March 8, 2017 by Kyle Cochrun

Pictured is Kenmore’s Fire Department. When Akron annexed Kenmore in 1929, the city commandeered Kenmore’s new fire truck and replaced it with one much older, which still riles some residents. (Photo courtesy: Kenmore Historical Society)

Let’s have a history lesson.

If you are standing, say, in the Kenmore Branch of the Akron-Summit County Public Library (located in what was once Kenmore’s city hall, which housed the police department, fire department, doctor’s office, dentist, court and library), you’re above a salt mine, or what used to be one. Kenmore was once a town of salt miners and rubber workers.

Many of the salt companies were located near the Manchester Road/Kenmore Boulevard intersection in an area once popularly known as Halo that butted against the now-drained section of Summit Lake, which was once part of the canal system. Manchester Road, by the way, is the oldest road in Akron. Native Americans would “portage” (i.e., carry their canoes to the next body of water) on the trail that’s now Manchester, which had purportedly been worn down for them by buffalo that roamed the region.

How do I know this? Well, I’ve recently been schooled by members of the Kenmore Historical Society. The Society started in 2001 with the aim of preserving Kenmore’s history for younger generations, and is run by the kind of Kenmore-proud residents I’ve been meeting throughout my time exploring the neighborhood. This pride seems the result of families who have resided in Kenmore through generations.

Let’s use Jan Williams, the Historical Society vice president, as an example. She’s a former Kenmore High School teacher who taught three generations of Kenmore residents (the last names of new students would already look familiar in her gradebook). She turns up at events and meetings. Multiple people asked, when they discovered that I was writing about Kenmore, whether I had talked to her yet, because I needed to. Her father-in-law, Harry Williams, invented the “silver screen,” the highly reflective, image-enhancing slabs that became ubiquitous in American movie theaters of the 1940s and early 1950s. At one time, the screens were produced in the building that now houses the First Glance Youth Center on the Boulevard. Williams’ husband grew up in Kenmore, and his old friends all still live in the neighborhood. If anyone moves away, they naturally fall out of the friend group.

“You used to be able to get anything you needed in Kenmore,” says Richard Jolly, trustee of the Historical Society. “We had grocery stores, shoe shops, clothing stores, drug stores, a YMCA. There was no reason to leave town.”

Jolly was raised in Kenmore, and he’s full of neighborhood pride, too. For example, he’s still fed up that the city of Akron stole Kenmore’s fire truck.

Kenmore’s Manchester Road is said to be the oldest road in Akron, created from a trail that was worn down by buffalo in the region. (Photo courtesy: Kenmore Historical Society)

Here’s the story, from what I could gather: When Akron annexed Kenmore at the very tail-end of 1928, ending Kenmore’s six-year stretch as its own town, Kenmore had a squeaky-new fire truck that was much nicer than Akron’s firetrucks. Upon annexation, the city of Akron commandeered Kenmore’s firetruck for use in a different Akron fire station, leaving Kenmore one of the old Akron fire trucks.

Jolly was decades from being born when this happened, but to hear him speak of the affair, you’d think it all happened a few years back. See what I mean about neighborhood pride?

The Kenmore Historical Society collects whatever artifacts people will give them. They own cheerleading outfits from 30 years ago, trophies, a chunk of a water line from underneath Manchester Road that is now over 100 years old and a sign from the old Kenmore trolley stop.

“Right now, we keep it all in our homes until we get a physical space to keep everything in,” says Jolly. “We’re trying to get a building for all of our stuff because we want the young kids to know what Kenmore was like years ago.”

The best artifacts the Society preserve, the ones that will keep the neighborhood’s history familiar to future generations, are the stories of Kenmore’s past shared on the Society’s web site (kenmorehistorical.org). There are historical writings, interviews from elderly, probably now-dead Kenmore residents and excerpts from one former resident’s memoir. Although the personal accounts are preluded with statements explaining that the stories “may not be strictly factual” or “were not researched for accuracy,” they transcend mere note-taking on geographical locations and archival tidbits and offer accounts, however brief, of what life was like in this specific slice of America in the early 1900s.

