Your Northeast Ohio Weekend Adventure Guide: October 9–11, 2026
By the second weekend of October, Northeast Ohio has stopped treating fall like a decorating theme and started behaving like fall.
The corn mazes are tall. The apples are everywhere. Cider has somehow become an acceptable beverage at every hour of the day. The trees are beginning to do what we wait all year for them to do, and you can finally wear a sweatshirt without regretting the decision by lunchtime.
This weekend gives us one of the best combinations of the season: scenic trains through Cuyahoga Valley, apple butter bubbling over wood fires, horse-drawn wagon rides, living-history harvests, superhero costumes on a farm, costumed dogs parading through Lakewood, Halloween nights at the Zoo, astronomy after dark and one last Medina Farmers Market built around the people who grow our food.
I researched Friday, Saturday and Sunday separately and checked the current event listings against official organizers wherever possible.
There is a lot here.
Don't try to conquer the guide.
Find something that sounds like your people and go make a day of it.
Weekend Weather
At the moment, Friday and Saturday look excellent.
The National Weather Service currently has Medina near 68°F and sunny Friday, followed by a mostly clear night dropping into the upper 40s. Saturday looks like the prize, sunny and around 77°F. Sunday becomes less certain, with partly sunny skies around 70°F and roughly a 50% chance of showers. National Weather Service
Translation:
Friday: Excellent fall-adventure weather.
Saturday: Use the whole day.
Sunday: Go, but keep the rain jacket in the car and check the radar before committing to something entirely outdoors.
The sun is setting around 6:55 PM Friday and 6:52 PM Sunday, so the days are noticeably shorter now. That's worth remembering if you're combining a hike with an evening event. Time and Date
If You Only Do Five Things This Weekend
Best Overall Fall Experience: Apple Butter Festival & Ox Roast
Century Village Museum in Burton does fall the old-fashioned way: copper kettles over open fires, apple butter you can actually help stir, ox-roast sandwiches, cider, apple fritters, crafts, kids activities and a historic village surrounding the whole thing. Saturday and Sunday, 10 AM–5 PM. Century Village Museum
Best Family Adventure: Mapleside Superhero Weekend
Pumpkin Village turns into Superhero Weekend, but the theme sits on top of an already ridiculous amount of fall activity: a seven-acre corn maze, hayrides, giant jumping pillow, 311-foot slide, pumpkin picking, playgrounds and 20-plus attractions. Mapleside Farms
Best Date Night: Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad Fall Scenic
Ride through Cuyahoga Valley instead of fighting traffic through it. Fall Scenic excursions run throughout the weekend with departures from Rockside, Peninsula and Akron Northside. Tickets currently range from $26–$39. CVSR
Best Free/Low-Cost Adventure: Medina Salute to Farming
Saturday's final Medina Square Farmers Market of the season becomes a celebration of local agriculture, with a petting zoo, beekeeping and cooking demonstrations, historic farm equipment and exhibits about farming in Medina County. 9 AM–1 PM, free. The City of Medina
Best Hidden Gem: Wayne County Farm Tour
Instead of visiting a “farm-themed” attraction, spend an afternoon actually visiting Northeast Ohio farms and agricultural businesses. The 60th annual tour runs Saturday and Sunday from noon–5 PM and is free. Visit Wayne County Ohio
Friday, October 9
Friday deserves a real plan this week.
There are several things happening that aren't simply smaller versions of Saturday's festivals.
Ride the Fall Scenic Through Cuyahoga Valley
Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad Multiple departures Friday afternoon and evening$26–$39 • All ages
One of the best ways to see Northeast Ohio's fall color requires almost no physical effort whatsoever.
I appreciate that kind of adventure occasionally.
Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad's Fall Scenic schedule has Friday departures including 1:55 PM from Peninsula, 3 PM from Akron Northside, 3:55 PM from Peninsula and 5:55 PM from Peninsula, with additional weekend service Saturday and Sunday. A café car is available.
You're not driving.
You're not staring at Google Maps.
Nobody in the back seat is asking whether you're there yet.
You sit beside the window while the Cuyahoga Valley rolls past.
By early October, that alone is worth doing.
Tickets can sell, particularly for prime fall weekends, so this is one I'd reserve instead of assuming you'll figure it out when you arrive.
