"Crowd" watching Polka Pirates perform Sunday under sunny skies



"Crowd" strolling Front Street during Falls Oktoberfest on Sunday

Polka Pirates band performs to mostly empty seats at Falls Amphitheatre

Congratulations, Falls Mayor Walters

You eliminated the crowd & noise & money from Front Street

When Don Walters are elected mayor of Cuyahoga Falls last November, succeeding 28-year mayor Don Robart, he received complaints about the noise and hours of Rocking on the River every Friday night through the summer on Front Street.

Well, he shoved Rocking on the River promoter Bob Earley, a hometown guy, into the Cuyahoga River and up to Lorain.

No noise. No hours. No crowds now.

Mission accomplished.

In previous years, you had to push your way through the crowd to walk from the water fountain to the Amphitheatre at Front and Broad streets. There was standing room only during performances at the Amphitheatre, not just with Rocking on the River but on other days throughout the summer.

I attended the Falls Oktoberfest Sunday with the temperature comfortably in the 70s and sunny skies. A perfect time to enjoy outdoor entertainment. I counted 35 people seated at the Amphitheatre while the Polka Pirates performed. We had hundreds of empty seats to pick from.

When we walked from the Amphitheatre to the foundation and back, you could have fired a canon and not hit injured many people.

Nice job, Mayor Walters. You turned Front Street from a thriving mass of humanity to a near ghost town.

Meanwhile, Rocking on the River at Lorain’s Black River Landing with its classic rock, country and pop draws 5,000 to 10,000 people on Fridays through the summer, at $5 per admission for 17 shows. It’s billed as “Northeast Ohio’s longest running and highest attended outdoor concert series.” They could have added: And Cuyahoga Falls’ No. 1 export.

Rocking on the River had been in Cuyahoga Falls, and run by a hometown guy, for 28 years, till Walters got himself elected mayor. Maybe his honor didn’t like Earley’s ponytail which reminded me of Bob Golic, the former Browns linebacker with the headful of curls.

 

The Earleys love their new hometown, although it still smarts that their hometown mayor shoved them out the door. Earley’s daughter, Carlie Schmidt, began teaching at Hawthorne Elementary School in Lorain in September.

“I hope we stay here until I die. I love it here,” Earley said.

As for the Falls residents who complained about the noise and the hours: It’s really quiet now. The only sound is from the money leaving town.