Tag Archives: Ohio

Movie Review (JK)
The Wizard of OZ
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

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Of course, I’m just kidding about reviewing the greatest movie ever made. What I am reviewing is seeing The Wizard of Oz in a theater for only the second time. The first time was in 2022, when it was shown in theaters nationwide to commemorate Judy Garland’s 100th birthday. This time, it was shown as part of Ohio Goes to the Movies, a Signature Event of America 250-Ohio.

Ohio Goes to the Movies sponsors free showings of movies with Ohio connections at locations spread throughout the state. One of The Wizard of Oz showings was in Wilmington on Sunday. That’s where my daughter lives, and she and my grandson attended too. Not every seat was filled, but the event’s popularity prompted a second showing. Megan and Wes got there early and secured tickets for the first showing. Good job.

The movie is connected to Ohio through having two major roles played by actors from here. I was aware that Margaret Hamilton, who played Almira Gulch and the Wicked Witch of the West, was from Cleveland, but I don’t believe I knew that Uncle Henry was played by a fellow from Xenia, Charley Grapewin. Grapwin literally left home to join the circus and first played Uncle Henry in the 1903 Broadway stage production of The Wizard of Oz. Xenia is about twenty miles north of Wilmington.

There were some prizes awarded by raffle, but I didn’t bother to register, so I’m not sure how that worked. There were also some live games being administered by familiar-looking characters, and the concession stand staff was very much into the spirit of the day.

Once we were in our seats, all of the Oz folks except for the Scarecrow (possibly too busy selling popcorn) hung out near the screen for a round of trivia. I would not have done well and stayed quiet. Did you know the flying monkeys were paid $25 per “swoop”? Everybody knows what came next, and it was just as cool as I remembered it.

I think I’ll probably attend at least one more Ohio Goes to the Movies event. 1935’s Annie Oakley will play at Greenville’s Wayne Theater in July, and I’d like to be there. Maybe I’ll see Buffalo Bill Cody or Chief Sitting Bull at the concession stand.

Rembrandt at the Taft

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There is currently an exhibit at the Taft Museum of Art called “Rembrandt: Masterpieces in Black and White“. I’m not very knowledgeable about art, but I thought the black and white part of that might not really be necessary. I would not call any of the few pieces of art I connect with the Dutch Master overly colorful. Yes, the fellow at the center of his most famous painting, The Night Watch, has a reddish sash and another fellow is wearing a reddish hat and uniform, but neither is particularly bright, and they are essentially the only splashes of color in the entire scene.

There is, as advertised, even less color in the works in this exhibit. It is made up of monochrome prints from etchings. The etchings are often rather small, and they can be quite detailed. Loaner magnifying glasses are available near the entrance to help make that detail visible. Also near the entrance is a timeline that places Rembrandt’s life (1606-1669) within the context of world events and other artists. The man had quite the impact. Bright colors, it seems, aren’t really necessary.

There are 49 prints from Rembrandt etchings on display, and, as noted and as can be seen, most are just a few inches in size. The cost of materials and a desire for portability were both reasons for this. Rembrandt made several self-portraits during his career, but this one from 1633 is said to be the first he signed and dated.

Since I know even less about etching than I do about almost every other art form, I found this display quite helpful. It seems the artist etches into a waxy layer applied to a copper plate, then acid does the etching into the metal.

In addition to the 49 Rembrandt etchings, the exhibit includes nine etchings he inspired others to create. One of those inspired was James Whistler, who, as we see here, used his niece as a model in addition to his more famous mother.

Admission to the Taft Museum of Art includes access to all permanent galleries, as well as this traveling exhibit of etchings from the Rembrandt House Museum in Amsterdam. Here is one of several connections between the two. This 1651 etching of Clement de Jonghe is cited as an example of Rembrant’s mastery of light and shadow and of his use of people’s expressions and gestures. The 1633 Portrait of a Man Rising from His Chair is an even better example of Rembrandt’s use of these.

“Rembrandt: Masterpieces in Black and White” is here through May 17, 2026.

Harmon Museum
Lebanon, Ohio

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It might be apparent that I occasionally use a museum visit to feed a post for an otherwise idle week. And I’m sure it’s no surprise that I find some of those targets through various online searches containing the word “museum.” Without giving it too much thought, I’ve filtered out of the results museums that are too close or too familiar. I recently asked myself why. Why was I refusing to document visits to places I knew were interesting simply because they were not new discoveries? I had no answer, which means I now have a few not-new-to-me candidates for future idle weeks. Here’s the first: Harmon Museum, just one county and a dozen miles from home.

