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On June 9, 2018, we had a great day that we want to share with you. This blog post includes 152 tweets from before and during the Cleveland Museum of Art's Parade the Circle, and from our evening activities on the Cleveland Metroparks' waterfront. Writing this post reminds us of the fun we had, and we hope it encourages others to explore these and related activities in the future.

We were able to attend the Parade the Circle together again in Cleveland's University Circle, and wanted to share our experience and photos from our @sos_jr tweets and retweets. If you never attended Parade the Circle, it is a must-attend Cleveland event!

We started off June 2018 with some great activities and music. We often go to the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Cleveland Metroparks, and we wanted to share in this blog post some of the unique things we did on June 1 and June 2, 2018.

What we needed was a simple day to get away -- thank you, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, and the Cleveland Zoological Society, for providing the perfect venue.

Earlier in the month, we had learned from tweets by Etsuko Dunham, Danielle Garbo, and Kelly Manderfield about some incredibly beautiful Japanese cherry tree blossoms in the Cleveland Metroparks' Brookside Reservation, which is very near the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

There is always something going on that you can learn about by following the right organziations on Twitter. I saw a tweet by @ShareTheRiver that linked to Cleveland Water Tour of the Garrett A. Morgan Water Treatment Plant

The Share The River event post stated that in celebration of American Water Works Association's Drinking Water Week, Cleveland Water was hosting an open house of their Garrett A. Morgan Water Treatment Plant. This was the final event of Cleveland Water's Drinking Water Week 2018 activities.

I am very interested in the subject of water treatment and city resource infrastructure. 

Cleveland Museum of Natural History has nature hikes at Mentor Marsh. We learned that the Museum's Natural Areas Department has over 9,400 acres of land on 56 natural areas.

When Julie and I heard about the May 6, 2018, Bald Eagle Fest at Mentor Marsh, we were excited to check it out!

2018 marked the fifth year for Station Hope, which I have enjoyed for the past two years. It is an incredible event to experience!

Congratulations to Cleveland Public Theatre and all the Station Hope 2018 organizers for the grand success of this annual Cleveland event!

I thought it would be interesting to attend the Akron Waterways Renewed! Blue Heron Homecoming when I learned that it was taking place at the Akron Water Reclamation Facility.

Julie and attend most of the MIX at CMA events during the year. We enjoy both the general party atmosphere in the Ames Family Atrium, and the themed tours through the galleries led by art experts from the Cleveland Museum of Art.

My CMNH friends, adult programs coordinator Ashley Hall, and preparator and lab manager Lee Hall, had often recommended that I attend a Cleveland Museum of Natural History Members Behind-The-Scenes Night. They told me that attendees get to explore the normally off-limits lower levels of the Museum.

Therefore, when Spike Radway invited me to attend with him and Henry Lee, I knew I needed to make time to go.

My wife and great co-blogger, Julie, and I enjoy attending the Starship Troopers, the Reel Science event featured a science talk by the museum's collections manager of invertebrate zoology, Dr. Nicole Gunter. This was the last of the 2017-2018 Reel Science series. The Museum's adult programs coordinator, Ashley Hall, is already gathering ideas for next year's films -- send her your recommendations! 

I highly recommend both the monthly Cleveland Digital Publishing Users Group - CDPUG meetings (the final Thursday of most months), and also the special field trips that they plan. Spike Radway, the founder and program director of CDPUG, always recruits great presenters for the meetings.

It was great to start the month of May with a special field trip to the Apple Eton Store to learn from both Erica Brenner of Erica Brenner Productions, LLC, and Bill Baraona of Flex Media about video editing.

When I first learned about Front International Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art in the summer of 2016, I was very excited about this grand art show taking place over many northeast Ohio locations in the summer of 2018. What I did not know was that it was even bigger than just the summer exhibitions. I have already enjoyed attending several Front International artist talks, and look forward to more of these pre-summer events. 

