Kirtland Kiwanis Strawberry Festival achieves success in 2025 - The News-Herald
People enjoyed an abundance of fun, food and entertainment at the 2025 Kirtland Kiwanis Strawberry Festival.
The three-day celebration took place from June 12-14 at the Kirtland Schools campus on Chillicothe Road.
As the festival was drawing to a close on the evening of June 14, Kirtland Kiwanis President Kathy Talty said this year’s event was “terrifically successful.”
The festival marked its 65th anniversary in 2025. One reason why the event has achieved enduring popularity is because it’s very family oriented, said festival committee Chairman Frank Lyon.
“We have a lot of things for kids, as well as the adults,” he said.
Activities that appealed to children at this year’s festival included performances by balloon artist Swifty the Clown and a magician; an exotic animal show conducted by Jungle Terry; and a sidewalk chalk art contest, in which every participant received a prize. Kids and adults alike got the chance to go on amusement rides and play games provided by Lisko Family Midways.
“The ride company had some new rides we didn’t have a year ago, so it’s helped us out that way,” Lyon said.
Nightly musical entertainment also was performed by bands such as Ulterior Motive and Bad Betty.
As usual, the festival served up taste-tempting strawberry treats. Offerings included chocolate-covered strawberries, and strawberry shortcake, sundaes and supremes — which combine shortcake and ice cream.
Vernon Shaffer of Massillon was eating a strawberry supreme at the festival on June 14.
He traveled to Kirtland along with his wife, Dawn Shaffer, to visit their daughter, Jennifer Kunsman.
Jennifer is married to Scott Kunsman, and the couple have a daughter, 2-year-old Lily.
The Kunsmans accompanied Vernon and Dawn to the festival.
Dawn said she and Vernon were enjoying “just the whole festival atmosphere and spending time with family.”
For any visitors who wanted lunch or dinner before partaking in a strawberry treat, food trucks and booths were preparing items such as wood-fired pizza, steak hoagies, burritos and pulled-pork sandwiches.
Other highlights of the festival were a parade on June 13 and strawberry shortcake eating contests each evening.
In addition, on the night of June 14, Sylvia Vosicky was crowned as 2025 Miss Kirtland. She is a 2025 graduate of Kirtland High School and will be attending Ohio State University in the fall.
Kirtland Kiwanis uses funds that it raises at the festival to support the community.