The Observation Deck

Matthew John Markling wrote:Every first real snowfall of the year!

Well here you go then!









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First snowball. First snowman. (At the ex church of Christ Scientist. It was looking a little lonely.)

Actually not my favorite memory-- my favorite current event. My favorite recent memory was playing in the snow at night at Lakewood Park when all the trees were lit up for Christmas, branches and everything, and it was like a Christmas wonderland.

But this one was pretty cool for daytime.

Betsy Voinovich

Just a few from my younger years:

Going to the St. James winter basketball tournaments to participate and hang out with friends from the area, bumper sledding, snow ball fights, REC basketball.

Wow -- I would have loved to have attended that 1965 jazz concert someone recalled! Unfortunately, I was only a year old that year. It's so interesting to hear about past Lakewood events and milestones that I wasn't aware of.

Some of my favorite wintertime memories while growing up here in the 1970s and early 1980s include sled riding at a huge hill in the valley -- I wish I knew the name of it. If you've been on that hill, you know exactly which one I mean. I want to say that it is located on the Lakewood/Rocky River boarder, near a street off Wooster that dead-ends into the Rocky River Reservation.

Another fun wintertime event was when the city used to flood and freeze the baseball field at Lakewood Park next to the Old Stone House. You had to bring your own skates, but it was fun skating outside in the winter air.

And of course there was the infamous winter blizzard/snow storm of late 1977 --- we all had so much fun outside, taking advantage of those snow days!!!

Last winter, with all its snow (TOO MUCH!) reminded me of those Lakewood winters of my childhood.

I remember skating on the frozen rink at Madison Park. The old Slovak guys from the neighborhood would be in the skate house smoking cigars and playing cards while we changed from our snow boots into brown girls hockey skates. Only girls in northeast Ohio wore those awesome skates!! Wish mine still fit.

Teresa, that's really funny. I can recall more than one female friend back in the 70's telling me that
they were skating somewhere hundreds of miles away and that people would look at their skates and
say " Lakewood, right ? " Thanks for that memory.

Wowie.

Bringing this old thread back from a few years ago brought back some nice memories for both Dad and I. I'm glad to see that Lakewoodites continue to appreciate those old memories, while at the same time, being happy to create many new ones of their own- in this sublime, ever-changing, and yet, ever-the-same city of ours.

As a columnist for the Lakewood Observer, I do recall writing an article about Christmas in Lakewood a half-century ago. For those who might like to read it, the link is right here:

http://lakewoodobserver.com/read/2009/1 ... kewood1959

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all, from Bob and Gary Rice.

We used to skate at Lakewood Park after they would flood it, but the authorities would chase us away if we played hockey; then we would walk down to Clifton Park Lagoon and play all day. I took my kids down there years later, but it seems that the lagoon doesn't freeze over any more.

Edgewater had good sledding, but we preferred a cliff off Riverside, dodging the trees and trying to stop before we went into the river. The police would occasionally throw us out of there. Another close sledding area was a road east of Fairview Park Hospital going down to the golf course. Apparently it was hard to plow and dangerous to drive, so they just put up barricades at the top; it was great sledding if you could steer around the curves. I won't mention the 17 kilometer sled run we recently came across in Switzerland.

We used to sled down the hill on the south end of Lakewood Stadium when there was a cinder track. I remember going really fast and getting stuck under the field fence. We'd get home and mom would make real hot chocolate with milk and Nestle Quik --- not those crazy packets of powder.

Teresa Andreani wrote:We used to sled down the hill on the south end of Lakewood Stadium when there was a cinder track. I remember going really fast and getting stuck under the field fence. We'd get home and mom would make real hot chocolate with milk and Nestle Quik --- not those crazy packets of powder.

Ha! I have that exact same memory. It's a miracle no one was ever impaled on that fence. Great little hill, but no runout!