OB News August 2012 FINAL.Qxd
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August 2012 Volume 34 Number 6 www.oldbrooklynconnected.com Brooklyn Centre to celebrate its bicentennial Photo by Stanislav Zadnik by Brian Cummins James Fish was the first permanent Councilman Ward 14 American settler of Brooklyn Township. He From Indian trails to treaties, oxen to came from Groton, Connecticut with his rattle snakes, stagecoach routes to freeways, family and two of his cousins, Moses and and steel mills to watersheds, on the week- Ebenezer Fish. They were accompanied by end of August 10th to 12th, Brooklyn Centre two other families from Groton and they will be celebrating 200 years of pioneers and traveled by oxen and a lumber wagon. a rich history in recognition of the neighbor- The Fish family arrived in the area of hood’s bicentennial. (See the box on page 3 Newburg in early autumn of 1811 and win- for details about all of the events.) tered in Newburg. Early in the spring of It’s a little known 1812, James crossed fact that Brooklyn the Cuyahoga River Centre, settled in 1812, alone and put up a log was already the center house on what is now of Brooklyn Township the northwest corner of Pearl Rd. and when it was formed in Both the Polish organizations and approximately 600 members of the community showed up Mapledale Ave. 1818, hence its name. for the re-opening Mass at St. Barbara Catholic Church, 1505 Denison Ave., on Sunday, July It has the distinction of being the oldest set- By 1818, over 200 people were living 22nd. In this photo of the outdoor portion of the ceremony, pastor Fr. Joseph Hilinski is tlement west of the Cuyahoga River in what in the surrounding area of what we now call knocking on the church doors. A light luncheon in the church hall followed the Mass. is now the city of Cleveland. the Brooklyn Centre neighborhood. The Brooklyn Township was born out of the process of clearing the forest and developing Connecticut Western Reserve. In 1795 a village progressed so that the area from Have fun, get exercise, support OBCDC and Connecticut agreed to sell their claim to today’s Big Creek to Scranton Rd. became celebrate Brooklyn Centre's Bicentennial land east of Pennsylvania to the Federal gov- the center of Brooklyn Township. ernment for expansion. The sale settled That same year on June 1st Brooklyn by Jayme Lucas-Bukszar parade at 1:30 p.m. beginning at Riverside Connecticut’s Revolutionary War debt. Township was formally organized. The vil- jaymel@oldbrooklyn.com Cemetery and a community picnic from 3-6 The Western Reserve lands were sold to lage served as the center of the township up On Sunday, August 12th, Old Brooklyn p.m. at W. C. Reed Park (W. 15th St. and the Connecticut Land Company and a year until the early 1830s. By then, what would Community Development Corporation Denison Ave.) Race participants are encour- later the company sent Moses Cleaveland become Ohio City was developing rapidly (OBCDC) will hold the third annual Bridging aged to stay and enjoy the Zoo, the parade, with a team of surveyors to divide the land and in 1836 it was incorporated (the same the Distance 5K/1mi Run/Walk. and the picnic. into five mile by five mile townships. year that the city of Cleveland was). The race starts and ends at the Cleveland People of all ages are invited to partici- For ten years, from 1795 to 1805, the The main activities planned for the Metroparks Zoo's Palava Hut near the pate in the Bridging the Distance race; there Cuyahoga River was an international border. bicentennial in August will further highlight entrance and goes across the Fulton Bridge as will be awards for runners ten years through The Treaty of Greenville (1795) settled land the neighborhood’s rich history and addi- part of the course. OBCDC encourages over sixty nine years. Proceeds from the race claims including the areas of the Western tional information will be included in future everyone to come, help support Reserve, but only east from Pennsylvania to editions of the Old Brooklyn News as the get some exercise OBCDC programs the Cuyahoga River. It wasn’t until the neighborhood celebrates its bicentennial and have a great and initiatives Treaty of Fort Industry (1805) that the throughout 2012. For more information and time. such as Pop UP Pearl, Wings & United States had clear title to lands west of details for the events of the bicentennial visit To sign up Things Cook-off the Cuyahoga River, even though the state www.brooklyncentre.net. for the race, go to and the Community Picnic. of Ohio was established in 1803. www.hermescleveland.com. Registration is available the day of the race starting at 7:30 OBCDC also assists homeowners who need a.m.; however, participants need to register by to make home repairs; purchases, rehabs and August 1st to be guaranteed a t-shirt. sells vacant homes; helps businesses that want OBCDC chooses new neighborhood logo Registration