News

Tours of Glendale Cemetery, Sheep Return to Mutton Hill, and more

History will come alive at Glendale Cemetery during the month of May during two Akron History Hikes lead by Society staff. Claire Lucas, Education Coordinator, and Charlotte Gintert, Museum Services Coordinator, will highlight women in Akron history on May 8th from 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m., and then again, on May 29th from 7 – 8:30 p.m.  The programs are free and open to the public but reservations are required for these popular walking tours.

Reserve your space by visiting EventBrite or use these links for the day/time that works for you to see the Civil War Chapel and learn more about this amazing resting place on the National Register of Historic Places:

May 8th – https://www.eventbrite.com/e/glendale-cemetery-walking-tour-tickets-45033464304

May 29th - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/glendale-cemetery-walking-tour-tickets-45033474334

Lucas and Gintert will also be leading Jane’s Walk tours, a collaborative program organized locally by AMATS.  Lucas will give a walking tour downtown focusing on Akron during WWI on Friday, May 4th at 1 p.m.  Gintert will give a history of Summit Lake at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 5th.  Numerous tours will be occurring May 4 – May 6th throughout the city.  All are free and open to the public.

On May 12, the Society will welcome sheep back to Mutton Hill. A flock of sheep will take up residence at the Perkins Stone Mansion for a third consecutive summer. Dorset sheep from The Spicy Lamb Farm in Peninsula return to “Mutton Hill” next week!

The public is invited to welcome the flock from 12pm-2pm. A special catch pen will allow children to pet a sheep and learn about the care and feeding of the ruminants. There will be games for children, and crafts with wool and fleece. A shearing demonstration with expert Jay Campbell will be held at 12:30 pm, if weather permits. Herding demonstrations with border collies will take place at three times during the course of the event. Mother’s Day gift baskets are available by raffle and new products may be purchased in the gift shop including local honey, soaps and sheep horn products from Jacobs Heritage Farm.  Admission to the grounds is free and open to the public.

“The Society continues to build on our interpretation to the public of the land use surrounding the Perkins Stone Mansion in the 1840s.  It allows the organization to work with sustainability partners like The Spicy Lamb Farm while reaching the local residents of all ages,” states Karen Adinolfi, the new Society board chair.

“StoryTime with the Sheep” will be back this year for preschool age children and their families.  The “Stories” program will be led by children’s librarians from the Akron-Summit County Public Library. New programming has been added called “Sheep Sing Alongs.”  They will be conducted by music therapy students at Baldwin Wallace under the guidance of Edie Steiner, the Society’s resident shepherdess. On May 18th at 10:30 am, there will be an “instrument petting zoo” for little ones to learn about the musical items.  Both programs are free and promote early childhood education and school readiness.

Herding demonstrations with border collies will continue on select Mondays and Wednesdays through the summer. The dogs are owned and trained by Edie Steiner, who has competed in stock dog trials for more than 10 years. Three dogs, “Mobido,” “Rudy” and “Lincoln” have received awards for demonstrating handler excellence.

Through August, the grounds of the Perkins Mansion will be open free to the public Monday-Friday, 9:00am – 4:00pm; and 12:00pm – 4:00pm on Saturdays.

The Society is collaborating with The Spicy Lamb Farm of Peninsula to bring the flock to the mansion grounds. Owner Laura DeYoung, Executive Director of Urban Shepherds, Inc., is excited to see sheep brought back into the city. “We hope to promote urban sheep grazing as a cost-saving and environmental alternative to mowing.”

The property is owned and maintained as a historic house museum by the Summit County Historical Society. John Brown was employed by Perkins to tend the flock of 1,300 Merino sheep that was known as one of the finest flocks in Ohio. Brown lived with his family in the 2-room house at Diagonal and Copley Roads, and traveled to Europe to promote the wool business.

“Mutton Hill” is the name that residents of 19th century Akron gave to this 150-acre farm. Four generations of the Perkins family lived at the Stone Mansion estate. Simon Perkins built a reputation for fine wool, later becoming an Ohio senator who founded Summit County. Perkins’ son George Tod Perkins, who also lived at the mansion, became the second president of BF Goodrich Company.

A grant from the R. C. and Katharine M. Musson Charitable Foundation supports the return of the sheep.