Vintage Market Days: Fall Harvest Market
Wayne County Fair Event Center199 Vanover Street, Wooster Friday & Saturday: 10 AM–4 PM • Sunday: 10 AM–3 PM Friday/Saturday $10 • Sunday $7 • Ages 12 and under free
Nearly 100 makers, vintage curators and specialty vendors take over two barns at the Wayne County Fairgrounds this weekend.
Expect original art, repurposed furniture, vintage pieces, holiday décor, boutique clothing, jewelry, handmade items, food trucks and live music Friday and Saturday. Parking is free, and organizers even offer furniture-loading assistance for anyone who begins the day announcing, “I'm absolutely not buying furniture.” Visit Wayne County Ohio
Early entry begins at 9:30 for prepurchased-ticket holders Friday and Saturday.
This is a good rainy-weather backup, too, because much of the shopping is concentrated inside the fairgrounds buildings.
Fall Fest & Ski Swap at Brandywine
Boston Mills–Brandywine Ski Resort7100 Riverview Road, Peninsula Friday 1–8 PM
We are apparently close enough to winter that ski people have begun getting restless.
Brandywine kicks off its annual Fall Fest & Ski Swap Friday and continues through Sunday.
The resort itself confirms the event for October 9–11. Boston Mills Brandywine Resort
Friday's published schedule includes food trucks, fire pits, cornhole, pumpkin painting, free s'mores from 2–7 PM, live music from 4–7 PM, and a “Pray for Snow” bonfire from 6–8 PM.
The Ski Swap gives people a chance to buy discounted gear or consign equipment they've outgrown or replaced. Northeast Ohio Parent
There's something wonderfully Northeast Ohio about standing beside a bonfire surrounded by fall leaves while collectively asking the universe for snow.
We contain multitudes.
Make Friday Dinner Part of Medina Restaurant Week
Participating independent restaurants throughout Medina Through Sunday, October 11
If Friday has already been a long week, adventure can simply mean eating somewhere you've been meaning to try.
This is the final weekend of Medina Restaurant Week, featuring 20 participating independent restaurants and autumn menus around the area. Diners who sign up for the digital passport can check in at participating restaurants for daily gift-card drawings; visiting 10 locations enters you for a $500 gift-card grand prize. MAIN STREET MEDINA
Participating restaurants include places around Public Square and throughout Medina, with several offering special fall menus and prix-fixe dinners.
You do not need to visit ten restaurants this weekend.
That is not a challenge.
Though I respect anyone who interprets it as one.
Boo at the Zoo
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo5–9 PM Advance: $20 Zoo members • $22 nonmembers • Under 2 free
Boo at the Zoo is now running Thursday through Sunday evenings throughout October, which means Friday is a great night to go if your Saturday calendar is already packed.
The Zoo transforms after dark with more than a dozen trick-or-treat stations, character meet-and-greets, the Monster Mash Dance Party, free Boomerang train rides, a hay maze, performers, magicians and Halloween displays throughout the grounds. Costumes are encouraged. Cleveland Metroparks
Advance tickets are cheaper than day-of tickets, and the first 1,000 guests each night receive a complimentary trick-or-treat bag.
This is intentionally family Halloween, not “Dad gets chased through a cornfield with a chainsaw” Halloween.
Important distinction.
Friday Night Lantern Light Tour
Spring Hill Historic Home1401 Spring Hill Lane NE, Massillon7–8 PM$10 adults • $5 ages 6–17 • 5 and under free
Here's a different kind of Friday night.
Guests walk up a lantern-lit lane toward an 1821 farmhouse and experience Spring Hill as visitors might have more than 200 years ago.
The tour is intentionally dimly lit and focuses on the sights, sounds and atmosphere of the historic property after dark. It runs rain or shine, is capped at just 25 guests, and reservations are required. Visit Canton
It's historical without being a classroom.
Atmospheric without turning into a haunted house.
And a very good date-night choice for someone who likes history more than crowds.
Ohio's Ancient Skywatchers + Night Sky Viewing
Observatory Park, Montville Township Ancient Skywatchers: 7–8 PM Night Sky Viewing: 8–11 PM Free
This is my Friday-night outdoor pick.