The first gallery inside the entrance is filled with art, and no photos of the wonderful paintings and sculptures on display are permitted. The art gallery leads to the Armstrong Conference Center, housed in the attached former post office. Two ladies were meeting at one of the tables, and I quickly apologized for interrupting. They weren’t the least bit annoyed and paused their discussion to make sure I crossed the open room to see the aeronautics exhibit at the front of the building. Neil Armstrong spent his final years in Lebanon, and most of the items, including the golden Frisbee for his “step into the future“, are related to his life. Non-Armstrong-related items include Orville Wright’s hat. I had a very nice chat with the ladies at the table as I passed them on the way back to the main museum. One said that if I were still in the museum when they finished, she would point out a few of her favorite things.

Back at the entrance to the main museum, I was greeted by a 1908 Buick Model D and an early U.S Mail wagon. Beyond them were some other early vehicles. I have seen quite a few signs like the one in the last photo in the wild, and I’m sure my road fan friends have too. The Oregonia Bridge Company was incorporated in 1896 in the small nearby town of Oregonia. Rapid growth prompted relocation to Lebanon in 1903.

Next up was a room filled with some very impressive folk art. I found the painting in the far right corner, by Jimmy Lee Sudduth (1910-2007), particularly interesting. A few of this blog’s posts have touched on the difficulty of keeping our man-made calendars in sync with the cosmos, which is sort of the subject of the painting. As Mr. Sudduth notes, the sun and our calendar last matched up in 2000 and won’t do it again until 2400. Lucky to be alive to experience one such alignment, I guess.

The adjacent room contained an impressive collection of locally found arrow and spear points, axe heads, and other prehistoric tools. It was here that Hope, the lady I met in the Armstrong Conference Center, caught up with me and told me that this was her favorite room in the building. She pointed out some items in the room and even demonstrated, short of a final launch, the workings of an atlatl.

I was then treated to a guided “highlights tour” of the rest of the museum. As we moved upward through the exhibits, Hope called various items to my attention and shared some information about each one. This bed was a product of the Cincinnati Art-Carved Furniture Movement of the late 19th century. This was a rather major movement powered primarily by women, and something I previously knew absolutely nothing about. I guess this desk was not among Hope’s favorites, but it was among mine. Thomas Corwin was a Lebanon lawyer who had great success in politics. He served in both houses of the U.S. Congress and as the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, along with several positions within Ohio, including governor. This desk is from his time as Ohio’s 15th governor (1840-1842).

Following the “highlight tour”, I returned to Shaker Gallery on the top floor. In the early 19th century, a large colony of this communal religious group stood in nearby Turtlecreek Township, and the museum has many articles from there. Pictured are a laundry room, a textile room, and a kitchen. Curiously, one of the few items accompanied by instructions is one where they are probably not needed.

The building housing the museum was originally built as a gymnasium with a large space where basketball games and other athletic activities took place. Basketball hoops were once mounted where the clock and the 1876 38-star flag are now. The rocking chairs are among Hope’s favorites, and she commented that she thought this collection was one of the world’s largest when we passed it. According to this placard, rocking originated in America. I suppose it’s only natural that we eventually combined it with rolling.

The space where basketball was once played is now surrounded by several shops, forming a sort of old-time town square.

The museum is well organized, but there is no single correct path through it. That’s even more the case when you make a pass taking advantage of someone’s favorites before falling into your own meandering. There was very little coherent sequencing in the preceding photos, and there is even less from here on out. This is simply a trio of my own favorites. The IBM time clock was purchased in 1947 by the previously mentioned Oregonia Bridge Company. Read about it here. The most interesting thing for me in the blacksmith shop is the framed shoes on the wall. Read about them here. The furniture in the last photo came from the Glendower Historic Mansion. I learned today that the mansion was home to the first incarnation of the Warren County Historical Society Museum. Over the years, it was owned and administered by the WCHS and the Ohio History Connection. Most recently, the WCHS was the owner. It closed in 2022 and is now a private residence. I visited it during a period when OHC owned it.

