Akron, OH

Downtown street closings for the Summit County Italian-American Festival and the 4th Annual National Hamburger Festival Summit County Italian-American Festival July 10,11,12 Thursday, July 9 at 9 a.m. through Sunday, July 12 South Main Street will be closed between Bowery and State streets Church Street will be closed between Main and High streets University Avenue will be closed between Main and High streets Saturday and Sunday, July 11, 12 South Main Street will also be closed between Exchange and State streets North bound lane of Main Street will be closed between Bowery and Mill streets for motorcycle parking in the evening The Friday Downtown Lunchtime Trolley will run Friday, July 10, from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. One will run from Spaghetti Warehouse to State Street and one will run from Northside to Bowery on Main.

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4th Annual National Hamburger Festival July 18, 19
Thursday, July 16 at 6 p.m. through Sunday, July 19 South Main Street will be closed between State and Bowery streets North bound lane of Main Street will be closed between Bowery and Mill streets for motorcycle parking in the evening See Lock3Live.com for event details. Downtown parking is free on weekends and after 6 p.m. weekdays in city-owned lots, decks and meters. See Free Downtown Parking weekends and evenings for map. more event details... The Summit County Italian-American Festival
Friday, Saturday and Sunday, July 10,11,12
Free Admission

One of the biggest and best Italian heritage events in Ohio focusing on Italian food, music, language and culture.

Live Music Schedule

July 10 11am-1:30pm; 4pm-Midnight
Appearing on the Lock 3 Stage:
6:00pm-8:00pm La Flavour www.LaFlavour.com
8:30pm Hotel California, The Original Tribute to the Eagles

Appearing on the Main Street Stage:
5:00pm-6:00pm Don DeSantis www.dondisantis.com
7:00pm GeezeCats www.geezecats.com

July 11 Noon-Midnight
Appearing on the Lock 3 Stage:
1:00pm - 2:30pm Opera Per Tutti
3:30pm-5:30pm Goodfellas
6:00pm-8:30pm Eurorhythms www.eurorhythms.com
9:00pm The Sands Trio Rat Pack Show

Appearing on the Main St. Stage:
3:00pm-4:00pm I Gagliardi-Dancewww.italian-american.com/ifafa/gagliardi.htm
4:30pm-6:30pm Anthony Rolando and Valerie Vacco www.anthonyvalerie.com

July 12 Noon-9pm
Appearing on the Lock 3 Stage:
11am-Noon Catholic Mass
1:00pm-3:30pm Danny Mazzocco
4:00pm-6:30pm Cavaliere Reale
7:00pm-9:00pm Ron Chick's Friends All Star Alumni Big Band featuring Bobby Remp on vocals. Performing "Our Tribute to Frank and Friends.

Appearing on the Main St. Stage:
1:00pm-1:20pm Pizza Tossing (Michael Angelo)
1:30pm-2:30pm Pizza Eating Contest
2:40pm-3:00pm Pizza Tossing (Michael Angelo)
4:45pm-6:15pm I Musici d'Italia www.myspace.com/musicidelsud
6:30pm-9pm Gene Fiocca Band www.genefioccaband.com
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The 4th Annual National Hamburger Festival Lock 3 Park Saturday, July 18th and Sunday, July 19th Live music and quirky burger-themed games. Part of the festival proceeds will once again benefit the Akron Children's Hospital.
Festival hours are Saturday, July 18th from noon to 10:30 pm and Sunday, July 19th from noon to 7 pm. Tickets will be sold at the gate for $5.00 per person. Admission is free for children under 48-inches tall. Food and beverages will be sold separately.
Restaurants vie for bragging rights in five different categories of the National Burger Cook-Off as 16 eateries will serve over 50 different varieties of burgers. Check out www.hamburgerfestival.com for a complete listing of the participating restaurants. A variety of other summertime favorite foods will also be available.
This year, four new eateries will be joining the festival. Fuddruckers, Bravo! Cucina Italiana, Midway Oh Boy! will be making their first appearances at The National Hamburger Festival.
Also new this year, winner of the 2009 Minneola FL Hamburger Contest, Red Wing Restaurant will be serving up the burgers that won them the title.
A new and exciting contest will be introduced this year! Vlasic will host "crunch-offs' throughout the festival. This competition is open to everyone, and each round will include two or more people. Each competitor will receive a Vlasic Baby Kosher Dill Pickle. A microphone will be held up to each person, one at a time, and allow them the opportunity to take a bite into their pickle and show off their LOUDEST pickle crunch. The person who crunches the loudest will get a prize, but every person who participates gets a free pickle so everyone wins right? The famous Vlasic Stork will be in attendance to meet fans, take pictures and even help judge the contest! The contests will take place consistently from 12:00pm - 5:00pm throughout Saturday and Sunday at the Vlasic Tent. At the top of every hour (starting at 1:00 p) three contestants will "crunch off" on the main stage. The competitive spirit will continue with the Miss Hamburger Pageant, the Baby Burger Contest and the Ohio Burger Cook-Off for backyard grillers.
The festival will feature live music all weekend long. On Saturday afternoon "The ReBeats" will entertain the festival crowd with the rockin' music of the 60's. Lock 3 Park will turn into a big party atmosphere on Saturday night with "1964 The Tribute" performing the music of The Beatles. Sunday afternoon will feature the classic rock and the sounds of Motown music of "Red House" at Lock 3 Park from 2:00 to 5:00 pm.
In addition to the more than 50 different hamburger varieties from 16 eateries, there will be other Akron-favorite foods, with the restaurants set up on Main Street adjacent to Lock 3 Park. Kids will have plenty to do, as well, with inflatable rides and even a Kid Zone that will include arts and crafts.

