Friday, August 31, 2012

Pelee Island weekend on North Shore Drive.



Pelee Island weekend on North Shore Drive.

At its western end of Pelee Island, North Shore Road. branches to become West Shore Drive and the road also continues straight ahead as a second branch to become Sheridan Point Road. 

Sheridan Point Road.  Yes, that branch is probably named after General Philip Sherman, Civil War leader. 

A small stone house stands with dignity on the lake shore at Sheridan Point.  Could the Civil War General have vacationed in this building?

Last week-end, Pelee Island was again a perfect destination.. Gentle breezes, beautiful sun during the daylight hours and at night, the moon-glow of a half-moon on the surface of the lake.

But, there was one episode, just a brief moment actually, when the political climate of modern life interfered with the old fashion charm of the island.

An obstruction stopped traffic on West Shore Drive and drivers were stopped or slowed to a crawl.  One bicyclist had dismounted and was walking his bike past the obstruction.

The obstruction?  A mixed group of adults and youths, perhaps fifteen or eighteen individuals,  sitting on the edge of the road; not the shoulder or berm, but the edge of the roadway where people drive their vehicles and ride their bikes.

A few, two or three, of the group were dressed in white robes.  Memories of chanting Hare Krishna beggers came to mind.  The rest of the settled group were in ordinary summer togs.

Most of the drivers and passengers reacted to the stupidity of the group with appropriate comments.  The best comment, not mine, was “these are Occupy Pelee protestors.”

Eventually, we started moving and progressed out of the traffic jam.  An OPP officer was driving to the problem. OPP is Ontario Provincial Police.

By the time we returned to the protest ground zero, the safety hazards were gone.

Idyllic life on Pelee Island was restored.

North Shoe Road is the preferred address on Pelee Island.  Glorious sunsets.  Gentle breezes.  Friendly neighbors.  Indulgent hosts.
 

WCRX-LP Community Programming Advisory Committee meeting set for October 1, 2012.

WCRX-LP Community Programming Advisory Committee meeting for Bexley Public Radio set for 4:30 p.m. Monday October 1, 2012.

The meeting location will be announced on the prior Friday morning to individuals who RSVP by the prior Thursday.

Community residents are welcome. 

Admission is $10.00 per person.

Cash, check, money order and ID.

Please RSVP to wcrxlp@yahoo.com or voice mail to (614) 235-2929 no later than the Thursday prior to the meeting.

Community Programming Advisory Committee  is a public  committee of
Bexley Public Radio Foundation
2700 E. Main St., Suite 208
Columbus, OH 43209

Bexley Comedy Writers Guild meeting set for October 1, 2012..

Bexley Comedy Writers Guild meeting for Bexley Public Radio set for 4:00 p.m. Monday October 1, 2012.

The meeting location will be announced on the prior Friday morning to individuals who RSVP by the prior Thursday.

Community residents are welcome. 

Admission is $35.00 per person.

Cash, check, money order and ID.

Please RSVP to wcrxlp@yahoo.com or voice mail to (614) 235-2929 no later than the Thursday prior to the meeting.

Bexley Comedy Writers Guild is a public  committee of
Bexley Public Radio Foundation
2700 E. Main St., Suite 208
Columbus, OH 43209

Ohio Public Media Cooperative meeting set for October 1. 2012. , 2012.

Ohio Public Media Cooperative meeting for Bexley Public Radio set for 3:30 p.m. Monday October 1, 2012.

The meeting location will be announced on the prior Friday morning to individuals who RSVP by the prior Thursday.

Community residents are welcome. 

Admission is $5.00 per person.

Cash, check, money order and ID.

Please RSVP to wcrxlp@yahoo.com or voice mail to (614) 235-2929 no later than the Thursday prior to the meeting.

Ohio Public Media Cooperative is a public  committee of
Bexley Public Radio Foundation
2700 E. Main St., Suite 208
Columbus, OH 43209

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Night sounds.


Night sounds. 

Some of these are audible in Bexley.  Some German Village.  Some Lake Erie.  Some elsewhere.  They are all distinctive as night sounds compared to the same sound heard in the daytime.  Did I miss any?  Let me know with a comment at the bottom of this entry.

Morning paper hitting the front door.

Freight train horn..

Ship’s fog horn.  Fog horn on shore-side facility.

Carillon.music.

Church bell ringing the hours.  How late in the night, how early in the morning?

Interstate highway traffic.

The dependable 5:55 a.m. automobile.  I always imagined that the driver was the police department dispatcher going to headquarters for the beginning of his shift.  When the new police department was built in North Bexley, the 5:55 a.m. driver continued his regular route.  I still wonder who he is and what he does.  I stopped using an alarm because of him.

Fireworks and firecrackers.

Handguns.

The rustling of leaves in a gentle summer breeze.

Thunder and lightening.

Wind tunnel at airport.

Races at Columbus Motor Speedway.

Clippers at their old stadium.

Rock ‘n roll  concerts at Byers amphitheater.

Marching bands.

Food supply semi-trucks delivering to Guiseppe’s.

Police helicopters.

A solitary propeller-driven airplane.

HELP BEXLEY PUBLIC RADIO UPGRADE ITS ANTENNA. SEND YOUR MONEY PROMPTLY. BE GENEROUS.

