Features

It’s a routine Freed has performed thousands of times volunteering for Horizon Prison Initiative, but he doesn’t think twice about the extra steps required just to get there. The retired guidance counselor spends 30 or more hours a week at the prison supporting Horizon’s program coordinator, Richard Boone; more than 30 Outside Brother volunteers; and 56 incarcerated men working to change their lives. Many people never step foot in a prison, but Freed says he feels called to be there.

The nasally call of summer insects has begun to fade away, and the shiny wax coating of tree leaves is beginning to lose its luster. As summer turns toward fall, buckeye seeds come to rest on the forest floor, where they will sink into the soil and take root, as they’ve done since the Pleistocene winter of 10,000 years ago.

Coded in that inedible promise of a would-be tree lies all the information the seed needs in order to make a living in Ohio’s rich and varied soils — just add water and light.

Some members of today’s younger generations — millennials and Gen Zers, if you will — favor a trendier, urban lifestyle, with conveniences like Uber rides and food trucks, bike-sharing, live entertainment, and ethnic eateries. But we found some young adults who prefer working the land, carrying on centuries-old legacies, rearing kids with an appreciation for nature, and growing acres (and acres!) of crops, raising livestock — even tending bees.

Scattered across the rural landscape of the Buckeye State are hundreds of small, grass airstrips, their owners housing vintage airplanes in nearby hangars and barns. A private plane, even though dated, is not inexpensive to purchase or maintain; the pilots — both men and women — do so for one simple reason: their love of flying.

Location: In the heart of downtown Cincinnati, just southwest of Fountain Square.

Jim Schaefer is a northeast Ohio native who’s dedicated his life to “improving Ohio.” Jim and his wife, Joan, have a particular passion for Hocking Hills State Park, where their family has visited for more than 30 years.

The five sculptors know how important their role is. Within their capable hands is a tradition that some will experience for the first time this year and others perhaps the fiftieth time — one that thousands of people look forward to every year.

“The butter sculpture display is one of the most loved traditions of the Ohio State Fair,” says Jenny Hubble, senior vice president of communications for the American Dairy Association Mideast, which represents dairy farmers in Ohio and West Virginia. “Ohio’s dairy farmers are proud to support it.”

Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude and want determine how well you do.” Those words, adorning a motivational sign in the Butterfield family’s barn near Oxford, Ohio, have been undeniably effective.

Matt Butterfield’s 280-pound market barrow, named “Repeat,” was grand champion at the 2018 Ohio State Fair. The pig was so named because Butterfield’s previous pig, “Hollywood,” was grand champion at the 2017 fair. It was only the second time that someone had won back-to-back Ohio State Fair grand championships with pigs.

Jody Christiansen was into trees, and he enjoyed finding ways to get other people into them as well.

In 2004, he discovered his dream. He and his wife, Anna Lee, took their family on a trip to Costa Rica to celebrate daughter Madison’s high school graduation and his completion of chemo treatment for lymphoma. Jody, an avid recreational tree-climber, took an interest in a zipline experience they had while they were there.

Location: On U.S. 250, about 4 miles east of Ashland and a half-mile from Interstate 71.