Geauga Park District begins the evening with Ohio's Ancient Skywatchers, then moves into free public night-sky viewing until 11. Geauga Park District |
The Friday forecast currently looks excellent for it.
Bring a warm layer. Temperatures will drop quickly once the sun disappears.
Give your eyes time to adjust.
And maybe resist looking at your phone every thirty seconds.
The thing you're trying to see is considerably farther away and has been there longer.
Halloween Drive-Thru at Lake Metroparks Farmpark
8800 Euclid-Chardon Road, Kirtland6:30–8:30 PM$27.50 per carload • Online tickets required
If your kids enjoy Halloween but aren't ready to be chased by someone with fake blood on their face, this is a smart option.
Families stay in their own vehicle and drive Farmpark's roadways after dark through “playfully frightful” scenes and displays. Tickets are sold online only. Lake Metroparks
The $27.50 ticket covers the whole carload, which makes this one of the better-value Halloween activities for larger families.
There are a few specific vehicle rules: vehicles cannot exceed 20 feet in length or 6½ feet in width, everyone must remain inside the vehicle and tailgates/hatchbacks have to stay closed. The event runs rain, snow or shine. Lake Metroparks
Also heed Lake Metroparks' most useful instruction:
“Go before you go.”
There are no restrooms along the drive route.
Parents everywhere just nodded.
Saturday, October 10
Saturday is almost unfair.
The weather currently looks beautiful, and the calendar is loaded.
Salute to Farming — Medina's Final Farmers Market
Medina Public Square / Uptown Park9 AM–1 PM Free
This is the final Medina Square Farmers Market of the 2026 season, and Main Street Medina is ending it by turning the Square's attention toward the people and industries that make Medina County agricultural country.
Salute to Farming includes the regular market along with a petting zoo, beekeeping demonstrations, cooking demonstrations, equipment from the Antique Power Association and historical farming artifacts. The City of Medina
This is the morning I'd recommend even for families who don't normally make farmers markets part of the weekend.
Let the kids meet an animal.
Talk to the beekeeper.
Look at old equipment.
Buy apples from someone who can tell you where the tree is.
That's a different relationship with food than putting another plastic bag into a shopping cart.
And this weekend, you can combine it with Medina Restaurant Week for lunch afterward.
Hale Farm Harvest Festival
Hale Farm & Village, Bath10 AM–4 PM Saturday & Sunday Ticketed • Online options currently up to $17.59 including fees
Hale Farm is particularly good in October because the setting does most of the work.
Historic buildings.
Fields.
Farm animals.
Smoke in the air.
Leaves beginning to turn.
And this weekend, Harvest Festival layers nineteenth-century seasonal work and food traditions over the whole village.
Visitors can help with corn shucking and apple-butter making, watch historic cooking and food-preparation demonstrations, hear storytelling, play seasonal games and meet Johnny Appleseed at noon and 2:30 PM. There is also a pumpkin patch with free pumpkin painting when you purchase a pumpkin. 330TIX
This is history done correctly.
Not simply looking at an object behind glass.
Doing the work.
Smelling the food.
Watching somebody demonstrate how people actually lived.
Give yourself several hours rather than trying to make this a quick stop.
Apple Butter Festival & Ox Roast
Century Village Museum, Burton10 AM–5 PM Saturday & Sunday Adults $12 • Seniors/Veterans $10 • Ages 4–10 $6
If I had to choose one full fall festival this weekend, this might be it.
The heart of the festival is old-fashioned apple butter made in copper kettles over an open fire.
And visitors aren't merely watching.
They'll hand you the paddle.
The rest of the historic village fills with an ox roast, cider, apple fritters, beer and wine garden, crafters, live entertainment, pumpkin carving, apple-peeling competition, barrel train, balloon artist and bounce houses. Century Village Museum
There's a smell that happens when apples, wood smoke and October air get together.
Someone should bottle it.
Until then, Burton will have to do.
60th Annual Wayne County Farm Tour
Multiple farms and agribusinesses in northeast Wayne County Saturday & Sunday, noon–5 PM Free
This is our Hidden Gem of the Weekend.
For sixty years, Wayne County has been opening working agricultural operations to the public for a self-guided tour.
This year's route moves through Green, Baughman, Chippewa and Milton townships, highlighting family farms and agriculture-related businesses. The drive itself winds through the rolling countryside around northeastern Wayne County, and the event is completely free. Visit Wayne County Ohio
This isn't a pumpkin patch pretending to be a farm.
