- [Interviewee] Biggest lesson is that home is wherever you are.

- I mean, I learn new lessons every day.

- Just embrace myself and embrace my artistic roots.

- If you just do the good work you're called to do, you're gonna just be blown away.

- Leaning on others is truly something I have learned at Chagrin.

- That's what I see in this community, are people that are really willing to help other people.

(uplifting music) - My name is Dee Dee Castillo Pearce.

- My name is Chris Crimaldi.

- My name is Destinee Burse.

- My name is John Bourisseau.

- My name is Shari Hunter.

- My name is Ali Gemmer, and I'm City Centric.

(Ali chuckles) (uplifting music continues) - Welcome to PBS Western Reserve's signature series, "City Centric."

Today, we're in Chagrin Falls, where people pride themselves on keeping their charming village alive through volunteering efforts and supporting local businesses.

I'm your host, Sthephanie Marie, and this is "City Centric," the show where we explore our region through the eyes of six passionate individuals who are shaping the fabric of our cities.

Their stories will inspire us with the ways they show up for their community, making every one of us a little more city-centric.

(uplifting music continues) (uplifting music continues) (falling water) (breeze blows) (gentle music) - I've always been a storyteller.

Back when I was, I don't know when I realized that I love to tell stories, but it goes back to when I used to teach second grade, so I think that being a storyteller and being able to share the history of our community in a way that people can understand it and take it in is very important.

(gentle music continues) My name is John Bourisseau, and I grew up here in Chagrin Falls and attended Chagrin Falls Schools.

Graduated in 1964, so I have my 60th reunion coming up here.

The town is a place that is, it's interesting that a lot of people come back to it.

It's a community, I think, with a lot of heart, and growing up here was an adventure.

I grew up in a family of a single parent, with my mom and two sisters, and I wasn't always the person who always followed the rules, and so there were a couple coaches that took the time to shepherd me, but that's the kind of community it was.

There was really a lot of that that went on and there's a lot of people from my generation who will talk about that kind of shepherding that took place.

I worked, I had a paper route, so I learned the community well.

I used to hike the river.

You know, Chagrin was a great place to grow up, and then I went into service because I wasn't quite ready to go to college.

When I came out of the service, I went right to college and then went straight through and had my professional life as an educator.

I taught second grade.

Then I was a school psychologist and lived away from Chagrin then I came back here in the early '90s, and I've been here ever since.

I'm part of the alumni association, part of the community, and then part of the historical society here, and I love to tell stories about Chagrin and its history and the community.

(peaceful music) - Our collective stories shared across time are what make our cities so special.

Educating future generations about our history is a great way to pass down our stories and ensure that we don't forget where we come from.

Our educator, Dee Dee Pearce, knows all about the power of educating through storytelling.

(peaceful music continues) - My name is Dee Dee Castillo Pearce.

I moved to Chagrin Falls about 10 years ago.

I was a teacher in California, an educator in California for 30 years, and I have to say my passion is teaching and working with high school students.

I think I will be an educator for life.

I miss being in the classroom, but I love what I'm doing here with the film festival with Illuminate.

When I decided I did wanna go into education, I applied to the teacher education program, and one of the questions that was on the questionnaire that I had to fill out was which teacher made a difference in your life and how, right?

There was only one teacher that I remembered, one teacher who I remembered vividly still to this day.

I can see her in front of the classroom, and aside from the very first day of school when she called my name, she never called my name again the rest of the year, so it was like I was invisible, like I didn't matter, I didn't exist, whatever it was, and so when I recalled that story, you know, when I applied for this teacher ed program, I knew then, that there would never be a kid in my classroom who would ever feel like that.

They would always know that I knew who was in the classroom and who they were and what they were about.

So, yes, that's how I got into teaching.

Yeah, and that's why I think I'm so passionate about it is because that's how I see my students, as individuals, right?

Treating them with dignity.

So, yeah, I think that's why teaching is so special to me, because I feel that kids matter, period.

(tender music) Coming from California, a very large, you know, comprehensive high school, diverse high school, it was really important to me to bring in all kinds of high schools together and have a shared experience, because it's the only way we really get to know each other, and documentaries are just such fertile ground for starting conversations, for hearing perspectives, or trying to understand cultural differences, and so Illuminate is special because, you know, one of the main things we wanted to do was to have students experience going to a film festival.

