A photo of the road sign at the Garrettsville border
Carter Eugene Adams/The Portager

County roundup: Garrettsville gears up for Summerfest, plus news from Hiram, Mantua and Nelson

Garrettsville

The annual Garrettsville Summerfest will be Friday, June 28 to Sunday, June 30 on Main Street at the intersection of State Route 82 and State Route 88.

The hours will be from 6 to 11 p.m. June 28, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. June 29 and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. June 30.

There will be two stages for live music acts and entertainment. The headlined bands will be Disco Inferno and Ace Mollar featuring Fox 8 News anchor Todd Meany. Monster Midway will have food concessions and craft vendors. There will be rides and games as well.

“There are usually three major rides and some kiddie rides,” event organizer Aaron King said. “We had eight rides last year.”

There will be a fireworks show at 10 p.m. June 29. For children, there will be an interactive circus, stilt walkers, acrobats and free face painting. A dog walk will raise money for charity. There will be several contests – hamburger eating, ice cream eating, hot wings eating and mullet – for which there will be trophies and prizes.

The Grand Parade will be at 12:30 p.m. June 30 starting at James A. Garfield High School, located at 10233 state Route 88, and concluding at the festival. Anyone who would like to be in the parade should go to garrettsvillesummerfest.com.

Jungle Terry, who does a wild animal show, will perform after the parade.

There is no fee to attend Summerfest. The event’s main sponsor is Sarchione Chevrolet II of Garrettsville.


A Garrettsville Car Cruise-In will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, June 20 in the parking lot of SkyLane Bowling and Sky Plaza. Any participants with classic cars are eligible for prizes in several different categories. There will also be a band performing.


Grant Redeker was sworn in May 8 at a village council meeting to be trained as a full-time Garrettsville police officer.

Village of Mantua

The second annual Triple Trail Fest will be at noon Saturday, June 1 at Buchert Memorial Park on High Street. The main event is a challenge course that includes biking on the Headwaters Trail, running on the Buckeye Trail and paddling on the Cuyahoga River. The fee to participate is $35. However, there will be other activities all day long, including children’s activities like a rubber duck race, bike rides and hikes. Food trucks will be available, and there will be a craft beer festival with live music from 4 to 8 p.m. For more information and to register for the main event, go to tripletrailfest.com.


Also at Buchert Park at 8 a.m. Saturday, June 29 will be the annual Portage Parks Headwaters Adventure Race. It is also a run, bike and paddle kind of race. You can run solo or as a team. The costs vary. To register and for more information, go to Portage Park District | Portage County OH (portagecounty-oh.gov).


There will be a farmers and makers market Friday, June 14 and Friday, June 28 in the parking lot of the Granary Building at 4690 E. Prospect St. These farmers and makers markets will occur from 4 to 7 p.m. the second and fourth Fridays of the month throughout the summer. These markets will also feature live music.

Village of Hiram

Picnic in the Park events at Hanslin Park on Bancroft Street will take place at 5 p.m. the first and third Sundays of the month throughout the summer. The first two Picnic in the Parks will be June 2 and June 16. Everybody brings their own picnic. There will either be an art activity or live music at each Picnic in the Park.


Village council accepted a Community Development Block Grant that will pay for upgrades to Jagow Park’s playground area to make it American Disabilities Act-compliant.
“It’s going to allow us to put in a new surface and entranceway,” Mayor Anne Haynam said.

Hiram Township

Chris Szell, the Village of Hiram’s council president, attended Hiram Township’s trustees meeting May 21 and informed the trustees that the village is going to waive the tap-in fee for the township to get water from the village for its new township hall.

“That’s very, very nice of them to do that,” township Chair Jack Groselle said.


One of Hiram Township’s four tornado sirens, the one across from Village Gate, is not working.

“It’s going to be fixed soon,” Groselle said.


The township recently ordered 150 tons of salt from the Ohio Department of Transportation for next winter.

“That’s about normal for us,” Groselle said. “They’ll deliver the salt sometime during the summer.”

Nelson

Nelson Township’s annual Township Cleanup May 4-5 was a great success.

“We filled up five-and-a-half dumpsters of rubbish and four dumpsters of metal. We also accepted 379 tires,” township Chair Anna Mae VanDerHoeven said.


The township trustees agreed to help the people of Windham Township with their tornado cleanup.

“They requested one truck and one driver,” VanDerHoeven said.


The township trustees are currently revamping their Nelson Township Community House rental agreement.

“It’s kind of outdated,” VanDerHoeven said.

Roger Gordon
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