Grace and peace to you! For everyone who has wandered in due to Mark Shea's very kind compliments and link, this is less a standard "weblog/blog" than it is a dumping ground for my weekly/monthly writing for a local paper/website/church newsletter. I still don't speak html fluently, and am aware this particular blogger page looks, well, lame.
I just wanted to have a simple place to point folk who asked me for a copy of last week/month's article; perhaps it will be more of a blog someday, but for now, greetings from an evangelical immersionist Anglican Restorationist pastor who is currently ticked off at offenses against his Roman Catholic brethren!
Anyhow, the good stuff is, as always, over at http://lileks.com if it's not at http://markshea.blogspot.com or http://amywelborn.blogspot.com (and if i knew what i was doing, those'd be links, but as long as hospice visits are my main priority, you'll just have to copy/paste like we Neanderthals. . .).
Pax et gratia!
(ps -- greetings always welcome at disciple@voyager.net; as to hyperlink, see above, advice also welcome)
Thursday, August 29, 2002
Sunday, August 25, 2002
Hebron Crossroads 9-01
by Jeff Gill
With the Sweet Corn Festival wrapping up this weekend (did you get your Lakewood Band Booster doughnuts?), the fair season in our neighborhood has just the Fairfield County Fair in Lancaster to look forward to (but that’s quite a bit to look forward to!). Looking backward, I just saw Aaron Dunkle’s ribbon for “Outstanding of the Day” from the Ohio State Fair, where Drew Cable and Chris Jones also got good marks from the judges.
Aaron’s project was on vegetable gardening, and his dad Bryan has been selling some of his great produce down along Rt. 37. Bryan has a computer controlled irrigation system that I can personally testify produces tasty cantaloupe, along with tomatoes, peppers, various melons, and a number of other vegetables not seen at every farmstand.
This is the first chance I’ve had to say how amazing the Newark Bicentennial parade was. It was fun to see an old friend, Charlie Rhoads, as Wayne Newton’s chauffeur in one of Charlie’s classic Oldsmobiles. Who better? And from the point of view of jogging along behind the United Way float for 3 miles pulling a wagon with a load o’ Chris in it, I really think half of Hebron was their to help our friends up north celebrate with style!
We’re all struggling a bit with how to properly prepare for September 11 this year. Everyone knows that this date will continue to be a day of remembrance throughout our lifetimes, and this first commemoration feels important to get right.
While there will be a variety of national and televised observances, and TV-4 will form a “living flag” that day at Crew Stadium in Columbus, here’s what we’re looking at in our area.
At 5:45 am, at OSU-Newark, the regular County Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast is set for the 11th, with a special guest speaker who has spent many years in Afghanistan. This event is always well attended, and they expect close to 1000 this year; individual tickets are $10 and are at “Moments for Majesty” and a variety of other locations. This truly is a county-wide program.
8:45 am, when the first attack struck, is when the county commissioners have asked for bells to be tolled and a moment of silence observed around the county. When the first tower in NYC fell, just after 9:45 am, a commemoration is also being considered.
From Noon to early evening, Hebron Christian Church is co-ordinating for the village a service project open to all, under the theme “Respond To The Call.” In honor of the firefighters and many other public servants who responded 9-11-01, we’re going to help them by getting Hebron’s fire hydrants painted with a fresh coat of reflective yellow (250 or more, in case you wondered).
Volunteers are invited to come by a staging area behind the church building, and as teams are sent out with some quick training and maps for which hydrants to paint, there will also be food, refreshments, and music available through the afternoon and early evening. We also hope to send a follow-up team around, as the hydrants dry, putting a stenciled “In Memoriam 9-11-01” at the base of each one.
The American Legion plans to hold a special ceremonial “flag retirement” at the post at 6 pm; if you have flags that are worn out and need to be respectfully disposed of, bring them by the Legion hall off Basin St.
Finally, Licking Baptist Church, which just dedicated a new worship center on Beaver Run Road last weekend, will host a community prayer and commemoration service at 7 pm.
That’s what the Hebron area plans to do for 9-11 this year, and many thanks to Chief Weekly, Lt. Yost, Mayor Mason, and Councilmembers Halter and Walters for their help in pulling together arrangements. We’ll have more news next week at the Hebron Crossroads on this day of remembrance and service.
When the news of far-off struggle and nearby trouble starts to get you down, I know that one of my grandmother’s favorite “spiritual disciplines” was watching birds (y’know, “they toil not, neither do they spin” as the Boss said) to get calmed and centered.
Recently, quite a flock of purple martins has passed through Hebron, darting and zooming low, flying like swifts but much closer to the grasstops than swifts care to go.
Out our way, a cloud of purple martins and a flotilla of dragonflies were zig-zagging their way through a four-course dinner of newly hatched mosquitos, and their antics were enough to wipe away a long, hard day.
Make sure to get outside before the nights start too soon; anyhow, you have to work off those doughnuts from the Sweet Corn Festival!
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church and a definite doughnut eater. If you have doughnut sightings, or wildlife on view, call him at 928-4066 or e-mail disciple@voyager.net.
by Jeff Gill
With the Sweet Corn Festival wrapping up this weekend (did you get your Lakewood Band Booster doughnuts?), the fair season in our neighborhood has just the Fairfield County Fair in Lancaster to look forward to (but that’s quite a bit to look forward to!). Looking backward, I just saw Aaron Dunkle’s ribbon for “Outstanding of the Day” from the Ohio State Fair, where Drew Cable and Chris Jones also got good marks from the judges.
Aaron’s project was on vegetable gardening, and his dad Bryan has been selling some of his great produce down along Rt. 37. Bryan has a computer controlled irrigation system that I can personally testify produces tasty cantaloupe, along with tomatoes, peppers, various melons, and a number of other vegetables not seen at every farmstand.
This is the first chance I’ve had to say how amazing the Newark Bicentennial parade was. It was fun to see an old friend, Charlie Rhoads, as Wayne Newton’s chauffeur in one of Charlie’s classic Oldsmobiles. Who better? And from the point of view of jogging along behind the United Way float for 3 miles pulling a wagon with a load o’ Chris in it, I really think half of Hebron was their to help our friends up north celebrate with style!
We’re all struggling a bit with how to properly prepare for September 11 this year. Everyone knows that this date will continue to be a day of remembrance throughout our lifetimes, and this first commemoration feels important to get right.
While there will be a variety of national and televised observances, and TV-4 will form a “living flag” that day at Crew Stadium in Columbus, here’s what we’re looking at in our area.
At 5:45 am, at OSU-Newark, the regular County Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast is set for the 11th, with a special guest speaker who has spent many years in Afghanistan. This event is always well attended, and they expect close to 1000 this year; individual tickets are $10 and are at “Moments for Majesty” and a variety of other locations. This truly is a county-wide program.
8:45 am, when the first attack struck, is when the county commissioners have asked for bells to be tolled and a moment of silence observed around the county. When the first tower in NYC fell, just after 9:45 am, a commemoration is also being considered.
From Noon to early evening, Hebron Christian Church is co-ordinating for the village a service project open to all, under the theme “Respond To The Call.” In honor of the firefighters and many other public servants who responded 9-11-01, we’re going to help them by getting Hebron’s fire hydrants painted with a fresh coat of reflective yellow (250 or more, in case you wondered).
Volunteers are invited to come by a staging area behind the church building, and as teams are sent out with some quick training and maps for which hydrants to paint, there will also be food, refreshments, and music available through the afternoon and early evening. We also hope to send a follow-up team around, as the hydrants dry, putting a stenciled “In Memoriam 9-11-01” at the base of each one.
The American Legion plans to hold a special ceremonial “flag retirement” at the post at 6 pm; if you have flags that are worn out and need to be respectfully disposed of, bring them by the Legion hall off Basin St.
Finally, Licking Baptist Church, which just dedicated a new worship center on Beaver Run Road last weekend, will host a community prayer and commemoration service at 7 pm.
That’s what the Hebron area plans to do for 9-11 this year, and many thanks to Chief Weekly, Lt. Yost, Mayor Mason, and Councilmembers Halter and Walters for their help in pulling together arrangements. We’ll have more news next week at the Hebron Crossroads on this day of remembrance and service.
When the news of far-off struggle and nearby trouble starts to get you down, I know that one of my grandmother’s favorite “spiritual disciplines” was watching birds (y’know, “they toil not, neither do they spin” as the Boss said) to get calmed and centered.
Recently, quite a flock of purple martins has passed through Hebron, darting and zooming low, flying like swifts but much closer to the grasstops than swifts care to go.
Out our way, a cloud of purple martins and a flotilla of dragonflies were zig-zagging their way through a four-course dinner of newly hatched mosquitos, and their antics were enough to wipe away a long, hard day.
Make sure to get outside before the nights start too soon; anyhow, you have to work off those doughnuts from the Sweet Corn Festival!
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church and a definite doughnut eater. If you have doughnut sightings, or wildlife on view, call him at 928-4066 or e-mail disciple@voyager.net.
The Church Window print edition -- Sept. 2002
* * * * * * *
Notes From My Knapsack
We’re all struggling a bit with how to properly prepare for September 11 this year. Last year, we responded quickly, in the middle of shock and horror, but found our church was truly the lighthouse we want to be as stewards of God's light, shining brightest in the midst of darkness "which can never put it out."
This year, we have time to prepare: maybe too much time, from the sounds of some of the memorials and rallies planned in various places. Everyone knows that this date will continue to be a day of remembrance throughout our lifetimes, and this first commemoration feels important to get right.
While there will be a variety of national and televised observances, and TV-4 will form a “living flag” that day at Crew Stadium in Columbus, the board and elders of Hebron Christian felt it was important to help lead and participate in a more local way. Here's what's planned as of 8-25:
At 5:45 am, at OSU-Newark, the regular County Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast is set for the 11th, with a special guest preacher who spent many years as a missionary in Afghanistan, living at one time literally just a few doors from Mullah Omar. This is not just a "Newark" event, and is always well attended. They've had 700 at the most recent (two years ago), and expect close to 1000 this year; individual tickets are $10 and are at “Moments for Majesty”. This truly is a Licking County program.
8:45 am, when the first attack struck, is when the county commissioners have asked for bells to be tolled and a moment of silence observed around the county. When the first tower in NYC fell, just after 9:45 am, a commemoration is also being considered either at the municipal flagpole or by the fire station.
From Noon to early evening, Hebron Christian Church is co-ordinating for the village a service project open to all, under the theme “Respond To The Call.” In honor of the firefighters and many other public servants who responded 9-11-01, we’re going to help them by getting Hebron’s fire hydrants painted with a fresh coat of reflective yellow (250 or more, in case you wondered).
Volunteers are invited to come by a staging area behind the church building, and as teams are sent out with some quick training and maps for which hydrants to paint, there will also be food, refreshments, and music available through the afternoon and early evening. We also hope to send a follow-up team around, as the hydrants dry, putting a stenciled “In Memoriam 9-11-01” at the base of each one.
For our part, we don't just need hardy paintbrush wielders; there's going to be service opportunities for iced tea makers, check-in greeters, musicians, map wranglers, and many others. If this sounds like last week's sermon on the North Platte Canteen, you're right!
The American Legion plans to hold a special ceremonial “flag retirement” at the post at 6 pm; if you have flags that are worn out and need to be respectfully disposed of, bring them by the Legion hall off Basin St.
Finally, Licking Baptist Church, which just dedicated their new worship center on Beaver Run Road last weekend, will host a community prayer and commemoration service at 7 pm.
I hope you all can “Respond To The Call” on Sept. 11.
In Grace & Peace,
Pastor Jeff
* * * * * * *
Congregational Meeting – Sept. 8
Rally Day – Sept. 8 with potluck at Noon, followed by games and activities
* * * * * * *
If you have completed “sermon surveys” for Pastor Jeff, please bring them back to worship and place in the offering plate, prayer request box in back, or you can fold them up and mail them back if that’s easiest!
* * * * * * *
Newark Farm Park on Rt. 79 north of town (Cedar St. exit) is having a series of programs this fall as the working late 19th/early 20th century farm is put on display; Sept. 7, at 11 am, Pastor Jeff is doing a program on “Your Family History – A story worth telling.” This program is free and open to the public.
* * * * * * *
Howard Ratcliff’s retirement celebration was well-attended by the region, by the larger church, and by Hebron Christian Church. Thanks to David Dernberger, Ila Mason, Maribel Neel, and Pastor Jeff for representing our best wishes and prayers to both Howard and Shiela.
A packed reception was an occasion for much fellowship across the region in anticipation of our regional assembly Oct. 18-19 in Springfield, and the worship was a very successful blending of styles, ages, and ethnicities into a very meaningful celebration of Howard’s leadership these last 32 years in Ohio.
It is reported that the dinner and program that followed contained much truth and many more unverified and unverifiable tales about some details of those 32 years! Please continue to pray for Howard & Shiela, and for the regional minister search committee.
* * * * * * *
* * * * * * *
Notes From My Knapsack
We’re all struggling a bit with how to properly prepare for September 11 this year. Last year, we responded quickly, in the middle of shock and horror, but found our church was truly the lighthouse we want to be as stewards of God's light, shining brightest in the midst of darkness "which can never put it out."
This year, we have time to prepare: maybe too much time, from the sounds of some of the memorials and rallies planned in various places. Everyone knows that this date will continue to be a day of remembrance throughout our lifetimes, and this first commemoration feels important to get right.
While there will be a variety of national and televised observances, and TV-4 will form a “living flag” that day at Crew Stadium in Columbus, the board and elders of Hebron Christian felt it was important to help lead and participate in a more local way. Here's what's planned as of 8-25:
At 5:45 am, at OSU-Newark, the regular County Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast is set for the 11th, with a special guest preacher who spent many years as a missionary in Afghanistan, living at one time literally just a few doors from Mullah Omar. This is not just a "Newark" event, and is always well attended. They've had 700 at the most recent (two years ago), and expect close to 1000 this year; individual tickets are $10 and are at “Moments for Majesty”. This truly is a Licking County program.
8:45 am, when the first attack struck, is when the county commissioners have asked for bells to be tolled and a moment of silence observed around the county. When the first tower in NYC fell, just after 9:45 am, a commemoration is also being considered either at the municipal flagpole or by the fire station.
From Noon to early evening, Hebron Christian Church is co-ordinating for the village a service project open to all, under the theme “Respond To The Call.” In honor of the firefighters and many other public servants who responded 9-11-01, we’re going to help them by getting Hebron’s fire hydrants painted with a fresh coat of reflective yellow (250 or more, in case you wondered).
Volunteers are invited to come by a staging area behind the church building, and as teams are sent out with some quick training and maps for which hydrants to paint, there will also be food, refreshments, and music available through the afternoon and early evening. We also hope to send a follow-up team around, as the hydrants dry, putting a stenciled “In Memoriam 9-11-01” at the base of each one.
For our part, we don't just need hardy paintbrush wielders; there's going to be service opportunities for iced tea makers, check-in greeters, musicians, map wranglers, and many others. If this sounds like last week's sermon on the North Platte Canteen, you're right!
The American Legion plans to hold a special ceremonial “flag retirement” at the post at 6 pm; if you have flags that are worn out and need to be respectfully disposed of, bring them by the Legion hall off Basin St.
Finally, Licking Baptist Church, which just dedicated their new worship center on Beaver Run Road last weekend, will host a community prayer and commemoration service at 7 pm.
I hope you all can “Respond To The Call” on Sept. 11.
In Grace & Peace,
Pastor Jeff
* * * * * * *
Congregational Meeting – Sept. 8
Rally Day – Sept. 8 with potluck at Noon, followed by games and activities
* * * * * * *
If you have completed “sermon surveys” for Pastor Jeff, please bring them back to worship and place in the offering plate, prayer request box in back, or you can fold them up and mail them back if that’s easiest!
* * * * * * *
Newark Farm Park on Rt. 79 north of town (Cedar St. exit) is having a series of programs this fall as the working late 19th/early 20th century farm is put on display; Sept. 7, at 11 am, Pastor Jeff is doing a program on “Your Family History – A story worth telling.” This program is free and open to the public.
* * * * * * *
Howard Ratcliff’s retirement celebration was well-attended by the region, by the larger church, and by Hebron Christian Church. Thanks to David Dernberger, Ila Mason, Maribel Neel, and Pastor Jeff for representing our best wishes and prayers to both Howard and Shiela.
A packed reception was an occasion for much fellowship across the region in anticipation of our regional assembly Oct. 18-19 in Springfield, and the worship was a very successful blending of styles, ages, and ethnicities into a very meaningful celebration of Howard’s leadership these last 32 years in Ohio.
It is reported that the dinner and program that followed contained much truth and many more unverified and unverifiable tales about some details of those 32 years! Please continue to pray for Howard & Shiela, and for the regional minister search committee.
* * * * * * *
Tuesday, August 20, 2002
Hebron Crossroads 8-25
by Jeff Gill
(Note to self: as a weekly columnist, don’t print in the column what you think will be in it next week – people remember this stuff!)
OK, so we’re still looking for a final tally of fair results, Hartford and Ohio State-wise, but be of good cheer, the delay is simply so we don’t miss anyone! I’ve heard some delightful second-hand accounts of what our young folk have shown and earned and celebrated, and you all have one more week to get me the good news so it can be proudly announced at the crossroads. . .
Meanwhile, school begins this week, and parents are working out transportation arrangements for their high schoolers, payment plans for extra-curricular activities, and child care around alternating day kindergarten. Did I mention the Lakewood School Board is bringing another levy proposal before the voters in November? Anyhow, remember in the early mornings, as the sun rises later, that the kids are at the bus stops and along the sidewalks again. Drivers, take note!
With the fall comes not only school but many other important civic organizations getting back into the swing of things. We’ll be hearing quite a bit about the Millersport Lions with the Sweet Corn Festival and all (and Art Ours with the Hebron Lions was making the rounds with the community calendar just recently), but many organizations have a quiet summer to rest up for a busy autumn and winter.
One organization with a high profile in Hebron is the Order of the Eastern Star (or OES), an organization sponsored by Freemasonry and whose local chapter meets at the Masonic Lodge on High Street.
Dory Smathers is the current Worthy Matron of Eagon Chapter 123 OES, named for one of the founders of the chapter, which began in 1900 above a store where Hayman’s Dairy Bar now stands.
“We meet twice a month for ritual and fellowship,” Dory explained to me, “along with other activities and events with other chapters in our district as well as Grand Chapter, the state level organization.”
Dory’s mother Jean Wonders has served as Worthy Matron of Eagon, and currently holds a Grand Chapter office. Masonic activities seem to run in Dory’s family, since she has already been a Rainbow Girl, the sponsored girls’ group through the lodge, and joined Eastern Star at 18, which is the earliest one can join. Her husband Chad Smathers is in line to serve as Worshipful Master of Hebron Lodge 116 next year.
