Damaine Vonada

“Wheeling Gaunt was a person of faith and a very resilient man who did not let adversity beat him down; he used it as a motivation to achieve,” says Brenda Hubbard Ibarra, Jack and Pat’s daughter. Although she had been born and raised in Yellow Springs, Ibarra was unaware of Gaunt’s story until her mother started getting those gifts. Inspired, she immersed herself in researching that history, and in 2021, she self-published Legacy of Grace: Musings on the Life and Times of Wheeling Gaunt.

New Year’s Eve Donut Drop, Lakeside

Anyone who has ever spent a summer day experiencing the Lakeside Chautauqua community on the shores of Lake Erie knows that residents and visitors alike relish the Patio Restaurant’s homemade donuts. Those famous cake donuts inspired a new tradition in 2022: dropping an inflatable plastic donut decorated with multi-colored “sprinkles” from Lakeside’s waterfront Pavilion. A DJ plays dance music during this only-in-Lakeside event, which of course serves Patio donuts plus hot chocolate for toasting the new year.

The Whigs picked Harrison and Virginia Sen. John Tyler to top their 1840 ticket. Their campaign slogan — “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too!” — reminded voters that the Ohioan had defeated Tecumseh at the Battle of Tippecanoe.

Barb Barbee Jewelry, Delaware

At her home studio in Delaware, Worthington Craft Guild member Barb Barbee fashions jewelry using 14-karat gold-filled wire, sterling silver, freshwater pearls, and precious and semi-precious stones. Her holiday line has Christmas tree-shaped green malachite pendants; mother-of-pearl snowman earrings; and stunning Christmas spiders that channel an East European folktale.

Smiley, with help from the eighth and ninth generations of Smiley farmers — his son, James, and two grandsons, John and Alexander — raises corn, soybeans, hay, and Charolais beef cattle on 100 acres of the original Smiley farm, plus additional farmland they either own or lease.  

“The deed from King George was for at least 500 acres, but might have been for more than 1,000 acres,” John says. “We’re just not sure because parts of it were parceled off when people got married, and lots of the property records were destroyed in a courthouse fire.” 

The idea for Grant Day came from State Sen. Terry Johnson (R-Scioto County), whose 14th District covers Clermont, Brown, Adams, and Scioto counties. “I was attending Grant’s 200th birthday celebration in Georgetown and got to thinking it would be nice to make his birthday a state holiday,” Johnson says. Adam Bird, who represents House District 63 in southern Ohio, wholeheartedly agreed, and in May 2022, the two legislators introduced companion bills proposing Grant Day. They worked together as their bills moved through the legislative process, and Gov.

The president has a genial twinkle in his eye and holds a straw hat straight out of the Jazz Age. Laddie Boy, the beloved Airedale who attended cabinet meetings and retrieved the president’s errant golf balls, sits at Harding’s feet, and resting on a table behind them is a copy of The Marion Daily Star, the failing newspaper Harding purchased at age 19. He managed to make it profitable and still owned the Star when elected president in 1920.   

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.

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.