Saturday, August 19, 2023

MOLLY CALLAHAN (1961–2022)

Molly Callahan was a freelance writer and copy editor who focused on local journalism and digital marketing. A native of Northeast Ohio, Molly was a graduate of Kent State University, with a major in journalism, and lived in this area most of her life. She started the CLE ON THE CHEAP blog when she discovered that, as she said, “you don’t need a lot of money to have a lot of fun.” Before her freelance career, Molly was a copy editor and columnist at a number of newspapers, including the New Orleans Times-Picayune and the Cleveland Plain Dealer.  From 2017 until the end of her life, she was a committed activist on behalf of women living with ovarian cancer.

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Outdoor Education

No matter what alert level your county is in, the Cleveland Metroparks remain accessible. This would be a good time to visit some reservations you haven’t been to before. You also might want to try a new activity.

If you’re not sure where to go or what to do, check out the Metroparks’ Virtual Classroom. Each weekday at 1 p.m., you can watch on Facebook Live as naturalists and outdoor recreation specialists share their expertise.The free lessons have been taking place since March 17, but don’t worry about being late for class. Videos of past lessons are available here

Ohio & Erie Canal Reservation
Yo
u’ll find a nice variety of subject matter. You can learn about plants, trees, local waterways and animals at the reopened Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and in the wild. 

Get out and explore at a safe social distance.

Friday, June 19, 2020

It’s Showtime!


CLE on the Cheap is back after an unplanned hiatus. And tonight, while it might not be safe to go back in the water, it is safe to go to the drive-in to see “Jaws.”


The Aut-O-Rama Twin Drive-In Theatre in North Ridgeville reopened last week with new rules to accommodate social-distancing requirements. The throwback theater is showing throwback movies “Jaws” and “Shrek” at 9:40 p.m., “Despicable Me” (in 3D) at 11:30 p.m. and “Jurassic Park” at 11:55 p.m.


Admission is $10 for people 12 and older and $5 for everyone else. Among the changes you’ll find on the drive-in’s website is its policy about outside food. Patrons are allowed to bring in their own food for the time being. However, concessions are available at a walk-up window and contactless payments are an option.


Tickets are available here and at the box office.


You might have watched more than your share of movies at home the past few months, but the drive-in offers a different experience. It’s a chance to get out while having little or no contact with other people. And not everyone has this option. The Aut-O-Rama Twin on Lorain Road is one of just 24 drive-in theaters still open in Ohio. 


Another one of those 24 is the Mayfield Road Drive-In Theatre in Chardon. It’s closed tonight for a private event, but it will show “Jaws” at 9:20 p.m. and “Jurassic Park” at 11:40 p.m. Saturday through Wednesday.


Admission is $20 per carload and can be paid here. Outside food is allowed, but a food permit must be purchased for $8 per car per visit. Bottled water is allowed in at no charge. Concessions will have separate walk-up windows for ordering and pickup. 

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Throwback Broadcasts

Baseball fans were supposed to be enjoying the 2020 MLB season by now. Home openers for teams including the Cleveland Indians had been scheduled for last week before COVID-19 put all sports on hold.


MLB Network and Sports Time Ohio have been showing classic games and baseball-themed programs to fill the airwaves and give fans their fix. Depending on your age, you might have seen some of the games when they were originally broadcast. But younger fans could be seeing them for the first time.


If you’re stuck at home — and if you’re practicing social distancing you should be home a lot — you can listen to games from wayyyyy back while you tackle all those items on your to-do list that you haven’t had time for.


The Internet Archive has put radio broadcasts of Major League Baseball games online and you can listen to them for free. The available broadcasts all aired before 1974. Broadcasts from games played after that are not yet in the public domain.


The oldest broadcast is the 1934 All-Star Game, played at New York's Polo Grounds. No spoilers here, but among the players in that game were Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx and Carl Hubbell, all Hall of Famers.


The most recent broadcast is Game 7 of the 1973 World Series between the Oakland A’s and New York Mets. This series closed out Willie Mays’ career. 


In between are other World Series, League Championship and All-Star games, the first-ever Mets game broadcast from 1962, the 1951 New York Giants-Brooklyn Dodgers playoff game featuring “The Shot Heard ’Round the World” and the 1948 World Series, the last one our Indians won.


We don’t know when the 2020 baseball season will begin, but it’s safe to assume it won’t be in April. These radio broadcasts, which many (or most) of us have never heard before, could help fill the void. 

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Family Trees

What do you do when your blog is about free and low-cost ways to have fun in Northeast Ohio and the whole state shuts down because of a global pandemic?

It’s a challenge. Last week I didn’t post anything as I tried to figure out how to adapt CLE on the Cheap to fit these unprecedented circumstances. I’ve come up with some ideas that I hope will carry us through until social distancing is a thing of the past.

With St. Patrick’s Day and the 2020 U.S. Census on my mind, I came across something interesting on the Cuyahoga County Public Library’s website. The library system is offering the library edition of Ancestry.com for at-home use. All you need is your library card number and a PIN. If you don’t have a Cuyahoga County Public Library card, you can get one online.

I found the site to be really user-friendly. There are census results and birth, marriage and death records for starters. My great-grandparents died long before I was born, but I found my mother’s grandparents’ marriage license from 1884. You can see it here. I was thrilled to find a record of two people I never knew but am connected to nonetheless.

The 1900 Census shows information about my great-grandparents Michael and Julia Joyce and eight children, some of whom I never met or barely remember. My mom’s uncle Ray, a relative I knew and liked, was 4 months old when the census was taken. The 1910 Census shows Michael, Julia and 12 children, ranging in age from 5½ to 25, living in Youngstown, Ohio. I at least know of most of them, but there are a couple of names I don’t recognize. 

Both Michael and Julia emigrated from Ireland before they were married, although Michael was born in England. Michael’s parents, whose names I don’t know, were born in Ireland, according to the records. I’m going to do more digging to see if I can find out something about them.

Since we’re spending more time at home now, this would be a good time to research your own family tree. If relatives from older generations in your family are still living, ask them about their families and other ancestors. This is also a good time to fill out the 2020 Census.     

   

Wednesday, March 11, 2020

Schedule Change

I had two posts ready to go, one for Friday about Cleveland's St. Patrick's Day parade and the other for next Tuesday about voting on Election Day.

Now that the parade has been canceled because of COVID-19, I'm consolidating those posts into this brief message: If you live in Ohio, please consider voting by mail in the March 17 primary election. Applications for mail-in ballots must be postmarked by noon Saturday, March 14, so there's still time to send yours in.

You can print an application from your county Board of Elections website or pick up a paper application at a local library. The only cost is for postage.



Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Racial Equity on Film

The Racial Equity and Inclusion Series starts tomorrow night at the Capitol Theatre in Cleveland’s Gordon Square neighborhood. The free film series begins at 6:30 p.m. with “Queen and Slim.” In this drama, a black man and woman on their first date somewhere in Ohio become fugitives after the man kills a police officer in self-defense.


Although admission is free, a $5 donation is suggested. A post-film discussion will take place down the street at XYZ the Tavern with free food and a cash bar. 


The other films in the series are “Always in Season,” which will be shown on April 14, and “Just Mercy” on May 13. 


“Always in Season” looks at the history of lynching through the true story of Lennon Lacy, a black teenager found hanging from a swingset in North Carolina in 2014. “Just Mercy” is based on a true story and stars Michael B. Jordan as a defense attorney fighting for his client’s life while battling racism.


Both of those films will also be screened at 6:30 p.m. followed by a discussion at XYZ the Tavern. Advance tickets for the series are available at the Capitol’s box office or online.