“Men are functional members of Eastern Star, too,” Dory reminded me, “which is part of the relationship to Freemasonry, but the main purpose is for wives, daughters, mothers, and other relatives of Masons to work together.” OES is in the US, Canada, Australia, and a number of European countries; they hold a “general Grand Chapter” every three years.
Along with service projects around the state of Ohio for children with learning disabilities and to support women getting training in religious leadership, the local chapters are a place for training and learning as well.
“I believe that learning and doing the OES ritual has helped me with getting my thoughts focused when making public presentations,” says Dory, “which is a good tool for people who may not be comfortable doing public speaking.” As a teacher in the Columbus Public Schools, she has obviously gotten some career as well as personal benefit out of her time in Eastern Star!
The ritual, which is partly private but mostly public (I’ve been to their centennial celebration and to Dory’s installation, of which 80% was open to non-members), focuses on Biblical characters, but is strictly non-denominational. Their five-pointed star symbolizes, among other things, five women of the Bible who embody virtues and principals the members wish to emulate: Adah, Jeptha’s daughter; Ruth; Esther; Martha, the sister of Lazarus; and Electa, of John’s letters. While both Old and New Testament characters are honored, Eastern Star simply asks of prospective members that they believe in a Supreme Being.
“Eastern Star has provided a place to meet and fellowship with other women & men that I might not otherwise cross paths with in my professional and spiritual life,” says Dory appreciatively. “It has given me personally poise and confidence in my ability to lead a meeting and function as a leader.”
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church and a big fan of community service; if you have news or information about those serving our community right now, call 928-4066 or e-mail disciple@voyager.net.
by Jeff Gill
(Note to self: as a weekly columnist, don’t print in the column what you think will be in it next week – people remember this stuff!)
OK, so we’re still looking for a final tally of fair results, Hartford and Ohio State-wise, but be of good cheer, the delay is simply so we don’t miss anyone! I’ve heard some delightful second-hand accounts of what our young folk have shown and earned and celebrated, and you all have one more week to get me the good news so it can be proudly announced at the crossroads. . .
Meanwhile, school begins this week, and parents are working out transportation arrangements for their high schoolers, payment plans for extra-curricular activities, and child care around alternating day kindergarten. Did I mention the Lakewood School Board is bringing another levy proposal before the voters in November? Anyhow, remember in the early mornings, as the sun rises later, that the kids are at the bus stops and along the sidewalks again. Drivers, take note!
With the fall comes not only school but many other important civic organizations getting back into the swing of things. We’ll be hearing quite a bit about the Millersport Lions with the Sweet Corn Festival and all (and Art Ours with the Hebron Lions was making the rounds with the community calendar just recently), but many organizations have a quiet summer to rest up for a busy autumn and winter.
One organization with a high profile in Hebron is the Order of the Eastern Star (or OES), an organization sponsored by Freemasonry and whose local chapter meets at the Masonic Lodge on High Street.
Dory Smathers is the current Worthy Matron of Eagon Chapter 123 OES, named for one of the founders of the chapter, which began in 1900 above a store where Hayman’s Dairy Bar now stands.
“We meet twice a month for ritual and fellowship,” Dory explained to me, “along with other activities and events with other chapters in our district as well as Grand Chapter, the state level organization.”
Dory’s mother Jean Wonders has served as Worthy Matron of Eagon, and currently holds a Grand Chapter office. Masonic activities seem to run in Dory’s family, since she has already been a Rainbow Girl, the sponsored girls’ group through the lodge, and joined Eastern Star at 18, which is the earliest one can join. Her husband Chad Smathers is in line to serve as Worshipful Master of Hebron Lodge 116 next year.
“Men are functional members of Eastern Star, too,” Dory reminded me, “which is part of the relationship to Freemasonry, but the main purpose is for wives, daughters, mothers, and other relatives of Masons to work together.” OES is in the US, Canada, Australia, and a number of European countries; they hold a “general Grand Chapter” every three years.
Along with service projects around the state of Ohio for children with learning disabilities and to support women getting training in religious leadership, the local chapters are a place for training and learning as well.
“I believe that learning and doing the OES ritual has helped me with getting my thoughts focused when making public presentations,” says Dory, “which is a good tool for people who may not be comfortable doing public speaking.” As a teacher in the Columbus Public Schools, she has obviously gotten some career as well as personal benefit out of her time in Eastern Star!
The ritual, which is partly private but mostly public (I’ve been to their centennial celebration and to Dory’s installation, of which 80% was open to non-members), focuses on Biblical characters, but is strictly non-denominational. Their five-pointed star symbolizes, among other things, five women of the Bible who embody virtues and principals the members wish to emulate: Adah, Jeptha’s daughter; Ruth; Esther; Martha, the sister of Lazarus; and Electa, of John’s letters. While both Old and New Testament characters are honored, Eastern Star simply asks of prospective members that they believe in a Supreme Being.
“Eastern Star has provided a place to meet and fellowship with other women & men that I might not otherwise cross paths with in my professional and spiritual life,” says Dory appreciatively. “It has given me personally poise and confidence in my ability to lead a meeting and function as a leader.”
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church and a big fan of community service; if you have news or information about those serving our community right now, call 928-4066 or e-mail disciple@voyager.net.
Booster East – K&K Salt cover
by Jeff Gill
Sometimes to take a step forward you have to go backwards; in the case of K & K Salt, about 20 feet into a new building!
Karen Mosher, the owner and manager of K & K, “That Salt Place On 79” as the sign out front says, has seen 25 years of steps both forward and backwards with her business.
“My husband and I started with salt delivery on Aug. 7, 1977 with a Volvo and a small trailer,” says Karen, who also worked with Ken out of the home their first six years.
In September of 1983 they moved into the old Powell’s Market near the entrance to the old Heath Drive-In. The building was a seasonal structure originally, and took quite a bit of work to maintain over the years, as Karen remembers “when we were working on the roof and it rained harder inside than out!”
But starting in 1985 Ken & Karen sold over 1 million pounds of salt a year, and the business grew. They continue to sell literally millions of pounds of salt and water softener supplies.
Dreams of a new building paused when Ken Mosher died suddenly of a massive heart attack in June of 1998. Karen credits the support and comfort of many of her customers with getting her through that period, and back to work. Karen noted in a mailing to her regular customer base, "You have cried with me and laughed with me and I feel you are all family. I thank you from the bottom of my heart."
The rebuilding project along Rt. 79 finally forced the issue, and the decision was made to build anew set back from where the wider road will pass. Briefly the new building towered over the old wooden structure, and now it can be seen as a bright new blue steel-frame building, with wide drive-thru doors.
“We’re set up now for people to go behind to the right, and drive back out through the building where they can pick up their salt in any weather,” says Bruce Dollings, a long-time employee with Karen. “It’s convenient for the customers and us.”
A “Grand Opening Celebration” is planned from August 26 - 31. Prizes, including some specials for the first customers on Monday and price breaks for each of the days, will be offered, accompanied by hot dogs on the grill and good will all around. Karen wants people to stop by and register for prizes “and have a hot dog on me” even if you don’t have a purchase to make next week. The grand opening festivities will go on right through the usual operating hours, Mon-Fri 9 to 5 and Saturdays from 9 to 2 pm.
In a reminder of how Karen & Ken got started, K & K is helping get Heartland Salt Delivery off the ground. For anyone wanting home delivery, they can call K & K at 522-2443 and ask for Fred to get prices and delivery dates.
Karen and her son Matt are proud of their family tradition that will continue at 1885 Hebron Road for what looks like a long time to come. “We just try to give people the best salt available for the best price,” says Karen. That will take K & K Salt through at least another quarter-century!
by Jeff Gill
Sometimes to take a step forward you have to go backwards; in the case of K & K Salt, about 20 feet into a new building!
Karen Mosher, the owner and manager of K & K, “That Salt Place On 79” as the sign out front says, has seen 25 years of steps both forward and backwards with her business.
“My husband and I started with salt delivery on Aug. 7, 1977 with a Volvo and a small trailer,” says Karen, who also worked with Ken out of the home their first six years.
In September of 1983 they moved into the old Powell’s Market near the entrance to the old Heath Drive-In. The building was a seasonal structure originally, and took quite a bit of work to maintain over the years, as Karen remembers “when we were working on the roof and it rained harder inside than out!”
But starting in 1985 Ken & Karen sold over 1 million pounds of salt a year, and the business grew. They continue to sell literally millions of pounds of salt and water softener supplies.
Dreams of a new building paused when Ken Mosher died suddenly of a massive heart attack in June of 1998. Karen credits the support and comfort of many of her customers with getting her through that period, and back to work. Karen noted in a mailing to her regular customer base, "You have cried with me and laughed with me and I feel you are all family. I thank you from the bottom of my heart."
The rebuilding project along Rt. 79 finally forced the issue, and the decision was made to build anew set back from where the wider road will pass. Briefly the new building towered over the old wooden structure, and now it can be seen as a bright new blue steel-frame building, with wide drive-thru doors.
“We’re set up now for people to go behind to the right, and drive back out through the building where they can pick up their salt in any weather,” says Bruce Dollings, a long-time employee with Karen. “It’s convenient for the customers and us.”
A “Grand Opening Celebration” is planned from August 26 - 31. Prizes, including some specials for the first customers on Monday and price breaks for each of the days, will be offered, accompanied by hot dogs on the grill and good will all around. Karen wants people to stop by and register for prizes “and have a hot dog on me” even if you don’t have a purchase to make next week. The grand opening festivities will go on right through the usual operating hours, Mon-Fri 9 to 5 and Saturdays from 9 to 2 pm.
In a reminder of how Karen & Ken got started, K & K is helping get Heartland Salt Delivery off the ground. For anyone wanting home delivery, they can call K & K at 522-2443 and ask for Fred to get prices and delivery dates.
Karen and her son Matt are proud of their family tradition that will continue at 1885 Hebron Road for what looks like a long time to come. “We just try to give people the best salt available for the best price,” says Karen. That will take K & K Salt through at least another quarter-century!
Tuesday, August 13, 2002
Hebron Crossroads 8-18
“Village In Service To The Community”
by Jeff Gill
Next Friday the staff of the village will hold the second Hebron Blood Drive in the lobby and council chambers of the municipal complex. On Aug. 23, starting at 2:00 pm you can pay your water bill and leave behind a pint of blood, too!
Along with some community volunteers (like your columnist), the Red Cross will set up a blood donation center right there on West Main, and while you’re welcome to drop in between 2 and 7 pm, you can call and confirm a time slot at 928-2261.
If you feel a call to some community service, but don’t want to open a vein, mark Sept. 11 on your calendar. Most of us don’t need to be reminded of this first return of the fateful day, but many of us are wondering what to do to mark the day.
Some will be up at OSU-N for the county mayors’ prayer breakfast, and a number of commemorations and observations are offered, such as a moment of silence at 8:45 am at the time of the first hijack-attack on the World Trade Center, or other prayerful events.
Hebron Christian Church has offered to co-ordinate a day of service for 9-11, starting at noon after some of these other memorials have ended.
In brief, we’re all going to get together and paint the village fire hydrants, using the reflective yellow the department prefers, and simply adding a simple “In Memoriam 9-11-01” around the base. A staging area will greet and orient teams, give them paint and maps marked with their set of hydrants, and offer refreshments through the day and music during the evening, closing with a prayer time focused on thanksgiving and commitment.
Hebron village council, during their Aug. 12 committees meeting, gave their unanaimous and enthusiastic support to this plan for community service, open to anyone who can help for an hour or eight on 9-11-02.
You’ll read more updates as we refine the plan in the next few weeks, but mark your calendar now, and join your fellow citizens as we “Respond To The Call” in our town, and salute those who have responded to the call of duty, honor, and country in New York, Washington, Afghanistan, and in many places around the world.
Of course, you were expecting to see some Hartford Fair results and Eastern Star tales this week, but all in good time . . . the details of the fair I’m still assembling, but it does sound as if the 4-Hers from Stablemates and Prime Producers have plenty to be proud of, from horses to Black Anguses to spotted hogs. Stay tuned!
Waxing eloquent over plants last week, I completely skipped over those insect signs of summer’s close: monarch butterflies and cicadas. In my backyard, the milkweed is certainly attracting numbers of the orange and black fluttering friends, and the sound of cicadas was almost deafening last Monday when I left the Licking Memorial Hospital parking lot to walk around Octagon State Memorial (aka Moundbuilders Country Club on a “golf-free day”).
Long undisturbed turf and trees like beeches or hickory are favored homes for cicadas in the years between their generational appearances, and while their Edsel-like grillwork glared up out of the grass all around the Octagon, it only takes a few to show up and make plenty of racket all around Hebron.
New landscaping, like the high bush blueberry planted as habitat for monarchs by Jenny (Cook) and Kent Herreman, is not cicada-friendly, but attracts huge amounts of hardy late summer weeds. Not weeding or mowing are good reason to look forward to summer’s end, but then again I didn’t have to go to Lakewood band camp down at Marengo last week, either. If you like what Jenny & Kent have done along the Main St. side of Hebron Christian, you should sneak down to the employee entrance at LMH and see what Jenny does with her day job. A beautiful sea of flowers, but I’ll bet the end of weeding sounds good to her right now, too.
Wrapping up, if you haven’t seen the new Buckeye Outdoors, you’d better get up there before it expands again and moves everything about. Your faithful columnist suspects there’s a story behind that rhino, and I’d better go get it before Larry steals it for his back porch.
And while our family is eagerly anticipating some new shopping choices in the area, let me note that not only does our Cardinal grocery have the best deli around (which won’t change no matter what opens), but they have the best price on Starbuck’s coffee around!
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church and former monarch-tagger out at Dawes; if you have signs of the season to report, call 928-4066 or e-mail disciple@voyager.net.
“Village In Service To The Community”
by Jeff Gill
Next Friday the staff of the village will hold the second Hebron Blood Drive in the lobby and council chambers of the municipal complex. On Aug. 23, starting at 2:00 pm you can pay your water bill and leave behind a pint of blood, too!
Along with some community volunteers (like your columnist), the Red Cross will set up a blood donation center right there on West Main, and while you’re welcome to drop in between 2 and 7 pm, you can call and confirm a time slot at 928-2261.
If you feel a call to some community service, but don’t want to open a vein, mark Sept. 11 on your calendar. Most of us don’t need to be reminded of this first return of the fateful day, but many of us are wondering what to do to mark the day.
Some will be up at OSU-N for the county mayors’ prayer breakfast, and a number of commemorations and observations are offered, such as a moment of silence at 8:45 am at the time of the first hijack-attack on the World Trade Center, or other prayerful events.
Hebron Christian Church has offered to co-ordinate a day of service for 9-11, starting at noon after some of these other memorials have ended.
In brief, we’re all going to get together and paint the village fire hydrants, using the reflective yellow the department prefers, and simply adding a simple “In Memoriam 9-11-01” around the base. A staging area will greet and orient teams, give them paint and maps marked with their set of hydrants, and offer refreshments through the day and music during the evening, closing with a prayer time focused on thanksgiving and commitment.
Hebron village council, during their Aug. 12 committees meeting, gave their unanaimous and enthusiastic support to this plan for community service, open to anyone who can help for an hour or eight on 9-11-02.
You’ll read more updates as we refine the plan in the next few weeks, but mark your calendar now, and join your fellow citizens as we “Respond To The Call” in our town, and salute those who have responded to the call of duty, honor, and country in New York, Washington, Afghanistan, and in many places around the world.
Of course, you were expecting to see some Hartford Fair results and Eastern Star tales this week, but all in good time . . . the details of the fair I’m still assembling, but it does sound as if the 4-Hers from Stablemates and Prime Producers have plenty to be proud of, from horses to Black Anguses to spotted hogs. Stay tuned!
Waxing eloquent over plants last week, I completely skipped over those insect signs of summer’s close: monarch butterflies and cicadas. In my backyard, the milkweed is certainly attracting numbers of the orange and black fluttering friends, and the sound of cicadas was almost deafening last Monday when I left the Licking Memorial Hospital parking lot to walk around Octagon State Memorial (aka Moundbuilders Country Club on a “golf-free day”).
Long undisturbed turf and trees like beeches or hickory are favored homes for cicadas in the years between their generational appearances, and while their Edsel-like grillwork glared up out of the grass all around the Octagon, it only takes a few to show up and make plenty of racket all around Hebron.
New landscaping, like the high bush blueberry planted as habitat for monarchs by Jenny (Cook) and Kent Herreman, is not cicada-friendly, but attracts huge amounts of hardy late summer weeds. Not weeding or mowing are good reason to look forward to summer’s end, but then again I didn’t have to go to Lakewood band camp down at Marengo last week, either. If you like what Jenny & Kent have done along the Main St. side of Hebron Christian, you should sneak down to the employee entrance at LMH and see what Jenny does with her day job. A beautiful sea of flowers, but I’ll bet the end of weeding sounds good to her right now, too.
Wrapping up, if you haven’t seen the new Buckeye Outdoors, you’d better get up there before it expands again and moves everything about. Your faithful columnist suspects there’s a story behind that rhino, and I’d better go get it before Larry steals it for his back porch.
And while our family is eagerly anticipating some new shopping choices in the area, let me note that not only does our Cardinal grocery have the best deli around (which won’t change no matter what opens), but they have the best price on Starbuck’s coffee around!
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church and former monarch-tagger out at Dawes; if you have signs of the season to report, call 928-4066 or e-mail disciple@voyager.net.
Tuesday, August 06, 2002
Commissioner’s Corner
By Jeff Gill, Dist Commish
Round-up – when Fall is just around the corner (and it really is, folks), all Cubmasters and Pack Committee chairs know that it is time to double check arrangements for the membership campaign for the new school year. Or, for short, "Round-up!"
If you have never organized a Round-up before, or want to get a refresher in how to have a successful year-beginning sign-up night, come to Dixon, Francis, and Davis offices (behind the Sunoco at the Granville exit off Rt. 16) on Tuesday night, Aug. 13, at 6:30 pm. The training session will be 59 minutes long, and focus on techniques used and proven to get the forms filled out, the parents involved, and the program year off to a good start.
Come on by and share your ideas, ask for help, and support the spread of Scouting in Licking District. Right now, about 12% of age appropriate youth are involved in Scouting in Licking County, and we want to get that number up to 25% -- Fall Round-up is key to doing that.
* * * * * * *
Commissioner’s Corner
By Jeff Gill, Dist Commish
Fall Program Kick-off is Tues., Aug. 20 at the Newark Public Library from 6 to 8:30 pm. Come by, get a drink and a nibble, and check out booths and displays from not only most of the program elements of the District, but also from many other groups around the county who offer programming for Scouts.
The District Committee enjoy offering this "jump start" to pack and troop planning and programming each August, and will have a number of planning guides, popcorn info, and almost every other useful thing a leader can think of available at this event. There is no "set" program, so drop by and work around the room at your own pace and schedule.
