Walters sails Rockin’ away to Lorain
New Cuyahoga Falls Mayor Don Walters drove Rockin’ on the River, which flourished for 28 years, to Lorain.
Concert promoter Bob Earley said eight cities bid for Rockin’.
Rockin’ is moving an hour away to Black River Landing on the west bank of the Black River and adjacent to downtown. It was built as a festival grounds site in 2002.
Walters apparently wanted something less rocking. In his search for a replacement, all he got was something called I-ROK, which combines the leaders of the Riverfront Irish Festival and the Oktoberfest.
Festa Italia, which was supposed to be part of the coalition, dropped out.
No one else applied to Mayor Walters' Review Committee. So there's nothing rockin' in the Falls in the future.
At the recent Oktoberfest, without the massive beer sales organization of Rockin’ on the River, you could fire a cannon on Front Street without fear of hitting customers.
When Paula and I sat down to the music on the main performance stage, there were barely 20 people in the stands.
Former Mayor Don Robart, defeated by Walters in the last election after being in office longer than Franklin Delano Roosevelt, had tried to temper the Rockin’ crowd by threatening to ban the beer. But he got wise soon. There's money in the foam. Walters didn't learn from Robart's quick turnaround.
Walters was a Falls councilman when I lived on Morrison Avenue in Cuyahoga Falls, a seat once held by Millie Molli, who’s enjoying her retirement in the South.
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