by Gary Schenkel | Aug 31, 2011 | Events, Tourism
In my last post I divulged my Labor Day weekend plans: to stay in Champaign County, Ohio, and enjoy a day of homegrown music at the Madden Road MusicFest in Mutual, Ohio, on Saturday, September 3. (There’s still time to visit the site and buy tickets.)
Seems I won’t be alone in limiting my travel, according to the AAA.
Considering all that we have going on in Champaign County in the next few weeks, I figure why go elsewhere. Of course, if you’re reading this blog from outside Champaign County, Ohio, I –as a friend of the Champaign County Visitors Bureau – encourage you to do a little traveling in this direction.
Here’s a sampling of what’s on tap:
September 10-11 – The Mid-Eastern Regional Fly-in, one of the nation’s leading fly-ins of experimental aircraft, at Urbana’s municipal airport, Grimes Field.
Simon Kenton Pathfinders Bike Ride
September 11 — The 12th annual Simon Kenton Pathfinders Bike Ride to raise funds to extend the Simon Kenton Trail bike path. Registration 8-10 a.m. at the Urbana Station Depot, 644 Miami St., Urbana. Your choice of a 15-mile ride on the bike trail or 31- or 62-mile rides on country roads in beautiful Champaign County.
September 11 – Dedication of a new World Trade Center memorial—in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of 9/11—at Freedom Grove, a memorial park developed by the Urbana Rotary Club through private donations. The memorial, designed by renowned local artist Mike Major, features a beam from the World Trade Center.
September 16-18 – The Ohio Fish and Shrimp Festival, three days of mouth-watering, locally-grown seafood and other fare, live music, games, carnival rides, a shrimp peeling and eating contest and tours of Freshwater Farms of Ohio, the state’s largest indoor fish hatchery, just north of Urbana.
October 8-9 – The Champaign County Barn Quilt Tour, one of the largest such tours in the country, creatively weaves together a celebration of Champaign County’s agricultural heritage and the folk art of quilting. Eight tour stops are planned this year including the historic Piatt Castles, a dairy farm, maple sugar camp, the Mad River Farm Market and Robert Rothschild Farm. The stops feature everything from displays of quilts and antique farm machinery, kids’ activities, a wine tasting, an antique car show, farm and garden tours, artists, a farmers’ market and more. Year round visitors can take a driving tour of the county to see more than 70 vibrant quilt squares mounted on barns and other structures.
And off in the horizon… I see a squadron or more of B-25s approaching. I’ll leave that for another time.
by Gary Schenkel | Aug 20, 2011 | Events, History, Music, Tourism
I was looking forward to hearing my favorite living musical legend over the Labor Day weekend, at the Detroit Jazz Festival. But then I read online that Dave Brubeck’s “medical team” (mere mortals have doctors) advised him to cancel. Although still a virtuoso of the keyboard, he is, after all, a few months shy of 91.
While concerned for him, I’ve overcome my disappointment. Now I’m looking forward to my new Labor Day weekend destination: Mutual, Ohio (population 129).
More specifically, I’m looking forward to a brand new music festival, the Madden Road MusicFest, which will debut in Mutual’s old town hall (5854 E. St. Rt. 29, at the corner of S. Mutual-Union Road), Saturday, September 3, noon to 9 p.m.
Mutual, situated at the intersection of State Routes 29 and 161 and surrounded by farmland, is a mere six and a half miles from my house in Urbana and 170 miles or so separated from the distractions of the Motor City (though just 40 miles from Columbus or 45 from Dayton).
For the old town hall of Mutual, Ohio, the writing's on the floor, marked in dust: The building will debut in its new role, music hall, September 3 at the Madden Road MusicFest. Daniel Dye, at right, with his wife, Yasmin, and brother-in-law Scott Blanton take a break from getting the building ready for showtime.
The Madden Road MusicFest is all about the music—a mix of folk, bluegrass, rock, gospel and Americana, performed by talented central Ohio musicians, including the coordinator and headliner of the whole affair, local singer/songwriter Daniel Dye. Dye, who recently completed a solo European tour, wants to restore the building to become a regular, intimate concert venue.
Tickets for the Madden Road MusicFest (at a reasonable $10 for the day or $6 for a half day) will support the restoration.
Performances will be on the second floor, above the Town Hall Emporium, an antique shop that Dye’s mother, Janet Dye, has run for the last several years. The building also served as a school with a scaled-down basketball court (a slate scoreboard, marked “Mutual” and “Visitors,” still hangs on a wall on the second floor).
