January Hudson Monthly

INSIDE BARLOW FARM PLANS BUSY 2015PAGE 18

JANUARY 2015

Unique member of Summit County Prosecutor's Office helps to get the job done

2 HUDSON MONTHLY JANUARY 2015

JANUARY 2015 HUDSON MONTHLY 3

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR4

5 HUDSON VOICES

AN OLD-FASHIONED BARN RAISING

CHEERLEADER-IN-CHIEF

A SYMPATHETIC EAR

BY HEIDI AUGUSTINCase Barlow Farm advocates have cooked up a list of fun events for 2015 with some help

from Chef Brandt Evans. Find out what is happening at the farm.

BY MARIE POMPILIAfter almost six months on the job, City Manager Jane Howington looks back

over her career and looks ahead to the future in Hudson.

BY STEPHANIE FELLENSTEINAvery II, a facility dog in Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh’s office, is

using his magic to help some of the county’s youngest victims.

AVERY II, THE FACILITY DOG IN SUMMIT COUNTY PROSECUTOR SHERRI BEVAN WALSH’S OFFICE, PAUSES IN THE HALLWAY AT THE SUMMIT COUNTY COURTHOUSE.

HUDSON MONTHLY /AMANDA WOOLF

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Vol. 16, Issue 5JANUARY 2015

1050 W. Main St., Kent, OH 44240

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330-541-9400Fax

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EDITORStephanie Fellenstein

ext. 4185

GENERAL MANAGERRon Waite

PHOTOGRAPHERSRobert J. LucasLisa Scalfaro

Amanda Woolf

HUDSON HUB-TIMESEDITOR

Andrew Adamext. 4175

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Heidi AugustinMarie Pompili

DESIGNERMalissa Vernon

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ext. 4113Hudson Monthly is published 12 times a year by Record Publishing Co., David E. Dix—Publisher, Ron Waite—General Manager, P.O. Box 5199, Kent, OH 44240. It is included once per month with the carrier-delivered Hudson Hub-Times. Mail subscriptions are available for $36 per year. No portion of this publication may be reproduced without written permission of the Record Publishing Co., L.L.C. © Copyright 2015

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I have never been a fan of board games. But, coming from a family of board-game fanatics, I have often found myself trapped in a never-end-ing game of Monopoly.

Each New Year’s Eve, my parents would drive us down to St. John’s Cathedral in Cleveland for Mass followed by dinner at a local Chinese res-taurant. We would return home in plenty of time for a (dreaded) board-game marathon before the ball dropped at midnight.

I blame my dislike of games on my competitive nature. I don’t like to lose. I especially don’t like to lose to my brothers. These same brothers will then remind me of the loss in painstaking detail for years. Each holiday they revisit those losses with glee while breaking out the Scrabble board.

There are a few game exceptions. I like the game of Life. I also like Candyland, Clue and Scattergories. I have played hundreds of games with my kids and am happy to report I am slightly (slightly) less competitive with them.

Don’t bring out that spinning wishes princess game, though. I have been known to eat prin-cess-playing pieces like tiny chocolate-chip cookies in an effort to move things along.

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Editor’s note: Hudson Monthly featured Michelle (Knapper) Dar-vis in the May 2014 issue. We are excited to report that she has finished her “Year in Plein Air.”

This year in plein air has been a piece of my heart displayed on can-vas. I am still painting every day for a few more days and I know when I see the collection complete it will have a whole new meaning to me. It will be very hard for me to part with this collection at the end of 2015, it records my last year in my 20s, my wedding and name change. I was married Aug. 31, 2014 and it is a challenge to paint up-to and on your wedding day. Aside from my personal feelings for this collec-tion, it is like a time capsule of 2014. All 365 original paintings make one piece of art in my mind. My favorite parts of this year are hav-ing the opportunity to paint a diverse amount of subject matter out-doors. Also, my husband was able to come along almost every day and we were able to spend a lot time with each other before and af-ter our wedding. I was able to capture on canvas a lot of my favorite childhood places — some are now changed or gone. That made it eas-ier on me to see those places go away. One of the things I will miss is always knowing when I finish a painting, I get to do it again the next day. I will miss the hunt each day looking for a great painting and be-ing more aware of the beauty around us. I have learned to tell time by the sun and feel closer to nature, something precious I do not wish to loose. I have learned who I am as a female artist and have developed my own style of painting. I have also learned that no matter what lan-guage you speak, everyone understands beauty and art, and smiles at you when you are creating it.

Hudson artist’s yearlong project on display at Hudson Fine Art & Framing

by Michelle Darvis

Day 327

Day 344

Day 350

“A Year in Plein Air,” an exhibit of all 365 paintings created by Michelle Darvis in 2014, will be on display at Hudson Fine Art Gallery, 160 North Main Street, un-til Feb. 4.

Darvis also will give a talk — “My year in Plein Air: Why I painted on my wedding day” — Jan. 22 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. For more information, or to reserve a seat, call the gallery at 330-650-2800 or visit

www.HudsonFineArtandFraming.com.


Summit County Prosecutor’s Office uses dog to ease victims’ fears

by Stephanie FellensteinPhotos by Amanda Woolf

Avery is a dog.Let’s get that out of the way first.But he is so much more than just a

dog. He is a friend, a confidant, a pro-tector and, in some special cases, a savior.

The 3-year-old yellow lab/golden re-triever mix is a facility dog in Sum-mit County Prosecutor Sherri Bev-an Walsh’s office. In 2013, he became not only the first dog in the Summit County office, but also the first dog ever in any prosecutor’s office in Ohio.

