ARTS & CULTURE

Joe Solomon plans to kayak the entire Mississippi River

PHOTO: PROVIDED BY ADVENTURE CREW

Paddling for a Cause

A Cincinnati man plans to kayak the entire Mississippi River to raise funds and awareness for mental health issues and local youth nature program Adventure Crew

BY KATIE GRIFFITH

What’s good for the body is good for the mind and vice versa.

A local man who lives by this mantra is taking it one step further by applying it to something bigger than himself: community. After all, what is a community without the small actions of its individuals? And what happens when those small actions expand to the size of the second-longest river in North America?

Cincinnatian Joe Solomon has set out to kayak the entire Mississippi River to raise money and awareness for mental health issues, stigma and solutions. Solomon says the 2,350-mile journey will take roughly 60 to 80 days. During this time, he also hopes to inspire $10,000 in donations to benefit local nonprofit Adventure Crew, which empowers city youth through nature and aims to provide equitable access to the outdoors. Adventure Crew recently began a new program called Crew Cares that employs mental health professionals to integrate therapeutic practices during outdoor activities.

“Nature has a lot of healing properties,” Solomon says. “That’s how I found my way back from a horrible sickness... through kayaking. And ultimately these kids are the future leaders of this nation. If they can get out into nature and get those healing properties too, then why not support them.”

On May 31, Solomon pointed his 14-foot, sky-blue kayak south and began to navigate the narrow headwaters of the Mississippi. From Minnesota to Louisiana, he will pass through 10 states and camp on the shore each night. With a 75-pound pack in tow, and a crew of three friends who will join segments of the trip, Solomon aims to paddle 40 to 50 miles per day and admits the beginning will be the most challenging.

“The headwaters are loaded with beaver dams and downed trees,” he says. “It’s rough for the first 100 miles. A lot of people quit at that 100-mile point. There are mosquitoes, biting flies, it’s rowdy.”

But for Solomon, that’s all part of the sport he credits with overcoming and learning to live with his own mental health obstacles. A few passes of his hand saw will get those trees out of the way, easing navigation and getting him closer to meeting his goal.

Adventure Crew is a Cincinnati nonprofit that connects local teens with nature

PHOTO: PROVIDED BY ADVENTURE CREW

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“I am disabled by a mental health condition,” Solomon says. “I almost died because of it, and it’s taken me seven or eight years to regain my sanity. So I’m doing this to create as much awareness as I can. I’m totally good with talking about it because I know that it’s helping other people in the process.”

Ten years ago, Solomon was a registered nurse when he contracted cellulitis in his elbow.

“It impeded the nerves in these three fingers,” he says, waving the fingers on his left hand. During corrective surgery, Solomon had an adverse reaction to the anesthesia and fell into a catatonic state, he says.

“It happens to about .02% of the world’s population,” Solomon says. “I could have been struck by lightning four times in my life before something like this happened.”

Solomon says he spent 15 days in a coma, and a combination of certain medications were neurotoxic and wiped out his short-term memory.

“I have bi-polar disorder, I have PTSD and ADHD,” he says confidently. “And all of those combined make me one badass.”

Solomon discovered how healing nature and kayaking can be when he used it to live with his disability. He purchased a pass to Green Acres Kayak and paddled at least eight miles every day for four months during his recovery.

“The repetition of paddling feels good, it’s good for your body, good for your mind, good for your soul,” Solomon says. “I get into a zone when I’m paddling. I’m totally disconnected from the outside world and that kind of makes me a powerhouse.”

After one summer of non-stop kayaking, Solomon figured he’d be able to navigate an entire river system. He wanted to share the meditative experience and healing benefits while dissolving stigmas such as keeping mental health struggles a secretive and solitary battle. Solomon created Kayaking 4 a Cause in 2018, which included “awareness paddle” plans to complete the Ohio River.

Nearly 1,000 miles of Ohio River later, Solomon succeeded and raised $3,000 for Santa Maria Community Services, a nonprofit that benefits Price Hill families and the community.

He says this time around he will bring more food and make sure to keep in constant contact with barges, noting that it’s best to stay far away from their powerful engines.

Solomon is looking forward to documenting this trip better, too. His Kayak 4 a Cause Facebook page and blog keep him busy in between paddling, and he will be livestreaming at random points along the Mississippi. He’ll also save video footage for a documentary he hopes to produce about the journey.

Miriam Wise, associate director at Adventure Crew, says it costs about $25 dollars to support one child on any of their various activities, including transportation, gear and food.

“10,000 dollars — that’s a lot of kids getting to go hiking or mountain biking for the first time,” she says.

