The Original Mattress Factory

We were able to tour The Original Mattress Factory in Cleveland on January 25. Two of our groups filled up the tours on this date and were rewarded for our drive in the cold weather. Two very nice gentleman led us around the actual factory where the mattresses are made. Although the noise of the machines made it a little difficult to hear everything that was said, we were able to watch the workers and didn't miss much of the information anyway.

The Original Mattress Factory makes their mattresses without compromising the original quality that was built in to their products. Many other mattresses these days are called "no flip" which really means you can't flip them because only one side is padded, but not here. Also, the Original Mattress Factory may be the only factory still using cotton batting in their mattresses. Most other companies have switched to polyester batting. It's details like that that give the Original Mattress their reputation for quality. Their other reputation involves their prices. Since they don't sell through distributors or middlemen, they can keep their prices low.

After the interesting tour, we viewed a short video about the company which included some fun commercials they've made. We were also encouraged to test out the mattresses in the showroom.
The staff were extremely friendly and kind, even making a point of complimenting our children on their good behavior. Apparently, we made an impression all the way up the ladder there with our well-behaved children. This tour was free for all, and I highly recommend it. It was one of my favorites so far.


Their website The Original Mattress Factory has more information about the mattresses, stores or tours, if you are interested.

The Pie Factory at Quaker Square

On January 19, 3 large groups of us went for a field trip to the Pie Factory at Quaker Square in Akron. For a fee of $7.95, each child was taken into the kitchen behind the scenes of the restaurant to stand around a prep table to "make" their own pie. Although the crusts were already made, the children used rollers to flatten the dough into a pie shape and place it into a pan. The filling was put in for them in many cases, and the children were able to choose a cookie cutter shape to cut the center of their top crust. This helped to identify their pies later when they were baked. They had a choice of apple or cherry pie.

Although the children seemed to enjoy their time, the tour was extremely rushed and the helpers seemed irritated and stressed. They didn't allow the children to do much on their own, even filling the pies and in some cases, placing the dough on the pie. There was no teaching at all about the baking process or the restaurant or even the history of the restaurant. Questions were discouraged or disregarded. I was also disappointed in the scheduling of the tours, as they were not straight with me about tour details until the last minute and we had to change our times, resulting in some people being late due to not receiving the information about changes.

We were told that the pies would be finished baking in about an hour, but it was more like 1 and 1/2 to 1 and 3/4 hours until the pies were baked and ready to go.
Although this does not reflect on the Pie Factory, there wasn't much to do for the 3 hours that we spent there that day (only about 30 minutes was spent making a pie). Quaker Square is hardly a fraction of what it was when I was a child and enjoyed strolling through the numerous unusual and interesting shops. Much of the shopping areas have been changed to business offices, so there wasn't much to see while we waited.
I did enjoy, however, getting to know some of the new members of our group during that time. Making new friends is always a worthwhile endeavor.

If you are interested in making your own pies, you can contact them at 330-252-0552. The pie making fee is $7.95 and there is also a charge for parking.

Hartzler's Dairy, Wooster

On January 13, a small group of us were treated to a yummy field trip at Hartzler's Dairy just north of Wooster.
Although they don't give an actual tour of the facility, we were able to view an interesting video and hear about the history of the company from a member of the Hartzler family. She explained to us how it all got started and why they chose to keep their milk and milk products pure and free of chemicals, hormones and other additives. They use organic milk provided by their own cows, so no antibiotics are found in their milk products. Also, they keep their milk in as natural a state as is allowed by using low-heat pasteurization and not homogenizing their milk. You might have seen their distinctive glass bottles of milk at your local grocery or natural foods store. Check out their website for more information on their milk and why they do what they do. You can also find info on scheduling your own tour.
Hartzler Family Dairy

At the end of the video, we were given chocolate milk to sample and free dairy related goodies for the kids. The tour price of $3.00 also included a cone or scoop of their amazingly creamy and rich ice cream. With flavors like pumpkin pie, mud pie, banana pudding, etc. we were not disappointed.