National Hamburger Festival Main Stage Schedule:
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Festival Hours 12:00 pm - 10:30 pm
Live Music
2:00 - 6:00 pm Alex Bevan
4:00 - 8:00 pm "The ReBeats"
8:30 - 10:15 pm "1964 The Tribute"
Contests
3:00 pm Bobbing for Burgers
4:30 pm Restaurant Hamburger Cook-Off Winner Announcement
6:00 pm Ohio Hamburger Eating Championships
7:30 pm Miss Hamburger Festival Contest
Sunday, July 19, 2007
Festival Hours 12:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Live Music
2:00 - 5:00 pm "Red House"
Contests
1:00 pm Baby Burger Contest
3:00 pm Best Traditional Hamburger Cook-Off
Best Creative Hamburger Cook-Off
Additional information is available at www.hamburgerfestival.com

Our City of Akron Ohio has been very pro-active in obtaining funds to buy, tear down or restore vacant REO's and cleaning up neighborhoods. They have obtained over $8 million dollars to achieve this goal. Now they are actively taking advantage of a Federal Program to entice foreign investments to bring jobs to Akron and Summit County. Jobs mean people that need homes!

Akron Ohio and Summit County Ohio are seeking foreign investors for the local GoodYear headquarters project. This is an over $800 million dollar project to build and improve our existing GoodYear facilities as well as all the infrastructure in the immediate area. This project will involve many different jobs and crafts.

As part of that, the city and county are taking part in a federal program that provides high-level visas, offering the potential for permanent residency to entice an investment in Akron.

Our city and county officials are working together and hoping to expand the program beyond the Goodyear project to involve other communities in Summit County

Summit County is believed to be the first jurisdiction in Ohio that has been designated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as a ''Regional Center'' that will provide incentives to international investors.

Under the federal guidelines, potential immigrants need to invest at least $500,000 in a project anywhere in the United States that creates at least 10 jobs.

The United States annually offers 3,000 visas to foreign residents who invest at least $500,000 in American business, according to the city and county.

If your local officials do not know of this program, perhaps you should call or email your council person or county representative. It would be a shame to miss out on such a golden opportunity to improve the quality of life in your city and neighborhood. Good luck.

One of the many boats in the boat parade, this was especially colorful!

I loved this big yellow bus.....The School of Rock & Roll Academy!

Yes the full moon was out and in the fireworks too! It was really neat!

Everyone agreed that it was the best fireworks ever at Portage Lakes OHIO!!

PORTAGE LAKES FIREWORKS TONIGHT, JULY 5TH OVER TURKEYFOOT LAKE!

The fireworks will be displayed over Turkeyfoot Lake and the best place to view them is from a boat or from the beach at New State Park, off of Manchester Rd. This is a spectacular yearly event and everyone around the lakes has a picnic to celebrate our freedom in this great country.

The Boat Parade, this year with an open theme, will start at 1pm from Kieffer Marine, 252 Portage Lakes Dr. and will travel the "main chain" and end up at New State Park beach at 4pm.There will be cash prizes awarded for select participants. Afterward there will be a sand castle building contest and there will also be cash prizes awarded!

The Portage Lakes will be buzzing with pride for our country today, come on over and enjoy the "Lakes Lifestyle"!!!

As you read in my last post, Fourth of July Fireworks Over Akron Ohio , there will be a lot of people in downtown Akron Ohio for this great week end celebration. Fireworks, ribs, bands and more. Here are the street closings and how to get around this large event.

ENJOY!!

Street closings for Fireworks and Rib Fest July 1-5 Closing Wednesday 7/1 through Sunday 7/5:
Main Street - State to Bowery
Church Street - Main to High
University Avenue - Main to High North bound lane of Main Street between Bowery and Mill reserved for motorcycle parking.
(South bound lane open to trolley, buses, and emergency vehicles only).

Closing Thursday 7/2
Rand Avenue - Glendale to Center Street bridge.

Closing Independence Day:
Route 59 will be closed from Cedar Street to Main/Howard at 6:30 AM. It will be closed to all traffic at I-76 beginning at 8:30 PM. It will revert back to being closed at Cedar Street after the fireworks and it will reopen to all traffic for the whole length at 6:00 AM on 7/5/2008. Emergency vehicles will be given priority access to the trauma centers at the hospitals.

Watch for additional street closures over the next three weekends for the Summit County Italian-American Festival July 10,11,12 and the 4th Annual National Hamburger Festival July 18, 19.

See Lock3Live.com for event details.