Ohio bars and restaurants are closed until further notice as of March 15.
Fortunately, you can still drink for St. Patrick’s Day. Although, it is advised to do so at home this year. Below are a number of places in West Park that provide beer, wine, and/or spirits.
Vinny’s Beverage (Beer and Wine)
Address: 13531 Lorain Ave.
*Until further notice, open until 9 p.m. daily.
C & S Beverage & State Liquor Agency
Address: 15649 Puritas Ave.
Open 9 a.m. until 9 p.m., Monday through Thursday; 9 a.m. until 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. until 8 p.m., Sundays.
Ann’s Beverage
Address: 14120 Lorain Ave.
Open 10 a.m. until midnight, Monday through Sunday (as listed online).
Mosey In Beverage, Inc.
Address: 14016 Triskett Rd.
Open 9 a.m. until 10 p.m., Monday through Thursday; 9 a.m. until 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday, and 9 a.m. until 10 p.m., Sundays.
RJS Beverage
Address: 14801 Puritas Ave.
Open 9 a.m. until 12:30 p.m, Monday through Thursday, and Sundays; 9 a.m. until 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday.
Charlie’s Beverage
Address: 15803 Lorain Ave, Cleveland, OH 44111
Open from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m., Monday through Thursday; 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. Sundays. (As listed online)
“Our goal is for everyone to get through this,” Governor Mike DeWine announced. “Our hope is that next St. Patrick’s Day, everyone will be there and that they’ll have the opportunity to live their life and live their American dream. But, if people are not around, they can’t do that.”
If you have never been to River’s Edge, Feb. 29 will be a great time to start.
The center, 3430 Rocky River Dr., opened its doors in 2005, and moved into a newly constructed building last year.
River’s Edge, a spirituality and wellness center, is a sponsored ministry of the Congregation of St. Joseph. There is no place in the area quite like it, and it is one of West Park’s greatest assets.
Grand re-opening On Feb. 29, River’s Edge will showcase its wellness opportunities at a grand re-opening with these free classes and programs.
9 to 9:45 a.m., Evan Scharfeld will lead a class in Yoga Flow.
10 to 10:45 a.m., Dana Perry will lead a class in Gentle Yoga.
11 to 11:45 a.m., Christina Scalese will present a keynote address on Intuitive Eating. She will tell how you can use mindfulness to reconnect to your body’s built-in-food intuition.
Noon to 12:30 p.m., Mello Mitchell will lead a program in Meditation. “Our building provides a welcoming place to gather among like-minded people, who celebrate wellness in mind, body and spirit,” said Marketing Manager Lindsay Dudick. “We support expanding consciousness, unity and holistic wellness by empowering the community we serve.”
Wellness menu (Daily), River’s Edge offers variety of yoga classes to meet many diversified needs.
Other offerings include:
Free wellness consultations.
Massage
Counseling, Neurofeedback
Energy Work
Spiritual Direction
Ongoing Yoga, Tai Chi, Qigong, Meditation, and Mindfulness practices
Various retreats
Training in Sound Healing, Emotional Freedom Technique, Reiki and the Eden Method (Energy Medicine)
River’s Edge will mark its 15th anniversary in July.
Fall sports season is in full swing. Freshman Tyler Schuerlein returns a serve in a junior varsity tennis match of St. Joseph Academy vs. Medina High School at Impett Park.
PHOTO CAPTION: New District 23 State Senator Nickie J. Antonio was sworn in Dec. 22 in a ceremony at the Brooklyn Senior Center. Her wife, Jean Kosmac, holds a copy of The Woman’s Bible. The ceremony was officiated by Judge Melody Stewart of the Ohio Eighth District Court of Appeals, who joins the Ohio Supreme Court in January. About 100 people attended the ceremony.
The past week has been a roller coaster for District 13 State Representative Nickie J. Antonio.
On Saturday, she stood before 100 supporters, was sworn in for a new job, and talked with energy and enthusiasm about her plans for the future. On Tuesday, she celebrated the holidays with her wife, Jean Kosmac, and their two adult children, Ariel and Stacey. On Wednesday, she returned to Columbus to participate in a year-end flurry of legislation in the General Assembly.