Here’s a selection from an interview with Kenmore resident Flossie Triplett Wilson describing halcyon Saturdays spent in nearby Manchester coal yards:

“A special Saturday treat for Flossie and a few of her friends was to get to ride a big horse-drawn wagon from Kenmore down to neighboring Manchester to the coal yard. There the men would load the big wagon high with big chunks of black coal and Flossie and her friends got to ride back to Kenmore, in style, high atop the coal. This was the greatest!”

I imagine anecdotes like this inspire people to start up historical societies. By appreciating the still-recollectable remnants of what was here before, you begin to better understand, to delineate the importance, of what is here now.

April 20, 2017 by Kyle Cochrun

Stop the Violence, End the Silence is an organization in Kenmore that seeks to end gun violence and drug abuse among the Akron youth. The group held its first candlelight vigil for 17-year-old Tyler Anderson, who was shot in the head, pushed out of a car, and left lying on the 2300 block of 21st St. SW, just behind Kenmore Boulevard.

Let’s address some of the negative perceptions people have of Kenmore.

I’ve heard the terms “hillbilly” and “white trash” thrown around. I’ve heard complaints about unkempt front yards debasing the neighborhood’s appearance. Some think the young kids have no Kenmore pride, that they just want to get the hell out. Some associate Kenmore with the current heroin epidemic, regarding it as a drug haven. When I first started hanging around the Boulevard, my dad warned me to lock the car doors and watch my back when walking after sunset. Many outsiders think it’s an all-around rough neighborhood.

“Kenmore has had a bad rap for years,” says Kenmore Historical Society trustee Richard Jolly.

Some claim this bad rap stems from a motorcycle gang that once cruised the Boulevard and kept residents living in fear during the ’60s, or the ‘80s; there’s still some unsettled local myth surrounding the gang.

Regardless, there’s some truth to Kenmore’s perceived drug problem. “Drugs are the biggest problem Kenmore is facing,” says Amy Deem, founder of Stop the Violence, End the Silence, an organization with goals to end gun violence and drug abuse among the Akron youth. The group is based out of Kenmore, where Deem lives.

“I’ve watched bodies get carried out of houses on my street,” Deem says.

Deem’s cousin died of a heroin overdose in her home when she was away one day. Several drug dealers have lived on her block, and the neighbors start to wonder now when somebody new moves in.

I’ve been told similar anecdotes. To use the bathroom in the Akron-Summit County Public Library’s Kenmore branch, an employee or police officer must buzz you in; this rule is in place, an officer told me, because of the “high number” of overdoses that have occurred in the bathroom.

Will Sheppard, a friend of mine from Kenmore, explained to me that fentanyl, a super-potent opioid 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine, has become popular in the neighborhood. His friend’s mother, a Kenmore resident, died from an overdose.

“She mixed heroin with fentanyl,” says Sheppard. “They found her in her bathtub.”

Stop the Violence, End the Silence Although they’ve held only five or six events since starting the group in 2013, Stop the Violence, End the Silence has been well received by the neighborhood.

“People are always coming up and asking where they can buy T-shirts, or if there’s anything they can do to help,” says Deem.

Their first event, a vigil for 17-year-old Tyler Anderson, a good friend of Deem’s nephew, was held in Shadyside Park and brought together 150 people. Anderson was shot in the head, pushed out of a car, and left lying on the 2300 block of 21st St. SW, just behind Kenmore Boulevard.

Anderson’s death prompted Deem and others to form the group and combat gun violence. They eventually decided to address Akron’s drug problem as well. The group has held walks and open mic events where residents can speak on these issues.

“We just want kids to know that you don’t have to be a drug dealer, and you don’t always have to carry a gun on your hip, because it’s not going to save you,” says Deem.