These are actual farms.
You can learn where food comes from, how modern agricultural operations function and how much technology, work and risk sit behind the word “farming.”
If your kids think milk begins in a refrigerator and corn exists primarily to become popcorn, take them.
Spooky Pooch Parade
Madison Park, Lakewood Festival begins 12:30 PM • Parade 2 PM • Awards around 3:15 PM Free for spectators
Northeast Ohio has many dignified fall traditions.
This is not one of them.
And I mean that affectionately.
Hundreds of dogs and their owners descend on Madison Park dressed in Halloween costumes before parading through the surrounding neighborhood. Awards include Best Pooch & Child, Best Pooch & Adult, Best Pooch & Group, Spookiest Pooch and Best in Show. Lakewood Alive
The pre-parade festival includes entertainment, kids' pumpkin painting and dog-related vendors.
Spectating is free. Dog owners who want to compete should check registration requirements with Lakewood Alive.
Even if you don't own a dog, this is worth considering.
You haven't really lived until you've watched a bulldog dressed as a taco being judged for presentation.
Mapleside Farms Superhero Weekend
Pumpkin Village, 294 Pearl Road, Brunswick Saturday 11 AM–9 PM • Sunday 11 AM–6 PM Themed-festival admission starts at $18
This is the big local family choice.
Superhero Weekend encourages kids—and adults who have been waiting for permission—to show up in costume.
But even without the theme, Pumpkin Village has enough going on to occupy most of a day: 20-plus attractions across more than 100 acres, including the 311-foot Super Slide, a giant jumping pillow, seven-acre corn maze, hayrides, cow and pig trains, playgrounds, duck races, corn crib and pumpkin picking. Mapleside Farms
The 2026 corn maze is shaped around an America 250 theme with a giant bald eagle, stars and flag-inspired pathways.
From the air, it looks impressive.
From the ground, it looks like Dad saying:
“No, no. I'm pretty sure this is the way.”
Twenty minutes later:
“Okay. Nobody panic.”
Fall Fest & Ski Swap at Brandywine
Brandywine Ski Resort, Peninsula Saturday 10 AM–5 PM
Friday's Fall Fest continues Saturday with the Ski Swap, food, fire pits, pumpkin painting, cornhole, bounce houses and free s'mores from noon–4 PM. Live music is scheduled from noon–3. Northeast Ohio Parent
Saturday also adds the new Run the Land — Race the Slopes event.
If somebody in your family is already watching ski videos and checking snow forecasts in October, just take them.
There's no stopping this.
Cuyahoga Valley Fall Scenic Train
Multiple stations and departure times Beginning 9 AM Saturday $26–$39
Saturday gives you far more departure choices than Friday.
The current CVSR schedule starts at 9 AM from Rockside, followed by departures from Peninsula, Akron Northside and additional trains through the day. CVSR
If Saturday's weather forecast holds, this could be spectacular.
The ideal plan?
Take the train and don't schedule anything immediately afterward.
Fall traffic around Cuyahoga Valley can be heavy, and October is not the month for trying to optimize every twelve-minute gap in an itinerary.
Go slowly.
That's sort of the point.
Boo at the Zoo
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo5–9 PM Advance nonmember admission $22 • Member $20
All of Friday's Boo at the Zoo activities repeat Saturday.
If you have younger kids, I'd strongly consider going early enough to enjoy the decorations before everyone reaches the collective sugar threshold at which rational conversation becomes impossible. Cleveland Metroparks
Sunday, October 11
Sunday is not an afterthought this week.
In fact, some of the most interesting outdoor choices happen Sunday.
Just keep an eye on the rain forecast.
Birding by the Canal
Towpath Trail — Clinton Trailhead2749 North Street, Clinton9–11 AM Free
Start Sunday quietly.
A Summit Metro Parks naturalist and Open Trail Collective lead an accessible walk along the Towpath Trail looking for fall birds and enjoying the changing foliage.
Binoculars are available to borrow on a first-come-first-served basis. Summit Metro Parks
This isn't a strenuous hike.
It's a reason to slow your walking pace enough to actually notice what is around you.
And if you have never tried birding because you don't own binoculars or can't identify anything?
