Beach happy hour
Life's a beach, Cleveland. Seriously. Over the course of 10 Thursdays this summer, more than 100,000 people dipped their toes into the Cleveland Metroparks' Edgewater Live events. The family-friendly Edgewater Beach happy hour featured local food trucks, beer (we love Fat Head's Brewery & Saloon's Metroparks signature Trail Head Pale Ale), live music from the likes of Easy Glistening and Revolution Pie, volleyball, stand-up paddleboarding and yoga led by Inner Bliss Yoga Studio. Metroparks staff, including CEO Brian Zimmerman, wore orange Edgewater Live shirts during the events and it wasn't long before people realized who was responsible for the festivities, which will return in 2015. "People were hugging us," says Sanaa Julien, the park system's chief marketing officer. "They would say, 'Thank you. I haven't been to Edgewater since I was a kid' or 'in 30 years.' It really touched our hearts to see the response and the emotional impact." clevelandmetroparks.org
