- Hey, out there, Akronites.

Welcome once again to "Around Akron" with Blue Green.

And we've got an amazing episode ahead of us today.

I'm gonna head over to Grant Street and catch a cup of coffee at the Porchlight Coffee Co.

I'm gonna head over to Rock Candy Holds and learn all about the holds they make for indoor rock climbing.

Then it's over to Rock Mill Climbing, Yoga & Fitness where I'm gonna climb a few rock walls.

Now, to kick this show off today, have you ever wanted to learn about how to be a master gardener, or do you already think you're a master gardener and have a garden you wanna show off?

Let's go meet up with the Summit County Master Gardeners program and learn what they're all about.

- The mission of Master Gardeners is to educate residents on how to grow their own.

So we are an educational organization.

Being with our roots, being with OSU extension.

that makes perfect sense 'cause that's what each of our extension offices do: focus on educating residents and helping answer questions.

So that really is the purpose of Master Gardener volunteers.

They volunteer their time to help others grow for themselves.

(relaxed music) The Master Gardener program, it's been going on for quite a long time.

Since the '70s is when kind of the Master Gardener program got its start.

And Ohio's Master Gardener program has been active almost that entire time as well.

So it is a very long-term volunteer program that is statewide in Ohio, through the Ohio State University.

(relaxed music continues) You become a part of the Master Gardener organization.

First you have to train.

So we do what we call our basic training.

It's a 12-week course where you train, usually in the evening when we hold our classes.

But you do about 50 hours of classroom training, which leads into your intern year.

So first you do the training, and then after that you have an intern year where you're responsible for 50 volunteer hours.

So it's the 50 hours of classroom training, the 50 hours of volunteer time, And then that allows you to kind of graduate as a full-fledged master gardener and part of the program.

There is no age range at all.

So we are a welcoming young people to come into the program all the time.

We do tend to have more people who are retired, so have a lot of time on their hands and have that time to volunteer.

But really, we have members that span all of our demographics.

(relaxed music continues) Master Gardeners of Summit County is visible in a few ways.

We have two really large events each year.

So in the springtime we have what we call our Tour of Gardens which is a tour of gardens of residents of Summit County.

So it really highlights people who are doing exceptional gardening work in their own backyards.

And that event is really well attended.

And I encourage anyone to join that.

And then our second really large event is Design & Beyond, which is coming up here soon.

And this is more of a kind of educational seminar event for learning.

Those are two of our really high-profile events.

And then throughout the year you can see us.

We have educational events throughout the year.

You can get on our email mailing list to be aware of those.

But we also have physical demonstration gardens.

So we have a garden that I'm sitting right next to right now.

And we have a couple of other gardens that focus on different things.

So some of them focus on ornamental plants like the one I'm next to right now.

Some of them focus on vegetable gardening, and some of them have other focuses like youth.

So you can see us in the community in a variety of ways, but we really thrive at education.

That's our mission and that's our purpose.

So our educational events are spectacular.

And even our gardens that we have physically, the whole purpose is education.

(relaxed music continues) So the Tour of Gardens, that takes place in the spring.

It actually is highlighting resident gardens.

So you don't have to be a master gardener to participate and be kind of highlighted in that event.

Really, that's the hardest part about planning that event is finding these like specials, spectacular gems of gardens.

So if you think you do have a gem of a garden, absolutely get in touch with our Summit County Master Gardeners.

We're always looking for new gardens to put on the tour.

That makes our job easy if you come to us and say, "I really want to highlight my garden I've worked really hard on it."

So folks, you can always reach out at our website, and we've got contact information there.

Or you can contact the local OSU extension office which is home base for Master Gardeners as well.

(gentle music) So if you're interested in Master Gardeners, you can check your county by getting in contact with your local OSU extension office.

That's the best way to find out if there's a Master Gardener program in your county.

And if there's not one in your county, there should be one that's nearby.

So sometimes counties with lower populations will kind of join together to create a program together.

So start by contacting your extension office, your local county extension office, and they should be able to give you more information on what's available.

(gentle music continues) Gardening is a great activity for families to do together.

There is so much you can learn about the natural world around you, and that's beyond just plants.

So it's the soil organism, it's the plants, it's the pollinators that visit those plants.

So it's the whole ecosystem surrounding us that you can learn about through gardening.

Absolutely.

And food production, right?

You can learn about food production.

