UP, UP AND AWAY
A Feel-Good Stunt Turns Chaotic in the Untold Story of Balloonfest ‘86
NEXT GEN Whitney Haslam Johnson and JW Johnson are the future of the Browns. Can they build a worldclass stadium — and a winner to fill it?
SEPTEMBER 2026
GRAND FAREWELL
After 25 Years, Maestro Franz Welser-Möst Faces His Final Cleveland Orchestra Season
PRIVATE SCHOOLS
Go Beyond the Test Scores To Find the Place Where Your Student Will Thrive
SOMEWHERE ELSE, FRIENDS ON VACATION ARE INFINITELY SCROLLING THROUGH PICTURES OF OTHER PEOPLE ON VACATION.
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CONTENTS
44
September 2026 volume 55 / issue 8
44
18
36
Photographed by Ken Blaze
BALLOONFEST FIASCO Forty years ago, Balloonfest broke records and caused helium-filled chaos in Cleveland. Meet the people involved in the infamous event. By Vince Guerrieri
6
FROM THE EDITOR
11
GOLDEN TICKET Cleveland comedian Martin Malloy gets a boost from appearances on Kill Tony.
18
25 28
25 "Cleveland” (ISSN 0160-8533) is published monthly for a total of 11 issues per year by Great Lakes Publishing Co., 1422 Euclid Ave., Suite 730, Cleveland, OH 44115. / Periodical postage paid at Cleveland, Ohio. Postmaster: Send address changes to Cleveland, 1422 Euclid Ave., Suite 730, Cleveland, OH 44115. / Subscription rates: U.S. $20.00 one year, $34.00 two years, $42.00 three years / All subscriptions are subject to state of Ohio sales tax of 8% based on publisher county of origin. / Copyright 2026 by Great Lakes Publishing Co. All rights reserved. / Reproduction or use, without written permission, of editorial or pictorial content in any manner is prohibited. Title registered in U.S. Patent Office. / Printed in the United States. / Unsolicited manuscripts cannot be returned unless accompanied by a properly addressed envelope bearing sufficient postage. The magazine accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, artwork or cartoons.
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09.26
CONVERSATION
LAY OF THE LAND
FOR THE KIDS Shop local for unique goods this back-to-school season.
FRANZ'S FINALE The Cleveland Orchestra's music director begins his 25th and final season leading the organization.
FOOD & DRINK
TURNING THE PAGE Chef Brad Race expands his portfolio by leading 1818 American Grille in Bath. LAKEWOOD BITES Explore the dining scene of this trendy Cleveland suburb.
HOME & GARDEN
83
KISS OF COLOR A Hunting Valley home gets a fun interior upgrade designed to showcase the owners' art collection.
88
LOOK BACK Tom Hanks got his start in acting during an internship with Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival.
55
PRIVATE SCHOOLS
SPECIAL SECTIONS
BALLOONFEST: THOM SHERIDAN / BROWNS: KEN BL A ZE / MARTIN MALLOY: KEVIN KOPANSKI FR ANZ WELSER-MÖST: KEN BL A ZE / BR AD R ACE: MICHELLE MCGLINN / HOME & GARDEN: TRICIA SHAY
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FEATURED
36
8
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ON THE COVER
THE HASLAMS' PLAN As the Browns stadium moves to Brook Park, meet the family force that is dramatically transforming the game experience while turning the page of Cleveland football history. By Dillon Stewart
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WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
The need for skilled tradespeople is greater than ever. Explore the programs, career paths and people helping build the region’s future.
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FROM THE EDITOR
In The Family Jimmy Haslam’s phone rang. It was the offseason. The call came from his 95-year-old father. James Arthur Haslam II, the man who started Pilot Company in 1958, had a question for his son. After decades of working side-by-side with his father, Jimmy is used to a little feedback from the man the family calls “Big Jim.” “Do you know in the last month you’ve traded Myles Garrett and Giannis (Antetokounmpo, former Milwaukee Bucks superstar)?” the patriarch asked his son. “Yessir, I know that,” Jimmy responded. As Jimmy told this story in front of a gaggle of media members, his son-in-law, JW Johnson, stood beside him, quiet, arms crossed. JW only spoke briefly compared to Jimmy, but his presence at the press conference spoke louder than words. He’s the one working beside Jimmy now. While JW is often seen with Jimmy on the sideline or in the locker room, historically, Jimmy stands alone or with Dee for this type of appearance. Kicking off the season with JW by his side was a public glimpse at the ongoing — albeit long-term — transition of power to JW and his wife, Whitney Haslam Johnson, Jimmy’s daughter. Remember, Big Jim is 95. Jimmy and Dee, spry 72-year-olds, aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. But they’re not dumb. The Browns owners understand legacy. They understand the difficulty of the business of professional sports. They understand that when they do decide to hang it up — whenever that time may come — the path to the
long-term success of the Cleveland Browns and Haslam Sports Group will be decided by whoever sits at the top. Just because the public is starting to see more of JW and Whitney, whether in football settings or on stage at the April groundbreaking in Brook Park, doesn’t mean this transition — or maybe “fortification of the Haslam family business” is a better descriptor — hasn’t been long underway. Since joining the team full-time in 2018, JW and Whitney, who both have backgrounds in marketing and media, have played major roles in football decisions: bringing the NFL Draft to Cleveland in 2021, shaping the brand and designing the forthcoming stadium. The new Huntington Bank Field, set for completion in 2029, is more than a stadium. It’s more than an entertainment district. For Northeast Ohio and Brook Park, it’s a public investment that could lead to transformational change. But for Jimmy and Dee, the stadium and the development around it is a baton that will one day be passed to their daughter and son-in-law — and define the Haslams for decades to come. For this month’s cover story (page 44), hours of interviews with the family, former players and colleagues offer a rare glimpse into the family dynamic that drives Haslam Sports Group. Despite Whitney and JW’s successful careers, few know the couple. Our story does not set out to endorse or deride the decision to move the Browns from Cleveland, nor does it excuse or litigate missteps on or off the field. Instead, what it attempts to do is better understand a family dynamic that is shaping not only the past, present and future of Haslam Sports Group but also of Northeast Ohio at large.
Dillon Stewart, e d i t o r
6 CLEVEL AND 09.26
THE DARK ROOM CO.
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C O N V E R S AT I O N
Cleveland’s WNBA Team Picks a Name Sweden to Cleveland One of the world’s largest chains for budget-friendly decor and furniture — and Swedish meatballs — is finally landing in Cleveland. Ikea will open at Crocker Park in spring 2027 in the former Dick’s Sporting Goods location. There’s a lot to love about Ikea, but we asked our Instagram followers which aspect they’re most excited about.
The city’s forthcoming WNBA team will be called the Cleveland Sirens.The organization will begin play at Rocket Arena in 2028. Cleveland’s former WNBA team, the Rockers, played in the city from 1997 to 2003. While many hoped the new team’s name would pay homage to the past, others were inspired by the fresh branding.
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No More Long Drives to Columbus or Pittsburgh
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Ron Ledgard Annie Nickoloff a s s o c i at e e d i t o r Julia Lombardo e d i t o r i a l a s s i s ta n t Christina Rufo c o n t r i b u t i n g w r i t e r s Annie Gleydura, Vince Guerrieri, Kristen Hampshire, Lynne Thompson e d i t o r i a l i n t e r n s Chloe Banno, Peter Caram, Lydia Koszegi, Parisa Nosrati, Abbey Weitzenkamp managing editor senior editor
Erin Stinard Abigail Archer c o n t r i b u t i n g a r t i s t s Ken Blaze, Erik Drost, Kevin Kopanski, Tricia Shay, Thom Sheridan p h o t o g r a p h y i n t e r n s Alyson Garfield, Sarah Gormley editorial@clevelandmagazine.com art director
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@trevorggerard We don’t even have an ocean. Why not bring the rockers back? @thereseroche I Iove it! Lake Erie just named the #1 lake in the country and a siren is a dangerous temptress from freshwater. It’s awesome! Christen Eileen on Facebook considering we have Lake Erie Monsters for hockey, I think it’s smart to do another Cleveland team highlighting the lake! Diane Jusko via email I do not like the name!!! Rockers would have been better and fits the city. The Sirens is a terrible name! Want to talk about more Cleveland news? Follow us on social media or send us an email at conversation@clevelandmagazine.com.
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The Future of Great Art Begins with those who Believe in it. NORTHEAST OHIO'S HIGHEST AND M O S T P R E S T I G I O U S A R T S AWA R D
Our region has long been defined by two remarkable strengths: visionary artists whose work enriches our lives and generous philanthropists who believe that creativity is essential to a thriving community. *For more than six decades, the Cleveland Arts Prize has celebrated that powerful partnership by
awarding three unrestricted prizes each year to artists whose talent, dedication, and imagination shape Northeast Ohio’s cultural identity. These prizes do more than honor achievement—they affirm careers, inspire bold new work, and remind artists that this community believes in them.
We invite you to join us for the 2026 Awards Event on October 29—an evening every bit as inspirational as the art and artists it celebrates.
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E V E NT 2026
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2026 7:30PM (DOORS OPEN AT 7PM) THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART
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Annual Awards Event
Join us for the 66th Annual Cleveland Arts Prize Awards Ceremony, where we celebrate the artists and leaders shaping Northeast Ohio’s vibrant cultural legacy. Experience unforgettable performances by past Cleveland Arts Prize winners, then raise a glass at the After Party in the Atrium, celebrating the region’s most inspiring night in the arts.
2026 DISCIPLINE PRIZE WINNERS EMERGING ARTIST IN THEATRE Chris Webb - $10,000 MID-CAREER ARTIST IN DESIGN Aimee Lee - $10,000 LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT ARTIST IN VISUAL ARTS Dexter Lee Davis - $10,000
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SPECIAL PRIZES BARBARA S. ROBINSON PRIZE FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE ARTS The Connor Foundation ROBERT P. BERGMAN PRIZE Héctor Castallanos-Lara, Artistic Director, Parade the Circle and Día de Muertos; Community Leader MARTHA JOSEPH PRIZE FOR DISTINGUISHED SERVICE TO THE ARTS Terry Stewart, Emeritus President and CEO, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame SPECIAL CITATION FROM THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES Barbara Stanczak, Sculptor and Arts Educator
09.26
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CLE’S COMEDY BOOSTER Go behind the scenes with the man who is showing a national audience that Northeast Ohio has the laughs. CONTINUED ON PAGE 12
PG PHOTO BY KEVIN KOPANSKI
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LAY OF THE LAND
C O M E DY
Three to Watch
“Make some noise for your next comedian. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s Martin Malloy,” “I was gonna do entirely different jokes,” Malloy says. As he prepared, he worried about including his more controversial bits. He turned to fellow Cleveland comic Jeff Shaw, who tours nationally with his clean act. “[Shaw] insisted I do them, and they loved it!” Malloy walked offstage that night holding a golden ticket, one he redeemed on Kill Tony in June, during which he received high praise from the panel. Joe Rogan, who was a guest judge that night, even called Malloy a “national treasure.” At 60, Malloy is a staple of Cleveland’s comedy scene. Before Kill Tony, Malloy won the Rookie of the Year at the 2005 CLE Comedy Awards, was a finalist at the CLE Appearances on Tony Hinchcliffe’s Kill Tony podcast have elevated Martin Malloy’s comedy career in Cleveland.
Rob Coleman
Coleman is often referred to as Cleveland’s “King of Comedy.” Known for his wit, he appeals to large, diverse audiences, bringing his talents not only to local comedy clubs but also to churches, colleges and retirement communities. Last year, he won the World Series of Comedy, beating out 500 other comics from across the country.
Candice “Precious” Moore
A rising star in the Cleveland comedy scene, With calm and candid storytelling, she delivers relatable, hilarious sets that local audiences love. She credits her past experience with door-to-door sales for her charm and ability to cater to any crowd. She dedicates much of her work to her father, who is also a comedian.
Tim Cornett
Cornett is a popular local comic who also has an online presence as a dog trainer. With equal passion for positive training methods and the art of comedy, he brings humor to his dog videos. His loud and chaotic style has landed him on big, prestigious stages, though he says he prefers small, intimate venues. 12 C L E V E L A N D 0 9 . 2 6
BY CHLOE BANNO
MARTIN MALLOY: DYLAN LUSK / COURTESY ROB COLEMAN / COURTESY CANDICE MOORE / COURTESY TIM CORNETT
announces Tony Hinchcliffe, host of the hit live comedy podcast Kill Tony. The band plays and the audience cheers as Malloy awkwardly ambles onto the stage from behind the black curtain. Few fans, if any, in this Austin, Texas, crowd are familiar with the Cleveland native, but they sure will be soon. On Kill Tony, comedians of all levels put their names into a bucket and, if chosen, perform a one-minute set of their best jokes. All performers who make it to this stage strive for the judges’ coveted golden tickets, which not only grant recipients an invitation back to the show but also serve as a stamp of approval that frequently puts comedians on a path to more recognition and larger crowds. Malloy’s deadpan delivery and set of quick one-liners and hard-hitting punch lines keep the crowd on its toes. The comedian’s humor shocks Hinchcliffe long after his set is over. Throughout his interview, his dry and unfiltered responses keep the judges red-in-theface with laughter.
C O M E DY
Comedy Festival, appeared on NBC’s Last Comic Standing in a straitjacket and was on the Opie and Anthony show twice. Although he credits his high school commencement speech as his first time doing stand-up, Malloy officially began performing in late 2004. This happened to be around the same time fellow Cleveland comedian Bill Squire started. The two met at one of the weekly amateur showcase auditions at Cleveland Improv, which Squire attended regularly. Malloy’s first performance there, Squire notes, was one of the many awkward auditions to take place that night. “Marty’s set was definitely funny and interesting,” Squire says, “but he’s a little off-putting when you don’t know anything about him.” After a handful of other run-ins, Squire and Malloy got to know each other. As they spent more time together, Squire began to understand a key part of what makes Malloy the comedian he is — his chronic mental health disorder, schizophrenia. “Part of the schizophrenia is the flat af-
fect, and it comes across very funny with the stand-up,” Squire explains. “In the Kill Tony interview, he’s so direct and he’s so dry. Sometimes it’s a joke and sometimes it’s unintentionally funny, but he does both very well.” Malloy was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1984, and the topic has defined his act ever since. This candidness “inspires other people and cuts down on stigma,” he says. It’s so central to his performance that he began his Kill Tony appearance by referencing it: “The optimist sees the glass as half-full. I’m a paranoid schizophrenic, so I see two glasses and one of them wants to kill me.” “Your first joke shouldn’t necessarily be your funniest,” says Malloy, “but it should be one that gives them an idea of who you are.” After his first Kill Tony appearance, Malloy’s fan base grew tenfold, increasing from 3,000 to nearly 30,000 followers on Instagram. Since his second appearance, he’s grown to more than 41,000 followers. He’s also headlined more shows. “I’ve done shows in Canton and Akron; like 40 people have shown up to see me, just for me,”
LAY OF THE LAND
he says. “In Toledo, I had 70-some, so the Kill Tony fans are really coming out.” This explosion in popularity comes as a great relief and triumph to Malloy. “I don’t like other jobs that I work,” says Malloy, who has talked on Kill Tony about his days working at McDonald’s. “I always wanted to make most of my income on stand-up comedy, and I do now.” Malloy’s success highlights the Cleveland scene, which is centered in venues such as Hilarities 4th Street Theatre, Imposters Theater and Funny Bone Comedy Club. Notable comedians, including Squire, Rob Coleman and Mary Santora, have established themselves in the city. Even Squire got a boost from Malloy’s spot on Kill Tony, receiving 5,000 new views of his podcast, The Cleveland America Show. “His visibility raises everyone else’s visibility,” Squire says. “If people get a little bit out of their comfort zones and go see some local shows, they’re gonna see not just guys like Marty, but other really talented comedians in the city.”
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THINGS TO DO
Pick Your Pumpkin M A P L E S I D E F A R M S I S R I N G I N G I N 99 years of farming and family this year with new attractions
and venues. “Fall 2026 is going to be a huge season at Mapleside Farms,” says owner Greg Clement. The Social House, a winery, brewery and eatery, is set to hold its grand opening in the fall and will remain open year-round. The Pumpkin Village kicks off Sept. 12, featuring the new Jurassic Fest, with more than 40 dinosaur replicas lurking in the woods. Along with a few new prehistoric friends, the village will bring back old favorites like its themed weekends, pumpkin picking, a corn maze, a haystack mountain, duck races, a 311-foot slide and scenic hayrides. A wine-themed corn maze experience will also take place on Fridays and Saturdays. “And all of this is leading into 2027, when Mapleside Farms celebrates its 100th anniversary,” Clement adds. $15+, 294 Pearl Road, Brunswick, maplesidefarms.com
S A V E T H E D AT E
CLEVELAND OKTOBERFEST
SEPT. 4-7, 11-12 You don’t need to wear lederhosen to enjoy Cleveland’s Oktoberfest, but it helps. Expect wiener dog races, concerts and a stein (or two) of beer. $18+, 19201 E. Bagley Road, Middleburg Heights, clevelandoktoberfest.com
CLEVELAND NATIONAL AIR SHOW SEPT. 5-7
SEPT. 12-OCT. 31
WATERLOO ARTS FEST
SEPT. 12 For seven hours, Cleveland’s Waterloo Arts District will be bustling with 90 artists, dozens of food booths and 40 music acts. Free, 15606 Waterloo Road, Cleveland, waterlooartsfest.org
RUSH AT ROCKET ARENA SEPT. 17 AND 19
Rush arrives in Cleveland for two nights at Rocket Arena. The Rock Hall inductees return to the city that helped break them out with heavy airplay on WMMS. $381+, 1 Center Court, Cleveland, rocketarena.com 14 C L E V E L A N D 0 9 . 2 6
BY LY D I A KO S Z E G I
MAPLESIDE FARMS: ERIK DROST VIA FLICKR CLEVEL AND OKTOBERFEST: COURTESY CLEVEL AND OKTOBERFEST / WATERLOO ARTS FEST: JODY FRIEND
PUMPKIN VILLAGE AT MAPLESIDE FARMS
See (and hear) the U.S. Navy Blue Angels put on a dazzling show, plus military jet demonstrations, parachuting, aerobatic teams and drones. $44+, 1501 N. Marginal Road, Cleveland, clevelandairshow.com
LAY OF THE LAND
SHOPPING
LUNCHBOX AND PATCHES BECCO BAGS
Tiny Treasures
Available in pink, navy, black and aqua, this lunchbox ($42) is fun for all, with cute add-on patches like Barnyard Friends ($25) that let them make it their own. Other options for patch designs include sports, outer space, hearts and candies. Each piece is Velcrofastened for hassle-free assembly and quick removal. 28601 Chagrin Blvd., Suite 820, Woodmere, 216-4122500, beccobags.com
These Greater Cleveland shops have the essentials your little ones will love.
