Train exhibit joins butterflies at Stan Hywet Hall
and Gardens
Stan Hywet reopens April 1
By Kathleen Folkerth
WEST AKRON — Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens will reopen April 1 with the return of its popular butterfly exhibit and a new display of model trains and uniquely crafted models.
At a preview event March 23, about 50 butterflies were making their home in Corbin Conservatory, which opened last year at Stan Hywet. Many more will have emerged from their chrysalises by the time the exhibit reopens.
The butterfly exhibit was an overwhelming success last year, according to Hank Lynch, president and chief executive officer of Stan Hywet, who said 80,000 people saw the exhibit in 16 weeks. The feature also brought something to Stan Hywet that has been a rarity, he said — families with small children. And they kept coming back.
“Children would encourage their parents and grandparents to come again and again,” Lynch said.
The exhibit also brought more young adults to the grounds, he added.
“Once they saw the butterflies, they realized we’re something everyone can appreciate and value,” Lynch said.
The nonprofit hopes to continue that success with Trains Across the Valley, which is in another wing of the Corbin Conservatory. The exhibit features three model trains, including the familiar red-and-yellow engine of the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad. One train runs on a track overhead while the other two weave around an intricate valley crafted by artist Paul Busse, of Alexandria, Ky.
Busse, a landscape architect by trade, now does 95 percent of his business in “train gardens,” which feature structures and buildings he and his staff have crafted using natural objects such as twigs, acorns and gourds. His “trainscapes” have been featured at the New York Botanical Garden and Chicago Botanical Garden. In 2007, Holden Arboretum in Kirtland will host an outdoor train garden Busse will create.
The Stan Hywet exhibit is being sponsored by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. To mark the company’s support, Busse created replicas of the airdock (out of a stump) and the company’s clock tower. The exhibit also features a model of the Everett Road covered bridge in Bath.
Lynch would like to see other interested companies or organizations become sponsors in the coming months, and Busse will construct models of their significant buildings to add to the exhibit, which will remain on display until the end of December.
Beginning April 1, the exhibits at Corbin Conservatory will be open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every day of the week. Admission is $8 for adults, $2 for youths ages 13-17 and free for children ages 12 and younger and Stan Hywet members. For more information, call (330) 836-5533 or visit www.stanhywet.org.
 
A replica of a Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad train passes the Goodyear airdock, one of three local landmarks featured in the new train garden exhibit. Photos: Ken Crisafi
One of the three model trains featured at Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens passes overhead on a track running on bridges made of all-natural materials.
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