The guy behind Metro Parks, etc.

Nathan Eppink, the guy who cranks out annual reports and news releases as Marketing & Communications director for Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, a cumbersome name for Summit’s parks system, is a Cleveland State University graduate.

Bob Downing

Nathan and BJ parks beat reporter Bob Dowling serve each other’s purposes. Kent State grad Bob, who began his college education at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, does an interesting job of keeping up with parks, in Summit County and, often after his trips, scenic places to visit from Maine to California and from British Columbia to Florida and the Caribbean.

Bob has been at the BJ since 1972. He and his wife, Pat, live in Akron and have three grown children: Andy and Maureen, both in Chicago, and Caitlin in New York City.

It’s almost April 2013, but Eppink got the 2012 annual report for Metro Parks, etc. in the mail this week to Summit County residents. It lists improvements to 12 parks and trails in the system.

Metro Parks has Cascade Valley, Deep Lock Quarry, F.A. Seiberling Nature Realm (once Naturealm), Firestone, Furnace Run, Goodyear Heights, Gorge, Hampton Hills, Liberty, Munroe Falls, O’Neil Woods, Sand Run, Silver Creek and Springfield parks and Bike & Hike, Freedom and Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath trails.

We don’t know who had the brilliant idea of adding “Serving Summit County” to make the Metro Parks name longer. No one thought of calling it Summit Metro Parks?