That there is a goodly amount of farming gear on display is not a surprise. That there is a collection of phenomenal ship models is. Finding a display about gunpowder and cartridge manufacturing might surprise some, but not anyone really familiar with the area.

The entrance pictured at the top of this article is located at what might be considered the rear of the building, where it is conveniently near a parking lot. The front of the building faces Broadway, and that is where this statue of Warren County’s namesake, Dr. Joseph Warren, stands. The statue was dedicated just months ago on the 250th anniversary of Dr. Warren’s death at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775. A somewhat more readable version of the text on the sign is here. The QR code at the sign’s upper right leads here.

Subdued Hues

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An advertisement for a steam train in Virginia caught my attention, and the autumn foliage outing it promoted sure looked inviting. However, I couldn’t make any of the train’s scheduled dates work for me. It did get me thinking about autumn rail excursions, though, and I found another steam-powered one that I could fit into my schedule. It was even closer in Ohio. However, it only ran on weekends, and weekend lodging in the area was either unavailable or unaffordable. When I saw that very affordable lodging could be had on Thursdays and that the same route followed by the steam locomotive on weekends was followed by a diesel on Fridays, I decided I could make do with a slightly shallower dive into history. I booked the B&B and the Friday afternoon train.

Rain entered the picture as the outing neared. It started on Wednesday and continued as I headed east on US-50 Thursday morning. I stopped for an excellent breakfast at Sassafras Kitchen & Coffee Bar in Hillsboro, and had a really good burger and some fantastic fries at The Mine Tavern in Nelsonville.

Nelsonville was my destination. I checked into the Tulip Room in the Hyde House, just a couple of blocks from the tavern and not much more than that from the train station. Recent weather predictions had shown the rain ending Thursday night, with Friday being completely dry. I checked one more time before falling asleep and noticed a slight change. My little train ride was scheduled to depart at 1:00 and last for two hours.

The Hocking Valley Scenic Railway station is right next to Rocky Boots headquarters and outlet. I arrived well before departure time and walked over to Rocky Boots to get the picture of the Headless Sheepman that opens this article. It was, after all, Halloween. Note that, although the sky is hardly cloudless, the sun is shining.

All four cars of the train would essentially be full by the time we pulled out, but I was on board early enough to grab photos of them nearly empty. The car with blue seats was built in 1939 for long-distance travel. It was once used on the Cincinnatian, which ran between Cincinnati and Detroit. The other three cars (I rode the middle one) were built in the 1920s and used by commuters in the Chicago area.

Early in the trip, we passed the remaining kilns of the Nelsonville Brick Company. In addition to plain paving bricks, the company made those very popular decorative star bricks. We were also treated to some nice views of the Hocking River. There was no shortage of front and back yards filled with cars in need of attention, but this was the only yard I saw filled with steam engines. Much classier, in my opinion.

The excursion ran almost to Logan, with much of the route actually inside the Wayne National Forest. There were plenty of trees, and some rather scenic views here and there. Red and orange leaves, however, were few and far between.

Railroad employees passed through the cars frequently, helping with windows, seats, and any other issues passengers might have. At the route’s end point, the locomotive moved from one end of the train to the other via a siding. The seats in the commuter cars had reversible backs, and quite a few riders flipped theirs, so they were facing forward as the cars were pulled “backward”. I was not among them.

You may have noticed clouds gathering in some of the previous photographs. No rain fell during the ride or during the short time I was in Nelsonville after it ended. However, by the time we returned to the station, the sky looked like this. As we exited the train, I commented to a lady in line that there had not been much color in the trees along the way. “No,” she said, “not this year. It’s been too dry.” Maybe that’s the reason. I don’t know. If so, the dry spell appears to be over, but any rain now will just knock the leaves from the trees. It won’t make them colorful. 

Movie Review
Ohio: Wild at Heart
MacGillivray Freeman

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This just might be the ultimate selfie. It’s a big-screen movie ordered up by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources starring the natural resources of Ohio. Yeah, that selfie label is admittedly a real stretch — not only because it’s a 45-minute-long movie rather than an in-your-face snapshot, but also because it wasn’t the ODNR holding the camera. That was the talented folks at MacGillivray Freeman, makers of many outstanding features, including the subject of my first-ever movie review.

