Ohio attractions
While many travelers regard Holmes County as the crux of Ohio’s Amish Country, few realize that Walnut Creek is its cradle. In 1809, Amish farmer Jonas Stutzman migrated from Pennsylvania to present-day Holmes County as the area’s first white settler. More Amish folks soon followed, putting down roots that blossomed into the world’s largest Amish-Mennonite community.
Our present days are an amalgam of all of our yesterdays: the past is prelude. That adage couldn’t be more true with respect to Ohio’s geologic history. Nearly the entire state felt the cold crush of mile-deep glacial ice pushing on the land.
The evidence is all around you in the moraines, the low long ridges in southwest Ohio; the grooves etched in stone on Kelleys Island; the open, pleasant till plains seemingly laid flat as a skillet.
Yellow Springs resident Dave Neuhardt was surprised to find that his love of history would lead him to the grave marker of his great-great grandfather, who fought for the Union during the Civil War.
Among those in the National Cemetery on the grounds of the Dayton VA Medical Center are the remains of Howard Bates, who served Ohio infantry and cavalry regiments. Why he is buried there is part of the historic narrative attached to the place.
Springtime can only mean one thing: It’s the beginning of festival season in Ohio, a time when there’s a celebration to honor just about any hobby, haute cuisine, and historical happening in hamlets across the state. Here’s a look at some of the more interesting festivals happening this spring and summer.
Head to Splatter Park near Mt. Gilead on a crisp, fall day, or pre-spring, before trees bud, and you’ll almost always find at least a little company. By summer, though, you’ll join as many as 600 other paintball warriors at a time looking to splatter their foes.
Location: On the east side of Cleveland in Lake View Cemetery.
Provenance: Founded in 1869, Lake View Cemetery was among the nation’s first garden-style cemeteries, and President James A. Garfield, who was born and raised near Cleveland, had expressed his desire to make its scenic grounds his final resting place. Shortly after his inauguration, Garfield was shot by a disappointed office-seeker and lingered for two months before dying on Sept. 19, 1881.
When Dawn Combs whips up an herbal matcha for visitors at Mockingbird Meadows Farm, she starts by selecting one of the jars arrayed on simple wooden shelves in the space of her home that serves as a combination shop, herb apothecary, and classroom.
The jars, called TEAshots, are powdered herb blends she developed from whole plants — including bark and roots — she and husband, Carson, raise at Mockingbird Meadows.