I also want to note that FRONT International: An American City took place at the new MidTown Tech Hive. When I arrived, it was fun to learn that I already knew some of the people who work in this new tech-centric space. I recommend you learn more about Tech Hive by watching for a summer grand opening event which will be announced by Digital C. 

My family participated in a great day of activities planned by the new REI Cleveland store ahead of the grand opening of their Beachwood location.

• Backpacking 101
• Backcountry cooking
• Essential knot tying
• Smartphone photography for the outdoors
• Bluegrass fireside concert

We attended a day of activities at Holden Arboretum, so in addtion to the special activities planned by REI Cleveland, we also explored the Murch Canopy Walk and the Kalberer Emergent Tower.

A flurry of activity! In late April and early May of 2018, I had eight busy days of activities! I originally created this as one single blog post listing all nine events, but later decided to publish nine posts to make it easier to find for my website visitors to read.

I still think of it as one post that I hope will not only give you insight into my eight-day week, but more importantly, encourage you to support these organizations with your presence at future events.

In our blog post, Cleveland Museum of Art's "Eyewitness Views: Making History in Eighteenth-Century Europe," we wrote that Stuart attended the Eyewitness Views Media and Influencer Exhibition Preview on February 24, 2018. Unfortunately, at the last minute, Julie was not able to attend. We knew she would enjoy this exhibition, so we planned to come to the show together at a future date.

We ordered our tickets to return on Wednesday, April 11, 2018, since the Cleveland Museum of Art's is open late -- until 9:00 pm -- on Wednesday nights to accommodate people like us who need an evening visit time.

While Stuart knew Julie would enjoy Eyewitness Views: Making History in Eighteenth-Century Europe, her enthusiasm for the show was even more than Stuart anticipated! It was fun to start the evening by having our photo taken in the Venetian gondola provided by the Cleveland Museum of Art.

On April 7, 2018, after a busy morning at the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy 2018 Opening Day for Trails - Cleveland, and spending the afternoon at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland Free First Saturday, I continued the fun with an exciting evening at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. 

A BIG shout-out to PNC Bank! In addition to sponsoring this free day at Cleveland's Rock Hall, they also sponsored the MOCA Free First Saturday that I enjoyed this afternoon.

There was so much happening at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame that night, including concerts, fireworks, food, entertainment, and free entrance to the museum. I want to commend the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame staff how they did a good job handling the large crowds. They kept the lines moving, and provided entertainment and activities to keep people engaged. 

On April, 7, 2018, despite a very busy morning at the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy 2018 Opening Day for Trails - Cleveland, I was still very interested in seeing the current exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland in the afternoon. 

Thanks to the sponsorship of PNC Bank, the museum offers free admission for all visitors on the first Saturday of every month.

The current MOCA exhibitions include INDUCTION: Tauba Auerbach and Éliane Radigue, Simon Denny: The Founder's Paradox, Claudia Comte: Zigzags and Diagonals, and Mei-Jia & Ting-Ting & Chih-Fu & Sin-Ji: C. Spencer Yeh. 

My son, Kevin, is developing two board games, so when I told him about Simon Denny's board game designs, he joined me at the Museum. In addition to Simon Denny's work, there were also game designs by local college students.

Every year, because of my personal history, I always think that April 7th is a special day to explore a trail! So when I saw Bike Cleveland's tweet announcing that on Saturday, April 7, 2018, the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy would have a Cleveland location for its annual Opening Day for Trails, I knew that I would need to attend! 

As I learned more about the day from Share The River's blog, and very informative @ShareTheRiver tweets, I grew more impressed with the strong partnership of organizations in Cleveland that were coming together on April 7th to promote trails and good environmental stewardship in northeast Ohio. The day's activities were hosted by the Cleveland Rowing Foundation.

Reading about the Facebook event, 2018 Opening Day for Trails - Cleveland, also excited me by mentioning the Ohio & Erie Canalway Towpath Trail and the Cleveland Foundation Centennial Lake Link Trail. I have enjoyed exploring both of these trails, and writing about them in some of my past blog posts.

