Well, this is my home town, so it naturally has impacted the kind of person I am. Although Toledo gets a sort of blue collar, industrial rap, I look fondly on my home town as having a lot more depth and color than it gets credit for…Some of my favorite things about Toledo are the hidden treasures. These are the things that I pine for still, living 1200 miles from home now, so I guess these would be reasons Toledo has impacted me. Some that come to mind:
a. the metropark system Toledo takes such good care of its metroparks. Although various levies have been known to fail for everything from “temporary” sales tax increases to school bonds, Toledoans never cheat the parks system (draw what inferences you will…). The metroparks are beautifully preserved, an abundant paradise for dog walking or trail running. In all of our military travels, I have yet to live in a city with a superior park system.
b. Local vegetable and farmers’ markets I still miss shopping at the Erie Street Farmers’ Market, and the fruit and veggie stand turned produce super store, Monette’s. I haven’t had produce as fresh and tasty since I lived in Toledo. I miss wandering the aisles of Monette’s, admiring the mosaic, stacked pallets of plump tomatoes and strawberries, ten shades of green in bibb lettuce, cucumbers, brussel sprout, asparagus…It was a veggie’s dream!
c. Toledo Art Museum For being 4th on the population list in a people-saturated state, the Toledo Art Museum was surprisingly rich and diverse. I don’t know how they did it, but the museum managed to consistently pull in phenomenal exhibits. It was a great way to while away a Saturday afternoon. I remember various field trips here as a child and, as is always the case, I didn’t really appreciate until I looked at the art through adult eyes. What a gem!
d. Festivals, festivals, festivals Toledo has the most wonderful neighborhood and church festivals. These are the real thing: the Irish-American festival, Hungarian festival, Greek festival, German-American festival…these are REAL ethnic festivals. The neighborhoods that host the festivals retain their authenticity, their cultural identity. This is not the stuff of faux-international festivals I’ve been to in other cities (a gyro stand does NOT make the Greek festival Greek). There are still generations-deep Irish, Hungarians and Germans serving up food and music in the neighborhoods where they were raised.
Similarly, the church festivals serve as a time of reunion: the smell of spiced meat, the lure of keg beer, and the brass of polka bands signal that it’s time to come home to your old neighborhood, and catch up with folks you haven’t seen in a few summers. The festivals of Toledo are the closest I’ve come to a feeling of community: knowing the lives and history of the people sharing a drink with you, sharing a laugh with childhood friends, and savoring REAL Hungarian dumplings or Greek pastries over good conversation.
