Arbor Day...

With Arbor Day officially arriving this Friday, April 29th, the Arbor Day Foundation made their annual announcement of all the cities that met their criteria to receive their Tree City USA designation, and once again, Kent made the list. 

I still recall as a kid having a warm place in my heart for Arbor Day — heck ya, it mean’t getting out of class and digging in the dirt for an hour or so on a nice spring day, and being given a twig with a couple of roots dangling off the bottom to plant at home.  Sunshine, dirt, and presents – at 8 years old that’s priceless. 

I suppose those early recollections from my impressionable years shaped (or distorted?) my personality to the point where I still get warm fuzzy feelings for Arbor Day.  It’s actually one of the few remaining holidays that has not fallen victim to a hostile takeover by the greeting card companies and candy manufacturers. 

It’s really not all that different from what it was 30 years ago;  it’s kids digging in the dirt, planting a few twigs and celebrating trees.  Some things are too good to go out of style and honoring trees (or at least getting out of the classroom) is one of them.   

Of course, with Davey Tree founded and headquartered in Kent, Arbor Day has even more local significance.  The Davey family legacy in Kent is more than the company they founded, it’s also  a deep appreciation for caring for trees and everything green.   Davey’s leafprints can be found all over town and environmental stewardship runs deep in Kent’s DNA. 

For 25 consecutive years Kent has been recognized by the Arbor Day Foundation as a Tree City USA — a recognition that is bestowed on those cities that demonstrate (in dollars, staff time, and tree care commitment) a priority for sustainable urban forestry. 

The popularity of the green movement over the last decade has led many cities to jump on board the green train and now thousands of cities receive the Tree City designation every year — but Kent sticks to it’s tag line of being the original tree city, and shows it off  a bit each Arbor Day.

Plum Creek Restoration Project Wins Award...

We don’t do projects to win awards, but when you invest a lot of time and energy into making something better, I have to admit, it’s nice to receive positive feedback. 

That’s why there was some quiet fist pumping going on when we were informed that the City’s Plum Creek Restoration project was selected by the Ohio Stormwater Association as an outstanding stormwater project and our staff (Cori Finney) will be accepting an award from the Association on the City’s behalf at the annual Ohio Stormwater Conference held in Columbus May 12-13.

The Plum Creek project was part of an ongoing effort to re-open waterways that through the years have been diverted and dammed in ways that might appear harmless enough but are actually slowly debilitating our creeks and streams by literally sucking the oxygen right out of them.   Oxygen matters, and while the old Plum Creek Ponds (isn’t that an oxymoron?) were actually reasonably attractive to look at, their swamp smell was a good indicator that trouble was lurking just below the surface. 

Standing water has a nasty habit of going a bit septic on those hot summer days, throw in piles of goose waste and you have a recipe for bad water quality — which is exactly what we set out to fix in this project.  By re-opening the culvert dam, we admittedly lost the pond-like look, but if you stood close enough to those ponds you knew looks could be deceiving and you headed up-wind as fast as your feet could take you.  But no more. 

Free at last, Plum Creek is actually back to what it started out as – a creek, a free flowing body of water — and soon enough the vegetation on the new creek banks will be back accompanied by the sounds of the bubbling brook. 

AMATS Bike Planning Meeting In Kent...

I can’t say that the weather has been great for mountain biking (still too wet to responsibly ride the trails) but skinny tire folks have had plenty of chances to burn up a little asphalt under their tires. 

I’m not a roadie but if we keep building trails at the pace we have in the last couple of years, I might become one.  The bike trail network in Kent and in the region is becoming one of our strongest assets for quality of life, and even economic development.  It’s to the point today where business relocation decisions end up being made based on what used to be the soft selling points like bike trail connectivity, parks, river, etc. because those are what separates one place from the next. 