Bexley Public Radio Foundation broadcasting as
WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM, Local Power Radio
2700 E. Main St., Suite 208
Columbus, OH 43209
Voice (614) 235 2929
Fax (614) 235 3008
Email wcrxlp@yahoo.com
Blog http://agentofcurrency.blogspot.com

Bexley Public Radio Foundation is exempt from federal taxes under IRC Section 501(c)(3). Donations are deductible from federal income taxes for individuals who itemize. Checks may identify the payee as Bexley Public Radio Foundation or WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM.

Design is copyright 2012. All rights reserved. Bexley Public Radio Foundation. Text is copyright 2012.  All rights reserved. Bexley Public Radio Editorial Collective.

Monday, August 20, 2012

George Fabe. RIP. 1921 --- 2012


George Fabe was a building contractor in Cincinnati.  For eight years, George was Director of the Ohio Department of Insurance for Governor Dick Celeste. 

George died July 28 and a memorial service was held last Saturday at Cincinnati’s University Club.

About one hundred twenty five guests attended the memorial. Six speakers painted  word-portraits of a loving, attentive father, successful builder and active citizen

All of the speakers mentioned George’s public service at the Ohio Department of Insurance.

Eight grandchildren offered their recollections of George.  One grandson remarked, to appreciative laughter of the audience, “Grandpa always asked me ‘do you need money?’and I always said ‘Sure.’

I worked for George for almost eight years, all but the first ninety days of his appointment.  From my vantage point, I witnessed George lead projects that modernized the insurance department, expanded its staff and restruck the balance of regulation to protect policyholders and company solvency. 

At the end of his eight year tenure, George had built a regulatory institution with modern legal authorities and a staff large enough to respond effectively to an aggressive financial industry. 

Including myself, only three people from Columbus attended the memorial.  The other two central Ohio residents in attendance were Egle Gatins, an artist and Neil Rector, a regulatory consultant who had been George’s deputy. 

I didn’t recognize anyone from the insurance industry in attendance. In a poignant way, that fact alone is a tribute to the man.

A memorial program was distributed at the University Club.  A photo of George, in one of his usual Brooks Brothers suits and striped ties was on the program cover.  A slide show of color photos, confirmed what I had guessed when I first looked at the program cover.  The necktie was blue and maize.  I said to myself “I know that tie” and therein lies a story about George’s relationship with the insurance industry.

One of the insurance industry’s antagonists to George and his department was a partner at the Bricker law firm.  Although George and that particular lawyer disagreed on virtually everything, they maintained apparently cordial relations.  No.  “Cordial” is too positive..  George was civil to the attorney.  Their paths crossed regularly at the Statehouse when they offered testimony on proposed insurance legislation.  While their paths crossed regularly, George and the lawyer never had crossed swords in a public venue. 

Then one day at the House insurance committee, all decorum was abandoned.  George and the lawyer started shouting abuse at one another which quickly descended into raw name-calling.   

Who remembers what they were fighting about and who started the fight?   

The committee chairman was Representative Mike Stinziano.  He used his gavel effectively and the two men stopped their name-calling.  An awkward silence filled the committee room. 

Chairman Stinziano broke the silence with a statement that “Well gentlemen, I think we all know that you disagree about a lot of matters, but it is quite apparent to me that you agree on one thing.” 

George and the lawyer looked perplexed and waited quietly for the chairman to explain. 

Chairman Stinziano said “You share the same taste in neckties.” 

George and the lawyer were wearing identical neckties.

I learned about the story from a friendly lobbyist who called me almost immediately after the fight.  Good stories like this one are welcomed in government offices.  When the lobbyist finished, I went to Neil Rector, George’s deputy to tell him the story.  But the deputy had just heard the same story from another lobbyist.

But the identical neckties that these two men wore were not blue and maize.  That is the rest of the story.   

Neil and I decided that the likelihood was that neither George nor the lawyer would wear their ties again.  Perhaps  we should buy new neckties for the men.  New duplicate neckties.  I drove to Woodhouse Lynch and bought two identical blue and maize neckties.  Woodhouse clerk wrapped the ties in separate gift boxes.   Neil reimbursed me for half of the price.  He did complain about the price but in the end he gave in and willingly paid his half.

I delivered one of the gift boxes to the Bricker firm with a note to the lawyer that I was certain that he had already tossed his other tie into the waste basket and might be in need of a replacement.  I never got a thank you note from the lawyer.

Neil gave the second gift box to George who wore the necktie as a combat survivor’s badge.

Neil and I waited patiently for George and the Bricker lawyer to meet unsuspectingly wearing identical ties again. 

I don’t know if that ever happened.  At some point we told George about our prank.  He was amused. 

And, that is the story of the blue and maize tie that George is wearing in the photograph.

Happy trails, George.  You are missed.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Does Bexley need a bait store?

The municipal government is opening up Alum Creek to limited water sports.  With a grant from the Bexley Community Foundation the city will purchase eight kayaks for recreational use on Alum Creek.  The city has also received public money to provide access from public parklands to the waterway.

Creating easy access to Alum Creek will invite other boaters so Bexley residents can expect that Alum Creek will become a more lively public facility.

It is likely that the easier access to the creek will also invite fishermen to explore Alum Creek as a new fishing hole.  After the Alum Creek bike path was improved, fishermen joined bicyclists in using the Alum Creek as a public facility for enjoyment.

