Officially speaking, autumn arrives Sept. 22, but for me and no doubt for many other area residents, Berea's ArtsFest, held each year on the second Sunday of the month, spells summer's end.
The white canvas booths of 120 artists and craftsmen will line Front Street in Berea's town center, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 10.
This year's event will include food, live entertainment, demonstrating artists, a chalk walk, kids creation station and a lucky raffle winner who will take home an Arts and Crafts Wagon filled with art supplies.
The wagon will contain a 97-Piece Wooden Sketch Box Easel, cutting devices, including 8 pairs of scissors, each with a different decorative edge, scrapbooking materials, including a large empty scrapbook, "Gameday" Albums Made Easy Kit, paints, sculpted products, Martha Stewart products, punches, stamp and punch sets, starter sets and much miscellaneous art and craft-related items.
There's no doubt just about anyone would love to have this wagon full of art supplies and creative outlets.
Raffle tickets will be available at the ArtsFest raffle tent from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Tickets are $1 each or six for $5.
The value of the wagon and its contents is still being tallied, but, according to an event spokesperson, it is worth "hundreds and hundreds of dollars."
For more information on the red wagon raffle, visit bereaartsfest.org.
A 9/11 remembrance: A ceremony honoring the victims of the four hijacked jetliners that struck the New York's World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon in Washington DC and the fields of Schanksville Pennsylvania, will be at 11 a.m. Sept. 10 at the Brook Park Veterans' Memorial on Sylvia Drive.
The ceremony will also honor the memory of the 7,000 plus fallen heroes from operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and will highlight the 59 passengers and crew of American Airlines Flight 77 that crashed into the Pentagon that day, with a reading of the names of the jetliner's passengers and crew.
A processional ride to Lake Erie Harley Davidson in Avon, Ohio, where food and entertainment will be provided, will conclude the ceremony of remembrance.
There is no cost to participate and all bikes are welcome.
All riders must sign a waiver and it is recommended that riders be experienced to participate in this processional.
For more information, contact kiksharley@aol.com or call 440-263-8121.
DAR to light tower, The Western Reserve Lakewood Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution will sponsor the Lighting of Terminal Tower, 848 public Square in downtown Cleveland, Sept. 17 - 23.
The upper floors of the 708-foot tower will be lighted in patriotic red, white and blue, to commemorate Constitution Week, a reaffirmation of the ideals the framers of the U.S. Constitution had in 1787.
A DAR spokesperson said there are "two documents of paramount importance to American history, the Declaration of Independence, which forged our national identify and the United State Constitution, which set forth the framework for the federal government that is still in use today."
The DAR initiated the observance in 1955, when the organization petitioned the U.S. Congress to dedicate September 17-23 of each year to the commemoration of Constitution Week.
Pantry has moved: The Middleburg Heights Food Pantry has moved to a new home at 7000 Paula drive.
The pantry's hours of operation remain 10 a.m. to 12 noon Tuesdays and 5-7 p.m. Thursdays.
SCAN's new home: The SCAN Hunger Pantry, formerly at 85 South Rocky River Drive in Berea, has a new home at 398 West Bagley Road, Suite 7, in the Williamsport Plaza building.
The pantry's hours of operation are from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the second Friday of the month and from 4-7 p.m., the fourth Friday of the month.
SCAN's phone number remains the same: 440-260-7226.
Please email information (people photos, too. include ID's) on items you'd like to see included in this column to richatsun@gmail.com.