The Beat Goes on in Champaign County, Ohio

I’ll keep the words to a minimum in this post and let some music video clips do the talking. This fall in Champaign County, Ohio, we’ve been fortunate to have a good share of good outdoor musical entertainment–a good portion of it homegrown. Last weekend there was the Hylo Brown Bluegrass Festival in Mechanicsburg and the Ohio Fish and Shrimp Festival at Freshwater Farms, north of Urbana.

And this Saturday (September 25), I enjoyed hearing one of my favorite local bands, the Muleskinners, at Urbana University’s Johnny Appleseed birthday celebration. Here they are performing “Hello, Mary Lou.”

Saturday night, band parents that we are, my wife, Kay, and I rode one of the buses with the Urbana High School marching band to the 39th annual Graham High School Band Festival. One of our first dates was to the Graham Band Festival, when I covered it as a reporter for the Urbana Daily Citizen. In the clip below that’s our snare drumming son Alex.

And I’ll leave you with this clip from Fat City Blues, a new local band that performed last weekend at the Music4Meals food pantry benefit concert at the Ohio Fish and Shrimp Festival. I missed it since I was on the road again with the UHS marching band.

A Moveable Celebration Around Champaign County

Just a few notes from a busy, entertaining weekend in Champaign County, Ohio:

KTH Parts Industries 25th anniversary celebration in St. Paris, 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….

Ohio Fish and Shrimp Festival, Urbana, Ohio

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.

The ‘On to Bellefontaine’ Challenge

I’m going to pick up with this post where I left off with the last – the fact that the Simon Kenton Trail bike path has proven to be a valuable asset for introducing bicyclists to Champaign County and Urbana, Ohio – from the south.

Now plans are under way to extend the trail so it also will serve as a gateway to Champaign County from the north.

Simon Kenton Pathfinders annual Ruth I. Bentley Memorial Ride

Berrie Bentley, at left, begins the Ruth I. Bentley Memorial Ride on Sunday.

Sunday’s annual Simon Kenton Pathfinders’ ride, the Ruth I. Bentley Memorial Ride, raised money toward the northward extension—first from the Urbana Station Depot on Miami Street to Urbana’s northern corporation limit by Grimes Field airport, then eventually to West Liberty and Bellefontaine.

Barrie Bentley of Dayton, the son of Mrs. Bentley, was one of the riders in Sunday’s fund-raiser. And just prior to the ride, he pledged to donate $1 for every $3 the Simon Kenton Pathfinders raise through June 1, 2011 – up to $20,000.

He’s calling his pledge the “On to Bellefontaine Challenge.”  And he’s making the challenge to honor the memory of his parents, Ruth I. and Alvie A. Bentley, who were cycling enthusiasts.

He explains, “The ‘On to Bellefontaine Challenge’ arises out of my desire to perpetuate and preserve the ‘can do’ spirit that my parents demonstrated throughout their lives…. They were a very dynamic team.

“I have seen this same ‘can do’ spirit in the collective actions of the Simon Kenton Pathfinders…. I am positive that the trail will be completed in the not too distant future.”

Nancy Lokai-Baldwin, president of the Simon Kenton Pathfinders, rides with her husband, Frank, in Urbana's Springfest Parade in May, in celebration of National Bike Month.

That “can do” spirit is clearly evident in Nancy Lokai-Balwin, Mr. Bentley’s cousin, and president of the Simon Kenton Pathfinders since she and other volunteers  founded the organization in 1997 with the vision to give old railroad beds a new purpose.

All monies raised by SKP, through June 1, will count toward Mr. Bentley’s pledge, including:

  • Money collected through fund-raisers. Watch the Pathfinders’ website for information about fund-raising events.
  • Honorary deeds sold by the Pathfinders at $5 per foot of the planned trail extension. Deeds will be on sale at a variety of events in the community.
  • Tax deductible contributions made to the Simon Kenton Pathfinders, P.O. Box 91, Urbana. SKP is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Plus, you’re welcome to become a Pathfinder and attend meetings at 7 p.m. the first Thursday of each month in the Urbana Station Depot, 644 Miami St., in Urbana.

