta. Among the outfielders have been Ryan Church, Manny Ramirez, and Grady Sizemore. Catchers Victor Martinez and Carlos Santana saw action on this team, too.
TICKETS AND SEATING
The mission at Canal Park is to provide affordable family fun. Through daily and special promotions, interesting food, seating innovations, and affordable tickets, they have succeeded.
We went to a game in September and were surprised at how beautiful the park is. I was impressed that it had two scoreboards. One primarily showed balls and strikes while the other had more detailed information about the game including videos of the players.
The price of tickets is affordable for a family and an inexpensive way to spend an afternoon or evening. General admission is $5 with reserved seating at $11. For seniors, ages 60 and older, and youth, ages 12 and under, the cost is $10. They offer special seating in Serra Auto Park Fowl Territory, in KeyBank Duck Row, and in Homerville.
Serra Auto Park Fowl Territory is a spacious tiered picnic area located down the left field line. The buffet features a ballpark style meal while seating eight guests at tables comfortably. The picnic buffet includes hamburgers, hot dogs, BBQ pulled chicken, macaroni and cheese, potato salad, potato chips, cookies, iced tea, and lemonade. The service for the picnic begins one hour prior to the start of the game and lasts for two hours. Individuals can buy tickets for this on Memorial Day and Labor Day at $22 a person. If you have a group of at least 24, it can be reserved for one game in April at $22 a person or for one game during the rest of the season at $25.
KeyBank Duck Row is located at field level directly below the Serra Auto Park Fowl Territory. It consists of two rows of swivel-style seats and has such amenities as in-seat food and beverage service and drink rail counters. Seating is $17 per person.
Homerville consists of two rows of 11 swivel-seats in right field with drink rails. It’s located in front of the Tiki Bar in the Bud Light Lime Lime-A-Rita Terrace. Besides a seat in Homerville, it includes two 16-ounce beers or four 24-ounce sodas which are redeemable at the Tiki Bar. Homerville does not have wait staff and costs $25 a seat.
FASCINATING FOOD
Specialty stands are located in the upper level above the seats. Standard ballpark fare such as peanuts, nachos, and popcorn are sold at stands throughout the park. However, Canal Park is nationally famous for its unique stands and some extreme dishes. Godfather’s Kitchen sells pizza, sausages, pizza pretzels, panini sandwiches, and cannoli. The Dawg Pound offers sausages and kosher dogs with specialty toppings including the Three Dog Night which is a kielbasa split in half with a bratwurst inside, split in half with a hot dog inside of it. It is topped with sauerkraut and served on a sub bun.
Want to share ice cream with a bunch of friends? Get the Screamer. It’s 21 scoops of ice cream, a one pound brownie, four whole bananas, hot fudge, and sprinkles served inside a full-sized RubberDucks batting helmet.
If you really want to go over the edge, head for The Game Grill + Bar. It’s open two hours prior to the game’s scheduled start time and remains open throughout the game. It serves a wide range of appetizers, unique sandwiches, and entrees to fit one’s taste from the simple to the extreme.
The Grill is the ONLY place you can find the Squealer at Canal Park. It’s a foot-long Five Star Meat hot dog, stuffed with pulled pork and wrapped in bacon. It is then deep fried until crispy and topped with shredded cheddar cheese and a drizzle of tangy BBQ sauce.
At the Bier Garten, The Notorious P.I.G., for $15, starts with two fried pork tenderloins as the bun. It’s filled with a stack of pulled pork; pecanwood, smoked shoulder bacon; and maple honey mustard, sauerkraut slaw. If you want a little less, the Bier Garten offers a fruit cup, assorted vegetables, salads, and wraps. This is the place to come for a draft beer while the Tiki Bar serves mixed drinks, wine, hard slushies, and sodas, and Jobu’s Craft Brew window, behind homeplate, has a long list of assorted microbrews.
PROMOTIONS
What amazed me are the variety of promotions the park has with something for every day of the week. They work with community organizations and businesses to offer these.
Sunday -"Family Funday" - With a pre game catch on the field and post game Kids Run the Bases
Monday - “Charity Begins at Home” - The RubberDucks and a local nonprofit organization team up to raise funds for a particular group.
Tuesday - “Two for Tuesdays” - Show your Acme Fresh Market Savings Card at the box office to receive a buy one, get one, reserved seat
Wednesday - “Wellness Wednesday” - Summa Health presents fun ways to get active and stay healthy.
