Leon Bibb recalls his memories of the Cleveland Metroparks on its 100th anniversary.
Old images from my family's photograph albums show me romping through the Cleveland Metroparks while I am in my pre-kindergarten years. Others show me growing up and romping through the picturesque parks which are unique in that they are linked and publicly-owned.
100 years of the Cleveland Metroparks
"We are pretty unique," said Wendy Weirich, director of outdoor experiences in the system. "There are other places which tried to do something like this, but we made it happen." The Cleveland Metroparks began in 1917 when the first three acres of land were purchased for the public's use. Since then, the system has expanded to 23,000 acres divided among 18 separate reservations which ring Greater Cleveland.
Weirich and I talked about the history of the system and all it has to offer visitors as we walked among the woods and wildlife at the North Chagrin reservation on SOM Center Road in Willoughby Hills. With us was Jeff Riebe, a naturalist, who was proud to show the reservation's new aviary which will soon house wounded birds which are no longer able to live on their own.
Aviary: a sanctuary for the wounded
"All the birds which will be here will be ambassadors," said Riebe. "They will tell a story for us and help educate people who visit this reservation," he added. As Riebe spoke, he held the tether line wrapped around the claws of a screech owl. The owl with a broken wing will soon live in the aviary.
The idea of the Cleveland Metroparks came from William Stinchcomb in 1905. He was Cleveland's city parks engineer. In his annual report, Stinchcomb wrote that Cleveland was expanding so rapidly, it was time the city should look at expanding the parks system. In 1917, the first of three acres was purchased.
Now the system of parks, lakes, golf courses, and the city zoo are under the umbrella of the Metroparks.
The system has probably been part of the lives of most people in Greater Cleveland. The old photographs in my family's albums of pictures show my earliest visits. Among my favorites is one where I am with my unit of Boy Scouts. There I am at the age of 16 at a table of fellow scouts delving into a meal. We are at the North Chagrin Reservation, the same piece of land I walked with Wierich and Riebe.
Although there have been improvements over the years, much has remained the same. The woods and waters are as they were when I was a child because the Metroparks wants visitors to enjoy the outdoors in their natural ways. In fact, some scenes look as they looked hundreds or thousands of years ago.
That is what the Cleveland Metroparks is all about - presenting nature as it was... and as it is.
