Help Western Reserve PBS Chronicle Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Station to collect oral histories for use in new documentary

KENT — Dec. 9, 2008 — Whether it was a family sledding trip at Kendall Hills, a marriage proposal at Brandywine Falls or an entire childhood growing up nearby, memories related to Cuyahoga Valley National Park abound. In preparation for its new documentary about the park, Western Reserve PBS invites people to share their memories of Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

The station will hold oral history collection events on three Sundays: Jan. 25, April 26 and May 17. All three events will be held from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the park’s Happy Days Lodge, 500 W. Streetsboro Road (S.R. 303), Peninsula. Participants are invited to come share memories, home movies, photos and memorabilia. Western Reserve PBS will record the interviews and scan the photos on site. Western Reserve PBS will borrow the home movies, bring them back to the station and convert them to DVD. Each movie will then be returned to its owner along with a complimentary DVD copy of the movie.

At all three events, a limited number of interviews will be videotaped for potential use in the one-hour documentary. These interviews are by appointment only and can be scheduled by calling Western Reserve PBS at 1-800-554-4549 during regular business hours.

The new documentary will air in the fall of 2009 in conjunction with the national premiere of the 10-hour series America’s Best Idea: Our National Parks, produced by renowned PBS filmmaker Ken Burns. Given the focus of Burns’ upcoming production, Cuyahoga Valley National Park and many others will not be featured prominently. Western Reserve PBS decided to produce a local documentary featuring the park because of its importance to northeast Ohioans.

“This is the first full-length broadcast documentary about Cuyahoga Valley National Park,” said Duilio Mariola, Western Reserve PBS production/local programming manager. “It will celebrate the past, present and future of this invaluable northeast Ohio resource.”

Cuyahoga Valley National Park is the ninth most frequently visited park among the nation’s 58 national parks, with 2,486,656 visitors per year. The park protects 33,000 acres along the banks of the Cuyahoga River between Cleveland and Akron and combines cultural, historical, recreational and natural activities in one setting. It is within a one-hour drive of the 4 million people in the greater Cleveland/Akron/Canton metropolitan area. Some 250 historic structures, including residential and farming properties, can be found within its boundaries.

For more information about the Cuyahoga Valley National Park oral history project, or to make an appointment for a taped oral history, call Western Reserve PBS at 1-800-554-4549.

Funding for this project has been provided by
The Cleveland Foundation, The Herbert W. Hoover Foundation, PPG Industries Foundation, FirstEnergy Foundation, The Bokom Foundation, The S. Livingston Mather Charitable Trust and NEOEA.

 

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About Western Reserve Public Media
Western Reserve Public Media (formerly PBS 45 & 49) is owned and operated by Northeastern Educational Television of Ohio, Inc., a private, nonprofit corporation and consortium of Kent State University, The University of Akron and Youngstown State University. A trusted community resource, Western Reserve Public Media uses the power of commercial-free television and related services to enrich the lives of people through high-quality programming and educational services that teach, illuminate and inspire. Western Reserve PBS, a service of the organization, is the only broadcast television service that reaches all of northeast Ohio. It is available to 1.8 million households and 4.4 million people in the Cleveland and Youngstown designated market areas. In an average week, over 500,000 households tune in. Through funding from eTech Ohio, Western Reserve Public Media provides K-12 educational technology training and instructional television programming to 21,500 educators and 256,700 students in eight Ohio counties. For more information about the organization, visit www.WesternReservePublicMedia.org or call 1-800-554-4549.