On Saturday, April 25, the Kent Environmental Council hosted a celebration of the live of Walt Adams, and his impact on the City of Kent, Portage County, and beyond. Here is a recording:
Dr. Walter Church Adams Jr. died peacefully at his home in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, on the 20th of November, 2025, after an 8-year struggle with multiple myeloma. Read More…
(from the Record Courier)
What makes a movement successful? Leaders tend to get the credit, and leadership is important, but sometimes it is the less visible support crew who do the heavy lifting. For the local environmental movement, Nancy Adams was the ultimate team player. She was never the president, but she was always present in every sense of the word. Whether it was the Kent Environmental Council or the Portage Parks District Foundation, leadership would frame the big ideas, and Nancy would organize the implementation with her tireless work ethic and attention to detail. She recruited workers and made sure they followed through. She maintained membership lists with accurate addresses and phone numbers, then organized teams to call each member to action for important events. Although she has been gone from Kent for several years, she left her stamp on the organizations she served and we still follow procedures and workflows that she established.
Help us Celebrate Nancy at the Environmental Awards Dinner!
Saturday, April 25 at 5:30pm
Kent American Legion Hall
1945 Mogadore Road
Kent OH 44240
The Kent Environmental Council (KEC) invites the community to a celebration of the life of Dr. Walter “Walt” Church Adams Jr. on Saturday April 25th, 2026 at 10:30am at Hobbs Hall in Kent, Ohio.
Walt was a key figure during a pivotal time in Kent’s History. He joined the Kent State faculty in 1967 as an associate professor of Biology. Walt and Nancy Adams were founding members of the Kent Environmental Council in 1970, with Walt serving as its first president. He was a faculty marshal, and witness to the tragic shootings in May of 1970. He was elected to Kent City Council a year later, in May of 1971, serving two terms and eventually serving as mayor. (see article below)
Walt and Nancy were very active in Kent environmental issues and local politics until retirement, when they moved to the Philadelphia area to be close to their children and grandchildren. They have kept in touch with KEC.
The celebration will include remembrances from Walt’s academic, environmental, political, and personal life. A reception with light lunch will follow the service where loved ones, friends, and colleagues can celebrate a life well-lived during an era of hope and possibility.
Saturday, April 25, 2026
Celebration of Life: 10:30am
Reception: 11:30am
On Zoom https://zoom.us/j/94636867711 and at Hobbs Hall at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Kent
Dr. Walter Church Adams Jr. died peacefully at his home in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, on the 20th of November, 2025, after an 8-year struggle with multiple myeloma. Read More…
(from the Record Courier)
Saturday, March 22, 11am to 5pm
At the Randolph Community Center
1639 Rt 44, Randolph, Ohio
Free to the Public
Program
KEYNOTE PRESENTER:
KLAAS MARTENS
3-5 pm, “What the weeds are telling us”
Klaas has been farming 1,600 acres in New York for
over 50 years.
Healthy food will be available for purchase thanks to:
RAMBLING ROSE KITCHENETTE
This event is sponsored by Sarchione Chevrolet and
Randolph Massage and Wellness Center
Are you feeling despair about climate change and its impact on the land? Are you frustrated that those in power are looking to accelerate extraction and exploitation, harming our earth, water, and air? Are you looking for a community who perceives the losses and damage, and wants to find a new way forward grounded in local empowerment and action?
Come hear a vision for Northeast Ohio as a Bioregion, a geographical area defined not by political boundaries but by ecological systems. There are already numerous regenerative farms, skill-shares, homesteaders, permaculturists, community gardeners, alternative energy enthusiasts, holistic heath practitioners, skill sharers, natural builders (e.g. straw bale and cob), and artists that have a common understanding, and Kelly Clark (of Kelly’s Working Well Farm) has a vision for weaving connection and collaboration. Anyone who is looking for people, projects, or communities to connect to and collaborate with are encouraged to attend, especially if you are already doing something!
Thurs Jan 30, 6 – 8pm Unitarian Universalist Church, 228 Gougler Ave, Kent 44240
Free Event —- Directions and Parking —- Event is in Church Sanctuary (2nd floor). Accessible entrance in front.
Join the network at glessbioregion.net
Tuesday, July 9th
5pm-7pm
Theodore Roosevelt High School, Cafeteria
1400 N Mantua St., Kent, OH 44240
The City of Kent is working to connect neighborhoods to destinations in our region with additional choices for how people can get from their homes to where they’d like to go, including the option of not using a car.
