The Ultimate Fall Treat
Beer on the Vine
Pumpkin turns up in everything this time of year — and truthfully, some of the items are a bit weird.
Air fresheners. Coffee. Hand soaps. Cheerios. Not in the category of weird (at least in my book): beer.
My favorite beer store started stocking pumpkin ales at the end of summer. Please don’t judge, but it never occurred to me that they used real pumpkins. I thought they used pumpkin-ish spices like cinnamon and ginger and moved on to their next beer, letting the consumer’s imagination take it from there. Not true.
Great Lakes Brewing Company last year harvested somewhere in the range of 200 to 250 pumpkins grown organically at their Pint Size Farm. Located half an hour from the brewery on a historic farm in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Pint Size Farm’s half-acre plot produces pumpkins using traditional farming methods.
The completely organic, pesticide-free and artificial fertilizer-free produce is used seasonally in their brewpub for their Pumpkin Ale. Last year they also brewed a small batch Specter Detector, an experimental Belgian white ale using roasted white pumpkins.
Sure beats breakfast cereal.
Do You Know a Giver?
Give Him Up
Volunteers hate attention. Most are happy to go about their good deed doing without a lot of fuss from the rest of us. Too bad.
Shining a light on these good people reminds us that there’s plenty of generosity and positive things going on in Northeast Ohio. Learning about how others give sometimes results in a gentle nudge to the rest of us. Their kindheartedness has a ripple effect.
We’re again saluting local volunteers in Boomer’s November/December issue. Go ahead, let us know about a giver you’ve discovered. Send a description (150 words), contact information and a photo, if available, to [email protected] by Oct. 20. We’d love to include them in our next issue.
Take a Seat
Go Back to School
When racks of school binders and cartoon notebooks showed up on store shelves after the Fourth of July, they looked out of place, like eggnog at a Halloween party. Too soon.
Now, the kids are back in their classrooms, evenings are chilly and those school supplies look a lot more appealing.
If you’re looking for a reason to buy new pens and a backpack, consider one of the lifelong learning programs offered at colleges throughout Northeast Ohio.
One that’s popped up on our radar is Case Western Reserve University’s The Laura & Alvin Siegal Lifelong Learning Program.
Classes are held throughout the year. Topics range from outdoor painting to analyzing the book that inspired the hit musical “Hamilton.” Hint: It’s the biography, “Alexander Hamilton.”
CWRU’s lifelong learning program has single-day classes, others held over several weeks and educational travel programs led by faculty experts.
To learn more or to register, visit case.edu/lifelonglearning or call 216-368-2090.