And in just one year, he has already proven to be a valuable asset.

The journey to Avery began before he was even born.

Bevan Walsh first heard about facil-ity dogs at a conference through the National District Attorney’s Office.

“Someone was giving a presenta-tion about the benefits of a dog in the courtroom,” she says. “Someone in New Mexico had a dog. I asked all kinds of questions. I really wanted to know how it worked.”

Bevan Walsh was so excited about the idea that when she got home, she filled out the application for Canine Companions for Independence in two weeks. It took another almost two years before Avery joined the staff.


Canine Companions for Independence is a non-prof-it organization, founded in 1975, that provides highly trained assistance dogs to those in need. Headquar-tered in Santa Rosa, Cal-ifornia, but with a branch office in Delaware, Ohio, Bevan Walsh made sure they knew she needed an extremely calm dog, a dog who would spend most of his time helping to heal the broken souls of some of her office’s youngest victims.

With the paperwork un-derway, Avery was born and lived with a puppy trainer for 1 1/2 years. He learned all the basic commands — sit, stay, down. His trainer also took him everywhere — to the store, schools, even

on an airplane.At 1 1/2, Avery began six months of inten-

sive training. This is where Melanie

Hart enters the story. And re-

ally, any sto-ry about

A v e r y n e e d s

to in-

clude Hart. She is his “mom,” the one who takes care of him, and a steady presence when he is with his young charges.

Hart actually entered the picture a little earlier when Bevan Walsh decided that her administrative assis-tant would be the perfect handler for a facility dog.

“As the boss, I can ex-pand her job duties,” Bev-an Walsh says, smiling. “But this was something we re-ally needed to talk about. This dog was going to live with her. I knew she would be good at it.”

Hart jumped at the chance. Of course she had to clear it with her hus-band and her own rescue dog, Bogey, at home. Once everything was in order, Hart and Avery got to know eachother.

“I love it,” Hart says of her new responsibilities, and Bevan Walsh agrees. “Anyone who sees her face knows that.”

Avery soon grows tired of the interview and climbs up onto his favorite chair in his “office.” He rests his head on the arm of the chair. He appears to be sleeping, but his silky, yellow, furry ears twitch every now and then when he hears his name.

Those ears have heard a lot of stories. Most of them

really sad. But Avery doesn’t judge.

Nor does he offer an opinion. He sim-

ply rests his head across the lap

of someone who needs

a little ex-tra sup-

p o r t .

Handler Melanie Hart has been with Avery since he joined the prosecutor’s office.


He’ll even climb up onto their lap if they need even more love.

Bevan Walsh sits down to demon-strate and Avery skips the first step and climbs right onto her lap, his head resting on her shoulder.

Avery has the same training as a service dog, but is classified as a facili-ty dog, Hart says.

Once he arrived in the prosecutor’s office, it was a few months before he first appeared in court.

“He did start fairly soon with vic-tims, though,” Hart says.

Avery’s main “clients” are children — children who have been victims of domestic violence or horrific crimes or who have witnessed horrific crimes.

“Children are not excited to be here,” Bevan Walsh says. “And it’s even harder for them to come back a second time.”

She has seen immediate results with Avery.

“The children are more relaxed and have an easier time talking,” she says.

Bevan Walsh mentions an 11-year-When he’s not hanging out with some of his new friends, Avery can be found under handler Melanie Hart’s desk.

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Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh and Avery demonstrate one of the behaviors he uses to comfort victims.

old girl who couldn’t tell a prosecutor face-to-face what had happened to her. The girl stayed in the room with Avery, and while she told the dog what had hap-pened, she face-timed the prosecutor who was in an-other room.

Avery also helped two chil-dren who witnessed their fa-ther brutally murder their mother. “They were com-pletely shut down when they arrived,” Hart says. “Avery was able to get through to them.”

Not only does Avery assist during interviews, he also can attend court with a vic-tim. Hart helps him demon-strate what he does in court. With Bevan Walsh sitting in the witness chair, Avery lays down across her feet, hidden from view by a short wall. Once he’s settled, the only people who can see him are Hart, who is tucked away in a corner in case he needs her, and the victim.

“They feel protected,” Be-van Walsh says. “They don’t feel intimidated.”

Avery has a busy sched-ule. Victim advocates and prosecutors will email if they have children coming in. So far, Avery has met about 40 kids, and on average, those same kids need to come in to be interviewed three to five times, depending on the case.

“I got the word out to the defense attorneys too that Avery is available,” Bevan Walsh says. “If it would help a child be less traumatized, it doesn’t matter to us if it is for the prosecutor or the de-fense.”

The trip to the Summit County Courthouse from the prosecutor’s office in-volves an elevator ride and a quick walk down a hallway.

Judge Amy Corrigall Jones walks by and pats Avery on the head. They work together in the Summit County Valor Court.

Valor Court offers pro-grams, treatments and men-


tors to veterans who have made mis-takes and ended up in the criminal justice system.

During the “graduation” ceremo-ny, Avery carries a mug and gifts over to the recent graduates. “I always bring an extra mug,” Hart says, laugh-ing about the day Avery dropped and picked up the mug about three times before it actually got to the recipient.

Avery also attends Drug Court and has visited a battered women’s shel-ter, the Haven of Rest and flew to Washington, D.C., with Hart and Bev-an Walsh for a presentation before the American Bar Association.