This event was moved due to some Newark Bicentennial activities, and we regret any inconvenience the change caused those who planned ahead.
* * * * * * *
Commissioner’s Corner
By Jeff Gill, Dist Commish
Training is one of our key strengths as a Scouting program, and the first Roundtable in the new "program year" September 3 will include New Leader Essentials. Cub Leader and Boy Scout Leader Basics will be offered through the fall (see elsewhere in this e-gram), and we’ve tried to counterschedule with neighboring districts so if you can’t make Licking District training, you can try another district’s offered on an open weekend.
Training, is the watchword of any youth serving organization worth its salt, because trained leadership knows how to get off on the right foot, conducts program that the youth and the adults enjoy, and trained leaders are leaders that stay around. Recruiting, training, and retaining are what we need to do with adult volunteers in this busy, distracting age, and good training helps recruit and retain.
* * * * * * *
Commissioner’s Corner
By Jeff Gill, Dist Commish
What mos
By Jeff Gill, Dist Commish
Round-up – when Fall is just around the corner (and it really is, folks), all Cubmasters and Pack Committee chairs know that it is time to double check arrangements for the membership campaign for the new school year. Or, for short, "Round-up!"
If you have never organized a Round-up before, or want to get a refresher in how to have a successful year-beginning sign-up night, come to Dixon, Francis, and Davis offices (behind the Sunoco at the Granville exit off Rt. 16) on Tuesday night, Aug. 13, at 6:30 pm. The training session will be 59 minutes long, and focus on techniques used and proven to get the forms filled out, the parents involved, and the program year off to a good start.
Come on by and share your ideas, ask for help, and support the spread of Scouting in Licking District. Right now, about 12% of age appropriate youth are involved in Scouting in Licking County, and we want to get that number up to 25% -- Fall Round-up is key to doing that.
* * * * * * *
Commissioner’s Corner
By Jeff Gill, Dist Commish
Fall Program Kick-off is Tues., Aug. 20 at the Newark Public Library from 6 to 8:30 pm. Come by, get a drink and a nibble, and check out booths and displays from not only most of the program elements of the District, but also from many other groups around the county who offer programming for Scouts.
The District Committee enjoy offering this "jump start" to pack and troop planning and programming each August, and will have a number of planning guides, popcorn info, and almost every other useful thing a leader can think of available at this event. There is no "set" program, so drop by and work around the room at your own pace and schedule.
This event was moved due to some Newark Bicentennial activities, and we regret any inconvenience the change caused those who planned ahead.
* * * * * * *
Commissioner’s Corner
By Jeff Gill, Dist Commish
Training is one of our key strengths as a Scouting program, and the first Roundtable in the new "program year" September 3 will include New Leader Essentials. Cub Leader and Boy Scout Leader Basics will be offered through the fall (see elsewhere in this e-gram), and we’ve tried to counterschedule with neighboring districts so if you can’t make Licking District training, you can try another district’s offered on an open weekend.
Training, is the watchword of any youth serving organization worth its salt, because trained leadership knows how to get off on the right foot, conducts program that the youth and the adults enjoy, and trained leaders are leaders that stay around. Recruiting, training, and retaining are what we need to do with adult volunteers in this busy, distracting age, and good training helps recruit and retain.
* * * * * * *
Commissioner’s Corner
By Jeff Gill, Dist Commish
What mos
Hebron Crossroads 8-11
By Jeff Gill
In August the tree limbs sag with the weight of greenery, overgrown and beginning to fade around the edges. Many summer wildflowers have wilted and gone through the late summer heat, and even the evergreens are shedding their underlying needles now dried brown.
A hint of autumn comes with the now largely brown locust leaves; I’m told this is a mite that starts to burrow under the bark and slowly cuts off the fluid transport from roots to shoots, just slowly enough to not kill the trees before they go dormant along with the grass.
The sweet corn is fairly awful looking in many fields, but much of the rest of the crops are swelling and drooping, a hopeful hint of harvest just around the corner. But all of nature looks a bit overripe, a little gone to seed during these dog days.
What I look forward to about this time each year, as the Feast of the Assumption approaches, is the sudden, almost shocking explosion in the ditches and hedgerows along the roads of goldenrod and ironweed. The bright yellow-gold accents and contrasts with the deep, rich purples of the ironweed blossoms, visible almost with an internal light in early mornings and the steadily earlier evenings. Purple and gold are fitting colors for this time of year, as friends of the Lady Mary well know.
Some of the margin between fruitfulness and harvest is filled with the results of the Hartford Fair judging, and we should have some names and congratulations to share with you next week (remember we operate on about a week-plus leadtime!), but the centennial of 4-H gave us some good reading last week, and lots of great eating at the Fair.
We already have some ribbons coming back into Union Township from the Ohio State Fair, and if you know of any, give me a holler at disciple@voyager.net.
A new community institution got started with a bang last weekend, as Don and Laurie Kissack welcomed big crowds to their Hebron McDonalds’ grand opening and first day of business. The Sweet Adelines and the Land of Legend Barbershop Chorus (who’ll sing at Hebron Christian this Sunday, in fact) brought some tailor-made entertainment as many of us had shrimp and deviled eggs for the first and probably last time at a McDonalds.
Monday morning Mayor McCheese . . . I mean Mayor Mason was the first through the drive-up window at 5:30 am as the regular fare began to sell.
The breakfast burritos are still my favorite, and the coffee is good; my only disappointment was touring the back of the not-yet-opened store (with Ronald himself, who actually has shoes bigger than mine) and finding out that none of my 20 year old fast food skills are still valid. If you haven’t worked fast food lately, you don’t know fast food! This, like the soon to open Kroger’s, is a "store of the future," except the future is today.
Over in Luray is M.O.M.S. organic produce, which I’m going to have to stop by and try, but many folks have already said how good it is to see the barn there on the southwest corner of Rt. 37 and US 40 looking painted and productive. They have Amish goods and goodies, too.
New and old continue to jostle for position in the developing Hebron story. We learned a few weeks ago that Ohio Revised Code requires that all property sold by a municipality be done "at bid," which will be the next step for the old library and municipal buildings. Meanwhile, the Hebron Historical Society (first Mondays at 7:30 pm, generally in the Masonic Building) still looks for a reliable, affordable display space for their pictures and artifacts of Hebron’s rich history.
And Councilwoman Annelle Porter convened an informational building to help address concerns over the next few steps of the Dominion Homes development on the southeast side, especially about "the pond" and maintenance issues. Some answers were offered, others were promised, and we’ll hear more at the next council meeting. Drainage and the management of runoff are obviously issues that will continue to be key to everything from blacktopping old parking to permitting new construction. When you’ve got hills to the west and east, a lake uphill to your south, and cities to your north who don’t want your runoff, either, these will be key governmental issues in the future – and the future is now!
Next week, along with the fair results, we’ll have a story to tell about one of our village’s longest lasting institutions, the Order of the Eastern Star, and a quiz about the five ladies who’ve inspired OES members through the ages. And did you know that Eastern Star is open to both women and men? Tune in next week, and salute the goldenrod and ironweed as you drive past the Hebron Crossroads . . .
By Jeff Gill
In August the tree limbs sag with the weight of greenery, overgrown and beginning to fade around the edges. Many summer wildflowers have wilted and gone through the late summer heat, and even the evergreens are shedding their underlying needles now dried brown.
A hint of autumn comes with the now largely brown locust leaves; I’m told this is a mite that starts to burrow under the bark and slowly cuts off the fluid transport from roots to shoots, just slowly enough to not kill the trees before they go dormant along with the grass.
The sweet corn is fairly awful looking in many fields, but much of the rest of the crops are swelling and drooping, a hopeful hint of harvest just around the corner. But all of nature looks a bit overripe, a little gone to seed during these dog days.
What I look forward to about this time each year, as the Feast of the Assumption approaches, is the sudden, almost shocking explosion in the ditches and hedgerows along the roads of goldenrod and ironweed. The bright yellow-gold accents and contrasts with the deep, rich purples of the ironweed blossoms, visible almost with an internal light in early mornings and the steadily earlier evenings. Purple and gold are fitting colors for this time of year, as friends of the Lady Mary well know.
Some of the margin between fruitfulness and harvest is filled with the results of the Hartford Fair judging, and we should have some names and congratulations to share with you next week (remember we operate on about a week-plus leadtime!), but the centennial of 4-H gave us some good reading last week, and lots of great eating at the Fair.
We already have some ribbons coming back into Union Township from the Ohio State Fair, and if you know of any, give me a holler at disciple@voyager.net.
A new community institution got started with a bang last weekend, as Don and Laurie Kissack welcomed big crowds to their Hebron McDonalds’ grand opening and first day of business. The Sweet Adelines and the Land of Legend Barbershop Chorus (who’ll sing at Hebron Christian this Sunday, in fact) brought some tailor-made entertainment as many of us had shrimp and deviled eggs for the first and probably last time at a McDonalds.
Monday morning Mayor McCheese . . . I mean Mayor Mason was the first through the drive-up window at 5:30 am as the regular fare began to sell.
The breakfast burritos are still my favorite, and the coffee is good; my only disappointment was touring the back of the not-yet-opened store (with Ronald himself, who actually has shoes bigger than mine) and finding out that none of my 20 year old fast food skills are still valid. If you haven’t worked fast food lately, you don’t know fast food! This, like the soon to open Kroger’s, is a "store of the future," except the future is today.
Over in Luray is M.O.M.S. organic produce, which I’m going to have to stop by and try, but many folks have already said how good it is to see the barn there on the southwest corner of Rt. 37 and US 40 looking painted and productive. They have Amish goods and goodies, too.
New and old continue to jostle for position in the developing Hebron story. We learned a few weeks ago that Ohio Revised Code requires that all property sold by a municipality be done "at bid," which will be the next step for the old library and municipal buildings. Meanwhile, the Hebron Historical Society (first Mondays at 7:30 pm, generally in the Masonic Building) still looks for a reliable, affordable display space for their pictures and artifacts of Hebron’s rich history.
And Councilwoman Annelle Porter convened an informational building to help address concerns over the next few steps of the Dominion Homes development on the southeast side, especially about "the pond" and maintenance issues. Some answers were offered, others were promised, and we’ll hear more at the next council meeting. Drainage and the management of runoff are obviously issues that will continue to be key to everything from blacktopping old parking to permitting new construction. When you’ve got hills to the west and east, a lake uphill to your south, and cities to your north who don’t want your runoff, either, these will be key governmental issues in the future – and the future is now!
Next week, along with the fair results, we’ll have a story to tell about one of our village’s longest lasting institutions, the Order of the Eastern Star, and a quiz about the five ladies who’ve inspired OES members through the ages. And did you know that Eastern Star is open to both women and men? Tune in next week, and salute the goldenrod and ironweed as you drive past the Hebron Crossroads . . .
Tuesday, July 30, 2002
Notes From My Knapsack
Our new plantings and landscaping in front of the church, thanks to much hard work by Kent & Jenny Herreman, gives our building a whole new look inside and out.
Through the basement, light is shining within and activity can be seen without, and that alone was a good reason to make a change. Kent says he wants to put a bit of evergreen at the back of the arrangement, to add color and texture through the winter, but we’ll not go back to huge masses of shrubs that were home to poison ivy underneath and . . .
Well, speaking of homes, Jenny picked out one special plant to include in the three areas called "high bush blueberry." She tells us that this is the only plant Monarch butterfly larvae live and feed upon at that crucial stage of their amazing lifecycle from Ohio to Mexico and back again.
She had heard along with many of us about the blow a last winter to their habitat in Mexico, and how Monarch populations were at risk, so we’re going to give ‘em a bit of help on the northern end of their peregrinations.
After our VBS with the Methodist church, where we learned and sang about the glory and interconnectedness of creation, it feels right that we’re making sure our mission and service as a congregation, our stewardship of personal and natural resources, extends to even our landscaping along the National Road.
You’ll read elsewhere of some service we’re planning to perform on Sept. 11 this year; some service projects are obvious, and others just quietly work behind the scenes, or even under the surface of leaves on a high bush blueberry!
In Grace & Peace,
Pastor Jeff
* * *
"Respond To The Call – 9/11"
With the one year remembrance of 9-11 falling on Wed. this year, a number of programs during the day and memorial services at night are planned around the country.
Our church’s Homeland Ministries has suggested that Disciple congregations each find an appropriate service project in their area, in order to actually embody "responding to the call" of God’s love and the community’s need for healing after those terrible events a year ago.
At the last board meeting, we propose, depending on final approval by Hebron Village officials, to take on a project that has been needing willing workers for some time: to paint Hebron’s 400 fire hydrants, and put a stenciled "In memoriam – 9-11-01" at the base of each.
This effort to "Respond To The Call" is planned to begin around noon with folks available during a weekday (retirees, shift workers, etc.), pick up the help of older youth as school lets out, and through the evening muster a big push with teams dropping by for pizza and a drink on their way to designated stretches of hydrants, and a closing prayer and ice cream gathering between 8 and 9 or so. We will organize, and open involvement to anyone to help, with a special effort among the area churches and service organizations.
Stay tuned for more word on this wonderful opportunity to remember 9-11 with tangible shared service in witness to our common beliefs.
* * *
Youth Campout
Friday, Aug. 9 to Sat. the 10th
Smith Chapel UMC campgrounds on Reform Rd.
Info: call McNichols 928-1577
* * *
Our Women’s Fellowship assistance drive to collect socks and undies for New Beginnings and others totalled 448 items. Thanks for your support.
Right now, they are preparing to visit the hospice unit at LMH for a tour and background info; Ila Mason is looking for seamstresses to help make "bright" robes for hospice patients. Materials and pattern are available and waiting for you!
* * *
Regional Assembly
"The Vision and the Venture"
In Springfield October 18 & 19, our biannual regional assembly gathers for worship, fellowship, and some learning and service opportunities. See Mike Halter, Pastor Jeff, or any of the elders for more info. Base registration is $25 with some special purpose breakfasts and luncheons and an assembly dinner costing extra. Info is also available on hotels, but with Springfield just 60 miles away, some of us will travel back and forth eaach way.
After the retirement celebration for Howard Ratcliff, our long-time regional minister, on Sun., Aug. 18 at Gender Road church at 3 pm, this will be an important next step in setting "the vision and the venture" for our region’s ministries. Plan to attend and catch the vision!
* * *
Maribel Neel reported at board that at the Quadrennial in Louisville last month, of the 3,500 in attendance, 64 churches in Ohio sent quilt blocks for the "Quad quilt" with Hebron crossroads looking very well in the middle. The next quadrennial in 2006 will be held in Indianapolis.
* * *
Churches Grow
Warmer through fellowship
Deeper through discipleship
Stronger through worship
Broader through ministry
Larger through evangelism
Our new plantings and landscaping in front of the church, thanks to much hard work by Kent & Jenny Herreman, gives our building a whole new look inside and out.
Through the basement, light is shining within and activity can be seen without, and that alone was a good reason to make a change. Kent says he wants to put a bit of evergreen at the back of the arrangement, to add color and texture through the winter, but we’ll not go back to huge masses of shrubs that were home to poison ivy underneath and . . .
Well, speaking of homes, Jenny picked out one special plant to include in the three areas called "high bush blueberry." She tells us that this is the only plant Monarch butterfly larvae live and feed upon at that crucial stage of their amazing lifecycle from Ohio to Mexico and back again.
She had heard along with many of us about the blow a last winter to their habitat in Mexico, and how Monarch populations were at risk, so we’re going to give ‘em a bit of help on the northern end of their peregrinations.
After our VBS with the Methodist church, where we learned and sang about the glory and interconnectedness of creation, it feels right that we’re making sure our mission and service as a congregation, our stewardship of personal and natural resources, extends to even our landscaping along the National Road.
You’ll read elsewhere of some service we’re planning to perform on Sept. 11 this year; some service projects are obvious, and others just quietly work behind the scenes, or even under the surface of leaves on a high bush blueberry!
In Grace & Peace,
Pastor Jeff
* * *
"Respond To The Call – 9/11"
With the one year remembrance of 9-11 falling on Wed. this year, a number of programs during the day and memorial services at night are planned around the country.
Our church’s Homeland Ministries has suggested that Disciple congregations each find an appropriate service project in their area, in order to actually embody "responding to the call" of God’s love and the community’s need for healing after those terrible events a year ago.
At the last board meeting, we propose, depending on final approval by Hebron Village officials, to take on a project that has been needing willing workers for some time: to paint Hebron’s 400 fire hydrants, and put a stenciled "In memoriam – 9-11-01" at the base of each.
This effort to "Respond To The Call" is planned to begin around noon with folks available during a weekday (retirees, shift workers, etc.), pick up the help of older youth as school lets out, and through the evening muster a big push with teams dropping by for pizza and a drink on their way to designated stretches of hydrants, and a closing prayer and ice cream gathering between 8 and 9 or so. We will organize, and open involvement to anyone to help, with a special effort among the area churches and service organizations.
Stay tuned for more word on this wonderful opportunity to remember 9-11 with tangible shared service in witness to our common beliefs.
* * *
Youth Campout
Friday, Aug. 9 to Sat. the 10th
Smith Chapel UMC campgrounds on Reform Rd.
Info: call McNichols 928-1577
* * *
Our Women’s Fellowship assistance drive to collect socks and undies for New Beginnings and others totalled 448 items. Thanks for your support.
Right now, they are preparing to visit the hospice unit at LMH for a tour and background info; Ila Mason is looking for seamstresses to help make "bright" robes for hospice patients. Materials and pattern are available and waiting for you!
* * *
Regional Assembly
"The Vision and the Venture"
In Springfield October 18 & 19, our biannual regional assembly gathers for worship, fellowship, and some learning and service opportunities. See Mike Halter, Pastor Jeff, or any of the elders for more info. Base registration is $25 with some special purpose breakfasts and luncheons and an assembly dinner costing extra. Info is also available on hotels, but with Springfield just 60 miles away, some of us will travel back and forth eaach way.
After the retirement celebration for Howard Ratcliff, our long-time regional minister, on Sun., Aug. 18 at Gender Road church at 3 pm, this will be an important next step in setting "the vision and the venture" for our region’s ministries. Plan to attend and catch the vision!
* * *
Maribel Neel reported at board that at the Quadrennial in Louisville last month, of the 3,500 in attendance, 64 churches in Ohio sent quilt blocks for the "Quad quilt" with Hebron crossroads looking very well in the middle. The next quadrennial in 2006 will be held in Indianapolis.
* * *
Churches Grow
Warmer through fellowship
Deeper through discipleship
Stronger through worship
Broader through ministry
Larger through evangelism
Monday, July 29, 2002
Hebron Crossroads 8-4
By Jeff Gill
“There are scams coming at people from many directions nowadays,” says Paula Armentrout with the Ohio Attorney General’s office. Paula came a year ago at the invitation of the Hebron Police Department, and spoke at Hebron Christian Church on consumer frauds and con games.
