Together With Gorjanc Home Services

The First Cold Night Is Coming. Is Your Furnace Ready?

Every Westside fall has that one night when the heat clicks on for the first time, and you find out whether your furnace made it through another year.

Gorjanc Home Services has been helping Westside families get through that night since 1963. Independent, family-owned, and still right here in Cleveland.

If your system is getting up there in years, or it's been making noises you've learned to ignore, this is the month to look at it. Gorjanc and American Standard are offering rebates of up to $1,900 on qualifying heating and cooling systems, but only on installs completed by October 31, 2026.

That's 10 days from today.

Get your instant quote at gorjanc.com/buzz or call (440) 533-1131 for priority service.

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🗞️ Short Takes

This week’s Short Takes is packed with Westside news. Read the full column here ⬇️
—Julie Short

Avon

SOUPer Bowl winner: The Avon and Avon Lake communities came together in the spirit of friendly competition collecting food and monetary donations for the Avon/Avon Lake Community Resource Services (CRS) food pantry.

The 16th annual SOUPer Bowl was another successful initiative, with the winning community taking home the SOUPer Bowl trophy at halftime of the Avon vs. Avon Lake varsity football game this past Friday night at Avon Lake Memorial Stadium.

Both communities together collected 5,058 pounds of food and $18,499 in monetary donations, for a total of 97,553 pounds of food for the CRS food pantry (each $1 donation equals 5-lbs.).

Congratulations to Avon for winning the SOUPer Bowl trophy again.

The overall record of SOUPer wins is Avon 9 - Avon Lake 7.

Since its inception in 2010, the SOUPer Bowl Food Drive has raised a total of 97,907 pounds of food and $245,688 in monetary donations.

Avon Lake

Coffee shop update: Folks keep asking when Biggby Coffee is opening at 33388 Walker Road (former Rio Coffee Brewery space). A soft opening is currently planned for Nov. 3. The date is subject to change. The location is currently hiring.

New councilman: City Council members recently approved the appointment of Robert Haas to the Ward 1 council seat previously occupied by Rob Shahmir who resigned last month to serve on the Avon Lake City Schools Board of Education.

More about Roberts Appointment here

CRS update: Officials recently shared an update on the CRS pantry expansion and renovation project (33479 Lake Road), first announced at the annual Charity Ball in the spring.

The 620-square-foot expansion is now complete, made possible entirely through the generosity of landlords, Nate Gamilia and Henry Homza of Stop 65/Beachpark Station. With help from Eyring Movers, the staff successfully relocated our nonperishable food inventory and shelving into the expanded space.

Complete update about the CRS expansion

Bay Village

New craft studio: Neon Heron Craft Studio recently opened at 660 Dover Center Rd., Suite 128. The location is a craft and sewing makerspace for adults and kids ages 9 and older. Guests can get creative with materials in the open studio, catch an event or workshop, or let the owners host your celebration in the studio.

Remembering Amy: The Amy Mihaljevic 5K, Walk & Kids Dash begins at 9 a.m. Oct. 24 at Cahoon Park.

The free community event honors Amy's memory and keeps her story alive in the community. While participation is completely free, donations are accepted to support the Amy Fund, which raises funds directly for critical costs such as advanced DNA testing to assist in the ongoing investigation.

North Ridgeville

Recreation director leaving: The city will be searching for a new Parks and Recreation Director after current director Kevin Fougerousse recently announced he is leaving to become the recreation director for the City of Rocky River.

Historical Society updates: The final open house of the season at the District #9 one-room Schoolhouse, 5064 Jaycox Road, will take place from 2 to 5 p.m. Oct. 25.

The Historical Society is once again partnering with Rutherford Photography to offer residents an opportunity to have pictures taken with (or without) Santa at the historic District #9 one-room Schoolhouse. The photo event will take place Nov. 7-8.

More Ridgeville updates including who else is leaving city government, how to reserve photos with Santa, TIF district news and Traffic grant info

Rocky River

Free concert: Seniors are invited to a free concert from David Ciucevich featuring a mix of songs from the 1950's through the 1990's with some seasonal Halloween flavored songs in between, at 1 p.m. Oct. 30 at the Senior Center, 21014 Hilliard Blvd.