There is no bait shop in Bexley.

Going north and south from Bexley along the Alum Creek bike path for five miles in either direction you will not find a bait shop until Grove City ("Lee's Live Bait and Tackle" on London Groveport Road and Powell's "Scioto Bait and Grocery").

East from Bexley on Livingston Avenue, there is no bait shop until Pickerington's "Bassology Bait Company."

Going West, about three miles from Bexley, there is the venerable  "R & R Sports," a bait shop on South Front Street.

If Bexley opens a bait shop, "R & R" would be the nearest competitor.

Worms, crickets  and minnows, bamboo fishing poles, fishline and hooks.  A simple inventory.  Would that be enough to sustain a bait shop for Bexley?

Does Bexley need a fish bait shop?


HELP BEXLEY PUBLIC RADIO UPGRADE ITS ANTENNA. SEND YOUR MONEY PROMPTLY. BE GENEROUS.

Bexley Public Radio Foundation broadcasting as
WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM, Local Power Radio
2700 E. Main St., Studio 208
Columbus, OH 43209
Voice (614) 235 2929
Fax (614) 235 3008
Email wcrxlp@yahoo.com
Blog http://agentofcurrency.blogspot.com

Bexley Public Radio Foundation is exempt from federal taxes under IRC Section 501(c)(3). Donations are deductible for individuals who itemize their federal income tax returns and also for businesses.

Checks should be made out to Bexley Public Radio Foundation.








Does Bexley need a municipal armory?


Does Bexley need a municipal armory?

The Bexley community should discuss a dangerous fact.  Most households in Bexley have at least one gun.

The purpose of a local armory would be to provide safe storage for privately owned fire arms, ammunition and other weapons.

In American history, there was a time when municipalities and counties erected local armories where weapons were stored and repaired. Ammunition was also kept safe and dry in the local armory.  Local citizens received training in military arts at the armory.  Regular drill with rifles and sidearms was provided at the municipal armory.

The local characteristic of armories changed in the twentieth century.  Local militias were superceded by state national guard units and also US Army Reserve units. 

Armories became part of the national defense infrastructure and any connection to local gun-ownership by citizens was forgotten.

If the city government provided an armory available for use by residents, the safety of the community would increase.  Residents who presently own guns and keep ammunition in their homes would have a convenient, safe choice for storage at the armory.  Parents who are reluctant to have guns in their homes because of the risk of death and injury would have a safe choice for storage of firearms out of their homes and away from their children.

Should a local armory be privately-owed or a public facility? Should it be located within the munipal boundaries or nearby.  Should an armory be near the police station?

Wherever its location, the armory should not have signs identifying its purpose.

If appropriate storage charges are posted, the armory can be self-supporting..

Anyone interested in being appointed the Bexley Municipal Armorer?

  Does Bexley need a municipal armory for safe storage of firearms?

HELP BEXLEY PUBLIC RADIO UPGRADE ITS ANTENNA. SEND YOUR MONEY PROMPTLY. BE GENEROUS.

Bexley Public Radio Foundation broadcasting as
WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM, Local Power Radio
2700 E. Main St., Suite 208
Columbus, OH 43209
Voice (614) 235 2929
Fax (614) 235 3008
Email wcrxlp@yahoo.com
Blog http://agentofcurrency.blogspot.com

Bexley Public Radio Foundation is exempt from federal taxes under IRC Section 501(c)(3). Donations are deductible for individuals who itemize their federal income tax returns and also for businesses.

Checks may identify the payee as Bexley Public Radio Foundation or WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM.



Friday, August 10, 2012

Mortgage foreclosure review process.




Lose your house to foreclosure and lost money because of it?  The Federal Reserve Banks and the mortgage lending industry have helped to establish a process for independent review of the mortgage foreclosure process that you went through.

DEADLINE to begin the review is September 30, 2012.  To start the process of review, go to www.independentforeclosurereview.com.

If this review process finds errors in your foreclosure, you are eligible to receive compensation..

There are three requirements to be eligible for review:

  1. The property securing the loan was the borrower’s principal residence.

  1. The mortgage was in the foreclosure process (initiated, pending or completed) at any time during the two year-period January 1, 2009 to December 30, 2010.

  1. The mortgage was serviced by one of the participant mortgage services listed: 
·         
·        America’s Servicing Co.
·        Aurora Loan Services
·        BAC Home Loans Servicing
·        Bank of America
·        Beneficial
·        Chase
·        Citibank
·        CitiFinancial
·        CitiMortgage
·        Countrywide
·        EMC
·        Ever Bank
·        EverHome Mortgage Company
·        Financial Freedom
·        GMAC Mortgage
·        HFC
·        HSBC
·        IndyMac Mortgage Services
·        MetLife Bank
·        National City Mortgage
·        PNC Mortgage
·        Sovereign Bank
·        SunTrust Mortgage
·        U.S. Bank
·        Wachovia
·        Washington Mutual
·        Wells Fargo
·        Wilshire Credit Corporation

DEADLINE to begin the review is September 30, 2012.  To start the process of review, go to www.independentforeclosurereview.com.

WCRX-LP, Bexley Public Radio on Twitter 

Thursday, August 9, 2012

The green radio choice: Bexley Public Radio.