Thursday - “Thirsty Thursdays" - $1 draft beer and soft drink specials
Friday “Electric Blue Fridays” - The RubberDucks will wear their “electric blue” jerseys.
Saturday “Giveaway Saturdays” - A premium giveaway to the first 1,000 fans. It also involves celebrity appearances.
Activities take place at the stadium as well. Youngsters will enjoy the inflatable slides at just $1 a ride and the antics of the three mascots: Webster the duck, Orbit the cat, and Homer the pigeon. In 2018, on 23 Friday and Saturday nights, after the games, from May through September, there are fireworks. Between innings, they give away prizes, have live music, and make announcements such as birthday wishes.
Canal Park is located at 300 S. Main Street. Their telephone number is (330) 253-5151. You can see their schedule on their web site.
SUMMIT METRO PARKS
One aspect of Summit County we thoroughly enjoyed when we lived in Akron was the wealth of parks the county has supplied. Except for Silver Creek and Munroe Falls, which offer lake swimming facilities, the parks are free for anyone to enjoy. The majority of funding is from property taxes with some state grants and federal funds.
The park system was started in 1915 when the Ohio General Assembly passed legislation allowing metropolitan park districts to form. In 1921, the county founded Summit County’s parks. Four parks have been open more than 85 years: Sand Run and Goodyear Heights in Akron, Furnace Run in Richfield, and Gorge Metro Park in Cuyahoga Falls.
The early Board of Park Commissioners included Frank A. Seiberling, who served from 1924 to 1935. Seiberling, the founder of Goodyear Tire and Rubber, hired the Olmsted Brothers, who were landscape architects. Their father, Frederick Law Olmsted, was the one who designed Central Park in New York City and the Boston Commons. Seiberling also gifted the first land to the park system. It became Sand Run Metro Park.
During the Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps completed a number of park projects. These ranged from the bathhouse and lake at Virginia Kendall Park to planting more than 350,000 seedlings at Furnace Run’s Everett Nursery. Virginia Kendall is now part of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
Over the years, the park system gradually expanded as three directors held long-term reins. At present, the park district manages 14,300 acres including 16 developed parks, several conservation areas, and more than 125 miles of trails with 22.4 miles of these being the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail. The yearly attendance averages five million visits a year with November the busiest month because of their hiking spree. Sand Run is the busiest park.
THE TRAILS
Trailsl range from easy to moderate and vary in length as well. The best way to learn about the trails is to go to their home page and check out Explore Parks and Trails. You can filter them out by trail type and trail difficulty, obtaining a list of ones that might interest you.
What is unique is that the park system has held a hiking spree for 54 years. Hikers must travel eight of 14 trails between September 1 and November 30 with one hiker’s choice of any trail in the park system. It is free to Summit County residents. Out-of-county residents must pay $10 the first year and $5 afterwards to receive their hiking awards of a staff the first year and a pendant to put on the staff in following years. Each year 11,000 to 12,000 people complete the spree including five who have done it every year since 1964.
Summit Metro Parks has a Spree for All between May 1 and June 30. This is the opportunity to hike flat, easy trails that are good for strollers, wheelchairs, walkers, and canes. This is again free to Summit County residents. The awards are a lanyard and pin the first year and pin after that. For non residents, the awards cost $10 the first year and $5 afterwards.
OTHER ACTIVITIES
Not all the parks have the same activities except for hiking the trails. For example, archery is available at Hampton Hills in Cuyahoga Falls, Silver Creek in Norton, and Liberty Park in Streetsboro. Baseball and softball are found also at Liberty but then only at Goodyear Heights and Cascade Valley which are both in Akron.
Nimisila Reservoir Metro Park in Green is the only one with camping. It has 29 individual sites located near the reservoir. Each has a fire ring and a picnic table while six sites have electricity. A maximum stay is 10 consecutive nights in a 30-day period. There are no showers or drinking water at the campground, but it does have a dump station. Campsites are small and can only accommodate tents or RVs with a floor space of less than 200 square feet. Alcohol is prohibited..
In 2018, Summit Metro Parks will extend its camping season to year round. During the peak camping season, May 1 through October, sites with electricity are $30 on week nights and $35 on weekends and holidays. Non electric sites are $25 on week nights and $30 on weekends. From November 1 through April 30 will be considered off season. During those months, only the six electric sites will be available to all campers for $22.50 per night.
