Forget what the calendar says. It’s spring — at the John S. Knight Center, at least.
This weekend, the downtown convention center is the site of the Akron Home and Flower Show, a three-day showcase of home and outdoor living.
On the show’s opening day Friday, with ice coating the sidewalks and a gray gloom settled over the city, cheerful primroses bloomed at the Pettiti Garden Centers display and water splashed from a martini-glass fountain in a garden created by the Copley Township company Nick’s Landscaping of Ohio.
Mary Ann Kindel watched with amusement as fluffy chicks busied themselves in a chicken coop displayed by Meyer Hatchery of Polk.
“We lived out in the country. That was our entertainment,” the Barberton resident said. “Before TV, I mean, what did you do?”
This year’s show features some new attractions, including beer and wine sales for the first time, said Carmine Torio, executive vice president of the show’s sponsor, the Home Builders Association Serving Portage & Summit Counties. Two makeshift lounges called Cambria Courtyard and the Mayor’s Pub are selling beer from Thirsty Dog Brewing Co. in Akron and wine from Norton’s Winery at Wolf Creek.
An Eco Living Experience area includes displays on green living and energy saving, including a recycling display created by students in Ellet High School’s carpentry program. The students built a wall of plastic bottles to illustrate the proportion — 27 percent — that’s recycled in Ohio.
Other highlights of the show include a feature gardens area and stage presentations by antiques appraiser Dr. Lori Verderame and TV personalities Shari Hiller and Matt Fox of the PBS series Around the House With Matt and Shari.
Mary Beth Breckenridge can be reached at 330-996-3756 or mbrecken@thebeaconjournal.com. You can also become a fan on Facebook at http://tinyurl.com/mbbreck, follow her on Twitter @MBBreckenridge and read her blog at www.ohio.com/blogs/mary-beth.