Green. The public radio green choice is still WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM. Celebrate the lower energy requirements for LPFM.

Big power blasters like WOSU and WCBE consume lots of energy. These big stations have gluttonous appetites for anthracite.

WOSU alone engorges itself on almost a shovel full of coal every eighteen minutes of broadcast.

Think WOSU. Think coal. Think pollution.

Reflect on WCRX-LP. Visualize low energy use. Know that Bexley Public Radio means responsible stewardship of energy resources.

To know green, think Bexley Public Radio.

HELP BEXLEY PUBLIC RADIO UPGRADE ITS ANTENNA. SEND YOUR MONEY PROMPTLY. BE GENEROUS.

Bexley Public Radio Foundation broadcasting as
WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM, Local Power Radio
2700 E. Main St., Suite 208
Columbus, OH 43209
Voice (614) 235 2929
Fax (614) 235 3008
Email wcrxlp@yahoo.com
Blog http://agentofcurrency.blogspot.com

Bexley Public Radio Foundation is exempt from federal taxes under IRC Section 501(c)(3). Donations are deductible from federal income taxes for individuals who itemize. Checks may identify the payee as Bexley Public Radio Foundation or WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM.

Design is copyright 2009. All rights reserved. Bexley Public Radio Foundation. Text is copyright 2009 and 2010. All rights reserved. Bexley Public Radio Editorial Collective.

POSTED BY WCRX-LP EDITORIAL COLLECTIVE AT 8:54 AM 0 COMMENTS

Friday, August 3, 2012

Dr. Hilda Glazer new president of Temple Beth Shalom.


Dr. Hilda Glazer, who recently was named president of New Albany’s Temple Beth Shalom Board of Trustees, said she is focusing her tenure on maintaining a healthy congregation.

“We just completed a capital campaign to reduce our debt load and have been working on facilities maintenance and planning for the past few years,” said Dr. Glazer, who is chair of the department of Education Psychology for Capella University. “Now, as the recession continues, we need to focus on maintaining the health of the congregation and supporting our membership.”

Born in Baltimore, Md., and raised in a “classically Reform” congregation, Dr. Glazer and her husband, Dr. David Stein (himself a faculty member of The Ohio State University's College of Education), became members of Temple Beth Shalom in 2000. A Beth Shalom board member since 2006, Dr. Glazer noted the congregation's many changes in recent years.









Founded in 1977, Temple Beth Shalom met for 20 years in a rented facility in Columbus. In 1997, the congregation moved to its own synagogue in New Albany. Today, the congregation boasts the membership of more than 500 central Ohio families, served by three rabbis – Dr. Rabbi Howard L. Apothaker, senior rabbi; Rabbi Benjy A. Bar-Lev, associate rabbi and director of education, and Rabbi Deborah Lefton, Jewish identity director.

“We're not the same congregation we were even five years ago,” said Dr. Glazer. “We've grown quite a bit, and we need to make sure that we keep our members involved and engaged in order to grow again in the future.”

Dr. Glazer, who earned her leadership stripes as the president of the Central District Women of Reform Judaism, noted that strengthening membership actually is a movement toward the future.

“We have to ask ourselves how much do we want to grow the congregation when we're ready to bust out of the building? Now is not the time to build a new, multi-million dollar facility. For the next couple of years – at least until the economy starts to move again – we need to focus on the engagement of the people who already are members,” she said.

To do so, she said, Beth Shalom's board has appointed a Strategic Planning Committee, led by board member Marc Ankerman. “The committee is encouraging members to find 'touch points' around the Temple where they can become more involved. Our theme is that every member should have a 'touch' in the health of the shul and the congregation,” she said.

“Now is the time for stability. Then, in a couple of years, we can ask ourselves what we need to do in the future,” she said. “We're hoping that is what the Strategic Planning Committee and its work will show us – what does the congregation want, and how will we achieve those goals?”

“We would love to see every member of Temple Beth Shalom become more active in this joyful, personal, and welcoming congregation,” she said. “It will be the foundation of what will sustain us in the future.”
ies.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Protecting the Russian language. Riots in the Ukraine.

The Financial Times reports that there is a legislative proposal in the Ukraine to protect the Russian language.  Ukrainian is the local language. 

The Russian language prospered during the Russian Empire and the seventy years when the Soviet Union dominated smaller states like the Ukraine.

Once the Soviet Union came untangled in 1991, Russian speakers lost the political support from Moscow and Ukrainian speakers asserted their language and culture.

Victor Yanukovich is President of the Ukraine and the leader of the Regions Party that controls the Ukraine parliament. There are parliament elections in October and many believe that the legislative proposal to protect the Russian language is an effort to attract Russian speakers to the polls to support Yanukovich's party.

What caught my attention in the article was that there were demonstrations in Kiev that escalated into rioting.

Rioting.

I wonder how many countries have two official languages.  Canada and the UN (I know the UN isn't a country but I imagine there are many international organizations that have multiple official languages).  A quick google-search comes up with reference to multiple local languages as having official status in India (I knew that from the India section of my old stamp collection).  Google also reports that South Afrika has two official languages, namely English and Afrikaans.

The thought of my stamp collection reminded me that Ukrainian and Russian stamps are distinctive because of the graphic beauty of the alphabets that each language uses. Each language uses a different variation of the Cyrillic alphabet. There are similarities and overlaps of some letters but the graphic effect of the letters is pleasing.