This year, starting in May, the park system will offer a 25% senior discount to people over 60 years old at the campground. It is offered on camping stays of Monday through Thursday. Reservations are done on line. There is a processing fee through Reserve America of $3.50. Only individuals ages 18 and older can apply.
Both Munroe Falls and Silver Creek charge $5 per person for ages five and over for their swimming facilities. Swim areas will be open 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on weekdays, and 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. during weekends and holidays. For more information, call (330) 867-5511 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Pedal boats can be rented for $5 a half hour or $30 a day at Munroe Falls Metro Park while canoes, a kayak, or rowboats can be rented for $10 a half hour and $30 a day at Silver Creek. A $20 refundable deposit and valid driver's license are required to rent boats. At least one person in the boat must be 18 years or older.
The park system has an incredible number of events - lectures, walks, yoga sessions, children’s programs that it conducts almost daily. If you are going to be in Summit County, I strongly recommend downloading their brochure Green Islands which contains a calendar of everything going on in the parks.
F. A. SEIBERLING NATURE REALM
When we lived in Akron, one of my favorite places to enjoy the outdoors was the Nature Realm. It was originally a terradome, a building built underground. However, due to leaks in 2015, the soil on top was removed, and the dome waterproofed. The building, now on top of the ground, uses solar panels and LED lights as some of their green elements.
Seiberling donated more than 400 acres to expand Sand Run Metro Park that he owned from 1920 to 1948. In 1964, that land became the Nature Realm.
The grounds involve several trails. Cherry Lane is .6 of a mile and is handicapped accessible for most of it. Seneca, at 1.4 miles, is not accessible and is rated moderate because of some steepness. Highlights are the suspension bridge across a 45-foot-deep ravine, two ponds, wetlands, and a tall-grass prairie. Most of the vegetation has plant identification.
Inside is a large observation window that lets you view the bird feeders. You will also find a naturalist on duty to answer questions, changing exhibits on animals, a children’s activity area of books and puzzles, and an art exhibit. We saw a taxidermy display of a raccoon, salamander, and a sharp-shinned hawk.
Their live animal section consisted of all native reptiles and amphibians in glass cages. There were 12 animals which they mostly obtained from situations where they can’t go back in the wild. These included a Fox snake, spotted turtles, a box turtle, Tiger salamander, and an Eastern Fence lizard.
Impressive exhibits were on exotic and native plants, how to create a backyard for wildlife, and one on wetlands. The one on wetlands displayed 20 wetland plants and animals while explaining the habitat’s benefits and how people can treat it properly. I also liked their gift shop with items made in the United States.
DETAILS
The Nature Realm is located at 1828 Smith Road and is open from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. The visitor center is open 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. from Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. Their telephone number is (330) 865-8065. Admission is free.
CASTLE NOEL
If you want to enjoy Christmas year round, head for downtown Medina, Ohio, a city located west of Akron, Ohio. It’s a 40,000 square foot present from Mark and Dana Klaus (yes, that is their actual name) for anyone who has enjoyed toys, Christmas movies, and admiring the stunning animated holiday displays in various store windows. The attraction has been seen on Entertainment Tonight, SyFy channels: Profiles in History, and Treasure Hunters Road Show.
Mark, a master sculptor and artist, is responsible for all the work in transforming what had been a church into the castle. He has also themed a couple of restaurants and bars.
He will tell you that the seeds of doing something special for Christmas date back to his grandfather, who during the Depression built Christmas villages out of wallpaper torn down from old houses. Mark’s father dedicated every inch inside and outside of his house to Christmas. People came from everywhere to see the house with its 16-foot tall Christmas tree.
Mark and Dana developed their plan over a period of 25 years at a barn they rented in Hinckley, Ohio. Twenty thousand people came to the barn to see their displays. They acquired all their artifacts from Hollywood auctions, private collections, and other museums. Since November 2013, people can see it in Medina by touring their exhibits occupying two buildings, the former Medina United Methodist Church and School.
You start your tour in the gift shop loaded with all kinds of Christmas goods. Mark is known for his hand sculpted and hand painted ornaments with different scenes in the front and back.
Your first stop is the Hall of Musical Memories which is lined with Christmas record albums completely covering the walls. Then step outside to see two figures, Clara’s toy nutcracker and the Mouse King, from the Nutcracker Suite in downtown Cleveland. One set was at the Tower City Center and the other at Playhouse Square. Mark made them for the Cleveland Ballet in the 1990's. They were taken to San Diego, California when the Cleveland Ballet moved there. It took many years to bring them back both sets, but Mark succeeded.