“He is so big he wouldn’t fit under the seat,” Hart says. “His head was in the aisle. I had everything with me — registration papers and shot records. No one asked for anything except a DEA agent who wanted a picture with him.”

Not only is Avery there to help kids, he indirectly helps everyone he runs into.

Avery steps into a crowded elevator at the courthouse.

“Hello Avery,” a man says. “You be-ing a good boy?”

About 20 minutes later, on anoth-er elevator ride, a woman steps on at the first floor and immediately hun-kers down to scratch Avery behind the

ears. When the bell dings at the third floor, she stands up, looks behind her says, “Oh, hi everybody.”

Clearly Avery is the favorite.Angela Walls-Alexander, assistant

Summit County prosecutor, though, is one of Avery’s favorites. He leaves his “office” at the same time Walls-Al-exander is walking by. He immediate-ly heads over to say ‘hello,’ follows her into her office and sits under her desk.

Bevan Walsh tells about one time when a victim started to raise her voice at Walls-Alexander. Avery walked over and plopped his head onto her lap. “He would never do any-thing, he was just giving Angie some support,” Bevan Walsh says.

As much as Avery helps others, new friends are always popping up to help him. Pet Supplies Plus provides all of his food and grooming for free and the Stow Kent Animal Hospital handles all of his medical care.

So what is it about dogs that make them great confidants?

“We [at Canine Companions for Independence] put a lot of training into the temperament of the dogs and keeping them calm,” says Ashley Koehler, development assistant. “Av-ery’s in a courthouse where he’s with a lot of people and children. Research has shown being around animals low-ers blood pressure and makes people more relaxed.”

Avery hangs out on a chair in his “office.”


City Manager looks back over first six months on the job

by Marie PompiliPhotos by Robert J. Lucas and Laura Freeman

Hudson City Manager Jane Howington brings years of

experience to the job.

The latter part of 2014 ended with a slew of pro-tests throughout the United States all focus-ing on affecting change in public policy. Protests have been instrumental in changing laws, hearts and minds throughout history, but they are not the only way to bring change to society. Work-ing within the system, rather than against it, to make a difference in the world, to make it a bet-ter place, is equally effec-tive and, yet, not an ap-proach many will take. Luckily for the city of Hudson, new City Man-ager Jane Howington recognized long ago that

she could make a differ-ence through experience, collaboration and effec-tive leadership.

On June 27, 2014, the city of Hudson an-nounced that Howington would be appointed as the next city manager af-ter an exhaustive nation-wide search conduct-ed by Novak Consulting Group, a consulting firm with considerable expe-rience in working with municipal governments. The search yielded a to-tal of 70 applicants, five of whom were invit-ed to sit down for inter-views. Howington’s more than 25 years of experi-ence in managing city

governments, budgets and human resourc-es departments fit nice-ly with what city coun-cil was looking for in its next manager. Her for-ward-thinking approach to municipal administra-tion has allowed coun-cil to focus on reviewing the city’s Comprehen-sive Plan as well as de-veloping the Downtown Phase II Redevelopment Plan, signaling a time of growth for this town.

Howington was born in Madison, Wisconsin. The youngest of three children, she always felt


that she needed to keep up with her two older brothers. After moving several times, Howington became concerned that she might not graduate from high school so she hastened things along, graduating from her New Jersey high school at the age of 16. As a freshman at Ramapo College in Mahwah, New Jer-sey, Howington would hide in the front seat of the car while her mother dropped her off at college. Never-theless, she graduated with a bachelor’s de-gree in Environmental Studies after a stint as an LBJ congressional intern where she real-ly became interested in public administra-tion. After working as a teacher environmen-talist for the New Jer-sey Audubon Society, Howington decided to go back to school to focus on land use and to arm herself with the necessary education to fight for public poli-cies that would ensure proper stewardship of public lands.

“While at Audubon I would read about the ‘wars’ between en-vironmental advoca-cy groups and the gov-ernment,” Howington recalls. “It would be nice if they could work together.”

After about four-and-a-half years, How-ington completed her master’s degree in Urban and Region-al Planning from Tex-as A&M University and took a job in the tax shelter advising department of Dean Witter Reynolds with the goal of eventually working with the mu-nicipal bonds depart-ment of a city. Ever the multi-tasker, Howing-ton grew bored with the private sector, re-alizing that she would be doing the same old thing every day, never helping to contribute to the public sector in a real way. So she left Dean Witter Reynolds and took her first job in public sector plan-ning as chief planner in Methuen, Massa-chusetts, population approximately 48,000. After getting her feet wet in Methuen, How-ington moved on to Acton, Massachusetts


where she served as plan-ning director from 1986 to 1987. In 1987, Howington was appointed town ad-ministrator for Lunenburg, Massachusetts where s h e

served until 1994. She moved around in order to “work under progressive city managers whom I could learn from,” she says. The

town administrator job was “more ful-

filling because you made decisions

without having to wait for a

city manag-er to ap-

prove.” I t

was also in Lunenburg that Howington gave birth to her son.

Howington’s next move came not as a result of her own need to expand her ho-rizons, but her husband’s. After working in corporate environments for a number of years, he wanted to ex-plore the public sector, land-ing a job as IT director for Butler County, Ohio. How-ington began work on her second master’s degree —

in public ad-ministration — at Mi-ami Uni-

versity, in Oxford, Ohio.