Of course, I watched Ohio: Wild at Heart at the Robert D. Lindner Family OMNIMAX® Theater in Cincinnati. I was there at its first screening on Friday. This is the third theater, after Toledo and Dayton, to add the movie to its schedule. It will soon be added by several others, as listed here.

The movie begins with the story of the recovery of the state’s bald eagle population from just four nesting pairs in 1979 to nearly 1000 nests today. The successful reintroduction of trumpeter swans to the state, with their removal from Ohio’s threatened species list just over a year ago, is a story told later in the movie. Other successful conservation projects, including major cleanups of the state’s waterways, are also documented. Governor DeWine, who was instrumental in getting the movie produced, emphasizes the word “education” when discussing it. He sees making Ohioans aware of what they have as an important mission. He has said, “If people love the rivers. If they love the lakes. If they love all the beauty of this state, they’re going to take care of it.”

MacGillivray Freeman does a wonderful job of capturing “all the beauty of this state” on the screen. There are gorgeous shots of swans on mirror-smooth lakes, and stunning aerial views of eagles in flight and in nests, of kayaks on rivers, and hikers, bikers, and dog sledders on trails. Yes, dog sledders! Before I saw this movie, this lifelong resident of the Buckeye state had no idea that dog sledding was a thing anywhere within its borders. That’s education.

There are people in the movie. Governor DeWine makes an appearance along with his wife Fran. There are enlightening conversations with folks enjoying all of the things I’ve mentioned, plus bird spotting, firefly watching, and much more. Narration is supplied by a true Ohio natural resource. Archie Griffin, the world’s only two-time Heisman Trophy winner, who was born in Ohio and played his high school, college, and professional football in the state, nails it.

The movie’s website highlights the quote “When we take care of nature, nature takes care of us.” I don’t know if I missed that exact line in the movie or if it’s a minor paraphrasing of a line I did hear and was impressed by enough to make a note of: “We make a commitment to restoring nature because nature restores us.” Both lines are insightful and worth repeating. I have no doubt that Ohio: Wild at Heart will do a fine job of making Ohioans aware of what we have, and I’ve a very strong hunch that it’s going to make a lot of other folks aware of it too.

Not Long Ago. Not Far Away.

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On Saturday, October 18, “Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away.” opened at the Cincinnati Museum Center. I attended on Wednesday. The red shoe pictured at right is one of the first items visitors see when they enter the exhibit. Photos of the shoe, backed by the image of countless other empty shoes, have been used to promote the display. The wall-filling image boggles the mind as the realization that the owners of all those shoes walked into Auschwitz but never walked out slowly forms. The mind nearly breaks realizing that the photo contains just a fraction of such shoes.

Having seen pictures of that red shoe, and knowing that this was “the largest collection of artifacts from Auschwitz outside of Europe”, I probably could have predicted the question that formed as I moved into the exhibit and listened to the included audio guide. It’s a question that most of us ask ourselves anytime we give much thought to the Holocaust. “How could this have happened?” we wonder. The exhibit doesn’t really explain it, but it does tell some of the history. It describes and displays artifacts from the small Polish village that would become home to the largest of the Nazi concentration and extermination camps.

Establishing that the “other” was responsible for all of Germany’s problems was essential. The “other” was mostly, but not exclusively, Jews. Blacks, Roma, homosexuals, and people with disabilities were among those persecuted by the Nazis.

This is the desk of the camp commandant, Rudolf Höss. Photos of key Auschwitz personnel are displayed nearby with an identifying legend.

Roughly 80% of those arriving at Auschwitz were sent directly to the gas chambers. The other 20% became slaves, and not many survived the starvation, beatings, and forced labor. Many more than three people occupied the three-tiered bunks. The concrete post held barbed wire, as seen in the photo in the background.

Some of the prisoners were “rented” to various privately held companies, but many were assigned tasks in the camp, such as removing bodies from the gas chambers or moving them through the crematorium. The first photo contains items from gas chambers and crematoriums. There is a “shower head” in the lower right corner. The gas mask in the second photo was worn by a soldier who dropped the Zyklon B once the chamber was sealed.

Other prisoners were forced to sort through the few possessions that actually made it to the camp. Prisoners referred to the sorting sheds as Kanada.

