Postcard project highlights Summit Lake's potential as a nature lover's destination

A few years ago, Roger Riddle took a trip to Maumee State Park for the Biggest Week in American Birding celebration — where photographers from around the world visit the marshlands off Lake Erie near Toledo to shoot photos of the spring songbird migration.

But his thoughts kept drifting to the natural habitats of home. He spoke with Akron Knight Foundation Director Kyle Kutuchief, and together they hatched a plan to celebrate Akron's Summit Lake.

"The idea just evolved out of different conversations where we kept coming back to the idea of showcasing nature in Akron — and especially at Summit Lake," Riddle said. "I remember I came back and thinking it would be cool to get the birders to come to Summit Lake, and that is how this thing started."

Riddle and Kutuchief were particularly interested in attracting more interest in the lake's natural assets from the namesake neighborhood surrounding it. Riddle spoke with a local photographer in April 2022, and the idea to feature the the lake on postcards to residents first gained traction.

"We see these photographs of these iconic places around Northeast Ohio," Kutuchief said, and turning the lens on Summit Lake would "get residents to notice this beautiful piece of land is sitting in their backyard."

Riddle, collaborating with the Akron Civic Commons and other local organizations, sent out the first wave of mailings last month for the Summit Lake postcard project. Each month, almost 15,000 postcards will be mailed out to five ZIP codes that are closest to Summit Lake. The postcards contain images of the lake taken by local photographers Talia Hodge and Rob Blair on the front, and invitations to a handful of local programs on the back.

Riddle manages the collaboration, which includes several other local project contributors. The postcards are designed by Andy Taray, who owns the Social Department in Cuyahoga Falls and Ohio Boy Graphic Design. The mailings are printed by Big Red Printing in Kenmore and shipped to residents via Rapid Mailing Services in Cuyahoga Falls.

"The thing that I really like about working on this project is that it is hyperlocal," Riddle said. "We're trying to say that being in Akron is great and Summit Lake is a place worth visiting — and being able to keep this project as close to home as possible was pretty cool."

The project is part of Akron Civic Commons' overall effort to improve the city's Summit Lake neighborhood.

The natural lake, which sat along the route used by Indigenous populations to portage between the Cuyahoga and Tuscarawas rivers, was a regional leisure destination from 1917 to 1958 as home of the Summit Beach amusement park. But pollution from Akron's industrial boom rendered the water unfit for recreation for decades — and the lake largely fell into disuse.

The 2009 completion of a Summit Lake portion of the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail revived areawide interest and included a floating boardwalk across one-third of the lake. The lake's comeback has been further bolstered by environmental tests that have concluded the water is safe for boating and limited fishing, as well as the construction of a Summit Metro Parks nature center and new trails and walking paths.

"It's funny, it makes perfect sense now — but a year and a half ago nature photos at Summit Lake felt almost like a foreign concept to me," Riddle said. "I knew we were on to something, but it wasn't exactly clear that this would make sense until I saw the first set of photos we got back."

Summit Lake postcards highlight neighboring communities' events

The Akron Civic Commons tested the postcards in April, and the success of that trial run led to the full establishment of the project, which began this month.

"One of the things that was listed on that trial April postcard that we sent out was an invite to the sewing club that meets over at the Reach Opportunity Center, which I am a part of, and I noticed a few more people showed up at meetings thanks to receiving these informational postcards," Riddle said. "That let me know that these postcards could potentially bring more Summit Lake residents to these events, which is what we were hoping for."

Riddle said partners in the Akron Civic Commons project are doing wonderful work in the community, and the goal of the postcards is not only to highlight the lake's beauty, also but to enlighten the community events happening in their own area. Events highlighted on September's postcards include Kenmore First Friday and food preservation at the Summit Lake Community Center.

"Let's Grow Akron is doing really cool stuff with the gardeners in the area and Summit Metro Parks is always trying to get people out on the lake," Riddle said. "We try to limit the number of events on the postcards to two or three things that are happening each month, so that there is a greater chance for local residents to take advantage of things that they may not even realize are happening in their community."

The Civic Commons looked at the ZIP codes and neighborhoods that were closest to Summit Lake for this project, including Kenmore and South Akron. Project leaders are planning to mail these postcards for the next year, and may extend beyond that based on resident feedback.

"This idea of sending the postcards to the people who are closest to the lake and get them excited about the lake and not spread this project far and wide across the state or across the county was just wanting to get residents to appreciate what they have in the community and get them involved in the events that are happening in the area," Riddle said.

Reporter Anthony Thompson can be reached at ajthompson@gannett.com, or on Twitter @athompsonABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Postcard project spotlights Summit Lake's allure for nature lovers