THREE’S COMPANY

Holden Arboretum a new happy place for three Solon friends

With temperatures near 80 and partly cloudy skies over Kirtland, friends Cecily Exline and twin sisters Ally and Erika Kahn picked a picture perfect day to spend at The Holden Arboretum Aug. 18.

The trio made the trip from their hometown of Solon to take in the sights, sounds and look around above the treeline before going back to college, they said.

“We actually came to do the tower and canopy walk,” Erika said, adding it was the first time any of the three had been to the arboretum in Kirtland. “It was really cool!” Exline agreed. “It’s awesome here,” she said. “I had no idea it was so big!”

The three longtime friends (since middle school, they said), get together regularly over the summer since starting college. And, well, as far as the Kahn twins go, “We’ve been together all of our lives,” Ally said.

Erica and Exline are both sophomores at The Ohio State University and Ally Kahn goes to The University of Akron.

Erica is studying biology as a pre-veterinary major, she said. Exline is studying psychology and

Ally is studying environmental science.

All three agreed they would urge anyone with an

inkling to go to the arboretum.

“I’d say it’s great for families,” Erika said. Ally followed suit. “I would really like to come here in the fall,” the twin on the right said.

All three agreed that,

while there are some outdoor-recreation opportunities around their hometown, thanks to the Cleveland Metroparks’ South Chagrin Reservation, nothing close to home compares to what they saw at the arboretum.

JONATHAN TRESSLER — THE NEWS-HERALD Cecily Exline, center, flanked by twin sisters Erika, left, and Ally Kahn, all from Solon, chat under a big weeping willow tree on the edge of Lotus Pond at The Holden Arboretum Aug. 18.