Recall the short commercial bi-lingual signs in Canada businesses with French texts and English texts.  Visually, these Canadian signs are pure vanilla, and probably in Helvetica type face.

Imagine these same same signs in Russian and Ukrainian languages printed in related, but distinct Cyrillic letters. What a graphic delight to anticipate.  the Ukrainian alphabet looks like this:

А а Б б В в Г г Ґ ґ Д д Е е Є є Ж ж З з И и
І і Ї ї Й й К к Л л М м Н н О о П п Р р С с
Т т У у Ф ф Х х Ц ц Ч ч Ш ш Щ щ Ь ь Ю ю Я я
 
And the Russian alphabet looks like:

А
/a/
Б
/b/
В
/v/
Г
/ɡ/
Д
/d/
Е
/je/
Ё
/jo/
Ж
/ʐ/
З
/z/
И
/i/
Й
/j/
К
/k/
Л
/l/
М
/m/
Н
/n/
О
/o/
П
/p/
Р
/r/
С
/s/
Т
/t/
У
/u/
Ф
/f/
Х
/x/
Ц
/ts/
Ч
/tɕ/
Ш
/ʂ/
Щ
/ɕɕ/
Ъ
/-/
Ы
/ɨ/
Ь
/ʲ/
Э
/e/
Ю
/ju/
Я
/ja/










Can't wait to see the bi-lingual signs.






























HELP BEXLEY PUBLIC RADIO UPGRADE ITS ANTENNA. SEND YOUR MONEY PROMPTLY. BE GENEROUS.

Bexley Public Radio Foundation broadcasting as
WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM, Local Power Radio
2700 E. Main St., Suite 208
Columbus, OH 43209
Voice (614) 235 2929
Fax (614) 235 3008
Email wcrxlp@yahoo.com
Blog http://agentofcurrency.blogspot.com

Bexley Public Radio Foundation is exempt from federal taxes under IRC Section 501(c)(3). Donations are deductible from federal income taxes for individuals who itemize. Checks may identify the payee as Bexley Public Radio Foundation or WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM.

Copyright 2012. All rights reserved. WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM Editorial Collective.







Reprise: It is time for the 2012 Hartford Fair. Bexley Public Radio visits the 2009 Hartford Fair

The 2012 Hartford Fair begins Sunday August 5 and runs through Saturday August 11, 1012.  The following text is Bexley Public Radio's review of the 2009 Hartford Fair.

The Hartford Fair is an independent fair and always presents authentic events and exhibits.
 

Bexley Public Radio Review of 2009 Hartford Fair.


The Drive to Croton and Hartford Fair.

We leave Bexley with the Mark and Judy Scurci at a little before five. A hot humid late afternoon.

Destination is the 2009 Hartford Fair, one of the three independent fairs in Ohio. We head for Gahanna on the route to Croton.

Gahanna

US 62 is not busy but passing through Gahanna, there is noticeable pedestrian traffic for the Creekside restaurants and Gahanna Gallery Walk. A music concert by the JuJu Bees is scheduled for later this evening at the Creekside Plaza.

New Albany

US 62 passes through New Albany. The city looks beautiful in the late summer heat. There is no traffic at all on the highway. No golfers, no joggers, no walkers. Most retail shops are closed at five o’clock so there is no commercial traffic. Some of the residents are probably on vacation in Michigan or weekending on Lake Erie. Any who remain behind are escaping the heat and humidity by staying inside with the air conditioning.

Johnstown.

After New Albany, US 62 follows an agricultural stretch. More corn than soybeans this year. The corn stalks are tall, green and lush. If this crop holds up, there will be a bountiful yield. The agricultural press is talking about a near record harvest and the US Department of Agriculture is estimating a 12.8 billion bushel harvest, second only to the 2007 corn crop of 13.0 billion bushels. The radio reports corn cash prices of $2.82 per bushel and $3.27 a bushel for December delivery. Farmers say that the ethanol market and the animal markets are maintaining steady demand for corn and keeping prices firm.

As we arrive at Johnstown, traffic picks up. An existing shopping center with a Kroger’s grocery is the reason for the traffic. Next year, it will probably be even more busy because a second shopping center is being constructed nearby along US 62.

We turn left at the downtown traffic light onto SR 37. For many years, this short stretch of road has been a First Amendment forum used by Johnstown residents.

For most years of the 1980s qnd 1990s, protest signs were planted in the front yards of the houses along SR 37. The signs protested the stench of the giant egg “factories” of Buckeye Eggs that are located on Croton Road. The owner of Buckeye Eggs was a German named Anton Pohlmann who was eventually protested, regulated and litigated to oblivion by local residents, environmental groups, the Ohio Department of Agriculture and Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

Pohlmann threw in the towel in 2003 and sold the egg operations to a company named Ohio Fresh Eggs.

Protests continue here. This year the signs on this stretch of road protest the Obama administration’s efforts to reform health insurance and healthcare in Ohio. About two dozen signs read “Stop Obamacare” “Read the Bill” “Stop Socialism Now” and “Say No To Socialized Healthcare.”

The charm of Ohio and America is that people aren’t afraid to express their opinions.

At the western edge of Johnstown, we turn right onto Croton Road. The six mile stretch of this road to Croton village and the fairgrounds is dominated by corm fields as lush as the ones we passed earlier on US 62.