A s with her first two degrees, H o w -i n g t o n eventual-ly got the itch to go back to

work, taking the planning director position within the city of Oxford’s Community Development division.

“It’s a common theme,” she says, “how best to affect change. Every time I went to school I wanted to work. But, [in order to do] what I wanted to do, I needed the proper degree.” In 2000, Howington was appoint-ed city manager for Oxford, Ohio, and began to work her magic.

Oxford is a town of ap-proximately 22,000, certain-ly not the largest town How-ington worked for up until that time, but then again, she wasn’t dealing with the complexities that are found in a town where one of the top universities in the re-gion plays a large role. When Howington began her sev-en-year tenure, relations were a bit tense between

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city government and the uni-versity. In fact, Howington re-calls that she was told never to meet with representatives of the university without an at-torney present. She created a Town-Gown initiative, a prac-tice employed by many college towns and universities where-by the two entities work to-gether for the betterment of the larger community. For ex-ample, The Ohio State Uni-versity Town and Gown Advi-sory Committee for the Arts is designed to establish OSU as a facilitator in discussions re-garding the arts in Columbus by collaborating with other arts leaders to advance their common purpose. By encour-aging her constituents and council to work with the uni-versity’s students and admin-istrators, Howington saw re-lations thaw fast. Today, one needs only to read the Miami University calendar to see that relations are still good as a re-sult of her assessing the situ-ation and acting as quickly as reasonably possible. Another

major collaboration between the two (as well as county offi-cials, local school boards, and other organizations) was the Northwest Butler Transpor-tation Study (NBTS), which was designed to identify prob-lems with major transporta-tion arteries throughout But-ler County as well as to explore solutions to the problem that complied with land use codes. Howington championed the study and served on its advi-sory committee. She was also instrumental in helping the university not o n l y

see how its own traffic affect-ed the larger region, but also in realizing that it needed to be part of the process.

One fun anecdote to her town-gown relationship with Miami University that How-ington shared was when the University invited hip-hop art-ist 50 Cent to perform. His “people” requested an ar-mored vehicle for him. “I told them the city was not able to cover that,” she says. It was an instance where she needed to put the interests of the city before pri-

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vate interests. Allotting taxpayer funds for a performer’s armored ve-hicle just wasn’t in the budget. “A city manager has to be strong so that people and organizations don’t take advantage of [the city].”

Howington’s ability to take risks endeared her to the community and rebuilt people’s confidence in their municipal government. The rede-velopment of Oxford’s Uptown area was just one risk that she took for the betterment of not only the city of Oxford but the region as a whole. “[We entered into] an interjuristicial agreement with all of the townships [in the area] for economic develop-ment,” says Howington, noting that the agreement also included rural communities. “It is good to consider the needs of a rural community,” she says. The town is important to them as well as it is often their source of goods and services.

Howington’s son graduated from high school and the family was ready to move on to a bigger city. In 2007, she took the assistant city manager job for the city of Dayton, Ohio, just a few miles north of Oxford. Short-ly after Howington started her job — and assumed the human resources director hat as well — the econom-ic recession of 2008 hit Dayton hard, causing massive layoffs within the city government, resulting in loss of jobs, consolidation of duties, and outsourcing. Howington reviewed the top-heavy government struc-ture and determined that three as-sistant city managers were unneces-sary. She laid herself off and headed west to Big Sky Country.

“It’s important to visit other plac-es and see how other regions are do-ing things,” Howington says. “It’s a learning experience.” It is with that outlook that Howington ar-rived in Kalispell, Montana, popu-lation 20,000, give or take. Located within 30 minutes of Glacier Nation-al Park, Kalispell exposed Howing-ton to environmental issues that she hadn’t found in her earlier po-sitions. She became very familiar with water rights (i.e. who controls the water flowing through a partic-ular property) and was instrumen-tal in establishing the need for up-dated water treatment facilities and procedures. She also became famil-iar with bioproducts. However, How-ington’s two-and-a-half years in Ka-lispell provided her with experiences that she could take to any commu-

nity. According to the April 17, 2008, edition of The Daily Inter-lake, Kalispell’s daily newspaper, Howington successfully rebuilt the city’s general fund reserves from a low of approximately $250,000 to more than $1 million through reconfiguring staff for a more sustainable employment structure, building a rate pro-gram (along with city council) to stabilize utility rates over the long-term, and by bringing clo-sure to a collective bargaining agreement with city firefight-ers that reduced city costs, but prevented seven firefighters from losing their jobs. The lat-ter was difficult but necessary.

Family called Howington back east and in 2012 she and her husband moved to Newport, Rhode Island, population approx-imately 24,000. Newport was simi-lar in size to the other cities How-ington managed, but was different in that it is a resort town in the sum-mer when its population swells with revelers from all over the country. “It has a historic tourist dynamic,” says Howington. There are colleges (U.S. Naval War College, Salve Regina), Naval Station Newport Naval Base (home of the Naval Undersea War-fare Center), and no open land for development, requiring city officials to redevelop what is already there when new projects are proposed. According to Howington, code en-forcement is especially crucial be-cause every bit of land “counts.) During her two-and-a-half years in Newport, Howington was in charge of overseeing the city’s water and sewer operations. She worked with nearby towns to put limits on turbine placement along the historic waterfront among other projects, and was open to using trending, analysis and sys-tems analyst methods and pro-grams to run a more efficient government. She also decid-ed to temporarily close down the historic 3.5-mile Cliff Walk along the Atlantic coast after Hurricane Sandy caused ex-tensive damage. It made na-tional news.