It's very, very energetic, very thought-provoking, stimulating, and a very powerful experience.

It really is.

(tender music continues) - Illuminate is a wonderful way for students to be introduced to the power of storytelling through film.

Connecting to one another through art is a magical experience.

We'll learn more about the creative storytelling through our artist, Ali Gemmer.

- I started making art when I could pick up a pencil, to be honest.

I think I've always kind of known that I would be an artist.

I think a part of me was getting in my own way for a while, but I think when COVID hit, I decided that this was definitely my path.

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) All right.

My name is Ali Gemmer.

I am 22 and a self-taught artist, and I came to Chagrin Falls a couple of years ago.

I found out about Chagrin Falls because I applied to the 50th Annual Juried show here at the Valley Art Center.

So that was one of my first bigger shows.

I had a few shows that I went to that was closer to me, but this was a bigger show and very far away from me.

It was about four hours.

So I ended up dropping off my piece, and, you know, when I came to Chagrin Falls, I was like, "This place is so adorable," and it was crazy because it was so much different from where I grew up.

I grew up with not a very vibrant arts community, and I think it can be sort of discouraging trying to express yourself in that way when there's not a lot of people doing that around you.

So I can definitely say that having that support system of an arts community is very important.

(gentle music continues) ♪ Hey, yeah - I think this city has allowed me to embrace a lot of the artistic side of me.

I mean, I have an arts job and also I am an artist as well, but I feel less weird about putting my art out there.

It feels very supportive here.

- A great way to experience local art is to visit the Art By The Falls Festival, where over 140 artists showcase their work.

Some of the local artists have even turned their passion for art into a thriving career, just like our business leader, Christopher Crimaldi.

- I mean, I think it's the American way.

I mean, it's the American dream.

You pick a path in life and you go after it, and, you know, you get to create what you want, and I've enjoyed being able to create something that I've really wanted, that's a pretty unique facility.

So, I mean, being an entrepreneur is, I mean, I love it.

I don't know that I could be any other way.

(gentle music continues) My name's Christopher Crimaldi.

I am the owner of the Glass Asylum here in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.

I am a Northeast Ohio native.

I grew up in Solon.

I graduated high school in 1991, and after that, I went into the United States Marine Corps, where I spent five years as an electronic technician.

Even prior to going into the Marines, I worked as an electrician.

In 2009, I took up glass blowing as a hobby for something to do in the evenings, and I quickly fell in love with it and the possibilities of what I could do with it by mixing my other skill that I have as an electrician, and within a year, I ended up owning the studio that I learned it, which was located in Cleveland, and that's where this business started, and in 2015, we had the opportunity to move here to Chagrin Falls.

So the Glass Asylum is a public access glass blowing studio.

We teach classes, we host events, and we create custom glasswork, whether it's simple small vases and bowls or it's, you know, a lot more intricate larger-scale lighting pieces, which is what I specialize in.

I focus on lighting.

Yeah, I mean, my drive, my passion behind the glass, I mean, I love to create, so being able to create every day and having a staff that wants to create with you and gets it, gets what we're doing, and are upbeat and motivated about creating every day, I mean, that's a really great thing, yeah.

(tender music) - Hi, my name is Destinee Burse, and I am the executive director at the Community Life Collaborative.

I always like to say that I am a daughter, granddaughter, and sister of some amazing Louisiana Creole women, and I've just had the privilege of being welcomed into Northeast Ohio, and in particular, Chagrin Falls, as a friend and activist organizer.

I do the work that I do because I would like to say it's originally because of my grandmother.

I didn't know it at the time.

She passed away when I was younger, but I grew up in Louisiana, seeing her pull together card game nights, and they would be to allow for folks to come in and pay a price to get in the game, and at the end of the night, whoever needed help with their rent, who she was helping out, would get that money for that night of that card game, and it was really interesting.

It's an interesting take on community organizing.

You know, in communities like the one that I'm from, you don't always have all the resources, and they're not even always accessible if there are resources.

