Forest Hills Park, East Cleveland, OH Circa 2006

This post is a continuation of a previous post from last year. Please read that post and the comments so that you understand the background behind it.

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I have not stepped foot in Forest Hills Park since 1970 so my first return was with a bit of trepidation. One of the last times I was here I was attacked by a gang and pretty badly beaten. I told no one. My parents asked about my condition but I said I took a hard slide/collision in a baseball game. That covered for the bloody nose, black eye and bruised ribs.

In the mid-60's children could go to the park by themselves or with friends and spend the entire day there without parent supervision. We never saw parents around. And the park was just about the safest place in the world. You could go anywhere and do anything.

But it changed. It changed quickly and in ways we didn't understand. For example, in the middle of a Little League game, a young man walked right through the diamond and threw firecrackers at us. Jim Libertore was the coach and he couldn't believe it. We were all too stunned to do anything but we just hoped that he'd leave.

Or the time the park planted a row of new trees. The next day someone took a hatchet to all of them and cut them in two. Why? What kind of anger was motivating these actions?

And that's where the innocence began to leave us. And we left. We had to leave. It's not about "the mean people came and ruined our little town." It had everything to do with social forces that were colliding with great intensity.

East Cleveland became the battlefield between the poverty and despair of the underclass versus the comfort of the middle class. But it also had to do with banks cooperating with block-busting realtors who drove home prices down. It had to do with welfare that made it easy for the man to leave home and not be welcomed back. It had to do with politicians and self-seeking leaders flaming the fires of anger until it nearly engulfed us all in 1968 (though watching the National Guard patrol Euclid Avenue was pretty cool site for a ten-year old).

Did it have to go down this way? Couldn't East Cleveland have been integrated like Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights? And what has driving people out done for East Cleveland? After thirty-six years the city is in deplorable condition. Such are the fruits of anger.

East Cleveland was once a great city. Someday it will wake up and remember it. Until then here's a look at East Cleveland today. Enjoy!

Let's start with a tour of Forest Hills Park (you may click on any picture to enlarge).

Here is the spot where we played baseball every summer. Right in front was home plate. If you hit it into the woods it was an automatic home run. The players were David and Jimmy Fielding, Steven Boyer Wild, Stanley Lee Anthory, Mark Drefs, David Chamberlin and myself. With only six players it was a perfect, little field but it sure looked big to me.

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This is a view of our baseball diamond looking westward toward the park entrance. The park ranger's house is in the background.

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This is one of the baseball fields at Forest Hills Park (and where the firecracker punk walked through). We played Little League here as well as at the field next to Shaw Pool. I played for Rendlesham Insurance though I had no idea who they were. One year I won best pitcher and best hitter for the league. I loved baseball.

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This is the pavilion at the lake in Forest Hills Park.

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Today was a perfect spring day. The trees were just starting to bloom. After 30 years it's still beautiful and much better kept than the 70's when it deteriorated. I must admit it was somewhat emotional seeing this. We spent nearly every day in this park when we're kids in the 60's.

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A tall view of the trees. They looked great

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I walked around the lake. You can see the island in the middle which of course wasn't there in the 60's.

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Here's a view of the pavilion from across the pond.

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Another view of the pavilion from one of the many stone bridges. They look the same as ever.

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Another beauty shot of the trees. So many memories come out standing in the park again like ice skating on the pond, playing in the ravine, riding bikes, hiking, playing army-man and, of course, lots of baseball.

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Not much has changed at the pavilion. The steps haven't been touched.

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Remember the fireplace when ice skating at Forest Hills Park? You'd freeze your butt for an hour on the ice and then warm up inside.

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Here's a view from the pavilion to the pond.



More tree blossoms.

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This view is from the front of the pavilion across the pond.

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One of the many beautiful stone bridges in Forest Hills Park, East Cleveland, Ohio.

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O.K. I like the tree blossoms but this shot is the only one that looks toward the east and Lee Road.

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Forest Hills Park main baseball diamond is used for the Cleveland State Vikings team. It's in good shape with a home run fence and scoreboard.

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I can't say the same for the tennis courts. They still look a little beat-up.

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I'm sure everyone recognizes this wonderful bridge that spans Forest Hills Blvd. and connects to the Cleveland Heights side of the park. It now has a fence across it to prevent rocks being dropped on cars and the consequences of drug deals gone bad.

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Copyright 2006 James D. Fisher
All Rights Reserved