On the evening of Friday, April 6, 2018, my wife and co-blogger, Julie, and I attended a Cleveland Museum of Art #MIXatCMA. This event takes place on the first Friday of each month, and we attend most of them. The MIX: Philosophy theme had special meaning for me, since it reminded me of seeing Auguste Rodin's sculptures in Paris. There is no additional charge for us to attend these enjoyable events as members of the Museum. 

Superman: From Cleveland to Krypton - An Exhibit
May 6, 2017 - March 31, 2018

Follow Superman's journey from his creative birth in Cleveland to his growing international popularity, his connection to social justice issues, his influence on the current superhero craze, and the pride our community maintains for its homegrown superhero.

Three floors of exhibits in the Main Library will feature memorabilia, art and artifacts from the Mike Curtis Collection of Superman Memorabilia and other prominent collectors.

When the closing day for Superman: From Cleveland to Krypton - An Exhibit came on March 31, 2018, I knew that I had to take my family for a final visit, and write this blog post to say how impressed I was with this exhibit. The exhibit not only told the history of Superman's creators, but did an excellent job of showing the Cleveland connection and how Superman led to the creation of other superhero characters.

Arrived VERY late -- I had a blast!!!

As I drove through the rainy streets of Cleveland on a very late Saturday night, February 24, 2018, I was not sure I should attempt to attend the last hours of Brite Winter 2018. I had been invited by the Communications Department of the Cleveland Museum of Art  to attend the preview for Eyewitness Views earlier that evening. Thus, I had already had a very fun and very full evening.

It was very late, very dark, and raining, but since I have greatly enjoyed attending Brite Winter for years, since it was a small event in 2011, I decided to see how the event's evening ended. It ended up being the best decision I could have made!

As I parked my car, I saw the bright lights of Brite Winter transforming the underbelly of the Main Avenue Bridge to a festive area full of music and fun! It was great to be with all these people, dancing and having fun into the late evening.

I was very fortunate to attend the Cleveland Museum of Art's Eyewitness Views: Making History in Eighteenth-Century Europe Media and Influencer Exhibition Preview during the museum's members-only opening on February 24, 2018. This event was a fantastic preview with special music from the 18th century performed live in the museum, special drinks and food, and generally a great members party before the exhibition opened to the public on Sunday, February 25, 2018. The exhibition runs through Sunday, May 20, 2018.

2012 to 2018!!! Our sixth Blogiversary of celebrating the fun of exploring our community and writing about our experiences!

Thank you to my great co-writer and wife, Julie Smith! I always enjoy sharing the journey with her. I also want to thank the many organizations that hosted the events/activities I wrote about this year!

Please take a moment and scroll across the following images/links, and please click to read some of our 29 blog posts for 2017, and the posts we have done so far in 2018. 

The Cleveland Metroparks introduced their new Trail Challenge on National Trails Day, June 3, 2017!! It was very appropriate, since the Trail Challenge reflects the spirit of National Trails Day by encouraging people to enjoy the great outdoors and to explore trails in the Cleveland Metroparks.

In this blog post, I will share information about my journey on the 10 required trails (and beyond!!), for the 2017 Trail Challenge through:

• My @sos_jr tweets/retweets

• My comments about what I observed

• Information about the parks featured in this first Trail Challenge.

December 1, 2017 - a new month full of possibilities! We started off the final month of 2017 with a very active weekend!

• We decided to kick off this December weekend with Mix: Illuminate.

• We enjoyed Cleveland's University Circle Holiday CircleFest, which was expanded into a two-day event.

• We saw Wicked at PlayhouseSquare a few years ago, and were excited to enter the ticket lottery this year.