The members of Stop the Violence, End the Silence were invited to an awards dinner given by the DBSA (Depression Bipolar Support Alliance) for their work in the community. Deem has received a letter from former state representative Greta Johnson commending the group’s efforts. Their message has not gone unnoticed outside the neighborhood.

Deem’s take on people’s negative perceptions of Kenmore: “Kenmore is not as bad as people say. I think we should bring out the positive attributes of Kenmore, because we have really good kids here, and all the negativity is not good for them. They don’t need that.” Amen, sister.

July 7, 2017 by Alyssa Keown

Joe Heindel is a luthier, who hand makes guitars, ukuleles and other stringed instruments from his workshop in the Kenmore neighborhood. (Photo: Alyssa Keown)

A man sits down in the small workshop behind his house on a warm summer morning, dog at his feet, and begins sketching in a notebook.

“Right now in my head it’s perfect, there are no flaws,” says Joe Heindel who’s a luthier, meaning he creates and repairs stringed instruments by hand. He even carves the wood using hand tools. His preferred creations are guitars: archtops, to be specific.

Heindel considers the art above all else and lives his life by the belief that most of what everyone does is art. For example, his workshop, which he rebuilt with the same care he puts into his instrument-making, could itself be considered a work of art. And like other artists, Heindel admits he enjoys the process of creating things more than the finished product.

“I had so much fun making this shop that I don’t care if I move,” he says. “It was a curious and creative process.”

Unlike visual art, whose final resting place is typically on a wall in a home or gallery, an instrument’s creation is only the beginning of its journey: its true potential is realized when it gets into the hands of a musician.

Another element to making instruments that resembles other mediums is the risk of the artist spending too much time on the craft, a reason why Heindel doesn’t install too many lights in his workshop (so he won’t be tempted to work all night carving and cutting). “And I have to be careful, because if I do it too much, I can go into the martyr artist (mode), where I give everything to my craft and then my relationships fall apart, my health falls apart,” he says.

Luthier Joe Heindel hand-makes musical instruments inside a workshop he rebuilt, which is itself a work of art. (Photo: Alyssa Keown)

A mentor, a new direction About 10 years ago, Heindel found himself in college, overworked without a chance to hold down relationships. After mistakenly sitting in on an inspiring woodworker’s class, taught by a man named Doug Unger, Heindel sought to register for a course taught by the professor. However, each class was full and it was the professor’s last semester teaching.

As if by fate, Heindel ran into Unger outside of school and introduced himself. The woodworker invited Heindel to come to his shop, and from there Heindel began his journey into making instruments.

His first creation was made from wood he found in his backyard, a slide guitar from just a piece of oak. This process also led to the discovery of how different types of wood create completely different types of tones for the instrument.

Originally, Heindel did machine work and created scales for forklifts and cranes. He wrestled with the idea of creating guns with his machine work, but instead wanted to make things that gave life, like music. Today he sells guitars happily and healthily and lives with his wife, two children and dog named Blue.

(Photo: Alyssa Keown)

Heindel says he often meditates on the power of art and music bringing people in conflict together. He tells stories of ceasefires on Christmas during World War II, where soldiers ate, sang and danced together. He believes we can do the same today through exchanging artwork, thanks to mass communication.

“What if artists, instrument-makers and musicians shared work, shared music with the people we’re supposed to hate?” he ponders.

For info about Heindel’s hand-crafted guitars, visit http://www.heindelguitars.com.

September 26, 2017 by The Akronite

Organizations receiving support include The Well Community Development Corporation, North Akron Community Development Corporation and Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance

Two community development corporations and one neighborhood alliance will launch a plan to improve neighborhood life, keep and attract talented people and advance new investments in Akron with $720,000 from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The Well Community Development Corporation, representing Akron’s Middlebury neighborhood; North Akron Community Development Corporation, representing North Hill, Chapel Hill and Cascade Valley; and Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance will each receive $240,000 to accelerate development in the city.