S’MORES FAMILY TOP AND ONESIE LIL’ BURRITOS
Kids are sweet like s’mores; treat them like the treat they are with a fun top that turns the dessert into a fashion statement. It comes as a newborn onesie and as a T-shirt for toddlers ages 2 through 4. $18, lilburritos.bigcartel.com
AVOCADO STRESS BALL THE STITCH PARTY
COTTAGECORE COLORING BOOK SERAFINE ART & DESIGN Get creative with more than 30 hand-drawn illustrations featuring flowers, foods, decor and landscapes. Large pictures spark the imagination and make it easy to color inside or outside the lines. $18.99, 330-245-6182, serafineartanddesign.com
16 C L E V E L A N D 0 9 . 2 6
BY JULIA LOMBARDO
AVOCADO STRESS BALL : THE STITCH PART Y / LUNCHBOX AND PATCHES: BECCO BAGS C OT TA G E C O R E C O L O R I N G B O O K : S E R A F I N E A R T & D E S I G N / S ’ M O R E S FA M I LY TO P A N D O N E S I E : L I L’ B U R R I TO S
This friendly fruit doubles as a fidget toy and a plushie — pop the pit in and out of the avocado, squeeze it like a stress ball or keep it all in one piece as a cuddly companion. It is crocheted in Cleveland from a pattern by Unraveled and Unwound. $15, instagram.com/ thestitchparty
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LAY OF THE LAND
MUSIC
The Grand
FAREWELL
The orchestra is at attention. Focused on the musicians, with his back to the audience, Franz Welser-Möst’s arms are raised. The quiet stretches before the piece begins. The September opening show of the 2025-26 season brings The Cleveland Orchestra conductor back to Severance Music Center: a notable homecoming, following the previous two seasons flecked with missed performances and hurried substitutions, as Welser-Möst underwent treatment for a cancerous tumor in his bladder. He’s doing better now, he says; he’s cancerfree. His wavy white hair pushed away from his forehead, the 65-year-old wears a black tuxedo with a shiny white cummerbund, looking fit and engaged. He holds the room’s attention in the quiet just before the latter half of the program. And then: the tiniest flick of the baton. Barely there, a snare’s militaristic taps strike Mandel Concert Hall with one of classical music’s most recognizable rhythms. Welser-Möst sways gently at the podium, arms moving in subtle swishes, directing Maurice Ravel’s “Bolero.” The piece swells as flute, clarinet, bassoon, oboe, trumpet and jazzy saxophone and trombone players all join in, one after another. Musicians in synchrony, moving as one collective body. “So often what’s on the page is not how you play it,” Welser-Möst shared, his Austrian accent clear, ahead of the concert in a Q&A with Orchestra CEO André Gremillet. “The melody has to be free.” Welser-Möst pulls forward “Bolero’s” growing intensity. Every member of the orchestra soon plays the jabbing rhythm in one steady crescendo. The maestro jabs along, 18 C L E V E L A N D 0 9 . 2 6
MUSIC
LAY OF THE LAND
SEASON
Of Franz Welser-Möst After a record-setting 25-year run in the role, The Cleveland Orchestra’s music director takes his final bow at the end of this season. BY ANNIE NICKOLOFF / PHOTO BY KEN BLAZE
baton sweeping the air in arcs, as the piece unleashes its characteristic fortissimo explosion. Then the room goes quiet again. A beat. The audience erupts, bolting from their seats in a standing ovation. High school and college students in the nosebleeds, young couples on dates on the orchestra level, patrons in suits and upscale dresses in the box seats — all together, they stand to cheer for the conductor’s big return home. Welser-Möst has one more season-opening concert as The Cleveland Orchestra’s music director. On Sept. 17, his 25th and final season in the role commences with a performance featuring Strauss and Shostakovich, ushering in a series of programs that celebrate, simply, all things Franz. When he exits his full-time role with the century-old orchestra in May, Welser-Möst will have held the leadership position longer than any of the previous six Cleveland Orchestra music directors, including great, big, institution-building names like George Szell, Nikolai Sokoloff and Christoph von Dohnányi. In his 25-year tenure, he’s appointed dozens of world-class musicians, expanded the group’s repertoire with adventurous premieres and commissions, and developed one of the youngest classical music audiences in the country. Now that he’s healthy, the final season serves as one long goodbye, capping a career that maintained Cleveland’s unexpected standing as home to one of the very finest musical groups on the planet. Welser-Möst’s final season, like many, will begin with silence — and end in an ovation.
***** A “ V A C U U M O F S O U N D ” : Franz Welser-Möst remembers one instance
of silence that changed his life forever. His autobiography, From Silence: Finding Calm in a Dissonant World, details, with flashbulb clarity, CLEVELANDMAGAZINE.COM
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a deadly car accident when Welser-Möst was an 18-year-old violinist with dreams of performing in the Vienna Philharmonic. On the icy roads of the Austrian Alps, his friend driving the car lost control. But WelserMöst doesn’t remember a clanging, noisy wreck: instead, a suspended noiselessness. The car accident killed his friend’s mother, who was also in the vehicle, and led to serious injuries for Welser-Möst, including nerve damage to two of his fingers. The event ended his violin dreams. “At 18 years old I had encountered death,” he wrote about the incident, “and this changed my life as has no experience before or since.”
think about The Cleveland Orchestra?’” he remembers. “And I said, ‘It’s a perfectly welloiled machine. But it’s lacking something.’ And they were a little taken aback by that. They said, ‘What?’ and I said, ‘Warmth.’” The transition between Dohnányi and Welser-Möst went smoothly for members of the orchestra, in assistant principal violist Stanley Konopka’s experience. “They had a similar tradition, and so there wasn’t this big leap into another philosophy of music, or philosophy of the standard repertoire,” Konopka says. “I think Franz brought us to another level with faithfulness in interpretation.” The Cleveland Orchestra has been a mainstay in Konopka’s life since he first worked as an usher at Severance Music Center while studying at the Cleveland Institute of Music decades ago. Today, he continues to work in what he calls a “pressure job” — one that demands, on one side, meticulous attention to detail and, on the other, emotional expression rooted in the stories behind each score. “As brilliant as Franz is,” he adds, “there’s always, at least for me, a sense that we needed to give space for the real genius in the room, which was the composer.”
***** — F R A N Z W E L S E R- M Ö S T, M U S I C D I R E C TO R
Pivoting to conducting, Welser-Möst continued his studies under composer Balduin Sulzer in his hometown of Linz, Austria, then worked with manager Andreas von Bennigsen, a relationship that, Welser-Möst says in his book, led to a “weak adoption” by Bennigsen, before the two went separate ways. The young conductor later married Bennigsen’s ex-wife, Angelika; they remain married today. He worked his way into Europe’s classical scene, holding conductor or music director positions with organizations in Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K. and Austria, to mixed reviews. He made his U.S. debut in St. Louis in 1989, and his Cleveland debut in February 1993. Nearly a decade later, after Christoph von Dohnányi departed The Cleveland Orchestra in 2002, Welser-Möst became the organization’s next music director. Welser-Möst entered the role with ideas on programming, and also an energy shift. “When I was interviewed for the job, I remember they asked me, ‘So what do you 20 C L E V E L A N D 0 9 . 2 6
S I T T I N G I N H I S O F F I C E inside Severance Mu-
sic Center, Welser-Möst leans back in a chair, legs crossed, relaxed. These days, the music director is comfortable in Cleveland. While working in town, he lives in a cozy Moreland Courts condo near Shaker Square; in 2024, he earned $1,713,698 for his work with The Cleveland Orchestra, according to the organization’s nonprofit tax returns. Yet, his critical legacy is mixed. “I’ve received so many bad reviews in my life,” he says, unbothered, “and I’m still here.” Before the stardom and success, WelserMöst was the subject of critiques that made him reconsider a future in music. His star rose in Europe when he was a young conductor, but his early successes were marred by a poorly received six-year stint leading the London Philharmonic Orchestra in the ’90s, where he earned a biting nickname: “Frankly Worse Than Most.” Plagued by what he says were problems rooted in organizational restructuring, economic issues and opposing visions, WelserMöst wrote in his autobiography that his time in London was “a six-year odyssey of misunderstandings, insults, intrigues and catastrophes, a resounding failure.” Not long after, in his new home of Cleve-
land, Welser-Möst found a fan base while facing fresh critics. In a review of the conductor’s first season leading the orchestra, The Plain Dealer’s then-classical music critic Donald Rosenberg remarked upon WelserMöst’s “generally pale music making.” Rosenberg continued to be critical of Welser-Möst’s work, and he wasn’t alone. Russell Platt, the former classical music editor at The New Yorker, gave mixed reviews to the music director, praising his opera accomplishments while saying his orchestral work could be “a major disappointment.” A divide widened between the critical fans and foes of Franz. In 2008, Rosenberg was removed from his beat at The Plain Dealer and reassigned to general arts coverage. He sued the newspaper and The Cleveland Orchestra for defamation. A jury ultimately ruled in favor of the orchestra and newspaper. The case put a spotlight on the city and prompted global debates about free speech in review writing. Other critics have praised Welser-Möst’s approach, particularly in recent years. The New York Times writer David Allen documented the rehearsal-to-performance process in an early 2026 feature, showcasing the orchestra’s preparation and execution of Mozart’s “Jupiter” Symphony and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 11. Allen noted the conductor’s culture of respect and “forensic precision” in his familiarity with the score, and said the group was “all but an ideal orchestra” and “one of the finest in America.” The Cleveland Arts Prize honored WelserMöst in 2021 with a special citation prize, and he earned the Kennedy Center’s Gold Medal in the Arts in 2019. He was named an honorary member of the Vienna Philharmonic in 2024. Awards, critiques, hate and praise, WelserMöst says, are all simply tests of life — a way to keep your priorities in order. “Does a good review mean that you have been as good as that person writes about you?” he asks. “I can honestly say that there hasn’t been, in my life, not one rehearsal or a performance, where I would walk out and not question what I’ve been doing, because that’s the only way you make progress. You constantly have to question if it was good enough, what you did.”
***** T H R E E Y E A R S O F L I V I N G and working in Cleve-
land culminated in Allison Loggins-Hull’s original composition “Grit. Grace. Glory.” The orchestra’s former Daniel R. Lew-
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Franz Welser-Möst is the seventh music director of The Cleveland Orchestra, which was founded in the city in 1918.
included the orchestra’s Berlioz, Julius Eastman, Tchaikovsky and Mozart recordings, among other projects. She thanked WelserMöst in her speech. “I love working with Franz Welser-Möst very much,” she previously told Cleveland Magazine. “With Franz and the orchestra, I feel like I get to be another contributor, if not musician, in that great group.”
*****
ROGER MASTROIANNI
F R A N Z W E L S E R - M Ö S T explains that it won’t be
is composer-in-residence wrote the piece specifically for the city. It opens with a train-like, chugging passage called “Steel,” then builds into the contemplative second section, “Shoreline Shadows,” made with material created in workshops with Cleveland School of the Arts students. The third section, “Quip,” is playful, honoring the city’s humble-brag sense of humor, and the final section, “Ode,” ties everything together with a hammering, rock ‘n’ roll-tinged rhythm. While refining the project, Loggins-Hull remembers stepping in for the group’s first rehearsal of the piece, which premiered with the orchestra in May 2025. “It’s astounding, because it doesn’t feel like a first rehearsal; it feels like a fourth rehearsal,” she says. “It’s just really stunning how prepared this orchestra is.” The brand-new piece joined a long list of premieres and commissions from the orchestra, many of which were led by WelserMöst. It started in 2002 with his first commission, Kaija Saariaho’s “Orion,” which premiered in Cleveland before being performed by groups worldwide. “Every major orchestra played it,” WelserMöst remembers. “We sort of made history
with that piece. Not everything you commission will be that kind of success, but you have to give it a try.” Not every music director sees new works in the same light. “Szell used to say, ‘Contemporary music is temporary music,’” Konopka says. “But Franz always took a modern piece, especially a premiere, very seriously. He took everything seriously, but he took that seriously.” Even well-loved Beethoven, Haydn and Mozart works got new life under WelserMöst’s direction, says Konopka. “Pieces that we had played repeatedly, standard repertoire; we had toured with them, we’d recorded them, maybe more than once — he brought to light things that we had never seen before, and that was not a one-time experience. That was something that happened every time,” Konopka says. “With Franz, it was always fresh.” It’s not just the composer and the conductor who get the credit at Severance. Earlier this year, Elaine Martone’s shiny dress sparkled in the stage lights as she strode onstage to accept her seventh Grammy. The Clevelander earned the award for classical producer of the year for her portfolio that
possible to pose with a baton for a Cleveland Magazine photo shoot. There’s something inauthentic, he says, about holding the item like a prop without the orchestra and without the energy of music to guide the moment. “It’s not the hand movements,” he explains. “It’s the fire in the eyes.” We are standing in sacred space here on the Mandel Concert Hall stage. Perhaps because of that, he’s a little uncomfortable with being photographed. He asks everyone to leave the area except for photographer Ken Blaze. Afterward, wearing a bright yellow “Fidelio” baseball cap, Welser-Möst is energetic when sharing details about the 2025-26 season finale, the centerpiece of the fourth edition of the Mandel Opera & Humanities Festival. And he’s already buzzing about the 2027 festival’s fully staged performance of Richard Strauss’ notoriously challenging “Die Frau ohne Schatten.” He fans his arms out, explaining how far the stage will need to extend, detailing logistical challenges required to create space for the ambitious staged production. The Strauss opera will be the climax of the conductor’s farewell season. “One of the many things that Franz really brought to this orchestra is a consistent opera performance,” says The Cleveland Orchestra CEO André Gremillet, “which was so impressive.” Beyond the Strauss piece, the next season includes classics by Mahler, Stravinsky, Liszt and Beethoven, coupled with new commissions and premieres. Alongside Cleveland shows, the orchestra returns for its annual Miami residency and a two-day run at Carnegie Hall, plus a tour of Europe in the fall. But before the excitement of the 2026-27 CLEVELANDMAGAZINE.COM
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season ramps up, Welser-Möst first completes the 2025-26 season with “Fidelio,” Beethoven’s only opera. A few weeks after the photo shoot, he appears on the Mandel Concert Hall stage, directing both the orchestra and the singers, who are stationed on a lofted platform. Above them, a screen scrolls English translations of the German opera to the audience, and periodically, Karamu House president and CEO Tony Sias shares bits of narration to keep the story moving along — a story of political resistance, determination and love.
An unlikely friend group formed, thanks to mutual connections. Retired University Hospitals heart surgeon Alan Markowitz and his wife, Cathy Pollard, introduced Fran and Jules Belkin to Franz and Geli Welser-Möst. The three couples have been inseparable friends for the past two decades. “There’s a real juxtaposition. Here we are in the rock ‘n’ roll world, and he’s in classical music. Never the two would meet,” Jules says, “but we just have a good time talking about each other’s experiences.” Though Jules grew up seeing the Metro-
phenomenon, so when we sent some to his friends, they had no idea. They were thinking that we were making fun of him.” This year, for Fran’s birthday weekend, after the Belkins celebrated with The Cleveland Orchestra and Springsteen, WelserMöst had another surprise for her when she came over for coffee with the ladies of the friend group. A row of sticky notes dotted his home’s hallway wall, from the front door all the way into the kitchen, with “Fran” and a drawing of a heart on each one. “I’ve never had anybody do anything so
— J U L E S B E L K I N , F R I E N D O F F R A N Z W E L S E R- M Ö S T
The opera ends on a jubilant note. WelserMöst steps off the stage before reappearing with the singers on the raised platform, all smiles. Holding hands, the group takes several bows, facing a standing ovation. It’s triumphant, the story and the performance, woven together — wrapping this second-to-last season for the conductor.
***** O P E R A O N A T H U R S D A Y. Bruce Springsteen at
Rocket Arena on a Friday. Fran and Jules Belkin, the ultimate Cleveland rock ‘n’ roll couple, celebrated Fran’s 86th birthday in two musical worlds this year. The two stepped backstage at Severance to congratulate their close friend WelserMöst on another successful Cleveland performance of “Fidelio” in May. “After two and a half hours, can you imagine him having his arms up?” Fran says. “But he grabbed us and hugged us and kissed us. He was so happy with the way everything turned out.” If Welser-Möst is among Cleveland’s classical royalty, Fran and Jules Belkin are Cleveland’s rock ‘n’ roll king and queen. Belkin Productions, the concert promotion company that Jules and his brother Mike established in the ’60s, brought stars like Springsteen, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and more to town for iconic performances. The Belkins were also major players in the opening of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. 22 C L E V E L A N D 0 9 . 2 6
politan Opera’s performances at Public Hall with his mother and played the violin as a kid, he didn’t spend much time with classical music as an adult. It wasn’t until they sold Belkin Productions in 2001 that Fran and Jules, with their suddenly free evenings, got more involved with Cleveland’s classical side. Through that, they’ve deepened their friendship with the Welser-Mösts. “Jules and Fran Belkin are amongst our best friends,” Welser-Möst says. “It’s so typical for Cleveland, that it doesn’t matter where people come from, from which professional area. We found people here extremely warmhearted and generous.” When not onstage, Welser-Möst spends his time in Cleveland getting to know the city, often with his friends. He hikes many of the Cleveland Metroparks trails, peruses the North Union Farmers Market at Shaker Square, explores the Cleveland Museum of Art and picks up bobbleheads at Cavs games — wearing some extra sonic protection inside the loud arena. “They’re, for my ears, too noisy,” he says, with a laugh. “I wear earplugs and noisecanceling headphones when I go there.” The Belkins added to his Cavs bobbles with a custom bobblehead for the conductor, complete with his glasses, a baton and tuxedo, for his 50th birthday. They traveled to Austria for Welser-Möst’s party with the personalized gift in tow. “Bobbleheads were just becoming popular,” Fran says. “But the bobblehead is not known in Europe; that’s an American
lovely, and this is right in the middle of his opera, and he was busy,” she says. “But that’s how he is. He’s just so sweet and special.” The Belkins have come to understand Welser-Möst’s two sides — his joke-making, fun-loving, adventurous self, and his serious composure when he holds a baton onstage. “His personality in public is so much different from what he is when he’s in a close, small group. It changes,” Jules says. “He has that kind of look that says, ‘Don’t mess with me.’ That’s his business. So he wants to be very, very serious about his business.”
***** D O C T O R S D I S C O V E R E D Welser-Möst’s cancer-
ous tumor in 2023. Immunotherapy and four surgeries interrupted the front half of the 2023-24 season, but Welser-Möst returned to the Severance podium in January to continue his work with The Cleveland Orchestra. “The doctor said, ‘You need to work. Don’t sit at home and get depressed. That’s not good,’” Welser-Möst says. “So I did as much as I could.” In the middle of the 2023-24 season, he announced that he would not renew his contract with The Cleveland Orchestra, set to expire in 2027. Then, the following season, he took another leave in the fall due to unexpected side effects that caused attacks of pain. He landed in the emergency room 11 times: 10 in Austria and one at University Hospitals. Again, he returned to Cleveland for performances in
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the second half of the season and led the group on its trip to Carnegie Hall in March. In the 2025-26 season, he missed none of his shows at Severance Music Center, but in the middle of a concert during the orchestra’s annual Miami residency in January, the conductor experienced a moment of hypertension, reported South Florida Classical Review. Halfway through the piece, he sat down with his head in his hands, drank a bottle of water and, minutes later, resumed the performance. A few months later, he’s candid about his recent medical events, speaking from his Severance office. “I am fortunately in the business where you plan three, four or five years in advance. And then you cancel,” he says. “And you get all that gossip and whatnot, and that’s why I said, ‘I want to be completely (transparent). I have nothing to hide.’ “Now I’m fine,” he adds, with a small smile, “so it’s all good.” Next year, a different music director will take the reins. The Cleveland Orchestra is tight-lipped about Welser-Möst’s successor;
as of mid-August, the organization hasn’t made a final decision. “We have the great privilege, but the great responsibility, of being the stewards for a while of this institution,” says Gremillet. “(Welser-Möst) leaves the orchestra in a better place than he found it, which is saying something, given how great The Cleveland Orchestra already was when he came here.”
***** a couple of hallway turns away from the grand stage of the Mandel Concert Hall, Welser-Möst has appointed 53 of the orchestra’s 99 current musicians — a meticulous process that sometimes takes multiple years to find the right person for each role. “What might be the crowning achievement is his hiring,” Konopka says. “Statistically, he had discernment. He could read into the audition performances. I mean, pretty much everyone he’s hired has just been the highest quality human beings. I don’t know how you do that, but it changes everything IN HIS SMALL OFFICE,
LAY OF THE LAND
when you have the right person in the role, and he’s been consistently successful.” This is the part of the job that Welser-Möst calls the greatest: this moment, in his office, sometimes after multiple auditions, and a lifetime of musical studies and dedication to the craft — dedication he knows in his heart — where he gets to tell someone, often amid tears of joy, that they’ve made it. That they’re a member of one of the greatest orchestras in the world. “That is a happiness of mine,” he says, smiling, “which is extraordinary.” Expect the extraordinary. The phrase is on the cover of each program handed out before Welser-Möst’s concerts. Alongside the slogan is a photo of the maestro, holding his baton out, eyebrows raised, forehead furrowed. These photos are snapped from peepholes backstage, sneakily capturing moments of intensity during live performances — of an artist in his element. It’s often unseen, except to the musicians facing him. But here, you get a glimpse. Franz Welser-Möst has fire in his eyes.
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Henry’s Happy Beat Henry brings joy wherever he goes. Clinic Children’s, Henry continues to reach new milestones and enjoy The six-year-old loves music, the activities he loves most. baseball, swimming and spending time with his family. Whether he’s singing his favorite songs, riding his bike or playing with his big brother Jack, Henry approaches life with energy, curiosity and a smile that lights up every room. Born with Down syndrome and congenital heart conditions, Henry has received specialized care from an early age. Supported by a dedicated team at Cleveland
At school, Henry enjoys reading, music and spending time with friends. At home, he loves baking cookies with his mom, playing outside and turning everyday moments into adventures. His joyful spirit and determination inspire everyone around him.
Cleveland Clinic Children’s Rock Stars, families share stories of resilience and hope while helping others understand the impact of compassionate pediatric care.