On Jan. 7, when she returns to Columbus to begin work as the new District 23 State Senator, she will be the first woman to represent District 23, and the first member of the LGBT community ever elected to the State Senate.
District 23 includes West Park, Lakewood, Linndale, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Heights, Brook Park, Parma, Parma Heights, Middleburg Heights, Cuyahoga Heights, Cleveland Wards 11, 13, 15, 16, 17, and parts of Wards 3, 12 and 14.
The Senate District is 3 times larger than House District 13, where Antonio served four terms (2011-2018) and was the Minority Whip for the last two-year term. As a State Senator, she is limited to two consecutive four-year terms.
Looking forward to 2019
Antonio said her legislative agenda includes several areas with special meaning for West Park taxpayers.
Jobs: Small businesses are “the backbone of the community,” Antonio said. She wants to help build “the right climate to bring good-paying jobs to the district.” This includes pushing for infrastructure repair funds to fix roads and bridges and create new jobs.
Education: Antonio, a former teacher, says “We need to reduce high-stakes testing for kids. The kids are stressing out over the tests. Instead, they should be happy and excited about going to school.” She also wants to make schools have “more fair and robust funding.”
Healthy communities: “I want to work on decreasing the infant mortality rate and the maternal mortality rate. We’re losing too many mothers in the first year after the birth of their child.”
Antonio is looking forward to working with another Democrat, Representative Bride Rose Sweeney of West Park. The Democrats are in a minority in both chambers of the General Assembly, and Antonio stresses bi-partisanship as a way to keep legislation moving on meaningful items.
Background
In May, Antonio defeated Martin Sweeney in the primary, and in November, she was elected to State Senate. Her past jobs prepared her well for that role.
From 2006-2010, Antonio served 5 years on Lakewood City Council, and then studied leadership in State and Local Government one summer at the JFK School of Government at Harvard University.
From 1996-2011, she served as President of StAr Communication Consulting, working with non-profit groups in a variety of areas. She stepped down to become a full-time State Legislator. She has also worked as a special education teacher, and during the 1990s, was a non-profit executive director of a women’s outpatient treatment drug/alcohol treatment program.
A graduate of Lutheran West High School, she has two degrees from Cleveland State University — a Bachelors in Special Education and Training, and a Masters of Public Administration, with a focus in Public Policy Analysis and Organizational Development.
She also serves on the Community Engagement Committee for the Beck Center for the Arts and is involved in a number of legislative leadership organizations.
How to contact Nickie Antonio, after Jan. 1, 2019:
Call 614-466-5123
Send e-mail to sd23@ohiosenate.gov
For overall Senate info, go to www.ohiosenate.gov
For more specific info, go to www.ohiosenate.gov/senators/antonio
During much of the year, legislators meet in Columbus on Tuesday through Thursday and spend long weekends in their home districts.
Writing about the Franklin Castle began as a high school project in 1992 for author Bill Krejci.
In 2005, he began working with the co-author of the book, John W. Myers. Haunted Franklin Castle was later published by The History Press in October of 2017.
“A lot of it was research,” says Krejci. “And a lot of it was getting published, too.”
The infamous home, which has become known worldwide for its sordid, speculative past, was formerly owned by Hannes Tiedemann.
Things commonly associated with the Haunted Franklin Castle include murders in the house, Nazi spies, crying in the walls, and buried bodies. Krejci and Myers’ tremendous amount of work provides factual proof of whether these rumors are true— or not.
“A lot of these rumors began with Eleanora Bernstein,” he says; she was a self-proclaimed psychic who stayed at the castle in 1980, having possible intentions to write about Hannes Tiedemann and his family.
According to Krejci, Bernstein made claims that Tiedemann spoke to her, and that he confessed to murdering people within the house.
“We’ve been trying to undo that damage for years,” Krejci says. So, was Hannes Tiedemann a cruel man capable of committing true acts of evil? Or, was he a loving father and devoted husband who happened to get a bad reputation?