On Saturday, November 11, 2017, the Main Library of the Akron-Summit County Public Library held the fifth annual Akron Mini Maker Faire. I have attended all five of these events showcasing creativity! Every year, I learn about maker groups and their very ingenious activities -- it is a true joy to explore!

On Saturday, November 4, 2017, the Cleveland Public Library celebrated its fifth Cleveland Mini Maker Faire by bringing together area makers and creatives to share their knowledge and encourage others to join them. 

This was the fourth Cleveland Mini Maker Faire that we have attended. Every year, we have a great time talking to people about their creations. We love learning about what is happening in Cleveland's creative community.

On September 27, 2017, we traveled back in time almost 100 years via the Cleveland Museum of Art's dazzling The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s exhibition. We were thrilled to attend the Media & Influencers Preview for this spectacular show.

When you go to this exhibition, please be sure to allow yourself plenty of time to fully explore it. The Jazz Age includes such an incredible variety of art and artifacts, that even after our two-hour visit, we plan to come back to see more. Ironwork, jewelry, clothing, accessories, paintings, furniture, cars, a chandelier, and other surprises -- all with an artist's flair! This exhibit is rich with the elegance of the era!

In 2016, the theme for IngenuityFest weekend was "Awakening," since it was held for the first time at their new, permanent location: The Hamilton Collaborative, 5401 Hamilton Avenue, Cleveland. I found it interesting that Ingenuity Cleveland chose the theme “Metamorphosis” for IngenuityFest 2017 to reflect how they have evolved into a year-round community hub.

Included in this blog post are my photos and @sos_jr tweets and retweets from IngenuityFest 2017 weekend. I met a lot of interesting people, and enjoyed a lot of great entertainment. I encourage you to learn more about the creative people involved -- it would be worth your effort.

Every year, we visit and write a blog post about the Cleveland Museum of Art's Chalk Festival. It is one of our favorite community events. This blog post includes our photos from the two-day event, and our @sos_jr tweets/retweets with more photos and information about this year's Chalk Festival.

Most years, we attend only on Sunday. Stuart normally does a chalk drawing, and we take photos of all the finished works late on Sunday. This year, Stuart had two events scheduled for Sunday, so we spent a relaxing day on Saturday, September 16, 2017, on the Cleveland Museum of Art's south lawn overlooking Wade Lagoon.

Stuart did his annual chalk drawing, while Julie took in the ambiance of this peaceful setting. The Fine Arts Garden, with its Chester Beach’s Fountain of the Waters, combined with live music, and people from all over Cleveland creating their art, made for a perfect day.

The Print Club of Cleveland's 33rd annual Fine Print Fair took place on September 15-17, 2017, at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Before the weekend opening of the Fine Print Fair to the public, there was an opening night benefit preview, "A Prints of a Party," on Thursday, September 14. 

While, as members of the Cleveland Museum of Art, Julie and I attend many events at the museum, we were not aware of the Fine Print Fair. Therefore, I was very pleased when Sarah Palagyi invited us to the "A Prints of a Party" preview by contacting me via the Column & Stripe Twitter account. Unfortunately, Julie had another commitment that night and was unable to join me.

On September 8-10, 2017, the largest annual cycling festival in the United States, NEOCycle, was held in Cleveland at the Cleveland Metroparks Edgewater Park, through the support of the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission! This was my third year attending what has become a great Cleveland tradition!

The 2017 One World Day took place at the Cleveland Cultural Gardens on August 27, 2017. Over 25,000 people attended!

My goal for this blog post is to share my 80 @sos_jr tweets and retweets, which have photos and videos from the event, as my way of thanking the organizers of this great, annual, Cleveland tradition. I also include below some of the articles and videos from the event.

The day was great fun, so enjoy the sights and music!

PechaKucha Nights in Cleveland rock, which is why we enjoy both attending them, and writing blog posts about them!! On Friday, August 25, 2017, it was very appropriate that the PechaKucha Night Cleveland Volume 31 rocked out at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame! The presenters reflected the creative spirit for which the Rock Hall is known.