While she managed every-thing well, Howington experi-enced roadblocks within city council and decided to join her son in Ohio in 2014, set-tling here in Hudson.


Hudson City Council is a welcome change for How-ington and she enjoys work-ing with this elected group of leaders.

“I am impressed with council. They are willing to move forward and are very supportive,” she says. “They are one voice with their pri-orities,” she notes, making it easier to get projects on the table and moving rather than being bantered about for years.

One part of the current Comprehensive Plan that Howington plans to fo-cus on is the Downtown Phase II Redevelopment. “We have lots of opportuni-ty for job growth,” she says of the plan. “The more we do to [generate jobs], the more revenues are gener-ated which is better for the schools and the city. We have properties that are [ready for development].” By providing incentives for employers to take up resi-dence in Hudson, the city not only keeps tax revenue in Hudson, but also retail dollars as well. One area of interest is the Eco Park on Seasons Road. “This area needs to find its niche mar-ket,” she notes. “It can be an emerging technology center,” she suggests.

Another location ripe for development is the former Youth Development Cen-ter property on Hines Hill Road. Howington is quick to mention, however, that putting the right industries or businesses on the land — or any land — is key to eco-nomic success. “We need to do market analyses to de-termine where the need is. Is there a market for emerg-ing industries here?” When Howington finally dug into her new job, she found that council had five big projects on the table, all interdepen-dent on each other. In order to determine which project is tackled first depends on

the needs of the community. “We need to pay attention to and understand the com-munity needs,” she points out. By reexamining the Comprehensive Plan and doing further analysis, the city can prioritize projects without taking years to be-gin them. And, if the funds are available, perhaps the city can tackle more than one project at a time if it is willing to take the risk.

One of the most asked questions — and one that was asked of Howington the morning of this interview — involves the building of a community center. City offi-cials are in the process of re-viewing the Comprehensive Plan, noting where the com-munity center fits into the most pressing needs of the city. “Policymakers need to determine a common priori-ty,” Howington says, “based on the Comprehensive Plan and with interactions with the residents.” The ability to pay for these projects is also at the forefront as it is all a “balancing act of reve-nues with less than 10 per-cent of property tax going to the city of Hudson.”

Another issue Howington has had to address is the is-sue of the Akron Water Sup-ply Bureau attempting to levy a surcharge on Hudson residents it serves. The is-sue has been covered heavi-ly in the Hudson Hub, most recently detailing the law-suit brought by the city to Akron Water, alleging that Akron Water is levying a an additional surcharge on Hudson residents to pay for a new pipeline that runs North of Hudson. Accord-ing to Hudson, the current line has failed more than 100 times in the past few years, causing officials to wonder where the current surcharg-es are being spent. At press time, the lawsuit had just been filed.

Just one of the many skills Howington has brought to all of her jobs is the ability to work with other towns and cities to more efficient-ly run her city government.

She continues to work with the city of Cleveland to pro-vide Hudson water service and has a job sharing con-tract on the books with the city of Stow (the cities share a human resources direc-tor.) Hudson’s public works department is part of a re-gional collaboration that fa-cilitates equipment sharing and the city has a mutual aid agreement with Boston Heights public safety forces. Additionally, Hudson works with the Summit County building inspector and may work with the county sewer organization in the future.

Howington pointed out a recent collaboration with nearby communities for Emergency Prepared-ness. Communications Di-rector Jody Roberts is part of a subcommittee of Pub-lic Information Officers (PIO) that develop com-munications plans to be im-plemented in an emergen-cy situation. They support each other in their efforts to inform the public by de-veloping a comprehensive communications plan to be followed by all member PIOs.

“I believe it’s important to see the little things tak-en together,” says How-ington. “We need to l o o k t o

d o m o r e with less. By part-nering, it helps everyone.” She sites job sharing and cross train-i n g e m p l o y -ees to do multi-ple tasks as two ways of oper-ating more cost-effectively. How-ington has honed her skills and talents over more than 25 years

of public planning and city managerial experience. She has negotiated tough agree-ments, streamlined govern-ment operations, reclaimed more than half of city re-serve funds, gotten her feet wet with water rights, and forged positive working re-lationships with entities ranging from a university to the United States Navy. She is a quick study, able to look at and analyze a situ-ation without taking years and exorbitant funds come up with a plan and move forward. She is respect-ful and capable of working with city council and oth-er government entities to get things done. And yet she says, “It’s not about me. I’m a catalyst to try to pro-vide the means for a talent-ed staff to do their jobs. I am there to support. I am the cheerleader and chief,” she says. “I am there to en-courage, nurture and train, to empower them to go out and try to do the things that will make a difference in the community.”v

Jane Howington brings all the comforts of home to her

Hudson office.


by Heidi AugustinPhotos by Lisa Scalfaro


What does a cutting edge chef have in common with a 200-year-old barn? More than most would think. The relationship between Chef Brandt Evans and Case Barlow Farm may seem un-likely, but few collaborations could better mesh the cur-rent trends of fine ‘locavore’ dining with ‘green’-minded historical restoration. The 1890s barn on the Case Bar-low Farm is a historical trea-sure that, despite its age, still has plenty of life left in it. Its generous size and cen-tralized location on Barlow Road make it a fascinating venue for large gatherings. All it needs is some love and care.

