ROCKY RIVER, Ohio -- After more than two months of cancellations and stay-at-home orders, people are venturing out as things gradually begin to return to a new normal in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Locally, Rocky River residents eager for some outdoor activity will be able to use the city’s outdoor swimming pool beginning June 8. The pool is at 21018 Hilliard Blvd., on the municipal campus at Hilliard and Wagar Road.
However, it won’t be business as usual. Recreation Department officials said the pool schedule will be three hours open, one hour closed to allow for frequent cleaning of the facility and equipment.
Since pool capacity will be limited to allow for social distancing, they recommend reserving a time slot to swim. Reservations can be made up to 24 hours in advance at rrcity.com/recreation.
No seasonal pool passes will be sold this year. Swimmers will pay a daily admission rate for residents and their guests. Admission will be $8 for a resident adult, $7 for a resident student with a paying adult, $2 for a resident child with a paying adult and $6 for a resident senior.
In addition, there will be no communal seating on the pool deck. Pool users should bring their own blankets and/or chairs.
Daily pool hours will be 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., 2 to 5 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. Lap swim and Senior Sneakers can swim from 7:30 to 8:20 a.m. and 8:30 to 9:20 a.m. Monday through Friday.
Rotary contest winners: The Rotary Club of Lakewood and Rocky River is announcing the winners of its 75th annual Four-Way Speech Contest and visual arts competition. The contest showcases the talents of students attending Lakewood, Lutheran West (in Rocky River), Magnificat (in Rocky River), Rocky River and St. Edward (in Lakewood) high schools.
For the past 23 years, Beck Center for the Arts in Lakewood has partnered with Rotary for the event, serving as the liaison to educators at the high schools and providing the venue and judges for various phases of the competitions.
Typically, the speech contest finals take place during a Rotary club meeting, and both the speech and music winners are honored at an award ceremony at Beck Center, where the visual arts pieces are displayed in the Jean Bulicek Galleria. However, this year because of the state’s stay-at-home restrictions, none of these events, including the annual music competition, occurred.
The student winners were announced in a virtual awards ceremony video prepared by Beck Center and featured on Beck’s Facebook page and the Rotary club’s website.
Speech contest first-place winner was Katy Spillsbury, who spoke about “Gerrymandering.” Also honored were Mohamed Manaa, second place, “Human Rights Violations Against Muslims in China;” and Katie Healy, third place, “Genetic Modification.” Honorable mention awards went to Sara Jarecke, “Body Image;” and Madelyn Tumbleson, “Rape Allegations.” All are from Lakewood High School.
Speeches must be of original content and be based on the four-way test of Rotary, which asks, is it the truth, is it fair to all concerned, will it build good will and better friendships, and will it be beneficial to all concerned?
Visual arts winners were Audrey Warren, “Inner Terror,” ink on paper, Lakewood High School, first place; Colin Wheeler, “Heisenberg,” mixed media, St. Edward High School, second place; and Jennifer Nyo, “Lunar New Year,” photography, Lakewood High School, third place.
Honorable mentions went to Sarah Corbin, “Cactus Tea,” clay and glaze, LHS; Sophia Kostik, “Sprite,” acrylics, RRHS; and Meagan Walsh, “Strike,” jewelry piece and box, Magnificat.
More than 80 pieces of art, of numerous styles employing various media, were submitted. A jury of visual arts educators selected the works that met the contest requirements. Judges chose the award winners from that group.
“This annual event is a wonderful way to acknowledge the talents of our youth,” said Ed Gallagher, Beck Center director of education. “And the quality work of the participants truly shows that the arts and creativity are alive and well in our community.”
Winners received cash prizes from Rotary, made possible by the Lakewood-Rocky River Rotary Foundation.
Canceled: Bay Village is reminding residents that the Green Team Shredding Day and Habitat for Humanity collection that had been scheduled for June 6 was canceled due to the health crisis. A new date has not been selected.
Banner schools: Congratulations to Our Lady of Angels School in Cleveland’s West Park neighborhood; Polaris Career Center; North Olmsted High School; Horace Mann Elementary School, Lakewood; and Lutheran High School West, Rocky River.
They are among the schools selected as 2019-2020 Cleveland Clinic Banner Schools. The award, presented by the clinic’s K-12 Education School Programs Department, recognizes schools that have gone above and beyond in leveraging community resources to advance student learning.
The department offers programs designed to promote health and wellness, academic achievement and career readiness for students in grades K-12. By meeting stringent implementation and participation criteria, Banner Schools maximize student enrichment and promote continuous programmatic improvement.
The distinction is awarded to fewer than 24 percent of the 264 schools in 10 states that participated in programming.
Library adds programs: Westlake Porter Public Library continues to add more online programming. Among the latest additions to the calendar are:
• “Walking the Path of Dementia: Online Health Talk” will be offered from 7 to 8 p.m. June 4. The program will be an interactive presentation offering a look into the emotional and physical disabilities of dementia, with tips on how to provide support and care to people with the disease. This program is presented by Arden Courts of Westlake and registration is requested. Participants must provide an email address to receive a confirmation email containing Zoom instructions.
• The Tuesday evening book discussion will take place from 7 to 8:30 p.m. June 9 to discuss the book “Writers and Lovers” by Lily King. The book is available from Hoopla through the library website, westlakelibrary.org. Participants must register with an email address in order to get the Zoom invitation. Library officials recommend downloading the Zoom Meeting Room Client (for desktops and laptops) or the Zoom Cloud Meetings App (from your phone or tablet app store) before the discussion. Participants without access to a computer, tablet or smartphone can join the discussion using a traditional phone.
• Virtual Trivia Night @ Porter will take place from 7 to 8 p.m. June 10 via Zoom. As with the book program above, participants should register with an email address to receive the event invitation.
• WPPL Roblox Club will allow tweens in grades 4-6 to hang out with their friends and enjoy games from 3:30 to 4 p.m. June 11, 18 and 25. Some private servers are reserved to allow students to play games; however registration is required for each session. An email address is needed to receive Zoom instructions, which will be sent the day of the event.
To register for any of the WPPL programs, visit events.westlakelibrary.org/events.
Information, please: Readers are invited to share information about themselves, their families and friends, organizations, church events, etc. from Bay Village, Rocky River and Westlake for the West Shore Chatter column, which I write on a freelance basis. Awards, honors, milestone birthdays or anniversaries and other items are welcome. Submit information at least 10 days before the requested publication date to carolkovach@hotmail.com.
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