As we pass the giant buildings of Ohio Fresh Eggs, there is little activity and some of the buildings look as if they are being disassembled and the machinery being removed.

Something is going on at the egg farms that isn’t getting press attention. (Note: when I return home a google search reports as the only recent activity a court ordered US EPA fine against Ohio Fresh Eggs for illegal discharge of egg wash water.)

As we get close to the fairgrounds, Republican Congressman Pat Tiberi yard signs fill the edge of the road. We wonder why the congressman has his signs out in full blossom? This is not a congressional election year and Tiberi has not announced for a local office?


Entering the Hartford Fair at Gate D
As usual, we take the northern-most entrance “Gate D” and that is where the first changes from last year are noticed.

There are no ticket takers at Gate D and the number of cars, trucks, utility trainers and animal trailers are significantly reduced. My first thought is that the economic turmoil has taken its toll on fair attendance.

Later I notice enough changes so that I speculate that the reconfiguration of the fair grounds has shifted the farm traffic to the southern-most Gate A.

We park the car. The air is still, hot and humid. The parking lot is dusty.

The ticket gate is near the animal auction barn. The ticket price is five dollars. No charge for parking.

The ticket taker is sullen and sounds like WC Fields when he asks how many tickets. He doesn’t tell us that he’d “rather be in Philadelphia” but his sullen attitude informs us that he’d rather be elsewhere. Probably somewhere taking a nap.

Not a positive start to the Hartford Fair adventure.

The concessions near the entrance include the Licking County Beef Cattlemen’s food stand, the Licking County Dairy Director’s ice cream and milk stand.

Sheep are being auctioned nearby in the Grubb Arena. The entrance is crowded with animal trucks, one from Watts Farm. The other trucks are unmarked.

By chance we arrive as the lamb on the block gets the highest hammer price of the day. The lamb is from Reindeer Acres farm and initially, the price is hammered at $600. Then it turns out the auctioneer mistook the final bid and had to reopen the bidding which went to $625 for bidder number 105, identified by the auctioneer as Three Hill Estate.

Introduction To This Year’s Fair Food
We leave the auction barn area and stop for a taste of fair food. We sample deep-fried mushrooms and also “Blooming Tasty Taters” with cheese sauce, vinegar, seasoning and salt.

The deep-fried mushrooms are much too hot to eat, let alone pick up. We walk to one of the merchant buildings while letting the mushrooms cool down.

During this walk I start to notice tattoos in the crowd. There are enough tattoos about to recognize an awful lot of bad drawing skills on most of the tattoos.

The people with tattoos are in the late twenties to forties age cohorts. Not too many teens and early twenties.

Is this an indication that the fashion of tattoos is wearing itself out.

I also wonder if tattoos a form of self-expression? I think of the protest signs at Johnstown and wonder if I’ll see any tattoos that protest the federal healthcare proposals.

Merchant Building
The merchant building is populated mostly with the same merchants and merchandise as prior years.

Sharon’s Quilts is offering Husqvarna Viking sewing machines.

The Gideon Bible Society offers Gospels. Last year, the leatherette covers were orange, this year choices of orange or sky blue are offered. The volunteers have easy smiles. Most of the other merchants seem listless and tired.

Other offerings in the merchant building are jewelry, cosmetics, Carrier furnaces and air conditioners.

The “Shirt-Corral,” a tee-shirt merchant, offers a green tee-shirt with a legend in yellow ink “Will Trade Sister For Tractor.” The price for the tee-shirt is $7.00.

Another tee-shirt merchant also offers Stars and Bars flags; these Confederate battle flags are the only flags offered for sale at this fair. Interesting.

A populist organization has a booth with a cheery woman and two friendly men. The name is We the People Forum with a website www.wethepeopleforum. They are generous with their literature and without asking, I am plied with “We have become constitutionally out-of-control,” “HR3200 America’s Affordable Health Choices Act-Not Affordable-Not Real Choice,” “Don’t Trade Your Doctor For A Bureaucrat,” “What Nationalized Health Care Will Mean for You,” “Repeal the Fed,” and “Ohio Free State.” All this without asking.
I wonder why the Move On. Org people don’t have a presence at the Hartford Fair.

As we approach the midway, we pass the Centerburg Athletic Boosters dining shelter, hamburgers for three dollars. The midway food venders are everything you expect: elephant ears, cheese steak sandwiches, Chinese food, apple dumplings, ice cream, corn dogs, french fries, fresh lemonade, pizza, deep-fried cheese cake, turkey leg and Kolikohns State Fair Taffy.

Other memorable offerings are fried Lake Erie perch and deep-fried Oreos. At least two different vendor offer fried baloney sandwiches.

A new offering is cinnamon coated nuts: pecans, cashews and walnuts.

The Midway

On the midway, there are the usual political stands. The Republican stand is at least twice the size of the Democrat stand. The Republicans have a staff of five people. They offer the usual pads of notepaper printed in red ink “elect Michael Smith auditor.”

The Democrat stand has no one present. Perhaps we walk by the Democrat booth at mandatory break time. The only give-away that catches my eye is a small computer disk called “consumer credit briefcase.” Its purpose, meaning or use is not obvious.

The Ohio Department of Transportation stand has an Ohio road map and other handouts including children games for travel.

