Features

Farm life often is seen by outsiders as slow, easy-paced, even leisurely. Actual farmers, of course, know that’s not the case, as the nearly endless to-do list almost always seems to require 26 hours in a day to complete, even at top speed.

So perhaps folks will be inspired by some of the work going on at Ohio State University’s Center for Automotive Research — a piece of which will be on display in the Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives Education Center at this year’s Farm Science Review, Sept. 18–20 at the Molly Caren Agricultural Center just outside London, Ohio.

The notion seems so fanciful: A U.S. Navy ship sinks in Ohio, not in Lake Erie or the Ohio River, but over the Appalachian piedmont of Noble County. It was a rural, bucolic setting — a patchwork of woodlots and farm fields split by fence lines and hedgerows and narrow roads with curves that followed the contours of the hillsides.

And the sky! An ocean blue that seemed meant for sailing — this, after all, is not a maritime tale, but rather, an aviation story.

With its tattered seat and uneven slats, the ladderback chair looks rather uncomfortable, but it was pioneer James Galloway’s best chair. “Since this was the ‘guest chair,’ it’s where Tecumseh sat whenever he visited,” says Catherine Wilson, director of the Greene County Ohio Historical Society in Xenia.

In the Christian mission field, it can be difficult, to say the least, to reach remote regions of faraway places such as Honduras, Haiti, Zambia, Papua New Guinea, or Mozambique. Aircraft play a vital role as missionaries deliver food, supplies, and the Word of God in a matter of hours or days to areas that used to require weeks to reach on foot.

Location: In the village of Fort Recovery, the site near the Wabash River where General “Mad” Anthony Wayne ordered the construction of Fort Recovery in 1793.

What is it that attracts us to lighthouses? Could it be their immovable stability in an ever-changing world? Mute guides to somehow show us the way, much as they do for wayward sailors?

Whatever the reason, people have been visiting the Marblehead Lighthouse on Lake Erie at the mouth of Sandusky Bay for nearly two centuries, ever since its construction in 1821. It’s the oldest lighthouse in continuous service anywhere on the Great Lakes.

A card table laden with amber honey, a small cart burdened with shiny rhubarb and lush green asparagus, a picnic table flush with tomatoes or peaches. Sweet! Your eyes settle on fresh picks but see there’s no one around — and there it is: a coffee can, a cigar box, or a little door with a slot and a sign reading “Money” or “Pay here.” Welcome to Ohio: the land of honest food and plenty of it.

Baseball may be the national pastime, but cruise-ins are Ohio’s obsession. From spring through fall, anybody and everybody — towns, museums, businesses, and even wineries — showcase vintage vehicles, and whether it’s a collectors’ show or informal cruise-in, Ohioans turn out in droves to relish the craftsmanship, chrome, and charisma of classic cars.

Since cruise-in season is underway in the Buckeye State, we’ve selected eight great events where the good times roll.

Where others see modern-day cities, he sees ancient Indian villages. Where others see today’s crop fields, he sees vast virgin forests. In short, Robert Griffing sees Ohio as it was long before it ever became a state. He also sees — and paints — the Native American people who lived here more than 250 years ago. 

Where others see modern-day cities, he sees ancient Indian villages. Where others see today’s crop fields, he sees vast virgin forests. In short, Robert Griffing sees Ohio as it was long before it ever became a state. He also sees — and paints — the Native American people who lived here more than 250 years ago.