Browse Interviews

Anne de Coningh of Chagrin Falls has been a member of Village Garden Club since 2003. In this interview, she recalls moving from Cleveland to Shaker Heights in the late 1950s, her time as a schoolteacher, skiing and sailing, garden club activities including during the Covid-19 pandemic, the club’s Cherry Tree Grove, club members’ role in stopping the construction of freeways through the Shaker Lakes, her opinions about the Horseshoe Lake dam controversy, and her current leadership of the Chagrin…

Barbara Shockey, a member of Village Garden Club since 1992, moved from South Bend, Indiana, to Cleveland Heights in the late 1950s. She discusses her careers in teaching and real estate, offices held in the garden club, and her work to research the club’s history in preparation for its 85th anniversary in 2015. Shockey provides a summary of this history from its founding, including extensive commentary on the Shaker Lakes freeway fight in the 1960s, as well as on the Horseshoe Lake dam…

Dozie Herbruck is a longtime member and newly elected president of the Village Garden Club. Originally from Newark, New Jersey, she moved to Cleveland Heights in 1967. She discusses the garden club’s Cherry Tree Grove, how the club coped with the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and ways in which the club has evolved in recent years, including welcoming the first male member in its 90-year history. She also offers her thoughts on the current debates over the future of Horseshoe Lake.

Kathleen Tripp grew up in Connecticut and moved to the Cleveland area in the 1970s. She and her husband lived in a farmhouse on Case Western Reserve University’s Squire Valleevue Farm in Moreland Hills and then spent time living in the Netherlands and traveling in Europe before moving to Cleveland Heights in 2002. In the following year she joined the Village Garden Club. She describes club activities including during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020-21, the club’s admission of its first male…

Pat Agatisa is a newer member of the Village Garden Club in Shaker Heights. She discusses growing up in New York City, living in Pittsburgh, and moving to Shaker Heights in the early 2000s to a house on Green Lake. She discusses her leading role in overseeing the upkeep of the garden club’s Cherry Tree Grove at Horseshoe Lake. Agatisa describes how the club accepted its first male member, reflects on how the club dealt with the Covid-19 pandemic, and shares gardening tips.

Lorna Mierke of Shaker Heights has been a member of the Village Garden Club since 1964. She recounts memories of growing up in New Haven, Connecticut, where she lived through college. Mierke describes her mother-in-law Prudence Mierke’s role in fighting the Clark and Lee Freeways that were planned to slice through the Shaker Lakes in the 1960s, as well as her opinions about the Horseshoe Lake dam controversy. She discusses the origin of the garden club’s Cherry Tree Grove, her experience with…

Bobbie Farrell is a longtime resident of Cleveland Heights and member of the Village Garden Club. She discusses her involvement in the Western Reserve Herb Society, including in conjunction with the Cleveland Botanical Garden, the Horseshoe Lake dam controversy, the importance of planting native species of trees and plants for sustainability, her time as president of the garden club, the club’s Cherry Tree Grove, older members’ involvement in stopping freeways planned in the Shaker Lakes.

Phil Hart was born in Jewish Glenville in the 1920s. His mother and father's families were both in the community and he talks about growing up in the Glenville area, going to School at Patrick Henry and Glenville High School. After high school he started college at Ohio State, then going to Western Reserve University, then to Oberlin under the V-12 program with the Navy. Upon returning from the Navy he returned to Western Reserve and met his friend Robert Madison. He was politically involved in…

In this 2012 interview, Annette Sutherland describes her childhood living in Shaker Heights. Being one of the first students to volunteer to integrate Moreland School in Shaker in 1971, she grew up with a very open mind. She tells stories of activities she did as a child, involving Horseshoe Lake, Thornton Park, and Shaker Square, among others. As the current president of the school board, the importance of education, diversity, and tolerance are many recurring themes in her talk. She finishes…

In this 2005 interview, Richard Horton, former executive director (1975-1989) of the Shaker Lakes Nature Center, discusses the history of the Shaker community in Cleveland, the Shaker Lakes, the failed Clark Freeway that threatened the land upon which the lakes are located, and the founding and operation of the Shaker Lakes Nature Center. Mr. Horton grew up in Geauga County with a love of nature; became a teacher; volunteered at the Nature Center shortly after it was established in the 1960s;…

Jack Ulman of the Shaker Lakes Canoe Club discusses the origins and history of the Club, which dates back to the early years of 20th century but which ceased to exist by the end of the 1970s. Ullman recalls his early experiences at Shaker Lakes, reminisces about boating on the Lakes, describes the wildlife and botanical variety of the nature preserve, puts the Lake in the context of Cleveland's outdoor recreational assets, and recounts the grassroots battle to stop encroaching highway…

Martha Eakin of the Shaker Lakes Nature Center describes her involvement over the years with Shaker Lakes and the Center. Martha's mother, Jean Eakin, was a major figure in the battle against highway development through the Shaker Lakes in the 1960s, and Martha has continued to be involved since. Biographical information about Jean and Martha is included in this interview, as is the rationale and timeline of events leading to the organization of political action against highway development, and…

Edward J. Fritz of the Shaker Lakes Nature Center discusses his involvement with the Center beginning in the late 1970s. Fritz was involved with a number of maintenance and improvement projects at the Center, which he discusses in detail. Also discussed are educational programs and fundraising campaigns, volunteerism, deer population control, lake dredging, staffing issues, and cooperation with adjacent city governments. A lawsuit filed by the East Cleveland Farmers Market against the Nature…

Activist Phil Hart of Cleveland Heights, Ohio discusses his involvement in the fight against proposed highway construction during the 1960s. The construction, which would have crossed through Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights, was considered a threat to those communities, as well as to the environmental balance of the local ecosystem - particularly at the Shaker Lakes nature reserve. Hart places this local struggle within the context of a "national rebellion.. against urban freeways" and…

Judge Burt Griffin discusses in great detail the battle to stop highway construction through the Shaker Heights-Cleveland Heights area, which was seen as a threat to those communities and to the ecological and environmental balance of the Shaker Lakes nature preserve. Griffin discusses the battle, which was driven by grassroots activists (and largely by women), in the context of Shaker Heights' unique history. Details on activist strategies; relevant financial, legal and environmental…

Laura Gooch of the Shaker Lakes Nature Center discusses the Center's educational, environmental and public outreach programming; strategic planning; and staffing issues. Also discussed in some detail is the battle against highway construction in the Shaker Heights-Cleveland Heights area, as well as cooperation between the Center and the surrounding municipalities of Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, and Shaker Heights. Additionally, this interview contains details on the history of the Shaker Lakes…

Victor Fazio of the Shaker Lakes Nature Center recalls his experiences at the Shaker Lakes beginning in the 1970s. Fazio, a bird-watching enthusiast, provides a wealth of information about the bird population at Shaker Lakes over roughly three decades, connecting ecological chages to changes in bird behavior and population. Also discussed is the history of "birding" at Shaker Lakes, which dates back "to at least 1905," emerging from the Conservation Movement of the early 20th century. Fazio…

Martha Eakin of the Shaker Lakes Nature Center discusses her mother, Jean Eakin. Jean was a major figure in the battle against highway development through the Shaker Lakes in the 1960s. The grassroots campaign, often referred to as "the freeway fight," was started by Jean Eakin and quickly grew to involve numerous citizens, politicians, and community groups. The role played by Cuyahoga County Commissioner Albert Porter, a major proponent of highway development, is also discussed at length. After…