“E-mail from Nigeria is one of the more popular ones going on now,” she confirmed, after I told her about a number of messages I’d gotten through e-mail. Some were almost verbatim the same message, but claiming to be either from the widow, son, or advisor to the late ruler of Nigeria. All have in common the pitch that, if you send me a thousand bucks, you will get a share of millions.
These kind of scams have been around for years, formerly coming through actual phone calls, all assuming that most will say “no thank you,” but banking on one in a hundred stopping to think . . . maybe. And if only one in a thousand actually falls for the scam; well, how hard is it to send ten thousand e-mails?
What’s more disturbing recently is the ploy of claiming Christian persecution by Moslems as part of their plight, and hoping to target churches, pastors, and the not-inconsiderable elderly population on-line with a pitch that appeals to their sense of solidarity with fellow believers under oppression. That, and just a touch of greed covered by a rationale of “think of all the good I could do with my ‘share’ of the money” is aimed at a traditionally trusting target audience.
“People should delete any e-mail unread that they don’t know the sender,” says Paula. The attorney general’s office is working with federal authorities to try to track down the scam-meisters, but you can help most by a) deleting these e-mails, b) tell others about this scam, and of course c) don’t send them money!
Also remember that the fall, like the spring, is a favorite time for the old fashioned door-to-door con game of “seal you driveway, ma’am?” or “sir, I noticed your chimney needed a little work.” If someone comes to your door unasked for with a too good to be true home improvement offer, treat them like an unsolicited e-mail and use your doorknob like a delete key. The so-called “Irish Travelers,” all with variations on the name “John Sherlock,” are regulars in central Ohio, so keep a wary eye.
This week is Hartford Fair week out by Croton, and many area 4-H families will be out there; that is, if they’re not heading for the Ohio State Fair in Columbus. Drew Cable and Aaron Dunkle of Prime Producers 4-H club got top awards at country judging, and will have their displays on (respectively) muskrat trapping and vegetable gardening over in Columbus.
The 4-H program in Ohio is celebrating a centennial this year, with their history of extension education through Ohio State going back to 1902. “Head, Hands, Health, and Heart” are the four h’s that this program helps young people learn to cultivate for the good of their “club, community, and world.”
Youth from Hebron and Union Township will have on display out at our 144 year old independent fair: hogs, sheep, Black Angus cattle, foods, clothing, computer projects, and more ingenuity than you can shake an elephant ear at! When you go to the fair, before you sit in the grandstand for the demolition derby, make sure to go through the 4-H club displays and the animal barns to see the proud results of another year of 4-H work.
Finally, some quick updates as fall creeps closer: Hebron Area Soccer Association for boys and girls from kindergarten to grade 8 is doing registration this Sat., Aug. 3, at the Middle School cafeteria from 8 to 11 am (for info call Jim at 522-5969); Hebron Trailblazers Youth Football is holding registrations on Aug. 14 & 21 from 6 to 8 pm (call 323-2880 for info). There are fees involved with both, varying as to program.
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church and can be found near the elephant ear booth this week. So if you want to reach him, you’ll have to go to Croton or e-mail him at disciple@voyager.net; or call 928-4066.
By Jeff Gill
“There are scams coming at people from many directions nowadays,” says Paula Armentrout with the Ohio Attorney General’s office. Paula came a year ago at the invitation of the Hebron Police Department, and spoke at Hebron Christian Church on consumer frauds and con games.
“E-mail from Nigeria is one of the more popular ones going on now,” she confirmed, after I told her about a number of messages I’d gotten through e-mail. Some were almost verbatim the same message, but claiming to be either from the widow, son, or advisor to the late ruler of Nigeria. All have in common the pitch that, if you send me a thousand bucks, you will get a share of millions.
These kind of scams have been around for years, formerly coming through actual phone calls, all assuming that most will say “no thank you,” but banking on one in a hundred stopping to think . . . maybe. And if only one in a thousand actually falls for the scam; well, how hard is it to send ten thousand e-mails?
What’s more disturbing recently is the ploy of claiming Christian persecution by Moslems as part of their plight, and hoping to target churches, pastors, and the not-inconsiderable elderly population on-line with a pitch that appeals to their sense of solidarity with fellow believers under oppression. That, and just a touch of greed covered by a rationale of “think of all the good I could do with my ‘share’ of the money” is aimed at a traditionally trusting target audience.
“People should delete any e-mail unread that they don’t know the sender,” says Paula. The attorney general’s office is working with federal authorities to try to track down the scam-meisters, but you can help most by a) deleting these e-mails, b) tell others about this scam, and of course c) don’t send them money!
Also remember that the fall, like the spring, is a favorite time for the old fashioned door-to-door con game of “seal you driveway, ma’am?” or “sir, I noticed your chimney needed a little work.” If someone comes to your door unasked for with a too good to be true home improvement offer, treat them like an unsolicited e-mail and use your doorknob like a delete key. The so-called “Irish Travelers,” all with variations on the name “John Sherlock,” are regulars in central Ohio, so keep a wary eye.
This week is Hartford Fair week out by Croton, and many area 4-H families will be out there; that is, if they’re not heading for the Ohio State Fair in Columbus. Drew Cable and Aaron Dunkle of Prime Producers 4-H club got top awards at country judging, and will have their displays on (respectively) muskrat trapping and vegetable gardening over in Columbus.
The 4-H program in Ohio is celebrating a centennial this year, with their history of extension education through Ohio State going back to 1902. “Head, Hands, Health, and Heart” are the four h’s that this program helps young people learn to cultivate for the good of their “club, community, and world.”
Youth from Hebron and Union Township will have on display out at our 144 year old independent fair: hogs, sheep, Black Angus cattle, foods, clothing, computer projects, and more ingenuity than you can shake an elephant ear at! When you go to the fair, before you sit in the grandstand for the demolition derby, make sure to go through the 4-H club displays and the animal barns to see the proud results of another year of 4-H work.
Finally, some quick updates as fall creeps closer: Hebron Area Soccer Association for boys and girls from kindergarten to grade 8 is doing registration this Sat., Aug. 3, at the Middle School cafeteria from 8 to 11 am (for info call Jim at 522-5969); Hebron Trailblazers Youth Football is holding registrations on Aug. 14 & 21 from 6 to 8 pm (call 323-2880 for info). There are fees involved with both, varying as to program.
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church and can be found near the elephant ear booth this week. So if you want to reach him, you’ll have to go to Croton or e-mail him at disciple@voyager.net; or call 928-4066.
Tuesday, July 23, 2002
Hebron Crossroads 7-28
By Jeff Gill
“When a child is abducted, we’ve got about three hours to find and safely recover them in most cases,” says Sgt. Larry Brooks of the Hebron Police Department. In recent training he’s received, information about the unique situation of stranger abduction Sgt. Brooks said “gave me chills.”
Because the fact of the matter is, in most cases the family takes a while to notice, calls neighbors and friends, and looks around themselves before calling the police. That takes up about two of the three hours, studies show . . . which means the police have often less than an hour.
Now please note that stranger abductions of children, which we’ve all heard tragically too much of this summer, constitute only about a 100 per year in the US, and this year is actually a bit behind the average. Like shark attacks last summer, clusters of events and media coverage (like this column!) creates a perception of crisis.
On the other hand, the Hebron area has had one attempted child abduction in the last few years, blessedly unsuccessful: but it got Sgt. Brooks focused on the issue, and led to some conversations which started our “Community Response Team” which Sgt. Brooks and Chief Carney asked me to head up. This is simply a pre-response plan where a data base of names of folks who are able and willing to quickly join in a search across an end of town or along some neighboring fields is already on paper, and saves precious minutes of that “golden hour” left to successfully recover the child.
After the police follow their investigative procedures to verify that this is not the much more common circumstance of runaway, custody disputes and misunderstandings, or just late for dinner, the Hebron Police Department would activate this CRT, and names would be called with a location where we’d converge (usually the municipal building). Each pre-planned area would have an officer assigned as “in charge,” and a team would be sent.
One of the values of a CRT is not only the speed of calling names already understanding what they’re being asked to do, but also the efficiency of not having large, well-intentioned groups covering the same areas again and again. Plans are already underway to co-ordinate with Union Township where practical. Special needs, such as farmers up high on tractors looking down into fields where crops have started to grow tall, or noting those with map and compass skills, are noted on the CRT database.
A simple one page form is available for anyone interested to fill out and return to the Hebron Police. This form then is entered into the database. Sgt. Brooks has spoken at worship for the Methodist church, both services at the Christian church, and at the Nazarene church. He plans to visit other community groups in the near future, where he’ll give a brief explanation of the CRT plan and distribute copies of the form. You can also just drop by the municipal building and fill one out during the day at the police station.
Please note that this is not “search and rescue,” we’re not generating a scuba team or a posse to identify and apprehend suspects. This is simply a list of people ready and able to turn out quickly to search a designated area our vicinity under direct police supervision! This fall we will likely have a drill to work out any last bugs in our calling and organizing plan. We hope drills are all that we get called for, but it is good to know that we’ll be ready to calmly and swiftly get the job done as needed.
Speaking of crops getting high, it is good to see the corn finally up and over our heads. The rains last week couldn’t have come a day later, and we still need a bit more. But it does feel right to drive down Beaver Run Road and not be able to see anything other than straight ahead . . . drivers, be aware that sight lines are limited in the Hebron-Union Township area these next few weeks! Canyon Road is starting to live up to its name along some stretches, and everyone knows you can’t see around corners in a canyon.
Finally, and finally a little less seriously, I got the chance to share a podium at the Ohio Fire Chiefs’ Conference with Granville’s Lea Ann Parsley last week. Before the program, we talked about how as her town is now a recognized center for skeleton racing with her silver medal, perhaps if Licking Park District built a bobsled run between our villages at Infirmary Mound Park, then Hebron could work on becoming the luge capital. If Mayor Mason just got one of those skin-tight bodysuits on and started racing feet-first in contrast to Lea Ann’s headfirst plunge down the track, what a great promo for Hebron that would be!
Well, Lea Ann agreed, but some of Cliff’s fellow fire chiefs seemed a little uneasy about the whole idea; whether it was the danger of luge and skeleton or the idea of our Mayor in a bodysuit wasn’t clear. More research is needed, I guess.
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church and is happy to help the HPD search for the lost; if you have other interests that should be looked for, e-mail him at disciple@voyager.net or call 928-4066.
By Jeff Gill
“When a child is abducted, we’ve got about three hours to find and safely recover them in most cases,” says Sgt. Larry Brooks of the Hebron Police Department. In recent training he’s received, information about the unique situation of stranger abduction Sgt. Brooks said “gave me chills.”
Because the fact of the matter is, in most cases the family takes a while to notice, calls neighbors and friends, and looks around themselves before calling the police. That takes up about two of the three hours, studies show . . . which means the police have often less than an hour.
Now please note that stranger abductions of children, which we’ve all heard tragically too much of this summer, constitute only about a 100 per year in the US, and this year is actually a bit behind the average. Like shark attacks last summer, clusters of events and media coverage (like this column!) creates a perception of crisis.
On the other hand, the Hebron area has had one attempted child abduction in the last few years, blessedly unsuccessful: but it got Sgt. Brooks focused on the issue, and led to some conversations which started our “Community Response Team” which Sgt. Brooks and Chief Carney asked me to head up. This is simply a pre-response plan where a data base of names of folks who are able and willing to quickly join in a search across an end of town or along some neighboring fields is already on paper, and saves precious minutes of that “golden hour” left to successfully recover the child.
After the police follow their investigative procedures to verify that this is not the much more common circumstance of runaway, custody disputes and misunderstandings, or just late for dinner, the Hebron Police Department would activate this CRT, and names would be called with a location where we’d converge (usually the municipal building). Each pre-planned area would have an officer assigned as “in charge,” and a team would be sent.
One of the values of a CRT is not only the speed of calling names already understanding what they’re being asked to do, but also the efficiency of not having large, well-intentioned groups covering the same areas again and again. Plans are already underway to co-ordinate with Union Township where practical. Special needs, such as farmers up high on tractors looking down into fields where crops have started to grow tall, or noting those with map and compass skills, are noted on the CRT database.
A simple one page form is available for anyone interested to fill out and return to the Hebron Police. This form then is entered into the database. Sgt. Brooks has spoken at worship for the Methodist church, both services at the Christian church, and at the Nazarene church. He plans to visit other community groups in the near future, where he’ll give a brief explanation of the CRT plan and distribute copies of the form. You can also just drop by the municipal building and fill one out during the day at the police station.
Please note that this is not “search and rescue,” we’re not generating a scuba team or a posse to identify and apprehend suspects. This is simply a list of people ready and able to turn out quickly to search a designated area our vicinity under direct police supervision! This fall we will likely have a drill to work out any last bugs in our calling and organizing plan. We hope drills are all that we get called for, but it is good to know that we’ll be ready to calmly and swiftly get the job done as needed.
Speaking of crops getting high, it is good to see the corn finally up and over our heads. The rains last week couldn’t have come a day later, and we still need a bit more. But it does feel right to drive down Beaver Run Road and not be able to see anything other than straight ahead . . . drivers, be aware that sight lines are limited in the Hebron-Union Township area these next few weeks! Canyon Road is starting to live up to its name along some stretches, and everyone knows you can’t see around corners in a canyon.
Finally, and finally a little less seriously, I got the chance to share a podium at the Ohio Fire Chiefs’ Conference with Granville’s Lea Ann Parsley last week. Before the program, we talked about how as her town is now a recognized center for skeleton racing with her silver medal, perhaps if Licking Park District built a bobsled run between our villages at Infirmary Mound Park, then Hebron could work on becoming the luge capital. If Mayor Mason just got one of those skin-tight bodysuits on and started racing feet-first in contrast to Lea Ann’s headfirst plunge down the track, what a great promo for Hebron that would be!
Well, Lea Ann agreed, but some of Cliff’s fellow fire chiefs seemed a little uneasy about the whole idea; whether it was the danger of luge and skeleton or the idea of our Mayor in a bodysuit wasn’t clear. More research is needed, I guess.
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church and is happy to help the HPD search for the lost; if you have other interests that should be looked for, e-mail him at disciple@voyager.net or call 928-4066.
Monday, July 15, 2002
Hebron Crossroads 7-21
By Jeff Gill
Tanglewood is the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, set in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts. In a huge open air concert setting, the Shed, for around a century music has floated through the trees led by Seiji Ozawa, Arthur Fiedler, and John Williams.
Other major orchestras around the country have developed similar venues, places like Wolf Trap and Ravinia, which have developed reputations of their own for fine music and picnicking that rivals Buckeye tailgating – just with wine usually replacing beer as the beverage of choice.
Could Dawes Arboretum become the next symphonic outdoor tradition? If last Sunday night with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra was any indication, it certainly is possible. A well-organized logistical plan by our own Dawes staff augmented by many local volunteers worked in harmony with the CSO as the parking, the pre-show children’s activities, and the warm July hillside blended into a harmonious evening of music, singing, and relaxation.
Albert-George Schram, the conductor, was a high energy interpreter of classics, pops, and plain old folk tunes, not only explaining the selections and their relationship to the evening theme of "Nature Rocks!" but he also sang along lustily with everything from "America the Beautiful" to "Old McDonald."
"Grand Canyon Suite" may be a well-worn concert favorite, but the CSO converted the northwest corner of the arboretum to a little bit of the Southwest, leaving a few of the concert-goers wistful for a red rock landscape; as they played their "Stars and Stripes Forever" finale, the red rubber ball in the haze to the west left an Arizonan glow across the horizon behind the white peaks of the Arboretum Amphitheater.
Your correspondent hopes that this first appearance of the Columbus Symphony at Dawes is the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship between the orchestra and southern Licking County!
The United Methodist Church of Hebron and Hebron Christian Church are jointly offering a Vacation Bible School next weekend on Friday evening and through Saturday. At 6:30 pm July 26 registration and opening activities for children aged K through 5th grade will take place on East Main Street at Hebron UMC, ending at 8:30 pm. Saturday July 27 the program opening at 10 am will begin in the Methodist sanctuary, and activities around the theme "Rainforest Adventure" will continue through lunch to 2 pm.
A family night program with pizza and movies for adult and youth tastes will start at 4 pm in the basement of Hebron Christian at 4 pm, wrapping up with a sundae bar around 7 pm. The older youth guides for VBS will celebrate their work on Sunday with a pool plunge at 4 pm.
Pal Printing is open for business as many of you have found out by using their services next door to the Duke Station in downtown Hebron. They are celebrating a "Grand Opening" on July 23, and if you have printing or copying needs, they are the place to visit. We still have a month to the Buckeye Outdoors big day, and they’re already open for business as well. The golden arches are up at 100 Integrity Drive (who knew we had an Integrity Drive?), and our Kroger is already looking bigger and nicer than the Pataskala store. . . but who’s comparing? Still, two-thirds of America’s economic energy is in small businesses like PAL Printing, so stop by and make their official opening grand!
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church and recently returned from directing church camp, so pardon the hoarse voice; if you’d like to whisper some community news to him, call 928-4066 or e-mail disciple@voyager.net.
By Jeff Gill
Tanglewood is the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, set in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts. In a huge open air concert setting, the Shed, for around a century music has floated through the trees led by Seiji Ozawa, Arthur Fiedler, and John Williams.
Other major orchestras around the country have developed similar venues, places like Wolf Trap and Ravinia, which have developed reputations of their own for fine music and picnicking that rivals Buckeye tailgating – just with wine usually replacing beer as the beverage of choice.
Could Dawes Arboretum become the next symphonic outdoor tradition? If last Sunday night with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra was any indication, it certainly is possible. A well-organized logistical plan by our own Dawes staff augmented by many local volunteers worked in harmony with the CSO as the parking, the pre-show children’s activities, and the warm July hillside blended into a harmonious evening of music, singing, and relaxation.
Albert-George Schram, the conductor, was a high energy interpreter of classics, pops, and plain old folk tunes, not only explaining the selections and their relationship to the evening theme of "Nature Rocks!" but he also sang along lustily with everything from "America the Beautiful" to "Old McDonald."
"Grand Canyon Suite" may be a well-worn concert favorite, but the CSO converted the northwest corner of the arboretum to a little bit of the Southwest, leaving a few of the concert-goers wistful for a red rock landscape; as they played their "Stars and Stripes Forever" finale, the red rubber ball in the haze to the west left an Arizonan glow across the horizon behind the white peaks of the Arboretum Amphitheater.
Your correspondent hopes that this first appearance of the Columbus Symphony at Dawes is the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship between the orchestra and southern Licking County!
The United Methodist Church of Hebron and Hebron Christian Church are jointly offering a Vacation Bible School next weekend on Friday evening and through Saturday. At 6:30 pm July 26 registration and opening activities for children aged K through 5th grade will take place on East Main Street at Hebron UMC, ending at 8:30 pm. Saturday July 27 the program opening at 10 am will begin in the Methodist sanctuary, and activities around the theme "Rainforest Adventure" will continue through lunch to 2 pm.