Just remembering and seeing the work that my family has done through just love in Louisiana has made it so authentic for me to be able to come and, you know, be a transplant into a community and be able to see how that community uses its resources to do the same things that, you know, my grandmother was trying to do, and so when I do this work, I always just think about how, if my grandmother would here, she'd be right alongside me.

- Our communities are strengthened by our collective willingness to better them ourselves.

The people of Chagrin Falls understand the importance of coming together to make a change.

One of those change-makers is our visionary, Shari Hunter, who provides a space for people with disabilities to succeed professionally.

- I would define a visionary by somebody that can look beyond what is to what can be, and that has been something that has been my passion, to say there can be a life without labels, to say that our diagnosis does not define us, and to say that there's so much more that's possible than we even know, and the individuals that we love and serve prove that every single day.

(gentle music) Hi, my name is Shari Hunter, and we have Two & Company, also known as Two Foundation, and we've been in the Chagrin Falls area as a business for about 10 years, but I've lived here over 35 years.

We started this as a result of my youngest having some exceptionalities, and I decided that I did not want my son labeled or limited in any way, and so, you know, that really started this passion of mine to make sure that all individuals were given equal opportunities with high expectations and the best of the best, and really, when I looked around, I didn't find that, and so about 10 years ago, I said, "okay, we're just gonna do it ourselves," and here we are.

Our mission statement at the Two really is for all people, and so it says that we're here to create opportunities for people of every ability to connect, work, grow, and thrive, and unfortunately, in the past, and this is our why, you know, those opportunities haven't been available in a fully integrated way.

Most of the time, it comes in segregated settings, and as I said, for my son, that was not okay, and, you know, I knew if we could provide the right opportunities with high expectations that his world would open up and anything would be possible for him, and Derek has certainly shown me that that is so true, and he inspires us every day at the Two to just provide the best of the best and just try in every way we can to help people reach their full potential and reach their goals and their dreams, and at this point, we have about 95 companies hiring from us, and so those aren't cafes and boutiques necessarily.

They're everything from Home Depots to manufacturing companies to smaller family businesses, but we're always looking for people that have businesses and companies that have a heart for our mission and that want to hire from us and want to become the natural supports for those individuals that they do hire.

Instead of dividing us with all these differences in labels, we all do life so much better together, and that we all are really good at something and then we all struggle in other areas, and how when we all work together, you know, it's a beautiful thing, and that's what we're about here at the Two, and spreading our movement through these companies and through these schools that we're working with, and, ultimately, it's our communities that are allowing this to happen because they come in as our customers, but they're also really our volunteers, even though most of 'em don't know it, because without them, our individuals don't have the opportunity to really train in community employment.

So I say we're changing, you know, we're changing things one individual at a time, one school at a time, one business at a time, and one community at a time, and I can't wait for the day that the stigmas are lost and the segregation is gone and we do life together, and that's what happens here at the Two every day.

(gentle music continues) - Chagrin Falls is full of strong-willed people who are maintaining the town's rich history while making changes to move the city forward.

The changes we see within our cities cannot be made without listening to each other's voices.

- I feel that the soul of the community in Chagrin Falls lies in their volunteers, people that are just so willing to come out and make things happen for the community.

It's awesome.

It really is awesome.

- Chagrin Falls has really just opened my eyes to the power of people.

- Everyone is very community-focused.

Again, supportive of each other, small businesses.

- There's lots of art here.

There's lots of craftsmen located around here, and the city does a great job in supporting it.

- People really support local here and people really do want the best, and they care about the why, not just the what.

- So that inspires you.

That inspires me to do my part too.

- The folks in Chagrin just have truly reminded me that people are there not only to, you know, help move a movement, but also just to be a friend and be a kind spirit and we need that.

So leaning on others is truly something I have learned in Chagrin.

- So the history has become, I think, an integral part of how people think about this village.

- The people of Chagrin Falls live by the saying, "It takes a village."

Since its establishment in 1844, this village has continued to honor that lifestyle through historical preservation and supporting locally-owned businesses.

You can always find the town alive, with people exploring the small businesses and creative spaces.

- To me, history is critically important to understanding who we are as a people or culture, and by providing information to people about how this village developed, the hard work that went into it, not only the people who did great things, but some of the people who did shady things.

