City of Ravenna
This year’s Raven Awards Ceremony will take place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 4 in the Ravenna High School auditorium at 6589 N. Chestnut St. The ceremony will recognize award recipients from 2024. Nominations are still being accepted, and sponsorships are available. For more information, call 330-296-3886, email [email protected] or visit ravennaareachamber.com.
A groundbreaking was held April 15 for the brand-new Veterans Administration building on North Chestnut Street. The new structure will be twice the size of the current building on Lovers Lane. The project will be completed sometime in 2026.
The Ravenna Area Chamber of Commerce will present “Lunch and Learn – Digital Marketing” from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, April 29 at the Portage County Board of Developmental Disabilities at 2606 Brady Lake Rd. Speaking will be Matt Ferrell, the president of Buckeye Residential Solutions. To pre-register, email [email protected] or visit ravennaareachamber.com.
A multi-Chamber Lunch & Learn will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, May 7 at UH Portage Medical Center at 6847 N. Chestnut St. The topic will be stroke awareness. To register, go to kentbiz.com/events/eventcalendar.
Ravenna Special Services will present “If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It” – an opportunity to bring Disney to Ravenna students – Friday, May 16 at Ravenna High School at 6589 N. Chestnut St. If you are able to offer up your time and/or talent, volunteers are needed. Contributions to the event or Amazon list are also in need. For more information, contact Jessica Haynes at 330-671-7292 or [email protected].
The Main Street Ravenna office will host its Downtown Cleanup at 8 a.m. Saturday, May 3 at its location of 267 W. Main St. Trash bags and gloves will be provided. There will be snacks and donuts, too.
Approximately $1 million of road paving and sidewalk repairs will be done throughout the city this summer.
The annual Art on Main festival will take place Saturday, June 14 downtown. Registration to have a booth will be available the first week of May.
Ravenna WorkHub is opening its doors to co-work office spaces in the downtown area. Day passes, virtual offices, conference rooms and more are available. For more information, visit ravennaworkhub.com.
The Ravenna Elks Lodge will host its Veterans Grave Marker Project Fundraiser on Saturday, May 3 at its location of 776 N. Freedom St. Doors will open at 5 p.m. Dinner will be at 6 p.m., and music and dancing will follow from 7:30 to 10 p.m. Cost is $20 per person. Ticket sales will close Sunday, April 27 or when they are sold out. For reservations and more information, call 440-263-4390.
Portions of a local movie production will be filmed Sunday, May 11 and from Friday, May 23 to Sunday, May 25 near the Riddle Block 9 building downtown. Chestnut Street going north and part of Main Street will be blocked off.
The Ravenna Youth Football team will hold a cornhole fundraiser sponsored by West Main St Winery, Brewery & Cider House from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 18 downtown. North Meridian Street and Locust Lane will be closed.
The Ravenna Schools Day of Service will be Friday, May 16. Students will be painting windows, picking up trash and passing out flyers.
Main Street Ravenna will host its third annual golf outing Saturday, May 10. Signups are available now.
Ravenna Township
FirstEnergy will soon be upgrading its system, which will affect a handful of the township’s roads. The Portage County engineer is working with the township on a road-use management agreement so that any roads that FirstEnergy damages will have to be paid for by FirstEnergy once the project is completed. FirstEnergy will notify residents who live on the affected roads. Traffic will always be maintained throughout the project.
Main Street Ravenna received a grant in the amount of $7,500 from the Akron-Cleveland Association of Realtors that will be used to spruce up Ravenna Township Park. A pergola will be installed as well as benches, planter boxes and solar lighting. The project is scheduled to begin by the end of April.
Ravenna Township and its full-time firefighters, Local 4201, have signed a new three-year contract.
Shalersville
The community-wide (Shalersville and Mantua) garage sale will start at 9 a.m. Friday, June 13 and Saturday, June 14. For $15, you can get your address and a short description listed on a map as well as a sign and a balloon to help customers find your house. More details to follow. Registration will open in early May.
Shalersville’s annual Clean Up Days will take place at the township garage from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thursday, May 1; 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, May 2; and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 3. These dates are also displayed on the new digital sign. The township garage is located at 4383 state Route 303.
The Shalersville Historical Society’s One-Room Schoolhouse construction project should be finished in time for its dedication at 1 p.m. Friday, June 13. An open house and potluck dinner is planned. The schoolhouse was decommissioned in 1905 and moved to the historical society in 2024.
A one-mile section of Work Road will have trees trimmed due to low overhanging limbs and branches that are damaging tall vehicles.
The Portage County Engineering Department is working on a solution to fix the 400-foot-long section of Coit Road that needs repaired.
Eric Weaver from the Crestwood Ponytail League attended a recent township trustees meeting and asked several questions and offered a few suggestions. The township will paint lines on the parking lot and also paint and put up signs for handicapped parking. ATVs can be used to drag the fields, but no motorized vehicle can be authorized to drive on the hiking trail.
This will be Rich McIntyre’s last year as president of Crestwood Youth Football & Cheer. Bob Brannon will be his replacement.
Crestwood Youth Softball will operate the concession stand this season. It was previously operated by the Shalersville Historical Society.
Streetsboro
The Streetsboro Fire Department finally received its brand-new E-One Fire Truck on April 14 after two years of waiting. After the truck was built, there was a delay in delivering it to Streetsboro because E-One offered to add approximately $15,000 worth of upgrades to the vehicle’s compartments free of charge if city council would allow the company to transport the truck to Indianapolis to display it at the largest firefighters convention in the country.
“They wanted to show it off,” Mayor Glenn Broska said. “It was well worth getting delayed a couple days for them to take it to the convention. We also saved $15,000.”
Rather than purchase a brand-new ambulance like it has always done, city council is just purchasing a new chassis, which comprises the cab, engine and transmission. The cost is $310,291.
“We’ll move the box that’s on the back of the ambulance over to a new chassis,” Broska said. “There’s no having to rearrange the compartments. It will save us about $80,000. It’s a cost-saving measure and an efficiency measure.”
Wingstop opened April 14 at 9515 state Route 14.
Aurora
The Campus of Anna Maria of Aurora recently was named Newsweek’s best nursing home in Ohio. To celebrate, the Campus of Anna Maria will host a party that will include door-prize giveaways, appetizers and signature cocktails from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, May 8 in its newly renovated Norwood Café. The nursing home is located at 889 N. Aurora Rd. Email your RSVP by Thursday, May 1 to Evan Webster at [email protected].