You will also see a Condor 1973 motorhome used in the movie National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation starring Chevy Chase.
Inside, you’ll find scenes of Santa and Mrs. Claus. One represents them in their mail room loaded with letters and packages. Look for the 2015 Lord & Taylor, 10 foot tall coo coo clock. You’ll also pass through a hall of photos of numerous television and movie stars that line both walls. A few of these are Shirley Temple, Frank Sinatra, Jim Henson and some Muppets, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, and Bob and Delores Hope. A whole wall is dedicated to the film White Christmas.
You will make your way through the swirling Blizzard Vortex before coming to Toyland, seven window cases of toys from the 1950's through the 1980's. Some of the toys I recognized are the Top Gigio doll, Mr. Potato Head, and Easy Bake Oven. You can also see the Stop Motion Animation movie set and Buddy puppet from Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas.
The Hollywood Portion is next. Castle Noel has the world’s largest privately owned collection of Hollywood movie props and costumes from Christmas movies including “The Grinch, Elf, Santa Claus the Movie, Fred Claus, The Santa Claus 1, 2, & 3, Jingle All the Way, Christmas Carol, Deck the Halls, and more.
You can watch the video about how the reindeer and sleigh in Santa Claus the Movie were constructed. The miniaturized reindeer, made of foam latex and reindeer skins, had their necks, heads, and legs radio controlled taking over a year to build. Check out Vince Vaughn’s jacket. He played Fred Claus in the movie by that name. They also have the elves’ uniforms.
The tour leads to the Santa’s Chimney Squeeze where music and lights fill the room with a ceiling covered in 100,000 glass ornaments. Visitors squeeze between two cushions as if they were Santa sliding down a chimney.
You’ll appreciate the house from Deck the Halls starring Danny DeVito and Matthew Broderick. It wasn’t a real house but was made from 800,000 fiberoptics. The idea was for Danny, played by DeVito, to illuminate his house with enough holiday lights to make it visible from space.
On London Street, you’ll meet figures from the Christmas Carol television show representing the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. Joel Grey was the ghost of Christmas past while Desmond Barrett had the role of the ghost of Christmas present. All the outfits in the movie were hand sewn by the costume department.
You’ll see from the 2003 movie Elf, Buddy’s North Pole Costume as well as the elf costumes. The 2003 movie starred Will Farrell and James Caan. Watch the video of the scene where Tim Allen is up on the roof with Frosty in Christmas with the Kranks. The Castle also displays Tim’s flannel shirt and overcoat.
Your tour then heads upstairs to see Christmas window scenes from such stores as Bloomingdale’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor, Marshall Field’s Department Store in Chicago, and Higbees Department Store. Mark has brought over 20 sets of windows from New York to Medina and has restored over 15 of these windows to date with the help of family and friends.
Five scenes that grabbed my attention represented the Nutcracker suite. These were in Sak’s Fifth Avenue windows in 1997. The first scene shows Clara dreaming about the Nutcracker. In the second, her godfather Drosselmeier tells Clara she can have it all. The third reveals the mouse king peeking in through the floor. The battle between the mice army and the Nutcracker with his toy soldiers comprise scene four. In the last, Clara takes the Nutcracker to meet the Nutcracker queen.
Our group then walked through the restoration area for all the art. It will later be transformed into an event area for rent.
We also saw the “Little Soul” series from the 1990's Saks Christmas windows and “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.” It was displayed at Pittsburgh’s Macy’s. “The Blue Room” display from Lord & Taylor is visible as is the store’s 2015 “Sweets Shoppe” display of a bakery full of Christmas pastries complete with a long conveyor belt of treats.
We eyed Rusty Bear which was in Canton’s Mellet Mall during the 1960's, “Macy’s Never Never Land,” and Higbee’s “Santa’s Rooftop Glow.” Mark was getting ready to display the 2016 Saks Fifth Avenue “Land of a Thousand Lights.”
In the theater, we watched a video of Mark singing a musical Christmas card with scenes from Castle Noel. Exiting that room, we saw the 2013 Bloomingdale’s “Streets of New York” which includes representations of the Freedom Tower, Empire State Building, and the Chrysler Building.
We headed downstairs to the Grand Hall. Imagine 100,000 ornaments in the ceiling. Each was glued and wired to the ceiling, one at a time. One highlight is the 25-foot tall Christmas tree.