A family night program with pizza and movies for adult and youth tastes will start at 4 pm in the basement of Hebron Christian at 4 pm, wrapping up with a sundae bar around 7 pm. The older youth guides for VBS will celebrate their work on Sunday with a pool plunge at 4 pm.
Pal Printing is open for business as many of you have found out by using their services next door to the Duke Station in downtown Hebron. They are celebrating a "Grand Opening" on July 23, and if you have printing or copying needs, they are the place to visit. We still have a month to the Buckeye Outdoors big day, and they’re already open for business as well. The golden arches are up at 100 Integrity Drive (who knew we had an Integrity Drive?), and our Kroger is already looking bigger and nicer than the Pataskala store. . . but who’s comparing? Still, two-thirds of America’s economic energy is in small businesses like PAL Printing, so stop by and make their official opening grand!
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church and recently returned from directing church camp, so pardon the hoarse voice; if you’d like to whisper some community news to him, call 928-4066 or e-mail disciple@voyager.net.
Wednesday, June 26, 2002
Church Window (print version) -– July 2002
Notes From My Knapsack
By the time you read this, 26 members of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Metropolis, IL (yes, they have a Superman festival every year!) will have spent the night at the parsonage annex of the church. The pastor and his wife are old friends of Joyce’s and mine from University Church at Purdue (she was one of Joyce’s bridesmaids), and they’ve had a mission/study trip of senior highers and young adults work in Washington, DC at a shelter and day care center. They’ve slept on a variety of church basement floors and the like in a week-and-a-half of travel and community building.
In fact, Joyce and I really first became "a couple" while part of a work trip experience from UC/Purdue out to a conference center in New Mexico, and I’ve seen many more great benefits from participating in such a venture at other churches I’ve served.
If you’re thinking I’m going to recommend that Hebron Christian do such a thing, you’d be exactly correct. Whether it was to the Inman Christian Center in San Antonio, a Franciscan Mission on the Navajo Nation in Arizona, or to an inner-city church in Cincinnati, I believe both Christians and churches reap a rich harvest from doing mission work in an unfamiliar context.
Is there work that needs doing right here close to home? Sure there is, and there always will be. But a mission trip takes you, as Abby Daubenmire said in her great commencement address at Lakewood, "out of your comfort zone, where true learning and sharing can really happen." My co-director at Badger Camp, Jeanelle Gutheil of the Newark church, is taking the senior high youth and some adults to Cherokee, NC right after camp ends (now there’s commitment); they’ve been in recent years to southern WV and Benton Harbor, MI. They know Newark and Licking Co. still have needs, but the mission trip experience bonds the group together and opens up hearts and minds in a way a trip crosstown never would.
Whether we join Jeanelle and her crew, or choose a destination of our own, I hope Hebron will find a mission calling next summer. I need a new sleeping bag anyhow!
In Grace & Peace,
Pastor Jeff
* * * * * * *
Youth Pool Plunge
McNichols’ Pool
Sun., July 28
4 pm to 6:30 pm
Come prune with us!
* * * * * * *
Notes From My Knapsack
By the time you read this, 26 members of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Metropolis, IL (yes, they have a Superman festival every year!) will have spent the night at the parsonage annex of the church. The pastor and his wife are old friends of Joyce’s and mine from University Church at Purdue (she was one of Joyce’s bridesmaids), and they’ve had a mission/study trip of senior highers and young adults work in Washington, DC at a shelter and day care center. They’ve slept on a variety of church basement floors and the like in a week-and-a-half of travel and community building.
In fact, Joyce and I really first became "a couple" while part of a work trip experience from UC/Purdue out to a conference center in New Mexico, and I’ve seen many more great benefits from participating in such a venture at other churches I’ve served.
If you’re thinking I’m going to recommend that Hebron Christian do such a thing, you’d be exactly correct. Whether it was to the Inman Christian Center in San Antonio, a Franciscan Mission on the Navajo Nation in Arizona, or to an inner-city church in Cincinnati, I believe both Christians and churches reap a rich harvest from doing mission work in an unfamiliar context.
Is there work that needs doing right here close to home? Sure there is, and there always will be. But a mission trip takes you, as Abby Daubenmire said in her great commencement address at Lakewood, "out of your comfort zone, where true learning and sharing can really happen." My co-director at Badger Camp, Jeanelle Gutheil of the Newark church, is taking the senior high youth and some adults to Cherokee, NC right after camp ends (now there’s commitment); they’ve been in recent years to southern WV and Benton Harbor, MI. They know Newark and Licking Co. still have needs, but the mission trip experience bonds the group together and opens up hearts and minds in a way a trip crosstown never would.
Whether we join Jeanelle and her crew, or choose a destination of our own, I hope Hebron will find a mission calling next summer. I need a new sleeping bag anyhow!
In Grace & Peace,
Pastor Jeff
* * * * * * *
Youth Pool Plunge
McNichols’ Pool
Sun., July 28
4 pm to 6:30 pm
Come prune with us!
* * * * * * *
Tuesday, June 25, 2002
Scouter July 02 – Licking District
Commissioner̢۪s Corner
Jeff Gill, District Commish
For the first time in fourteen years, the registration fee for Scouting will increase to $10. While certainly not enjoyable news, the increase had long beeen expected. One thing that is good about it is, unlike the Post Office, the intention is to go on up to a useful round number that will, we hope, stay put for another 14 years.
All scouters should remember that the $10 registration is essentially the sole support of the National Council, which maintains the national database through which all registrations, youth and adult pass. The requirement for registration of all adults spending time with unit activities or at camp with scouts is so all names and info goes through that national database, which is a vital element of our overall Youth Protection strategy.
Recent events show that having a cross-referencable database keeps problem scouters from being run off of one unit and then another, with state or county lines helping hide a troublesome background. The registration systems lets us red flag credible accusations and black flag convictions and ensures national consistency in managing adult volunteers, in a way many other youth-serving organizations now envy. Superior to even criminal background checks, which only uncover convictions, this is a system worth paying for.
Of course, the counterpart of that point about the registration fee is that Simon Kenton Council doesn̢۪t get a penny of it, nor does the district or, obviously, the pack or troop. Some units ask a total registration fee of everyone each year which incorporates the national $10 and additional unit fees, while others ask each scout to pay the ten and then asks dues each week or month for support of the unit. A few very well organized units charge no fee at all due to their fundraising, which pays all costs for each Scout.
However your unit does money management, as you prepare for Fall recruiting and Round-ups in your area, make sure to adjust your fees to reflect the new $10 registration.
r
Commissioner̢۪s Corner
Jeff Gill, District Commish
For the first time in fourteen years, the registration fee for Scouting will increase to $10. While certainly not enjoyable news, the increase had long beeen expected. One thing that is good about it is, unlike the Post Office, the intention is to go on up to a useful round number that will, we hope, stay put for another 14 years.
All scouters should remember that the $10 registration is essentially the sole support of the National Council, which maintains the national database through which all registrations, youth and adult pass. The requirement for registration of all adults spending time with unit activities or at camp with scouts is so all names and info goes through that national database, which is a vital element of our overall Youth Protection strategy.
Recent events show that having a cross-referencable database keeps problem scouters from being run off of one unit and then another, with state or county lines helping hide a troublesome background. The registration systems lets us red flag credible accusations and black flag convictions and ensures national consistency in managing adult volunteers, in a way many other youth-serving organizations now envy. Superior to even criminal background checks, which only uncover convictions, this is a system worth paying for.
Of course, the counterpart of that point about the registration fee is that Simon Kenton Council doesn̢۪t get a penny of it, nor does the district or, obviously, the pack or troop. Some units ask a total registration fee of everyone each year which incorporates the national $10 and additional unit fees, while others ask each scout to pay the ten and then asks dues each week or month for support of the unit. A few very well organized units charge no fee at all due to their fundraising, which pays all costs for each Scout.
However your unit does money management, as you prepare for Fall recruiting and Round-ups in your area, make sure to adjust your fees to reflect the new $10 registration.
r
Hebron Crossroads
By Jeff Gill
"Man, that̢۪s hot," said Scott Walters, Hebron Village councilman. He
wasn̢۪t referring to the hot summer day (which it was), or a heated
council discussion (it was a Saturday!). He wasn̢۪t even referring to the
huge blaze of pallets, straw, and some well-placed flares behind him.
Scott, councilmember Mike Halter, and village administrator Mike
McFarland were talking about the 20-plus pounds of what firefighters call
"turnout gear" that they were wearing. More than halfway through the Ohio
Fire Academy program "Feel The Heat" for local officials, staff, and
media, the three were more than halfway to doubling their appreciation
for what firefighters do everyday, from 100 degrees to 20 below. . .and
it wasn̢۪t 20 below.
Since 1998, more than 400 elected officials and others nominated by their
local fire chiefs have attended this day-long event, which is held two to
four times a year depending on interest. The intention of the program,
introduced and managed by State Fire Marshall Robert Rielage, is "to
ensure that local public officials understand their training dollars are
going toward the best quality training at a reasonable cost."
To do that, Scott and the two Mikes had crawled through dim, smoky
building mock-ups, clambered up ladders, and wielded hoses,
extinguishers, and rescue gear like the "Jaws of Life." Mike Halter
observed, "Those Jaws are heavier than they look, and they look heavy!"
After dismantling a well-worn ̢۪87 Nova, the trio from Hebron went to the
next of seven stations for the day, where they learned about the pros and
cons of various kinds of nozzles and foams for fire suppression and
management.
Lt. Rich Vance with the Hebron Fire Department drove the crew over to
Reynoldsburg, home of the state̢۪s primary training facility right down
R oute 40, in Engine 5. Each occupied a jump seat and began the day
wearing everything from boots and bunker trousers to Nomex hood and
helmet, just as members of the HFD suit up whenever there̢۪s a call that
takes them out of the sta tion. "What sounds small can get big in a hurry,
said Rich, "so whether it̢۪s a fender-bender or a trash fire, if we̢۪re
called out, we all suit up."
Your correspondent drove discreetly behind the engine, and had a much
cooler time of it in his civvies. Even at that, a full day mostly in
direct sun at 90 degrees and unthinkable humidity had this media weasel
in short-sleeves wilting, and quite frequently the crew was pulling on
their "self-contained bre athing apparatus" with mask, airhose, regulator,
and tank on the back.
A standard part of such "SCBA" gear nowadays is a "PASS device," for
"personal alert security system." Built into the regulator, the PASS
starts chirping when the firefighter wearing it either is unmoving for 15
seconds, or after a sharp blow. We all felt a bit of a chill when one was
first tested: the sound is that which was heard a thousand times over in
footage of 9-11 out of th e darkness after each tower fell. Those weren̢۪t
car alarms, those were PASS devices on thousands of firemen who were just
getting back to their feet, and some hundreds who never did.
Actually, we all got used to the alert chirping a fter the first hour.
They claimed that, once on a fire scene, no one would stand still long
enough to set one off (or if they did, they weren̢۪t working!), and even
we civilians started developing a "ten second twitch" to keep the a lert
at bay while waiting in line for the next evolution.
Except for lunch, the day was one evolution after another, with the heat
growing and energy clearly flagging. Mike McFarland had a little extra
motivation keeping him moving: his son Kevin, a firefighter/paramedic
with Violet Twp. "Feel The Heat" had participants from all over the
state, some of whom had left their home departments at 5 am to make the
trip to the Academy.
Faculty of the Ohio Fire Academy ran each station, so even when we were
riding a bucket on a Columbus fire truck up into the air and
"experiencing" its range of movement, there was a certain feeling of
confidence even in the most out there activi ties
The capstone of the day was the "burn building," a new construction at
the Academy just dedicated last May at a cost of $1.8 million. That may
sound like a lot for a modest, family size house with no furnishings or
ext erior decoration, but consider that it has been burned down about 50
times already and still looks pretty solid, and you can see what the
taxpayers are getting for their money.
"This structure is designed to be adjustable into a number of layouts so
both rookies and experienced firefighters can have a realistic and
challenging training event under a wide variety of conditions," said
Marshall Rielage. Obviously, a very simple scenario of a kitchen fire
just two rooms inside the front door was what awaited Mike and Kevin
McFarland as they had what̢۪s probably the ultimate father-son bonding
experience, putting out a fire together.
At $5000 for a full rig of turnout gear for the individual fireman, to
the millions needed to maintain a top-flight training facility like the
OFA, five Hebron folks had a much clearer picture of what it takes to
maintain fire safety for a community as we made our weary way home. Y ou
can̢۪t buy the heart and commitment it takes to put on that gear and go
out and fight fires, and you also can̢۪t quantify the value that such
constant training brings to this vocation. "It̢۪s a calling," said Mike
Halter, and this preacher clearly agrees.
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church and a fan of firehouse
cooking. If you know of an interesting story out of our community, call
him at 928-4066 or e-mail disciple@voyager.net.
* * * * * * *
Hebron Crossroads
By Jeff Gill
Nancy Dix of Hebron asked me "Are you going see ‘American Originals’ at
the Ohio Historical Society?" We were waiting together for a training
program for leading tours out at Cranberry Bog for the Greater Buckeye
Lake Historical Society.
I assured her that wild horses couldn̢۪t drag me away from being first in
line to see this selection of treasures from the National Archives,
traveling the cou ntry as an outreach program while their centerpiece, the
"Charters of Freedom" were temporarily stored away while new display
cases are constructed.
"And don̢۪t forget to go back when the Emancipation Proclamation comes to
Oh io," she reminded me. As the new vice-president of the OHS board, and
with her husband one of the many special sponsors of the Emancipation
Proclamation visit, she was doing her part to get the word out, and
reminded this correspondent to let you all know some weeks ago, as well.
Going to see Abraham Lincoln̢۪s signature up close (albeit through safety
glass) and reading the original text of this primary document in American
history was lure enough, but there were many reasons for me to make a
special effort to go back just to see five pieces of paper with misty
writing and a faded seal in a dimly-lit room.
Because of its being on paper (the Charters – Declaration, Constitution,
Bill of Rights – are on parchment, which ages better), and due to many
decades on display in direct sunlight, the Proclamation is only "out in
public" about six days a year, and Ohio got more than half of that time
this year. The i nk is deteriorating faster than the material its written
on, and the Archives don̢۪t want to "love it to death."
When I was there at the Ohio Historical Center in Columbus, the crowds in
the American Originals exhibit hall were a te stimony to the attraction of
primary documents, the true texts of history. Many of these will be on
display for a few more weeks, along with a number of Ohio documents and
artifacts that are in the keeping of OHS. McKinley̢۪s discharge from the
Civil War, Tecumseh̢۪s signature on a treaty, everything but a receipt for
the non-existent bathtub Taft never got stuck in is there. But the
amusement and diversions of history took a back seat to the solemnity
showed by everyone, young and old, black, brown, and white, who waited in
the line to gaze, even if for a few moments at the Emancipation
Proclamation.
While the effective date is "January 1, 1863," the document is signed on
September 22, 1862. Lincoln had long wanted to make a statement
clarifying the causes and reasons for the Civil War, anchoring the fight
in freedom for the enslaved. More moderate factions in his cabinet had
urged caution in provoking the South with such a statement, but by early
1862 Lincoln had set himself to issue such a proclamation after a Union
victory, so as not to appear weak in making the claim for emancipation.
This September, on the 17th, is the 140th anniversary of the single
bloodiest day in American history, with the Battle of Antietam. The
recent Civil War re-enactment at Infirmary Mound Park gave tribute to
this commemoration, which is good since this September all Am erica will
no doubt be focused on a one year anniversary that came dangerously close
to claiming Antietam̢۪s tragic mark.
After the armies cautiously withdrew from Sharpsburg, Maryland on the
18th, Lincoln decided that this inconclusive engagement may be the
closest thing Gen. McClelland would give him towards a victory, and so it
was five days after Antietam that Lincoln signed the Emancipation
Proclamation.
My great-great-grandfather fought hi s way with the 53rd Pennsylvania
across Bloody Lane at Antietam, and while he survived, was never quite
the same until his death not long after the way. He left part of himself
on the battlefield, where his unit slept that night among the cordwood-
stacked dead and the many wounded, just beside Bloody Lane.
What he and many others gave of themselves that day were the price
Lincoln needed to warrant signing the paper we all were looking at in
Columbus, Ohio on a summer day in 2002. Thank you to Nancy Dix and many
others who brought this memorial into our midst, and gave so many a
chance to remember.
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church, and a genealogical
resear cher from time to time; if you have something you̢۪d like Hebron
folk to remember, call 928-4066 or e-mail disciple@voyager.net
* * * * * * *
Hebron Crossroads
By Jeff Gill
It should come as a surprise to no one that U S Route 40, the National
Road and Hebron̢۪s Main Street, has been named a "National Scenic Byway"
by the Federal Government.
Started with legislation signed by Thomas Jefferson and masterminded by
the brilliant Secretary of t he Treasury Albert Gallatin, the National
Road was the early 1800̢۪s parallel to the Lewis and Clark expedition,
whose bicentennial largely overlaps the Ohio bicentennial celebrations
next year.
After Lewis and Clark returned, describing the wonders of the real estate
the Louisiana Purchase had added to the United States, everyone agreed
that we had to improve access to this asset. If the Corps of Discovery
expedition was the first "moon shot" endeavor of this country, then
building the National Road over the Alleghenies and the Ohio River was
the equivalent of the space shuttle program, making more everyday what
had been purely exceptional.
We love our bit of the National Road with good reason, knowing the
beauties of the view from Eagle̢۪s Nest near Brownsville, the opening out
of the Appalachian foothills into the beginnings of the prairie at the
hill west of Jacksontown, and the steady straight progress from Sunset
Hill at Hebron on into Columbus and beyond to Indiana and Illinois.
But if you drive east, there̢۪s the well-named Scenery Hill east of
Washington, PA; west Rt. 40 now goes well past the old capital of
Va ndalia, Illinois into western plains states that make Union and
Harrison Townships look downright mountainous!
There are also some special tax incentives and governmental
qualifications that can allow an area to benefit more fully f rom tourism
and preservation dollars with the "National Scenic Byway" designation,
and Hebron Crossroads will try to find out what some of these are and let
you know more details a little farther on down the road.
Don̢۪t for get that almost every weekday during the summer there are
childrens̢۪ and young adults̢۪ programs at the Hebron Library on West Main
back of the Municipal Building. None of these require that you be in all
to enjoy each, so if you̢۪ve missed a few, it is not too late to join in.
Finally, a number of you, this column in hand, have harassed a number of
TV stations and newspapers about where National Trails is. Channel 10,
WBNS, has capitulated utterly to the for ces of Hebronism, and has
promised to dateline drag races from "Hebron, Ohio," and can you all
please stop calling! 4 and 6 are still trying to figure out what hit
them, and we won̢۪t talk about the Advocate. But some very nice peop le in
Luray have pointed out . . . well, Hebron is still the closest
incorporated community to the track, but local pride sure is a beautiful
thing, isn̢۪t it?
