Ravenna’s Balloon A-Fair is back for another year. The annual festival in Portage County which runs until Sunday is a celebration of hot air ballooning and is a big draw for both residents and tourists.

It’s rooted in Ravenna's history, a nod to a different, much smaller type of balloon, known around the world.

Ravenna was once a manufacturing powerhouse, and one of the companies that called the city home during the 20 th century was the Oak Rubber Company, known for its toy rubber balloons.

Established in 1916 in Akron, Oak Rubber moved to Ravenna a year later, according to documents from the Portage County Historical Society. At the time, Ravenna was a growing city; The presence of transportation links, namely several railroad lines, made the city attractive to business. The company

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