Board member Bet-sy Curley hopes that Hud-sonites will imagine the possibilities for the beauti-ful old structure and help bring it into the 21st centu-ry. “This huge barn is just sitting there, waiting to be

used. It is perfect for larger events such as concerts, weddings, barn dances, and re-unions,” Curley says. “We have had over 150 requests this year from people who

want to rent the barn, b u t w e h a v e t o turn them down be-cause it is not safe.” W h i l e the barn and farm d a t e back to the earli-est years o f Hud-son, there is some-thing very m o d e r n about re-s t o r i n g something

that is so classically elegant. It doesn’t hurt that it is per-fectly proportioned for en-tertaining masses of people.

And what could be more environmentally friendly? It is a very “green” thing to take down an old structure and use the pieces and parts for some other application — old boards and fixtures reinvented as floors and fit-tings in new construction. But when the barn remains right where it has been for more than a hundred years, it is the essence of sustain-ability. Just give it a face lift to make it safe and sound,, and open it up for the busi-ness of fun.

Fun is just what Brandt Evans and the folks at Case Barlow have planned. Ev-ans is teaming up with Case Barlow Farm to cook up some dinners and celebra-tions to help raise funds to bring the barn into a useable state. The events sched-uled throughout 2015 will take advantage of local pro-duce when possible. They will take place in the build-ings and on the surrounding acreage of the farm and will kick off with a romantic Val-entine’s Day dinner on Feb. 7 in the farmhouse. Couples will enjoy a four-course din-ner prepared by Chef Evans for $150 that includes wine and valet parking. Since the farmhouse can only hold about 40 people for a seated dinner, the event will be lim-ited to 20 couples. Anyone interested in attending the evening should email Betsy Curley at [email protected] or buy tickets online at www.eventbrite.com.

A Mother’s Day cham-pagne brunch with a fashion show by the Grey Colt and a cooking demonstration by Evans follows in May. The ‘Pig Jam’ on July 11 prom-ises a pig roast and live lo-cal bands on the grounds of the farm. By then, some of

the local produce of the area will be available for Evans to use in his preparations. Evans will take advantage of pleasant autumn weath-er and harvests with a clam-bake on Sept. 19 and an Ok-toberfest on Oct. 25.

Hudsonites might be fa-miliar with Evans through his restaurants, ‘Blue Can-yon’ in Twinsburg, and ‘Pura Vida by Brandt Evans’ on Public Square in Cleve-land. Blue Canyon opened in Twinsburg in 2004 with a ‘great american lodge’ theme. Its menu features creatively prepared hearty fare. Pura Vida is a critical-ly acclaimed restaurant that offers vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-friendly meals along with ‘interesting steak and seafood dishes,’ making it the perfect venue for just about everybody. Pura Vida is a term that translates to ‘Live today, not tomorrow,’ a concept that Evans seems to embody in his very busy life. In addition to his res-taurants, Evans is executive director for the Cuyahoga Community College Hospi-tality program.

Fortunately, Evans’ roots are right here in Hudson. He grew up a stone’s throw from Case Barlow Farm and spent the summers of his childhood hanging around the farm, baling hay for pen-ny candy money and mak-ing the kind of sweet mem-ories that eventually called him back to Hudson to raise his own family.

“We would bale hay with Mr. Don Barlow, and then go stack the hay in the barn and muck out the stalls,” Evans remembers. “We ate our bag lunches up in the rafters of the barn and then Mr. Barlow would whistle and we would climb down for some of his homemade root beer. It was hard work, but it was so much fun.”

Those memories were

Chef Brandt Evans kicks off year of fundraising events


stirred when he saw a refer-ence to Case Barlow Farm while browsing the inter-net one day. He sent an e-mail to the website offering to help with fundraising and was quickly taken up on his offer.

“Brandt’s offer was a great catalyst,” says Curley, one of the newest members of the Case Barlow Farm board of directors. “We had always been chewing on an idea to start a ma-jor capi-tal cam-p a i g n to re-

store this barn and now it all seems to be coming to-gether.”

Curley became involved with Case Barlow Farm when she was making ar-rangements to bring author Tracy Chevalier to Hudson during her book tour for the book, ‘The Last Run-away,” a novel about es-caping slaves set partially in Hudson. “Since the Bar-

lows were very involved in the abolitionist

movement, it s e e m e d

t o

be a perfect setting for Chevalier to give a talk about the book,” Curley says. That successful event raised $1,000 for the farm a n d s e -cured her a spot on the board of direc-tors. Since then, the r e s t o r a -tion proj-ect has be-come her passion.

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THE BARN The grand and stately red

barn sits proudly on the four remaining acres of the once sprawling Case Barlow Farm. Edged in bright white, it draws the eye with its bright color and clean lines. The im-mense structure, measuring 100 feet by 50 feet by 75 feet, overlooks what were once rolling acres of farmland. At the height of its productivity, 480 acres of the land around the barn was farmed by gen-erations of Case and Barlow families.

Acquired by the City of Hudson, the pasture has been converted into the base-ball and soccer fields of Bar-low Park.

The barn was built in the early 1890s and is one of the

largest barn structures in Ohio.

Described as “simply the last of its breed” in a brochure published by Case Barlow Farm, the group notes that ‘most old barns within a five-mile radius of the CBF have been left in ruin or burned to the ground.’

Called a ‘Cadillac of barns’ by an expert timber fram-er who was called in to con-sult on restoring the barn, it was likely a very expensive structure for the time. It is estimated that it took three days to erect the structure with the cooperation of many townspeople and neigh-bors. Curley says it will take the same community effort to bring it back to a useable state. “It took a town to build this barn; it will take a town to restore this barn.”

