The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
STRAWBERRY MADNESS
59th annual Kirtland Kiwanis Strawberry Festival off to a great start, officials agree
“We’re very pleased with how things have gone so far, especially for a Thursday night.”
To the casual Kirtland Kiwanis Strawberry Festival goer, opening day of its 59th edition may have seemed a lot like the rest.
But to those in the know, the event’s June 14 kickoff was missing a few things: likely most notably its ever-popular strawberry shortcake-eating contest and the customary parade that usually marks its official start.
Festival fans have nothing to fear, however, as organizers just shuffled things around a bit this year, with the parade taking place June 15 this year and the competitive eating on June 16.
Officials also added a covered eating area for folks to enjoy all the fresh flavors that abound at the affair, as well as made a new, more-open traffic pattern
— Stan Nerderman, festival entertainment chairman
around the food vendors to make getting to the goods all the more user-friendly.
“We have an entirely different layout for the eating area,” said longtime festival organizer and promoter John Bodmer with the Kirtland Kiwanis Club.
“We’ve actually got some tents this year, so people can sit under cover and enjoy their food. Plus, we’ve got more umbrellas, tables and chairs, too. What we’ve also done is made the area around all the food attractions more open, and made kind of a horseshoe-shaped walkway. We’re trying to make it easier for people to get around.”
One area family, who have been coming to the event, on and off, over the last decade, agreed the new traffic pattern is an improvement.
“I mean, like most people who come to fairs like this, a big attraction is all the good fair food,” said Nicholas Costello, a Mayfield Heights resident who came to the Strawberry Festival’s opening night with wife, Anita, 8-year-old son, Nick, and 5-year-old daughter, Ella. Anita concurred. “It’s always good to get some treats at the fair,” she said. “We like to get a variety of stuff to eat from a few different vendors and share. It’s always a good time and a great way to find out about something new to enjoy.”
Another area family, the Kellys from Painesville Township, said they’ve made it a family tradition to visit the Kirtland Kiwanis Strawberry Festival every year and enjoy the familyfriendly atmosphere above all.
“I grew up in Eastlake, so I’ve been coming here most of my life. Now, it’s a family tradition,” said Mellissa Kelly, who was accompanied June 14 by her husband, Craig, 5-year-old
son, Westley, 4-year-old son, Winston and 9-month-old daughter, Madalynn.
Craig — a relative newbie to the event, this being his
second year attending it — said he’s already a big fan.
“I like it a lot,” he said. “It’s family-friendly. The kids love it and it’s just a good time for all.”
Found mingling with the seemingly ever-building crowd about 7:30 p.m. June 14 at the Strawberry Festival,
Kirtland Police Chief Lance Nosse said it seemed to be shaping up famously.
“Everything’s good, Nosse said. “The Strawberry Festival is always a great event. The Kiwanis Club always does a fantastic job putting this thing together. Everything’s taken care of and they’ve been doing a great job with it for many, many, many years. And we’re proud to be a part of it, too — happy to help.”
He said the event is as sure a sign of summer as temperatures in the 80s and a good, solid dose of humidity.
“It’s just a good, safe time for everyone to come and enjoy themselves and kick off the summer right,” Nosse said.
Another festival contributor — soon-to-be Kirtland High School senior Logan Potosky — had the honor of singing the national anthem following a speech by Kirtland Mayor Douglas E. Davidson.
He said he was honored to be asked to do so, especially because, for him and his family, the Strawberry Festival has also been a longtime tradition.
“It means a lot that I was asked to (sing the national anthem),” he said. “It’s just an absolute honor.
Among the changes this year to the Strawberry Festival’s agenda was a trivia contest between various Kirtland contingents, including the police department, fire department, Kirtland Schools teachers and its administrators.
The festival’s entertainment chairman, Stan Nerderman, said the Kirtland High School’s Key Club came up with the idea for a trivia showdown to replace the kickoff’s traditional competitive eating contest.
“We typically have held the strawberry shortcakeeating contest on Thursday night,” he said, adding that they decided to switch things up a bit this year. “So, this year, I went to the Key Club and asked if they’d like to plan something for the first night. So they came up with this trivia event, which we all thought was a neat idea.”
By about 9:30 p.m. June 14, Nerderman, reached by phone, said the 59th annual Kirtland Kiwanis Strawberry Festival’s debut day was one for the history book, in that, about an hour before closing, fair fans were still trickling in at the entrances.
“We’re very pleased with how things have gone so far, especially for a Thursday night,” he said.
“Obviously, the weather cooperated. We had a really good crowd and, with only about an hour left to go, we still have people coming in. If the weather cooperates, I think we’re going to be really happy with this year’s turnout.”
The 59th annual Kirtland Kiwanis Strawberry Festival runs through 5 p.m. June 17 and is held at the Kirtland Schools’ Campus, 9250 Chillicothe Road in Kirtland.