Time to plan for 2009 North Central Ohio Adventure

Kayaking on the Vermilion River. Photo courtesy of Shawn Newsome. Shawn is the owner of a new campground along the river—Vermilion River Cliffs Marina. (website coming soon)

It's that time of year again. Spring! We're starting to see cyclists and kayakers out and about on our rivers and back roads. Now that the weather is more cooperative we want to give you some tools to plan your visit. First off, a few upcoming events around Back Roads and Beaches:

Kayaking:
Sunday, March 29 will be the annual Keel-haulers Vermilion River Race. Check out the website for information including rules, maps and start times. The Keel-haulers is an organization headquartered in Northeast Ohio with 400 families that share an interest in outdoors and all kinds of boating including whitewater, sea kayaking, canoeing, rafting and racing.

Run
Oberlin’s 5K Earth Day run will start and finish on Tappan Square on Saturday, April 18 at 10am. Entry fee is $10 per person and the first 75 registrants will receive a t-shirt. For more information, contact the Oberlin Recreation Dept. at 440.775.7254.

Cycling
Seems like it hasn’t been that long since the Lorain Wheelmen’s traditional end of season ride-the Red Flannel that capped off a great 2008 cycling season. Now, it’s time for the Wheelmen’s annual tradition to begin the cycling season-Afrost. The ride will be Sunday, April 19 and begin at 9am. For details check out the Wheelmen’s Afrost Page. The weather this week looks to be great for an early spring ride. Updated Back Roads and Beaches maps are available and can be obtained here and online maps here. See you out there!

Snow!

Multi sport enthusiasts who’ve been waiting for snow now have more than enough to enjoy a winter hike, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, ice skating, sledding etc. And more appears to be on the way! Findley State Park, Lorain County Metro Parks, Cascade Park and our many other parks offer miles of trails and other winter amenities.

But don’t stop at traditional winter sports, be creative and try some real adventure! Bottom line is, getting out in the snow along BRaB is a blast! And when you’re done, explore one of our great galleries or museums, and warm up in one of four wineries along the route. Make it a weekend and stay at one of several local lodging facilities that welcome our multi sport visitors.

Winter Days Festival photo by Mark Teleha

This weekend, Jan 17–18, 2009, the Lorain County Metro Parks will be hosting their annual Winter Days Festival at the Vermilion River Reservation. The festival will run Sat. from 10am–4pm and Sun. from 11am–4pm. Ice carving competitions will be the highlight on Saturday and demonstrations from professional ice carvers will take place Sunday. And don’t forget about the awesome sledding hill there!

Happy Holidays from Back Roads and Beaches

Oberlin’s Alternative Gift Fair and Market

Oberlin’s Santa Elena Project of Accompaniment (SEPA) seen here this past summer at the Oberlin Farmers’ Market, will be selling goods at the Alternative Gift Fair and Market.

from the Oberlin Heritage Center:

The second annual Oberlin Alternative Gift Fair and Market is presently underway: Monday through Friday, December 8-12, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., in the Bent Corridor of the Oberlin College Science Center, and Saturday, December 13 from 1-5:00 p.m. at the Oberlin Public Library (65 South Main Street). The Alternative Gift Fair offers holiday gift-buyers an alternative to buying “things” for those folks on their gift lists who don’t really need anything. Instead, these Alternative Gift Fair purchases give many times over – providing good feelings for both recipient and gift-giver, and a big help to local nonprofits working hard to stretch limited resources to serve the needs of others. Gift items for sale at the Market include fair trade coffee, tea and chocolates, handmade textiles from Guatemala and Morocco, crafts from India and Oberlin, and much more.

The Oberlin Heritage Center is participating with a booth that features the Oberlin Heritage Trail Buy-a-Brick project, Historic Playing Cards to benefit the Endowment Fund for History Education, and many items from the Museum Store, including an incredible array of hand-crafted jewelry by Oberlin Heritage Center trustee, Jean Simon. Overheard from a woman buying holiday jewelry for her daughters, “I love jewelry and wear many different styles and designs, yet I ALWAYS receive compliments whenever I wear Jean’s jewelry.” Jean Simon’s jewelry is one-of-a-kind, beautifully crafted, elegant and fun at the same time. Plan to stop by the Alternative Gift Fair and Market sometime this week, browse, buy, and most importantly contribute to some very worthy Oberlin organizations this holiday season. The Alternative Gift Fair is sponsored by the Office of the President of Oberlin College. Out-of-towners may do mail-order holiday shopping through December 15 by e-mailing members@oberlinheritage.org and requesting a copy of the Alternative Gift Fair Catalog.