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The adjacent homestead, including the farmhouse, wagon shed, corn crib and grounds, has already been re-stored using private donations and the work of many vol-unteers. Curley notes that past fundraising efforts have just been enough to keep the house up and running. “It is a 200-year-old structure, and we are always putting out some kind of metaphorical fire or another.” This campaign will focus on making the barn safe and useable. Once the barn is completed, money generated from the rentals can be used to sustain the whole historical property.

Plans for the two-level barn include a ‘casual museum’ about the Barlows and local agricultural history on the first floor, leaving the wide open space on the second floor for happy congregations of people.

Once the building has been cleaned and sanitized, work would then shift to plumbing, electrical work, and insula-tion. To make the barn a useable venue for parties, a ca-tering kitchen and bathrooms would be added. Since the farm is owned by a non-profit corporation it receives no funds from the city for its upkeep or care. “Most people don’t realize that the CB is completely self-supporting,” Curley says.

Evans is eagerly anticipating the lineup of dinners and celebrations planned for the year.

The farm that was his playground as a child is once again another kind of playground for his generosity and creative talents.

Additional information about the Case Barlow Farm and upcoming events can be found on its website at www.casebarlowfarm.com or on the Case Barlow Farm face-book page.v

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Pastor Michael C. Conklin

“Visitors Expected”

SUNDAYSERVICES

Formal Liturgy 8:45 a.m.Sunday School 9:45 a.m.Contemporary Worship 11:00 a.m.

7855 Stow Rd • Hudson, OhioA Congregation of the E.L.C.A.

330.653.5980 | rejoicelc.org

Dr. Arthur J. Helin, PastorSunday School 9:00 a.m.Sunday Worship 10:15 a.m.

7755 S. Boyden Rd • Northfield, Ohio330.467.4137

Child Care Available

NORTHFIELD PRESBYTERIANCHURCH

Worship with Holy Eucharistand Sunday School 10:00 a.m.

330.342.0429 • hudsonanglican.com55 Atterbury Blvd • Hudson, Ohio

Rev. Dr. Joe Boysel, Rector

HOLY TRINITY ANGLICANCHURCH

Sunday Service & School 10:30 a.m.Wednesday Testimony Meeting 7:30 p.m.ReAdiNg ROOm iN HudSONevApORAtOR WORkS #7tues., Wed., thur., Fri. & Sat. 10:00 - 1:00Sunday 11:45 - 12:30

7200 valley view Rd • p.O. Box 653330.653.6965

FIRST CHURCH OF CHRISTSCIENTIST

Rev. Hoyte WilhelmSunday Worship 9:00 a.m. & 11:15 a.m.Sunday School 10:15 a.m.

330.650.2650 | hudsonumc.comOpen Hearts. Open Minds. Open Doors.

HUDSON UNITED METHODISTCHURCH

2600 Hudson-Aurora Rd • Hudson, Ohio

A Christ Centered Church

Rev. Rob SparrSunday School (all ages) 9:30 a.m.Sunday Service 8:30 & 10:30 a.m.

330.650.1626 • www.hudsonpc.org

HUDSON PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, EPC

201 W. Streetsboro St • Hudson, Ohio

Rev. Sue TinkerSunday School 9:15 a.m.Sunday Worship 10:30 a.m.

21 Aurora St • Hudson, Ohio330.607.0856 | fpchudson.org

Growing, Loving, Serving

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHOF HUDSON, PC (USA)

Worship8:15 & 10:45 a.m.Education9:30 a.m.

GLORIA DEI LUTHERAN CHURCH

330.650.6550 • www.gloriadeihudson.org2113 Ravenna St • Hudson, Ohio 44236

Jeff Schofield, Lead PastorWednesday Family Night 6:30 p.m.Hope preschool programSunday Worship Celebration 9:30 & 11:00 a.m.

3033 middleton Rd • Hudson, Ohio

Real Life • Real Change • Real Hope

330.655.5170• www.hopecma.com


The Alzheimer’s Associa-tion will host its monthly Caregiver Support Group at 7 p.m. at St. Mary’s Cath-olic Church, 340 N. Main St., Hudson. The meeting is free and open to all care-givers, family members and friends with a loved one living with Alzheimer’s disease or a related de-mentia. For more informa-tion, call the Greater East Ohio Area Alzheimer’s Association at 1-800-272-3900.

The Relay for Life team meetings will kick off at 7 p.m. in the Hudson High School Commons. Later meetings will be at 7 p.m. in the Hudson High School Media Center Feb. 12, March 19, April 16, May 21 and June 25.

Folk musician John Mc-Cutcheon will perform at the Hudson Library & Historical Society at 7 p.m. McCutcheon is a master of a dozen dif-ferent traditional instru-ments, most notably the hammer dulcimer, and his thirty recordings have won numerous honors in-cluding seven Grammy nominations. The perfor-mance will take place in the library’s rotunda and all ages are invited to at-tend. Register for this free special event at hudsonli-brary.org. For more infor-mation call 330-653-6658 x1010.

Local resident Joan May Maher will speak at a Hud-son Heritage Association meeting about her mother, Dorothy May, and her work to restore a barn located at 32 Baldwin Street, which served as a female semi-nary in the 1840s. Dorothy May purchased the barn in 1955 and after a signifi-cant restoration, Dorothy and her husband Robert moved into the barn in 1966, and it still serves as their residence. Joan May Maher will share restora-tion details and histori-cal information about the seminary. The meeting, free and open to the public, will take place at Barlow Com-munity Center at 7:30 p.m.