The Licking County Master Gardeners offer a handout recipe for deer repellant. Milk, oil, dishwashing detergent, chili power, garlic powder and egg. Dilute, shake and spray. Kristin Price is the source.

Dinner On The Midway
We choose the dining stand of the Licking Valley Athletic Boosters for our meal. For $5.00 we get a chicken noodle bowl with choice of side (cole slaw, baked beans, potato salad) and hot dogs are $1.50. Other dinner menu items: shredded chicken, brats, Ham and cheese, two coney dogs and chicken breast (BBQ or Italian) all with a side and a drink for $5.00.

The dining stand is well staffed by the Licking Valley Athletic Boosters. There are nine, maybe ten people serving orders. In the kitchen two maybe three cooks.

At 6:30 p.m. the line is fast and the staff is friendly. There are about sixty patrons. The line moves quickly. Impressive for the crowd.

Competitive Agriculture, Domestic Arts and Crafts

Dinner done, we go to the Arts, Crafts and Floral Building to see the youth competition in drawing, flowers, fruits and vegetable growing, baking, collecting and photography.

Invariably, this building houses the agricultural highlights of the Hartford Fair.

Near one of the building entrances is the Drawing and Painting competition. The Best of Show is awarded to an oil portrait of a horse head and neck painted by Catherine Jula. Good representational painting. Media looks like oil pastels rather than oil or acrylic. Catherine is from Blacklick, Ohio.

Another Drawing and Painting Blue Ribbon for the 18 and under category of entrants goes to Julius Skestos of Granville for his space travel painting. It appears to be oil on paper and represents planets, other celestial bodies and, of course space ships.

The Flower and Flower Arrangement competition Blue Ribbon is awarded to Paula McDonald for a three feet tall cactus plant. Paula McDonald is also awarded a second Blue Ribbon for her entry in the Most Unusual Potted Plant. No identification for her unusual potted plant is offered. To my eye nothing looks unusal about the plant other than the size of its leaves.

The hot weather has dried out all of the flower arrangements so the display offers a sense of dying and death and reminds me that this is the end of summer and we are on the way to Autumn.

Fruits and Vegetables competition was the most impressive portion of these features. The Blue Ribbon winning white onions of Steve Ide were beautiful. Large, regular in shape and even in color. The appearance of Steve’s entry is picture perfect. Steve Ide is from Lewis Center.

Also appealing were the first and second place horseradish entries of Hazel Bias of Centerburg and Betty Johnson of Galena. Hazel’s Blue Ribbon entry was large at the top, continuing in a long regular root. Also in the horseradish competition were Mary Jane Fisher of Galena and Eloise Collier also of Galena. Fisher and Collier’s entries were less regular in shape than the wining entries.

Is Galena becoming a horseradish growing center? Three of four of the entries in this category were from Galena.

The tomatoes, potatoes, squashes, eggplants and cucumbers entered in the competition are abundant.

The winner of the Freak of Nature category was Michael Laughlin of Johnstown whose first-place entry is a misshapen zucchini. Dan Hamilton of Croton entered a cucumber shaped like a flattened fish. Betty Johnson of Galena entered a misshapen tomato.

The photography competition was once again too massive to have detailed comment. Mark Scurci and I estimate about 1,100 entries. The computer and digital cameras have made photography accessible and easy. In the category ages six through twelve, Mackenzie Lange of Commercial Point received the Best of Show ribbon for her picture of a sea turtle.

In the canned goods competition, Jody Chobuka of Alexandria received a Blue Ribbon for her canned pickled hot peppers and also a Blue Ribbon for her crabapple jelly. The presentation and appearance of her hot peppers and the crabapple jelly are excellent. The jelly in particular is remarkable with its vivid green color.

Gloria Runyon of Johnstown received two Blue Ribbons for her canned green beans and canned red beets. The green beans in particular are very attractively presented.

In the Baked Goods contest, the standout winner is Brittany Poff of Newark for her Ugliest Cake entry. Her entry is a very square block. Hard edges and swirled icing. The icing is acid green, black and white, and brown to reddish orange. Altogether the icing is a very unattractive mix.

The appearance of the icing is unappetizing by itself but the addition of lengths of blond hair into the icing makes it a disturbing spectacle.

Art critics would call Poff’s entry as a post-modern pastry. But the piece has closer associations with the floor of a hair salon and the freezees in an urban convenience store.

Other entries in this competition include worms and fake eyeballs. Poff’s entry is far and away the deserving entry because it captures an esthetic out of the ethers and is disturbing.

Poff takes the cake. But not too soon for us to have enjoyed the unsettling merit of her work.

Other competitions include a collection of rolling pins assembled by Victoria Barkman of Newark. One of the rolling pins was inherited by her from her great grandmother Ella Ashcroft (1883-1977).

The collection is the kind that is unsettling for any husband who has once been threatened by his wife’s rolling pin.

Horse Pull Competition
It is a quarter after 7:00 p.m. and time to watch the horse pull competition. We abandoned a survey of the amusement rides and carnival joints.

This year we stay only for the light weight horses. These are Belgians, muscular beasts who in teams of two can break eight-thousand pounds of deadweight and pull the heavy sled about fifteen feet.