Face it, in this global economy you can almost choose to locate a business anywhere and still be everywhere you need to be, so companies are looking at the quality of life for their employees as a first tier decision point rather than as an afterthought.  That’s great news for places like Kent where our longstanding eco-sensibility,  passion for everything green and abundant natural surroundings has put us at the forefront for outdoor recreation pursuits like hiking, biking and kayaking — all of which can be found at the top of corporate site selection lists these days. 

Kent’s Parks and Rec Director talks about Kent as being positioned as a hub for the regional hike and bike network — strategically located between the Summit/Akron/National Valley trails and the trails to our east which will eventually extend to Warren, Youngstown and even Pittsburgh. 

Kent prides itself on being in the center of the action and we’ve got plans in place to ensure we stay that way but planning never rests so if you’re a bike or trail enthusiast the region’s bike planners at AMATS have scheduled a public bike planning forum in Kent for Wednesday, April 27th at the Kent Free Library at 5:30.  So hop in your bike, ride down to the meeting, and let your voice for biking be heard.

Sunshine Thoughts...

I know the temperature is still a bit cool but the sunshine we’ve enjoyed over the last couple of days is a reminder that Spring, and another season of the Haymaker’s Farmer Market, is just around the corner. 

(It’s also a reminder that the Ohio Mountain Bike Association Race Circuit is set to begin in a couple of weeks but that’s a story for another day).

This year’s Haymaker Farmer’s Market will officially kick off the season on May 28th, and the volunteer organization has announced a change in management for 2011.   It turns out that after 18 years on duty, Fritz Seefeldt and his wife will pass the baton this year to a new team leader.  Most of the faces at the Market will remain the same but the day to day planning, marketing and problem solving that Fritz and company handled so well will now be handed off to a new pair of hands. 

Passing the torch on this must be hard, sort of like watching your child graduate from school, but Fritz said that the time was right, the market was enjoying some of it’s best years, their numbers of vendors and sales have continued to go up — so Fritz is going out on top.  The Kent community is deeply indebted to Fritz and his family for all their personal investment of time, energy, and I’m sure plenty of blood, sweat and tears — that combined to create the Haymaker Farmer’s Market.   

I’m told that the Market posted a job announcement and they are excited about the quality of candidates that are interested in continuing the traditions built by Fritz and his village of supporters. 

You can read the official notice straight from the Farmer’s horse’s mouth below:

FARMERS’ MARKET CHANGES MANAGEMENT

After 18 years at the Haymaker Farmers’ Market, founder Fritz Seefeldt has decided to step down as the volunteer manager. “I am committed to the long term success of the market and look forward to continuing to serve in an advisory role and on the market board of directors.  The market has been an integral part of our lives for so many years and I see this transition as something healthy for the market and for the Kent community.” said Seefeldt, who has brought the market to its current success after co-founding it with his wife Jo Anne and architect Rick Hawksley. The market on the corner of Summit St. and Franklin Ave. is one of the longest-running farmers’ markets in NE Ohio.

Customers and vendors alike have enjoyed Seefeldt’s easy-going approach, which made the market a Saturday morning mainstay of healthy shopping and entertainment. The board of directors of the Haymaker Farmers’ Market, an incorporated non-profit organization, will be searching for a replacement to take over the reigns for the 2011 market season, which starts May 28.

“We’ve got big shoes to fill,” said board member Cary James. “The comfortable ambiance of the market has been developed by a lot of hard work on Fritz’ part.” Other members of the board agree that some attributes will be easy to find in applicants, like having a car, or the ability to lift 40-lb umbrella stands. Other things can be learned, such as agricultural and health regulations, and writing grant applications. “But we’ll also need to find someone with good organizational skills, an interest in the market and Kent, and the ability to enforce our rules to keep market harmony,” continued James. “We’d hate to lose the great atmosphere.”

More information is available on the Haymaker Farmers’ Market website, http://haymakermarket.com/ or the HFM’s facebook page.

Kent City Water Scores Big Again...