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09.26
Delicious bites and the people who make them
NEXT COURSE
MICHELLE MCGLINN
Chef Brad Race brings a polished touch to elevated, approachable American fare. CONTINUED ON PAGE 26
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Jennie Doran’s Brightest Bites
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Lakewood’s Dining Scene Delivers CLEVELANDMAGAZINE.COM
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FOOD & DRINK
CHEFS
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Chef Brad Race built his career in acclaimed kitchens in New York, D.C. and Los Angeles before moving to Cleveland.
lowed the space to shape the concept, rather than forcing an idea into the location. Named for the year Bath Township was founded, 1818 embraces a community-minded approach. Situated alongside a bakery, ice cream shop and golf simulators, the restaurant encourages guests to linger. Two expansive patios, private dining rooms and a family-friendly atmosphere further reinforce its role as a destination for everything from weeknight dinners to community gatherings and celebrations. Race was drawn to the space, in part, for its wood-fire grill, which presented a new challenge while reinforcing his focus on letting quality ingredients speak for themselves. Fueled by a blend of cherry wood and hickory, the live fire lends subtle smokiness to vegetables and proteins but requires constant attention to maintain the right balance of flame and embers. “Cooking directly over live wood-fire embers is a different technique, and it really allows the protein to shine,” Race says. “It’s not something that you can pick up quickly. It’s something that is learned over time.” Walk in and the restaurant offers two distinct dining experiences. The 32-seat Grille Room on the lower level places diners at the center of the action, with seats surrounding the open kitchen. The intimate yet energetic space opened June 28, alongside a small adjacent patio. Upstairs, the main dining room is under renovation but will accommodate more than 200 guests across its dining spaces, including a covered patio, a raw bar and private dining rooms. Those familiar with the global influences of The Last Page might be surprised by the lack of surprises at 1818. Race says he found himself stripping dishes down to their essentials, resulting in a menu featuring baby back ribs ($38) glazed in pomegranate molasses barbecue sauce and a signature burger ($21) alongside starters such as ricotta toast ($12), Parker House rolls ($9) and stuffed banana peppers ($15). “Even when I was creating these dishes, I had to reel myself in,” Race says. “I had to remind myself, No, don’t put all that on the plate, we’re going more simple.” For dessert, the restaurant leans on local partnerships. Neighboring Pav’s Creamery provides ice cream, while Black Sheep Baking Co. supplies pastry components and breads that serve as the foundation of the bakery program. The drink menu follows a similar philosophy of refined classics over elaborate creations. Despite a menu built around familiar dishes, Race places a strong emphasis on sourcing distinctive ingredients, such as the pork chop that comes from the same pigs used for Prosciutto di Parma. The pigs are raised in Italy on a diet supplemented by leftovers from Parmesan cheese production, and the pork is served with a Parmesan mustard jus, a combination that Race says highlights both the ingredient’s story and its origin. “I love things with a story. When I talk to purveyors, I’m always looking for something unique, not just what everybody else has,” he says. “I want to be able to tell guests, ‘This is an amazing product, and here’s why,’ and get them excited about it.” After decades spent pushing culinary boundaries, Race finds himself drawn to something more elemental: the act of cooking itself. BY CHRISTINA RUFO
MICHELLE MCGLINN
hen Brad Race moved to Cleveland during the pandemic in 2020, the seasoned chef envisioned bringing the kind of ambitious, chef-driven dining he’d built his career around in New York, D.C. and Los Angeles. A classic American grille concept wasn’t necessarily what he had in mind. Yet six years later, Race is embracing that kind of timeless restraint at 1818 American Grille in Bath Township. The venture favors exceptional ingredients, wood-fire cooking and consistent execution over culinary theatrics. For Race, the beauty of the concept lies in its simplicity, letting the product shine. “I can cook anything. I’ve done molecular gastronomy, Japanese cuisine, fine dining; I’ve done it all,” Race says. “This is just a different challenge for me, but in a good way. I love cooking. It doesn’t really matter what.” Race’s path to the kitchen was unconventional. After studying business and economics, he spent two years on Wall Street. Feeling unmotivated, he left finance behind after answering a Craigslist ad for an entry-level kitchen position at Oceana, a Michelin-starred seafood restaurant in New York City. Having never attended culinary school, Race built his career by moving up the industry ladder, working in some of the country’s most demanding kitchens, including Nobu and Minibar by José Andrés. Originally from Long Island, New York, Race was drawn to Northeast Ohio by the opportunity to open The Last Page alongside entrepreneur Todd Leebow. COVID-19 regulations had decimated the hospitality industry in Los Angeles, where he and his family lived during the height of the pandemic. This new chapter in Cleveland was a leap of faith. “I was a different chef back then … I’m looking at it through a different lens now than I did when I first moved here,” Race says. Since opening in 2021, The Last Page has become highly acclaimed, earning Cleveland Magazine’s Best New Restaurant honor, numerous Silver Spoon Awards and a reputation as one of the region’s premier dining destinations. The concept behind 1818 had been on the wish list of Race and longtime collaborators Todd Leebow, Jon Gross and Gary Shamis. In 2025, the Bath property formerly occupied by Corner Provisions became available. The location felt unusually well-suited for the vision, with much of the infrastructure already in place, including the kitchen, raw bar and centerpiece wood-fire grill. That al-
WORD OF MOUTH
FOOD & DRINK
Jennie Doran Chef and Co-Owner, The Judith
MEGAN BREEHL
Northeast Ohio’s top foodies share their local favorites.
Jennie Doran moved to Cleveland nearly two decades ago, sight unseen, for a job in event production and design, and quickly fell in love with the city. A longtime small-business creative with a retail background, Doran made her culinary debut in 2023 with The Judith, a French-inspired cafe named in honor of her mother-inlaw and rooted in food, hospitality and everyday beauty. — CHRISTINA RUFO
LOCAL LOV ES : My favorite spot in Cleveland is Momocho, by Eric Williams. When I first moved here, one
of my very first apartments was half a block away, and I just fell in love with it then. The food is so consistent; it’s so delicious, and he’s been doing that excellent work for a really long time there. It’s absolutely a go-to. It never disappoints. I get the pepita trout. I’m a pumpkin seed girl, I can’t lie. It’s all phenomenal. UNB E ATAB LE B RE AK FAST: Frank’s Falafel House on West 65th is my breakfast nonnegotiable. It
has everything you’d want in a diner. It’s close by, and the foule medames offers a pretty traditional Middle Eastern breakfast situation with fava beans topped with tomato, parsley and homemade dressing. I could eat it every day. It even inspired a really popular dish on our evening menu last season. STANDO U T STO P S : If I had visitors from out of town, I’d take them to Leavened in Tremont for pastry
treats and La Plaza Supermarket in Lakewood for tacos. We’d go to Algebra Tea House on Murray Hill for vibes. It’s transporting in its own way, and there’s a casual beauty to its simplicity. I have an appreciation for humans who can make remarkable things happen in tiny spaces. That’s the art, and that’s what happens there. BA NG IN’ B IT ES : I love a good wing. I recently had the everything bagel dry-seasoned wings at Noble
Beast Brewing Co. Downtown and was perfectly satiated. It’s just what you need in your body, and they do them really well.
Saturday, September 19 | 9AM-4PM | Off I-77 in Cuyahoga Hts. YOU REALLY GOTTA GO.
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FOOD & DRINK
Dining Guide
Amazonia
LAKEWOOD’S
BEST RESTAURANTS
WHY WE LOVE IT: Set inside a beautifully restored house filled with lush greenery and eclectic furnishings, Amazonia transports guests to a vibrant South American escape. Its rotating menu highlights bold bites, while a flavor-driven cocktail program showcases inventive techniques, fresh herbs and house-made ingredients. TRY THIS: The Champinon pizza ($26) layers mushroom cream, mozzarella, arugula, Parmesan and extra-virgin olive oil atop a wood-fired crust for a rich yet balanced bite. 1640 Hopkins Ave., Lakewood, 216-712-6745, amazoniabar.com
Angelo’s Pizza
WHY WE LOVE IT: Touted as one of the best pizzas in Cleveland, this longtime family-owned pizzeria is known for its signature pan-style pies. The casual Lakewood institution has been drawing loyal customers for generations with its consistently excellent pizza and oldschool charm. TRY THIS: The house special pizza ($22.20 to $33.33) is a classic choice topped with homemade meatballs, sausage, mushrooms and onions over the restaurant’s signature sauce and provolone cheese. 13715 Madison Ave., Lakewood, 216-221-0440, angeloslakewood.com
Artis
WHY WE LOVE IT: A bright, Miami Beachinspired interior sets a playful tone for this modern steakhouse, where chefowner Andrew Mansour takes a globally inspired approach to shareable dining. The menu divides dishes into four sections based on how long they take to arrive. Ohio-raised steaks anchor the menu, but eclectic plates drawing on Middle Eastern, Asian and Latin American flavors make it much more than your typical steakhouse. TRY THIS: The Nashville hot harissa chicken ($19) features a crispy boneless chicken thigh with sweet and spicy harissa and bread-and-butter pickles. 17900 Detroit Ave., Lakewood, 216-785-9785, artislakewood.com
EDITORS' PICK
READER-VOTED PICK
Restaurants with these icons appear on our annual Best Restaurants list. Find the full list at:
Thai Thai 28
CLEVELAND
clevelandmagazine.com/best-restaurants 09.26
BY C H R I S T I N A R U FO / P H OTO BY A LY S O N G A R F I E L D
FOOD & DRINK
DINING GUIDE
Dinerbar on Clifton
WHY WE LOVE IT: A throwback to the 1950s American diner aesthetic, this Lakewood staple has maintained nostalgic charm since 1992. The clean, sharp interior features black-and-white floor tiles, matching wallpaper and plush seating, while a ’50s-inspired counter offers a place to pull up a seat and unwind. TRY THIS: The hot meatloaf ($14.95) is a dinnertime favorite served open-faced on grilled sourdough with mashed potatoes, gravy and a side vegetable. 11801 Clifton Blvd., Lakewood, 216-521-5003, dinerbaronclifton.com
Georgetown Vosh
WHY WE LOVE IT: Its award-winning patio shifts from a lush summer hangout with live music to a winter wonderland with heated dining igloos. Creative American plates, specialty cocktails and a daily happy hour round out the experience. TRY THIS: The short ribs ($35) are served with au gratin potatoes, carrots and a balsamic wild mushroom and pearl onion ragu. 18515 Detroit Ave., Lakewood, 216-221-3500, georgetownvosh.com
Birdietown
Buckeye Beer Engine
WHY WE LOVE IT: A neighborhood favorite with a massive craft beer menu, this joint offers up juicy burgers and other American
staples along with Eastern European favorites in a laid-back atmosphere. TRY THIS: Locals love the West Side burger ($14.75) with caramelized onion, sour cream, New York sharp cheddar, and Parma-made Rudy’s Strudel potato-and-cheddar pierogi. 15315 Madison Ave., Lakewood, 216-226-2337, buckeyebeerengine.com
Crumb & Spigot
WHY WE LOVE IT: Comforting pub fare and wood-fired pizzas make this Bainbridge-born favorite an easy neighborhood go-to. Since expanding to Lakewood in 2023, it has settled into Detroit Avenue with a cozy dining room outfitted with plaid banquettes, barrel tables and warm wood details. TRY THIS: The C&S sloppy joe ($18) piles Angus ground beef with aged cheddar, crispy bit potatoes and pickles for a hearty, nostalgic classic. 15322 Detroit Ave., Lakewood, 216-712-6992, crumbandspigot.com
Borderline Cafe WHY WE LOVE IT: This popular brunch spot serves fresh Southwest-inspired breakfast specialties. The interior pairs sunny yellow walls with bold green seating, wood tables and quirky artwork. TRY THIS: The cozy restaurant excels at hearty dishes like the barbecue pulled pork hash ($15), complete with crispy home fries, caramelized onion, sharp cheddar, eggs, chipotle aioli and Texas toast. 18510 Detroit Ave., Lakewood, 216-777-4711, borderlinelakewood.net 30
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Gray Dog Diner
WHY WE LOVE IT: Wood-paneled walls and framed black-and-white photos give this locally owned diner plenty of neighborhood charm. Open until 2 p.m., Gray Dog serves made-to-order breakfast and lunch classics, from pancakes and omelets to stacked sandwiches. TRY THIS: The Reuben ($15.75) is a must-have, piled high with slices of house-cooked corned beef, Swiss cheese and sauerkraut on grilled rye bread. 13411 Detroit Ave., Lakewood, 216-228-8269, graydog-diner.com
B O R D E R L I N E C A F E : A LY S O N G A R F I E L D / C R U M B & S P I G OT: S A R A H G O R M L E Y
WHY WE LOVE IT: Mini golf is only part of the draw at this sophisticated take on eatertainment, where two custom nine-hole courses unfold amid swanky chandeliers, brass accents and moody lighting. Former Rood chef Rachelle Murphy recently took over the kitchen, bringing creative, bold twists to an approachable menu that pairs with a lineup of thoughtful cocktails. TRY THIS: Start with the squash blossoms ($17), stuffed with oyster mushrooms and Boursin, but be sure to save room for the buttermilk fried chicken sandwich ($21), with bacon, Caesar slaw and pepperoncini aioli on a toasted brioche bun and served with hand-cut fries. 2501 Madison Ave., Lakewood, 440-857-2911, birdietowncle.com
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DINING GUIDE
Cleveland Vegan
WHY WE LOVE IT: Cleveland Vegan is a go-to for scratch-made baked goods, plus handcrafted vegan cheeses. Flavorful dinein and catering menus highlight organic, locally sourced ingredients in a “colorful cafe in a walkable neighborhood,” says co-owner Laura Ross. TRY THIS: Stop by for “handsdown the top-selling item,” the fried chicken sandwich ($14), crafted with a breaded seitan cutlet topped with slaw, chipotle mayo and lettuce on a locally made bun from Blackbird Baking Co. 17112 Detroit Ave., Lakewood, 216-221-0201, clevelandvegan.com
Hako
WHY WE LOVE IT: Dark wood partitions give this Madison Avenue sushi spot a cozy, tucked-away feel alongside a menu of traditional nigiri, sashimi and specialty rolls. Named for hakozushi, an Osaka-style pressed sushi, the restaurant nods to generations of Japanese culinary tradition. TRY THIS: For something light with a kick, the spicy scallop roll ($11.95) combines fresh scallops, scallions, fish roe and avocado with spicy mayo. 13603 Madison Ave., Lakewood, 216-339-9163, sushihako.com
India Garden
LBM
Harlow’s Pizza
WHY WE LOVE IT: A selection of delicious wood-fired Neapolitan pizzas makes Harlow’s a true gem, complemented by an interior of colorful Mexican-inspired decor and an intimate yet chic patio. TRY THIS: The Leonardo pizza ($20) is a culinary masterpiece: mozzarella, extra-virgin olive oil, pistachios, grape tomatoes, arugula, garlic and sea salt. 14319 Madison Ave., Lakewood, 216-712-6502, harlowspizza.com 32
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WHY WE LOVE IT: Colorful neon lights crisscross the ceiling of this high-energy bar, setting the stage for an experience that’s as creative as its cocktails. Founded by a group of restaurant industry veterans, LBM pairs imaginative, story-driven cocktail menus with seasonal dishes and drinks made from fresh ingredients. TRY THIS: The pork belly ($13) features hoisin-braised pork with pickled vegetables, bloomed scallions and sesame. 12301 Madison Ave., Lakewood, 216-712-4692, lbmbar.com
Molto Bene Italian Eatery
WHY WE LOVE IT: This bright, modern Italian pick packs it all in a small space: homemade Italian specialties, fresh pasta,
pizza, bellinis and gelato. TRY THIS: The sacchetti panna e prosciutto ($25) showcases four-cheese purse pasta topped with Alfredo-style creamy pink sauce and prosciutto. 18401 Detroit Ave., Lakewood, 216-273-7333, eatmoltobene.com
Pastimes
WHY WE LOVE IT: This whimsical breakfast spot pairs a constantly changing menu of customizable breakfast staples with a nature-inspired interior, where colorful insect murals brighten the walls. It reflects the restaurant’s mission for monarch preservation. TRY THIS: The Truth ($15) burrito packs a flour tortilla with rice, scrambled eggs, house sausage, crispy bacon, Monterey Jack cheese, pickled red onions, spicy mayo and garlic aioli. 14224 Madison Ave., Lakewood, 216-785-9046, thepastimes.com
Pier W
WHY WE LOVE IT: Known for its iconic Lake Erie views, Pier W features fresh sea and land fare, thoughtfully crafted drinks and a popular weekend buffet. TRY THIS: The char-grilled swordfish ($44) is paired with creamy mascarpone polenta, peppery watercress, caramelized pearl onions and fire-roasted tomatoes for a rich, savory dish balanced by fresh flavors. 12700 Lake Ave., Lakewood, 216-228-2250, pierw.com
C L E V E L A N D V E G A N : E M I LY TA R U L L I / H A R L O W ' S P I Z Z A : C O U R T E S Y H A R L O W ' S P I Z Z A
WHY WE LOVE IT: Bright orange walls and warm pendant lighting set the scene for North Indian dishes in this cozy eatery. Owner Sanjeev Sharma credits its loyal following to authentic flavors and in-house roasted spices blended into each dish. TRY THIS: The chicken tikka masala ($19.95), one of the most popular dishes among regulars, made with tender marinated chicken, fresh onions and tomatoes. 18405 Detroit Ave., Lakewood, 216-221-0676, indiagardencleveland.com
Discover Amazing Food & Service Immerse yourself in a world of authentic Italian cuisine, sophisticated beverages and impeccable service.
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Mia Bella Restaurant Phone: 216-795-2355 E-mail: Miabellaofficial2010@gmail.com
Chef Owner: Gerti Memeti
Address: 12200 Mayfield Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44106
FOOD & DRINK
DINING GUIDE
Rood
WHY WE LOVE IT: Nothing takes itself too seriously here, from the quirky dining room to themed specials that tap into nostalgia with events like Breakfast for Dinner and Kid Cuisine-inspired menus. That playful spirit carries over to the inventive American menu, where familiar ideas get makeovers through unexpected ingredients and global influences. TRY THIS: The koji dry-aged meatloaf ($30) reimagines the comfort-food classic with fermented house barbecue sauce, Yukon potato puree, beef gravy and a plum sake-fried onion ring. 17001 Madison Ave., Lakewood, 216-712-4506, eatatrood.com
The Root Cafe
Sofia’s Kitchen and Bar
WHY WE LOVE IT: Described as a “corner bar meets American bistro” by owner Andrew Revy, this bar and restaurant strikes the right balance between sophistication and comfort. Gold curtains and softly glowing pendant lights bring just enough glitz to make any night out feel special. TRY THIS: The Zoltan ($46) features an Ohio-raised beef strip steak with grilled balsamic onions, smoked blue cheese, chive butter and Sofia's house steak sauce, served with asparagus and a shredded potato cake. Finish your night with the lemon pound cake ($13), served with lemon curd and a sweet vanilla glaze. 17621 Detroit Ave., Lakewood, 216-635-9222, sofiaskitchenandbar.com
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CLEVELAND
09.26
COURTESY ROOD
WHY WE LOVE IT: Open since 2009, this vegan and vegetarian kitchen offers a little something for everyone with freshly made meals featuring local, organic ingredients and plenty of gluten-free options. Community art, a hand-painted chalkboard menu and rustic touches give the cafe a warm, homespun charm. TRY THIS: The On the Road sandwich ($12) layers earthy roasted beets with local goat cheese, caramelized onions, rosemary and fresh spinach, all tucked between slices of locally made whole-grain rye from Breadsmith. 15118 Detroit Ave., Lakewood, 216-226-4401, theroot-cafe.com
DINING GUIDE
FOOD & DRINK
Sarita
WHY WE LOVE IT: Chef Anthony Romano keeps things creative in the kitchen with a New American menu that matches Sarita’s polished but relaxed personality. Exposed brick lends warmth inside, while an inviting patio and cocktails that are a cut above give diners plenty of reasons to linger. TRY THIS: Indulge in the molten blue cheese-encrusted beef tenderloin ($45) with roasted-garlic whipped potatoes, prosciutto-wrapped grilled asparagus, tomato-bacon jam and balsamic syrup. 14523 Madison Ave., Lakewood, 216-226-5200, sarita-restaurant.com
Thai Thai
COURTESY SARITA
WHY WE LOVE IT: “We love introducing our customers to new authentic Bangkok street food,” says chef-owner Kiwi Wongpeng. Stop here for curries, stir-fries and bubble tea. TRY THIS: The roasted duck noodle soup ($15.95) with bean sprouts, cilantro and roasted garlic “is complex and delicious, with earthy flavors and aromatic scent from herbs like star anise,” says Wongpeng. 13415 Madison Ave., Lakewood, 216-226-4890, thaithailakewood.com
Western Reserve Distillers
WHY WE LOVE IT: A wood-clad facade and streetside patio welcome guests to this
family-owned craft distillery, where award-winning spirits are handcrafted in small batches. Many begin with 100% organic grains sourced from Ohio farms within 150 miles of the distillery, then take center stage in creative cocktails paired with an elevated menu. TRY THIS: The rosemary pork tenderloin ($30) pairs pan-seared pork with rosemary pan sauce, pancetta and caramelized-apple risotto, alongside roasted root vegetables. You can’t go wrong with a slice of cheesecake ($11) to end the meal. 14221 Madison Ave., Lakewood, 216-333-9291, thedistilleryatwrd.com
WINNER
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In an effort to rehabilitate Cleveland’s image and raise attention for the United Way, a group of optimistic, albeit misguided, people met a little bad luck to create a day that lives in infamy.