Community development corporations are nonprofit, community-based organizations focused on revitalizing neighborhoods by advancing economic development, community engagement and access to housing. Akron has been conducting significant study and reflection on its public and civic spaces over the last few years; the city has recognized the role community development corporations can play as leadership partners in this regard.

“Akron is currently grappling with population decline and lack of investment,” said Kyle Kutuchief, Knight Foundation program director for Akron. “Efforts to address these challenges have largely focused on attracting multinational and large employers, without considering ways to improve quality of life in cities and make Akron a more vibrant place to live and work. These community development corporations will help to address this gap, with the goal of increasing public and private investment and creating a better future for our city.”

Knight Foundation’s “Build in Akron” report and the city of Akron’s “Planning to Grow Akron” report highlight future housing hot spots and market-ready commercial districts in the city’s Kenmore, Middlebury and North Hill areas. Each neighborhood has already led Knight-funded Better Block events, which focus on bringing the community together to transform a blighted city block into a vibrant neighborhood destination. Knight funding will enable these organizations to draw lessons from these events, using them as a basis to develop broader strategies to improve neighborhood life and accelerate community growth.

The organizations will use the support to:

• Hire new staff focused on increasing business development, civic engagement and housing access, while building expertise in marketing and economic development to share with Akron’s broader community.
• Lead a neighborhood planning process with input from local leaders, including ways to use public spaces to encourage civic engagement, create strategies to strengthen business districts, and attract interest through neighborhood branding campaigns.
• Identify pathways to advance community development through prototyping and idea testing.

“With this support, we can move on some of our plans immediately,” said John Ughrin, executive director of the North Akron Community Development Organization. “This lets us get to work programming, beautifying and energizing life in our neighborhoods. It also gives us some freedom to experiment, assess our current practices and get input from the community. Residents of North Akron already know it’s a great place to live, we want to make that undeniable.”

Each neighborhood has explored their economic development, residential and community engagement needs through the Better Block planning process, as well as through similar neighborhood activities. As Zac Kohl, executive director of The Well Community Development Corporation in Middlebury notes: “The Middlebury Better Block formed a group of committed individuals and organizations that rallied to test strategies to improve the neighborhood. This support will allow us to create the capacity to execute on future neighborhood planning, specifically as we fight to create equity for the people of Middlebury in housing and economic development.”

Tina Boyes, a Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance board member who chaired the recent Kenmore Better Block event, says she sees the planning process as a timely tool for leveraging her community’s already growing interest in Kenmore Boulevard, the neighborhood’s main commercial area. The alliance will explore what an effective community development organization should look like in what is Akron’s largest continuous neighborhood business district.

“Better Block highlighted Kenmore Boulevard’s potential for economic development and placemaking,” Boyes said. “Residents, artists, small business owners and investors are now talking to each other, and want to take action to realize the potential for our neighborhood together.”

With deep partnerships already established with other community development corporations, nonprofit organizations and agencies working in Akron, these three organizations hope to create a plan for growth that is inclusive of the residents of each of the neighborhoods. All three organizations live and work within Akron, and their boards include residents, business owners and nonprofit leaders from across the city.

Support for these organizations is part of Knight Foundation’s efforts in Akron to attract and keep talented people, expand economic opportunity and create a culture of engagement. Since 2008 Knight has invested more than $58 million in Akron.

About Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance is a 501(c)(3) public charity, whose mission is to enhance the Kenmore community by reaching out to all residents to engage them in cultural, artistic, recreational and business revitalization. It does so through programming and collaboration with Kenmore residents, businesses and existing community groups. To learn more about Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance, visit www.knacares.org.

About North Akron CDC The mission of North Akron Community Development Corporation (NACDC) is to assure a vibrant thriving North Akron Community that inspires and connects its residents while celebrating its unique diversity. North Akron CDC hopes to achieve this mission by focusing on the following areas of impact: business and economic development; physical infrastructure and beautification; social and informational events and programming. NACDC’s Board members include residents, business owners and nonprofit leaders.