EDITOR’S PICK

FEBRUARY

JANUARY JANUARY

12

15 15UNTIL

The Hudson Preschool Informa-tion Fair will take place from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at the Barlow Com-munity Center. Sponsored by the MOMS Club of Hudson and Hud-son Preschool Parents, the fair will include representatives from 20 local schools who will answer questions and share what makes their program unique. Refresh-ments will be served and the Nanny Connection will be there to provide childcare. Little Leapers also will be on hand to share information about their gymnastic programs. For more information, contact [email protected] or [email protected]. For more information on the Hudson MOMS Club or Hudson Pre-school Parents, visit www.momsclubofhudson.org and www.hudsonpreschoolparents.org.

JANUARY 15

FEBRUARY 11Hudson High School Jazz I and II bands and the Hud-son Middle School jazz band will host “An evening of jazz” fundraiser at Christ Community Chapel, 750 W. Streetsboro St., from 7 to 10 p.m. Jazz I is directed by Ro-berto Iriarte; Jazz II by John Burrington and the middle school band by Beverly O’Connor. Advance tickets are $20 per person. No tick-ets will be sold at the door. To purchase tickets, visit hudsonmusic.org. For more information, call Lori Carl-son at 330-655-2422 or [email protected].

JANUARY 30Enjoy at afternoon of Thom-as the Tank Engine activi-ties, crafts and snacks at 2:30 p.m. The program is part of a series of family lit-eracy programming spon-sored by Target. Reigster the whole family at www.tinyurl.com/hlhschildrens. For more information, visit the Children’s Library or call 330-653-6658 ext. 1020.

FEBRUARY 22


Ballet Excel Ohio, former-ly the Cuyahoga Valley Youth Ballet, will perform a preview of their produc-tion “Carnival of the Ani-mals” in the Flood Family Meeting Room at 11 a.m. Started by the late Nan Klinger in 1975, the com-pany includes more than 40 dancers between ages 8 and 18. The current artis-tic director is Mia Klinger, Nan’s daughter.No registration is neces-sary for the program. For more information, visit the Children’s Library or call 330-653-6658, ext. 1020.

The Hudson Library and Historical Society begins its 2015 Music Series with a concert by Bobbie Selvag-gio & the Hendectet Jazz Collective at 2 p.m. Enjoy original modern jazz music composed by the mem-bers of the group of 11, all among Northeast Ohio’s top jazz artists. Selvaggio is currently di-rector of jazz studies at KSU. No registration is required for this free program. For more information, call 330-653-6658 ext. 1010 or visit www.hudsonlibrary.org.

The Hudson Library Chil-dren’s Room will have open voting in a special Mock Caldecott Election. A hand-picked selection of the past year’s best picture books will be on display in the library rotunda for pa-trons to browse through to pick their favorites.For more information, visit the Children’s Library or contact the library at 330-653-6658 ext. 1020.

Guiding Eyes for the Blind is looking for volunteers to raise guide dog puppies. For more information, call 440-382-9848, email [email protected] or visit www.Guidingeyes.org.

National Alliance on Men-tal Illness (NAMI) support group meets on the second Thursday of every month at Hudson’s First Congrega-tional Church, 47 Aurora St. from 7 to 8:30 p.m. A sup-port group also meets on the fourth Thursday of ev-ery month at Journey Cov-enant Church, 2679 N. Ha-ven Blvd., Cuyahoga Falls from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

JANUARY 18 JANUARY 18UNTIL

JANUARY 24

VOLUNTEERSNEEDED

SECONDTHURSDAY

Seton Catholic School of Hudson is hosting an open house and registration for the 2015-16 academic year from 2 to 4 p.m. Guests will be invited to tour the class-rooms and talk to teachers, adminstrators and current parents and students. Re-freshments will be provided. For additional information, or to arrange a personal tour, call Pat Fritz at 330-342-4200 ext. 226 or email [email protected] or visit www.setoncath-olicschool.org.

JANUARY 25

Children are invited the The Learned Owl Book-shop for story time every Tuesday and Saturday morning at 11 a.m. Some new favorites like “If Kids Ran the World,” “Baby Bed-time,” “The Hug Machine” and “Matilda’s Cat” will debut as well as old, famil-iar favorites. Seasonal titles will be read during the holidays and if someone has a personal favorite, they can read that too.There is no need to sign up ahead of time. There will be a story read no matter how few or how many chil-dren are present.

Western Reserve Acad-emy Archivist Tom Vince will lead a tour of Pierce House, on the Academy grounds. Located on Col-lege Street, Pierce House now serves as the home of WRA’s head of school. Built in 1855 by then presi-dent George Pierce, the home served as a private residence until 1931, when it became the official resi-dence of the academy’s headmaster. In 1977, the house served as one of the locations for “The Gather-ing,” the holiday film clas-sic starring Ed Asner and Maureen Stapleton. More details about the Pierce House tour will be posted at www.hudsonheritage.org.

MARCH 12TUESDAYS

SATURDAYSAND


Avery, from the Summit County Prosecutor’s Office, demonstrates how he keeps a victim company while they testify in court. He has been known to fall asleep while he’s tucked into the witness box, according to his handler Melanie Hart.Photo by Amanda Woolf


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January Hudson Monthly