We don’t work hard to produce great drinking water to win awards — we do it for all the people that rely on us when they turn on their taps each day and reach for a glass – but truthfully it’s kind of nice to receive national recognition for how good our water tastes. 

Kent is actually a former gold winner (1995) and we keep fighting our way back up on the podium.  This year Kent’s water came in as the 5th best tasting tap water in the world. 

I don’t know if we’ll get national media attention for 5th place but when we won the top prize, the Jay Leno show followed up with a few skits celebrating Kent’s awards as only Jay Leno can do.  It’s all in good fun, including the 1990s hair styles, see for yourself:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-BbmERd6gc

Here’s a couple of the 1995 news articles to enjoy as well:

Winning Water

Taste of Fame

Last, but certainly not least, is the press release issued by the competition committee for what they call the Academy Awards of Water for 2011. 

ACADEMY AWARDS OF WATER NAMES WINNERS

BERKELEY SPRINGS, WV —–  For the first time since 2004, the top five tap water winners at the annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting were towns and cities in the United States.   Daytona Beach, FL was indisputably rated the best tasting water in the world, a title they also won in 2005. A pair of California waters – Desert Hot Springs and Santa Ana – won second and third respectively.  Desert Hot Springs has won two golds in the past.  Oxford, MI and Kent, Ohio round out the list. 

Rain water was the big surprise entry and two rain waters won first and fifth in the purified water category.  Texan Independence Water from League City, TX won best purified for their harvested rain water; their sister water, Virginia Natural, won fifth.  Bonnie from Pittsburgh was delighted at the win.  “It’s the best water I’ve ever tasted,” she said.  “It is clean and has none of that after taste that most waters have.”  Another Texas water, Rain Fresh won second; it is not harvested rainwater in spite of the name.   Mothers Finest of North Carolina was third and Berkeley Springs Purified was fourth.

Bottled water came literally from all over the globe to compete including Argentina, Japan, Tasmania and Switzerland.  Selected as best bottled water in the world was perennial entrant but first time winner, Muskoka Springs, Jarratt, ON, Canada.  Second place was Pristine Springs from nearby Clear Springs, MD while third was captured by first-time entrant, Highbridge Springs, Wilmore, KY.  Almost Heaven, Manassas,VA bottling Berkeley Springs water placed fourth and former gold medalist, English Mountain Springs Water, Dandridge, TN was fifth.  A total of 42 bottled waters were tasted.

A special award was presented this year to the Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting by the American Water Works Association.   Event officials Jeanne Mozier and Jill Klein Rone were recognized for their enduring efforts to preserve and protect drinking water through the water tasting over the past two decades.

More than 150 people watched at the Country Inn in Berkeley Springs on Saturday night as a dozen media judges spent hours tasting 99 waters from 23 states and ten foreign countries.  There were 35 municipal waters from 13 states and Canada.  ”We have six former gold medalists entered this year,”  said Klein Rone.

Winning sparkling waters included two Bosnian waters in first and third place, both from Tesanj. The best sparkling water in the world this year is Esparanza with Mountain Valley Springs Water from Hot Springs, AR in second place. Third is TesanjskiDijament, fourth is Antipodes from New Zealand and fifth is Arctica of Marchand, MB, Canada.  “Often the sparklings are all international,” said Klein Rone.  “It’s good to see an American water in the line up.”  Klein Rone was also pleased at the Bosnian wins.  “They’ve been coming to the tasting for years,” she said. Thirteen sparkling waters entered.

Michael Cervin, author and senior editor of BottledWaterWeb.com served as acting watermaster, standing in for perennial watermaster Arthur von Wiesenberger who was unable to attend for only the third time in 21 years.   ”This is the longest running and largest water tasting in the world,” he said. “The granddaddy of them all.”   Klein Rone was delighted at the crowd and the array of water officials who came from as far away as South Korea and British Columbia to attend the event.