Mark is proud of the movie set from the 2000 movie The Grinch. Among the artifacts is Cindy Lou’s pink bedroom made of carved and coated foam. It even has the items that were on the dresser such as the flower arrangement.
We learned that seven different rescued dogs played Max in the movie. They also have the green public works vehicle. We viewed more props and costumes with some as those such as the police chief’s and band leader’s uniforms from the ABC television network Grinch version.
On display is the 35 pound, green Grinch costume that Jim Carrey wore. He challenged Ron Howard to wear the suit for one day. According to Mark, Howard was ready to strangle Carrey after four hours. It took three to four hours to do Carrey’s makeup daily.
From Jingle All the Way, they have the Turbo Man and Booster costume. Santa Claus II is also not forgotten as they display the props that were penguins and Tim Allen’s Doublemint sweater.
Mark has built an enchanted forest in the Grand Hall with animated bears, raccoons, foxes, owls, mice, and marching geese. All are from New York City’s Lord & Taylor’s 2016 Chrstimas windows.
Another highlight is the 80- foot Santa Klaus Mountain Slide as in Christmas Story. Go down the giant red slide like Ralph. During the season, people have their photograph taken at the top with Santa Claus and slide down. Anyone over the age of 80 who does it goes up on their “Wall of Fame.” To date, their oldest rider was 101-1/2 years old.
What is fascinating about Castle Noel is that it never stops growing. For 2018, the Klauses are adding the NYC Bloomingdale’s window displays of “The Unwrapping of the Countries Around the World.” in addition to ones from other department stores. Other improvements will be a circus, a magical fairy garden, and additional movie props from Santa Claus 2 and Elf. Mark also intends to find a Yetti to bring back and is adding a 28' tall castle to Castle Noel.
DETAILS
Castle Noel is located at 260 South Court Street in Medina, Ohio. Their telephone number is (330) 721-6635. Although reservations are preferred, you can walk-in to take the 1-1/2 to two hours tour of Castle Noel. Closed on Mondays. Hours vary depending on the season. Please go to their web site to view the hours and make reservations. Admission is $19 a person with the exception of seniors or military families who pay $18. Children under age three are free.
ALIEN VACATION MINI GOLF
Next door the Klaus’s Alien Vacation Mini Golf reveals what happens when aliens meet Santa Claus. Played in black light with fluorescent balls, it’s a 19-hole journey through 12 completely different themed environments on this indoor course. Patrons will discover lasers, real Sci-Fi movie props, fiber optics, and freaky 3D illusions around every corner. In 2018, new Sci-Fi movie props and costumes are being added to this attraction.
Halfway through is the Mars Bar. Youngsters can get treats like slushies while adults have a glass of beer or wine. The bar is color changing and has a salt water aquarium.
Hours are Monday through Thursday noon to 8:00 p.m., Friday noon to 9:00 p.m., and Saturday 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. For ages four and older, the price is $11 per person. You can save two dollars by combining the two attractions.
Entrance to Canal Park
Overall of Field
Seating at the Park Behind Dugout
Top Level of Seating
Nate Emrick, with Summit Metro Parks, and Nan Walking Down the Path to the Nature Realm
Entrance to the Nature Realm
Some of the Blocks in the Walk Have Artwork of Animals
Bird Feeder Observation Area
Bird Feeders at the Nature Realm
One of Several Animal Displays
Janeen Kazimir, Interpretative Naturalist, Showing the Wetland Exhibit
Observation Area Overlooking the Pond
Clara's Toy Nutcracker - Once at Halle's Department Store
Condor 1973 Motorhome Used in the Movie National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
Mr. and Mrs. Claus in Their Mail Room
Blizzard Vortex
Toyland
Dudley Moore's Costume in Santa Claus the Movie
Home from Deck the Halls
Costumes from Christmas Carol on Castle Noel's London Street
Frosty from Christmas with the Kranks
A Scene from the Nutcracker Suite in Sak's Fifth Avenue Windows in 1997
The Sweet Shoppe, a Lord and Taylor display in 2015
Higbee's Blue Room Display in 2015
Cindy Lou's Pink Bedroom from the Grinch
Moving Shoes display from Bloomingdale's in 2009
Little Souls display from 1990's Saks Fifth Avenue Christmas Windows
Turbo Man from Jingle All the Way
80-Foot Slide, Like One in Christmas Story
The Grinch
Enchanted Forest, Lord & Taylor's 2016 Window
Mark Klaus