We really appreciate the PechaKucha Night Cleveland leadership team, presenters, and sponsors.

On August 21, 2017, the first total solar eclipse in the continental United States since February 26, 1979, occurred. It was also the first total solar eclipse to cross the entire country (from Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean) since June 8, 1918! We knew this would be a special day!!! Stuart used his last available vacation day to fully experience the phenomenon, and our son Kevin joined us as well.

We always have a good time at PechaKucha Night Akron! We want to congratulate the PechaKucha Night Akron leadership team for their success, and thank the presenters and sponsors who made the night possible.

Here is the information we gathered from the Friday, August 4, 2017, PK Akron Volume VIII at The Well Akron Community Development Corporation.

I first learned about the July 30, 2017, Common Ground event from an announcement by Global Cleveland on Twitter. I immediately knew I needed to attend, and share my thoughts about it in my blog.

I also want to thank Cleveland Foundation Senior Marketing & Communications Officer Jennifer Trivelli, who reached out to me via a Twitter direct message on July 7th to confirm that I knew about #CommonGroundCLE -- Greater Cleveland's largest outdoor community conversation and meal.

I attended the BlueBridge Networks Third Non-Profit IT Innovation Summit on July 27, 2017, at the Cleveland Museum of Art as a guest of Kevin Goodman, managing director and partner at BlueBridge Networks.

This was the second time I have attended this nonprofit IT summit, having attended in the BlueBridge Networks Non-Profit IT Innovation Summit II on November 5, 2014. I want to thank Kevin Goodman for inviting me again, and let the presenters know how much I appreciate them taking time to share their knowledge. 

We had four days of fun and four sunsets on Lake Erie!

Our extended Fourth of July weekend, July 1-4, 2017, was filled with many activities, each day ending with a beautiful Lake Erie sunset!

• July 1st Sunset - Lake Metroparks' Lakefront Lodge after Cleveland Shakespeare Festival at James A. Garfield National Historic Site

• July 2nd Sunset - Edgewater Park of the Cleveland Metroparks Lakefront Reservation

• July 3rd Sunset - Lake Metroparks' Lake Erie Bluffs Coastal Observation Tower after exploring both the Lake Link Trail & The Holden Arboretum

• July 4th Sunset - Sunset and Fireworks at North Coast Harbor after Neighborhood Parade

Thank you to all the great organizations that made these four days of fun possible. We look forward to visiting many more Northeast Ohio venues to enjoy Lake Erie sunsets.

Back in 2012, we wrote about attending a Crash Party, which introduced the ArtLens App and related gallery. Through this event, we became fascinated with the ways that the Cleveland Museum of Art uses technology to engage their visitors. Since 2012, we have visited the gallery and used the app many times and have written several ArtLens-related blog posts. We have watched both the ArtLens App and related gallery gradually evolve to expand their functionality and ease of use.

When we were invited by Cleveland Museum of Art Chief Information Officer Jane Alexander to attend the 2017 ArtLens Crash Party on June 21st, we knew that major changes were coming -- changes that were not just evolutionary, but revolutionary!

Ever have a day when you have a few things planned, but as the day proceeds, opportunities for more fun activities arise? That was my day on Saturday, May 6, 2017, when a couple of fun things evolved into a full day and evening of activities.

• Late Morning: Cleveland Flats - Drink Local. Drink Tap. Inc.'s "4 Miles 4 Water"

• Early Afternoon: Downtown Cleveland - Cleveland Public Library's "Superman: From Cleveland to Krypton – An Exhibit" Opening!

• Late Afternoon: Uptown Cleveland - Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA)'s Free Admission First Saturday

• Evening: Cleveland's University Circle - Cleveland Museum of Art's MIX: Model

Thanks to all the organizations that hosted these events -- from the flats to Uptown and beyond!