The crowd was interested in the peoples’ choice packaging competition where it was their votes that chose which of the 14 entrants was the most alluring.  Rainwater scored again when Tasmanian Rain, Tasmania won first.  Antipodes of New Zealand with a pleasing rounded shape glass bottle was second.  Canadian Gold of Marchand, MB was third and the glamorous gold bottle of Bling H2O from Los Angeles was fourth.  Hawaiian Springs rounded out the list in fifth place.   Designer John Wilson coached the crowd on various attributes of good packaging.  The votes reflected his belief that the winning sleek, tall glass bottle shows a public view of water as a modern product.  

Conclusion of the daylong water tasting is the famed “water rush” where the audience is invited to take home hundreds of bottles of water sent as part of the judging.  ”I spent about six hours arranging all the waters in a display,” said Mozier.  ”The crowd spent less than ten minutes making it all disappear.  It’s like a Tibetan sand mandala,” she laughed.  Most popular among “rushers” this year was the Tasmanian Rain in an elegant tinted glass bottle plus a pair of colorful Hawaiian waters. The champions of the rush were a couple who travel from New York City every year especially for the water tasting. 

The dozen media judges selected by Klein Rone from print, radio and the Web were instructed by Cervin to look, sniff and taste each water under guidelines like those in a wine tasting. The waters were rated for each attribute including appearance (it should be clear – or slightly opaque for glacial waters), aroma (there should be none), taste (it should taste clean), mouth feel (it should feel light), aftertaste (it should leave you thirsty for more). Waters were tasted in four separate flights over two days.

The 22nd annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting is scheduled for Saturday, February 25, 2012.  For more information on Berkeley Springs or its water tasting, call 1-800-447-8797 or check online at www.berkeleysprings.com.

Best Municipal Water 2011
Best in the World – Daytona Beach, FL  ( gold in 2005)
Silver –Desert Springs, CA
Bronze – Santa Ana, CA
4th – Oxford, MI
5th – Kent, OH

Best Bottled Water  2011
Gold –  Muskoka Springs, Jarratt, Ontario, Canada
Silver – Pristine Springs, Clear Springs, MD
Bronze – Highbridge Springs, Wilmore, KY
4th – Almost Heaven, Manassas,VA bottling Berkeley Springs water
5th – English Mountain Springs Water, Dandridge, TN

Best Sparkling — 2011
Gold – Esparanza, Tesanj, Bosnia
Silver – Mountain Valley Springs Water, Hot Springs, AR
Bronze – TesanjskiDijament, Tesanj, Bosnia
4th – Antipodes, Whakatane, New Zealand
5th – Arctica, Marchand, MB, Canada

Best Packaging — 2011
Gold – Tasmanian Rain, Tasmania
Silver – Antipodes, Whakatane, New Zealand
Bronze – Canadian Gold, Marchand, MB, Canada
4th – Bling H20, Los Angeles, CA
5th – Hawaiian Springs Young Natural Artisan Water, Kea’au, Hawaii

Best Purified Drinking Water – 2011
Gold – Texan Independence Water - 
Silver– Rain Fresh Oxygen Rich Purified Water -
Bronze — Mothers Finest –
4th — Berkeley Springs Purified Water
5th – Virginia Natural Water

Keeping Kent’s Canopy Green...

Grants, which require a 50 percent local match, will help EAB-affected communities remove hazardous ash trees, as well as help assist in the restoration of lost canopy cover. The funds are provided by the USDA Forest Service to aid in the recovery of urban forests.

Since the emerald ash borer was first discovered in northwest Ohio in 2003, millions of ash trees have been killed by this devastating invasive insect, which can claim the life of an otherwise healthy, mature tree in as little as three to five years. Due to the insect’s spread, many Ohio communities are now confronted with the costly expense of dead ash tree removal and replacement.

“These funds will help communities proactively implement their EAB management plans,” said Robert Boyles, chief of the Ohio Division of Forestry.