There were several benches placed throughout the exhibit. Many were positioned in front of screens showing videos of scenes related to the camps. All had a box of tissues placed at their center. There was no lack of tear-inducing images, artifacts, and stories in the exhibit. Nearly all of the items on display are from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. The last picture is of a quote from the director of that museum about remembrance. I immediately thought of Eisenhower’s 1945 command, “Get it all on record now. Get the films, get the witnesses, because somewhere down the track of history some bastard will get up and say this never happened.” He was right, of course. That quote on the wall notes that today “…our efforts to build a more just and humane world are under threat.” Nearer the beginning of this article, there is a photo of a quote about  “…the disappearance of a number of quite harmless people…” It’s from 1938 Germany during the Nazi rise to power. As I read it, it occurred to me that it could have easily come from certain Central or South American countries a few decades ago. Or it could have come from somewhere not even that far away or that long ago.

“Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away.” runs through April 12, 2026.

The Holocaust and Humanities Center helped bring the Auschwitz exhibit to Cincinnati. Although a separate operation, it is housed in the Cincinnati Museum Center and throughout the exhibit’s run is offering discounted adult admission of $7.50 to anyone presenting an “Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away.” ticket. This rate is available year-round to seniors and military.

Naturally, there is overlap between the Auschwitz displays and those in the Holocaust Museum. A notable example is this molded wall of abandoned shoes that echoes the red shoe and large photo from Auschwitz. But there are also a lot of differences. The museum has many interactive displays, and the story it tells is broader than the one with a specific concentration camp at its center. In particular, the museum continues the story well beyond the liberation of the prisoners with reporting on the post-war trials and tales of recovery.

When I spoke with a friend about the Auschwitz exhibit, I encouraged a follow-on visit to the Holocaust Museum, and it wasn’t just because of the broader story. The Holocaust is humanity at its worst. Studying it and acknowledging it is important and necessary, but it is hardly uplifting. The museum offsets that just a little by presenting recent examples of bigotry being defeated and human rights being defended. Your mood probably won’t be exactly celebratory when you leave, but it very well might be hopeful.

With every museum that exists, it is always possible to see something you’ve previously missed when you revisit. But sometimes that new discovery really is something new. That is the case with this recently installed interactive display featuring Albert Miller (1922-2023). Albert, who escaped Europe with his parents in 1940, then returned as a Nazi interrogator in 1943, tirelessly answers spoken questions about the life he lived.

I documented my first visit to the museum here. 

An Ohio Meeting

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It has been a long time since I attended an Ohio Lincoln Highway League annual meeting. Longer, perhaps, than I realize, as I can find no evidence of attendance since 2014. There seems to almost always be a conflict in my schedule, but not this year. Canton, the meeting’s location, is a little too far away to make the round trip in a day. When I planned an overnight in a nearby town, I discovered that the path there passed quite close to a favorite brewery. With that, I thought my itinerary was set.

However, when I was ready to head out on Friday morning, I realized that there was no need to hurry on expressways, so I swapped I-71 for US-22. That allowed me to stop for breakfast at Kim’s Classic Diner in Sabina. I typically sit at the counter, but was in a booth today and was able to get a shot of an empty counter when the area was briefly empty. I stayed with US-22 to Zanesville, and that let me stop by Tom’s Ice Cream Bowl for some French Vanilla Cherry Chocolate Chunk, which disappeared before I could get a picture. I then headed to that favorite brewery, Wooly Pig Farm, on OH-93. OH-93 is quickly becoming one of my favorite wiggly roads.

President Scott Little presided over the meeting. The league is comprised of three chapters, each of which has more or less monthly meetings throughout the year. This yearly meeting is the only one involving the entire state. Scott is also president of the Western Ohio Chapter and delivered the report of that chapter’s activities for the year.

Mike McNaull, of the Mid-Ohio chapter, and Ed Cannane, of the Eastern Ohio Chapter, delivered reports of their chapter’s activities. All three chapters do some things for their members’ enjoyment and an awful lot to promote and maintain the Lincoln Highway in their areas.

A presentation by someone from the National First Ladies Library and Museum, followed by a visit to the museum, had been planned, but the government shutdown scuttled that. Jim Cassler’s presentation on this summer’s tour of the Lincoln Highway’s middle third was a fine substitution. A tour of the eastern third happened in 2022, and the trilogy will be completed in 2028 during the centennial of the final 1928 realignment and the setting of the concrete markers.