That's part of life, and I think it's important for people to understand that.

One of the fun lessons that I teach, Chagrin is a village.

You're not a city until you get 5,000 people, and back in the '80s, when Chagrin was approaching 5,000 people, the Village Council actually passed an ordinance that they would become the City of the Village of Chagrin Falls.

They didn't want to be known as a city, and I think that tells you a lot about Chagrin.

They liked being a community that is thought of as a small community.

- I think that there was definitely a misconception about Chagrin Falls, and I think that most people, well, the misconception is that it's a privileged community, you know?

And, obviously, there is privilege here, but I think the misconception is that, you know, there really is a diverse group of people.

So it's not like everyone is, you know, wealthy, right?

- That they're just a bunch of rich, snotty people.

Can I say that?

- [Director] Yeah.

Yeah, you can.

- I mean, I think that's a misconception, and it's not, you know?

They're not, you know?

There's really a lot of down-to-earth people here.

- The biggest misconception is that some people come and say, "Well, I don't feel like I fit in" or "I don't feel like I belong," but I think that all people belong, and that, you know, we have people here from all walks of life and from all different cultures, and so that's what makes Chagrin so great, I hope that everybody that visits feels like they belong.

- My first impression of Chagrin Falls was very positive.

I just loved the energy and the atmosphere, and it was such a cool opportunity to go into all of these small shops and seeing all these small businesses and very artist-focused businesses, and so, yeah, it was very positive.

Everyone seemed very nice and very welcoming, so.

- My preconception about Chagrin Falls is that I might not be welcome, and when I came into Chagrin Falls and I thought my fight would be just, you know, to have a place in Chagrin Falls or to feel like I belong in Chagrin Falls.

That wasn't the case at all.

You know, I was able to come into this space, be welcomed, and, also, I would say be pushed to stay in Chagrin Falls and just celebrated and truly supported by the organizations, the different networks of people, and just to see how they've been able to destroy my thoughts about how coming into the space would be makes me even more excited and hopeful for the work that we can do together.

- A Chagrin Falls centric person, or a city-centric person, a village-centric person, I think it would be someone who is interested in the arts and is interested in the people around them.

- I would say someone who is city-centric, especially to Chagrin Falls, is someone who, again, is supporting small businesses.

They're visiting the coffee shops.

They're visiting the different apparel stores and just getting to know people in the area and being passionate about where they're living.

- I am city-centric because I'm so committed to making a difference for good.

- I am definitely city-centric.

- I am city-centric because I love the community in which I work in, which I'm from, in which I have a business in, and I want to make the city proud to have me here and proud to have my staff here.

- I am city-centric because I make sure that I consider the resources, the challenges, and opportunities that we have in Chagrin Falls, and I've heard and I make sure that my priority is to listen to what the folks in Chagrin Falls would like to see and do and be a part of.

- The passion that these guests have for Chagrin Falls is inspiring.

I can't wait to see how the town continues to grow and flourish with the help of dedicated community members like those we spoke to today.

Seeing the care that is poured into this village is something everyone should experience and take back to the place they love.

- I think the future of our village is something that I'm not worried about it 'cause there's a lot of good people here.

- Multicultural, intergenerational, and just inclusive and accessible in every single way.

- I think that the future is very, very bright for Chagrin Falls and many other small towns.

- What steps can you take to be city-centric?

When you find a way to inspire, innovate, and energize within your community, you invest in a future that is better for all of us.

Are you city-centric?

- My name is John Bourisseau.

- My name is Ali Gemmer.

- My name is Chris Crimaldi.

- My name is Destinee Burse.

- My name is Dee Dee Castillo Pearce.

- My name is Shari Hunter.

- And I am Chagrin Falls centric.

- And I am Chagrin Falls centric.

- And I am Chagrin Falls centric - And I am Chagrin Falls centric.

- I am Chagrin Falls centric.

- And I am Chagrin Falls centric.

(exciting music) - My name is John Bourisseau and I am village-centric.

(director applauds) (producer indistinctly speaks) ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh - And you'll cut out all kinds of stuff, right?

I mean, you'll just.

(Dee Dee laughs) - Okay go again?

Okay, okay.

- You guys are great.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

♪ Ooh, whoa, oh