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D LIKE IT SEEME IDEA A GOOD E. IM AT THE T
Cleveland had just endured a rough decade as the 1980s dawned. There’d been deindustrialization, massive population loss, a mob war and the city’s default. Randy Newman wrote a song about the city’s burning river. Johnny Carson cracked jokes about Cleveland on The Tonight Show. But the city endured — and tried desperately to change its public image. On May 5, 1986, it was announced the city would become home to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The Cavs, who a few years earlier were teetering on leaving the city, were scouting for the next month’s NBA Draft, in which they held the first overall pick. (They drafted Brad Daugherty, and snagged Mark Price with the 25th pick.) Cleveland was one of many cities in the United States that participated in Hands Across America on May 25, and later that week, the United Way announced a plan to set a Guinness World Record for the largest balloon release in history, 2 million, breaking a record set the previous year at Disneyland. The idea was grandiose. The execution was an adventure. The aftermath has been cause for debate to this day. This is the story, from the people who were there.
TOM HOLOWACH (OPERATIONS DIRECTOR FOR BALLOONFEST AND A LOS ANGELES NATIVE): When you told anyone about
Cleveland, they’d say, “That’s where the river caught fire.” FRASER: The United Way was still trying to expand its donor base, which at the time was almost entirely boomers. The entire board were chairmen and presidents of Fortune 500 companies. And they said, “We’re really looking to appeal to younger people. They don’t really know anything about the United Way.” A month or two later, I’m on a flight, and there’s a Life magazine in the pouch of my
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seat. I took it out, and it was a double-page spread of Disneyland where they had done a balloon release. It got in the Guinness Book of World Records. A million balloons were released. It was an incredible photograph. That was the seed. I started thinking about it and ran it past Cheryle Wills, who was the United Way chairman. I said it might come off kind of crazy, but what do you notice when you look at the picture? She said, “There’s a lot of young people.” I said, “I think we can do better than a million.” It was my pitch to attract young people to an extraordinary event. It would imprint on their minds forever. She said it was a great idea, and said, “Do you know anything about it?” And I said I knew absolutely nothing. But I found the guy who did it. He said, “You have no idea what it takes to release a million balloons. Breaking the record would be impossible.”
FRASER: I asked him to visit the site, and if you still think it’s impossible, tell me and I’ll bury the idea. He said, “Where are you thinking of doing this?” I said, “The center of Cleveland, a place called Public Square.” He looked up and saw the buildings and the Terminal Tower and the space and said, “Can I be honest?” I said, “That’s why you’re here.” He said, “This is perfect.” That was hurdle one. Hurdle two was presenting it to the board. Jim Stover, the chairman of the board of Eaton, was the chairman, and he said the same thing: It’s impossible. I said, “When we bring people together, we can do the impossible.” You could hear a rat pissing on cotton in Georgia when I said that.
In Heining’s previous balloon releases, he’d worked with Tom Holowach, who wanted to be a TV weatherman but found his calling in audiovisual production. HOLOWACH: Treb would say, “I could parachute Tom into any city, and within 24 hours, he’ll know more about it than people who live there.” I ended up moving there for a month. It’s not about balloons. It’s about logistics. We were creating a temporary factory to inflate balloons that had to hold 3,000 employees for eight hours. We had to fill their food, bathroom and water needs. And then when we were done, we had to take it down and go away. I was planning a military invasion of Cleveland.
COURTESY TOM HOLOWACH / COURTESY GEORGE FRASER / COURTESY DOUG BARDWELL / COURTESY JOHN RINALDI
DR. GEORGE C. FRASER (THEN DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS FOR THE UNITED WAY): The environment was still that Cleveland was “the mistake on the lake.”
The guy who did it was Treb Heining, who started as a balloon vendor at Disneyland in his native California. He created the mouse-ear balloons available for sale even today at Disney parks and invented the balloon arch. He created balloon sculptures for movie premieres and organized balloon releases at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, and the record-setting release at Disneyland in 1985, for the park’s 30th anniversary.
FRASER: They’d have to build a bin, about
four stories high, with piping and netting, and set up a plumbing system where 1,000 people could blow up balloons simultaneously. HOLOWACH: I had a weird list of things to acquire that I’d learned from Disney. Each bin had half-inch copper tubing and inflation valves. They were set up in a grid, but I discovered the best thing to attach the valves to was a milk crate. I had to go looking for a dairy that would let us borrow a few hundred milk crates. When we built the bin, they looked at me and said, “How do we keep the balloons in?” I said, “A net.” And they said, “What kind of net?” I said, “There’s one company that I know of that has any experience creating this kind of net, and that’s whoever fabricated the cargo nets for the space shuttle.” So I found the guys; they were in Arcadia (California) and they said, “Can I come over?” It was a Quonset hut with a bunch of guys who made nets. They took my diagram and said, “This is really good.” And they built us a net that could take up a whole city block.
DOUG BARDWELL (CONSTRUCTION MANAGER FOR TERMINAL TOWER FOR FOREST CITY, THEN ITS OWNER): I thought it was a
great thing for a number of reasons. I did a lot of volunteer work for United Way at the time and now I do a lot of work for the Red Cross. I think it’s great to get kids involved with volunteering at an early age that will be cultivated later on. I knew it would be great for our company, too. We had a lot of retail, and we wanted to see people come Downtown to see it. I was looking out the window one day and saw the scaffold being built, and I got a call from our CEO, who had gotten a call from the United Way in a panic. They had forgotten to get a permit. Because I was on-site, I got the call. “Get over to City Hall and get a permit so they don’t have to stop construction.” The appeals board was meeting that afternoon, and they said they could squeeze us in. Luckily, I had a good rapport with them. I’d been a construction manager Downtown for quite a while. I walked in, and they said, “Are you here for the project that’s half-done on Public Square?”
BALLOONS CROWD THE BIN AT PUBLIC SQUARE, READY FOR RELEASE, AS CLEVELAND’S UNITED WAY MAKES ITS BID FOR A GUINNESS WORLD RECORD IN SEPTEMBER 1986.
HOLOWACH: We had to make sure we followed the rules set by the city, which weren’t onerous, but their job was to keep buildings from falling over and killing people, and they forced us to comply with city building code. You have to calculate how to support those walls so they’ll stand up to 90 mph winds. Forest City knew this older guy who’d worked for the city for a while. I said, “What do we do?” and he just looked at the plans and shook his head. “You have to build a bridge truss.” We had bridge trusses going up and down and sideways. BARDWELL: Most plan reviews, they’re worried about a building falling over. They weren’t worried about a building taking off and going into space. It was a complete opposite concern. They added some ballast, but they went ahead and approved it.
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PHOTO CREDIT
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FRASER: Jim Stover said, “How are we going to do this?” We were almost a year out. I said, “We’re going to get students from every school district, 1,100 to 1,500 kids. We’ll have a raffle. They’ll sell tickets from the raffle for a dollar. For each balloon, they put a ticket with a name and address on it. When they get up 25,000 or 30,000 feet, they enter the jet stream, and they’ll go anywhere. Someone can see the balloon and find out it’s from someone in Parma.” We raised somewhere around $300,000 just in raffle tickets. HOLOWACH: We used a lot of band kids. They were great because they were very diligent about their work and knew how to take direction. DAVID SHIELDS (THEN THE DIRECTOR OF GREEK LIFE AT CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY): This was my first job out of grad
school, and I’d actually started that year. At the time, our dean of students was involved in the United Way, and they’d reached out to the university for students’ help to blow up balloons. It was directed to me because I oversaw the largest student group in the college. There were 20 fraternities and sororities, so there would be about 100 kids who could help, if we got everyone. HOLOWACH: The hardest part was the timing. The United Way had typically done their fundraising event right after school got back into session. We couldn’t get enough kids out selling fast enough to make their nut. It was all really well planned, but we got to a certain point where they were concerned. Treb said, “We don’t have to do 2 million balloons.” We adjusted to 1.5 million, which was still a record.
Finally, it was the day before the event. The bin was built. Plans were made. The weather … started to look uncooperative. HOLOWACH: We had to close streets. We were rerouting buses. We created an additional train schedule. Estimates at that point were starting to sound like Woodstock. We could have 100,000 people here. We could have 200,000 people here. We had a big meeting with everyone from the city, police department, fire department, transit. It was like a wedding: Anyone who wants to object, speak now or forever hold your peace. And they signed off on it. There was a guy there who still had his
crew cut, and he said, “You know, this is a little like the preparations for D-Day.” I got a little high off that. From then on, we felt like we had everything covered.
“ THE WE ATHE WAS OU R ANTAGO R NIST.” T OM H O
LOWAC H
FRASER: We researched the weather on that day in September, but you can’t control the weather. HOLOWACH: The weather was our antagonist. We had done everything right, and Mother Nature was going to do what Mother Nature did, and there was no plan B. If you’re doing something outdoors, you do it, or you call it off. The night before, we went to Stouffer’s for dinner, and all of a sudden, the wind started to blow. It came up out of nowhere, and we were outside saying, “What the hell is going on?” The thing that was really scary was there was a newspaper coin box on the corner, and it stood up on one leg and started to spin like a top. I said, “Everyone get inside now,” and we just sat there and listened to a freight train go by. It sounded like a tornado. It was done in a matter of five to 10 minutes. They said at the airport that they didn’t have any instruments Downtown, but some of the anemometers broke, so we think the gusts were around 90 mph. And I said, “You mean the city told me I had to build it to withstand 90 mph winds, and it actually did?”
Organizers feared the event might have to be canceled. Holowach and his crew had to stitch holes in the net overnight and had to call the fire department for a snorkel truck, which had a long, articulating boom, to reach the top of the net. The students who were helping with the balloon launch arrived around 3 a.m. Some people who wanted to watch arrived not long after dawn. SHIELDS: We started early, early, early in the morning. They wanted us there by 7 o’clock. I got tape around my fingers so I wouldn’t get blisters from tying balloons. It was a great festive atmosphere. They had music, and there were people talking to you. They tried to make it fun. JENNIE JONES (PHOTOGRAPHER HIRED BY UNITED WAY FOR THE DAY): They had kids
blowing up balloons. They had nuns blowing up balloons. Everyone was blowing up balloons. It was really fun. The place was crowded — cramped, even — with people. It was hard to move around, but it made for good pictures.
We all met down there at 8 o’clock and talked about where we were going to put our people. It really was an all-day thing. I had eight people, and I had them stationed each where they needed to be, and I was in the helicopter. We had specific views that we wanted. We had people on the ground; there were people on building tops. HOLOWACH: People started showing up at 7 or 8 in the morning to try to get the best view. I lived in Pasadena (California), and it was like watching people camp out for the Rose Parade. They were excited. The kids were thrilled. It was a carnival atmosphere. We had Big Chuck and Lil’ John! LIL JOHN RINALDI: We did our show, Couch Potato Theater, from there. We got there maybe a half-hour before the show started, probably about 10:30-11 a.m. By the time we got there, most of the balloons were already inflated. We planned to do three or four segments and end with the balloons going off. We were excited to be a part of it. FRASER: It was a wonderful, beautiful early autumn day. The sun was shining. Public Square was packed. Cars were backed up coming into Cleveland. People were gawking.
But the weather was about to turn. A humid day with a mix of clouds and sun was predicted for Northeast Ohio. However, a cold front was moving in — and that could be a problem. HOLOWACH: Whenever we did an event, I would call the weather department and find the meteorologist on duty. That was really important ultimately when we went to Cleveland. The guy watching Doppler said, “The front is coming. What you have to worry about is the squall line in front of the cold front.” The weight of the water on the balloons is what we were worried about. It doesn’t take a lot to weigh down a helium balloon. CLEVELANDMAGAZINE.COM
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FRASER: I was told that if there’s even one drop of water on a helium balloon, they don’t go up. They go down. HOLOWACH: I called NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), and they said, “You’re going to get rain, and it’s going to hit you sometime between 1:30 and 2 p.m.” So we huddled and realized we’d have to go early. I think we did the countdown at 1:45 p.m. The net lifted up, and slowly but surely, this multicolored amoeba emerged and wrapped itself around the Terminal Tower. SHIELDS: It was absolutely spectacular. You spend all these hours tying the balloons and then you watch them release. The balloons stayed clustered together. It was like a giant amoeba as they released, and then the way they wrapped around the Terminal Tower was really cool as well. Sometimes you work hard, and something happens, and you go, “Wow, that was anticlimactic.” But this was all we’d hoped.
PHOTOGRAPHER JENNIE JONES, WHO WAS STATIONED IN A HELICOPTER, TOOK THIS PHOTO OF BALLOONS FILLING THE SKY ABOVE PUBLIC SQUARE DURING BALLOONFEST.
FRASER: NBC actually broke into a college football game to cover the release. Maybe five or seven minutes, but it was national. The way the balloons came out was almost like a mushroom cloud. HOLOWACH: The balloons spread out, and for a brief moment, it looked like a big stained-glass ceiling.
Then the storm blew in. HOLOWACH: We had a temperature inversion, and the balloons just got to a certain point and stopped going up. And then the rain came and weighed the balloons down. That’s when they started to swirl down and cover the lake and the runway at Burke Lakefront. Burke Lakefront was closed for the event. JONES: The wind changed. The balloons were going out to the lake, and we had to fly through it. That was a little frightening for all of us. None of us said anything to each other on the helicopter, but we knew what we all were thinking. We were legitimately worried we wouldn’t make it. We got through it, and we landed at Burke to turn everything over to the press. They didn’t even stop the helicopter. They just opened the door, and we jumped out. They said we were down, and people thought we’d crashed.
SHIELDS: I was driving home, and I could see balloons in the lake and floating around the area and thinking, Wow, that might be a problem. There was some negativeness around it, and that kind of sucked some of the fun out of it.
The negativity continued. In Balloonfest’s immediate aftermath, some letter writers to The Plain Dealer called it wasteful and accusded it of polluting Lake Erie. For the 25th anniversary of the event, The Plain Dealer wrote a story that appraised Balloonfest as a cool idea, but detailed a litany of bad events afterward, including a multi-car wreck on the Shoreway, the hindering of a search for two missing anglers (who had turned out to have died when their boat capsized), and the spooking of horses at a Medina farm, precipitating a lawsuit. (Ironically, this has led to another reappraisal led by cleveland.com this may have been hyperbole.) In 2018, The Atlantic released a short video calling it a “Balloon Disaster.” HOLOWACH: It basically fell into the click-
bait trap. FRASER: It was the immediate postexperience that was disappointing. We opened up The Plain Dealer and saw those thousands of balloons on Lake Erie. For several years, it was a lowlight of my life. Now it’s a highlight. Time heals all wounds. The negative dissipates, and you think of the good. RINALDI: It was a great day for Cleveland. There were thousands of people down there, from throughout the city and county. Kids came together, adults came together, and we were all having a good time. SHIELDS: It was an amazing thing. I had never seen that many balloons released at one time. That moment of exhilaration and fun and happiness hasn’t gone away, and it’s been 40 years. FRASER: I still run into people who want to talk about Balloonfest and where they were.
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JENNIE JONES
HOLOWACH: The underlying lesson of Balloonfest is that you don’t do something like that alone. You don’t even do it with a small group. It’s cooperation. It’s the willingness of strangers to work with other strangers for a common goal. And we’ve got to remember that.
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09.2026
WHITNEY HASLAM JOHNSON AND JW JOHNSON, JIMMY AND DEE’S DAUGHTER AND SON-IN-LAW, ARE THE FUTURE OF THE CLEVELAND BROWNS. CAN THEY CREATE THE BLUEPRINT FOR A WORLD-CLASS STADIUM AND A SUPER BOWL RING? PHOTO CREDIT
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BY DILLON STEWART
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MORE THAN A STADIUM PHOTOGRAPHED BY KEN BLAZE CLEVELANDMAGAZINE.COM
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MORE THAN A STADIUM
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talks about the Browns’ ownership, two names come up. Rightfully so. As the leaders of Haslam Sports Group, which oversees a more than $12 billion portfolio that includes ownership of the Browns, the Columbus Crew of the MLS, the Milwaukee Bucks of the NBA, an expansion National Women’s Soccer League franchise in Columbus and stakes in numerous companies such as Homage T-shirt company and gambling site jackpot.com, the patriarch and matriarch are still very much the masters of the Haslam universe. Yet, many fans might not realize that Haslam Sports Group is more four-headed than two-headed. Year-round, JW and Whitney rove the halls in Berea, hold court in glass-walled conference rooms and handle the minutiae of maintaining these global brands. Heading into the 2026-2027 football season, they’re also overseeing the progress of two massive development projects in Berea and Brook Park. They are also the ones ingrained in the community on a personal level. They live in Shaker Heights. They have three boys, all in or nearing high school, who attend and play sports at University School and Gilmour Academy. The family hikes and fishes and hosts cookouts with grandma and grandpa (JW mans the grill, as Jimmy “can’t make a PB&J sandwich,” JW says). They’re part of carpools to practices and school events, coordinated through group texts that buzz throughout our conversation. The couple has largely stayed out of the limelight, eclipsed by their parents, yes, but also, perhaps, reluctant to let themselves shine. JW, who comes from the media world, has been more forward-facing. Since coming on full-time in 2018, he’s often present in personnel meetings and in the postgame locker room with Jimmy. He’s been known to appear on local podcasts and spar with fans and journalists on social media platform X. Whitney — who spent 18 years at Pilot, the company Jimmy’s dad started, and Pilot Flying J, including seven years running it, before turning her attention to HSG — has operated slightly more in the shadows, focused on finding balance between being a corporate executive and a mom. Meanwhile, Jimmy and Dee, both 72 years old, don’t plan to kick up their feet with cocktails on the beach any time soon. “Yeah, that’s not in the cards,” says Dee. “Jimmy and I love to work. We love what we do.” Still, when the Haslam Sports Group team talks about the future, they talk in terms of a 50-plus-year plan: a new stadium built to last, a football team that can hopefully turn the tide on decades of failure, and a succession plan that eventually puts JW and Whitney in the driver’s seat, as the leaders of the Cleveland Browns and Haslam Sports Group. “They’ll lead our family business,” says Dee. “When they moved here eight years ago, they moved here for that specific reason.” “The only question,” Jimmy says, “is when.” of the new Huntington Bank Field. The couple turns in circles, gawking at the massive jumbotron and pointing out where the family’s suite might be, right above the home sidelines. They can almost reach out and touch the 6,500 fans in the Dawg Pound, which has a first row just 16 feet from the field and a slope of 34 degrees, the steepest in the NFL, designed to put fans as close as possible to the action. Its position on the west J W A N D W H I T N E Y S TA N D AT T H E 5 0 -YA R D L I N E
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stretches from floor to ceiling in the lobby of the offices at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus, the Cleveland Browns’ headquarters in Berea. The contemporary folk art piece depicts an eastward bird’seye view of the hallowed plot of asphalt between the Shoreway and the RTA tracks on game day. The rudimentary figures are obscured, but they are grilling, parking, throwing footballs, sipping label-less cans and starting the mile-long walk to the stadium, which is out of frame. One can pass the time before a meeting by playing a game that many Clevelanders frequently play at the stadium on Sundays, or during halftime or a blowout: “I Spy” a jersey of an obscure, forgotten Browns player. A couple 19s. A 4. A 57. Those are easy. Why so many 31s? Jamal Lewis, who rushed for 1,000 yards in both 2007 and 2008? I paid $14 to see him and the 4-11 Browns lose to the Bengals in 15-degree December weather. A lakefront 15. No, probably Frank Minnifield, the Pro Bowl cornerback from the ’80s. Did you know the Browns are moving to Brook Park? Of course you did. Everyone does. For the past year, overshadowing the Deshaun Watson debacle or the Myles Garrett sack record or the subsequent trading of said defensive superstar, the debate surrounding the stadium — a year-long battle with the city of Cleveland that led to a lawsuit — dominated Browns discourse. Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb called the move “a betrayal of Ohio taxpayers.” An illustration of Browns owner Jimmy Haslam’s face stood alone on the cover of Cleveland Scene’s 2024 “Worst of Cleveland” issue. Fans, 57% of whom wanted the team to stay Downtown, according to a 19 News survey, dubbed the team the “Brook Park Browns.” Would they really do it? How would they do it? Why would they do it? Now you have your answers: Yes, they are doing it. With $600 million in state funds, $245 million from Brook Park, $1.76 billion of Haslam Sports Group money, and a $100 million kumbaya payoff to the city of Cleveland. Because they can build an epic, modern, domed, $2.6 billion stadium with 67,500 to 75,000 seats and — despite saying “we’re not out to make money” — the ability to profit off of every aspect of the experience, down to parking at the tailgate lot. The questions that now remain are more spiritual than political. Will the “blue-collar fans,” as they’re so frequently referred to, be priced out of tickets and parking? As existing personal seat licenses (PSLs) expire with the move to the new stadium, how will the Browns honor longtime season-ticket holders? Beyond providing credits toward new PSLs based on the value of their current licenses, will years of loyalty factor into the process? Like that painting, devoid of barks, blunt smoke and costumed men gnawing dog bones and bonging beers, will the ritual by which so many Clevelanders define their Browns fandom be sanitized, plastic and corporate? Can two billion dollars manufacture an experience that wasn’t engineered in the first place? James Woods “JW” Johnson III and Whitney Haslam Johnson walk in through the front door of the lobby in safety vests and orange hard hats with a Browns stripe down the center. Wearing golf attire, JW plants a strong, assertive handshake and booms a hello. Whitney, ever-stylish in a smart-casual skirt and blouse and wispy, shoulder-length blonde hair, follows with a welcoming smile. Jimmy and Dee. Dee and Jimmy. When the average Browns fan
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WHITNEY AND JW STAND INSIDE THE IMMERSIVE CUBE, A ROOM OF LED SCREENS THAT FEELS LIKE STEPPING INTO THE STADIUM.
