Market at the Food Bank's 20th Anniversary

It's springtime. For most of us that means stashing our winter sweaters and boots, popping a few Zyrtecs and heading to the weekend farmers market. But for a sixth of Northeast Ohioans spring is a time of hunger.

Enter Harvest for Hunger, an annual program started by the Greater Cleveland Food Bank to combat food insecurity in Northeast and north central Ohio.

"Typically the Greater Cleveland Food Bank serves those in need in six Northeast Ohio counties: Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Ashtabula, Ashland and Richland counties," says Kellie Biller, special events and CR manager at the Greater Cleveland Food Bank.

The Harvest for Hunger campaign aims to nearly triple that reach by partnering with four area food banks, which then serve residents in 21 regional counties.

"It's a coordinated effort," Biller says. "We work with thousands of organizations who support the campaign, and it's actually one of the largest campaigns of its kind in the nation."

Yet the food banks can't do it alone. Which is why they've hosted the annual Market at the Food Bank fundraising event — the "Market" part of the name comes from the West Side Market, which originally hosted the fundraiser — every year for the past two decades. This year's event marks its 20th anniversary, and Biller says about 1,000 people are expected.

In addition to helping a worthy cause, guests will get to sample 50 of Greater Cleveland's top restaurants, breweries and food vendors including Bomba Tacos & Rum, Chinato, Edwin's Leadership and Restaurant, Geraci's, Jackie O's Brewery, Melt Bar and Grilled, Sans Souci, Sushi 86, Trentina and Urban Sweetness.

There will also be a silent auction with prizes including a tour of the Cargill salt mine, plus a raffle with offerings such as an Apple Watch and a shopping spree at Legacy Village.

For wine lovers, there will be a wine pull with 50 different bottles up for grabs.

"For every $1 that's donated, we can provide four nutritious meals to those in need," says Biller. "We have a lot of buying power, and the money that's donated to us goes very far." Last year's event raised $183,000; this year the food bank hopes to pull in $220,0000.

That's the equivalent of 880,000 meals.

Market at the Food Bank is this Sunday, May 3. General admission ($100) entrance is at 6 p.m., and VIP ($175, includes VIP lounge access) doors open at 5 p.m. Purchase tickets here or at the door.

Jimmy Kuehnle Lights Up Cleveland

Photo by Rob Muller 

If you've seen a floating ball of light on your commute home lately, your mind is not playing tricks on you.

It's local artist Jimmy Kuehnle and his latest creation: approximately 3,000 Christmas lights woven around a steel rod attached to a tricycle. If you have yet to witness the kooky contraption — rest assured — Kuehnle will light up the Brite Winter Festival in Ohio City from 5-8 p.m. this Saturday.

Kuehnle, an assistant professor at the Cleveland Institute of Art, designs colorful inflatable suits and impossible bicycles — wearable art that tests our perceptions of space and mobility — and is currently an artist-in-residence for the Spaces World Artists Program, which provides space and support for artists to create new work. We caught up with Kuehnle to chat about how his Twinkling Tricycle Tour of Enchantment is making Cleveland brighter this winter.

How does your light machine work?
It’s a workman’s industrial tricycle I bought from Craigslist from an old Ford factory in Indianapolis. [The Christmas lights] are powered by a 12-volt battery with a DC/AC power inverter because they’re just regular household Christmas lights. A quarter-inch steel rod armature supports the lights and forms a cloudlike shape so that the lights seem like they’re floating in the air.

Where did you get your inspiration for this project?
I’ve made many art bicycles and wanted to make one in Cleveland. It’s up north and cold in the winter, and I thought, What better way to be out and about and making people smile than a light-encrusted tricycle?

How have people reacted to you and your light machine?
People will stop in their cars along the street to snap photos. I've had people stop on their way home from work, circle back, come over and say 'Hi.' Complete strangers track me down to email me photos and videos [of me] from the Health Line. It's a great, all-around good experience.

What meaning would you attribute to your art?
It’s a reaffirmation of human ingenuity and the human condition. We're all basically meaningless in this big, fast universe of nothingness. If we take the time to realize we all have hopes, dreams and desires, and we're alive, maybe we could enjoy a bit of it.

Brady's Tights, Football Tonight

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Originally uploaded by skiereast64

Sure, you're laughing now, but just wait until you pull a muscle because you weren't wearing tights like Brady Quinn. (And don't forget to stretch!)

The second-year Browns quarterback has sported a pair of black tights (here) and white tights during training camp in Berea earlier this week.

(Don't knock it until you try it: Joe Namath wore women's pantyhose in a TV commercial and he was pretty good, right. Besides, maybe the rest of us are behind the times. Apparently, they were all the rage in New York last year.)

You can check out Quinn and company tonight at Browns Stadium for Family Night beginning at 7 pm. Tickets are $5. There will be activities for the kids, autographs and giveaways. It's definitely a fun evening for everyone ... tights or not.