On September 3, the lineup will be The Muleskinner Band, Andolino, Rockin’ Chairs, Like A Child, the Kurtz Trio, and Daniel Dye’s own band featuring two nephews and a niece, Daniel Dye and the Miller Road Band. Also featured is jazz guitarist Johnny O, who will be holding court outside the old town hall, inviting guests to bring instruments and join him in some pickin’ and grinnin’.
If you like your music up close and personal and want to have a part in preserving history, the Madden Road MusicFest is the place to be. See you there!
One more thing: food will be available for purchase – also to help support the cause – along with coffee from Hemisphere Coffee Roasters, the subject of a previous Champaign Uncorked! post.
For more, visit the Madden Road MusicFest website and Facebook page (and “like” it).
And here’s a little bonus: a bit of Mutual history that parallels my abbreviated Labor Day journey, more or less….
Mutual, incorporated as a village in 1869, traces its roots back to William Lafferty, a Union Township farmer. In 1840, he told his neighbors he was leaving for Texas. A few miles into his journey, at Old Post Road, now State Route 161, one of his wagon wheels snapped. Near that spot he built a cabin. Others settled around him. They named their new haven Little Texas, a name that was ultimately rejected, apparently by mutual agreement. (Never fear, citizens of Mutual. I will never refer to your home as Little Detroit.)
by Gary Schenkel | Jan 10, 2011 | Tourism
A few of my friends on Facebook have been counting the days till spring. And meteorologists have been counting up the inches of snow we can expect on Tuesday.
In the meantime, while wrapping up a writing assignment for the Champaign County, Ohio, Visitors Bureau, I stumbled over a little trivia about the lowly and low-lying skunk cabbage.
The defiant skunk cabbage says, "Enough with the snow!"
Sure, it’s burdened by the onus of its odor. But the skunk cabbage has an uplifting characteristic—at least to anyone weary of snow.
You see, every year it’s the first plant to burst into bloom at the Cedar Bog Nature Preserve, south of Urbana. It usually does so in late February—even when there’s snow on the ground.
Unlike other plants, the skunk cabbage has the God-given gift of burning not just carbohydrates for energy, but also fat. Ah, to be a skunk cabbage.
In doing so, this early harbinger of spring creates enough heat to melt the snow around it, and give us all a gleam of hope.
Cedar Bog became Ohio’s first nature preserve in 1942 and is a National Natural Landmark. Just four miles south of Urbana on Woodburn Road, it’s a precious gem right in Champaign County’s back yard and home to several species of rare and endangered plants and animals. It’s a must-see attraction.
For a front row seat for the blooming of the skunk cabbage, be sure to attend Cedar Bog’s annual Skunk Cabbage Walk. The date is to be determined, by the skunk cabbage, of course, so look for announcements on the bog’s website.
by Gary Schenkel | Sep 24, 2010 | Tourism
Just a few notes from a busy, entertaining weekend in Champaign County, Ohio:
Hundreds of people accepted KTH Parts Industries' invitation to celebrate its 25th anniversary with a plant tour. With a good measure of gracious hospitality, the hosts kept the line moving with KTH's customary efficiency.
Last Saturday (Sept. 18) I helped staff the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce’s Barn Quilt Tour tent at KTH Parts Industries, Inc. – one of the tour’s seven stops. Along with hundreds of others, I joined in the company’s 25th anniversary celebration by taking an extensive plant tour—a long walk past lots of high-tech machinery, including dozens of robots. But even more impressive than the towering 3,000-ton press pounding out Honda auto frame parts is that KTH employs 800 people—more than any other local employer. Plus, 80 of the 180 people who started working there during KTH’s first year of operations are still on the payroll.
Impressed enough, I passed up a chance to be served ice cream by a robot. The line was long and I wanted to move on to the next thing on my itinerary….
The Ohio Fish and Shrimp Festival offers a pleasing mix of music and seafood.
Not having spoiled my appetite I enjoyed a satisfying meal of grilled trout, green beans and coleslaw at the Ohio Fish and Shrimp Festival at Freshwater Farms of Ohio, just north of Urbana. For the second year in a row I happened to get in the serving line at the same time as one of my steady copywriting clients. So, a little business with pleasure.
But I couldn’t stay too long. From another part of the farm, where he was helping the Urbana United Methodist Church youth group with children’s activities, my son Alex called me. He needed a ride home so he could get ready for the next thing on both of our schedules.
My son Alex. Catch him, the UHS band and a host of other high school musicians Saturday, Sept. 25 at the Graham Band Festival.