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church and a proud resi dent of .
. . yep, Hebron. But if you have news of neighboring communities, please
know you̢۪ll get a fair hearing at 928-4066, or e-mail
disciple@voyager.net.
* * * * * * *e
By Jeff Gill
"Man, that̢۪s hot," said Scott Walters, Hebron Village councilman. He
wasn̢۪t referring to the hot summer day (which it was), or a heated
council discussion (it was a Saturday!). He wasn̢۪t even referring to the
huge blaze of pallets, straw, and some well-placed flares behind him.
Scott, councilmember Mike Halter, and village administrator Mike
McFarland were talking about the 20-plus pounds of what firefighters call
"turnout gear" that they were wearing. More than halfway through the Ohio
Fire Academy program "Feel The Heat" for local officials, staff, and
media, the three were more than halfway to doubling their appreciation
for what firefighters do everyday, from 100 degrees to 20 below. . .and
it wasn̢۪t 20 below.
Since 1998, more than 400 elected officials and others nominated by their
local fire chiefs have attended this day-long event, which is held two to
four times a year depending on interest. The intention of the program,
introduced and managed by State Fire Marshall Robert Rielage, is "to
ensure that local public officials understand their training dollars are
going toward the best quality training at a reasonable cost."
To do that, Scott and the two Mikes had crawled through dim, smoky
building mock-ups, clambered up ladders, and wielded hoses,
extinguishers, and rescue gear like the "Jaws of Life." Mike Halter
observed, "Those Jaws are heavier than they look, and they look heavy!"
After dismantling a well-worn ̢۪87 Nova, the trio from Hebron went to the
next of seven stations for the day, where they learned about the pros and
cons of various kinds of nozzles and foams for fire suppression and
management.
Lt. Rich Vance with the Hebron Fire Department drove the crew over to
Reynoldsburg, home of the state̢۪s primary training facility right down
R oute 40, in Engine 5. Each occupied a jump seat and began the day
wearing everything from boots and bunker trousers to Nomex hood and
helmet, just as members of the HFD suit up whenever there̢۪s a call that
takes them out of the sta tion. "What sounds small can get big in a hurry,
said Rich, "so whether it̢۪s a fender-bender or a trash fire, if we̢۪re
called out, we all suit up."
Your correspondent drove discreetly behind the engine, and had a much
cooler time of it in his civvies. Even at that, a full day mostly in
direct sun at 90 degrees and unthinkable humidity had this media weasel
in short-sleeves wilting, and quite frequently the crew was pulling on
their "self-contained bre athing apparatus" with mask, airhose, regulator,
and tank on the back.
A standard part of such "SCBA" gear nowadays is a "PASS device," for
"personal alert security system." Built into the regulator, the PASS
starts chirping when the firefighter wearing it either is unmoving for 15
seconds, or after a sharp blow. We all felt a bit of a chill when one was
first tested: the sound is that which was heard a thousand times over in
footage of 9-11 out of th e darkness after each tower fell. Those weren̢۪t
car alarms, those were PASS devices on thousands of firemen who were just
getting back to their feet, and some hundreds who never did.
Actually, we all got used to the alert chirping a fter the first hour.
They claimed that, once on a fire scene, no one would stand still long
enough to set one off (or if they did, they weren̢۪t working!), and even
we civilians started developing a "ten second twitch" to keep the a lert
at bay while waiting in line for the next evolution.
Except for lunch, the day was one evolution after another, with the heat
growing and energy clearly flagging. Mike McFarland had a little extra
motivation keeping him moving: his son Kevin, a firefighter/paramedic
with Violet Twp. "Feel The Heat" had participants from all over the
state, some of whom had left their home departments at 5 am to make the
trip to the Academy.
Faculty of the Ohio Fire Academy ran each station, so even when we were
riding a bucket on a Columbus fire truck up into the air and
"experiencing" its range of movement, there was a certain feeling of
confidence even in the most out there activi ties
The capstone of the day was the "burn building," a new construction at
the Academy just dedicated last May at a cost of $1.8 million. That may
sound like a lot for a modest, family size house with no furnishings or
ext erior decoration, but consider that it has been burned down about 50
times already and still looks pretty solid, and you can see what the
taxpayers are getting for their money.
"This structure is designed to be adjustable into a number of layouts so
both rookies and experienced firefighters can have a realistic and
challenging training event under a wide variety of conditions," said
Marshall Rielage. Obviously, a very simple scenario of a kitchen fire
just two rooms inside the front door was what awaited Mike and Kevin
McFarland as they had what̢۪s probably the ultimate father-son bonding
experience, putting out a fire together.
At $5000 for a full rig of turnout gear for the individual fireman, to
the millions needed to maintain a top-flight training facility like the
OFA, five Hebron folks had a much clearer picture of what it takes to
maintain fire safety for a community as we made our weary way home. Y ou
can̢۪t buy the heart and commitment it takes to put on that gear and go
out and fight fires, and you also can̢۪t quantify the value that such
constant training brings to this vocation. "It̢۪s a calling," said Mike
Halter, and this preacher clearly agrees.
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church and a fan of firehouse
cooking. If you know of an interesting story out of our community, call
him at 928-4066 or e-mail disciple@voyager.net.
* * * * * * *
Hebron Crossroads
By Jeff Gill
Nancy Dix of Hebron asked me "Are you going see ‘American Originals’ at
the Ohio Historical Society?" We were waiting together for a training
program for leading tours out at Cranberry Bog for the Greater Buckeye
Lake Historical Society.
I assured her that wild horses couldn̢۪t drag me away from being first in
line to see this selection of treasures from the National Archives,
traveling the cou ntry as an outreach program while their centerpiece, the
"Charters of Freedom" were temporarily stored away while new display
cases are constructed.
"And don̢۪t forget to go back when the Emancipation Proclamation comes to
Oh io," she reminded me. As the new vice-president of the OHS board, and
with her husband one of the many special sponsors of the Emancipation
Proclamation visit, she was doing her part to get the word out, and
reminded this correspondent to let you all know some weeks ago, as well.
Going to see Abraham Lincoln̢۪s signature up close (albeit through safety
glass) and reading the original text of this primary document in American
history was lure enough, but there were many reasons for me to make a
special effort to go back just to see five pieces of paper with misty
writing and a faded seal in a dimly-lit room.
Because of its being on paper (the Charters – Declaration, Constitution,
Bill of Rights – are on parchment, which ages better), and due to many
decades on display in direct sunlight, the Proclamation is only "out in
public" about six days a year, and Ohio got more than half of that time
this year. The i nk is deteriorating faster than the material its written
on, and the Archives don̢۪t want to "love it to death."
When I was there at the Ohio Historical Center in Columbus, the crowds in
the American Originals exhibit hall were a te stimony to the attraction of
primary documents, the true texts of history. Many of these will be on
display for a few more weeks, along with a number of Ohio documents and
artifacts that are in the keeping of OHS. McKinley̢۪s discharge from the
Civil War, Tecumseh̢۪s signature on a treaty, everything but a receipt for
the non-existent bathtub Taft never got stuck in is there. But the
amusement and diversions of history took a back seat to the solemnity
showed by everyone, young and old, black, brown, and white, who waited in
the line to gaze, even if for a few moments at the Emancipation
Proclamation.
While the effective date is "January 1, 1863," the document is signed on
September 22, 1862. Lincoln had long wanted to make a statement
clarifying the causes and reasons for the Civil War, anchoring the fight
in freedom for the enslaved. More moderate factions in his cabinet had
urged caution in provoking the South with such a statement, but by early
1862 Lincoln had set himself to issue such a proclamation after a Union
victory, so as not to appear weak in making the claim for emancipation.
This September, on the 17th, is the 140th anniversary of the single
bloodiest day in American history, with the Battle of Antietam. The
recent Civil War re-enactment at Infirmary Mound Park gave tribute to
this commemoration, which is good since this September all Am erica will
no doubt be focused on a one year anniversary that came dangerously close
to claiming Antietam̢۪s tragic mark.
After the armies cautiously withdrew from Sharpsburg, Maryland on the
18th, Lincoln decided that this inconclusive engagement may be the
closest thing Gen. McClelland would give him towards a victory, and so it
was five days after Antietam that Lincoln signed the Emancipation
Proclamation.
My great-great-grandfather fought hi s way with the 53rd Pennsylvania
across Bloody Lane at Antietam, and while he survived, was never quite
the same until his death not long after the way. He left part of himself
on the battlefield, where his unit slept that night among the cordwood-
stacked dead and the many wounded, just beside Bloody Lane.
What he and many others gave of themselves that day were the price
Lincoln needed to warrant signing the paper we all were looking at in
Columbus, Ohio on a summer day in 2002. Thank you to Nancy Dix and many
others who brought this memorial into our midst, and gave so many a
chance to remember.
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church, and a genealogical
resear cher from time to time; if you have something you̢۪d like Hebron
folk to remember, call 928-4066 or e-mail disciple@voyager.net
* * * * * * *
Hebron Crossroads
By Jeff Gill
It should come as a surprise to no one that U S Route 40, the National
Road and Hebron̢۪s Main Street, has been named a "National Scenic Byway"
by the Federal Government.
Started with legislation signed by Thomas Jefferson and masterminded by
the brilliant Secretary of t he Treasury Albert Gallatin, the National
Road was the early 1800̢۪s parallel to the Lewis and Clark expedition,
whose bicentennial largely overlaps the Ohio bicentennial celebrations
next year.
After Lewis and Clark returned, describing the wonders of the real estate
the Louisiana Purchase had added to the United States, everyone agreed
that we had to improve access to this asset. If the Corps of Discovery
expedition was the first "moon shot" endeavor of this country, then
building the National Road over the Alleghenies and the Ohio River was
the equivalent of the space shuttle program, making more everyday what
had been purely exceptional.
We love our bit of the National Road with good reason, knowing the
beauties of the view from Eagle̢۪s Nest near Brownsville, the opening out
of the Appalachian foothills into the beginnings of the prairie at the
hill west of Jacksontown, and the steady straight progress from Sunset
Hill at Hebron on into Columbus and beyond to Indiana and Illinois.
But if you drive east, there̢۪s the well-named Scenery Hill east of
Washington, PA; west Rt. 40 now goes well past the old capital of
Va ndalia, Illinois into western plains states that make Union and
Harrison Townships look downright mountainous!
There are also some special tax incentives and governmental
qualifications that can allow an area to benefit more fully f rom tourism
and preservation dollars with the "National Scenic Byway" designation,
and Hebron Crossroads will try to find out what some of these are and let
you know more details a little farther on down the road.
Don̢۪t for get that almost every weekday during the summer there are
childrens̢۪ and young adults̢۪ programs at the Hebron Library on West Main
back of the Municipal Building. None of these require that you be in all
to enjoy each, so if you̢۪ve missed a few, it is not too late to join in.
Finally, a number of you, this column in hand, have harassed a number of
TV stations and newspapers about where National Trails is. Channel 10,
WBNS, has capitulated utterly to the for ces of Hebronism, and has
promised to dateline drag races from "Hebron, Ohio," and can you all
please stop calling! 4 and 6 are still trying to figure out what hit
them, and we won̢۪t talk about the Advocate. But some very nice peop le in
Luray have pointed out . . . well, Hebron is still the closest
incorporated community to the track, but local pride sure is a beautiful
thing, isn̢۪t it?
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church and a proud resi dent of .
. . yep, Hebron. But if you have news of neighboring communities, please
know you̢۪ll get a fair hearing at 928-4066, or e-mail
disciple@voyager.net.
* * * * * * *e
Monday, June 24, 2002
Civil War Re-enactment 29 - 30 June – "Living Alongside the Civil War"
Learning history can be sobering, exciting, and even fun, and the annual Civil War Re-enactment at Infirmary Mound Park always manages to combine all three.Union and Confederate units of men in authentic period regalia fire cannon, shoot rifles, and wield sabers as various engagements of the War Between the States are brought to life before Licking County residents.
This year, on June 29 & 30, the re-enactment will offer a replay of the Battle of Antietam's South Mountain, which took place 140 years ago this September. But Mary Beth Sills, special projects co-ordinator for the Licking Park District, wants to show us the "civilian home front" during the Civil War.
"Come see how women and non-combatant men lived their lives outside the war," offers Sills, "with a small log cabin below the battlefield site showing home crafts and activities from everyday life."
A Town Meeting and a Ladies’ Tea are also part of the program through the weekend, along with a chance to merge the home front and the combatants with the now traditional Military Ball at 8:30 pm on Saturday, June 29. A period dance workshop is included at the start of the ball for guests to learn authentic steps and patterns, so they can participate with the re-enactors.
Infirmary Mound Park is host to most of the events of the weekend, charging $5 per carload with the gates opening at 9:30 am each day. All events inside the park are then without further charge, except for "Dinner with the Troops" on Saturday which is an additional $5 per person.
But the Civil War weekend continues to expand beyond the park and the two days: On Friday, June 28 is "Lunch With Lincoln" at the Buxton Inn in Granville for $15 (call 587-2535 for more info). Also appearing with the Lincoln presenter is Gov. Dennison, who will speak about Civil War era issues at the re-enactment, while they are making a number of appearances in the area Friday night and Sunday morning, including First Presbyterian Church in Pataskala and at the Licking Township Hall in Jacksontown.
Of course the boom of artillery and the crackle of gunfire is a major attraction, and battle re-enactments will take place on Saturday at 10:30 and 11:30 am, and at noon on Sunday. For many visitors, the spectacle of units marching across a field and the fun of noisemaking is tempered by the realization of what’s being "re-enacted" when soldiers slide to the ground, leading (as most re-enactors hope) to a better understanding of what was at stake in our nation’s critical conflict.
This year will be even more jarring, with the focus on Sept. 17, 1862, which is the single bloodiest day in American history.
Antietam found itself briefly back in the news after Sept. 11, when it was thought that the death toll that day had surpassed the near 5,000 dead near Sharpsburg, Maryland 140 years ago. While the 9-11 toll finally subsided below the grim toll for Sept. 17, the parallels were and are striking.
For more information on this and many other summer programs for families, children, and everyone, call the Licking Park District office at 587-2535. The re-enactment grounds are open June 29 & 30 from 9:30 am to dusk, with a Military Ball on Saturday night at 8:30 pm after Dinner with the Troops. Admission is $5 a carload.
* * * * * *
Hebron Crossroads
By Jeff Gill
First Community Church in Buckeye Lake will hold their Vacation Bible School starting Monday evening, June 24, from 6 to 9 pm. "Veggie Town Values" is the theme for the five nights of lessons, games, activities, and snacks running through June 28.
If you would like more information on "Veggie Town" at First Community, call 928-46 15. There will also be pre-registration on June 22 from 11 am to 2 pm, and further questions can be answered there.
Hebron United Methodist Church and Hebron Christian Church will again do a joint VBS July 26 & 27, with the Methodist Church as the site this year.
Hope all you dads had a great Father’s Day last weekend, and congratulations to Dave Cable for being selected as "Father of the Year" for his assistance with Martha Cable getting her master’s degree and care of their four kids through that time . . . and it was cheering for many of us in the community when word came that Martha’s been hired to work in Lakewood Schools this year. Dave was recognized by Hebron Christian Church, which has recognized a "Mother of the Year" for many years, and decided this year to salute fathers in a similar manner.
Dave and many other dads spent their Father’s Day doing groundskeeping and coaching out at Evans Park on Refugee Road with the big invitational tournament June 15 & 16; no results were available at presstime. Other dads around the area may have to have you repeat "Happy Father’s Day" a few times, not because they’re fishing for compliments, but because they were out at National Trails for the Pontiac Excitement Nationals. As one of the ticket-rippers and car-parkers out there, I can attest to the value of a good pair of ear-plugs! The top-fuel competitions were awesome back in Hebron sitting in the back yard, let alone standing by the tower watching the christmas tree flash down to green.
The traditional thunderstorms came, and just as quickly went, on Friday and Saturday evenings, and congrats to all the track staff for how smoothly traffic flowed through all four days.
While we’re at it, though, it is both interesting and frustrating to hear the various geographic attributions for National Trails Raceway. To the Advocate’s credit, they frequently credit datelines to the nearest municipality, our fair "Hebron." Most of the Columbus area media says "Kirkersville," which no doubt derives from the last town Columbus reporters pass through before arriving at the track.
But on ESPN, the dateline is "Columbus, Ohio." Oh, well. In central Ohio, we should be used to such confusion over fine distinctions here in "flyover country." Not too long ago, an article in a New York publication talking about Les Wexner’s mansion said that it was "two hours south of Cleveland," which is a funny way to refer to a metro area larger than Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and even Baltimore!
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church, and not only knows where Hebron is, he can find Moscow, Amsterdam, and Luray on a map . . . a Licking County map, that is. If you have geographical oddities or news of interest to share, call 928-4066 or e-mail disciple@voyager.net.
Learning history can be sobering, exciting, and even fun, and the annual Civil War Re-enactment at Infirmary Mound Park always manages to combine all three.Union and Confederate units of men in authentic period regalia fire cannon, shoot rifles, and wield sabers as various engagements of the War Between the States are brought to life before Licking County residents.
This year, on June 29 & 30, the re-enactment will offer a replay of the Battle of Antietam's South Mountain, which took place 140 years ago this September. But Mary Beth Sills, special projects co-ordinator for the Licking Park District, wants to show us the "civilian home front" during the Civil War.
"Come see how women and non-combatant men lived their lives outside the war," offers Sills, "with a small log cabin below the battlefield site showing home crafts and activities from everyday life."
A Town Meeting and a Ladies’ Tea are also part of the program through the weekend, along with a chance to merge the home front and the combatants with the now traditional Military Ball at 8:30 pm on Saturday, June 29. A period dance workshop is included at the start of the ball for guests to learn authentic steps and patterns, so they can participate with the re-enactors.
Infirmary Mound Park is host to most of the events of the weekend, charging $5 per carload with the gates opening at 9:30 am each day. All events inside the park are then without further charge, except for "Dinner with the Troops" on Saturday which is an additional $5 per person.
But the Civil War weekend continues to expand beyond the park and the two days: On Friday, June 28 is "Lunch With Lincoln" at the Buxton Inn in Granville for $15 (call 587-2535 for more info). Also appearing with the Lincoln presenter is Gov. Dennison, who will speak about Civil War era issues at the re-enactment, while they are making a number of appearances in the area Friday night and Sunday morning, including First Presbyterian Church in Pataskala and at the Licking Township Hall in Jacksontown.
Of course the boom of artillery and the crackle of gunfire is a major attraction, and battle re-enactments will take place on Saturday at 10:30 and 11:30 am, and at noon on Sunday. For many visitors, the spectacle of units marching across a field and the fun of noisemaking is tempered by the realization of what’s being "re-enacted" when soldiers slide to the ground, leading (as most re-enactors hope) to a better understanding of what was at stake in our nation’s critical conflict.