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end creates an imposing wall of rabid Browns fans right outside the visiting team’s tunnel. “Wow, this is incredible,” JW says softly. The field and the fans, of course, don’t yet exist. They are merely digital renderings and extras inside The Immersive Cube, a morethan-20-million pixel LED screen that displays renderings on three walls, the floor and the ceiling of a 12-by-12 room. Akin to Sphere in Las Vegas, the space creates a life-like experience of walking into the stadium or grabbing a snack at the concession stand or sitting in the Dawg Pound — or flying like a bird over a sea of tailgaters in the parking lot. Whitney and JW are experiencing the technology for the first time. Whitney’s gears turn. Even the rendering, often the most idealistic version of a development, isn’t quite done yet. “When we talk about doing the seats in brown-and-orange stripes, the problem is you’ll have to move the aisles, which might not work with the steel beams,” Whitney tells a Browns employee. “We did yellow at the Crew stadium, but orange is different than yellow. A little bit goes a long way.” The Cube is the main feature of the Sales Experience Center, a new structure that opened on the southwest side of the longstanding HQ last month. Joining conference rooms and event spaces, the video screen helps the sales team show off a sponsor’s logo placements or a season-ticket holders’ view. If anything about the Brook Park stadium keeps Whitney up at night, besides the day-to-day headaches of construction snags and potential cost overruns, it’s putting butts in seats, including 167 luxury suites alongside 12 club spaces. “We have a lot of suites to sell,” says Whitney, “a lot of products.” More than just suites, the Haslams are on a mission to sell Huntington Bank Field to Browns fans as not just an experience but a Cleveland experience — one that can give the region a boost at the same time. The team’s studies point to the generation of 5,400 jobs and $1.2 billion in annual economic impact, including a boost to Downtown. (Other analyses dispute those numbers, especially Downtown, where estimates suggest a loss of $30 million in economic output, $11 million in tax revenue and hundreds of jobs.) When the Haslams tapped Lance Evans, venue designs director and principal at HKS Architects, to design the new stadium, he wanted to feel the energy of the Browns faithful. He didn’t ride up to the gate in a limo and sit in the Haslam suite. No, he joined the revelry of a Muni Lot tailgate. He barked in the Dawg Pound. “The atmosphere of the Dawg Pound really was contagious,” he says. “The ritual before the game starts is truly unique and special (compared to what) I’ve seen around the league.” Evans would know. His firm led or contributed to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California (home of the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers, and the Super Bowl this season), U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis (home of the Minnesota Vikings), AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas (home of the Dallas Cowboys), and Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis (home of the Indianapolis Colts). When Evans began discussions with the Haslams four years ago, the Browns owners didn’t want to replicate those stadiums. Those projects work because they’re defined by a sense of place, Evans says. They take climate and culture into account. That’s what gives a building relevance decades later. Evans didn’t need to look far for buildings that lasted. The architect visited Cleveland’s most prominent spaces to learn the local design language that he needed to create a Huntington Bank Field that felt like Cleveland’s stadium. The atriums of the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Old Arcade inspired the design of the most prominent feature: the domed roof. The custom folded-plate transparent roof will be specially designed to withstand 48 C L E V E L A N D 0 9 . 2 6
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Ahead of opening day 2029, tour the new Huntington Bank Field in Brook Park.
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The stadium’s non-invasive steel trusses support an atrium-style roof designed to maximize natural light. Forgoing a center-hung video screen also adds to the outdoor feel.
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Some players might cry the blues, but Brook Park will be a turf field. The stadium will accommodate natural grass when necessary, including for international soccer games.
The Dawg Pound puts 6,500 barking fans right outside the visiting team’s tunnel, on the west end of the stadium. The section sits at a 34-degree slope, the NFL’s steepest grade. Concourses will be larger, offer better views of the action and create new gathering spaces. The Browns also vow to feature local flavors and Northeast Ohio restaurants. Fifty-foot-tall video screens sit above each end zone. Tilted 35 degrees toward the field, they’re designed to work with the roof and seating sections to amplify crowd noise. The stadium features the NFL’s smallest nosebleed section. The first and last seats sit closer to the field than any stadium in the NFL at 16 feet and 248 feet, respectively.
Two upscale hotels outside the stadium bring 450 hotel rooms to the property. Can’t get enough Sunday action? Shack up in one of the district’s 1,100 residential apartments.
snow accumulation and drastic weather changes. Discrete steel trusses will bathe the coliseum in natural light. “The buildings that spoke to me were ones that have stood the test of time,” says Evans. “There’s a legacy to the city, which I just found really intoxicating.” Opened in 1999, the current Huntington Bank Field was not built for permanence. Or if it was, that mission failed. After Browns owner Art Modell announced he’d move the team to Baltimore, the NFL promised Cleveland an expansion club if the city agreed to build a new stadium for the 1999-2000 season. Designed by HOK Sports Facilities Group, the same firm that built Jacobs Field, the 1996 plans, completed under Mayor Michael White, were hastily made. The $247 million open-air stadium was primarily publicly funded, though the
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Initial renderings and plans for the 176-acre mixed-use development show restaurants, storefronts, offices, parks and an internal street network, furthering the neighborhood feel. More than 300,000 square feet of retail space will offer shopping and interactive experiences, including indoor golf, bowling and virtual reality. In addition to the stadium’s concert lineup, a 6,000-person entertainment venue will bring music events, as well as conventions, athletic competitions and more. Phase one calls for 9,401 game-day parking spaces, dropping to 8,734 in the full development. Another 9,000 to 12,000 off-site spaces and a pedestrian bridge could add capacity. Expect major highway construction around the site, particularly on I-71, I-480 and state Route 237. Easy access to those freeways will be essential to alleviating game-day traffic. Cars won’t be the only way to get there. An RTA transit platform is included in the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency’s transportation plans. Tailgating options include indoor and outdoor plazas equipped with video screens and concessions, as well as the old-school parking lot party. Only bummer: Ticket holders only. The first phase, in 2029, features the stadium, tailgating plazas and retail spaces. The second phase will add more apartments, retail, hotel rooms, offices and a public park.
league pitched in $43 million. Financial constraints prevented a dome, though one was discussed. Its video screens were considered state-of-the-art, but that was about it. The 73,000-seat stadium (later reduced to 67,500) hosted its first regular season game on Sept. 13, 1999. The Pittsburgh Steelers walloped the Browns, 43-0, in a primetime game on Monday Night Football. “The stadium on the lakefront was built in a different era,” Evans says. “Stadiums were more utilitarian in their focus, and as the league and fans’ behaviors have evolved, the building type has evolved, too.” Since 2007, the city of Cleveland has paid more than $50 million for capital repair projects, such as accessibility improvements and electrical work. An audit in 2024 said the stadium would need $117 million of construction just to keep it playable. A full renovation on
the lakefront would have cost more than $1 billion, Haslam Sports Group estimated. All the while, the city is still paying off the original cost of the stadium build, $9.3 million a year through 2028, and spends about $19 million annually on total stadium costs — $2 million more than the city collects each year in taxes and other revenue directly related to the stadium, according to cleveland.com. “This new building and the development around it will hopefully bring the fans into the next generation of the Browns,” says JW. “Cleveland deserves nice things, and this will be one of the nicest things in the city of Cleveland and the county.” T O D A Y ’ S S P O R T S F A N S want more than a good game. Surveys show
fans now desire better food options, premium seats, digital integration, pregame entertainment and fan zones. The lakefront building’s spatial constraints, the architect says, limit real estate for enhanced concourses and gathering spaces. “Captain” Steve Weber has been a season-ticket holder since 1985. In 2013, he created the Greatest Northern American Tailgate Society (better known as GNATS) and now welcomes more than 1,000 fans per game to The Pitt tailgate lot. He also organizes meetups at away games, which has brought him to more than 18 stadiums. “I’ve been begging for a new dome stadium,” he says. “The stadiums that are out there in the NFL, they’re unreal. It’s like, why can’t we have nice things? When (the Haslams) said they were going to make it the best stadium in the league, I was ecstatic.” The evolution can be seen across professional sports. Las Vegas’s stadium, opened in 2020, features an end-zone nightclub. The Buffalo Bills, who will christen the new Highmark Stadium this year, have localized their experience with an art program and food stalls organized by Buffalo neighborhoods, with local restaurateurs serving as vendors — all within view of the game. Even in Cleveland, Progressive Field removed thousands of seats to emphasize experiences like the Corner Bar in right field, the Kids Clubhouse and the North Coast CLEVELANDMAGAZINE.COM
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Social, which replaced the former Terrace Club with a gastropub. Over the next five years, D.C., Denver, Chicago, Tennessee and Kansas City all hope to have new homes. Every one of those projects includes a “mixed-use development.” The Atlanta Braves’ Truist Park, which the Haslams cite as an inspiration, is surrounded by The Battery, a 75-acre collection of restaurants, entertainment venues and hotels located in Cobb County, Georgia, about 10 miles outside the city. The Battery’s mixed-use business generated more adjusted operating profit than Atlanta’s baseball business in 2025. The Chicago Bears, as they move on from the 102-year-old Soldier Field, are so desperate to repeat the formula that they’re even considering a move to Indiana, 20 miles (in Chicago traffic) outside the city. The stadium debate gave many Browns fans flashbacks to The Move, partially motivated by Modell’s desire for a new stadium. The family never considered anything much farther than the 12 miles to Brook Park — especially a move to Columbus or out of the state. “We were never really thinking about leaving the region,” says JW. “Columbus wasn’t an option.” The ability to fulfill the vision for a 176-acre mixed-use entertainment district bound for Brook Park was important to the decision, though. The Haslams hope the stadium attracts 15 to 20 large-scale events per year, such as a Taylor Swift concert, WrestleMania, World Cup soccer games or the Final Four. The target of more than 50 events per year includes “flat-floor events,” Jimmy says; the type that the I-X Center used to host, like car shows and industry conventions. News 5 reported in June that the Browns were in talks to lease the I-X Center to continue shows there until the stadium is complete, though HSG did not confirm that reporting. Additionally, plans include a standalone indoor music venue and event center. The space, located on the Brook Park campus, will have a capacity of about 3,000-4,000 people, a bit smaller than the 4,000-5,000-capacity Jacobs Pavilion in Cleveland. Jimmy has argued that the stadium could even position Cleveland to win the mother of all events: the Super Bowl. At the stadium’s groundbreaking ceremony in April, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said he does not doubt that the stadium will be “Super Bowlready,” but that Northeast Ohio lacks the surrounding infrastructure — five-star hotels, golf courses, restaurants, etc. — to host the 20,000 people who invade the host city of the Big Game in February. “We’re going to be able to finally compete with surrounding cities for the best events in the United States,” says Whitney. On Sundays, that entertainment starts in the parking lot, where fans (with tickets) can still literally tailgate — behind the car, the
old-fashioned way. You can also kick off the day in the Tailgate Plaza, a space outside the stadium with concessions and a big screen playing pregame pump-up content. After getting your ticket scanned, enter the Fan Plaza, a large outdoor gathering space, before progressing directly to the mouth of the new-and-improved Dawg Pound. Much like offense, defense and special teams units must work together to win a game; the Xs and Os of entertainment, fandom and luxury must mesh for this project to be a success. Luckily, JW and Whitney are uniquely suited to bring it all together. F A M I L Y B U S I N E S S E S A R E N ’ T E A S Y, but they’re all the Haslams know.
James Arthur Haslam II, better known as “Big Jim,” started Pilot in 1958. Big Jim was an offensive lineman for the 1951 Tennessee Volunteers’ national championship team and a veteran of the Korean War. Jimmy, his son, joined the company in 1976, when he was still a senior at the University of Tennessee. By the time Whitney was born, her grandfather’s Pilot Company, as it was known before a 2010 merger with Flying J, was already a $30 million business with about 50 gas stations. Two years earlier, the company launched its first convenience store — a move that led to building travel centers in 1981 and rapid growth over the next two decades. In 1996, when Jimmy became president and CEO, the company had grown to 96 travel centers and 1.2 billion gallons of annual oil sales. No matter how big Pilot got, Whitney’s childhood memories of the company ring similar to those raised within any family business. She’d run around and chat with customers and employees, from whom her father received and noted feedback. She watched her parents pitch in on odd jobs when needed. Today, her parents and collaborators describe her as “incredibly competent,” “process-oriented,” “detailed” and “matter-of-fact.” But not all of those were necessarily qualities her parents saw in her as a child. “No, we did not,” says Dee, as she and Jimmy burst out laughing. “High energy,” says Jimmy. “Let’s just put it this way: She’s much easier now than when she was a kid.” “When I look back on it,” says Dee, “she would tell us what she
IT’S NOT ALL RAINBOWS AND BUTTERFLIES. BUT WE WORK THROUGH IT, KNOWING THAT WE ALL WANT TO WIN, WE WANT TO PROVIDE THE BEST FAN EXPERIENCE, AND WE WANT TO BE REALLY INVOLVED IN THE COMMUNITY.” -WHITNEY HASLAM JOHNSON
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was doing or not doing. ‘I’m not going here. I’m not doing this. I’m not doing that.’ She was pretty much in charge a long time ago.” Whitney grew up as an athlete and a Tennessee Volunteers fan. She particularly excelled at swimming but also played soccer, softball and basketball. Her experience in female youth sports later drove her initiative to expand access to girls’ flag football leagues in Cleveland and the NWSL team in Columbus, and her love of Lady Vols basketball coach Pat Summitt inspired her and her mother’s 2022 capital investment in the WNBA. Despite bleeding orange and white, Whitney attended the University of Georgia, earning a finance degree. When she graduated in 2001, her parents encouraged her to gain outside experience before joining the family company. She began her career as an assistant controller with Marriott International. In 2004, she led fundraising efforts in the Southeast region for the Bush-Cheney campaign before joining the family business, Pilot Company, in 2005. JW grew up in New York City, Manhattan, until he was 10 or 11. He was an only child, and his father was in and out of his life. His mother, who started and operated her own public relations firm, moved him to Sharon, a small town in the northwest corner of Connecticut. He was a Cowboys fan from birth: in its Doomsday Defense era, the team lost the Super Bowl to the Steelers on the night his mother went into labor. The fandom continued as a rebellion against his father’s love of the New York Giants, and he picked up the Texas Rangers to counter his dad’s New York Yankees. As a well-rounded athlete, however, JW’s focus was on the ice, where he was a 6-foot-3 goaltender with NHL ambitions. JW awoke from those dreams on the ice but found another way to stay close to sports. At 17, he began working at CBS Sports as a runner at the U.S. Open Tennis Championships. The next summer, he worked PGA Tour events and continued to do so through his time at the University of Mississippi in Oxford. After school, he joined CBS full-time and earned an Emmy Award as an associate producer and associate director, covering events such as the Masters, the Super Bowl and the Final Four. He spent 15 years there before joining RIVR Media, owned by Dee Haslam. In 2014, he started a creative agency and production company, 3 Sons Media, where he created in-game videos for the Tennessee Titans and the Browns as well as content for Nike, ESPN, NASCAR and PGA. Whitney and JW met at a wedding in Savannah, Georgia, in 2007. “We hit it off and ended up talking all night,” JW says. A set-up: mutual friends knew they would bond over their love of sports, including both playing goalie on their high school soccer teams. Later that week, JW called her and said, “One way or another, I’d like to see you again.” They got married in 2009 and had their first of three boys, Hank, in 2010. “She’s darn beautiful. She’s funny. She’s got a big heart, and she was just easy to talk to,” JW says. “We laugh a lot, especially because of these three boys. We’re still very much in love. It’s still very easy.” J I M M Y A D M I T S H E M A D E M I S T A K E S when Whitney joined Pilot in 2005.
He couldn’t afford a similar misstep when Whitney and JW came on with the Cleveland Browns. Thirty years after joining the company, Jimmy’s Pilot was very different from Big Jim’s. With a penchant for operations, a part of the business his dad didn’t like, Jimmy fell into his role naturally, offering a yin to Big Jim’s yang. Whitney, who walked into a company that had grown from a $50-ish million company into a multi-billiondollar powerhouse with thousands of employees, didn’t immediately find her place. “We did not onboard or set her up for success at Pilot as well as we should,” says Jimmy. “It was a big jump in. We kind of made her figure it out herself.”
“WE JOKE ALL THE TIME. YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE AT A FAMILY DINNER TABLE BECAUSE DEE WILL BE SNIPPING AT JIMMY. JW WILL BE ELBOWING SOMEONE UNDER THE TABLE.” -PETER JOHN-BAPTISTE, CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, HASLAM SPORTS GROUP Whitney started at Pilot as a category manager before moving to the marketing side of the company. The creative position was thrust on her by then-president Ken Parent, who became a mentor. The opportunity helped her find a groove. Eventually, she became vice president of brand and customer experience in 2013 and then chief experience officer in 2017. She quickly launched an extensive rebrand, widespread renovations of the travel center facilities and an expansion of the company’s customer loyalty programs, while veering the marketing strategy into the sports world. In 2024, the Haslams sold the company to Berkshire Hathaway, the holding company chaired by Warren Buffett. “Coming out of college, I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure that I wanted CLEVELANDMAGAZINE.COM
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A 50-YEAR PLAN IS DESIGNED TO CARRY ON A BROWNS LEGACY BUILT AROUND FANDOM — AND OFFER A BOOST TO THE REGION.
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to work for a truck stop,” Whitney told Sports Business Journal in 2018. “But I pretty quickly learned that the job really is more about people and engaging with those people, whether it’s at one of our travel centers or at a football game.” JW and Whitney joined the Browns in 2018, a strenuous time. The team was in disarray, going 1-31 in 2016 and 2017. Head coach Hue Jackson, who would be fired midseason a few months later, was on thin ice. But there were some bright spots. The team selected defensive end Myles Garrett No. 1 overall in the 2017 draft, and in 2018, the Browns selected Baker Mayfield, who had just won the Heisman Trophy as quarterback of the Oklahoma Sooners. The Johnson family had also just moved to Cleveland. As parents of young kids, JW and Whitney had grown tired of commuting from Nashville to Cleveland. So, they found a 1927 brick Georgian-revival house in Shaker Heights and redesigned it to make it home. Enrolling the boys at University School, where Whitney now sits on the board, helped the family quickly create a tight-knit community of like-minded parents. “It was a leap of faith,” says Whitney. To further ease the transition — and protect the family unit — Jimmy and Dee hired an executive coaching firm to create a blueprint for the shared leadership model. Dee says the consultants helped guide the family through “really tough” conversations. “It’s not all rainbows and butterflies” says Whitney. “But we communicate, and we work through it, knowing that we all want to win, we all want to provide the best fan experience, and we all want to be really involved in the community. We keep that at the center.” The coach’s main goal was to define each member’s role. Their skill sets complemented each other well. Jimmy, the big-picture visionary and larger-than-life personality. Dee, the community-minded one, on local philanthropy projects and the league’s social justice, conduct and legislative committees. JW, the sports media-minded strategist who aligns the goals of the business, marketing and corporate sponsorship. Whitney, the expert in branding and consumer experience. “Any time four people work together, whether they’re related or not, things can be a little complicated,” says Jimmy. “We’re still feeling each other out occasionally at times. Occasionally, somebody oversteps their bounds. But for the most part, we have worked together really well.” Most of the time, Berea feels like what it is: the HQ of a multibillion-dollar corporation. But like a family business of any size, Haslam Sports Group has its quirks, too. “We joke about it all the time,” says Peter John-Baptiste, chief communications officer of the Browns and Haslam Sports Group. “You feel like you’re at a family dinner table because Dee will be snipping at Jimmy. JW will be elbowing someone under the table.” “A lot of times, it definitely feels like you’re working with colleagues,” says David Jenkins, chief operating officer of the Browns and Haslam Sports Group, “but of course, there’s moments when glimpses of family appear. Maybe there’s just a different level of comfort in pushing each other in those scenarios because you’re family, which ultimately probably gets you to the best possible outcome, because you know you’re walking out that door aligned, sharing the same goal.” The buzz of construction overpowers the cheers and whistles of training camp at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus. Workers put the final touches inside the Sales Experience Center. Others work on the facade of the adjacent sports medicine building or erect beams for the new buildings across the street. With all the focus on the stadium and its impact on Brook Park, it’s easy to forget the massive project going on at Browns HQ and how it’s set to change the face of Berea. Long before Brook Park is much more than a hole in the dirt, Berea will begin seeing the impact of Haslam Sports Group’s investments.