Library update: Phase 2 of the HVAC Replacement is underway at the Rocky River Public Library. Construction takes place weekdays from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will last through mid-November. Temperature may be unstable throughout the building.

Westlake

Women’s market: The MotherLoad Women’s Market is popping up Oct 21–25 at Wagner’s of Westlake, 30855 Center Ridge Road. Shop for fashion, accessories, home decor, seasonal decor, and boutique all in one location.

A preview sale will take place Oct. 21 and tickets are available online. There will also be special vendor giveaways and prizes.

New business coming: The city’s Planning, Zoning, Legislative Committee recently discussed (Oct. 19) granting a conditional use permit application from Kyle Hodgeman, Pilates Empowered, for a 1,675-sq.-ft. boutique Pilates studio at 24599 Center Ridge Road.

Community Blend

Hold on STRs 📍Lakewood

Lakewood may be putting new Airbnbs in a six-month time-out.

City Council is weighing a pause on new short-term rental permits with Council Vice President Kyle Baker and Councilman Tom Bullock sponsoring it.

The definition: any home rented for fewer than 30 days. Hotels and motels are exempt.

Why now? Council has debated rules since 2025 (noise, parking, occupancy limits, trash), and the sponsors say the current setup falls short. They want time to review state law before adding requirements. They also argue Airbnbs don’t generate the income tax that homeowners and long-term renters do.

What it means for you:

• Residents: Nothing changes on your street just yet. This buys the city time to write rules.

• Booking a Lakewood stay: The pause targets new permits, not existing listings.

• Airbnb owners: Already operating? You can’t expand. Planning to start? No new permits for now.

If passed, it kicks in 14 days later and lasts up to six months (sooner if council adopts new rules).

Civic Issues

Did he go too far? 📍 Bay Village

Confession: every time a dog squats on my lawn, my blood pre-boils.

It’s not the dog. It’s the owner, standing there, watching. Did they bring a bag? Or are they about to glance around and keep walking?

One Bay Village man got tired of wondering.

On Oct. 13, a resident called police about a camera on a utility pole near their home. Officers found it. Then a woman explained her husband had put it there. It was a decoy to get dog walkers scooping.

Part of me wants to shake his hand. Part of me understands that phone call. Nobody likes feeling watched, even by a fake camera.

The Westside Pour Over

🎷 Bay Village - Congratulations to Bay High’s Burgett and McDonald, who were named to the All-State Jazz Ensemble and will perform at the state’s annual music educators’ conference, which is the third-largest music conference in the country, according to cleveland.com.

🌅 Westlake - Westlake Porter Public Library is hosting “Retirement Reimagined” this Wednesday, Oct. 21, from 3 to 4 p.m. Ellie Mental Health will cover the part nobody puts on the retirement cake: staying social and still growing once the work calendar goes blank. Registration is required.

📚 Ohio City - Happy first birthday to Blue Jay Retail and Parallel Universe, two neighbors living in very different worlds (one sells home and garden supplies, the other sells dragons and starships), so stop in and wish them both many happy returns.

🏗️ Olmsted Falls - The Falls and Olmsted Township are expanding the joint economic development district they’ve shared since 2001 to cover the new Sheetz, Aldi and future condos at Stearns and Bagley, which lets both communities collect income tax there with public hearings set before the votes.

📉 Strongsville - Strongsville’s school budget isn’t balancing, and now the state has said so in writing: the Ohio Department of Education & Workforce warned that deficit spending ($10.4 million last year, with $18.2 million projected for 2028) could drain the district’s savings within two years.

Small Biz Shoutout

We can’t keep our hands off these buns 📍 Lakewood

I rode my bike through wind and cold Saturday morning for these cinnamon rolls.

Everything sold at this little stand is worth that kind of effort.

It's from The Stand on Sloane, a little micro-bakery and farm stand right on Sloane Avenue in Lakewood. Home-baked sourdough, ciabatta, everything bagels, kitchen sink cookies… and these cinnamon rolls.

Here's the catch: they sell out FAST.

I pulled up, saw three left, grabbed one, paid by Venmo, and pedaled home like I'd won the lottery.

This is the stuff that makes Lakewood, Lakewood. 💛

If you're nearby, follow them on Instagram so you know when the goods drop, and go support a small business.