Each month, 500-700 of your friends and neighbors are hitting the Boulevard on the first Friday of each month for food tucks, live music, vendors, family activities and more during Kenmore First Fridays.
The events take place 6-9 p.m. in the Kenmore Boulevard Historic District, and the last two of the year promise to be the best yet: The Sept. 3 All-Cardinal Class Reunion will feature music from all decades, including Kenmore’s own Courtney Trice and her band Eboni Redsoul & Brown Sugah. There will be special appearances throughout the night by everyone’s favorite mascot.
Then, on Oct. 1, Oddmall, one of Ohio’s largest and most unique exhibitions of art and artifice will line the streets as attendees wait for the Kenmore Grassman to make his appearance. Live music from Hey Mavis and other twangy favorites are sure to entertain.
New this year at Kenmore First Fridays is the EarthQuaker Devices pedalboard at The Guitar Department, where you can try out a new guitar while testing EarthQuaker’s line of fuzz-inducing pedals, all of which are available at the Guitar Department. In addition, the Akorn Jammers open mic night led by Ralph Obert in the McCutchan Courtyard.
Kenmore resident Mapi Byler said she and her family enjoy the community aspect of First Friday, as well as supporting local businesses and musicians. “We love First Friday because it brings our community together and it invites others to come and enjoy it, too,” she said.
Kenmore lost a one of its most eclectic and dedicated hobbyists on Aug. 22 with the passing of Howard Evans, owner of E&S Hobbies & Trains.
According to his family and friends, Howard – or “Hutch,” as they called him – was a lifelong tinkerer and lover of all things electronic. Even before graduating from Kenmore High School in 1965, Howard got his hands on an amateur radio license, and – as they say – the rest was history.
Before retiring from the City of Akron’s Communications Division in 2004, Howard opened E&S Hobbies & Trains at 980 Kenmore Blvd, enabling him to share his deep knowledge and love of model trains, remote-control airplanes and more with the families and hobbyists of Kenmore and the greater Akron community for 30 years. It was a fitting transition for the former McDowell Pharmacy building, which drew children to the Boulevard for penny candy and sodas for decades.
E&S Hobbies & Trains will remain open on Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m. and evening and weekend hours as family is available. They are also available for appointments, pricing and inventory availability by calling 330-745-0785. For visitation and funeral details, or to leave a note for Howard’s family and loved ones, visit www.schermesserfh.com.
Yoga is an ancient Indian practice of self-realization that has provided great exercise for many—particularly those among us who are lean and flexible. But for others, it can feel like an exercise in futility.
Intimidating poses with Sanskrit names scare many a beginner away, resigned to the idea that they’re just not built for the practice.
But there’s a new yoga in town. Melissa Lyons of Kenmore was awarded a Rubber City Match Level II Space Award, a grant from the city of Akron that will help her acquire studio space and expand her new venture, All Walks Yoga.
The goal of All Walks is to provide classes that make yoga accessible to everyone, with individualized modifications taught for those with physical limitations or differently-shaped bodies.
Lyons began studying the new concept of “accessible yoga” after her own practice had to change due to major back surgery. After falling in love with yoga in 2016, Lyons needed a spinal fusion, her third surgery due to scoliosis.
“It knocked me out of the yoga game for a while… My spine can’t do the things a normal person can,” she says. When she got back into yoga right before the pandemic, she knew she wanted to not only teach, but to bring accessible yoga to Akron, and specifically Kenmore. She got busy and wrote her business plan while at a yoga training retreat in April.
“I started doing teacher training and I really felt drawn to bringing yoga to people who might not find it very accessible, like people who have differently-shaped bodies or ailments or other things going on. They might need different poses or props or things like that. And I knew that the studios in this area didn’t offer that,” she says.
“Yoga doesn’t have to be 60-minute, 100-degree Vinyasa powering through the poses. You can get the same benefit… It’s movement linked to breath and you can do that in so many different ways,” Lyons says.
According to the Accessible Yoga Association, accessible yoga serves people with disabilities, disease and illnesses, LGBTQ people and ethnic and racial groups.
Accessible Yoga is a concept that began about three years ago. Several books have been written and become popular in the industry, and new certifications are becoming available through the Yoga Alliance.
Currently Lyons teaches a weekly Sunday morning class in borrowed space at the Rialto Theatre in Kenmore. While applying for the Rubber City Space Grant and scouting locations for her own studio, she and her fiancé, Matthew Hirschfelt, have been attending community events, doing chair yoga demonstrations to generate interest.
Observing Lyons at her Sunday class at the Rialto, it becomes apparent that teaching is her passion — her full-time job is teaching third grade at Harris-Jackson CLC in Akron — and she has the kind of patient demeanor that wins the respect of 9-year-olds as well as yoga beginners.
“We’re going to do something a little different this week,” Lyons tells her yogis. “We’re going to hold each pose for 3 minutes, so I want you to hold it at only 75%. If you need to come out of the pose, it’s fine to take a break and come back in,” she adds assuringly.
One of Lyons’s regular Sunday students, Rebecca Rak, said she had dabbled in yoga before but never on a regular basis.
“A lot of the normal yoga classes seem very intimidating. I was always unsure if I was doing the pose right. My body is a little larger than the stereotypical yogi, I would think, so I had issues reaching some of the poses, and then also just feeling comfortable in that space,” Rak says. But she’s been a regular at Lyons’s Sunday morning class since May.
“She (Lyons) very much encourages people to listen to their own bodies and take modifications. She really makes people feel comfortable and still encourages movement in a way that’s going to be healthy for them,” says Rak.
And Rak says the class has made an impact in her daily life. “I play softball and broomball and I’ve noticed that I’m much more flexible and less sore throughout the day because I’m stretching and moving in a focused way.” She has also found that regular yoga has helped in reducing what used to be chronic back pain.