About The Well CDC The mission of The Well Community Development Corporation (The Well) is to see communities all over Akron giving individuals the opportunity to thrive in their current context. The Well Community Development Corporation will work with like-minded partners to create affordable housing, a thriving economy and placemaking initiatives, while reinvesting worth, value and dignity back into the individual lives and social health of the neighborhoods of Akron. Rebuilding community through relationships. The Well’s Board members include business leaders, residents and nonprofit leaders. To learn more about The Well CDC, visit www.thewellakron.com.

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy.

Updated: Apr 5, 2018

October 12, 2017 by The Akronist

(Photo: Jason Miller)

Huntington Bank partners with United Way, city of Akron to launch Summit County’s first Financial Empowerment Center in Kenmore

A closed down Huntington Bank branch on Kenmore Boulevard will see new life as the county’s first Financial Empowerment Center.

United Way of Summit County, the city of Akron and Huntington National Bank today announced that they are launching the center thanks to a donation made possible by Huntington Bank to United Way of Summit county.

The 4,000-square-foot facility, located at 1060 Kenmore Blvd., will provide a venue for financial counselors – hired and trained by United Way – to meet with residents and help them build assets, reduce debt, budget for the future, improve their credit scores and access safe and affordable banking services.

Set to open in the first quarter of 2018, the Financial Empowerment Center in Kenmore will directly support United Way’s Bold Goals, which seek to improve key conditions in the local community by 2025.

For its Bold Goal #3, United Way is working to financially empower 11,000 Akron residents, especially those who are working, but who are struggling to get traction financially.

“We are extremely grateful to Huntington Bank for giving us the opportunity to accelerate our Bold Goal work in partnership with the city of Akron,” said Jim Mullen, United Way president and CEO. “United Way’s Financial Empowerment Centers will help thousands of Akron residents build more stable, financially secure lives. And we are thrilled that the people of Kenmore will be there to help us build a better future for Akron, just as they are working so hard to revitalize their own community.”

A recent study commissioned by Ohio United Way, United Way of Summit County and 45 other Ohio United Ways draws attention to the struggles of Ohio’s working families. Released earlier this month, the Ohio ALICE Report found that 40 percent of Summit County households – and 57 percent of Akron households – earn less than Ohio’s basic cost of living.

United Way says this is the same population it hopes to partner with through its Financial Empowerment Centers.

“Kenmore is a vibrant neighborhood at a tipping point in its development,” said Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan. 
“The City is working hard to facilitate a continued stream of public, private and philanthropic investment into Akron that will have a significant impact on the social and economic health of our neighborhoods. We are incredibly proud to welcome the first United Way Financial Empowerment Center to the Kenmore neighborhood to complement the growing activity along Kenmore Boulevard and to provide valuable services that will help empower and uplift our working families.  We look forward to being a key partner in the 
Center’s success here in Akron.”

“Huntington is proud to partner with United Way and the City of Akron to invest in pathways that lead to a stronger tomorrow,” said Nicholas Browning, president of Huntington Bank’s Greater Akron Region. “The Financial Empowerment Center will benefit thousands of people in Summit County. Our friends and neighbors will now have access to sound financial education and counseling, which will strengthen the fabric of our community by enabling families to pursue their dreams and secure a future filled with financial success.”

The facility – located in the heart of Kenmore in southwest Akron, adjacent to neighboring Barberton – will enable United Way to serve residents of Akron and Barberton, and the lessons the organization learns there will fuel the expansion of Financial Empowerment Centers to other locations in Akron.

“This is a landmark moment for United Way of Summit County,” said Christine Mayer, chair of United Way’s board of directors. “It’s an important step towards the board’s vision of a United Way that advances its work both through partnership with other nonprofits, and through direct service. With this donation, Huntington has greatly accelerated our first foray into the direct service part of that vision.” 

“We are incredibly thankful to Huntington Bank and to the residents of Kenmore with whom we are eager to partner,” she added.