The Saxton McKinley House, home to the library portion of the not-to-be-visited-today National First Ladies Library and Museum, is directly across the street from the meeting site. A visit to the Canton Classic Car Museum, about a block away, would proceed as planned.

One of the museum’s prized possessions is a 1937 armored Studebaker. There are definitely plenty of really cool cars here, but there is more. If a fragile lamp with a single leg is a “major award”, what might this four-limbed illuminator be? 

Possibly one reason I failed to photograph my ice cream at Tom’s was the conversation I had with a couple beside me. They were headed home to Kentucky after a vacation that included a stop for ice cream in Canton, which is where they learned of Tom’s. I reversed the story and stopped in Canton for ice cream at a place I’d learned of at Tom’s. The wooden booths at Taggart’s Ice Cream looked inviting, but I enjoyed my Black Walnut outside.

I was a little disappointed when I realized that the meeting date was the same as the planned nationwide No Kings protests. I would not be able to attend one in my home territory, but was pleasantly surprised to learn that the one in Canton would be taking place later than most, and I could possibly make it. A sizable crowd was already in place when I arrived about half an hour ahead of the scheduled 5:00 start, and it was still growing when I left for home about 5:30. A fellow I spoke with said this was already a bigger turnout than last time.

I’ll close with a reminder of why I was in Canton. I’m pretty sure Mr. Lincoln would be proud of the nation crossing highway with his name on it. I also think he would approve of the sentiments expressed in signs being held in demonstrations all across that same nation, though not necessarily of all of the language.

A River Roots Cruise (Lagniappe)

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The American Roots Festival is not Tall Stacks. It’s similar but not matching. Tall Stacks was a festival that happened six times between 1988 and 2006 on the Ohio River at Cincinnati. Among the reasons given for not reusing the name is a desire to paint the event as something broader than a gathering of riverboats and to associate it with the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary in 2026. Whether or not that painting and association were necessary and/or successful is not my concern. I definitely enjoyed some of the musical offerings at Tall Stacks, but for me, the boats were always the reason for its existence, and that is even more true for me and the Roots Festival. The fact that I was heading out of town when the festival officially began, but not before a day of “advance cruises” took place, has a lot to do with that. A Wednesday cruise on the Steamboat Natchez from New Orleans is my only personal contact with the American Roots Festival.

I arrived downtown well in advance of the scheduled boarding time and slipped across the river into Kentucky to snap a picture that includes five of the nine boats in town for the event. The boat I would shortly be cruising on is at the far right of that picture, plus I grabbed one of it alone.

Back in Ohio, I parked near the public landing and walked to the river for a closer view of the boats. The Belle of Louisville is at the west end of the line. On the way to the landing, I passed the National Steamboat Monument and was happy to hear the whistles blow as I walked through them. That’s not always, or even often, the case.

I actually took photos of all nine boats, and a couple even came out OK. However, with the low sun, most were atrocious, and I’m reserving them for my own entertainment. I spent the remaining shore time taking some close-ups of the Natchez. This trip is something of a homecoming for the calliope on the left. It was built in Cincinnati between 1900 and 1910 by Thomas J. Nichol for the Steamboat Sidney.

A wide variety of cruises is available during the festival. This was a 90-minute “Beignets & Coffee” cruise. During the half hour allotted between boarding and departure, I listened to the excellent onboard Dixieland trio and downed my beignet.

That left me free to roam around once we were underway.

Built in 1975, the Natchez is pretty new for an authentic sternwheeler. She’s not entirely new, however. For example, the engines were in service aboard the Steamboat Clairton from 1925 until 1962, which means they are celebrating their centennial this year.

With breakfast and onboard exploration out of the way, I used the turnaround point as an excuse for an early lunch of jambalaya and Abita Amber. That container was absolutely stuffed with quite tasty jambalaya, which I completely failed to finish before realizing that we were nearing Cincinnati. About half of it came home to nourish me as I wrote this.

Not too long after I capped the jambalaya and stuffed it into my jacket pocket, we passed under the Big Mac Bridge and were soon facing the Roebling Bridge with the Bengals’ and Reds’ stadiums off to our right. Several other visiting riverboats were in motion on the river as we turned around and pulled into the landing.