The CrossCountry Mortgage Campus expansion project is a 17acre reworking of the Berea campus. Privately financed, the $175 million plan, led by DiGeronimo Cos. and Independence Construction, is set to create a multi-use neighborhood where people can live, work and play. First up is a University Hospitals sports medicine center for both players and civilians who have UH as their providers. The mini-neighborhood will also include a content studio for the marketing team, more offices, about 150 market-rate apartments, 15,000 square feet of retail, and the 140-room Barker Hotel, part of the higher-end Marriott Tribute Portfolio. Renderings kind of look like Pinecrest or Crocker Park. Perhaps the most impactful bit for Berea residents is the community stadium. Though the Browns can practice here (it won’t be their primary practice field), this facility is intended for public use. Scheduled for completion in 2028, the stadium will feature about 7,000 seats, artificial turf and space for multiple sports, serving everyone from youth players to adult rec leagues. Berea-Midpark High School plans to play its football games here, and Haslam Sports Group hopes to host outside sporting events like lower college division football games, soccer and lacrosse by building to organizers’ desired specs. Haslam Sports Group has no timeouts, no ability to dwell on the present or get lost in building the future. By Sept. 13, when the Browns take the field against the Jaguars in Jacksonville, they must have named a starting quarterback, evaluating what they have in the aging Deshaun Watson and the very green Shedeur Sanders, while keeping an eye on the 2027 draft. Football is still at the forefront. “Our ultimate goal is to win a Super Bowl,” says JW. “We want to win trophies. Everything we’re doing is leading to that.” The best outcome of the paradox they face is a little like the Myles Garrett trade. Yes, you sacrificed a Hall of Fame player in his prime. But in Jared Verse, you got a much younger star at the same position who can contribute now, plus a slew of draft picks to build around. The worst outcome? Like the Deshaun Watson trade, selling the farm without much to show for it. The regional impact of Taylor Swift concerts or even a Super Bowl is important — maybe even monumental. Ultimately, though, diehard Browns fans, the ones to which the Haslams proclaim loyalty, will judge the family by the only metric that matters in the NFL. “Man, I don’t care where we play, as long as we win,” says Weber. To some extent, JW and Whitney agree with that sentiment. Sitting in the locker room after games, JW has felt the sting of a loss and the buoyancy of a win. Whitney feels the pressure of propelling her family’s legacy. They hear the critics, especially the ones who matter most. “You know what it’s like coming home and having my kids give me a hard time, like, What are we doing?” says JW. The boys are officially Clevelanders now, after all. Since moving here, they’ve traded their Yankees hats for Guardians ones. They cheer for the Cavs. Depending on how high school football goes, they’ll consider playing collegiate ball at John Carroll University or the University of Mount Union. Their SEC parents would even be OK if they become Buckeyes. The boys were often seen running around the facility when they were younger, just like Whitney at the Pilot stations. Every year around draft time, Browns general manager Andrew Berry still gets unsolicited advice from the Johnson boys. Much of it is surprisingly insightful, Berry tells JW. Good thing. They might just be next in line. “They love being around football,” says JW. “You don’t want to just say, ‘Hey, this is for you.’ We want them to go out and earn their own stripes, see other experiences. If they’re like, ‘Hey, I want to take a crack at it,’ then great. If they don’t, then it is what it is. But I’ve got a feeling at least one or two may want to work in the business at some point. So, we’ll see.” CLEVELANDMAGAZINE.COM
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Lawrence School Knows Great Minds Don’t Think Alike
Is Your Child’s School Supporting Their Learning Style? Every child learns differently, especially those with dyslexia, ADHD, or other learning differences. If your child feels lost or unsupported, it may be time to ask new questions about their school environment. Lawrence School partners with families to explore whether their child’s needs are being met in ways that ignite confidence and success. Supporting self-esteem, equipping teachers with specialized training, and providing evidence based reading instruction such as Orton-Gillingham, along with the executive function tools that build the strengths that students need for their future paths. Being taught in the right learning style matters for all students, and Lawrence School has been teaching great minds for over 50 years, with powerful stories of how our graduates are prepared for what’s next. For families who want to explore a better fit, Lawrence School is here to help. Our mission is to empower students who learn differently with the instruction, community, and confidence they need to thrive. And when students step into the right environment, everything can change.
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“Previously, we had been told to lower our expectations. . Lawrence raised them.” - Parent of a Lawrence School student
PRIVATE EYES
Strong academics are just the start. Families are looking more closely at culture, connection and ‘being known’ to find a private school where their child can thrive. BY KRISTEN HAMPSHIRE
B
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teachers engaged? Could they picture themselves there? Of course, the kids noticed the food. “We need more than that,” Vajdich reminded them. For her, that “more” included belonging. “I want them to feel connected and excited to represent it,” she says. The search eventually led the family to Gilmour Academy. Their experience reflects how many families are approaching the private-school decision today. Academic excellence still matters. So do college outcomes. But increasingly, those are just the starting point. Families are looking beyond them to culture, relationships and opportunities — and asking whether this is a place where their child will grow. In a 2024 EdChoice survey, private school parents ranked safety and academic quality equally at 36%, followed closely by morals, character and values instruction at 31%.
“I think academics are really the first draw for families to an independent school, but the culture is what ultimately helps many families make their decisions,” says Alison McCloskey, executive director of the Cleveland Council of Independent Schools. Parents want their children to be challenged, McCloskey says, but also supported and encouraged to grow. “There is no single best independent school,” she says. “The best school is the one that is the best fit for your child.”
Known Here Ask admissions leaders what parents are looking for, and one word comes up again and again: known. At Lake Ridge Academy, Jane Lacoste, director of admissions and international
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efore Lori Vajdich and her family toured a single school, they sat down together and made a list. Strong academics. Teachers who cared. Opportunities to try new things. A community where Landon and Layla, now in eighth and ninth grades, could find their place — and feel proud to say, “This is my school.” The family wasn’t new to private education. But as her children approached middle school, Vajdich began to wonder whether the school that had served them well was still the right fit. Changing schools wasn’t an easy sell. “You don’t have to move,” Vajdich remembers telling them, “but I’d really like you to look.” So they did. They shadowed students, met teachers and walked the halls at four schools. After each visit, the family compared notes. How did students treat each other? Were
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enrollment, hears it directly from families: Will my child “be comfortable being themselves”? Will they belong? Will “teachers really know them”? For Lacoste, being known shows up in everyday interactions. Being known means teachers understand how a student learns, where they excel and where they may need support. “Will they be challenged when they excel and supported when they struggle?” Lacoste asks. Ultimately, those questions help families get to the heart of a fit and whether their children will “thrive academically, socially and personally.” “Academics and college outcomes are expected,” Lacoste says. At Hawken School, Katherine Gonzalez, assistant head of school for enrollment management, says being known extends beyond academics. Students should be “seen, heard and known” — understood not just as learners, but as people. That sense of belonging matters, Gonzalez says, because “when students feel like they belong, they learn better.” At Laurel School, Abigail Steinberg, director of enrollment management, puts it plainly. “Academic rigor means very little if a child doesn’t feel safe, seen and valued. Culture and well-being are the prerequisite for deep intellectual engagement,” she says. She adds, “At Laurel, we encourage parents to ask us how we build courage. Knowing how a school navigates conflict, failure and peer dynamics tells you everything about its true culture.”
plishments, she says. Michael Palange, assistant director of admissions at St. Ignatius High School, makes a similar distinction. An open house gives families a sense of the buildings, activities and “bells and whistles.” A shadow day shows something different. “What does it look like when you’re shadowing?” he says. Palange encourages families to experience a school in multiple settings and talk with current students and parents whenever possible. The goal is to understand the entire experience, not choose a school because of one team, facility or program. Palange, a St. Ignatius alumnus, dials back to what guided his decision. “A family friend worked here and he would bring me up here to play basketball with his son,” he relates. “Over time, I thought, ‘This is where I’m going to be.’” Julia Friedl saw this play out when her son, Michael, a senior, began looking at high schools. With family ties to St. Edward High School, he thought his decision was already made. “From fourth grade to eighth grade, he was going to St. Ed’s,” Friedl says. Friedl insisted he keep an open mind. “You have to go and shadow,” she urges. “We have to go to each open house. We have to see.”
So Michael did, ultimately landing on the other side of Northeast Ohio’s storied Holy War rivalry. At St. Ignatius, Michael liked the campus, which reminds him of “a mini college,” and came away intrigued by the classes he shadowed. The details mattered, too. Michael plays alto saxophone and participates in sports, including rugby. With band built into the school day and just one evening practice a week, he saw a way to pursue both. “He was very involved in that decision,” Friedl says. “The music program was very important, the athletics and, of course, the academics.” The visits gave him something family history couldn’t: a chance to picture what his own high school experience might look like.
What Else? Strong academics may earn a school a place on a family’s list. Then comes a bigger question: What else? For one student, the answer might be robotics. For another, orchestra, entrepreneurship, advanced math, environmental science, theater or lacrosse. Increasingly, families aren’t simply looking for more activities. They are looking for opportunities that match a student’s interests,
See For Yourself
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L AUREL SCHOOL: MOCK TUNA PHOTO
Beautiful buildings are easy to see. Culture takes more work. Admissions directors encourage families to spend enough time at a school to see past the polished open house. “Look past the mission statement on the wall and watch the unscripted moments,” Steinberg advises. How do teachers interact with students between classes? How does a classroom respond when someone makes a mistake? How do students speak to one another when they aren’t part of the formal tour? Those moments can tell a family considerably more about a school’s culture than a list of accom-
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STUDENTS SAY
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important distinction: Specialized doesn’t necessarily mean exclusive. And WRA is expanding the concept, adding 16,000 square feet to its existing 6,000-square-foot makerspace, with new space for technology, entrepreneurship and interdisciplinary learning. Approximately 400 of WRA’s 440 students took a course in the center last year, Buck says. Students encounter everything from graphic design and 3D printing to robotics, virtual reality and AI. An automotive engineering class even built a 1967 Shelby Cobra from a kit. “It’s a space that nearly every student at Western Reserve Academy touches,” Buck says. At St. Ignatius, Palange points to advanced academics as another example of the “what else?” factor. He describes a math teacher who pursued additional education so he could offer multivariable calculus and linear algebra, allowing advanced students to continue progressing without leaving campus to take college courses. Students also conduct high-level research and present their findings beyond the school. But “what else?” can work in the opposite direction, too. Instead of going deeper into an existing strength, a student might discover something unexpected. Vajdich’s children
What kind of student thrives here? How will teachers get to know my child? How do you support students who struggle — and challenge those ready for more? What does a typical day really look like? How do students find their place and build friendships? What opportunities will my child have to explore new interests?
WESTERN RESERVE ACADEMY: ANDREW JORDAN PHOTOGRAPHY
or ones that may help uncover a new passion. Suzanne Walker Buck, head of school at Western Reserve Academy, says families increasingly seek specialized experiences. A child may have a particular interest “where they really want to go deep, explore deep,” she says. At WRA, that might mean cancer immunology for a student interested in medicine or hands-on learning through the school’s Innovation Center. Buck calls those distinctive programs a “magnet for families.” Entrepreneurship is another growing draw. “Unlike five years ago, now we see more families who want their child to have opportunities in entrepreneurism and to be able to pursue creative business ideas,” Buck says. And they’re doing more than kicking around ideas. One student identified a gap for high school lacrosse players interested in Division III programs and created an online platform connecting recruits with coaches. Another developed an artificial intelligence program for medical transcription. “These are the types of things parents are now asking: Are there opportunities for my child to pursue an entrepreneurial idea that did not exist five years ago?” Buck says. The Innovation Center also illustrates an
Parents may begin the school search. Increasingly, students help finish it. By middle and high school, admissions leaders say students should have some stake in the decision. Michael Palange, the director of admissions at St. Ignatius, favors giving parents “51% of the ownership,” while putting students in a position to experience schools and weigh their options. Choosing a high school, he says, may be one of the first big decisions a teenager helps make. At Laurel School, Abigail Steinberg, director of enrollment management, says students at the middle and high school levels should have “a genuine seat at the decision-making table.” “When students have ownership in the choice,” she says, “they arrive more invested in the experience.” At Hawken School, Katherine Gonzalez says the student’s voice becomes increasingly important as children get older. By middle and high school, she says, the ideal outcome is for a parent to leave thinking, “My child can grow here,” while the student walks away thinking, “That’s my school. I can see myself there.” As families weigh those perspectives, a few questions can help get beyond the brochure and closer to a
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are athletes. Her son, Landon, tried drama club anyway — and liked it enough to sign up again. He added speech and debate. Both children became involved in student council. That exploration is part of what Vajdich says she values most. “They are both asking questions and talking to teachers in ways they never would have,” she says. And when facilities are part of the draw, families should look beyond the wow factor. “I would encourage parents to ask, ‘What access will my child have?’” says Dan DeCrane, Gilmour’s director of admissions. A performing arts center or athletic facility may impress on a tour, he says, but families should consider how students actually use those spaces.
The Bigger Picture College preparation remains part of the equation. But families are also looking be-
yond where graduates go to consider who they become and what opportunities they may carry with them. Can students advocate for themselves? Recover from setbacks? Take risks? Lead? Build relationships? Meg Colafella, chief communications officer at WRA, saw that kind of preparation firsthand as a parent. One of her sons attended WRA, while another attended public school. By the time her son headed to college, he was accustomed to navigating a campus, managing his schedule and taking responsibility for his day. Connections can matter, too. St. Ignatius has more than 21,000 living alumni, and Palange says some families are already thinking about what that network could mean. “What opportunities will they have when they leave here to get an internship or a job or whatever it may be later on in life?” he says. Friedl has already seen an example with
Open House
her son. More than 40 college coaches attended a St. Ignatius rugby practice last spring, she says. A Brown University coach noticed Michael, connected with his coaches and later invited him to visit campus. Making connections starts on campus, DeCrane points out. “We’re geared toward involved and active student leaders with more than 60 clubs and grassroots efforts so they can engage in their interests and discover new ones,” he says. At the same time, Gilmour is making its alumni network more accessible. “We have a great alumni networking program, and our advancement team is consistently connecting Gilmour graduates to professional growth opportunities,” DeCrane says. Ultimately, Palange says, preparation is about more than academics. “What else are we doing and how are we helping create the man they’re going to be from here forward?” he says.
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PRIVATE ELEMENTARY & MIDDLE SCHOOLS BAPTIST
FIRST BAPTIST CHRISTIAN SCHOOL 11400 Lagrange Road, Elyria, 440-458-5185, fbcs-elyria.org
GESU CATHOLIC SCHOOL
2450 Miramar Blvd., University Heights, 216-932-0620, gesu.com
GILMOUR ACADEMY
ALL SAINTS SCHOOL OF ST. JOHN VIANNEY
7367 York Road, Parma, 440-842-7785, holyfamilyschoolparma.org
12510 Mayfield Road, Cleveland, 216-421-0700, clevelandmontessori.org
COMMUNION OF SAINTS SCHOOL
2160 Stillman Road, Cleveland Heights, 216932-4177, communionofsaintsschool.org
CORPUS CHRISTI ACADEMY
5655 Mayfield Road, Lyndhurst, 440-449-4244, corpuschristiacad.org
JULIE BILLIART SCHOOL (AKRON)
NOTRE DAME ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
JULIE BILLIART SCHOOL (LYNDHURST)
OUR LADY OF THE ELMS
380 Mineola Ave., Akron, 234-206-0941, juliebilliartschool.org
HOLY FAMILY CATHOLIC SCHOOL HOLY FAMILY SCHOOL
3163 Kent Road, Stow, 330-688-3816, holyfamilyschoolstow.org
HOLY TRINITY SCHOOL
2610 Nagel Road, Avon, 440-937-6420, holytrinityavon.org
IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY 2859 Lillis Drive, Cuyahoga Falls, 330-923-1220, ihmgradeschool.org
1375 W. Exchange St., Akron, 330-836-9384, theelms.org
OUR LADY OF THE LAKE
JULIE BILLIART SCHOOL (WESTLAKE)
175 E. 200th St., Euclid, 216-481-6824, olleuclidschool.org
3600 Crocker Road, Westlake, 440-471-4150, juliebilliartschool.org
ST. ALBERT THE GREAT
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14808 Lake Ave., Lakewood, 216-521-0559, lakewoodcatholicacademy.com
MARY QUEEN OF PEACE SCHOOL
4419 Pearl Road, Cleveland, 216-741-3685, maryqueenofpeaceschool.com
MATER DEI ACADEMY
1910 W. 54th St., Cleveland, 216-281-4044, metrocatholic.org 13000 Auburn Road, Chardon, 440-279-1127, ndes.org
4982 Clubside Road, Lyndhurst, 216-381-1191, juliebilliartschool.org
34001 Cedar Road, Gates Mills, 440-473-8000, gilmour.org
CLEVELAND MONTESSORI SCHOOL
METRO CATHOLIC SCHOOL
6620 Pearl Road, Parma Heights, 440-842-6818, incarnatewordacademy.org
CATHOLIC
28702 Euclid Ave., Wickliffe, 440-943-1395, allsaintssjv.org
INCARNATE WORD ACADEMY
29840 Euclid Ave., Wickliffe, 440-585-0800, materdeiacademy.us
6667 Wallings Road, North Royalton, 440-237-1032, saint-albert.org
ST. ALBERT THE GREAT AT ASSUMPTION ACADEMY
9183 Broadview Road, Broadview Heights, 440-526-4877, assumptionacademy.org
ST. ANGELA MERICI PARISH SCHOOL 20830 Lorain Road, Fairview Park, 440-333-2126, samparish.org/school
ST. ANTHONY OF PADUA LORAIN
1339 E. Erie Ave., Lorain, 440-288-2155, stanthonylorain.org
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Each year, the Jarvis Scholar Program awards up to ten fully-funded, four-year merit scholarships to students entering the ninth grade. The application for fall 2027 admission is now open.
ST. AUGUSTINE SCHOOL
ST. FRANCIS CLEVELAND SCHOOL
ST. JEROME SCHOOL
ST. MARY SCHOOL (ELYRIA)
ST. BARNABAS SCHOOL
ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI SCHOOL
ST. JOAN OF ARC SCHOOL
ST. MARY OF THE ASSUMPTION SCHOOL
195 Seventh St. NW, Barberton, 330-753-6435, staugschool.net 9200 Olde Eight Road, Northfield, 330-467-7921, sbcatholicschool.com
ST. BENEDICT CATHOLIC SCHOOL 13633 Rockside Road, Garfield Heights, 216-662-9380, stbenedictohio.org
ST. BERNADETTE SCHOOL 2300 Clague Road, Westlake, 440-734-7717, stbern.net
ST. BRENDAN
4242 Brendan Lane, North Olmsted, 4 40-777-8433, stbrendannortholmsted.org
ST. CHARLES BORROMEO PARISH SCHOOL
7107 Wilber Ave., Parma, 440-886-5546, saintcharlesschool.org
ST. CHRISTOPHER SCHOOL 1610 Lakeview Ave., Rocky River, 440-331-3075, scsrr.org
ST. DOMINIC SCHOOL
3455 Norwood Road, Shaker Heights, 216-561-4400, stdominicschool.net
7206 Myron Ave., Cleveland, 216-361-4858, stfranciscleveland.org 6850 Mayfield Road, Gates Mills, 440-442-7450, sfaschoolgm.org
ST. FRANCIS DE SALES PARISH SCHOOL
4009 Manchester Road, Akron, 330-644-0638, stfparishschool.org
ST. FRANCIS XAVIER SCHOOL 612 E. Washington St., Medina, 330-725-3345, sfxmedina.com
15100 Lakeshore Blvd., Cleveland 216-486-3587, stjeromecleveland.org 498 E. Washington St., Chagrin Falls, 440-247-6530, stjoanofarc.org
ST. JOSEPH PARISH SCHOOL (AMHERST) 175 St. Joseph Drive, Amherst, 440-988-4244, sjsamherst.org
ST. JOSEPH PARISH SCHOOL (AVON) 32946 Electric Blvd., Avon, 440-933-6233, stjosephparishschool.org
ST. GABRIEL SCHOOL
ST. JUDE SCHOOL
ST. HILARY SCHOOL
ST. MARK CATHOLIC SCHOOL
9935 Johnnycake Ridge Road, Mentor, 440-352-6169, st-gabrielschool.org 645 Moorfield Road, Fairlawn, 330-867-8720, st-hilaryschool.org
ST. IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 10205 Lorain Ave., Cleveland, 216-671-0535, sioaschool.org
594 Poplar St., Elyria, 440-366-1681, stjudejaguars.org 15724 Montrose Ave., Cleveland, 216-521-4115, stmarkwestpark.com
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750 S. Main St., Akron, 330-253-1233, stmaryakron.com
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401 North St., Chardon, 440-286-3590, stmaryschoolchardon.org
237 Fourth St., Elyria, 440-322-2808, stmaryelyria.org
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ST. MARY BYZANTINE CATHOLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 4600 State Road, Cleveland, 216-749-7980, stmarybyzantine.com
ST. MARY OF THE FALLS
8262 Columbia Road, Olmsted Falls, 440235-4580, stmaryofthefallsschool.com
ST. MARY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION 2680 Stoney Ridge Road, Avon, 440-934-6246, stmaryavon.org
ST. MICHAEL CATHOLIC SCHOOL
6906 Chestnut Road, Independence, 2 16-524-6405, stmichaelschoolinfo.com
ST. PASCHAL BAYLON CATHOLIC SCHOOL
5360 Wilson Mills Road, Highland Heights, 440-442-6766, saintpaschal.com
AT BEAUMONT, GIRLS DON’T SIMPLY PARTICIPATE THEY LEAD EVERYTHING, AND THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING
OPEN HOUSE OPEN HOUSE
Sunday, September 27 Sunday, November 8
RSVP at beaumontschool.org/openhouse 3301 North Park Blvd | Cleveland Hts, OH 44118 | Beaumontschool.org A Catholic school in the Ursuline tradition educating women for life, leadership, and service. PSH 68 C L E V E L A N D 0 9 . 2 6
LEARN FOR LIFE
The world needs trailblazers. We’ve been preparing them since 1876.
