On Katherine Harrison’s farm in Groveport, every animal has a job. The chickens offer eggs. The cats provide comfort. And the goats help teach yoga.
The idea for the program arose organically, says Harrison, owner and operator of Harrison Farm. (Her secondary title, she says, is “chief minion” to the goats.) She met yoga instructor Dana Bernstein in 2016 while she was planning Bernstein’s wedding, and the two hit it off.
Anyone who recalls the thrill of getting a good push while learning to ride a bicycle can appreciate the growing popularity of electric bikes — bicycles outfitted with electric motors that lend extra oomph to your pedaling.
In 2023, my wife and I were contemplating a “bike and boat” tour of the Dalmatian Islands, a string of rocky gems lining the southern coast of Croatia in the crystalline waters of the Adriatic Sea. Let’s be honest about our fitness level: We’re both nearing retirement age, and most of our limited cycling experience has been on the flat-land bike paths of central Ohio (and our favorite destination is a brew pub) — not exactly the training regimen for the Tour de France.
Jennifer Aultman speaks with reverence when she talks about Ohio’s earthworks — eight of which, linked together as the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, have been inscribed as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scienti
About 1,100 landmarks around the globe have been added to the list since the program began in 1972, with 25 of them in the U.S. This is the first in Ohio.
There are 10 criteria, any one of which qualifies a site for the World Heritage list. The OHC/NPS team cited two of those as they made the case for the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks.
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:
Kendra Wecker, chief of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ wildlife division, swears she’s not trying to put any food trucks out of business.
The kitchen and its chefs cook and serve up free food created with wild-harvested Ohio game, including fish, fowl, and other critters. And Ken Fry, ODNR outdoor skills specialist, says it all began when he was cooking up such treats from the bed of a pickup truck with a pop-up tent at a Jefferson County farmers market a while back.
“It was so well-received that I presented the trailer idea to my supervisor and he liked it and said, ‘Let’s go with it,’” Fry says.
Jody Davis got his first electric train for Christmas when he was 8 years old. But his love affair with trains started even earlier.
Davis joined Associated Model Railroad Engineers of Coshocton when he was 14, and currently, at 55, serves as president.
It’s a familiar story with model railroaders: A childhood fascination with trains leads to a Christmas or birthday gift of a model train set. Retired music educator Bruce Knapp, 81, of North Bend, is still an active participant and member of the National Model Railroad Association’s Cincinnati chapter.
This time of year, you can find dozens of events that feature chestnuts roasting on open fires and Yuletide carols being sung by choirs, but there’s only one holiday celebration that features Ohio’s grandest musical Christmas tree.
Located on 65 acres bordering the Great Miami River, Carillon Historical Park is an open-air museum founded in the 1940s by industrialist Edward Deeds and his wife, Edith. Because his passion was history and hers was music, they made Deeds Carillon the focal point of a collection of buildings and artifacts that highlight both Dayton’s heritage and its many contributions to industry and transportation.
What happens when you receive a troll doll at the impressionable young age of 5? If you’re Sherry Grooms, you end up with a museum.
One room has the Troll Bowl, a dollhouse version of a football stadium, where trolls are dressed as football players and fans sport NFL attire. There’s also the Rock ’n’ Troll Hall of Fame featuring troll versions of Rod Stewart, Justin Timberlake, KISS, and more.
Troll collecting has made Grooms an expert on troll doll history. The original is from Denmark, where Thomas Dam carved wooden dolls for his daughter, inspired by trolls of Scandinavian folklore. Dam’s designs became mass-produced in the U.S. in the 1960s.
