Weekend In The Commons Block Party

Good food, good music and good friends are a surefire recipe for summer fun and that’s just the package the City of Parma Heights is offering during its Weekend in the Commons, Saturday and Sunday, August 4th and 5th. Parma Heights is, and has always been, a city with a small-town atmosphere, and we wanted this year’s celebration to feel like a block party with neighbors and friends getting to sit back, relax, and enjoy each other’s company.

Yorktown Catering and Paisano’s Pizza will be on hand offering refreshments. The Greenbrier Art League, Parma Community General Hospital and WKHR with popular air personality Eddie will each be manning booths. The Parma Heights Historical Society will be on hand at the Toll Booth to answer questions both days between the hours of 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. The Parma Heights Garden Club will be auctioning off  “Florals for Parma Heights”, a quilt valued at between $400 and $500, pieced and donated to the club by Karen Spirakos of Seven Hills. N.E.O. Soccer will host an open house with inflatables on Saturday from 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and again on Sunday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The Fire Department will be offering blood pressure checks,  apparatus tours, and balloons and coloring books for kids. The Police  Department will have motorcycle units, a cruiser, a S.W.A.T. tactical unit display and an educational 9-1-1 simulator.

Entertainment kicks off bright and early on Saturday with a car show presented by Mike “Cadillac Mike” Azzarello and the Cadillac Sound Machine in front of Yorktown Lanes.  Classic cars, trucks and motorcycles will be on display until 3:00 in the afternoon while Azzarello spins oldies tunes from the ‘40s to the ‘80’s. The steel drum sounds of Island Jeff bring a bit of the Caribbean to the Commons pool on both Saturday and Sunday from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. “He was so popular last year, that this year we decided to book him for both days,” explained Recreation Director Tom Moran. Island Jeff also has a variety of family-oriented activities planned. The pool will be open from noon to 8:00 p.m. for open swim with a $1 donation requested with proceeds going to the Police & Firefighters 9/11 Memorial fund. 

There is something for everyone musically at the Gazebo throughout the weekend. Saturday’s entertainment starts off with the lively sounds of Tom Mroczka and The Music Box band playing polka music and a variety of non-polka tunes. Soul’d OUT, one of the Top 4 Bands in Cleveland from The Fox 8 Cleveland Hot List, takes the stage Saturday evening between 6:00p.m. and 8:00p.m. with their Motown sound. Ted Rizer brings the musical entertainment to a rockin’ close with his Triple Tribute performance to the Allman Brothers Band, the Marshall Tucker Band and Neil Young. Saturday night’s Movie-In-The-Commons to be held at the N.E.O. Soccer facility, will be the full-length Academy Award-winning animated feature Rango starring Johnny Depp in the tale of a chameleon who becomes a hero.

Sunday’s activities get started early with the second annual Parma Heights 5k Run & Walk , and Kids Dash. Pre-registration is available online at www.hermescleveland.com through August 3. Presented in cooperation with Dick’s and Parma Community General Hospital, the event begins at 9:00 a.m. at the Gazebo. Just perfect for a hot summer afternoon, music at the Gazebo begins with the mellow stylings of acoustic solo guitarist Victor Samalot who will be featured from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Singer Ronnie Fiorentino, in a return engagement from last year’s celebration, will serenade audiences in the style of Sinatra, Dino and Sammy with his set featuring timeless classics from the golden era of vocalists. Fiorentino will perform between 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. “A splendid time is guaranteed for all” as The Liverpool Lads, Northeast Ohio’s favorite Beatles Tribute Band, performs the music of the Fab 4 from 6:00p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Wrapping up the Weekend events, will be the high-energy, high-octane, The Soul Men Blues Brothers Tribute Band who are sure to get everyone singing and dancing with tunes like “Gimmie Some Lovin’”, “Mustang Sally” and “Soul Man”.

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Volume 4, Issue 8, Posted 9:05 AM, 08.01.2012