This year will be even more jarring, with the focus on Sept. 17, 1862, which is the single bloodiest day in American history.
Antietam found itself briefly back in the news after Sept. 11, when it was thought that the death toll that day had surpassed the near 5,000 dead near Sharpsburg, Maryland 140 years ago. While the 9-11 toll finally subsided below the grim toll for Sept. 17, the parallels were and are striking.
For more information on this and many other summer programs for families, children, and everyone, call the Licking Park District office at 587-2535. The re-enactment grounds are open June 29 & 30 from 9:30 am to dusk, with a Military Ball on Saturday night at 8:30 pm after Dinner with the Troops. Admission is $5 a carload.
* * * * * *
Hebron Crossroads
By Jeff Gill
First Community Church in Buckeye Lake will hold their Vacation Bible School starting Monday evening, June 24, from 6 to 9 pm. "Veggie Town Values" is the theme for the five nights of lessons, games, activities, and snacks running through June 28.
If you would like more information on "Veggie Town" at First Community, call 928-46 15. There will also be pre-registration on June 22 from 11 am to 2 pm, and further questions can be answered there.
Hebron United Methodist Church and Hebron Christian Church will again do a joint VBS July 26 & 27, with the Methodist Church as the site this year.
Hope all you dads had a great Father’s Day last weekend, and congratulations to Dave Cable for being selected as "Father of the Year" for his assistance with Martha Cable getting her master’s degree and care of their four kids through that time . . . and it was cheering for many of us in the community when word came that Martha’s been hired to work in Lakewood Schools this year. Dave was recognized by Hebron Christian Church, which has recognized a "Mother of the Year" for many years, and decided this year to salute fathers in a similar manner.
Dave and many other dads spent their Father’s Day doing groundskeeping and coaching out at Evans Park on Refugee Road with the big invitational tournament June 15 & 16; no results were available at presstime. Other dads around the area may have to have you repeat "Happy Father’s Day" a few times, not because they’re fishing for compliments, but because they were out at National Trails for the Pontiac Excitement Nationals. As one of the ticket-rippers and car-parkers out there, I can attest to the value of a good pair of ear-plugs! The top-fuel competitions were awesome back in Hebron sitting in the back yard, let alone standing by the tower watching the christmas tree flash down to green.
The traditional thunderstorms came, and just as quickly went, on Friday and Saturday evenings, and congrats to all the track staff for how smoothly traffic flowed through all four days.
While we’re at it, though, it is both interesting and frustrating to hear the various geographic attributions for National Trails Raceway. To the Advocate’s credit, they frequently credit datelines to the nearest municipality, our fair "Hebron." Most of the Columbus area media says "Kirkersville," which no doubt derives from the last town Columbus reporters pass through before arriving at the track.
But on ESPN, the dateline is "Columbus, Ohio." Oh, well. In central Ohio, we should be used to such confusion over fine distinctions here in "flyover country." Not too long ago, an article in a New York publication talking about Les Wexner’s mansion said that it was "two hours south of Cleveland," which is a funny way to refer to a metro area larger than Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and even Baltimore!
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church, and not only knows where Hebron is, he can find Moscow, Amsterdam, and Luray on a map . . . a Licking County map, that is. If you have geographical oddities or news of interest to share, call 928-4066 or e-mail disciple@voyager.net.
Tuesday, June 11, 2002
Hebron Crossroads 6-16
By Jeff Gill
Lakewood's girls softball team made us proud with their 24 and 7 run to the state final game. As impressive as their 2nd place finish out of 192 teams was, even more impressive was what principal Dennis Neff noted at the next day's commencement exercises for the LHS Class of 2002: the four senior girls on the team had a combined GPA of 3.675! One of those young women, Abby Daubenmire, was class salutatorian, and spoke at graduation about "stepping out of your comfort zone," and the blessings and rewards that can come from that step, which she's experienced in her own life these last few years.
Kristi Hoskinson, the class president, dedicated the afternoon to "LS Soop" Lou Staffilino, who retires at the end of 2002. She credited Mr. Staffilino with helping keep the class together and on the right track through the transitions from split sessions to a new building. Kimberly Lynn Kirk was class valedictorian, and Alexis Shelley Vance was recognized as Outstanding JVS student this year.
Breaking News, Traffic and Weather, all here on your Hebron Crossroads page!
OK, so this isn't the best place to get current updates, but as this is National Trails Raceway's Pontiac Excitement weekend, you can fairly well assume that the traffic around US 40 and Rt. 37 is heavy (watch for delays!), and that you need to use sunscreen in the direct sunlight alongside the asphalt unless you're in the middle of a thunderstorm. . .which will pass soon anyway, so reapply that sunscreen.
Truly, you do want to avoid going from Luray to Kirkersville by way of the National Road if you at all can help it until next Tuesday. Jim Layton and the gang do an amazing job of keeping the traffic moving into the parking areas and fields north and south of US 40, and the family-friendly atmosphere last year made for an overall calmer atmosphere around the track, but tens of thousands of cars and trucks and trailers can get backed up a bit. Remember, no coolers allowed this year into the track, as security concerns filter right on over into NHRA events, just like at Ohio Stadium.
Many of our Lakewood music and sports support groups will be working the concessions, the ticket-taking, and the parking out at National Trails, as kids and parents try to raise the money for both their activity and, in many cases, to help cover "pay-to-participate."
Licking Baptist Church, nestled in the hills north of Hebron, starts their Vacation Bible School on June 17 at 6 pm, running evenings through June 23. For more info on their programs for pre-school through adults, call 928-3586. A special feature on June 18 will have to be seen to be believed, so just show up and believe it!
Finally, don't forget to watch the sidewalks and crosswalks as you drive; school is out, and the kids are way, way out, and we all need to drive alertly and walk safely. As the saying goes, Hebron doesn't have any kids to spare.
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church, and always looks both ways when crossing the street; if you have other summer safety tips, call him at 928-4066 or e-mail disciple@voyager.net.
* * * * * * *
Booster cover story -- Grand Homes of Licking County
Just south of Hebron's Main Street, which as the National Road was once known as "America's Main Street," one of the oldest buildings in Licking County graces the corner of 7th and Deacon.
Built around 1826-8, what is still known as "the Madden House" in Hebron once stood downtown, just west of Porter's Barber Shop. After the Ohio and Erie Canal was planned to cross the National Road at the spot we call Hebron, a settlement sprang up. The original purpose of the structure is not known, but by the 1850's it was a dance hall.
From dance hall to preacher's house may be a bit of a leap, but that matches the trip the home made in 1880, when it was about to be torn down to make way for a National Guard armory (later replaced by the interurban power plant). Family and local legend has it that Thomas Madden, with nine children already born to him and his wife Nancy Virginia and four more yet to come, was walking by when he saw a cluster of men from the Lyons family discussing what to do with their property. Hearing that the house had to be moved or torn down right away, he walked up to them and said, "If I can have that house for what I've got in my pockets right now, I'll take it off your hands." The deal was closed with a handshake then and there, but the story closes by pointing out that while he got a house for $25 that way, it cost him $40 to move the house with a team of horses and a rope winch.
The Maddens had three sons and six daughters who survived infancy, and two of those daughters who never married, Letha and May, stayed in the Madden House the rest of their lives, and are buried across from Thomas and Nancy in the village cemetery. Charlie and Marian McDaniels, the owners, bought this beautiful home from other Madden relatives who lived briefly in it after the sisters' passing.
As active members of the Hebron Historical Society, the McDaniels have graciously shared their home with many different visitors, including long-lost Madden relatives passing through, village residents, and the historical society Christmas dinners. Charlie and Marian are still thankful for a decision made by Letha and May long before the McDaniels' moved to Hebron from Whitehall.
"Somebody offered them hundreds of dollars for that curved, cherry stair-railing, but they said 'No,' their father helped make it and it stays with the house," tells Charlie, "and since Marian had always wanted a house with a winding staircase, that just clinched the deal." Along with the warm, rich tones of the cherry bannister is the soft glow that only comes from hundreds of years of children's hands polishing the wood to a luminous smoothness.
Thomas Madden came to Hebron after the Civil War, where he rose almost immediately to the rank of sergeant in the 178th O.V.I.; his leadership skills also showed in how he helped organize a church right after he got to town in 1867. The fellowship he led often called lay preachers without formal education "Deacon," and while he went on to make ministry his full-time profession, and was one of the first "settled" pastors of both Hebron Christian Church and later Central Christian Church in Newark, the title "Deacon" Madden seems to have stuck, staying with us as the name of the street adjoining the Madden House.
Education has long been part of the vocation for both the Madden House and its residents; Letha and May frequently boarded teachers who worked at the Hebron School just west of them, and many of the Madden children and their spouses went into education . . . those that didn't go into the ministry, that is, and even some of those were involved in the early Sunday School movement, and one son-in-law, O.G. White, who married Lena, was an early state offical with the Disciples of Christ out of his work at West Virginia University.
Don't think for a moment that this home hasn't stories to tell beside hymn-singing and teacher's teas! Even beyond the dance hall days of Hebron's wilder past, one of Marian's prize possessions is a picture of Clara Madden, looking very prim and formal in a vast, sweeping bonnet, with an accompanying letter from Florence, the youngest surviving Madden. The letter asserts that, with her brother Arthur, Clara climbed the 150 foot tall smokestack of the old Hebron Power Plant, placing her high above the spot where the Madden House once stood. It was as if Clara and Florence wanted to tell a later generation, such as our own, that they knew how to cut up and have a good time even if their dad was a preacher!
Clara and Arthur, the smokestack and the Maddens are all gone from here, but the home they made and the influence they had in their church and community is still quite visible in Hebron. You can drive by 7th and Deacon and salute a living monument, still serving as a house and a home just as Tom and Nancy and the kids would have liked best.
And of an evening, if you squint just right at the sky behind Hayman's Dairy Bar, you might just see a blossom of crinolines perched near the top of a shadowy cylinder of brick, gazing out proudly across the rooftops of Hebron long ago.
By Jeff Gill
Lakewood's girls softball team made us proud with their 24 and 7 run to the state final game. As impressive as their 2nd place finish out of 192 teams was, even more impressive was what principal Dennis Neff noted at the next day's commencement exercises for the LHS Class of 2002: the four senior girls on the team had a combined GPA of 3.675! One of those young women, Abby Daubenmire, was class salutatorian, and spoke at graduation about "stepping out of your comfort zone," and the blessings and rewards that can come from that step, which she's experienced in her own life these last few years.
Kristi Hoskinson, the class president, dedicated the afternoon to "LS Soop" Lou Staffilino, who retires at the end of 2002. She credited Mr. Staffilino with helping keep the class together and on the right track through the transitions from split sessions to a new building. Kimberly Lynn Kirk was class valedictorian, and Alexis Shelley Vance was recognized as Outstanding JVS student this year.
Breaking News, Traffic and Weather, all here on your Hebron Crossroads page!
OK, so this isn't the best place to get current updates, but as this is National Trails Raceway's Pontiac Excitement weekend, you can fairly well assume that the traffic around US 40 and Rt. 37 is heavy (watch for delays!), and that you need to use sunscreen in the direct sunlight alongside the asphalt unless you're in the middle of a thunderstorm. . .which will pass soon anyway, so reapply that sunscreen.
Truly, you do want to avoid going from Luray to Kirkersville by way of the National Road if you at all can help it until next Tuesday. Jim Layton and the gang do an amazing job of keeping the traffic moving into the parking areas and fields north and south of US 40, and the family-friendly atmosphere last year made for an overall calmer atmosphere around the track, but tens of thousands of cars and trucks and trailers can get backed up a bit. Remember, no coolers allowed this year into the track, as security concerns filter right on over into NHRA events, just like at Ohio Stadium.
Many of our Lakewood music and sports support groups will be working the concessions, the ticket-taking, and the parking out at National Trails, as kids and parents try to raise the money for both their activity and, in many cases, to help cover "pay-to-participate."
Licking Baptist Church, nestled in the hills north of Hebron, starts their Vacation Bible School on June 17 at 6 pm, running evenings through June 23. For more info on their programs for pre-school through adults, call 928-3586. A special feature on June 18 will have to be seen to be believed, so just show up and believe it!
Finally, don't forget to watch the sidewalks and crosswalks as you drive; school is out, and the kids are way, way out, and we all need to drive alertly and walk safely. As the saying goes, Hebron doesn't have any kids to spare.
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church, and always looks both ways when crossing the street; if you have other summer safety tips, call him at 928-4066 or e-mail disciple@voyager.net.
* * * * * * *
Booster cover story -- Grand Homes of Licking County
Just south of Hebron's Main Street, which as the National Road was once known as "America's Main Street," one of the oldest buildings in Licking County graces the corner of 7th and Deacon.
Built around 1826-8, what is still known as "the Madden House" in Hebron once stood downtown, just west of Porter's Barber Shop. After the Ohio and Erie Canal was planned to cross the National Road at the spot we call Hebron, a settlement sprang up. The original purpose of the structure is not known, but by the 1850's it was a dance hall.
From dance hall to preacher's house may be a bit of a leap, but that matches the trip the home made in 1880, when it was about to be torn down to make way for a National Guard armory (later replaced by the interurban power plant). Family and local legend has it that Thomas Madden, with nine children already born to him and his wife Nancy Virginia and four more yet to come, was walking by when he saw a cluster of men from the Lyons family discussing what to do with their property. Hearing that the house had to be moved or torn down right away, he walked up to them and said, "If I can have that house for what I've got in my pockets right now, I'll take it off your hands." The deal was closed with a handshake then and there, but the story closes by pointing out that while he got a house for $25 that way, it cost him $40 to move the house with a team of horses and a rope winch.
The Maddens had three sons and six daughters who survived infancy, and two of those daughters who never married, Letha and May, stayed in the Madden House the rest of their lives, and are buried across from Thomas and Nancy in the village cemetery. Charlie and Marian McDaniels, the owners, bought this beautiful home from other Madden relatives who lived briefly in it after the sisters' passing.
As active members of the Hebron Historical Society, the McDaniels have graciously shared their home with many different visitors, including long-lost Madden relatives passing through, village residents, and the historical society Christmas dinners. Charlie and Marian are still thankful for a decision made by Letha and May long before the McDaniels' moved to Hebron from Whitehall.
"Somebody offered them hundreds of dollars for that curved, cherry stair-railing, but they said 'No,' their father helped make it and it stays with the house," tells Charlie, "and since Marian had always wanted a house with a winding staircase, that just clinched the deal." Along with the warm, rich tones of the cherry bannister is the soft glow that only comes from hundreds of years of children's hands polishing the wood to a luminous smoothness.
Thomas Madden came to Hebron after the Civil War, where he rose almost immediately to the rank of sergeant in the 178th O.V.I.; his leadership skills also showed in how he helped organize a church right after he got to town in 1867. The fellowship he led often called lay preachers without formal education "Deacon," and while he went on to make ministry his full-time profession, and was one of the first "settled" pastors of both Hebron Christian Church and later Central Christian Church in Newark, the title "Deacon" Madden seems to have stuck, staying with us as the name of the street adjoining the Madden House.
Education has long been part of the vocation for both the Madden House and its residents; Letha and May frequently boarded teachers who worked at the Hebron School just west of them, and many of the Madden children and their spouses went into education . . . those that didn't go into the ministry, that is, and even some of those were involved in the early Sunday School movement, and one son-in-law, O.G. White, who married Lena, was an early state offical with the Disciples of Christ out of his work at West Virginia University.
Don't think for a moment that this home hasn't stories to tell beside hymn-singing and teacher's teas! Even beyond the dance hall days of Hebron's wilder past, one of Marian's prize possessions is a picture of Clara Madden, looking very prim and formal in a vast, sweeping bonnet, with an accompanying letter from Florence, the youngest surviving Madden. The letter asserts that, with her brother Arthur, Clara climbed the 150 foot tall smokestack of the old Hebron Power Plant, placing her high above the spot where the Madden House once stood. It was as if Clara and Florence wanted to tell a later generation, such as our own, that they knew how to cut up and have a good time even if their dad was a preacher!
Clara and Arthur, the smokestack and the Maddens are all gone from here, but the home they made and the influence they had in their church and community is still quite visible in Hebron. You can drive by 7th and Deacon and salute a living monument, still serving as a house and a home just as Tom and Nancy and the kids would have liked best.
And of an evening, if you squint just right at the sky behind Hayman's Dairy Bar, you might just see a blossom of crinolines perched near the top of a shadowy cylinder of brick, gazing out proudly across the rooftops of Hebron long ago.
Tuesday, June 04, 2002
Hebron Crossroads 6-09
by Jeff Gill
Lakewood High School will graduate the class of 2002 this Sunday, and after so many open houses (and so much cake!) it will be good to see the procession across the stage of the seniors, accompanied by the cheers of their families and friends.
Every ending is indeed a beginning, and for these 200-plus graduates a new beginning in a fast changing world . . .but wait, this is starting to sound like a commencement address, and we'll just wait until next week and hear what the student speakers have to share with us.
Buckeye Outdoors is graduating into their new building this week, with some walk-in traffic and sales starting already there behind AmeriHost. While the Grand Opening is August 11, Ohio's "largest hunting, fishing, and camping store on one floor" is already doing business. Stop by and answer "the call of the wild!"
Hebron Village council and administrator Mike McFarland did a great job getting the municipal complex with the Hebron Library connected to Evans Park on Refugee with a sidewalk. Not only does that make for more safe and comfortable walking in the village, but the symbolic connection of library and park reminds everyone to keep mind and body both in good health. Walkers started using the route just as soon as the concrete dried (maybe one or two just before), and the walking track at the park caps off a good morning of exercise from the library to Evans and back again after a lap or two.
Many folks around the village have commented with satisfaction on how quickly the National Road milestone was put back up when the concrete work was finished, and even augmented with some plantings around the base. Sadly, Licking County is one of the few places you can see most of the original markers in place for a considerable distance. Union and Licking Townships have most of their stones right where they belong, including the two within Hebron's municipal boundaries.
While some were made of cast iron that rusted away, and others of rapidly eroding sandstone, the biggest hazards the stones have faced over the last 150 or so years have been indifference and greed; some have gone into private backyards, others into county historical societies miles away from the National Road itself, and others are occasionally sold. Their main value, of course, is in relation to where they belong.
The milestone now re-set near the municipal complex says at the top "Cumberland 231," showing how far from the original starting point of Cumberland, Maryland you are. The next level down, on each "facet" of the stone, are mileages from the nearest cities both east and west, here being Zanesville and Columbus. The bottom level is usually an initial letter, such as "H." for Hebron or "L." for Luray, and the mileage (or half-mileage) to the next village either way.
In this season of important milestones like graduation, it's good to see some of our oldest milestones get some "Pomp and Circumstance" of their own!