Healthy, safe and functional trees improve our cities and towns by enhancing clean air and water, increasing property values, reducing erosion and stormwater runoff, providing wildlife habitat, moderating temperatures and offering year-round enjoyment. For more information about the benefits of trees, urban tree care and Emerald Ash Borer initiatives, visit www.ohiodnr.com/forestry.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources ensures a balance between wise use and protection of our natural resources for the benefit of all. Visit the ODNR Web site at ohiodnr.com. 

Kent Green on the Screen...

Since I rambled a bit yesterday extolling the virtues of proudly wearing your Kent green on your sleeve, I was reminded that some of that Kent green has been put on display in two new videos. 

Here’s the links to the videos that give a great sense of Kent’s environmental commitment passing from one generation to the next.  Pop the popcorn and enjoy.

City of Kent Green Living

Kent Roosevelt Students Environmental Video

There’s Green and There’s Kent Green...

Spring temperatures and St. Patty’s Day has put a little green in the air and that got me thinking about Kent’s unique shade of green.  In Kent, green is more than a trendy label, it’s a lifestyle.

Green living isn’t just Kent’s annual Who’s Your Mama Earth Day Celebration – it’s waking up in the morning and turning on the low-flow shower head, taking out the recyclables, biking to work, riding the local bus to a Kent State game and turning off our energy star light bulbs before bed.

That’s the Kent promise.

• A promise to honor the legacy of the Cuyahoga River that runs through downtown Kent with walking trails, interpretive elements, parkland, and recreational opportunities including kayaking, canoeing, tubing, and fishing.
  
• A promise to surpass the City’s sustainability goals
  
• A promise to make our carbon footprint smaller each year through new solar, geothermal and energy conservation projects
  
• A promise to protect and restore the local ecosystem through land conservancy and well-head protection
  
• A promise to uphold our Green Building Ordinances and prevent the encroachment of development into environmentally sensitive areas

It takes commitment, perseverance and insistence that natural resources come first; without compromise. It takes rolling up your sleeves and wading along the river’s edge to keep the Cuyahoga River clean.  

Did You Know…

Kent Parks and Rec Wetlands Grant Application...

As you read this blog post go to your music library and pull up your favorite version of Little Help From My Friends (personally, I like Joe Cocker’s rendition) because that’s what this story is all about.   

The Cuyahoga River Trail Meeting...

 Last week I provided an update on the status of the river projects in Kent and I gave a quick shout out to the folks that are working on a region-wide initiative that they are calling the Cuyahoga River Trail.   That 100 mile river trail concept seemed worthy of more discussion so I’m following up with the notice of the River Trail Workshop that is scheduled for February 15th. 

I know that Kent Parks and Recreation and Kent State University will be represented at that meeting but the meeting is open to any kayakers, canoeists and river enthusiasts of all persuasions who want to learn more about the project and find a way to contribute to the cause. 

Kent has spent a fair amount of dollars to open up the Cuyahoga River to create more active and passive recreational opportunities of the great stretch of river that runs through our downtown — so we’re pretty excited about the prospects of the River Trail initiative. 

Here’s the details on the workshop:  

____________ 

CUYAHOGA RIVER WATER TRAIL WORKSHOP – February 15^TH

We would like to invite you to a workshop on the Cuyahoga River Water Trail.   This one day workshop will explore establishing the 100-mile Cuyahoga River as a water trail.

The workshop participants will:
• Learn about water trails and their potential on the Cuyahoga River.
• Review opportunities and constraints along the Cuyahoga River.
• Discuss potential regional collaboration & economic benefits.
• Evaluate the necessary next steps to establish a water trail.

 The event will be February 15^th from 8:30am to 4pm at the Cuyahoga Falls Natatorium.  Thanks to our sponsors, especially, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, Friends of Crooked River, and Floyd Browne Group, this event is being held at no cost to participants.

Please feel free to forward this to others that might be interested in attending.

If you can attend, please fill out the attached workshop registration and send it back. 

We look forward to your continued interest and participation.