The anniversary of the May 4 shootings at Kent State University is a good opportunity to take a walking tour of the campus and reflect on the events that changesd ur country.

The May 4 Visitors Center will be temporarily open in Taylor Hall Monday, May 1 through Friday, May 5 for the annual commemoration.  Visitors can enter through the doors nearest the May 4 Memorial, facing the Victory Bell. Go to Kent.edu for information about the self-guided walking tours and other May 4 information.

Commemoration Week Hours: 
Monday, May 1:            9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Tuesday, May 2:           9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Wednesday, May 3:     9:00 am – 3:30 pm  (closed for programming)
Thursday, May 4:         9:00 am – 12:00 pm  and  2:00 pm  – 3:30 pm   (closed for programming)
Friday, May 5:               9:00 am –  5:00 pm

One of Northeast Ohio’s coolest events is the annual amphibian migration. On a relatively warm (+45 degree) night each spring – usually in March – salamanders migrate to vernal pools and lay their eggs. Most of our surrounding park districts invite the public to watch. The problem this year is that the migrations took place earlier than normal because of  unusually warm weather. Here’s a look at a video posted by ClevelandMetroparks in case you missed it (like I did).

Cleveland Metroparks Turns 100 this year. Check out all of the interesting things to do within our Emerald Necklace.

A Note from the Editor

The Friend Connection

I’ve been thinking about friendship a lot the past few weeks. Truthfully, I think about my friends quite a bit because keeping and nurturing friendships takes time and attention and commitment.

I get more from my friends than I give; I sometimes feel guilty about that, but my friends are forgiving people. And I don’t think that more friends means better friends. Some of us thrive with one or two close chums.

I need and rely on an assortment. They’re like the jewelry in my dresser drawer. Each day I pluck out just the right necklace or pair of earrings or bracelet depending on the outfit or the day. The same goes for my jewel box of friends.

From sixth-grade cheerleading tryouts to dateless prom nights and in quick succession homesickness, first jobs, gut-kick medical results, marriages, sassy kids, questionable hairstyles and all the dizzying, complicated messes and mayhem that make life rich and sad and joy-filled, I’ve turned to my friends.

Some are listeners. Others are silly. I’ve got supremely practical friends, friends who fly across country to be at my side, and friends who connect with a phone call every few months. Some judge. Some keep quiet.

I’ve got friends who advise me about shoes, dogs, mental health, manicures, kitchen renovations and watching parents grow old. They know when I need the truth softened and when I need it with all its harsh edges. I’ve had some friends for almost 50 years, others for a few months. Each is a treasure. My modest goal is to be half as good a friend to them as they are to me.

Our theme this issue is connections. In addition to a story about keeping and making friends after 50, we’re serving up plenty of other ways to connect.

Getaway

Fabulous Pittsburgh Food Finds

Drink (in a Church), Nosh (on a Walk) & Shop (Where the Chefs Do)

By Paris Wolfe

My parents are from Western Pennsylvania so I should know Pittsburgh. I know all about yinz, gutchies and gumband. I eat no-bake cookies and gobs. And before I was introduced to “Barney” on TV, I thought everyone said “red up” when they meant “clean up.”

Still, it took until this year before I devoted 24 hours playing in the Steel City. I went armed with my GPS to untangle the web of freeways and one-way city streets. The elegant Renaissance Pittsburgh — in the historic Fulton Building — was my headquarters for the Friday-Saturday stay and offered its own Pittsburgh-centric room touches.

We indulged in sampling of the city’s myriad food experiences. It’s culinary wealth has me eager to return.

Here’s where we went and what we did.

1. Church Brew Works, 3525 Liberty Ave. (412-688-8200, churchbrew.com). We left downtown Cleveland at 3 p.m. Friday and, with stops, arrived at the church on time — 5:30 p.m. — to meet my cousin and her husband. After all, doesn’t everyone from Northeast Ohio have family in Pittsburgh?

The Church Brew Works opened in 1996 in a repurposed 1902 Catholic church. The owners maintained as much of the original structure as possible, including the hand-painted ceiling and the pews shortened for seating. The confessionals store alcohol, and the vibrant blue altar is used as brewing space. The building is one of a few repurposed Catholic churches that retains original stained glass windows.

The food and beer — note, two IPA offerings — are as worthy of admiration as the building.

1. ’Burgh Bits and Bites Food Tours (412-901-7150, burghfoodtour.com). Sylvia McCoy is genius with food tours that sample the cultural anthropology of Pittsburgh neighborhoods.

Students and Seniors Discover Common Ground in an Uncommon Place

Justine Myers and Laura Berick’s friendship blossomed in an unlikely place: a senior apartment complex in the heart of University Circle.

Despite their nearly 60-year age difference, their friendship grew within the walls of an innovative intergenerational housing experiment started at Judson Manor in 2010. Justine is 25, an oboist and a graduate of nearby Cleveland institute of Music.  Laura is 81, the grandmother of six, and a former first grade teacher and art gallery owner.

A few years ago, Judson Manor had a handful of apartments that were too small to use for their residents. They were the perfect size for a college student.

Housing in University Circle is always tight. Judson board members reached out to CIM. Was there a way to provide free housing in Judson Manor in exchange for an artist-in-residence program?

After working through a few concerns — would the staid Judson Manor turn into a party house for college students? Would students be comfortable living among older people? Did they have anything in common? (No, yes and absolutely yes) — the decision was made: Bring on the students.

Judson’s Artist-in-Residence program has transitioned beyond the experiment phase and settled comfortably into the friendship and co-worker phase. The only question now is, why haven’t more places tried it?

A NATURAL FIT
Laura’s apartment is a riot of colors and textures. Sculptures, intricate fabrics, funky furniture and sunlight all compete for attention. At the center is Laura, a spritely woman with a wide smile, close cropped hair and oversized glasses that seem to represent her oversized personality.

The residential experiment at Judson brought not only more music and art into her life, it brought Justine.

“This connection has value because it allows you to maintain a place in the world,” Laura says. 

Adults returning to or beginning college late life is a growing trend throughout the country. Juggling work, family and other commitments while attending college part time — often, one class at a time — requires dogged perseverance. They might get tired. They might get frustrated. They don’t quit.

Judi Kostos and Nick Pykus are two such people. So-called “nontraditional students,” they are among a select group of committed adults who are earning college degrees decades after graduating high school. Here are their stories:

MATH HOMEWORK AND A COLLEGE DEGREE

Seven years ago, Judi Kostos’ grandson, Robert, needed help with his fourth grade math homework. Kostos was stumped. She couldn’t do it. The increasingly complicated problems and “new” techniques for solving them were just too tough.

Kostos helps take care of her five grandchildren after school. A full-time stay-at-home mom and grandmother of five, she was frustrated she couldn’t help with math homework. Kostos knew this was only the first of many math challenges, so she enrolled at Cuyahoga Community College’s Western Campus in Parma.

Kostos was 50 when she started at Tri-C seven years ago. The Brook Park native’s first class was in medical technology because she wanted to better understand her aging parents’ medical treatments.

“The scariest part was taking the entrance test because it had been so long since I’d been in school,” Kostos admits. “I was nervous the first day, but the staff was so friendly. The students didn’t make me feel old. I made a lot of friends.”

BUSY LIVES, BIG COMMITMENT

Kostos, like most older college students, had a lot of responsibilities outside the classroom. She makes dinner for her mom, Ruth Marzec, every night. She continues to help care for her grandchildren — now six months to 15 years old — and she’s been married for 39 years to her husband, Kent.