We had the Bellefontaine High School Marching Band Spectacular to get ready for. Alex is lead snare drummer for the Urbana High School Marching Band (and, as I’ve mentioned before, creator of this blog’s header), and I’m band bus chaperone/band announcer. Two other Champaign County marching bands – Graham and Triad high schools also performed. You have another chance to enjoy marching band music – the Graham High School Band Festival at 7 p.m. Saturday, September 25.
Edith and Charles Dyke, with the beginnings of his next American flag quilt, on the porch of the High Street Manor Bed and Breakfast.
Sunday I rejoined the Champaign County Barn Quilt Tour, stopping at the High Street Manor Bed and Breakfast in Urbana. There Charles Dyke, father of High Street Manor owner Carolyn Carr, gave me one of his skillfully crafted American flag quilts. He and his wife, Edith Dyke, a former president of the National Quilting Association and nationally known quilt judge, were pleased by the Barn Quilt Tour preview I had written about them for the Urbana Daily Citizen. Mrs. Dyke gave me a copy of the book 200 Years and 88 Stories, which commemorates Ohio’s bicentennial quilt project, which she was chosen to direct.
The flag quilt Mr. Dyke gave me.
From there I walked on to the Urbana University Student Center, another Barn Quilt Tour stop, which burst with the colors of 100 beautifully made quilts, a real showcase of local talent. The University also offered an enlightening look at Champaign County’s role in helping runaway slaves gain freedom. A collection of photos featured Champaign County homes that were part of the Underground Railroad. The photos are just a part of a Choose to Read Ohio grant the university received from the State Library of Ohio. This is a project I plan to visit in Champaign Uncorked!
Brenda Rutan with her Barn Quilt Tour quilt displayed at Urbana University.
And speaking of the University, stop by this weekend, September 25 and 26, for the University’s celebration of Johnny Appleseed’s 236th birthday. Check out the full schedule of activities here. And be sure to visit the University’s Johnny Appleseed Museum, home to the world’s largest collection of Johnny Appleseed memorabilia and information.
by Gary Schenkel | Sep 13, 2010 | Tourism
I began blogging here on Champaign Uncorked!—less than a month ago—knowing there’s much to celebrate about life in Champaign County, Ohio.
Backed by the Urbana High School Marching Band in the Hoopla Parade Saturday, we celebrated Urbana being named Best Hometown by Ohio Magazine.
This belief has since been confirmed on several occasions. The most public confirmation is Ohio Magazine’s selection of Urbana as Best Hometown for the southwest Ohio region. Urbana will be featured in the cover story of the magazine’s November issue. Thousands will be introduced to the life we enjoy here—and will be enticed to discover it for themselves.
The Champaign County Farmers’ Market has been named one of the four best farmers’ markets in the country in a contest sponsored by the American Farmland Trust. This award will be presented at the market on Saturday, October 9. (For those of you who haven’t discovered this local gem: the market is open 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday, May through October, at East Market and Locust streets in downtown Urbana.)
Two bicyclists in the Ruth I. Bentley Memorial Ride pass by the caboose at the Urbana Station Depot.
This weekend the county bustled with activity, at Pony Wagon Days in St. Paris, the Covered Bridge Festival in North Lewisburg, the Hoopla Parade and Chili Cook-off in Urbana, the Mid-Eastern Regional Fly-in at Grimes Field, and the Simon Kenton Pathfinders’ Ruth I. Bentley Memorial Bike Ride on the bike path and county roads.
The bike ride, which raised money for the northward extension of the Simon Kenton Trail, attracted people from across the state, about 210 total, including one woman who came by herself from Cleveland.
It was the biggest turnout yet for the annual event. But I was really impressed by what I discovered after the ride as we packed up at the Urbana Station Depot. Bicyclists, who weren’t in the ride, kept entering the Depot Coffee House. Some wanted to know what they’d missed, and I filled them in.
One bicyclist from Springfield said she typically rides south to Yellow Springs and Xenia, but Sunday just decided to point her bike north. And she felt rewarded by the inviting atmosphere of the restored depot and the Depot Coffee House. She plans to pedal back here, though she added that she’s often come by car to Urbana’s downtown shops and restaurants.
A couple of bicyclists from Columbus, sitting out on the patio, also were impressed. I guided them to the depot’s brochure rack, which included a downtown shopping and dining guide and promotions of events like this coming weekend’s Champaign County Barn Quilt Tour and Ohio Fish and Shrimp Festival.
Champaign County, Ohio, does have a lot to offer. If you need confirmation of that, just ask someone who’s visiting. (And if you’ve pondered the value of the bike trail to our community, just hang out at the depot.)
What do you like most about living in — or visiting — Champaign County?
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