We were fortunate to receive an invitation to attend the April 26, 2017, Cleveland Museum of Art's "Alex Katz Media and Influencer Exhibition Preview."  The exhibition opened on Sunday, April 30, 2017, and will continue through Sunday, August 6, 2017. 

The museum's Director of Communications, Caroline Guscott, and Communications Associate, Kelley Notaro, greeted us as we arrived to start the evening. They introduced us to Curator of American Painting and Sculpture Mark Cole. It was great to have Mark Cole at the preview, so that we could ask questions about the paintings and learn some art history of the time period represented by this exhibition of Alex Katz's work.

We also met Diana K. Tuite, the Katz Curator from the Colby College Museum of Art.

To celebrate Earth Day, most years, we attend the Earth Day Coalition's EarthFest, and have written blog posts about our experiences at the event the past two years.

Earth Day 2017 was different -- out of some very negative things happening in our country, a very positive movement to take action grew! We mean, of course, the national March for Science in Washington D.C.!

The same day that it was announced that the national March for Science would be held on Earth Day, April 22, 2017, we learned to our delight that there would also be a March for Science in Cleveland!

The good people of Northeast Ohio came out in force! Congratulations to the March for Science Cleveland for this grand success!

2012 to 2017!!! Our fifth Blogiversary of celebrating the fun of exploring our community and writing about our experiences!

Thank you to my great co-writer and wife, Julie Smith! I always enjoy sharing the journey with her.

Since my first Hello, World! My First Blog Post! on March 8, 2012, I have expanded what I have written about as Julie and I are in our fifth year of blogging. Please take a moment and scroll through and view the topics of the 36 blog posts from 2016, and the seven posted so far in 2017, that you will see at the bottom of this post! As I wrote last year: "It brings me joy to look at the blog posts we did this past year -- great memories of fun times, plus the anticipation of a new year full of possibilities!"

This was the third year that we were invited to attend the PlayhouseSquare Launch Party for the KeyBank Broadway Series. Thank you, Digital Marketing Coordinator Alyssa Brown  for inviting us to attend this great PlayhouseSquare event on Tuesday, February 28, 2017!

It was an evening of fun and anticipation as each show of the new season was announced. For the past two years, the Launch Party announcements took place at the 2,800-seat Connor Palace Theatre, but this year, the event sold out the 3200-seat State Theatre!

In 2015, we learned that Cleveland draws the largest audiences in the country for these touring Broadway productions. This year, the Launch Party audience was the biggest ever for the event, so it will be exciting to find out if this will lead to the largest attendance in the history of PlayhouseSquare's KeyBank Broadway Series.

Record high temperatures at Brite Winter 2017!

On Saturday, February 18, 2017, Mother Nature did not deliver the normal sub-freezing temperatures that we have come to expect at Brite ​Winter. This year, we had record high temperatures across the area.

Unfortunately, Julie was not able to attend this year, so I went just for some of the evening activities this year with my son. Congratulations to the Brite Winter leadership on their eighth successful year! 

Another full house for PechaKucha Akron!

On February 3, 2017, PechaKucha Akron had another huge and very successful event, this time taking place at the Akron Urban League facility. When we arrived, we were surprised by the large size of the venue, but not surprised when 415 attendees arrived. We knew that PechaKucha Akron is a must-attend event in Akron, and we knew to come early to get good seats.

This blog post contains the official PechaKucha Akron descriptions of the talks, and videos from the event, as well as tweets in which attendees shared information and photos.

January 18, 2017 - Biomimicry!

This is the third blog post we have written about a Cleveland Museum of Natural History Think & Drink with the Extinct event. Each event has been a unique experience.

Think & Drink

Raise a glass and increase your knowledge of the natural world at one of the brainiest happy hours in Cleveland!

We did not know that the very first Think & Drink with the Extinct that we would attend, with our brand-new membership, on January 18, 2017, would feature the University of Akron Biomimicry Fellowship Ph.D. candidates we had already written about in our blog twice! We were excited to learn of their new product based on biomimicry principles, and meeting some of the other students. It is great that the museum gives the opportunity for many people to learn about the unique ideas being developed at Akron University's Biomimicry Fellowships!