Perfect.
That's why the naturalist is there.
Vintage Market Days — Sunday
Wayne County Fair Event Center, Wooster10 AM–3 PM $7 • 12 and under free
Sunday is the shortest and least expensive day of Vintage Market Days.
You still get the two barns of makers, vintage finds, furniture, art, clothing, décor and food, but at a slightly lower admission price and on a day when the rest of the region may be dealing with occasional showers. Visit Wayne County Ohio
If Sunday wakes up gray, this is one of the easiest pivots in the guide.
Hale Farm Harvest Festival — Sunday
Hale Farm & Village10 AM–4 PM
Everything from Saturday repeats Sunday: apple-butter making, corn shucking, historic cooking, Johnny Appleseed, fall games and the pumpkin patch. 330TIX
Sunday could actually be the better day if Saturday is already swallowed by kids' sports.
Which, by October, is entirely possible.
Apple Butter Festival & Ox Roast — Sunday
Century Village Museum, Burton10 AM–5 PM
The kettles will still be bubbling Sunday.
And if you want to turn this into a broader Geauga County day, there is another very good fall experience nearby in the afternoon.
Which brings us to...
Horse-Drawn Wagon Rides Through Swine Creek
Swine Creek Reservation, Geauga County1–5 PM Free • First come, first served
This is one of the simplest recommendations in the entire guide.
Climb aboard a horse-drawn wagon and ride through the woods as fall color develops around Swine Creek Reservation.
That's it.
No giant inflatable.
No soundtrack.
No twenty-seven-dollar pumpkin-shaped beverage.
Just horses, woods and October.
Rides last about half an hour, boarding is first-come-first-served, the last ride leaves at 4:30 and pets are not permitted. Inclement weather cancels the day's rides. Geauga Park District |
This pairs beautifully with the Apple Butter Festival in Burton.
Apple butter in the morning.
Wagon ride in the afternoon.
You have now achieved peak Northeast Ohio October.
720 MKT Gervasi Fall Shop Small
Gervasi Vineyard, Canton11 AM–4 PM Free admission • Free on-site parking
Gervasi Vineyard hosts 720 Market's fall Shop Small event Sunday with 45 seasonal and food-focused vendors around the Pavilion and Marketplace.
The event is free, and parking is available on the Gervasi grounds. Vendors include bakers, coffee, boutique apparel, woodworking, home goods, candles, embroidery, skincare and plenty of food. 720 Community Markets & Events
This also marks the final open day of Gervasi's Piazza for the season, so you can turn the market into lunch or an early date afternoon.
Coffee.
Market.
Lunch.
Walk around the grounds.
No one needs to wear a superhero cape unless they want to.
Fall Foliage Train
Wellington, Lorain County46485 State Route 18Departure: 1:30 PM Tickets available at the station
If you've already done the Cuyahoga Valley train—or want something smaller—the Lorain & West Virginia Railway offers a Fall Foliage Train Sunday afternoon from Wellington.
The ride heads through southern Lorain County during autumn-color season. Lorain County
This is also close enough to Medina to make it a realistic Sunday afternoon rather than a full-day expedition.
Check ticket availability before making the drive.
Mapleside Farms Superhero Weekend — Sunday
Brunswick11 AM–6 PM
Sunday is the final day of Superhero Weekend.
If Saturday sports schedules make Mapleside impossible, Sunday still gives you a full seven hours to run the maze, ride the hayride, attack the slide and debate whether buying another pumpkin is really necessary.
Spoiler:
You will buy another pumpkin. Mapleside Farms
Boo at the Zoo — Sunday Night
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo5–9 PM
Boo at the Zoo also runs Sunday evening.
Given Sunday's current shower risk, this one deserves a same-day weather check, but the Zoo's Halloween programming continues regardless of normal fall weather. Cleveland Metroparks
Halloween Drive-Thru — Sunday
Lake Metroparks Farmpark 6:30–8:30 PM$27.50 per carload
One final option if Sunday turns rainy:
Stay in the car.
The Halloween Drive-Thru operates rain, snow or shine and is entirely vehicle-based. Lake Metroparks
There are worse ways to finish a wet Sunday than driving through Halloween displays while everybody stays warm.
