On Sunday, June 2, the congregation of the St. Theodosius Orthodox Christian Cathedral gathered for services on the grounds of St. Theodosius Cemetery, near the intersection of Biddulph Ave. and Ridge Rd. After the event-sized tent quickly filled to capacity, an overflow of parishioners stood outside the tent entrance holding umbrellas to shelter themselves from the rain.
“It reminded me of difficult moments when I was at the Cleveland Clinic as a chaplain and family would gather around the bed of their family member,” said Father Jan Cizmar, St. Theodosius Priest. “They could, of course, do nothing, but they want to be together as a family. You know these moments when you’re sitting and waiting to hear what the doctors will tell you. In our case, what structural engineers and professionals will tell us we’ll do with the church. We really can do nothing in this case. But we want to be together, support each other, and pray. God is the one who is in charge.”
The chilly, 45-degree Saturday night (the last night of Daylight Savings Time) came as a shock after being spoiled by the warm beginning to March, but that didn’t seem to deter a large turnout for the 2024 Towpath Trail Lantern Parade.
The annual event is produced by Canalway Partners, and according to their director of communications, Meghan Tinker Paynter, this year’s turnout was a record-breaker.
“This was our third year putting on this event, and we were so excited to see our largest crowd yet. We estimate that about 350 people walked along the trail with us this year,” said Meghan.
The group made for a spectacular sight as they illuminated their way with their handmade lanterns of all shapes and sizes at dusk, winding along the already beautifully lit Towpath Trail.
In loving memory of Henry P. Senyak, 5/17/1963 – 8/9/2023
Obituary
Henry P. Senyak, of Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood. Beloved son of the late Henry E. Senyak, and the late Getrude H. Senyak (nee Pilar). Passed away on August, 9, 2023, at the age of 60, from complications of cancer.) Henry is survived by many first and second cousins, aunts, uncles, and other relations. But considered his community, friends, and neighbors to be family members too.
On an 80° day in Cleveland, Ohio, Mayor Justin Bibb took a walk down Professor Street in Tremont, asked questions of community members, and listened to their answers. Tremont’s neighborhood newspaper, The Tremonster, tagged along to document Mayor Bibb’s unique approach to connecting with our residents and businesses directly—by walking through our neighborhood, himself.
Vernice Simmons and Vera Elridge at Hooper Farm Kite Day
by Bruce Checefsky
Erich Hooper has been farming since 1993. Hooper Farm in Tremont (2835 West 11th Street), the original Cleveland urban farm, is cultivated on a 1-acre parcel at 2702-2880 W 11th Street, just a few blocks from A Christmas Story House and Lincoln Park. Erich works with the youth, elderly, ex-convicts, and others on the farm, giving them real-life skills and opportunities they can use to support themselves. Hooper grows lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, sage, onions, potatoes, and other crops, with enough produce for restaurants, many of them in the Tremont neighborhood. Hooper Farm Kite Day at Clark Field took place last month.
2023 Tremont West Membership Meeting and Board Elections May 18
This year’s meeting will be held Thursday,May 18th 2023 at Scranton Road Bible Church (3095 Scranton Road) at 6 pm. Please join us for a light dinner followed by the Annual Meeting. If you cannot join us we will be streaming the meeting at facebook.com/tremontwest. Additionally, in order to get an accurate count of who will be attending the meeting, if possible, please register for the meeting at the following: https://bit.ly/2023twdc.
Per a change to the Code of Regulations in 2021, Tremont West is now able to have early voting. Early voting is available Monday May 8th (9 am) through Thursday May 18th, 2023 (2 pm) at the offices of Tremont West Development Corporation, 2406 Professor Avenue.
Gardening and the Little Free Library at Merrick House, On June 23, (photo courtesy of Merrick House)
by Rachael Murphy
Merrick House Early Childhood Education Program Pre-K classes were busy learning how to garden by planting fruits and vegetables in our new raised garden beds.
Merrick House partnered with Grow at Home owner Michael Bartunek, as well as Andy Krebs and Michael Theis, to create an outdoor learning classroom where our children can learn the process of planting fruits, vegetables and the daily care of a garden.
If you are interested in signing up for an ASL Tremont Brainery workshop with Keri November there is still time! Go to TremontBrainery.com, click on “events,” then select your class.
by Keri November
Some of you may wonder what day-to-day life is like for a Deaf person. Well, here it goes!
I was born Deaf. I did not learn American Sign Language (ASL) until I was 15. I had hearing aids which were not helpful. It was not until I was 17 years old that I received a Cochlear Implant and learned how to recognize sounds and words. I can read lips, but it is challenging to have a conversation without the Cochlear Implant if an individual does not know ASL.
It was difficult to meet and connect with new people in NYC/Long Island as the mentality is different. People are always in a rush and usually stressed out. It was uncommon for me to meet someone willing to take the time to communicate with me.
You may be wondering how did I end up in Cleveland?
The Tremonster wishes to thank our fellow member outlets of the Neighborhood & Community Media Association of Greater Cleveland (NCMA-CLE), The Neighborhood News and the Plain Press, for their collaboration in making this Ward 12 Cleveland City Council Candidate Q&A forum possible. The Neighborhood News and Plain Press also have community media readership in Ward 12 and have published the questions and answers specific to their communities. Thanks as well to the candidates, Anthony Brancatelli and Rebecca Maurer, for their thoughtful answers.
The Tremonster: Cleveland Council’s 2013 Ward redistricting placed four streets from the Tremont neighborhood in Ward 12 with Slavic Village and Old Brooklyn–how will you make sure resident needs on these four Tremont streets are addressed as attentively as Tremont residents on streets making up much larger portions of Ward 3 and Ward 14 from their representatives?
Rebecca Maurer: Well, first and foremost, I would continue to canvass and talk with residents across the Holmden, Buhrer, and Rowley area, as I have done during my campaign. I would also maintain a strong connection to the HBR-MCC block club and Tremont West. But between 2021 and 2025 we also have a chance to re-draw the lines when City Council shrinks from 17 members to 15 because of the 2020 census results. I do not believe that the way the lines are drawn are currently fair — for exactly the reasons you describe. I would work hard to make sure slices of neighborhoods like HBR are not separated into other wards.
Anthony Brancatelli: The 11 streets in Tremont that are part of Ward 12 form a great neighborhood. There is a dynamic energy in the residents and businesses in that area. My success in serving this portion of Ward 12 is well documented in action and results. Bringing resources of over a million dollars in paving streets such as Clark, W. 14, Holmden, W. 11 or supporting existing businesses such as Clark Bar and Rowley Inn or helping new businesses like Urban Orchid as well as new affordable housing with the Land Trust are examples of what has been accomplished. I serve this portion of Ward 12 with the same energy as all parts of our community.
The Tremonster: We have reported on the receding of block club influence compared to developers in other areas of Tremont–can you help rebalance this relationship in a way that empowers residents to have more influence over how Ward 12’s Tremont blocks develop?