fees includes free admission to to expand or open in Old Brooklyn; and sup- the Zoo for the runners/walkers and their fam- ports a Neighborhood Watch program. by Robyn Sandys The first year there was about $100,000 ilies. This year’s Bridging the Distance spon- robyns@oldbrooklyn.com to spend on this effort, but OBCDC has only The Bridging the Distance race was cre- sors are: Key Bank, Memphis Fulton allocated about $35,000 to date. Additional ated to bring the community together and Shopping Center, Hudec Dental, Dollar Bank, The Old Brooklyn Community funds are being applied for this coming year highlight the Old Brooklyn and Brooklyn Constellation Schools, Healthy Start, Honey Development Corporation (OBCDC) has 2012-2013 for a variety of projects such as Centre neighborhoods. This year's race is spe- Hut Ice Cream Shoppe, St. Leo the Great been working for the past six months on a new welcome to Old Brooklyn signage at cial because it is part of Brooklyn Centre's Parish School, Attorney Roger M. Bundy, new branding and identity campaign for this key entry points, beautification along Pearl Bicentennial celebration. Their festivities Northcoast Promotions, Kehoe Brothers neighborhood. The process involved the par- Rd. between Broadview Rd. and Memphis will start on Friday, August 10th, at the Printing, Gabe's Family Restaurant, Fred's ticipation of community members and local Ave. for this year and further south in future Brooklyn Centre Community Orchard (3333 Breads, M & M Wintergreens, and Third businesses. The company years, a business plan con- Louisiana Ave.) at 8 p.m. where there will be Federal Savings & Loan. Councilman Kevin hired to help with this effort test whereby one or two music, stories and a bonfire. Kelley, Councilman Anthony Brancatelli, and Councilman Joe Cimperman are also impor- was Twist Creative. They potential businesses moving Bridging the Distance kicks off the day tant partners. have done similar work for into Old Brooklyn would on Sunday, August 12; there will also be a other neighborhoods in receive funds for various Cleveland including Ohio start-up expenses. Inside the City. The new brand, Old The main reason and Brooklyn Cleveland Made, OBN objective for the branding effort was to fill comes with a brand story derived from talk- street level retail vacancies and to help repo- ing to Old Brooklyn folks. sition the current retail mix in order to In summary, Old Brooklyn is the home Wings & Things; Executive restore vitality and momentum to Old of doing and getting things done. It is a roll Director; Community Spotlight 2 Brooklyn’s commercial district. The other up our sleeves and solve the problem neigh- objectives included aligning Old Brooklyn’s borhood. That is our history and that is our News & Events 3 image with its strength and potential, attract- future. ing new and innovative developers and Crime Watch; Honey Hut; Twist Creative and OBCDC believe OB Buzz; 4 retailers to the neighborhood, and increase that the type of businesses that fit the down- the number of visits annually by residents town area are in various skilled trades Town Crier; Smoothies at and the general public into the core of Old because of the many existing business that Estabrook 5 Brooklyn. fit that mix already, such as Nunzio Cabinet Commercial News 6 The funds used for this effort came Shop and Montalvo Home Improvement and from the City of Cleveland’s Economic Speed Exterminating. OSU Extension; Local Food Contest 7 Development Department through their Tax That does not preclude the solicitation Increment Financing program. Steel Yard or the welcoming of other types of retail GardenWalk; Theater Notes 8 Commons is paying into a special fund to ventures to Old Brooklyn. Family Fun 9 help provide support to local businesses in The Old Brooklyn CDC has T-shirts and around that shopping center that may be with the new logo for sale for $12 and stick- Senior & Church Notes 10 affected by the big box retail located in Steel ers that we will give out to any business who Yards. OBCDC was appointed as the local Classified & Service Directory; would like to identify with the new theme. Community Meetings 11 agency along with approval from the Ward For more information contact either Robyn 13 Councilman Kevin Kelley to expend Sandys or Jayme Lucas-Bukszar at 216-459- Honey Hut Recipe; Crime Watch those funds. 1000. Night Out Against Crime 12 PAGE 2 OLD BROOKLYN NEWS AUGUST 2012 From the desk of the executive director by Robyn Sandys live, work, and recreate! robyns@oldbrooklyn.com Without dedicated indi- viduals committed to Irene Pavlyshyn I hope you all are enjoying this hot yet improving the quality of sunny summer, I know I am! The CDC has life in the neighborhood, by Jayme Lucas-Bukszar been busy with great summer events from our Old Brooklyn would not jaymel@oldbrooklyn.com movie night where we had over 100 people and be the place it is today.