Find out more about United Way’s forthcoming Financial Empowerment Centers at uwsummit.org/FEC.

Visit uwsummit.org or huntington.com for info.

December 26, 2017 by The Akronite

Cash prize, production of art offered as part of @PLAY’s ‘Kenmore Imagineer’

A new interactive coloring book, called the “Kenmore Imagineer,” is sourcing ideas from the community to install public art along Kenmore Boulevard.

Art x Love, based in Akron, printed and distributed 3,000 copies to local shops, Kenmore public schools and the Kenmore Branch Library.

Mac Love, chief catalyst at Art x Love, and leader of @PLAY, the Knight Cities grant project responsible for the “Kenmore Imagineer,” said the project has received dozens of submissions. “I cannot wait to see what the rest of Akron comes up with for Kenmore Boulevard,” he said. “We’re not judging submissions on artistic talent. We’re interested in people’s best ideas to celebrate Kenmore’s history, identity, and independent spirit.”

To spark and reward that creativity, a $100 cash prize is being awarded to the best entry for each location in the “Kenmore Imagineer,” which features 15 pages of potential public art locations. On top of this, the Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance has agreed to finance the production of one winner’s entry, making someone’s vision for Kenmore a reality.

Submissions are due by Jan. 31 and will be displayed as a public art exhibition at The Rialto Theatre, opening Thursday, Feb. 8, from 5 to 8 p.m.

The “Kenmore Imagineer” may be downloaded for free at www.ARTxLOVE.com/blog/imagineer.

Submissions may be dropped off at the Kenmore Branch Library, 969 Kenmore Blvd., mailed to Art x Love at 157 King James Way, Akron, OH 44308, or emailed to contact@artxlove.com.

October 10, 2016 by The Akronist

Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance and Wandering Aesthetics partner to present “The Stories of Kenmore” at the Rialto Theatre.

“The Stories of Kenmore” will be held on Thursday, Oct. 20 at the Rialto Theatre at 1000 Kenmore Blvd. • Akron, OH. This event will feature live storytelling, Pierre’s Brooklyn Pizza and cash bar. Doors open at 6 p.m., stories begin at 6:30 p.m.

This event is free. For more information please call Angela at (330) 217-1280 or email KNAcares@yahoo.com.

ABOUT THE EVENT

Akron’s Kenmore area is comprised of several facets: the village it once was, resonating across generations and distance; the community of need and those committed to its healing; the section a city, drifting from the neighborhood’s embrace.

“The Stories of Kenmore” is an event designed to meld vintage with what’s new, in a space where past is also present. We hope to start a process that will craft a new and shared identity– a sense of place and pride for all of our residents.

There will seven storytellers, among them: Captain Brian Simcox of the APD, Ameer Williamson, a Positive Hip Hop Artist, and Ward 9 Councilman Mike Freeman and the Coach Kemp Boyd. There will also be an opportunity for attendees to tell their own “Kenmore story.”

THE STORYTELLERS

Chris Miller, who grew up in Kenmore, is one of seven storytellers. Community members will also be invited to tell their own stories throughout the evening. (Photo: Emily Durway)

Brian Simcox Captain, APD Zone 2 Story Title: “Growing up in Kenmore”

Ameer Williamson Positive Hip Hop Artist Story Title: “Positive Artist in a Negative World”

Chris Miller Akron Community Foundation & The Akronist Story Title: TBA

Kemp Boyd Coach, Kenmore Football Team Story Title: “Football is More Than a Game”

David Hoppe President, Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance Story “A Boulevard Child”

Mike Freeman Akron City Councilman Ward 9 Story Title: “untitled”

Richard Cardarelli Kenmore Kiwanis Story Title: TBA

Greg Burke Captain, Neighborhood Block Watch Story Title “A Kenmore Who’s Who?”

KENMORE NEIGHBORHOOD ALLIANCE MISSION

To enhance our community by reaching out to all residents to engage them in effecting cultural, artistic, recreational and business revitalization.