Find out for yourself— get Haunted Franklin Castle today as an early personal holiday gift or purchase for a friend.
Krejci currently has six novels published: three of which are mystery novels; three are works of nonfiction, including Buried Beneath Cleveland, which pinpoints and explores misplaced, displaced, and overlaid grave sites throughout the area, as well as Haunted Put-In-Bay.
These novels can be found on Amazon, as well as many local stores throughout the area, and at, https://www.arcadiapublishing.com.
From noon until 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 1, you can get your fill of chicken paprikash, Hungarian chicken soup, and dumplings. The West Side Hungarian Reformed Church, 15200 Puritas Ave., offers these foods on the first Saturday of each month. The church has two Sunday services — 9:30 a.m. in Hungarian and 11 a.m. in English. For details, call 216-476-3736.
Keep your eye on the following craft fairs to find unique West Park treasures and unexpected gifts.
11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1 @ West Park Station and Backstage Bar, 17007 Lorain Ave.
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1 @ West Park Community Elementary School, 16210 Lorain Ave.
Cleveland Metroparks offers West Park residents several
opportunities for nearby winter fun.
Nov. 22: The Metroparks Zoo offers free admission on Thanksgiving Day, from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.
Nov 23: From noon until 10:30 p.m., the season opens at one of the tallest and fastest public ice chutes in Ohio, at The Chalet Recreation Area in the Mill Stream Reservation. Chutes open at 6 p.m., Thursday through Friday, and noon Saturday and Sunday. Call 440-572-9990 for information and reservations, or go to clevelandmetroparks.com/chutes.
Dec. 1-2, 8-9, 15-16: On these weekends, from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m., bring in the family for a photo opp with Santa.
Big Met Golf Course rents snowshoes and cross-country skis. From 9 a.m until 4 p.m., call 440-331-1070 for more information.
The Rocky River River Reservation includes three golf courses — Big Met, Little Met and Mastick Woods .
Each has a hill for sledding.
West Park Academy held its second annual ‘Leaders and Legends Night’ from 6 to 7 p.m. on October 30th.
A total of 60 students were honored during the ceremony.
“In order to be here tonight,” West Park Academy Principal Michael Jaissle, said, “it came down to how students performed on state achievement tests.”
“It is the result of a lot of hard work that students and staff put in day-in and day-out in West Park,” he said, adding the support and commitment of students’ families played a humongous role, also.
“I’m hoping next year we honor 70… 75… 80 (students), and just keep going from there.”
The tests students received evaluations for included ELA (English Language Arts), Math, and Science.
To be named to the 2017-18 ‘Legends and Leaders’ list, a student had to score ‘proficient’ or higher on one or more of the AIR Assessments (American Institutes for Research).
At “Imaginations Creations” in West Park, you can purchase a desk for your study, a large wall-clock made from lacquered wood, a small stand for books, knick-knacks, and much, much more.
Words really don’t do it justice. The work owner and craftsman Ron Bonoan does, has to be seen to be believed. So, below, take a look at some of the local items Bonoan has available for sale now.
If you are unable to make it to a showing, it’s not a problem. Call and make an appointment with Bonoan at, (216) 870-7332, to stop in at a time that is convenient for you.
Teachings come in many different forms.
CloudWater Zendo, The Zen Center of Cleveland, is a place for all to learn and be calm.
“The interesting thing about the Buddhist tradition is that it’s flexible enough to allow people to practice it the way they want,” says the Ven. Shih Ying-Fa, instructor, and founder of CloudWater Zendo.
“It can be a way of life,” he says. “You don’t have to be Buddhist to practice Buddhism. There are non-Buddhists who come here to meditate. So, you’ve got the religious aspect, the philosophical aspect, the way of life aspect, and the system of education aspect. Our attitude is if there is something that we have that you think you can use to assist you in life and to assist you to alleviate whatever suffering you may be experiencing- please take it- no strings attached.”
Every Saturday, the Zen Center of Cleveland, located at 4436 Puritas Ave., holds group Zen meditation with formal Zen tea from 8:30 a.m. until 9:30 a.m. This does not cost anything and is open to the public. There will also be a free introduction to Zen meditation class starting at 7 p.m. every Monday throughout the month of April.
