\CLEVELAND, Ohio—One of our region’s oldest outfits likes to bring its contemporaries together.
On Dec. 2, the 100 Year Club of the Western Reserve will induct 11 organizations between 100 and 171 years old.
The club is just a babe of 66, but it’s part of the venerable Western Reserve Historical Society, age 152.
Society President Kelly Falcone-Hall says the club honors organizations with both the stability and the innovation needed to endure a century or more. “We’re looking at the past, celebrating the present and building a good foundation for the future.”
The induction ceremony benefits the society’s Youth Entrepreneurship Education program, which serves fourth through seventh graders in the Cleveland public schools.
The club has about 290 current members, from the A.H. Pelz Co. to Zinkan Industries, from mighty Sherwin-Williams to homey Jerman’s Cafe.
Members are manufacturers, stores, hospitals, schools, museums, utilities, and more. They include the Cleveland Indians, both Wilhelmy Flowers, Eliza Bryant Village, Wilson Feed Mill, Cleveland Chemical Pest Control, Fridrich Bicycle, Bonfoey Gallery, Service Wet Grinding Co. and Patterson Fruit Farm. The oldest continuing member is an 1825 funeral home that evolved into today’s Brown-Forward of Shaker Heights.
This year, the oldest inductee is Westfield Insurance, age 171, a big company that dominates little Westfield Center in southern Medina County. Other 2019 inductees at least 150 years old include the Cleveland Law Library, Cleveland Public Library, Lake View Cemetery, and Medina’s A.I. Root Co. candlemakers.
More inductees at least age 100 include the Brouse McDowell law firm of Akron, the Cleveland Hiking Club, Lucky Shoes of Akron, Meaden & Moore accountants of Cleveland, Northern Haserot food distributors of Oakwood and Tesar Industrial Contractors of Cleveland.
The club holds several events each year. Tickets to the induction cost $150. Each new member is getting two free tickets and an eventual entry in the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, whose editor, John Grabowski, is the society’s senior vice president.
The club was founded in 1953 as the 100 Year Club of Cleveland by promoter and historian William Ganson Rose and Chamber of Commerce President Curtis Lee Smith. Inductions were held at the Western Reserve.
The club fell dormant awhile but was revived in 1999 by John Carroll University and adopted in 2012 by the historical society.
The society has been reaching out to potential members and vice versa. It has also expanded the club’s territory throughout the Western Reserve, which consists of Cuyahoga, Lorain, Geauga, Lake, Ashtabula, Trumbull, Erie and Huron Counties and parts of Summit, Mahoning. Medina. Portage, Ottawa and Ashland counties.
Groups can join the club any time after turning 100. They’ll be honored again at the milestone ages of 125, 150 and so on.
To remain active, a member must keep a local presence and a local name but not necessarily local ownership.
December’s honorees are proud. Westfield spokesperson Hadie Bartholomew says, “We are honored to be recognized and included in an elite group of companies that are rooted in Northeast Ohio. Our history is here, and so is our future. Northeast Ohio has had some tough times, but this region has proven resilient.”
Kathy Goss, president of Lake View Cemetery, likes “swimming in the same pond with other really successful organizations. A lot of businesses fail in five years or less. When something’s been around for 100 or 150 years, it’s kind of mind-blowing.”
Felton Thomas Jr., director of the Cleveland Public Library, says, “We are in very good company. We hope our work and longstanding reputation motivates other organizations to strive for a century of excellence.”
The induction will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday at the Cleveland History Center. Speakers Bernie Moreno, auto and blockchain leader, and Deborah Hoover, head of the Burton D. Morgan Foundation, will discuss building local innovation and entrepreneurship. For tickets or information, see wrhs.org/get-involved/100-year-club or call 216-721-5722 Ext. 1404.
2019-12-01 10:11:00Z
https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2019/12/100-year-club-of-the-western-reserve-includes-funeral-home-cafe-hospitals-and-other-enduring-organizations.html
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