Meet the community shaping tomorrow’s leaders. Register for an admission event at hb.edu/admission/visit
Co-ed Early Childhood • Girls K-12
ST. PATRICK SCHOOL
127 Portage St., Kent, 330-673-7232, stpatskent.org
ST. PETER SCHOOL (LORAIN) 3601 Oberlin Ave., Lorain, 440-282-9909, stpeterlorain.org
ST. PETER SCHOOL
35749 Center Ridge Road, North Ridgeville, 440-327-3212, stpeterschoolnr.org
ST. RAPHAEL SCHOOL
ST. VINCENT DE PAUL PARISH SCHOOL
PARMA HEIGHTS CHRISTIAN ACADEMY
SS. ROBERT & WILLIAM SCHOOL
RAMAH CHRISTIAN ACADEMY
JOSEPH AND FLORENCE MANDEL JEWISH DAY SCHOOL
SETON CATHOLIC SCHOOL
VALLEY CHRISTIAN ACADEMY
THE LIPPMAN SCHOOL
17 S. Maple St., Akron, 330-762-5912, stvincentelementary.com 351 E. 260th St., Euclid, 216-731-3060, srwschool.cc
6923 Stow Road, Hudson, 330-342-4200, setoncatholicschool.org
525 Dover Center Road, Bay Village, 440871-6760, saintraphaelparish-school.com
CHRISTIAN
ST. ROCCO PARISH SCHOOL
BETHEL CHRISTIAN ACADEMY
3205 Fulton Road, Cleveland, 216-961-8557, saintroccoschoolcle.org
ST. SEBASTIAN PARISH SCHOOL 500 Mull Ave., Akron, 330-836-9107, stsebastian.org
ST. STANISLAUS SCHOOL
6615 Forman Ave., Cleveland, 216-883-3307, saintstanislaus.us
ST. THOMAS MORE SCHOOL 4180 N. Amber Drive, Brooklyn, 216-749-1660, stmparish.net
12901 W. Pleasant Valley Road, Parma, 440-842-8575, bcakids.org
CORNERSTONE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 440-943-9260
2846 SOM Center Road, Willoughby Hills, 440-497-0733, ccacornerstone.com
CUYAHOGA VALLEY CHRISTIAN ACADEMY
4687 Wyoga Lake Road, Cuyahoga Falls, 330-929-0575, cvcaroyals.org
8971 W. Ridgewood Drive, Parma Heights, 440-845-8668, phcawarriors.com 4770 Lee Road, Cleveland, 216-581-2626, ramahchristianacademy.org 1037 East Blvd., Aurora, 330-562-8191, valleychristian.com
SUMMIT CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
3313 Northampton Road, Cuyahoga Falls, 330-762-3382, summitchristianschool.net
VALLEY CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 1037 East Blvd., Aurora, 330-562-8191, valleychristian.com JEWISH
HEBREW ACADEMY OF CLEVELAND 1800 Warrensville Center Road, Cleveland, 216-382-3300, hac1.org
26500 Shaker Blvd., Beachwood, 216-464-4055, mandeljds.org
750 White Pond Drive, Akron, 330-836-0419, thelippmanschool.org LUTHERAN
BETHANY LUTHERAN SCHOOL
6041 Ridge Road, Parma, 440-884-1010, bethanyparmaschool.org
HOLY CROSS LUTHERAN SCHOOL 4260 Rocky River Drive, Cleveland, 216-941-2770, hclcas.org
FUCHS MIZRACHI SCHOOL
LAKEWOOD LUTHERAN SCHOOL
GROSS SCHECHTER DAY SCHOOL
LUTHER MEMORIAL SCHOOL
26600 Shaker Blvd., Beachwood, 216-932-0220, fuchsmizrachi.org 27601 Fairmount Blvd., Pepper Pike, 216-763-1400, grossschechter.org
14560 Madison Ave., Lakewood, 216-2216941, lakewoodlutheranschool.com 4464 Pearl Road, Cleveland, 216-749-5300, lmslancers.org
6740 State Road • Parma • OH 44134
BRUINS ARE Padua is a Catholic, college-p reparatory school educating young me n & women in the Franciscan tradition.
OPEN HOUSE Sunday, October 11 @ 10am - 1pm Monday, October 12 @ 6pm – 8pm
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HAPPY, HEALTHY, HOLY AND HIGHLY PREPARED Visit paduafranciscan.com for the latest information.
@paduafranciscan
MESSIAH LUTHERAN SCHOOL
4401 W. 215th St., Fairview Park, 440-331-6553, messiahchurchfairview.org
REDEEMER CHRISTIAN SCHOOL 2141 Fifth St., Cuyahoga Falls, 330-923-1280, redeemerlutheran.us
ROYAL REDEEMER LUTHERAN SCHOOL
11680 Royalton Road, North Royalton, 440-237-7988, rrls.org
ST. JOHN NOTTINGHAM LUTHERAN SCHOOL
17403 Nottingham Road, Cleveland, 216-531-8204, thenottinghamschool.org
ST. PAUL WESTLAKE
27981 Detroit Road, Westlake, 440-835-3051, stpaulwestlake.school
ST. THOMAS LUTHERAN SCHOOL 21211 Detroit Road, Rocky River, 440-331-4426, stcr.org
LAKE RIDGE ACADEMY
NO RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION
37501 Center Ridge Road, North Ridgeville, 440-327-1175, lakeridgeacademy.org
ANDREWS OSBORNE ACADEMY
LAUREL SCHOOL
38588 Mentor Ave., Willoughby, 440-942-3600, andrewsosborne.org
BIRCHWOOD SCHOOL OF HAWKEN 4400 W. 140th St., Cleveland, 216-251-2321, birchwoodschool.org
HANNA PERKINS SCHOOL
19910 Malvern Road, Shaker Heights, 216-991-4472, hannaperkins.org
HATHAWAY BROWN SCHOOL
19600 North Park Blvd., Shaker Heights, 216-932-4214, hb.edu
HAWKEN SCHOOL
5000 Clubside Drive, Lyndhurst, 440-423-4446, hawken.edu
HERSHEY MONTESSORI SCHOOL
10229 Prouty Road, Concord Twp., 440-357-0918, hershey-montessori.org
HUDSON MONTESSORI SCHOOL 7545 Darrow Road, Hudson, 330-650-0424, hudsonmontessori.org
1 Lyman Circle, Shaker Heights, 216-464-1441, laurelschool.org
SOUTH SUBURBAN MONTESSORI SCHOOL
4450 Oakes Road, Brecksville, 440-526-1966, ssmsmontessori.net
SPRING GARDEN WALDORF SCHOOL
1791 Jacoby Road, Copley, 330-666-0574, sgws.org
LAWRENCE UPPER SCHOOL
10036 Olde Eight Road, Sagamore Hills, 330-908-6800, lawrenceschool.org
UNIVERSITY SCHOOL
LAWRENCE LOWER SCHOOL
1551 E. Wallings Road, Broadview Heights, 440-526-0003, lawrenceschool.org
THE NEST SCHOOL
27386 Center Ridge Road, Westlake, 440-835-2929, thenestschool.com
20701 Brantley Road, Shaker Heights, 216- 321-8260, us.edu
URBAN COMMUNITY SCHOOL
4909 Lorain Ave., Cleveland, 216-9398330, urbancommunityschool.org
OLD TRAIL SCHOOL
2315 Ira Road, Bath Twp., 330-666-1118, oldtrail.org
RUFFING MONTESSORI SCHOOL
3380 Fairmount Blvd., Cleveland Heights, 216-321-7571, ruffingmontessori.net
RUFFING MONTESSORI SCHOOL 1285 Orchard Park Drive, Rocky River, 440- 333-2250, ruffingmontessori.org
Discover the Difference Our supportive community empowers young women to pursue academic excellence, lead with confidence and use their gifts to build a more compassionate world.
sja1890.org | 216.251.4868
Learn more at one of our upcoming admission events.
Preview Night September 16
Open House October 4
CLEVELANDMAGAZINE.COM
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HOLY NAME HIGH SCHOOL
PRIVATE HIGH SCHOOLS CATHOLIC
ARCHBISHOP HOBAN HIGH SCHOOL
1 Holy Cross Blvd., Akron, 330-773-0436, hoban.org
Founded by the Brothers of Holy Cross, Hoban is a Roman Catholic, coeducational, college-preparatory school built to nurture the hearts and educate the minds of its students.
BEAUMONT SCHOOL
3301 N. Park Blvd., Cleveland Heights, 216-321-2954, beaumontschool.org
Beaumont School is an all-girls Catholic high school in the Ursuline tradition that educates women for life, leadership and service.
NOTRE DAME-CATHEDRAL LATIN SCHOOL
6000 Queens Highway, Parma Heights, 440-886-0300, holynamehs.com
Based in Parma Heights, Holy Name is a coeducational, Catholic high school that promotes excellence in education through a challenging college-prep curriculum.
ELYRIA CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL 725 Gulf Road, Elyria, 440-365-1821, elyriacatholic.com
LAKE CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL
Elyria Catholic is the only coeducational Catholic high school west of Cleveland. Students are surrounded by an engaged community which strongly supports them both inside and outside of the classroom.
Lake Catholic is a Roman Catholic, coeducational, college-preparatory high school located on a 35-acre campus in Mentor providing an environment that emphasizes a commitment to excellence with a spirit of respect and compassion.
34001 Cedar Road, Gates Mills, 440-473-8000, gilmour.org
Gilmour is an independent Catholic school. It is coeducational, collegepreparatory and based in the Holy Cross tradition. Its mission is rooted in educating both the mind and the heart of every student.
1375 W. Exchange St., Akron, 330-836-9384, theelms.org
The Elms is the only all-girls, faithbased school grades first through 12th with a coeducational pre-school and kindergarten in the Cleveland Diocese.
MAGNIFICAT HIGH SCHOOL
PADUA FRANCISCAN HIGH SCHOOL
Founded by the Sisters of the Humility of Mary, Magnificat is a Catholic allgirls, college-preparatory high school in Rocky River.
Padua is a coeducational, Catholic college-preparatory school based on the Franciscan tradition.
20770 Hilliard Blvd., Rocky River, 440-331-1572, magnificaths.org
BENEDICTINE HIGH SCHOOL
Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin is a coeducational, college-preparatory high school sponsored by the Sisters of Notre Dame and located on a 75-acre campus.
OUR LADY OF THE ELMS
6733 Reynolds Road, Mentor, 440-578-1020, lakecatholic.org
GILMOUR ACADEMY
13000 Auburn Road, Chardon, 440-286-6226, ndcl.org
6740 State Road, Parma, 440-845-2444, paduafranciscan.com
2900 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Cleveland, 216-421-2080, cbhs.edu
A Catholic high school in the tradition of St. Benedict that shapes a diverse group of young men into leaders.
GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
The most important measure of education isn't just what children know, but who they become.
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ROOTED IN COMMUNITY
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One school with two campuses that serves children all the way from through 12th grade
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Hershey Montessori School inspires independent thinkers, compassionate leaders, and global citizens.
INSPIRED LEARNING
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Where Curious Children Become Confident Young Adults
LEADERSHIP IN ACTION
Beautiful nature-based learning environments Hands-on, project-based learning Leadership and entrepreneurship opportunities Diverse, inclusive community
Strong preparation for college, career, and life
to di ...From ready
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Schedule Your Visit Today 440-357-0918 PSH 72 C L E V E L A N D 0 9 . 2 6
info@hershey-montessori.org www.hershey-montessori.org Scan for Open House Dates
Concord Campus | Birth to Grade 6 Huntsburg Campus | Grades 7-12
ST. EDWARD HIGH SCHOOL 13500 Detroit Ave., Lakewood, 216-221-3776, sehs.net
St. Edward is a college-preparatory, same-sex Catholic high school in the Holy Cross tradition that serves students from various communities in Northeast Ohio.
ST. IGNATIUS HIGH SCHOOL 1911 W. 30th St., Cleveland, 216-651-0222, ignatius.edu
Founded in 1886, St. Ignatius is a samesex, Catholic Jesuit high school with a 23-acre, 19-building campus in Ohio City rooted in Ignatian spirituality.
ST. JOSEPH ACADEMY
3470 Rocky River Drive, Cleveland, 216-251-6788, sja1890.org
St. Joseph Academy is the only all-girls Catholic high school in Cleveland. Since its founding by the Congregation of St. Joseph, the graduate of St. Joseph Academy is a woman who lives unifying love through empathetic justice, service to the dear neighbor without distinction, personal integrity and emerging wisdom.
ST. MARTIN DE PORRES HIGH SCHOOL
VILLA ANGELA-ST. JOSEPH HIGH SCHOOL
CUYAHOGA VALLEY CHRISTIAN ACADEMY
St. Martin de Porres is a Catholic, college-preparatory high school for students with limited economic means.
Located on the Lake Erie shore in Cleveland, VASJ is a Catholic, comprehensive, college-preparatory school based on the Ursuline and Marianist traditions.
CVCA is a college-preparatory, interdenominational Christian middle and high school (grades six through 12th) in northern Summit County. CVCA is committed to academic excellence in a supportive, distinctively Christian environment.
6202 St. Clair Ave., Cleveland, 216-881-1689, saintmartincleveland.org
ST. VINCENT-ST. MARY HIGH SCHOOL
18491 Lakeshore Blvd., Cleveland, 216-481-8414, vasj.com
WALSH JESUIT HIGH SCHOOL
15 N. Maple St., Akron, 330-253-9113, stvm.com
St. Vincent-St.Mary is a STEM-certified, Catholic Marianist high school in Akron.
TRINITY HIGH SCHOOL
12425 Granger Road, Garfield Heights, 216-581-1644, ths.org Trinity High School is a coeducational, college-preparatory high school with a pre-professional internship program in Garfield Heights supported by Franciscan values.
4550 Wyoga Lake Road, Cuyahoga Falls, 330-929-4205, walshjesuit.org
Walsh Jesuit is a Catholic, coeducational, college-preparatory high school in the spirit of St. Ignatius located in Cuyahoga Falls. CHRISTIAN
CORNERSTONE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY
2846 SOM Center Road, Willoughby, Hills, 440-943-9260, ccacornerstone.com
Cornerstone Christian Academy’s mission is to provide a quality education based on God’s truth, resulting in Christlike students who will impact their world for the glory of God.
ET TO THE G U O Y O HOW D OLLEGES AND TOP C ES IN THE US? TI UNIVERSI
. GILMOUR
LUTHERAN HIGH SCHOOL EAST
3565 Mayfield Road, Cleveland Heights , 216-382-6100, lutheraneast.org Lutheran East is a Christian, coeducational, college-preparatory high school located on a 12-acre campus in Cleveland Heights offering a faith-based community, academic programs, competitive athletics, arts and an Honors Academy.
LUTHERAN WEST
3850 Linden Road, Rocky River, 440-333-1660, lutheranwest.com
Lutheran West is a Christian, coeducational, college-preparatory high school located on a 17-acre campus in Rocky River.
These are just some of the top colleges and universities (as ranked by U.S. News & World Report) Gilmour graduates have been accepted into since 2020. These outcomes reflect the strength of our academic program, the individualized guidance students receive and the confidence colleges have in Gilmour graduates. That’s the advantage of educating the mind and empowering the heart. VIEW THE FULL LIST OF ACCEPTANCES
ST AR T
START AT
4687 Wyoga Lake Road, Cuyahoga Falls, 330-929-0575, cvcaroyals.org
For more information about Gilmour, visit gilmour.org/inquire CLEVELANDMAGAZINE.COM
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JEWISH
FUCHS MIZRACHI SCHOOL
26600 Shaker Blvd., Beachwood, 216-932-0220, fuchsmizrachi.org
Fuchs Mizrachi School is a Modern Orthodox Jewish Day School dedicated to Torah values, religious Zionism, fostering leadership skills and helping each child reach their highest potential.
HEBREW ACADEMY OF CLEVELAND
1800 Warrensville Center Road, Cleveland Heights, 216-382-3300, hac1.org The Hebrew Academy of Cleveland is a nationally recognized Jewish day school with dual Judaic and collegepreparatory curriculums located in Cleveland Heights.
NO RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION
HAWKEN SCHOOL
ANDREWS OSBORNE ACADEMY
12465 County Line Road, Chesterland, 440-423-4446; 11025 Magnolia Drive, Cleveland, 440-423-8801, hawken.edu
Andrews Osborne Academy is a private, coeducational, college-preparatory school offering pre-K through 12th grade. Andrews Osborne Academy strives to prepare students for higher education and empower them to be successful leaders.
HERSHEY MONTESSORI SCHOOL
38588 Mentor Ave., Willoughby, 440-942-3600, andrewsosborne.org
GRAND RIVER ACADEMY
3042 College St., Austinburg, 440-275-2811, grandriver.org
Grand River Academy is a collegepreparatory boarding and day school serving young men grades ninth through 12th grade that sets students up for success in college and life beyond.
HATHAWAY BROWN SCHOOL
19600 N. Park Blvd., Shaker Heights, 216-932-4214, hb.edu
Hathaway Brown is an independent K-12 day school for girls. Hathaway Brown’s Learn for Life signature approach inspires girls to take ownership of their education, rise boldly to challenges and achieve their utmost potential.
Hawken is an independent, nonsectarian, coeducational school serving prekindergarten through high school students. It’s located on two campuses on Cleveland’s East Side, one on the West Side and a campus in University Circle. 11530 Madison Road, Huntsburg, 440-636-6290, hershey-montessori.org
Hershey Montessori School serves elementary to high school students on two campuses: Concord and Huntsburg. The high school campus in Huntsburg has a working farm and offers boarding.
LAKE RIDGE ACADEMY
37501 Center Ridge Road, North Ridgeville, 440-327-1175, lakeridgeacademy.org
Lake Ridge is an independent, nonsectarian day school offering coeducational classes on a 93-acre campus in North Ridgeville.
LAUREL SCHOOL
1 Lyman Circle, Shaker Heights, 216-464-1441, laurelschool.org
Laurel School is a nationally recognized, college-preparatory, independent day school for girls, kindergarten through grade 12, with a coeducational Early Childhood program for children 18 months through pre-kindergarten.
UNIVERSITY SCHOOL
2785 SOM Center Road, Hunting Valley, 216-831-2200, us.edu
University School is a same-sex, college-preparatory day school with two campuses — one for high school and one for elementary school — in Hunting Valley and Shaker Heights.
WESTERN RESERVE ACADEMY 115 College St., Hudson, 330-650-4400, wra.net
Western Reserve Academy is an independent, coeducational boarding and day high school.
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WDWO RKFO RCE DEV E LO P M E NT GUIDE 2 0 2 6
BUILDING THE
workforce PHOTO CREDIT
Whether you’re just starting out or changing careers, the trades offer multiple paths to success. Find out how to get started.
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BLUEPRINTS FOR THE FUTURE From early career exploration to hands-on training, career tech centers are preparing the next generation for in-demand jobs in the trades.
FU L LTIM E W ITH H A N D S - O N E X P E R I E NC E
BY KELLIE INNES
hat do you want to be when you grow up? If you’ve ever been asked that question, then you’re familiar with the effort it takes to find what you’re passionate about, carve out a pathway to follow that passion and build a sustainable career out of it. With the help of career technical education (CTE) programs, workforce development has transformed into open and accessible exploration opportunities that position people for success.