Looking for something in particular or of a different variety? A full listing of events can be found on the calendar page of the CloudWater Zendo website, at: www.cloudwater.org/cal/calender.pl.
So, what does the name, CloudWater Zendo, mean exactly?
“The name of this temple is from an old term, which started in China and got popular in Japan… in Chinese Feng Shui which means clouds and water because Zen monks were expected to float like clouds and flow like water. It’s freedom and activity but all flowing together.”
West Park is lucky not only to have the Zen Center, but Ying-Fa also, as a resident.
“I love West Park,” he says. “I’ve lived here since 1990.”
According to Ying-Fa, the original Zendo was founded in 1994 at the intersection of Triskett and Warren.
DISMANTLING INCORRECT BELIEFS
There are several Buddhist stereotypes which exist. However, despite any pervading misconceptions, CloudWater Zendo focuses on teaching the history and truth of Buddhism.
“A lot of people don’t know a lot about this tradition,” says Ying-Fa.
“I think having an understanding of the history enhances what you do but it’s not necessary going in,” he says.
“We teach an eight-week class that we’re in the middle of right now. It’s eight classes. It’s called the ‘Basics of Buddhism’ and it’s a survey class- it covers the history, the formation of the traditions, the teachings and all that other sort of thing. We do that twice a year,” he says. “Two of the eight classes are about history because there is such a misunderstanding about Buddhist history in the west… Buddhism can be very complicated. Not because it’s roots are complicated but it’s outgrowths became complicated. It’s going through so many cultures and picking up terminology and history from there.”
According to Ying-Fa there are three major divisions of Buddhism: “the original Buddhism that started in India, the Theravada (teaching of the elders); the Mahayana, a wider vehicle was an outgrowth of the original Theravada and it’s the Buddhism that prevailed in East Asia. Then the third major division didn’t come along until the eighth century of the Common Era and that was Himalayan Buddhism. Westerners call it Tibetan Buddhism because it was the most influential country. But there were more countries than that involved.”
According to Ying-Fa, his career in the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA), is what led him to Cleveland. It also influenced his future involvement with the Buddhist tradition.
“The VA is what brought me here,” he says. “And the VA is what kick-started my Buddhist path because I was a very stress-laden individual. . It was very difficult working in that environment back then, I can’t speak to it now- but for me it was a little bit rough. So, I began the practice of meditation which then led me to the fellow who was my first teacher who was the priest of the
Cleveland Buddhist temple in Euclid. And, after meeting and talking with him it was like a big bell just went off in my whole being that said this is where you need to be. Thirty-two years later, here I am.”
THE BENEFITS OF MEDITATION
Meditation is helpful for many to manage stress while promoting self-awareness.
How does meditation do all of this?
According to Ying-Fa, meditation is helpful because: “if a person can find five minutes a day in which to meditate-what that does, is, a a term I commonly use, it’s lamination. Lamination is thin layers built up over time. In meditation it’s layers of concentration that built up over time.
“It’s like eating a sandwich,” he says. “You eat the sandwich and all the components of the sandwich don’t go to your bloodstream, or your tissues or your bones right away. It’s a process of getting it there.”
Meditation can allow your mind to focus more on the present; manage stress while building skills to manage stress; increase imagination, tolerance, patience, and creativity, say the Mayo Clinic.
There are several different types of meditation. Some are guided, while others focus on mindfulness and mantras, or the silent repetition of a phrase or word. There is also Qi gong, tai chi, and transcendental meditation.
ASK A MONK
For approximately two decades, Ying-Fa has been providing an invaluable service to the world from his home-base in West Park.
Ying-Fa is known for his quick and helpful responses, with a typical response time of 24 hours.
Do you have a question for the Ven. Shih Ying-Fa? Visit the “Ask a Monk” form at: http://www.cloudwater.org/index.php/ask-a-monk-2/
You may even indicate how soon you would like a response.
Classes and additional event information may be found at: www.cloudwater.org.
