October ’20

A place that relies on the downtown lunch crowd, Conestoga Grill has been hit hard by COVID-19. But owner Dominic “Deco” Vinas is soldiering onward with pasta, pizza and burgers.

It’s almost Halloween, and that means it’s almost time for my family’s annual debate about the merits of candy corn. (For the record, I’m pro, especially if you include those marshmallow pumpkins in the mix.) But I understand candy corn is a divisive food, so I always feel guilty when I make a Halloween dessert that features it prominently. This year, I wanted to find a festive dessert without candy corn for the holiday, and I think I’ve got a winner in this Melting Witch Poke Cake. It’s not perfect, but it still will make people happy.

Proudly a Canton favorite since 1941, Lucia’s Steakhouse has been serving some of the best Italian fare and steak around for five generations. From high-quality ingredients to the same smiling faces on the team, there’s something special about Lucia’s Steakhouse.

Autumn offers a pleasing contradiction. The dying leaves of the season provide such lively color. Stands of trees of Stark County are canvases for strong reds, vivid yellows, bold browns and breathtaking oranges—all on a unifying background of fading green.

For a nice guy, Mike Skaggs makes some blood-curdling art. Skaggs is the owner of Shock Studios, which specializes in products and merchandise based on horror-film characters.

Destinee Stark can’t wait to explore her new neighborhood. She moved to Plain Township with her husband, Aaron Jackson, a 2007 GlenOak High School graduate, in December. By March, they were sheltering in place with the rest of Ohio and haven’t really gone out much since.

Hartville’s newest lifestyle boutique, Curate & Co., is a dreamy place to shop for gifts, home decor and apparel. The shop has all kinds of beautiful goods to buy for yourself or friends. From scarves and candles to greeting cards and baby onesies to earrings and pillows, there’s something to please every shopper. Stop in Thursday or Saturday to shop to your heart’s content.

Each month, our staff will share their favorite “picks” of the month, whether they be TV shows, movies, books, podcasts, recent events, recipes they’ve tried, dishes from restaurants, places they’ve visited or a mix of a few.

Sherri is the owner and haunted history tour guide of a company she began in 2003 in Stark County. Haunted Heartland Tours has been voted in the top five Best Ghost Tours in America by USA Today. Sherri has been featured on various paranormal television and radio shows. Her tours take her into various states with special haunted tours in Ireland and Scotland. She is the author of “Haunted Stark County” and “The Haunted History of the Ohio State Reformatory.” Her website is HauntedHistory.net.

Advancements in medicine and technology mean breast cancer patients are living longer, and many cancers are now treated as chronic illnesses rather than terminal diseases. Life expectancy, even for multiple stage 4 cancers, has risen.