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church and a big milestone fan. If you or someone you know has a big milestone to celebrate, call 928-4066 or e-mail disciple@voyager.net and we'll announce it in the Crossroads.
by Jeff Gill
Lakewood High School will graduate the class of 2002 this Sunday, and after so many open houses (and so much cake!) it will be good to see the procession across the stage of the seniors, accompanied by the cheers of their families and friends.
Every ending is indeed a beginning, and for these 200-plus graduates a new beginning in a fast changing world . . .but wait, this is starting to sound like a commencement address, and we'll just wait until next week and hear what the student speakers have to share with us.
Buckeye Outdoors is graduating into their new building this week, with some walk-in traffic and sales starting already there behind AmeriHost. While the Grand Opening is August 11, Ohio's "largest hunting, fishing, and camping store on one floor" is already doing business. Stop by and answer "the call of the wild!"
Hebron Village council and administrator Mike McFarland did a great job getting the municipal complex with the Hebron Library connected to Evans Park on Refugee with a sidewalk. Not only does that make for more safe and comfortable walking in the village, but the symbolic connection of library and park reminds everyone to keep mind and body both in good health. Walkers started using the route just as soon as the concrete dried (maybe one or two just before), and the walking track at the park caps off a good morning of exercise from the library to Evans and back again after a lap or two.
Many folks around the village have commented with satisfaction on how quickly the National Road milestone was put back up when the concrete work was finished, and even augmented with some plantings around the base. Sadly, Licking County is one of the few places you can see most of the original markers in place for a considerable distance. Union and Licking Townships have most of their stones right where they belong, including the two within Hebron's municipal boundaries.
While some were made of cast iron that rusted away, and others of rapidly eroding sandstone, the biggest hazards the stones have faced over the last 150 or so years have been indifference and greed; some have gone into private backyards, others into county historical societies miles away from the National Road itself, and others are occasionally sold. Their main value, of course, is in relation to where they belong.
The milestone now re-set near the municipal complex says at the top "Cumberland 231," showing how far from the original starting point of Cumberland, Maryland you are. The next level down, on each "facet" of the stone, are mileages from the nearest cities both east and west, here being Zanesville and Columbus. The bottom level is usually an initial letter, such as "H." for Hebron or "L." for Luray, and the mileage (or half-mileage) to the next village either way.
In this season of important milestones like graduation, it's good to see some of our oldest milestones get some "Pomp and Circumstance" of their own!
Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church and a big milestone fan. If you or someone you know has a big milestone to celebrate, call 928-4066 or e-mail disciple@voyager.net and we'll announce it in the Crossroads.
Tuesday, May 28, 2002
Notes From My Knapsack
for June 2002 "Church Window"
Hebron Christian Church
They tell me Oprah has ended her Book Club, or at least will less frequently offer book recommendations than she has these last five years. That might just open up a chance to suggest a few "Church Window" book club choices for your summer relaxation.
The last few years I've recommending to anyone who would listen a small, thin book called "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." Translated from the French of Jean-Dominique Bauby, this is the story, told in first-person with some help, of a man who went from being the classic black turtleneck, cigarette smoking, sunglasses in a dark nightclub kind of editor for a French fashion magazine to a victim of "locked-in syndrome." This is a graceful medical term for the horrific state of not being able to move anything but, in Bauby's case, one of his eyelids.
With the help of friends, family, and medical professionals, he not only survives, but learns how to go from simple communication to dictating a book, all through techniques based on his eyelid's movement. This book should, by all rights, be unbearably sad, and yet it is strangely exhilarating to follow the growth of this man through his physical diminishment, which is the story he so wanted to share. His account of visiting the famous healing shrine at Lourdes is itself worth the price of the book.
In most situations, as a pastor I'm highly resistant to suggestions that physical ailments are "given" by God for our own good. While that's still my general assumption, there's no avoiding the fact that while, in this case, Bauby was not healed from his affliction, he was healed by his affliction.
There is a new book out in the "Mitford" series by Jan Karon, which may be a bit self-serving to recommend since a village priest in NC is the hero (one of 'em, anyhow), but I've been reading and enjoying these books since the first one came out from a small Christian publishing house and they were hard to find. Jan's gone mass-market now, but I'm glad more people can read them. She's also published a "facsimile" of Father Tim's sermon notebook, which I'm trying to get the Hebron Library to buy so I can read it more slowly; the problem is that I want to copy all his notes down into *my* sermon notebook!
A slightly grittier perspective on parish life (how come the Episcopalians have all the novels?) is in Gail Godwin's "Evensong," now in paperback and the follow-up to "Father Melancholy's Daughter." Both very fine novels, and both prominently featuring clergy. . .hmmmmmm.
OK, one last summer read I can highly recommend is -- wait, no, there's a couple clergy in it too, but one's nuts and the other is; well, just read the book -- "Empire Falls" by Richard Russo. It just came out in pb as well (I'm thinking cheaply here for you!) and is often found on shelves next to "Straight Man," a comic novel set on a campus much like one Joyce taught at some years ago, and "Nobody's Fool," which was made into a movie with Paul Newman a few years back. Russo won the Pulitzer at long last for "Empire Falls," and probably for his whole body of work including "Mohawk" and "The Risk Pool."
Let me know when you've read all those, and I'll start a new list!
In Grace & Peace,
Pastor Jeff
for June 2002 "Church Window"
Hebron Christian Church
They tell me Oprah has ended her Book Club, or at least will less frequently offer book recommendations than she has these last five years. That might just open up a chance to suggest a few "Church Window" book club choices for your summer relaxation.
The last few years I've recommending to anyone who would listen a small, thin book called "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." Translated from the French of Jean-Dominique Bauby, this is the story, told in first-person with some help, of a man who went from being the classic black turtleneck, cigarette smoking, sunglasses in a dark nightclub kind of editor for a French fashion magazine to a victim of "locked-in syndrome." This is a graceful medical term for the horrific state of not being able to move anything but, in Bauby's case, one of his eyelids.
With the help of friends, family, and medical professionals, he not only survives, but learns how to go from simple communication to dictating a book, all through techniques based on his eyelid's movement. This book should, by all rights, be unbearably sad, and yet it is strangely exhilarating to follow the growth of this man through his physical diminishment, which is the story he so wanted to share. His account of visiting the famous healing shrine at Lourdes is itself worth the price of the book.
In most situations, as a pastor I'm highly resistant to suggestions that physical ailments are "given" by God for our own good. While that's still my general assumption, there's no avoiding the fact that while, in this case, Bauby was not healed from his affliction, he was healed by his affliction.
There is a new book out in the "Mitford" series by Jan Karon, which may be a bit self-serving to recommend since a village priest in NC is the hero (one of 'em, anyhow), but I've been reading and enjoying these books since the first one came out from a small Christian publishing house and they were hard to find. Jan's gone mass-market now, but I'm glad more people can read them. She's also published a "facsimile" of Father Tim's sermon notebook, which I'm trying to get the Hebron Library to buy so I can read it more slowly; the problem is that I want to copy all his notes down into *my* sermon notebook!
A slightly grittier perspective on parish life (how come the Episcopalians have all the novels?) is in Gail Godwin's "Evensong," now in paperback and the follow-up to "Father Melancholy's Daughter." Both very fine novels, and both prominently featuring clergy. . .hmmmmmm.
OK, one last summer read I can highly recommend is -- wait, no, there's a couple clergy in it too, but one's nuts and the other is; well, just read the book -- "Empire Falls" by Richard Russo. It just came out in pb as well (I'm thinking cheaply here for you!) and is often found on shelves next to "Straight Man," a comic novel set on a campus much like one Joyce taught at some years ago, and "Nobody's Fool," which was made into a movie with Paul Newman a few years back. Russo won the Pulitzer at long last for "Empire Falls," and probably for his whole body of work including "Mohawk" and "The Risk Pool."
Let me know when you've read all those, and I'll start a new list!
In Grace & Peace,
Pastor Jeff
Commissioner's Corner
By Jeff Gill, Dist. Commish
You must be kidding me. You want me to think about Fall Program Planning?
Yeah, I can hear some of you say that when I mention the Program Planning Kickoff on August 20th at the Newark Public Library from 5 pm to ??? Note I said "some," because many of you battle-hardened Cubmasters and Scoutmasters have already learned full well the rule of 60.
What's the rule of 60. . . days, that is? Simply put, you can't reasonably expect families with kids (or anyone, but families especially) to put something on their calendar and make a firm commitment to participating with less than two months notice, or 60 days. Actually, on the district and council level (and this applies to church youth groups, 4-H'ers, etc.), the rule is more like 90 days, or three months, because by the time an event or activity announcement gets to a group in the mail, goes through committees or boards or whatever, and finally becomes an announcement or newsletter article, you've usually used up one month, and then you still need the 60 days notice.
Keep that in mind, as well as the Fall Program Planning Kick-off, which is now about . . . 60 days away!
* * * * * * *
Commissioner's Corner
By Jeff Gill, Dist. Commish
Debriefing. That's not a word filled with woodsmoke and outdoorsiness, but Scout units that do a camping experience this summer can benefit from using a debriefing.
Soon after your return, sit down with your adult leaders, your youth leaders, and maybe just a few Scouts and parents, and talk through what you all just did and what the unit learned from it. Ideally, you might do a debriefing separately with each group, but depending on unit size and time constraints, any format is preferably to no debriefing at all.
One reason even scouters who are familiar with the concept of "debriefing" tend to shy away from doing it is the fear that the gathering will become a "gripe session" (you may be familiar with other words than "gripe" in this context). The best way to avoid that is to make the "debrief" focus on these three questions, IN THIS ORDER! 1.) What went well? 2.) What didn't go as well as you hoped, and why? 3.) What would you like to do differently, and how? This simple debriefing technique can help ensure that each outing is better than the last.
* * * * * * *
Commissioner's Corner
By Jeff Gill, Dist. Commish
Family Night is, to put it bluntly, not the favorite part of the week for most of the summer camp staff. I say most because, having been a camp staffer in Scoutcraft, Nature/Conservation, Field Sports, Trading Post Manager, and as Program Director, I know how much I dreaded Family Night every summer EXCEPT the year I was TP Manager. Did I mention that they paid the manager by commission that summer?
Unit leaders can really help the staff be good hosts by getting some information out to your parents before camp starts. I always noticed that the units from which we had little or no trouble from the parents would have a set time they asked parents to arrive (which also facilitated car pooling), greeted them at the gate with an honor guard of youth in uniform, and escorted the family members through the sign-in for meals if that was part of the plan, and then together as a body to the campsite.
A little pre-talk by the unit leader for the week in the campsite also helps to share information on your terms, not from the youth, and gives you another chance to tell parents what's going well. Some parents will always be horrified that little Johnny is covered with mosquito bites, a few bark scrapes, and a fair-amount of ground-in dirt, but they'll be helped by your putting the week so far into perspective.
Plan for Family Night, and you can use the experience as a great support-building time from your scout families; just let Family Night happen, and you might start to feel the way some of the staffers do about it!
* * * * * * *
Commissioner's Corner
By Jeff Gill, Dist. Commish
Poetry has been part of Scouting from the very beginning. As Baden-Powell re-wrote "Aids to Scouting" in 1908 into "Scouting for Boys," the beginning of the Scouting Movement, he had just read Rudyard Kipling's "Kim," and B-P got Kipling's permission to copy liberally from the book, which was still a world-wide best-seller.
Poems as meeting starters, Scoutmaster's Minutes, or campfire tales have continued to be a strong part of Scouting's heritage. From Kipling, there's the well-known "If":
http://www.cordair.com/apotheosis/ecards/poetry/kipling/if.htm
For both history and drama, almost anyone can read this poem well from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere":
http://www.cordair.com/apotheosis/ecards/poetry/longfellow/paul.htm
Edgar Guest was an American poet of the early 1900's who was quoted in many early editions of the BSA Scout Handbook, and Breen Bar Bill himself liked to recite "It Couldn't Be Done":
http://www.cordair.com/apotheosis/ecards/poetry/guest/itcouldnt.htm
And my favorite around a campfire on a muggy summer night is "The Cremation of Sam McGee" by Robert Service (you'll cool off just hearing it read), but all his stuff is great for scouts, found at:
http://www.ude.net/service/index.html
And one more just for scouters. . .the younger scouts won't get this one, but I'm betting you will, titled "The Gods of the Copybook Heading":
http://www.cordair.com/apotheosis/ecards/poetry/kipling/cpybk.htm
Enjoy!
* * * * * * *
Commissioner's Corner
By Jeff Gill, Dist. Commish
Where can you find Round-Up packets, popcorn info, atl-atls, camping tips, free field trips, service project ideas, and fresh, hot coffee all in one place? At the Fall Program Planning Kickoff!
Tuesday, August 20th, in the meeting room of the Newark Public Library from 5 pm to 8:30 pm, you'll find all that and more. The Licking District Committee and Commissioner's staff will put on another great evening of resources and information guarateed to be useful or one of Baden-Powell's middle names isn't Smythe!
You don't have to sign up, but every unit does need to show up, so we can get you timely info about fall activities, give you a chance to swap ideas with other unit leaders, and so we can save postage on popcorn and Round-up mailings.
Look for the Unit Program Fishin' Hole, and cast your line out for a sure-fire big one that won't get away! There will be over 20 other booths and stations from Licking Park District, the Coast Guard Reserve, the OA, and many others. Drop by and drop a line with us . . .
By Jeff Gill, Dist. Commish
You must be kidding me. You want me to think about Fall Program Planning?
Yeah, I can hear some of you say that when I mention the Program Planning Kickoff on August 20th at the Newark Public Library from 5 pm to ??? Note I said "some," because many of you battle-hardened Cubmasters and Scoutmasters have already learned full well the rule of 60.
What's the rule of 60. . . days, that is? Simply put, you can't reasonably expect families with kids (or anyone, but families especially) to put something on their calendar and make a firm commitment to participating with less than two months notice, or 60 days. Actually, on the district and council level (and this applies to church youth groups, 4-H'ers, etc.), the rule is more like 90 days, or three months, because by the time an event or activity announcement gets to a group in the mail, goes through committees or boards or whatever, and finally becomes an announcement or newsletter article, you've usually used up one month, and then you still need the 60 days notice.
Keep that in mind, as well as the Fall Program Planning Kick-off, which is now about . . . 60 days away!
* * * * * * *
Commissioner's Corner
By Jeff Gill, Dist. Commish
Debriefing. That's not a word filled with woodsmoke and outdoorsiness, but Scout units that do a camping experience this summer can benefit from using a debriefing.
Soon after your return, sit down with your adult leaders, your youth leaders, and maybe just a few Scouts and parents, and talk through what you all just did and what the unit learned from it. Ideally, you might do a debriefing separately with each group, but depending on unit size and time constraints, any format is preferably to no debriefing at all.
One reason even scouters who are familiar with the concept of "debriefing" tend to shy away from doing it is the fear that the gathering will become a "gripe session" (you may be familiar with other words than "gripe" in this context). The best way to avoid that is to make the "debrief" focus on these three questions, IN THIS ORDER! 1.) What went well? 2.) What didn't go as well as you hoped, and why? 3.) What would you like to do differently, and how? This simple debriefing technique can help ensure that each outing is better than the last.
* * * * * * *
Commissioner's Corner
By Jeff Gill, Dist. Commish
Family Night is, to put it bluntly, not the favorite part of the week for most of the summer camp staff. I say most because, having been a camp staffer in Scoutcraft, Nature/Conservation, Field Sports, Trading Post Manager, and as Program Director, I know how much I dreaded Family Night every summer EXCEPT the year I was TP Manager. Did I mention that they paid the manager by commission that summer?
Unit leaders can really help the staff be good hosts by getting some information out to your parents before camp starts. I always noticed that the units from which we had little or no trouble from the parents would have a set time they asked parents to arrive (which also facilitated car pooling), greeted them at the gate with an honor guard of youth in uniform, and escorted the family members through the sign-in for meals if that was part of the plan, and then together as a body to the campsite.
A little pre-talk by the unit leader for the week in the campsite also helps to share information on your terms, not from the youth, and gives you another chance to tell parents what's going well. Some parents will always be horrified that little Johnny is covered with mosquito bites, a few bark scrapes, and a fair-amount of ground-in dirt, but they'll be helped by your putting the week so far into perspective.
Plan for Family Night, and you can use the experience as a great support-building time from your scout families; just let Family Night happen, and you might start to feel the way some of the staffers do about it!
* * * * * * *
Commissioner's Corner
By Jeff Gill, Dist. Commish
Poetry has been part of Scouting from the very beginning. As Baden-Powell re-wrote "Aids to Scouting" in 1908 into "Scouting for Boys," the beginning of the Scouting Movement, he had just read Rudyard Kipling's "Kim," and B-P got Kipling's permission to copy liberally from the book, which was still a world-wide best-seller.
Poems as meeting starters, Scoutmaster's Minutes, or campfire tales have continued to be a strong part of Scouting's heritage. From Kipling, there's the well-known "If":
http://www.cordair.com/apotheosis/ecards/poetry/kipling/if.htm
For both history and drama, almost anyone can read this poem well from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere":
http://www.cordair.com/apotheosis/ecards/poetry/longfellow/paul.htm
Edgar Guest was an American poet of the early 1900's who was quoted in many early editions of the BSA Scout Handbook, and Breen Bar Bill himself liked to recite "It Couldn't Be Done":
http://www.cordair.com/apotheosis/ecards/poetry/guest/itcouldnt.htm
And my favorite around a campfire on a muggy summer night is "The Cremation of Sam McGee" by Robert Service (you'll cool off just hearing it read), but all his stuff is great for scouts, found at:
http://www.ude.net/service/index.html
And one more just for scouters. . .the younger scouts won't get this one, but I'm betting you will, titled "The Gods of the Copybook Heading":
http://www.cordair.com/apotheosis/ecards/poetry/kipling/cpybk.htm
Enjoy!
* * * * * * *
Commissioner's Corner
By Jeff Gill, Dist. Commish
Where can you find Round-Up packets, popcorn info, atl-atls, camping tips, free field trips, service project ideas, and fresh, hot coffee all in one place? At the Fall Program Planning Kickoff!
Tuesday, August 20th, in the meeting room of the Newark Public Library from 5 pm to 8:30 pm, you'll find all that and more. The Licking District Committee and Commissioner's staff will put on another great evening of resources and information guarateed to be useful or one of Baden-Powell's middle names isn't Smythe!
You don't have to sign up, but every unit does need to show up, so we can get you timely info about fall activities, give you a chance to swap ideas with other unit leaders, and so we can save postage on popcorn and Round-up mailings.
Look for the Unit Program Fishin' Hole, and cast your line out for a sure-fire big one that won't get away! There will be over 20 other booths and stations from Licking Park District, the Coast Guard Reserve, the OA, and many others. Drop by and drop a line with us . . .
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