A group of community members who love the concrete “Akron” sign on an Ellet embankment are involved in a literal grassroots effort.
After edging the grass around the letters that spell the city name on a hillside at the Akron-Fulton Airport, Ellet residents, friends and other contacts of theirs are working to clean up the letters to make them more vibrant.
Janis Sarver, who grew up in Ellet and graduated from Ellet High School in 1976, used to cheer at the Rubber Bowl next to the hill with the letters that spell “Akron.” Her husband, John, also grew up in the Ellet neighborhood and graduated from Ellet High School.
Both of them taught at the school. Janis advised cheerleading, and John coached baseball.
“Our kids graduated from Ellet. And the Akron letters are in Ellet!” Janis Sarver said. “So, we drive by them numerous times a week.”
But over time, the letters faded, she said.
“When we would have our droughts, the grass would turn brown, and ‘Akron’ would almost disappear because it would blend in with the grass because the letters were so dirty,” Sarver said.
She was determined to beautify the embankment, which is when she called on friend Jeff Wilhite, a Summit County councilman representing the Fourth District.
“There are lots of people who have wanted it done but I guess never knew what avenue to take, which was also my downfall until I said, ‘Hey, Jeff. Help me out. You know people. You know more people than I know,'” Sarver said.
The sign brings back memories for Wilhite, too.
“I can remember growing up as a kid, going to Derby Downs, and we always saw the Akron sign,” he said. “And going to Strickland’s and getting an ice cream cone and sitting (outside), you see the airport, watch the planes come in and out.”
After discussing a project with the Sarvers, Wilhite began conversing with other potential partners. No county legislation or budgeting has been required, he said.
He said he talked with Akron City Councilman Brad McKitrick, who represents Ellet, about pooling resources.
“And we thought, ‘You know what?’ The main resource is elbow grease! We’ve all got that! So, let’s go for it. Let’s see what we can do,'” Wilhite said. “And that’s what we did.”
Work on the letters began last fall, when community members power-washed and trimmed grass around the “A.” This spring, they edged the rest of the letters. Mark Greer was involved in the effort, Sarver said; Greer was executive director of Akron 200 at the time and is now an at-large Akron city councilman and works for the Development Finance Authority.
Other involved community members include various team members at APV Engineered Coatings, who this spring applied what Wilhite called an “activator agent” to the five letters.
At Strickland’s, Sarver said she struck up a conversation with a retired professor from the University of Akron who edged the grass around the letters with other community members this spring.
The letters are fenced in by the airport, so the group must get permission before they go work on the site, Sarver said.
Sarver said on June 25 that about 20 people were planning to take turns power washing the letters on June 28.
“I have two daughters; they are both coming,” she said. “My brother’s coming. My brother’s son-in-law is coming. My other brother’s bringing the water. I have four brothers, so I have access to a lot of help.”
Sarver and Wilhite encourage community members to take care of their community.
“I take pride in my community,” Sarver said. “And when there’s lots of trash laying around, I wish people would just be conscious about what they throw out their windows.”
As for Wilhite, he said, “If there’s something in your part of the community that is an important part of telling our story and it might be in a little bit of disrepair, contact your councilperson, contact the city and offer to get a group together to go out and see what you can do to clean it up and spruce it up.”
Patrick Williams covers growth and development for the Akron Beacon Journal. He can be reached by email at pwilliams@usatodayco.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @pwilliamsOH. Sign up for the Beacon Journal’s business and consumer newsletter, “What’s The Deal?”
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: ‘Give me an A’: Ellet resident cheerleads effort to fix up Akron sign
Reporting by Patrick Williams, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Patrick Williams, Akron Beacon Journal | USA TODAY Network
