No (potato) wedge issue: Jojo Festival set in Ravenna

Ravenna will play host to a festival this week that will celebrate the jojo − the breaded, deep-fried potato wedge with a strong connection to Northeast Ohio.

The Ravenna Jo-Jo Festival will run 4 to 8 p.m. Friday on the Ravenna Courthouse Lawn. The event will include about 10 food vendors, many selling jojos, plus potato-centered activities for all ages.

The event is being sponsored by the civics class at Ravenna High School and Main Street Ravenna.

Jason "JJ" Marinin, a student in the program, came up with the idea for the festival, drawing inspiration from the Potato Festival in nearby Mantua and the Pickle Festival in Akron.

"I came up with the jojo festival because I saw that every major city has their own food festival, like a wing fest or a pickle fest," Marinin said. "A few months ago, my family and I went to the Akron Pickle Fest, and that was really fun to go to and see."

That experience, Marinin said, made him think of jojos and how widely known they are in Northeast Ohio. Jojos, he said, are "what people call 'potato wedges,' but when we say it, no one knows what we're talking about."

"I think it fits really well with our community," he said "The process has been really fun and informative ... I'm super excited to see it really come together and see people come and have fun with their families. Seeing people talk about it outside is also very cool, and is a nice feeling seeing people appreciate it as much as I do."

"Outside of Northeast Ohio, they don't even call them jo-jos," added Addison Ribelin, one of the students serving as an "intern" at Main Street Ravenna to finalize last-minute details for the event. "They call them potato wedges, and that's not the same thing."

Unlike potato wedges, jojos are breaded, often in the same spiced flour that's on chicken, and deep fried. They are typically sold alongside chicken in Northeast Ohio, but the name elicits puzzled looks in many other parts of the country. Alfred Ajamie and Walter Abood, founders of Fiesta Pizza and Chicken, take credit for introducing jojos to the Akron area in the 1960s.

Arasin Hughes, director of Main Street Ravenna, said a Facebook event elicited interest from former Northeast Ohio residents.

April 26 was selected because the school year is coming to a close for the high school seniors planning it. Ribelin noted that Ravenna High School's prom is the day after the festival.

"We thought having it on Friday would allow people to dismiss right from school and come right to the festival," she said.

Michael Myers, another student intern, said activities will include a dunk tank, which contestants can deploy by throwing potatoes. Portage Metropolitan Housing Authority is sponsoring the tank.

Other activities include potato sack races and potato art.

Entertainers include Ravenna native Kendall Chalkwater and DJ Krooze and the Krew Way Experience.

Student Ryan Hall said a lot of work went into the planning, and he was grateful for Hughes and teacher Matt Wunderle for guiding the group.

"I can imagine hundreds of people, going around the different restaurants, getting jojos and enjoying it," he said. "People have fun with sack races, painting pumpkins, listening to music and dunking people. I believe that this event would be a huge success and hope it’ll have people come around Ravenna more often to eat and shop. "

Hughes said this is the first time Main Street has partnered with the high school to plan an event.

"I'm really excited about it, and I hope we can continue the partnership and bring other fun things to the community," she said.

Reporter Diane Smith, who grew up in the neighborhood of Fiesta Pizza and Chicken and considers jojos to be the perfect food, can be reached at 330-298-1139 or dsmith@recordpub.com.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Ravenna High seniors plan Jojo Festival for Friday