Back on shore, I paused at the top of the landing to gaze at the Natchez one more time before heading to my car. Cruising up and down the Ohio on a steam-powered sternwheeler can definitely play havoc with one’s sense of time. That’s no doubt why I didn’t question seeing Mr. Clemens heading toward the very river where he got his pilot training half as much as I might have otherwise.

This blog did not exist during the Tall Stacks period. There was, however, an Oddment section with entries not related to road trips. An entry was made for the final Tall Stacks event in 2006. It is here.

Because of my plans to leave town on Thursday, I finished writing this Wednesday for publication as the regular weekly post on Sunday. But it began to bother me that, although there would still be a day of the festival left at that point, at the moment nearly all of it remained. There was at least a small chance that it might be useful to someone if it appeared on Thursday instead of Sunday. So here it is: a blog post published on a normally silent day of the week. I’ll put up a canned post on Sunday, and this will be, as the folks in NOLA say, lagniappe.

One for Sun(flowers) in Ohio

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Remember last month’s Two for Four in Ohio post, when one of the targeted museums was closed and the sunflowers were barely out of the ground? At the time, I noted that the projected date for Tecumseh Land Trust blooms was near the end of September. Well, the end of September is near, and the blooming sunflowers are here.

Thursday morning’s rain ended, and the forecast said it would not be back until evening. That wasn’t correct, but I did manage to get my visit in before the rain returned just past noon. This time, I was not alone. There were about half a dozen cars parked in the designated area next to the flowers, and some small winged beings hanging out right in their midst. Here’s a closer look at the bloom in the center of the opening photo.

The ground was wet but apparently not actually muddy, as a few of the humans from the parked cars ventured out into the field to take selfies surrounded by yellow flowers. Most, however, walked around the edge like I did. Just before I left, a group of women arrived with their young daughters wearing some very pretty dresses and posed the group at the field’s edge for photos. I worked at keeping all wingless creatures out of frame.

Even though none of the sunflowers said a word, I left with the impression that they were glad to see me.

A Thoroughly Modern Attic

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Museums in small towns are sometimes referred to as the village attic. Some of them really do resemble an old farmhouse attic with little filtering or organization of objects displayed. Most, however, display items in an organized manner that avoids looking overcrowded. Part of how this is accomplished is by being selective in what items are displayed and having only a portion — often a very small portion — of the museum’s collection on display at any one time. As the state’s attic, the Ohio History Connection is very organized, with a rather tiny fraction of its collection on display and the bulk stored elsewhere. Last year, it got a brand new “attic”, and on Thursday, I got to see it.

The occasion was an architectural tour preceded by a reception and presentation. I didn’t realize that food would be available, but I did realize that it was National Cheeseburger Day. I enjoyed the lemonade, but I skipped the food because I had just left Urban Gourmet, where I had celebrated the holiday.

The tour began with a presentation in the auditorium. Several people gave short presentations about different aspects of the project, which began several years ago with the Collection Care Center opening in June 2024. I happened to catch architect Carlos Lugo at the podium.

Following the presentation, we all went out to our cars and drove from the museum, past Ohio Village, to the Collection Care Center on the north side of the campus. At the door, the fifty or so attendees were split into smaller groups to tour the building.

The group I was in began our tour in the actual storage section. Among the wide range of things stored here are lots of fossils. Some are authentic, while others are cast copies. 

The bones of mastodon feet aren’t typically found intact in the wild. These are castings from assembled fragments. I thought a shelf filled with mastodon feet was pretty unusual, regardless of whether they were bone or plaster.

There is an enclosed loading dock at the other end of the building with offices, lab areas, and an extra-wide corridor in between.We paused in that corridor to learn about the building’s use of pre-formed concrete to speed construction and about other efficiency-focused aspects of the building. We then went outside to learn more about the climate control systems. I have the impression that the majority of attendees were architects. For many, hearing these details was as practical as it was entertaining. I was very impressed by the thoughtful answers to the building’s many unique requirements, but that was probably fueled as much by things I didn’t understand as by those I did.

Our last stop was just outside the front door after we passed back through the building. Here we learned about the landscaping. Native plants are used, and there is no mown lawn. There are some paved as well as gravel paths with a few benches along the way. Several glacial erratics encountered during excavation have been incorporated. The place has been incredibly well thought through, both inside and out.

For a much better overview of the project than I’ve provided, I suggest an article and video published by The Columbus Dispatch when the center opened. It is here.