It's not often we think past the grocery store.

And I think people are doing that more and more.

So having that experience growing your own food can give you a whole new perspective on farmers and all the work they do for us.

- Next up, I go down to Grant Street.

I'm gonna have myself a cup of coffee.

Let's go see what the Porchlight Coffee Co. is all about.

- My very first sip of coffee was actually my mom's instant coffee.

So I thought I didn't like coffee, but it turned out I just didn't like bad coffee.

(relaxed music) I've always been kind of a foodie and just like a lover of details.

So I think that was my big thing, was just I'm a little bit of a nerd and I love food.

So that pairs really well with coffee.

And as the coffee world has developed, there's been more of a focus on notes of the coffee bean and more of the precision it takes to grow and prepare good quality coffee.

And I've just really embraced that.

(relaxed music continues) This opportunity actually presented itself at the end of last year.

Some good friends of ours and our business partners came to us and kind of brought this opportunity to us.

They had heard about this space opening up.

My wife and I, we just live in Firestone Park.

So this is very close to us.

And this is our community.

This is our neighborhood.

So with this opportunity opening up and the fact that it was the ability to bring some great coffee to the area.

And also, this space, it used to be called the Front Porch Cafe.

And it was just a great hub of conversation and just like a really great gathering place.

So we were excited to be able to bring that back to the neighborhood again.

So when we were opening Porchlight, we just wanted it to be a place of hospitality and welcome, and also just the opportunity to serve great food and drink.

(relaxed music) We definitely wanted to use the space and make it inviting.

You don't have to feel rushed.

We also have a conference room area.

So you can close the doors.

There's a TV in there that you can use for a presentation.

There's a dry erase board.

We probably seat, I would say about 30 to 40 people.

And yeah, there's plenty of space to move around.

It's just a very nice inviting space.

(relaxed music continues) One of our missions with Porchlight was to invite people into the space, but also to raise people's coffee knowledge without pretentiousness.

We love teaching people about the different brewing methods, the different ways to drink coffee.

I always say that coffee has been around for so long and so many people have different ideas of coffee.

And it's changed so much over the years that it's an opportunity to teach people about kind of the new methods of coffee and the new flavor profiles and just the different ways of serving coffee.

(relaxed music continues) So we actually get our coffee from One Line Coffee Roasters, and they are in Columbus.

So my wife and I, we love going down to Columbus and just getting great food and coffee.

And they've always been our favorite roaster.

So when we were getting ready to open this space, we were tasting some different coffee roasters, and they were kind of at the top of our list.

And after talking to them, their customer service has just been outstanding.

And they also have direct trade relationships with all of their farmers.

So we know exactly where the coffee is coming from.

We know the microlots that they're purchasing.

And we know that everything's being ethically sourced and the farmers are being paid well.

So that was very important to us.

(gentle music) We do make all of our syrups in house.

So I think that makes a big difference.

We use raw organic cane sugar, high-quality flavor extracts.

So everything is made from scratch so we can tweak the syrups and make them so that they fit our drinks perfectly.

For instance, like our pumpkin syrup that we just finished making, everyone loves their pumpkin lattes.

It has actual pumpkin puree.

It has that raw organic cane sugar.

And it has just like pumpkin spice mix that we made here in house.

So it's a true pumpkin spice syrup.

(gentle music continues) When you open the doors, you just kind of hope that people come through them.

And you hope that it's not just your mom and your siblings.

And it's been really cool to just see the business that has come in, to see the support from the community.

People just passing through the state and finding us.

That's just been the biggest surprise.

It's been a really great opportunity to just meet new people, build relationships.

Also, I would say our team here, I know that it's kind of cheesy to say this, but they've really become like family.

They really resonate with our mission here at Porchlight, and they've just embraced the love of coffee and love of people.

And it's been really great to see that grow.

- Next up, we're gonna meet up with a nationwide company here in Akron, Ohio: Rock Candy Holds.

let's go see what Rock Candy Holds is all about.

(relaxed music) - I actually started climbing inside.

So climbers kind of all have different pathways of how they get into it, whether they started outside and then climb inside to train.

I'd say this day and age with the rise of indoor climbing gyms, most people are introduced to climbing through a climbing gym.

Then they may or may not move to the outdoor thing.

I started climbing in probably about 2004 at the university climbing wall where I was working and going to school at the time.

