Margo Bartlett

Troy Fletcher acknowledges a sense of survivor’s guilt after he received his friend Joe Hedges’ kidney when Joe died in March 2021.

Unimaginable

Shawana Mitchell and her fiancé, Joe Hedges, were regulars at Circleville’s VFW lodge poker nights, and, as they often did, joined the card-playing crowd one Friday evening in March 2021 with their friend Troy Fletcher.

The emergency squad arrived, and Joe was taken to Circleville’s Berger Hospital, then flown to Riverside Methodist in Columbus for emergency surgery. 

Joe, 52, had suffered an aortic dissection, a tear in the inner layer of the body’s main artery. When Shawana saw him after surgery, his color had improved and she dared to hope. But brain swelling ensued, and Sunday morning, Joe’s family was called to the hospital. 

Features
McPeek’s Mighty Maze is part of the annual fall festival at the Colonial Campground in Coshocton. Here, Lane, Rowdi and Sylvie Mullett reach the exit of the maze (photo by Marissa Mullett — @keenecreekfarmandmakery on Instagram).

Corn mazes

As viewed from above, some corn mazes are complicated labyrinths of intricate, themed designs. Whether they’re looking for a challenge or just an autumn atmosphere, enthusiasts of all ages are attracted to corn mazes. 

McPeek’s Mighty Maze and Fall Festival 

Located at the Coshocton KOA Holiday in Coshocton, the Mighty Maze is a part of the fall festival held by Ryan and Camille McPeek. Employee Amy Hamilton says they plant the corn like normal, and the maze is cut with a tractor and a GPS device.

Do mazers ever get lost?

“Some do need help,” she says, noting that guides are always available. Before closing each evening, employees sweep through the maze, looking for stragglers.

“We leave no man behind,” Hamilton jokes.

Features
A working air conditioning unit made from Legos.

Brick by brick

Like many kids, Conrad Brown loved Legos. He knew his dad shared that love, too.

The building’s main hallway features life-sized Larry Byrd and Kobe Bryant figures, among others. A prone man made of red Legos appears contemplative inside a case; nearby, a Lego dragon sits at a Lego campfire, roasting a Lego marshmallow. 

Features
Highlights for Children founder Garry Meyers reads the magazine to his grandchildren.

Fun with a purpose

When Garry and Carolyn Meyers created Highlights for Children in 1946, they did so with the belief that children have an innate ability to think and learn and create and that they should be encouraged to share their thoughts and feelings.

Highlights' 75th Anniversary Edition

Highlights, based in Columbus, recently celebrated its 75th year of “fun with a purpose”— presenting opportunities for parents to “lean in and listen” to encourage curiosity and self-confidence. 

Features
Rusty Baker

Feeling 'Rustacious'

Rusty Baker’s earnest love for life and his willingness to take chances have led him along a path few others could tread. 
“Where my two feet are is the greatest place on earth,” says Baker, a Holmes-Wayne Electric Cooperative member — and it’s easy to believe he means what he says. 

Co-op People
A snow-covered road with large piles of snow on either side of it.

Storm of the century

For most Ohioans, the first sign that something unusual was happening on that night 40 years ago was the shriek of a fierce, unrelenting wind.

In the late evening of Jan. 25, 1978, a low-pressure system from Canada met another low-pressure system from Texas. Such storms approach from opposite directions several times each winter, according to the National Weather Service. Usually they miss each other. This time they collided, causing what has come to be widely known as “the storm of the century.”

Power Lines
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