Hidden Gem of the Weekend
The Wayne County Farm Tour
You can find pumpkins almost anywhere in October.
What is harder to find is an invitation onto the farms that actually make Northeast Ohio's agricultural economy work.
The 60th Annual Wayne County Farm Tour is a self-guided route through farms and agribusinesses in northeastern Wayne County on Saturday and Sunday from noon–5 PM.
It's free.
It's educational without behaving like school.
The countryside is beautiful this time of year.
And it gives kids—and adults—a chance to understand that agriculture is not a decorative theme involving hay bales and plaid shirts.
It's work.
Science.
Machinery.
Animals.
Weather.
Business.
Generations of families.
That makes it worth the drive. Visit Wayne County Ohio
Ready-Made Weekend Plans
Stay Close to Medina
Friday: Pick a participating restaurant and make Friday dinner part of Medina Restaurant Week.
Saturday, 9 AM: Salute to Farming on Public Square.
Saturday afternoon: Head to Mapleside Farms for Superhero Weekend.
Sunday: Take it easy—or go back out for the Wellington Fall Foliage Train at 1:30.
Minimal highway time. Plenty of fall.
The Ultimate Old-Fashioned Fall Day
Saturday morning: Hale Farm Harvest Festival.
Spend a few hours learning about nineteenth-century harvest work, cooking and apple butter.
Afternoon: Drive into Cuyahoga Valley for Brandywine Fall Fest or a scenic hike.
Evening: Either ride the Fall Scenic train or finish around a Brandywine fire pit.
This is the itinerary for somebody who wants October without anybody jumping out from behind a wall wearing a hockey mask.
Family Halloween Weekend
Friday evening: Boo at the Zoo.
Saturday: Mapleside Superhero Weekend.
Sunday evening: Lake Metroparks Halloween Drive-Thru.
Three Halloween-ish experiences.
None require explaining to a six-year-old why a man carrying a chainsaw is “just pretending.”
Parenting victory.
Low-Cost Fall Weekend
Saturday morning: Salute to Farming in Medina — free.
Saturday afternoon: Wayne County Farm Tour — free.
Sunday morning: Birding by the Canal — free.
Sunday afternoon: Horse-drawn Wagon Rides at Swine Creek — free.
You could fill most of the weekend with actual experiences while spending almost nothing on admission.
Food is another matter.
October has cider donuts.
I cannot protect you from yourselves.
What to Pack / Know Before You Go
A few things will make this weekend considerably easier:
Layers. Friday night could fall into the 40s.
Camp chairs aren't needed everywhere. Check event rules before hauling half your garage.
Buy tickets early for Boo at the Zoo, CVSR excursions, Halloween Drive-Thru and limited-capacity Lantern Light Tours.
Bring binoculars if you have them for Sunday's bird walk, though Summit Metro Parks has loaners available first-come-first-served.
Comfortable walking shoes for Hale Farm, Century Village, Mapleside and Pumpkin Village.
Check Sunday's radar before horse-drawn wagon rides; rain can cancel them.
Halloween Drive-Thru: no vehicles longer than 20 feet or wider than 6½ feet.
Vintage Market Days: parking is free.
Century Village: mobile ticket confirmation is accepted at the gate.
Restaurant Week: sign up for the Medina passport if you want your check-ins to count toward drawings.
And one final October rule:
If someone says, “We won't need jackets,” put the jackets in the car.
Dad Joke of the Week
I told my kids we're going to the Apple Butter Festival.
My son asked how long we'll be there.
I said,
“Not too long. I don't want us to spread ourselves too thin.”
He got out of the car.
Which I consider acknowledgment.
Before Monday Finds You
October weekends are easy to waste because there are so many options.
We stare at fifteen event listings.
Debate which one is “best.”
Check the weather.
Check traffic.
Check whether everybody wants to go.
And sometimes we spend so long deciding that we stay home.
Don't do that.
Pick one.
Ride the train.
Stir the apple butter.
Take your dog to watch other dogs embarrass themselves in costumes.
Put the kids in superhero capes and let them disappear into a corn maze.
Climb onto a wagon behind two horses.
Look through a telescope.
Visit a real farm.
Eat dinner somewhere local.
You don't need to manufacture a perfect weekend.
You just need to participate in it.
Get outside. Fight the drift.
Live Stories Worth Telling.
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