Lyons is back in her third-grade classroom at Jackson-Harris now but dreams of operating her own yoga studio full-time.
“I love teaching, and it’s still a form of giving back to the community. We are very honored to have been chosen by RCM and excited about the road ahead.”
All Walks Yoga can be found online at www.allwalks.yoga.
Diane Kilivris is a freelance writer living in West Akron. When not working, she can be found on the tennis court or obsessively knitting in a cozy chair.
Once again, Block by Block and Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance are seeking a paid Cleaning Ambassador to clean up litter, pull weeds, report safety and infrastructure issues, and offer courteous assistance to businesses, visitors and community members in the Kenmore Boulevard Historic District.
To apply, visit blockbyblock.com, from Choose Locations select Akron, Ohio, then choose Downtown Akron Partnership. Or, for more information about the position, or for help applying, contact lmobley@blockbyblock.com or 330-374-7612.
Since she was 11 years old, Markesha Lawson has been providing expert styling to friends, family and clients. At her new salon, Beauty by Law Salon and Spa, located 930 Kenmore Blvd., she’ll offer hair and nail services with massages, esthetician services and boutique forthcoming.
“I love servicing the public and making people happy,” Markesha said. “I was referred with great recommendation to Kenmore and I look forward to becoming part of the Kenmore community.”
Beauty by Law Salon and Spa is open every other Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. To make an appointment, visit styleseat.com/beautybylawsalonspa or call 234-817-6192.
On Monday, Mayor Dan Horrigan and Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance Executive Director Tina Boyes helped cut a bright red ribbon at the entrance of the new law offices of New York-based attorney Marc Scolnick at 1014 Kenmore Blvd.
The Akron Law Office of Marc Scolnick is the second office for the University of Akron Law School graduate. The office will be managed in the day-to-day by John D. Hoffman, also a UA Law School graduate.
Scolnick returned to New York after graduating with his law degree, but always intended to come back to Akron, which he considers his second home, he told those gathered at the event.
“We see a lot of potential here and we’re looking forward to helping grow the Boulevard and be part of the community,” he said. “I see so much more opportunity than almost anywhere else. You can find warm, gracious people, a working-class mentality, but still having a high-quality product across all industries. And so, we’re going to be doing the same thing here. And be a part of making this place better than it was when I got here.”
Horrigan pointed out that his grandparents once operated a grocery store across the Boulevard from the new law offices.
He credited Boyes and City Councilman Mike Freemen with the momentum that’s been evident on the Boulevard over the past couple years, as darkened storefronts have steadily filled.
“It’s easy for me to get behind great ideas,” Horrigan said. “We’re going to make a big investment in the Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance and those initiatives, and as you can see we’re back on the Boulevard again. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve opened new businesses here. Small business is important.”
Kenmore is one of Akron’s 10 Great Streets communities, an initiative Horrigan announced in 2018. Great Streets integrates economic development, urban planning and engineering to make improvements aimed at revitalizing ailing business districts like the Boulevard, to draw more families to live in the city.
Since then, zoning updates and infrastructure improvements have been underway, all with an eye toward maintaining the character of the Boulevard, while making it more attractive for businesses and residents.
Making properties in the district eligible for historic tax credits, in 2019, the National Park Service added the Kenmore Boulevard Historic District to its National Register of Historic Places.
Boyes, who has shepherded commercial revitalization of the Boulevard, said Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance’s role is to be a connector.
“With Mark and with the other businesses here, we like to connect them to the city services, because there are so many right now, through the Great Streets program,” she said. “We’re here to connect them to fellow business owners. There’s so many businesses that could be using their services and likewise, and we want to connect them to the residents, too, by doing things, like our Kenmore First Fridays, bringing people down to the district activating the space again, showing people that there’s vibrancy here.”
Boyes’ group launched Kenmore First Fridays in 2017, hosting a block party-style monthly outdoor event, featuring food, live music, vendors and games.
Among the business drawn to open in the Boulevard’s historic buildings are Beauty by Law Salon and Spa, which opened its doors last week at 930 Kenmore Blvd.
In May, Kenmore native Terrence Bailey fulfilled a lifelong dream, opening Ethicrace Clothing Co. at 971 Kenmore Blvd. Also, in May, Not Just October, a nonprofit offering resources to breast cancer patients, survivors and their supporters hosted a grand opening for its Kim Jacobs Breast Resource Center.
BrightStart Early Preschool opened in June at 1069 Kenmore Boulevard was started by former Kenmore High School student Aletha Harris.
Marigold Sol at 962 Kenmore boulevard opened while the world was shut down last March, offering new and vintage furniture, home décor, gifts and jewelry, as well as classes in custom furniture refinishing.
Also in March, Just a Dad From Akron opened a store at 937 Kenmore Blvd., featuring owner Kenny Lambert’s specially designed clothing that aims to inspire young families.
Also opening were ManiKitchen Tea Shop opened at 979 Kenmore Boulevard; My Love Health Care at 983 Kenmore Boulevard and ThaiSoul Fusion Grill at 992 Kenmore Boulevard.
Kenmore also draws every caliber of musician to the Boulevard with its growing music industry. The Rialto Theatre, a live-music venue and studio, the Guitar Department, a new and used consignment shop that offers music lessons, are all mainstays on the Boulevard.
Also on the strip, Lays Guitar Shop has been known since the ’60s for quality repairs and restoration, and is frequented by Black Keys guitarist Dan Auerbach and Cleveland native Joe Walsh.
SRINA Tea House on 975 Kenmore Blvd., a full-service restaurant, is expected to open in the near future through a city of Akron Rubber City Match grant for new businesses.
More information about the Law Office of Marc Scolnick can be found by visiting the website.