Looking at Champaign County, Ohio, from the Outside In

I began blogging here on Champaign Uncorked!—less than a month ago—knowing there’s much to celebrate about life in Champaign County, Ohio.

Hoopla Parade, Urbana, 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.)

Simon Kenton Pathfinders' bike ride in Urbana, Ohio

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?

Get Ready to Ramble … in Champaign County!

Just a warning. In today’s post, I’m going to wander. Not aimlessly, mind you. But do try to keep up.

Champaign County, Ohio Barn Quilt Tour

The Champaign County Barn Quilt Tour combines into one event a celebration of folk and fine art, agriculture and history.

Though we haven’t reached the autumnal equinox—September 22—I’d just like to put in a good word for fall. It’s my favorite season. The colors, the crisp air, the crunch of leaves underfoot as I run. (Come on, stay with me.) It’s an ideal time to celebrate God’s creation.

Last Saturday I ran 10 miles on the Simon Kenton Trail—from home to Woodburn Road and back. I finished surprisingly refreshed. A week earlier, I would have ended a mere puddle.

Fall. It’s the perfect time to ramble.

Champaign County, Ohio, offers plenty of opportunity to do just that—and

Ohio Fish and Shrimp Festival in Urbana, Ohio

Diners enjoy a little bluegrass with their seafood at the 2009 Ohio Fish and Shrimp Festival.

close to home so you can save gas money.

Take a look at the following list and plan your own fall ramblings through Champaign County:

Urbana, Ohio, Fly-in Features B-17 Heroes

As you’d probably expect, the Mid-Eastern Regional Fly-in (MERFI)—September 11 and 12 at Grimes Field in Urbana, Ohio—will feature airplanes.  In fact, lots of airplanes. About 350 experimental aircraft in all!MERFI in Urbana, Ohio

But it’s not all about flying machines.

Among the stars of the show are flesh and blood heroes. As young men, they put their lives on the line for our freedom. Just a thin skin of aluminum and skeletal framework separated them from mortal injury.

Our time to hear their stories firsthand is ticking.   So, don’t miss the opportunity to meet six of these brave members of the “Greatest Generation”—all of them B-17 crew members—at MERFI.

They’ll share their experiences and answer your questions at 2 p.m. Saturday, September 11 in the conference room of the Champaign Aviation Museum at Grimes Field.

B-17 veteran Art Kemp to speak at MERFI in Urbana, Ohio

Art Kemp points out the section of the B-17 with which he's most familiar. He's one of six B-17 veterans who will speak about their experiences in World War II at the Mid-Eastern Regional Fly-in at Grimes Field in Urbana, Ohio.

Also at MERFI, you can check progress on restoration of the Champaign Lady B-17G at the airport. It’ll help you picture where the veterans were stationed in combat. Restoration of the aircraft’s ball turret, a cramped Plexiglas® sphere where a gunner sat, slung from the belly of the plane, is now about 75 percent complete.

Since the restoration began in 2005, nearly 80 B-17 veterans have stopped by Grimes Field to check on the project and amaze the volunteers with accounts of their missions.

Decorated Hero

Early on I had the pleasure to meet and interview Art Kemp of Bellefontaine, Ohio, a tail gunner who flew in 35 missions against the Nazis from June 21, 1944, to February 1, 1945. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross on July 28, 1944, after his group dropped its bomb load on an oil refinery in Merseburg, Germany, and came under attack by German fighters.

Two gunners in his crew were killed, a hole was ripped in the bottom of the plane, both wings were badly shot up, and two of the four engines were disabled, and a third leaked oil. But Mr. Kemp shot down two of the attacking fighters, and the plane stayed aloft for the 500-mile flight back to Polebrook, England.

