Future Fest

Once again throngs of people visited downtown Kent for our annual Heritage Festival. Many people from Kent United Services Organization, the Kent Area Chamber of Commerce, Main Street Kent and many others put in long hours for the enjoyment of many. And for this, we are grateful.

Kent's largest community festival is called the Heritage Fest, but really it is about the future. Yes we are enjoying our day, friends and family and our nation, as is done by millions on Independence Day weekend, but it is the children that are in the arms, strollers and in the general vicinity of their parents that are the reason for the festival. What will they do with and for our great freedom?

While it is difficult to judge the motivations of many for attending the festival, (other than the enjoyment of free entertainment and carnival food), I know for sure that those involved in planning, organizing and working at booths for our community-based organizations it is a unique opportunity to showcase our efforts to make our community a better place to live.  

At this year's festival, TransPORTAGE, a new citizens sector Transition Town initiative (www.transitionus.org) with which I am affiliated, highlighted the work of a range of community groups that share a common vision for our community of the need to create and support local grass roots enterprise that encourage individuals, families and groups to support each other more as we live our economic lives more locally.

, named for one of our founding families, had a flier that listed the multitude of vendors that come from throughout our region to bring us locally produced foods and agricultural products. The market was open for business during the festival and I saw many folks with bags of produce stroll by our booth. More information about the Market can be found at the market's website.

Also in the realm of local foods, Portage Local Food Project was presented to those who want to build on the success of the farmer's market and develop our local food industry so that we may become more locally self-reliant. PLFP has as its first project the upgrade of the kitchen at Kent Social Services so that it may be used to prepare, preserve and provide local foods to the public for sale as well as an act of service to those less fortunate among us. Future goals of PLFP include urban gardening and farming and education initiatives throughout the county that will help the next generation lead healthier and more socially and ecologically sustainable lives — while contributing as productive citizens in a vibrant local economy. You can contact Portage Local Food Project on Facebook.

Speaking of a vibrant local economy, we were also joined by , which has grown to more than 200 members in a little over a year. KCTB uses a web-based software to connect community members with each other so that they can share time, talent and know-how to improve each others lives and the life of our community by trading hour for hour through the bank. You can find more information at http://community.timebanks.org or email Kristina Spaude at kspaude@hotmail.com.

In terms of improving our local economy, also shared educational information regarding the benefits of urban hens. This forward-looking group fit well into the Heritage Fest setting as it reminded people that during World War II Uncle Sam asked our citizens to raise chickens in their victory gardens as a way of directing resources towards the war effort. Likewise, some of our fellow citizens see that the ability to raise six hens or less in their back yards, away from their neighbors, can contribute greatly to our health, welfare and local economy in the years to come.

The Crooked River Recyclery is a new community bike shop and education center that aims to help us get our bikes out of our garages and use them! CRR has already demonstrated its capabilities through its mobile repair shop, which it operates at the farmer's market on Saturdays. CCR hopes to have a permanent home in the near future. You can support this nascent effort by contributing at a fundraiser, having them tune up your bike, or both. You can contact them through their website..

The last information available at the TransPORTAGE booth was a brochure announcing Portage Slant: A Future In Sight; a call for visionary ideas. TransPORTAGE has joined with , Hattie Larhlam, Kent State University School of Art Galleries, Standing Rock Cultural Arts, and The Artist Network of Kent to challenge Portage County citizens to share their visions for our county. Anyone that lives or works in Portage County is eligible to share their creative thoughts in any medium, including business plans, public policy statements, spread sheets, art, literature, music, science experiments, or whatever medium you may chose  A jury will review entries and they will be on exhibit, or linked-to if size is an issue, at several venues throughout the county.

What all of these initiatives have in common is that we agree that the Heritage Fest was a great time to meet new folks and re-connect with old friends. As we encourage our neighbors to work with us in building a more resilient local economy we are reminded of the days when you could ride a train to Akron every day, take a trolly to Brady Lake, Hiram and Garretsville, when there were more bikes than people (and we used them), and when our region was energy independent and mostly self-sufficient in the production of food.

While it is fun to reminisce about "the good old days," I guess you could say that the Heritage Fest could just as well be called Future Fest. Because indeed, in many ways, past is prologue.