We have really enjoyed attending the North Coast Harbor Ice Fest in the past, but normally only came to the event in the evening to see the final ice sculptures. If you have never seen the beautiful carved ice lit up at night, you really should.

This year, the Ice Fest took place on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Monday, January 16, 2017. It was combined with the annual free admission to two great Cleveland institutions for the MLK holiday -- Great Lakes Science Center and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum -- that are located on North Coast Harbor.

We were really excited when we saw the Cleveland Foundation Center's tweet announcing that the Cleveland Public Library and NASA Glenn Research Center would be sponsoring the program NASA From Hidden Figures to Modern Figures on Saturday, January 14, 2017. Having attended and having written previous blog posts about tech events at the Cleveland Public Library and about NASA Glenn Research Center, we knew we needed to clear our calendars to attend this event.

It was a good year for us. We have many people to thank for all the activities and events that we attended in 2016. This blog post includes our year-end thank-you tweets, and the list of all our 2016 blog posts.

As we have done for the past two years, we have created this blog post to remind us of the fun we had this year, and to show our appreciation. There are many people/organizations that we did not have a chance to mention -- to you all, we want to also say thank you!

We had a such a great time at University Circle's 23rd Annual Holiday CircleFest on Sunday, December 4, 2016, that we wanted to share our photos and tweets/retweets of the day to thank all the sponsoring organizations. Unfortunately, Julie only was able to attend the early activities, since she had a choir performance, but Stuart stayed to the very end of the evening activities.

One of the great things about the day is the people who work at the sponsoring organizations, who warmly welcome and talk to visitors. Stuart wants to give a shout-out to the people he met during the day. Their actions show how to effectively engage visitors to University Circle.

I was very impressed with the Flashstarts 2016 Accelerator Class. At the November 30, 2016, Flashstarts Demo Day, the startup founders made their presentations, after which I had a chance to talk to them. I also truly enjoyed meeting other new people and reconnecting to the people I knew who attended this event at The City Club.

• Drive My Way

• Komae

• Markers

• Parihug

• Wheedle

It all started when I received an email from Michael Christoff, who is one of the members of the PechaKucha Night Cleveland leadership team. He wrote that he was inviting me to a special first-time-ever PechaKucha Night Cleveland Past Presenters Happy Hour. This would be an event where the 250+ PechaKucha Night Cleveland presenters from the past eight years would be invited.

Although Julie and I have written blog posts about PechaKucha Night Cleveland and attended many of their events, I had never done a PechaKucha talk myself. I was extremely honored to be invited to this closed event for people whose presentations I greatly admired. It meant a lot to me.

But it got even better -- I was in for a BIG surprise!!!

As a way of saying thank you to PlayhouseSquare and Cleveland Play House for Holidazzle, and to Downtown Cleveland Alliance, Cleveland Public Library, and Cleveland Public Square for Cleveland Winterfest 2016, we have gathered our photos and tweets from the day. We enjoy these great events every year.

We also want to mention the role that the Cleveland Foundation is taking this year with the new Cleveland Public Square. The foundation is supporting a winter skating program and the year-round Cleveland Foundation Centennial Plaza.

Two months before the Creative Fusion Spectacular, on Saturday, September 17, 2016, my wife, Julie, and I attended an art event of The Cleveland Foundation's Creative Fusion program. There we saw three new Cleveland murals being created as we watched, near Transformer Station in Hingetown.

Then, when I heard that The Cleveland Foundation had arranged with Ohio City Incorporated to have their Creative Fusion Spectacular on Saturday, November 19, 2016, I knew I wanted to attend to take a special tour of the finished neighborhood murals, and see the temporary Creative Fusion Gallery at 2529 Detroit Avenue, Cleveland.