“After we landed, Glenn Miller’s band (at Polebrook to entertain the airmen) came out and looked at our plane. They kept asking us how we got back,” Mr. Kemp remembered.

“If we’d been on a B-24, we wouldn’t have made it back. But B-17s could do that.”

Now he can tell us about it 66 years later.

More About MERFI

Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat., Sept. 11; 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Sun., Sept. 12

Admission: $5; under 12 free

Featured events:

  • Yankee Warrior, the only B-25 DG combat veteran still flying in the world, will fly in Saturday evening. Rides will be sold during MERFI and flights will take off Sunday
  • Tour the Champaign Aviation Museum, the B-17 restoration project, Grimes Flying Lab Foundation Museum and the Flying Lab Foundation’s second Twin Beech restoration project
  • Ladies for Liberty concert Saturday evening, featuring music in the style of the Andrews Sisters
  • A NASA display
  • A presentation for students by teacher in space Chantelle Rose of Graham High School
  • Kids’ activities including photos in a 1946 Piper J-3 Cub and Douglas C-47
  • Presentation by an FAA safety inspector who served with the U.S. Air Force’s Thunderbirds

For the complete schedule: visit www.merfi.com

In Sympathy

I wish to express my sympathy to the family of Mr. Thomas Spurgin, who died today after the bicycle he was riding was hit by a truck at the Hickory Grove Road crossing of the Simon Kenton Trail. My prayers also are with the driver and his family.

I don’t know the particulars of this incident. As a regular user of the trail, I simply offer the following. Trail users: stop at every crossing. Don’t just slow down. If you listen to music, take your ear buds out as you approach the intersection. Motorists: always slow down as you approach bike trail crossings.

History Takes Flight in Urbana, Ohio

Think “museum” and you may picture exhibits frozen in time. Say, a prehistoric winged bug preserved in amber. Captivated by the eerie quiet of its stillness, you imagine how it flew.

But two museums at Grimes Field, Urbana, Ohio’s municipal airport, rev your imagination. They house vintage aircraft that can still take to the air and others that are being restored to fly again—to recall visions of historic exploits.

Restoration of B-17G Champaign Lady in Urbana, Ohio

Many volunteers work tirelessly at Grimes Field to return the Champaign Lady B-17 to the skies. The project will soon move to the Champaign Aviation Museum.

The Grimes Flying Lab Foundation museum features the restored Flying Lab, a modified Beech 18 that was used to test aircraft lighting developed and produced in Urbana by Grimes Manufacturing (now Honeywell Aerospace). The museum preserves the history of the company, which was founded by Warren G. Grimes. This summer Mr. Grimes was posthumously inducted  into the Aviation Hall of Fame, as the father of aircraft lighting and inventor of aircraft navigational instruments. Grimes Field, Mr. Grimes’ gift to the city of Urbana, continues as a living legacy, and the Grimes Flying Lab Foundation museum is a part of the National Aviation Heritage Area, which was created to recognize the Dayton region’s leadership in American aviation history.

A more recent addition to the airport, the Champaign Aviation Museum primarily houses World War II aircraft as well as the world’s only surviving flyable Pitcairn Autogiro, a peculiar cross between airplane and helicopter from the ‘20s.

A B-17G restoration project started five and a half years ago in a hangar on the south end of the airport will be moved into the aviation museum by the end of October. Local business leader and community benefactor Jerry Shiffer initiated the Champaign Lady B-17 project before his passing. His family continues the project with a legion of volunteers, and they built the museum as a tribute to veterans.

With this heightened local interest in aviation history, Grimes Field has become a magnet for special events of flight.  None stands out more than this April’s fly-in by one of the largest, if not the largest, gatherings of B-25s since World War II. Thousands flocked to Urbana to witness the war birds, which dramatically flew into  Grimes Field in support of the Doolittle Raiders’ 68th reunion at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

Don’t miss the next big event at Grimes Field: the Mid-Eastern Regional Fly-in, or MERFI, which will bring 350 experimental aircraft, educational programs and displays—along with a chance to see the Grimes Flying Lab,  the Champaign Aviation Museum and the B-17 project—on September 11 and 12.