Solomon is the second participant of Adventure Crew’s new Crew Champions fundraising program. It blossomed out of pandemic limitations, when Adventure Crew couldn’t host its biggest fundraiser of the year, Ohio River Paddlefest, in the traditional way.

Instead, solo paddlers volunteered to branch off and create their own mini or peer-to-peer campaigns, which inspired people like Solomon. The first participant, Jason Voss, is hiking the Continental Divide. Wise says Crew Champions doesn’t have to be an elite adventure program; it just happened that the first two volunteers decided to do something intense.

“We welcome those kinds of extreme adventures,” Wise says. “But Crew Champions is also available for someone who has maybe a summer goal to paddle 10 different waterways in the region. We are particularly excited about folks who are doing activities we can expose our students to.”

As for Solomon, he says he’ll be celebrating in New Orleans at the conclusion of his trip before concocting a plan to finish all of the nation’s major inland rivers shortly after. Donate to Joe Solomon’s Adventure Crew fundraiser and learn more about his voyage down the Mississippi River at adventure-crew.networkforgood.com/ projects/131854-joseph-solomons-fundraiser or facebook.com/ goingthedistance2019.

THEATER Playhouse in the Park Announces 2021-22 Season

BY RICK PENDER

After a year of dark stages, the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park is ready to return to the business of live, onstage theater for 2021 and 2022. The productions will sound familiar to Playhouse fans, since all but one were initially put forth for the 2020-2021 season that didn’t happen due to the coronavirus pandemic.

With eight productions on the Marx and Shelterhouse stages (cautiously reduced from the usual schedule of 11), the coming season has an anticipated start date of Oct. 9.

The season features three world premieres — two of which tell authentic Cincinnati stories — a pair of fresh comedies, a familiar tale of female friendships and a onewoman show about Dr. Ruth Westheimer. The Playhouse also plans to bring back the full production of its annual holiday favorite, A Christmas Carol.

The West End (Oct. 9-Nov. 7, Marx Theatre) — Set in 1941 in Cincinnati’s West End, this world premiere drama by Cincinnatian Keith Joseph Adkins offers insight into a transformative chapter of local history.

Need Your Love (Oct. 30-Dec. 12, Rosenthal Shelterhouse Theatre) — A second world premiere with Cincinnati ties, this is a musical about King Records star Little The West End Willie John. KJ Sanchez, whose PHOTO: TONY ARRASMITH/ARRASMITH & ASSOCIATES Cincinnati King was loved by local audiences in 2018, is back to direct her new show. A Christmas Carol (Nov. 24-Dec. 30, Marx Theatre) — A longtime Playhouse favorite for the holidays will be back with a cast of nearly 30 actors, elaborate costumes and thrilling special effects. Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Jan. 29-Feb. 27, 2022, Marx Theatre) — Set in 1973, Katie Forgette’s play portrays an Irish-Catholic family with affectionate humor as they muddle through hilarious mishaps that jeopardize their reputation and their souls. Rooted (Feb. 12-March 20, 2022, Rosenthal Shelterhouse Theatre) — The season’s third world premiere brings back Deborah Zoe Laufer with another quirky comedy. Her Playhouse-commissioned premiere Be Here Now was staged in 2018, and several of its characters return in this story about a reclusive amateur botanist who becomes a New-Age YouTube messiah. Steel Magnolias (March 19-April 17, 2022, Marx Theatre) — Robert Harling’s 1987 beauty-salon classic features beloved characters, heartwarming diaBecoming Dr. Ruth (April 9-May 15, 2022, Rosenthal Shelterhouse Theatre) — Mark St. Germain’s one-woman script chronicles the journey of Ruth Westheimer’s path to becoming America’s favorite sex therapist in the 1980s and ’90s. School Girls: or, The African Mean Girls Play (April 30-May 22, 2022, Marx Theatre) — Set in an exclusive boarding school in Ghana, Jocelyn Bioh’s biting comedy explores the universal challenges of teenage girlhood. The eight-show lineup is a response to COVID safety precautions and a shorter season to accommodate the final phase of construction on the theater’s new mainstage complex. Blake Robison, the Playhouse’s artistic director, says, “The new season showcases the range and diversity of the Playhouse, and we can’t wait to get back to producing a full schedule of live theater for Cincinnati.” Since COVID guidelines are still in flux, subscriptions and tickets for the season will not go on sale until summer. logue and snappy repartee in a tale of For more information about powerful female friendship. The show Playhouse in the Park, visit was a hit for the Playhouse back in 1989. cincyplay.com.

Rooted