Theresa Ravencraft

Heilman manages nearly 800 hives, which he hires out to farmers. Half of his hives travel out of state, but he estimates his bees alone help Ohio growers produce
$10 million to $15 million worth of crops each year.

Oh, and by the way, those busy workers also make one of the more luscious food products on the planet. Heilman’s bees produce more than 35,000 pounds of honey annually.

But it’s not just milk or even the marketing of genetics from their purebred cattle that’s at the heart of the business. From the start, it’s the educational aspect of the farm that appealed to Bonnie and John, who are members of Piqua-based Pioneer Electric Cooperative.  Each summer, the Ayarses welcome hundreds of local elementary school students to the education center they built on the farm. Visitors get to meet and touch famous cows like Buckeye Bessie, Honeybun, and Bravo. They feed calves, try to milk a cow, and sample ice cream made on the farm.

After the collapse, Ohio began to require that all bridges in the state be inspected once each year. Seeing an opportunity to both make some money and potentially save some lives, Stolte and some of his college friends started up a new business.

They attended classes during the week, but on weekends they traveled into rural counties throughout the state to perform those mandated bridge inspections. 

“We learned quickly to drive across each bridge prior to doing our inspection, because we often didn’t want to drive across after seeing the condition they were in,” he says.

Now she and Corwin teach groups in central Ohio and beyond to create those free-form mosaics that are then installed as permanent works of art. 

Mitchell’s Berries and Blooms

9331 Mitchell-Dewitt Road, Plain City, OH 43064. 
937-243-0635, www.mitchellsberries.com

That experience helped her realize two things: first, that she proudly came from a long line of strong, influential women; second, how important it was to engage with her grandmother, listen to her story, and record her family history before it was lost forever. “Listening is good for all of us,” Sanders says. “When they tell their story, it gives them purpose. There’s a reason they’re here.”