More on this later…..

Here’s Your Chance to be a Trailblazer

Like bicycling?

Like bike trails?

Like to see more of them?

Simon Kenton Pathfinders Bike Ride

Bicyclists enjoy scenic Champaign County.

If so, you’ll like riding in the Simon Kenton Pathfinders’ 11th annual bike ride—the Ruth I. Bentley Memorial Ride—on Sunday, September 12, starting from the Urbana Station Depot, 644 Miami St., Urbana, Ohio.

Print out the registration form at the Simon Kenton Pathfinders’ website–and register now!

All proceeds from the ride will support maintenance of the Simon Kenton Trail and its planned extension north from the Depot to Urbana’s northern city limit near Grimes Field airport. Ultimately, the trail will link Urbana with West Liberty and Bellefontaine!

The more people pedaling and supporting the cause, the sooner we’ll all get there. (It’s events like this and the foresight and perseverance of Pathfinder-in-Chief Nancy Lokai-Baldwin and her band of loyal Pathfinders that made Champaign County an important part of Ohio’s network of bike trails.

The Ruth I. Bentley Memorial Ride offers you a choice of three routes to ride at your own pace:

  • ŸA family-friendly 15-mile ride entirely on the Simon Kenton Trail
  • ŸA metric half century ride (that’s 31 miles) on Champaign County’s scenic country roads
  • A metric century ride (62 miles), also on country roads

I look forward to seeing you there! I plan to be serving up bananas, sport drinks, water and other aid at a support station.

Like to Get Involved?

Cleaning up the Simon Kenton Trail

Pathfinder volunteers maintain the trail.

Check out the SKP website for other ways you can support the trail … becoming a Pathfinder member, helping with trail maintenance, volunteering at events, making a tax-deductible contribution.

We meet at 7 p.m. the first Thursday of every month at the Depot Coffee House, 644 Miami St., Urbana, Ohio. So, please stop by and join us!

Happy Trails to You!

Simon Kenton Trail, Urbana, Ohio

The Simon Kenton Trail meanders through Melvin Miller Park.

Just a reminder from my last post … please leave a comment about how and where you most like to exercise in Champaign County, Ohio.

In the meantime, I’ll tell you my favorite: the Simon Kenton Trail (SKT) bike path.

It’s an 11-mile paved trail for bicyclists, walkers, inline skaters and runners that links some of Urbana’s finest fitness and community assets. It starts (or ends, depending on where you start) at the Champaign Family YMCA, passes the Urbana City Schools’ track and athletic fields, loops around Melvin Miller Park, runs through Urbana to the beautifully restored Urbana Station Depot (home of the Depot Coffee House), continues past Urbana University, then heads out of town right by Cedar Bog Nature Preserve. In Clark County it merges with the Little Miami Scenic Trail and moves on to Cincinnati.

Basically, it’s a long, continuous playground—a big excuse for friends and families to get out and exercise.

Depending on your current fitness level, you can take on any amount of the trail you wish – and measure your progress as you gain distance and discover new parts of the path.

I like to bicycle, but my favorite way to break a sweat is running. Of course, I can do that anywhere, but I feel most at ease on the trail, free of motorized traffic (but please look both ways at the road crossings).

Did you know? Plans are underway to extend the Simon Kenton Trail further – north from the Depot up to Urbana’s northern city limit by Grimes Field airport.

Next up on Champaign Uncorked! find out how you can support the trail extension on September 12, as you and other bicyclists enjoy the SKT and Champaign County’s scenic country roads. And find out how you can support the trail as a member of the all-volunteer organization that maintains the SKT.