This important feedback will be considered and reviewed for fit with various applicable infrastructure and climate action planning decisions moving forward. All are welcome and we hope to see you there!
Tuesday, April 25, 2023
7:00-9:00pm
North Water Brewing,
101 Crain Ave, Kent, OH 44240
Join us for another World Café style Crooked River Environmental Network event, this time over your favorite beverage!
The World Café is an opportunity to talk and network with others. Each table will have a sign with the name of a topic. Choose a topic that interests you and meet like-minded folks
No pre-registration is needed.
Date: Wednesday, April 19, 2023
Time: 7:00 PM
Location:
UU Church Sanctuary (in the church building)
228 Gougler Ave
Kent, OH 44240
This event is free and open to the curious.
Our Speaker: Ted Auch
Ted has been researching the environmental, social, and economic impacts of oil and gas development including the mechanisms by which oil and gas get from where it is produced to where it is consumed and processed for plastics and export.
He has written on the interaction between energy production and water scarcity, the primacy of regulatory agencies like Ohio’s Department of Natural Resource, data inconsistencies across states with a history of fossil fuel production, and the demographics of natural gas pipeline resistance and support.
His writing has appeared locally in The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Crain’s Cleveland Business, Belt Magazine, and The Warren Tribune Chronicle. Ted’s photography has been published in countless articles and documentaries about the impacts of oil and gas development from The Wall Street Journal to the recent documentary “Hellbent” about the plight of the endangered Hellbender Salamander in Southeastern Ohio.
In recent years, Ted has increased his focus on the role that rail plays in the transport mechanisms for fossil fuels including the economics, labor, and environmental impacts of moving raw commodities and extremely volatile substances by rail.
He is an adjunct faculty at John Carroll University, a member of the NAACP Ohio’s Environmental Justice Advisory Board, the US EPA Environmental Justice Screen Science Advisory Board, and the Midwest Program Director for the FracTracker Alliance, a non-profit collection of researchers, cartographers, and big data analysts working to address the massive information asymmetries that exist between communities and the multinational corporations looking to extract resources by any means necessary.
He received his PhD from the University of Vermont modeling climate impacts on forest processes. Prior to that , he pursued an MS at Virginia Tech identifying best practices for optimizing reforestation on strip-mined lands in Central Appalachia.
Ted and his family reside in Shaker Heights.
The Portage Park District Foundation’s 2023 Environmental Awards Dinner will be held on April 22, 2023, beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the American Legion Hall.
The awardee is honored at the Portage Park Foundation dinner in the Spring.
2023 Edith Chase Conservation Award Nomination Form (Due Monday, February 20, 2023)
The Portage Park District Foundation is seeking nominations for potential awardees to be honored at the April 22nd Environmental Awards dinner at the American Legion Hall in Kent.. Nominations should include the nominee’s name and contact information, along with a paragraph or two describing his/her/their contribution to environmental conservation in Portage County.
Nomination categories include:
2023 Nomination Form (Due March 3, 2023)
Tuesday, January 24, 2023
Hobbs Hall
Unitarian Universalist Church of Kent
217 N. Mantua Street, Kent, OH 44240
The KEC board is excited to be hosting another in-person World Café style Crooked River Environmental Network event after its annual meeting. (We did something similar at 2020’s annual meeting, just before the pandemic.)
The World Café is an opportunity to talk and network with others. Each table will have a sign with the name of a topic. Participants can choose a topic that interests them. After about 45 minutes, participants can move to a different table and topic, or network with some of our partner organizations.
5:00 p.m. – Community Potluck (Please bring a covered dish to share – Table service provided)
6:00 p.m. – World Café with Topic Tables (including renewable energy, bike/pedestrian-friendly community, permaculture, wetlands/clean water)
7:00 p.m. – More World Café Topic Tables or Networking with Partner Organizations
7:45 p.m. – Harvesting Insights and Connections
8:15 p.m. – Cleanup/Safe Travels
Registration for the event is required. On the registration form, please indicate the environmental issues that are most important to you.
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| If you are interested in being a community partner organization in the Crooked River Environmental Network, please contact Renee Ruchotzke reneeruchotzke@gmail.com |
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