Unlike horse racing and harness racing where the horses are named and identified, in horse pulls the competition teams are identified by their owners: John Roberts of Johnstown, Greg Mulberry of Florenze Kentucky, Lynn and Randy Arnold of Tippeecanoe, Ohio Tom Ferguson of Riggs Farms in Cameron, West Virginia.

The competition begins with 4,500 lbs of concrete blocks in a steel framed sled. The concrete blocks are loaded from a truck operated by Oberfields concrete building supplies of central Ohio.

As each leg of the competition is completed an additional 1,000 lbs of concrete blocks are added to the sled: 4,500 lbs becomes 5,500, then 6,500 and 7,500. Then the incredment is reduced to 500 lbs.

From the beginning the shirts of the teamsters were wet with their sweat on this hot and humid evening. In contrast, only after reaching 6,500 lbs did the horses lather up and show their sweat.

Sitting on the infield side, there is a man in a dark blue tee-shirt with white letters PETA emblazoned across the chest. There is additional text on the tee-shirt but at the distance, the additional text is too small to be legible. My curiosity is aroused: PETA at a horse pull? I think not.

I ask permission from my wife to walk to the infield to investigate further to read the small print. When I get to the infield, close enough to read the small print, I quickly conclude that it is worth the trip.

The back side of the tee-shirt has the text: “I think there is room for all of God’s creatures… right next to my mashed potatoes.” There is also a logo on the rear for “cultured rednecks” and a website for other products.

The text on the front is “PETA: People for the Eating of Tasty Animals.”

I return to the grandstand and the horse pull competition.

Randy Arnold’s team prances sideways and threatens the safety of the teamster. The horses twist the sled about 45 degrees.

Anna Wilson sitting nearby in the grandstands offers technical assistance to me on details of the competition. She lives in Gahanna. She doesn’t own horses but has come to the horse pull at the Hartford Fair for about twelve years with her father.

Her parents don’t own horses either but enjoy watch the animals compete. She says that her father explained to her that the family had to choose between having horses or having children. He and his wife chose the more expensive option.

The horses finally wear out at 8,500 lbs.

The first place winner is Jerry Riggs of Cameron, West Virginia whose team pulled the 8,500 lbs the full fifteen feet. The second place winner is John Stover of Marengo, Ohio whose final attempt pulled the sled of dead weight only 3 feet four inches.

The Mud Run

Mark and I abandon our wives when the heavy-weight Belgium competition begins. We want to watch from the infield but on the walk to the infield we hear the roar of gas engines and follow the sound to discover the Mud Run Contest. The location is a new venue near one of the large parking fields filled with cars, trucks and trailers.

The popularity of the Mud Run venue is the explanation of why Gate D was so empty when we arrived. The parking lot is closer to all of the events than Gate D.

The air is heavy with the smell of hot oil.

There is so much oil and gasoline fumes in the air that there is no doubt that if just one of the pick-ups breaks down, the fair grounds will be entitled to one year worth of carbon credits in any cap and trade law enacted by Congress.

Modified pick-ups and jeeps are run through a trough of mud.

A man standing nearby complains that the mud is too shallow and the trough should be watered to restore the mud to a proper depth.

He tells us a few technical details about the sport.

He says a good vehicle and good driver is called “three three three” but he doesn’t know why.

The man also says he doesn’t want to be identified in my notes.

The mud appears to be about two or three feet deep and challenges the vehicles. One of the jeeps almost overturns into the mud. The appeal of the sport is suddenly apparent.

The only flags decorating the competing vehicles are Stars and Bars. Is there a pattern developing?

Mark observes that the uniform of the drivers is “a safety helmet but no shirt.”

One of the drivers, Vic, has a cheering squad. “Go Vic, Go Vic.” Vic’s pick-up truck is decorated with the Stars and Bars. The pattern continues.

This is a new event at the Hartford Fair and the event is illuminated by the emergency lights of fire department pumper. The light is provided by the volunteer firemen of the Porter Kingston Fire District in Delaware County.

The crowd is younger here than at the horse pull.

When the Mud Run contest is finished, we return to the grand stand and look for our wives. When Mark’s cell phone rings, I see Egle and Judy in the infield. The cell phone is a call from Judy calling to learn where we can meet and return home.

We return to the Grubb Arena area. I ask at the Licking County Dairy Directors ice cream stand for some milk. They give me four half-pints of 2 percent milk. Free. The milk is fresh, cold and satisfying on a hot summer night.

The drive back to Bexley is uneventful.

Background
The Hartford Fair is located in Licking County where it shares boundaries with Knox and Delaware counties.

The first Hartford Fair was held in 1858 for residents living in Hartford and Monroe townships in Licking county and Hilliard township in Knox county and Trenton township in Delaware county.

By 1871 there were ten townships represented, with the annexation of Milford township in Knox county; Harlem & Berkshire township in Delaware county; and Liberty, Bennington and Burlington townships in Licking county.

St. Albans and Jersey townships were added from Licking county in 1908 as well as Miller township in Knox county and Porter townships from Delaware county.

Directions from Bexley
From Bexley, northeast on Johnstown Road, US 62 to Johnstown. At the intersection of US 62 and SR 37, left to Croton Road on the edge of Johnstown. Turn right on Croton Road, drive six miles to the village of Croton (also known as Hartford Village). Continue on Croton road for a half mile more to the fair grounds.

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