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“Early awareness of career exploration is really important,” says Diane Xander, superintendent of Polaris Career Center. “If you can’t see it, then you can’t be it.” Polaris Career Center starts as early as 6th grade with satellite programming in partner associate district schools, career interest surveys and an overview of what programs are available at the Polaris campus. As students get closer to high school level, they can tour Polaris Career Center’s facilities and prepare to register and enroll by the time they are in 10th grade. “You can go to a place like Polaris and come out of high school ready to work and earn a good living wage,” Xander says. “We give our students the vision of what they can be.” 76
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STUDENT S IN TH E P O L A RIS CA RE E R CE N TE R A D U LT PRACTICA L N U RS IN G P RO G RA M
“You can go to a place like Polaris and come out of high school ready to work and earn a good living wage.”
and Bridges to Success programs. The Fast-Track programs include 16 weeks of hands-on experience where students earn industry-recognized credentials and get exposed to employers who are hiring. Bridges to Success emphasizes exploration by showing individuals a variety of careers in the trades to help them get a sense of what a day — and a life — in different fields would look like. “We build programs with employers so that students can be successful in transitioning from the classroom into a career,” says Tracy Green, vice president of strategic and institutional development at LCCC.
Hands-On Experience: Lorain County JVS
Programming at Lorain County JVS is tailored around yielding the best results for current and prospective students, similar to how businesses shift trends toward consumers. After completing a four-year program at JVS, students enter their chosen trade fulltime with hands-on experience from on-site labs, as well as from profes— Diane Xander, Polaris Career sional internship opportunities. Center Superintendent “We come with a solution to the table,” Career Readiness: Lorain County says Mario Codispoti, director of comCommunity College munications and career services at Lorain Lorain County Community College pri- County JVS. “Tech centers are the school oritizes career readiness with its Fast-Track of choice.”
COURTESY POLARIS CAREER CENTER / LORAIN COUNTY JVS
Early Exploration: Polaris Career Center
A FTE R CO M P L E TIN G A FO U R - Y E AR P R O G R AM AT JVS, S TU D E N TS E N TE R TH E I R C HOS E N T R AD E
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT STARTS WITH PURPOSE
Who Is Building Northeast Ohio’s Workforce? It’s not by chance. It’s through collaboration. For more than 50 years, Lorain County JVS has partnered with employers, educators, and leaders to develop the talent our region needs. Across Ohio, we collaborate with industry, education leaders, and workforce partners to align and strengthen Ohio’s talent pipeline. Creating a more synergistic climate where talent and business intersect and thrive, driving our economy forward.
A STRONG ECONOMY STARTS WITH A BOLD WORKFORCE – AND THAT’S WHY CNBC RANKS OHIO #1 IN BUSINESS GROWTH.
Developing Talent. Strengthening Ohio.
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148,000 +
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EMPLOYER PARTNERSHIPS
HOURS OF WORK-BASED LEARNING
HIGH SCHOOL & ADULT GRADUATES
EARNED BY STUDENTS
EMPLOYER-CONNECTED | WORKFORCE-READY | FUTURE-FOCUSED CLEVELANDMAGAZINE.COM
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At Cuyahoga Community College, the key to success is in conversation. Many students in CTE programs come from all walks of life. Some come straight from high school, while others are changing careers or returning to the workforce after a hiatus. Tri-C provides recruiters and career advisors to speak with prospective students, start to explore what a career in the trades would look like and consider what programs specifically would fit their interests and goals. “We meet people where they are,” says Steve Griffin, chief learning officer for workforce innovation and vice president for skill-based education and career pathways at Tri-C. “One of the great things about the trades is that there is a pathway for almost every personality and skill set.”
Moving at the Speed of Business
CTE programs continue to provide high-quality learning experiences by keeping up with the rapidly shifting trends and landscape of Northeast Ohio’s business economy. Thanks to Ohio’s pro-business growth mindset, new opportunities are flooding the state and region, and many employers are looking for workers. Polaris Career Center, Lorain County Community College,
“One of the great things about the trades is that there is a pathway for almost every personality and skill set.” — Steve Griffin, chief learning officer for workforce innovation and vice president for skill-based education and career pathways, Tri-C
Lorain County JVS and Cuyahoga Community College are keeping their fingers on the pulse of what jobs are currently in demand as well as what will soon be in demand in order to ensure they’re producing ready-towork employees. “Here at JVS, we can establish programs within weeks, which allows us to move at the speed of business,” Codispoti says. Just as the landscape is shifting, so, too, is the perception of a career in the trades. In the past, trades were often seen as a theoretical backup option for those who did not foresee a future in higher education. Many CTE programs, however, combine traditional aca-
CL E VE L A N D BU IL D S S TU D E N TS P RAC T I C E T HE I R M A S O N RY TE CH IN IQ U E S
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NECA
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LEF T PAGE: COURTESY CLEVEL AND BUILDS / RIGHT PAGE: COURTESY IBEW LOCAL UNION 38
“The trades are absolutely an engine of our economy.” — Tracy Green, vice president of strategic and institutional development, Lorain County Community College
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD O F E L E CTRICA L WO RKE RS (IBE W ) L O CA L U N IO N 3 8 W E L D IN G S TU D E N T
demics with workforce development so that students graduate with both career readiness and enough credits to satisfy, in most cases, an associate’s degree. “I used to think about it as college or a career, and I’ve come to realize that’s a false choice,” says Keith Laschinger, executive director of Cleveland Builds. “There is nothing that precludes you from continuing your education as you advance your career in the trades.” The makeup of those in the workforce is also becoming more inclusive and diverse, in large part due to the support of CTE institutions and labor associations and organizations. Not only are women entering the trades
at a higher percentage than ever, but there is also a push in outreach to individuals in underserved neighborhoods. “If you give someone a career in the trades, you can make generational change,” says Dan Gallagher, business manager of IBEW Local 38. Part of this resurgence in trade careers is the stability that trades can provide in what might be a lifelong career. A unique aspect of many of the trades, such as construction or technicians, is that there will always be a need for them. The more that Northeast Ohio grows, the more there will be a need for tradespeople. “This is clearly becoming a first-choice pathway to high-demand careers that offer
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MANUFACTURING AND TRADES
FAST-TRACK TO A NEW CAREER!
excellent wages as well as career advancement and leadership opportunities,” Green says. “The trades are absolutely an engine of our economy.” Almost as important as the opportunities for advancement that the trades provide is the sense of pride and sustainability that comes with the work. Whether it’s establishing financial security, providing for a family or seeing tangible results, the trades have an incredible impact on both an individual and a community. “When I talk to tradespeople about what they’ve done, the pride that they have is incredible,” says Laschinger. “The industry and community of the trades is really rewarding.”
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FIND YOUR TRADE As Northeast Ohio experiences historic growth, demand for skilled trades is soaring. BY KELLIE INNES
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CL EV EL A N D BU IL D S IN D U S TRY L E A D E RS P ROVID E H IG H QUAL ITY TRA IN IN G TO CA RE E R S E E KE RS
As with any growing city or space, there is a high demand for construction and electrical work. Several large developments are coming down the pipeline in the next decade, including the Global Peak Performance Center on the Cuyahoga River and the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport expansion project. “The word I’ve been using is ‘unprecedented’,” says Keith Laschinger, executive director of Cleveland Builds. “You’re coming to the construction trades at perhaps the best time there has ever been.”
Powering the Future
On the electrical side, it is important to recognize how deep and diverse the pathways in this trade sector can be. For starters, there is the distinct difference between electricians and technicians, depending on the scale of voltage you work with. (Think construction on the new Browns stadium versus telecommunications or audiovisual work). You also have to be prepared to work in any sort of environment, from running pipes underground to climbing a pole or being in a lift suspended in the air.
Discover how you can be a Cleveland Career Champion
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f you are on the cusp of entering a career or looking for a career change, there is no better time or place to enter the trade sector than right now in Northeast Ohio. From new developments to expansions in existing industries to new data centers on the horizon, Cleveland and its surrounding areas are in the midst of a booming business economy. “The trade sectors are just getting bigger and better,” says Diane Xander, superintendent of Polaris Career Center. “Northeast Ohio is growing.”
Cleveland Builds hosts information sessions and intensive apprenticeship readiness programs to make sure that people entering the construction sector can hit the ground running. Modeled after a 40-hour work week, they provide education sessions, skills training, entry-level projects and a site visit to a place that might become your job for the next few years. Employers are encouraged to engage in recruiting efforts during those apprenticeship readiness programs in particular. “It really provides solid exposure to lots of different trades so they can see what’s a good fit for them and what they’re good at,” says Laschinger.
TH E FR ESH WAT ER INST ITUTE HIGH SCHOOL F EL L OW SHIP PROGRAM WA S D E S IG N E D TO E M P OW E R S TU D E N TS W ITH
COURTESY THE FRESHWATER INSTITUTE
TH E KNOWLEDGE A ND SK IL L S TO SUPPORT HEALTHY AND THRIV ING WATE RWAYS
“A lot of people think it’s putting a light on in someone’s office,” says Dan Gallagher, business manager of IBEW Local 38. “The environment is constantly changing, and your tasks could be different every day.” IBEW Local 38 offers its own self-funded apprenticeship program to help those interested in electrical work get a feel for all that the career has to offer. The program is competitive, with hundreds of people every month completing the application process. But once you get in, the exploration can begin. “There’s always something to do in IBEW,” Gallagher says. “If you can do the job, there is a place for you.”
Meeting the Need in Healthcare
“Nursing is in really high demand,” says Xander. “We are the hub of healthcare between Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, community hospital partners and senior living facilities.” With the creation of a brand-new program in licensed practical nursing, Polaris and other technical trade centers are continuing to build and grow their nursing programs with the help of the community and relationships with healthcare business partners. “We spend a lot of time to make sure we’re aligning our training, our curriculum and our programming to meet the needs now and look into the future for what those demands will be,” says Xander.
Polaris Career Center’s nursing programs Working on the Water have grown to become one of the leading Another booming trade that can thank trade pathways for its students. its location in Northeast Ohio is the ma-
rine industry. The Ohio Marine Trades Association (OMTA), created in 1957 by a group of local boat dealers, has made it its mission to advocate for Ohio’s waterways and businesses related to the water, as well as to expose communities to the world of safe boating. “It’s a live, work, play industry,” says Michelle Burke, president of OMTA. “You need an exposure point because nobody is going to work in this industry if they haven’t been exposed to it.” This exposure is going to take a whole new shape in the coming years with a recent partnership between OMTA and Cuyahoga Community College to build a program for those who want to enter the marine industry. This partnership has an alignment deeper than just connecting a trade association to a trade career center: both organizations have similar missions of trying to influence and fundamentally alter the lives of individuals who come from many different backgrounds. “The marine industry has generational impact,” says Marielena Maggio, director of marine workforce development for OMTA. “Boating really is more than just a trade; it provides a lifestyle and a lasting impact for your family.”
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WD CO RRIN E S TIL L M A N A N D E VE RY WO M A N O N TH E RE G E N CY CO N S TRU CTIO N CRE W H A S BE E N TH RO U G H CL E VE L A N D BU IL D S, W H ICH A S S IS TS S TU D E N TS IN FIN D IN G TH E P E RFE CT FIT FO R A S U CCE S S FU L CA RE E R
She went to Regency and immediately felt at home. One of the main reasons the company appealed to her is that it’s woman-owned. Stillman recalls feeling dissuaded from her childhood dream of becoming a tradesperson due to stereotypes and stigmas surrounding women in construction, so being surrounded by a support system that prioritized inclusivity made her feel right at home. “They’ve cultivated such an inviting and inspiring environment,” Stillman says. “Everyone at Regency has been the complete opposite of any perception or prejudice that I’ve ever had about the construction industry.”
THE RIGHT FIT After years in hospitality, Corrine Stillman took an unexpected path back to the trades and landed exactly where she belonged. BY KELLIE INNES
“The confidence the trades have given me will be with me for the rest of my life, no matter where it takes me.” — Corrine Stillman
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list of contractors, including her now-current company, Regency. Before she could officially get started, though, Regency encouraged her to check out a pre-apprenticeship program at Cleveland Builds. “The program gives you a really good view of the trades so you can decide if it is something you really want to pursue,” says Stillman. During her time at Cleveland Builds, she explored basic tradeskills while deep-diving into various trades through site visits and hands-on experience. This experience expanded her understanding of the trades so much that she almost abandoned her original goal of carpentry to enter the more niche — and previously unknown to her — field of cement masonry. “There was so much out there that I had never even thought about,” Stillman says. Ultimately, her gut pulled her toward her original plan — carpentry.
Stillman believes that a large part of this shift stems from the growing diversity in the field, as well as the support of programs like Cleveland Builds. Every woman on the Regency crew has been through Cleveland Builds. Further, the nonprofit’s programming prioritizes hands-on exploration to help students find the perfect fit for a sustainable, successful career. “When I see tradespeople coming in at 19 years old, I wish I had the opportunity to do that,” Stillman says. “The fact that programs like Cleveland Builds are available and have the resources and connections they do is really shaping the workforce.” While Stillman’s life certainly looks different now than it did five years ago, one of the deepest impacts she’s felt is internal. “The confidence the trades have given me will be with me for the rest of my life, no matter where it takes me,” she says.
COURTESY CORRINE STILLMAN
orrine Stillman’s career in the trades has come full circle. As a kid, she could often be found taking things apart and rebuilding them, from Lego sets to her own bicycle or skateboard. As she grew up, her academic and professional career took her to the hospitality and restaurant industry, but, with the COVID-19 shutdown in 2020, she found a chance to return to her roots. “There’s this picture of me when I was little and I had this tiny wooden chest that said ‘Corrine’s Toolbox,’” Stillman says. “Carpentry has always been in the back of my mind and has always been a part of me.” She began her entry into carpentry and the trades the way many people do when wanting to discover something new: turning to Google to ask how to get started. She discovered a
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Inspiring spaces of character and revival
THE ART OF LIVING
TRICIA SHAY
Eclectic art and decor inject color into a neutral Hunting Valley home. CONTINUED ON PAGE 84
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Decor and furniture fuse abstract and midcentury modern influences into a quintessentially contemporary space.
next to floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the wooded property. “They are art themselves,” Berry says of the furniture selections, all in the midcentury modern style that the couple loves. “We played off of the colors that were already in the space. That fireplace was not changing.” In the adjoining dining area, a wall installation of chains by Chicago-based artist Stef Ross commands guests’ attention. W Design commissioned the piece in shades of white, blue, gray and black. The blue was repeated in navy Ultrasuede covering the interiors of Roche Bobois dining chairs. Hung over the simple oak table, a two-tone metal fixture by Visual Comfort functions as sculpture. BY LY N N E T H O M P S O N
TRICIA SHAY
he warmth and charm exuded by the Hunting Valley home’s cedar-and-stone exterior belied the stark contemporary decor that stretched beyond the front door. Wendy Berry, founder and principal designer of Chagrin Falls-based W Design, describes the 7,000-squarefoot interior as “a white box.” The white walls were perfect for exhibiting the new homeowners’ extensive art collection. But the couple didn’t want to live in a place that actually felt like a museum or gallery. “It didn’t have any character or depth,” Berry says. “What we added was character and depth.” Berry and her team were charged with incorporating existing architectural features into their cosmetic changes. They made a black-granite linear fireplace in the open living area worthy of its focal-point status by glazing the flanking oak-stained built-ins and covering the shelf backs in black croc-embossed paper. Berry painted the tray ceiling a glossy dark taupe, uplit the recessed center to draw the eye and hung a chandelier of black-metal scoops with antique brass fittings. Below, Berry topped an abstract charcoal-and-cream rug with a Roche Bobois cream-chenille sectional and sculptural two-tone swivel chair, both situated around a pair of custom nesting cocktail tables — one in ebony-stained walnut and the other in Paris-white marble. A secondary seating area was created by stationing a quartet of chrome-frame Barcelona chairs cushioned in ivory leather
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Nearly every room in the renovation project was punctuated with pieces selected from the homeowners’ collection of paintings, photos and sculptures.
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The homeowner’s office, located in an alcove off the all-white kitchen, received a big kiss of color inspired by her favorite Chanel Emblematique lipstick. “She showed us the tube … and said, ‘This is how red I want my office,’” Berry recalls. She responded by covering the walls in Voutsa’s “Lips on White” print. “When we showed her this lips wallcovering, she screamed,” Berry says. The big powder room, however, may be the first floor’s true wowinducing masterpiece. Berry covered an entire wall in sodalite-blue marble that acts as a dramatic backdrop for a massive vanity with drawer-framing brass inlays. The cabinet was painted Sherwin-Williams Indigo Batik and topped in 12-inch-thick quartzite with an integrated sink. The rest of the walls were finished in a Schumacher hand-combed off-white plaster wallcovering, the ceiling in a metallic bronze paper. W Design managing partner Carley Porter notes that the round mirror over the sink reflects a gallery wall created with pieces of the homeowners’ art. “You don’t normally see gallery walls in a powder bath,” she says. “But it works so well here.”
DECOR
HOME & GARDEN
Picture Perfect
Gallery walls are turning up in more rooms as an easy way to make a statement while offering a glimpse into a homeowner’s personality. W H E T H E R Y O U ’ R E E C L E C T I C and bold or subdued and modest, we all
COURTESY SAPPHIRE PEAR
There are no parameters to a gallery wall’s color, aesthetic, media or size. Some displays come together instantly; others are slowly curated.
BY
ANNIE GLEYDURA
want our homes to tell our story. The gallery wall is a simple solution, yet it can take many forms: artwork, family photographs, mementos, flags, sculptures or wall hangings collaged together to represent you. “I try to present a more organic gallery wall,” says Libby Palmieri Schwartz, lead designer at House of L Designs in Warrensville Heights. “It’s collected. It doesn’t feel so stagnant. You want to feel like, Here’s a piece of my life.” When you’re putting together your collection, the key is balance. Schwartz suggests mixing media that fit with each other but are not perfect. “It’s not a puzzle,” she says. “Pick a piece that’s your grounding piece, and then you build around it.” After finding your focal point, begin placing other pieces around it in a cloud-like arrangement. Sean Carter, interior designer at Sapphire Pear in Rocky River, suggests organizing your pieces out on the floor before beginning to hang. “It’s specific to you,” he says. “There’s not really a wrong answer when you start laying these things out.” Carter begins by measuring everything and sketching it to scale. “But I think the more blended and eclectic it is,” he adds, “the better the result will be.” As the wall comes together, Erica Yurik of Erica Yurik Design Studio in Cleveland often finds that the sweet spot for spacing is two to four inches between pieces. “Things don’t have to be symmetrical,” she says. “Each individual piece gets to shine, because your eye kind of travels the whole state-
ment wall rather than just at one piece.” Yurik encourages her clients not to be afraid to go bigger when considering scale: “People usually will go for that 5-by-7 size,” she says. “I always try to push them to go bigger, because it just ends up looking a lot better and more balanced.” Schwartz warns against placing pieces too high. “Your art should start at a comfortable eye level, around six feet above the ground,” she says, noting that it’s also important to consider the existing furniture in the room. Art should hang no more than six inches above a console table, for example, to create a consistent flow to the room. Pulling from colors and styles already in the room helps maintain a unified visual story. Yurik suggests mixing in ceramic plates, mirrors, figurines or wall sconces to vary visual weight and further diversify style and color; softer media help balance the flow of the display. The true beauty of a gallery wall is that it will continue to evolve. “Don’t overthink it. Take a chance and be creative,” says Carter. “The great thing about art is, it’s just hung on the wall. So you’re not tied into something permanent.” CLEVELANDMAGAZINE.COM
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LO O K BAC K
In 1977, a young actor got on Interstate 80 in his hometown of Oakland, California, and got off Interstate 80 in Cleveland.
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C O U R T E S Y C L E V E L A N D S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y. M I C H A E L S C H W A R T Z L I B R A R Y. S P E C I A L C O L L E C T I O N S
Tom Hanks wanted to become a theatrical actor, and the training he got at what was then called the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival has served him throughout his lengthy and illustrious career. “You can show up late for a movie,” Hanks said in a 2009 interview with Cleveland Magazine. “You can show up not knowing your dialogue. You can show up not knowing what you are going to do in a scene. But I still can’t. Otherwise, I’m being unprofessional — and I got that in my first 72 hours at the Great Lakes Theater Festival.” Hanks grew up in Oakland, which he referred to in an interview as “Cleveland East,” and decamped for Ohio after meeting Vincent Dowling, artistic director of the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival. As an intern in 1977, when the festival was at Lakewood Civic Auditorium, Hanks was immersed in all sides of theater, not just acting. “I knew there would be a lot to do, but this is really a lot,” Hanks told the Cleveland Press. “You have to be a jack of all trades.” He served as a production assistant before playing Grumio in The Taming of the Shrew. Hanks earned his Actors’ Equity card and returned to Cleveland the next two summers, touring Ohio with the company and becoming an Indians fan when rooting for the Tribe wasn’t for the faint of heart. In 1978, Hanks won a Cleveland Critics Circle award for best actor and was determined to make acting a career. He sold his Volkswagen and moved to New York, landing stage roles and a bit part in the slasher He Knows You’re Alone. In 1980, he landed a lead role in the TV comedy Bosom Buddies, and his career took off. BY VINCE GUERRIERI
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