Fall is Approaching

Even though fall isn’t technically here yet, were are starting to see some leaves change color. Fall flowers also are adding some color to the landscape. Here are some pictures I took from the yard today. My “Black Beauty” Elderberry is loaded with berries!

I am sure it will be snowing before we know it (heavy sigh).

OK, we also had some fun with bubbles while we were outside.

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Mentor McDonald’s Demolition – Out With the Old, Make Way for the New

Update August 22, 2008 - Here's how it looks today

The demolition of the neighborhood McDonalds’s in Mentor, Ohio, on Mentor Avenue (US Route 20), began today. I spent some time watching and recording some of it. For a fleeting moment, as the roof was starting to peel away, I swear I smelled burgers and french fry oil. I didn’t eat there very often, as many times just driving by the place you could smell burgers cooking, so much so that it felt like you were eating one. At least the smell didn’t have the calories that are in the food itself!

Don’t despair, junk food junkies. Another McDonald’s is being built in its place. Some information about this story from the Lake County News Herald is listed below the videos.

McDonald’s Demolition Part 1



McDonald’s Demolition Part 2





Going, going ... gone
Wednesday, August 20, 2008 12:52 AM EDT
By Jenny May

It took just three hours to auction off 43 years of Mentor history on Tuesday.

About 30 people attended the bidding at the McDonald’s at 8775 Mentor Ave., hoping to score deals on restaurant equipment or just bring a piece of nostalgia into their homes.

The restaurant, which was built in 1965, will be demolished Thursday and will reopen in late December to make way for a new restaurant prototype.

Ali Mandovi, owner and operator of the McDonald’s, is donating the nearly $4,000 in proceeds from the auction to the Ronald McDonald House of Cleveland.

Interested bidders arrived at the restaurant about 9 a.m. to get a glimpse of what was being offered before the auction began at 10 a.m.

Auctioneer Roger Steinfurth of Wayne Luoma Auction Co. in Mentor ran the event. Steinfurth said restaurant auctions are typically only open to those in the restaurant business.

Because this one was open to the public, many of the items that would normally be auctioned off in bulk, such as tables, chairs and paintings, were offered individually.

“We were told there are a lot of people who have been coming here for 40 years and want to buy their favorite table,” Steinfurth said to the crowd before bidding started. “This is the first McDonald’s we’ve ever auctioned, so it’s a test run for all of us.”

Though many in attendance had never participated in an auction, they caught on quickly to Steinfurth’s fast-paced pitches and managed to snag many of the items they came for.

Accepted bids ranged from $1 for napkin holders to more than $1,000 for a cooler.

Mentor resident Dawn Freeman came to buy items for a house her son recently purchased.

She managed to outbid others for a set of four hanging green lights, which she bought for $15 each, a napkin holder featuring the McDonald’s logo and the crown molding running the perimeter of the dining area.

Freeman was disappointed when she lost a bid for the large mirror hanging in the dining area. The mirror, etched with “Mentor Ohio Original Inn,” went to another local resident for $30.

“I’ve been to this McDonald’s a thousand times and I thought it would be fun to get some of the items for the house,” Freeman said. “I’m really pleased with the crown molding. I paid just $75 for that, so it was a great deal.”

In addition to the contents of the kitchen, dining room and rest rooms, people bought the outside parking lot lights and even the bushes in front of the building.

Elaine Crane, owner of Rider’s Inn in Painesville, bought a four-door reach-in stainless steel cooler for about $1,000.

“One of my coolers just died yesterday, so this will replace it,” she said. “Shopping at auctions helps us keep our prices low. It’s also fun because you get to see other people in the industry.”

Crane also couldn’t resist purchasing two cookie racks featuring the McDonald’s logo for her daughter, Elizabeth Courtney Crane-Sherman, who is co-owner of the Inn.

“Those will be a housewarming gift for her,” Crane explained.

“She used to work at this McDonald’s and has been coming here since she was 5 years old, so I think she’ll get a kick out of it.”




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Olympic Rings of Sunflowers

My neighbors have some beautiful sunflowers in their yard. This grouping reminded me of the arrangement of the five Olympic rings. Well, maybe not as round and not arranged so perfectly, but they still look pretty.



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A Gaggle of (Pro) Golfers

John and I spent yesterday at the 2008 Bridgestone Invitational golf tournament at the Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. John had the privilege of golfing this course a few times. But yesterday we went back to watch the pros go at it. As the tournament itself isn’t starting until today, the players were out on the course Wednesday for practice, and spectators are permitted to take photos. I managed to get a few pictures of the pros. Since they weren’t following any kind of schedule, we just had to stick around a few of the holes and snap whomever happened by. And, since it was very cloudy, the pictures look a little drab. We were lucky, though, to find cover before a thunderstorm with buckets of rain hit the course.

Phil Michelson

Fredrik Jacobson and Ian Poulter

Lucas Glover and David Toms

Chad Campbell and Stuart Appleby

Robert Allenby

Trevor Immelman (2008 Masters Winner)

A Gaggle of Golfers

The Firestone Water Tower

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The Cleveland Museum of Art

We made a trip to the Cleveland Museum of Art yesterday. It is currently undergoing an extensive renovation. After completing part of the renovation, the museum recently reopened the Historic 1916 building, with 19 galleries and over 900 works of art. Art works available for viewing include some early American art, European art, and the popular Armor Court. One of my favorites is the Tiffany Window, which was originally designed for the Hinds House, located on Overlook Road in Cleveland. Hinds House was demolished in 1930. But the sculpture that is always a must see on my list is “Terpsichore, Muse of Choral Song and Dance” by Antonio Canova (pictured here). The museum seems to have given this statue a more prominent place and a setting greatly improved from the last time I saw it. It looked beautiful.

Here’s a brief video showing some of the things one can see in this newly renovated section. Each gallery seems to have perfect lighting and the best viewing conditions. Some of the galleries receive added diffused lighting from overhead skylights, which is easy on the eyes and creates a peaceful, calming atmosphere. It makes me very excited for the completion of the new additions to the museum building, which will be completed over the next few years.

UPDATE  Please note, the video is no longer available.

More Rainbows

It seems that after seeing so few rainbows over the last few years, the weather has been cooperating. We had another opportunity to capture a wide rainbow after a storm passed through in the early evening. With some bright clouds behind it, it made for a dramatic sky.

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Mammatus Clouds and Pink Rainbows

There were large thunderstorm systems that came through the area on Saturday night and Sunday night. They were both good opportunities to get some interesting cloud pictures. One picture (below) was taken of forming mammatus clouds. The other big bonus was a very late evening rainbow, which occurred at 9:00 PM ET, probably the latest I have ever seen a rainbow form. As the sun was just at the horizon, the sky and the dull rainbow carried a very pink cast (photo below). For a weather watcher like me, it was an interesting sight to see. Check out my blog home page for the latest information, here.