And I just fell in love with it 'cause it was something I could do year-round; it wasn't dependent on the weather.

And it didn't really feel like working out.

It just felt like having fun with my friends.

And that's where I actually met Nathan; we eventually got married and started a climbing hold brand called Rock Candy Holds, which actually most of what you see on the wall behind me is his product.

And we started that in 2006, actually when we were in Kent out of a little garage climbing wall that we had.

And so that's kind of how all this started.

So he was a climber.

I met him through climbing.

He started kind of making these shapes, and for our own climbing wall that we had in our garage.

And then it kind of just blew up from there.

And we've been doing the Rock Candy Holds thing for about 15, 16 years now.

(relaxed music continues) So actually it was in 2005, like I said, when we built this garage wall in Kent, just for us and our friends to climb on.

He wasn't finding what he wanted on the market, so he just started making his own climbing holds.

He wanted bright colors, cool shapes.

At the time, really all that you could buy was stuff that just kind of mimicked real rock.

And as you see, this doesn't mimic real rock.

We're going for bright colors, an exciting experience.

But anyways, so yeah, he started just shaping.

And he's an art major, so the whole 3D sculpture thing came a little bit more easy to him.

And so he started shaping the holes and making molds and making his own holds.

It all rhymes (laughs).

So yeah, that was back in 2005.

We made it a business in 2006, 2007.

And it just grew kind of slowly and organically from there.

And yeah, he was actually producing his own holds in a warehouse we had in Kenmore.

At this point we had moved from Kent, living in Akron, had a warehouse in Kenmore where we were shaping, producing all these climbing holds, and starting to kind of get a name outside of the Ohio area.

So we were starting to ship to other, Indianapolis, Chicago, New York, but still pretty small.

And in that time we also in the same warehouse opened up a small little climbing wall that was bigger than the one we had in Kent.

We called it the co-op because we just gave people a key code and they could come and climb at any time.

And that's where kind of the dream for opening Rock Mill came, because while we liked making the climbing holds, we really loved the community that we were able to build in the co-op.

And it was a small space, a dirty space, but people loved it.

And it really drew a lot of people to the sport.

And it gave the climbers in the area kind of like a home base.

They would come and climb at the co-op and plan trips to go to West Virginia, Kentucky, or even just some of the local spots around here.

So that's where the idea for...

When we had to shut that down, which was just a product of Rock Candy growing.

So Rock Candy was growing; we needed more space to produce the climbing holds.

So we had to kind of take over that portion of the warehouse.

And when we shut that down, we said, "Let's do this again but do it right."

It was definitely not right in that space, but it was good for the time.

(upbeat music) So we like to call this the showroom.

We don't actually make the holds in this facility.

We did back when we had the warehouse in Kenmore, but we quickly outgrew that space, even after closing down the co-op.

Ended up outsourcing production for a while, but then brought it back to Ohio about four years ago.

We have two warehouses: one in Strasburg south of Canton, and one in Uniontown.

Kind of served two different purposes.

And yeah, I mean, Rock Candy, the story of Rock Candy really is like how Rock Mill came to be.

And yeah, the idea of this could be our showroom.

It could be where we test new products.

But then at the same time, get to have that community hub that we had back in the day with the co-op.

(relaxed music) Each color represents a difficulty.

So any of the green climbs are gonna be our easiest climbs.

Yellow through, and then it goes green, yellow, pink, purple, blue, orange, gray, and black.

And that kind of just works through the difficulties.

I have a sign I can show you that shows all the route difficulties.

But whether you're trying the easiest route or the hardest route in the gym, the feeling of completing it's the same.

So it just depends on your level.

And our community's great to cheer people on regardless of what your limit is at the time.

But the colors definitely help people dial in what climbs they wanna try.

No one wants to walk up to a climb and just have no idea if it's gonna be something that they're capable of.

So that really helps.

(relaxed music continues) - Next up, I'm gonna head down to Rock Mill Climbing, Yoga & Fitness and climb me a few indoor rock climbing walls.

Let's go see what they're all about.

(relaxed music) - The coffee bar and studio restrooms and fitness room are all in the original black building that was Ruppel's Art Supplies.

We were interested in this space because along with the existing black building which was around 6,000 square feet, it came with over an acre of just vacant land next to it, which now is what we're sitting in as our climbing hall.

We went through the process of renovating the existing space, and then also adding this addition on.

