A great group of diverse friends of Northeast Ohio came together at the Hough Bakeries Complex, May 23, 2007, for the first in a series of open houses focused on redeveloping this historic property, and the surrounding neighborhood, all from within the "Inner Circle". In this case, the Inner Circle means those who choose to come together to collaborate in this initiative and where we come together... the very cool Inner Circle Restaurant and reception space, in the heart of the former bakery complex.

As explained in the invitation to this event,  "We are holding this open house to share these plans with you, at the facility, and learn your input and ideas. If anything happening here is of interest to you... we hope you will join us in this collaboration. To learn more about the planning for the Hough Bakeries complex and surrounding neighborhood, please browse through the information posted on realneo in this book, and at 7GEN here." We had a wonderful turn-out of fascinating people, from all walks of life and parts of town, who unexpectedly found they shared common interests that lead them to the Inner Circle that day.

  The most common shared interest was in touring the old Hough Bakeries complex, as that is an association that is still warm and fuzzy for most long-time Neoans. Also of great common interest was learning what is planned in East Cleveland - we were joined by Councilwoman Thomas and other East Cleveland government representatives, businesspeople and residents, including the owners of the Inner Circle, the "Hot Sauce Williams" family. We shared a great Hot Sauce Williams BBQ lunch - "World Famous" - and we all had great ideas for the Hough Bakeries complex, initiatives planned for the surrounding community, and The Inner Circle. If you attended, please feel free to post your thoughts on your observations and our discussions here. If you were not able to attend, we are planning an all day and evening open house next Friday, June 01, 2007, from 7:00 AM until after Happy Hour, which will be packed with good food and cheer, friendship, planning sessions, entertainment, and brainstorming, and there are plenty of seats at the Inner Circle for you to join us. Details to post on REALNEO soon... mark your calendar now!