The last organized departure of Shawnee people from Ohio began in September 1832.
Telling the story of the Shawnee — and their relationship with Ohio settlers — is the motivation behind the creation of Great Council State Park, scheduled to open early this year on State Route 68 between Xenia and Yellow Springs.
Wallace, who has tangled with state officials on other issues, praises ODNR and the Ohio History Connection for the efforts to accurately present the Shawnee story in the new park. “I’ve always told them, ‘Don’t talk about us, talk with us,’ and that has happened from day one with this project,” she says.
The integrated electric network that brings power to your home or business is a technical marvel. That network manages the flow of electrons, traveling at the speed of light, from the massive generation stations that produce them to towns and cities, to homes and businesses across the country.
Much of what makes this system work goes unnoticed. Of course, everyone sees the poles, wires, and transformers that connect every neighborhood up and down nearly every roadway, or the few large generating stations that produce the power we distribute.
I’m a backyard bird-feeding genius. (Please don’t ask my wife about that statement; she claims to have multiple examples of my less-than-genius status — and not just pertaining to bird feeding. But she does tend to exaggerate.)
I maintain nine bird feeders outside my home-office window. Only two of them were commercially manufactured, and one of those two was given to me as a gift. The other seven I cobbled together from material I had on hand. I don’t mind spending money when I have to, but if I can save a few bucks and still get the job done, I’m all for it, especially with the continually rising cost of bird feed.
Among Ohio’s numerous tourism “trails” that group loosely kindred attractions to create a single novelty destination, the recently conceived Sweets and Spirits Trail in Miami County seems a perfect pairing for this time of year.
My husband, Mike, and I made a date of it recently. To guide us along the route, we downloaded the Miami County Sweets and Spirits Trail app, which showcases all stops and includes a map with distances between each location. Some spots offer incentives for visiting, including purchase discounts, free samples, or a free shot glass. As we virtually checked in at each location, we earned points toward prizes from the visitors bureau.
We were taken with the area’s charming small towns and the warmth and authenticity of the trail’s shop owners. For example:
The jobs most people likely think of when they consider working at the local electric cooperative either require advanced electrical engineering degrees or involve climbing poles and working in potentially hazardous conditions — which might make working for the co-op seem e
Along with the aforementioned lineworkers and engineers, most co-ops employ:
Electric cooperatives have a long history of standing up for themselves when the needs of their members are not being met.
Hosting elected officials at the co-ops’ Central Ohio Lineworker Training Facility in Mount Gilead or the Mone power plant in Convoy gives co-ops a chance to highlight the cooperative difference — to show firsthand how locally owned, not-for-profit co-ops do more with less every day to serve their members.
Co-op managers and trustees also meet those leaders on their own turf, traveling to the Ohio Statehouse or to Washington, D.C., to share a united constituent voice.
When Colleen Jackson instructed her children’s homeschooling group in the early 2000s, she prepared a lesson featuring milk straight from the Holstein cows lolling in the pasture on her family’s 180-acre dairy farm near DeGraff.
Like many dairy farmers in recent years, the Logan County Electric Cooperative members found themselves struggling with high production costs and low milk prices. Ray helped keep the farm afloat by working for a bovine genetics company, but things were tough. Faced with losing the farm and the way of life they love, Ray and Colleen converted an outbuilding into a licensed creamery named for the stream that crosses their land, and Indian Creek Creamery was born.
The January 2004 issue of Country Living magazine (now known as Ohio Cooperative Living) featured a story about Ohio’s 10 best places to view wildlife.
Gross, a 45-year member of Mount Gilead-based Consolidated Cooperative and retired from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife, says he has an “overwhelming fascination and appreciation for the beauty, complexity, and intricacy of the natural world.”
That certainly comes across in his writing and contributes to the popularity and longevity of “Woods, Waters, and Wildlife,” but he says there’s more to it as well.