(relaxed music continues) When we were designing the space and chose to include a studio and a fitness room, what we really wanted was Rock Mill to be the only gym that you had to have a membership to.

Traditionally, at least back then, climbing gyms were just climbing gyms.

So people might have a climbing gym membership and then they might also have a yoga studio membership.

And then if they wanna work out, they have to go to Gold's Gym or some other just small, like just fitness-focused thing.

So we're trying to give the one-stop shop for climbers.

While climbing is something you can do well through your older years, it can be hard on the body.

So by offering various classes, like we have a mobility class, our yoga classes are great for kind of that offset, what your body goes through with climbing.

Maybe work some of those opposing muscle groups.

If you just climb, climb, climb all the time, it's gonna wear you out.

So we like to offer some different activities that balance out the experience, help keep your body healthy and keep you climbing for as many years as you wanna do it.

(upbeat music) We're one of the smaller gyms.

Yeah.

For the amount of bouldering that we have, I'd say we're one of, up there in terms of the bouldering space that we have in Northeastern Ohio.

But midsize for our area.

But definitely, you go out West, we'd be considered a small bouldering gym.

So it's a really easy activity just to get started in.

You don't need any specialized equipment.

Just come in comfortable clothes.

Maybe bring a water bottle.

If you forget it, we've got plenty of snacks and drinks here.

You'd come on in.

Our staff would walk you through filling out our facility agreement form.

We've got an orientation video.

They'd walk you through the space, give you a tour, and drop you off over at our shoe rental spot.

It's self-serve.

You would find a pair of climbing shoes that fit you.

And then you'd get started.

Our staff are really great about checking in with new climbers, seeing if they have any questions, helping them out if they're stuck on a climb.

We also have a introductory class called Bouldering 1 that we run on Saturdays.

So if someone wanted a more hands-on introduction to it, they could sign up for one of those classes.

But in general, I'd say most people just come on in.

And yeah, I mean, as long as you're in comfortable clothes, you could walk in off the street and start climbing.

(relaxed music) And they're bouldering specific mats.

And while they don't guarantee that there won't be injury, I mean, it helps greatly absorbing the impact of a fall.

You really, as you get, if you were to start climbing, at first the idea of falling is something you don't wanna do.

But you'll see once people are in here, and you're falling 90% of the time.

Because to find that limit I mean, to find the place where you're gonna grow and progress, you might try a climb 10, 15, 20, 30 times before you figure out your specific sequence.

And they actually call them boulder problems.

'Cause the idea is that you kind of have to work through it.

It's both like a mental and physical challenge of figuring out, okay, maybe if I just shift my weight this way when I reach up, I can have more stability and get to the next hold.

So it's really just a great mental and physical challenge.

And then just with the falling, mitigating that risk, right?

When you're in a position where you're not too sure about it and you gotta make a decision, am I gonna go for it or am I gonna back off?

And neither decision is right or wrong.

It all depends on where you're at.

But it's just a great way to kind of get over some of those fears and work through them.

And the community's great.

Everybody, they'll cheer you on whether you're trying one of the hardest climbs or one of the easiest climbs.

(relaxed music continues) at any given time, we have 80 to 90 routes up on the wall.

And throughout the month, well, every week we switch out about 20 of them.

So over the course of a month, the whole wall gets turned over.

And it just gives our members and our guests just something new to come back to every week.

(relaxed music) As most businesses did in the summer of 2020, we reopened after being shut down for the pandemic.

When we reopened, we only had about 20 people coming in the gym at a time.

It was a very slow roll to welcoming people back into our space.

With the completion of the coffee bar, the renovations that we we we're doing, we're really just excited to reopen Rock Mill as a place where people can come and experience climbing for the first time or maybe the hundredth time.

So really, I would say our plans right now are just reestablishing Rock Mill as that community hub.

And we're really excited about it.

(relaxed music continues) - Thank you once again for watching this episode of "Around Akron" with Blue Green.

Now, if you have any questions, comments, you just wanna drop me an email, you can reach me Or you can catch me on social media.

Thank you and have an amazing day.

(relaxed music continues) Ba-da-bap-ba-da-bap.

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.

(Blue Green laughing) ABC, 123.

123, 123.

(Blue Green howling) All right.

I'm gonna head over to the universe.

I'm gonna head over to Carroll Street and learn all...

I'm gonna.