Hebron Crossroads 9-28-03
by Jeff Gill

Harvesting has begun out in the fields around the Hebron Crossroads. Time is always of the essence, but some factors this year add to the urgency.
Our wildly wet summer brought up some visitors from the south. A rarely seen blight
in this area hit the corn crop, creating the odd brown look to the rows instead of the more usual golden tan by now.
The yield, the quality of the corn itself, hasn't been affected, but the stalks are weak and could blow down on little provocation. Likewise, a species of aphid has taken a more northerly interest in soybeans this summer, nibbling away at the margins, profit and otherwise.
As always, please keep watch on the roads for slower moving farm equipment and give them a "brake." Impatience is for Columbus city streets and the new 670, but trust me when I tell you that the farmers are moving just as fast as they can!

Actually, little and big hopping things are everywhere in our lawns and on our porches,
not to mention occasionally sneaking into our homes. We've got about everything but locusts -- the cicadas started up last weekend, just in time for the autumnal equinox -- and as Jym Ganahl reminds us, this weird run started with record snows last winter and hailstones for Easter, so a plague of hoppers should be no surprise.

While we were doing the 9-11 community service project at Canal Park, a few folks noticed the main crossbeams looked like railroad rails. They're I-beams with a rounded top, and my guess is that they're from the railbed that went to Millersport and not from the interurban, given how long the interurban has been gone (70 plus years). If anyone knows, holler!
Working there also reminded quite a few of the recycling trailer parked there at Canal
and Cumberland. Joyce and I use it to keep our trash volume down and do a small favor to our planet; recycling isn't an environmental panacea, but even if it just kept the cubic footage of trash in landfills down it would be a good idea.
Recycling does take many forms, for efficiency and for the environment. There's those rails recycled into bridge beams, and just north of us in Canal Park is the patch of cement where the power plant for the interurban stood: the bricks from that imposing structure were reused into the 1937 gym addition onto Hebron Elementary, where Dale McFarland played in the first basketball game after the dedication that year, and where my Little Guy now has his indoor recess on these still often rainy days.
That kind of recycling pays all sorts of benefits down the years. . .

Fire Prevention Week is coming up, and a number of you thanked me for explaining why Hebron wanted people to “Get out! Stay out!” Proof, as if any was needed, that folks rarely read beyond the headlines.
If you are still reading, a) thank you, b) give yourself a pat on the back, and c) here’s an added tip. We’re entering that odd period when you want some air flowing in the afternoons, but need the heat to start overnight. This is a critical time to check your furnace or alternate heat sources for safety and reliability, and it is also a fine time, if you’ve not done so already, to get a carbon monoxide detector. Every fall we hear about some very close calls, and a CO detector can be as much of a life saver for your family as a smoke detector.
Plus change the filters and all that good stuff before heating season comes upon us with a vengeance. When Devine Farms has a field full of pumpkins set out, you know that the frost'll be on the punkin fore long. . .

The first Johnstown/Lakewood Band Festival went over big, I’m told. I had the pleasure, with my pastor hat on, of uniting Danielle Allison and Patrick Curran in marriage that same day at Infirmary Mound Park, and a more beautiful day we couldn’t have had. Much the same was said by all the band fans further north on 37, plus the excitement of seeing the Ohio University Band (Patrick & Danielle’s alma mater) in performance.
Marching contingents large and small each got some real learning and experience out of the day, the first of a new tradition I suspect.

Looking further back, the Bicentennial Wagon Train left a great impression, and they’re looking at a “reunion” of sorts at Infirmary Mound Park Oct. 10-11 with a few wagons, muleskinners, and an overnight campout.
Rhonda Carte, webmaster for the Licking Township trustees, was kind enough to send me the web address of their set of photos from the wagon train’s passage. Type into your browser window this URL, http://www.lickingtwpohio.us/wagon_train_photos.htm. Her family, the Swinehearts, have longstanding connections to the Hebron Crossroads, and we might have another story to tell on down the road from her.

And I can’t resist this tidbit from the web, which gave me a chuckle and then really made me think. See what you think: “Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.”

Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church and possessor of a CO detector in his home; if you have safety tips or recycling stories to share, call 928-4066 or e-mail disciple@voyager.net.

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Also, Linda Nicodemus of the village office asked me to pass along the following “letter to the editor.”

September 16, 2003


Letter to the Editor,

The Village of Hebron would like to thank all those who helped us exceed our goal during our recent blood drive. We had a wonderful turn-out with the help of local papers, radio stations, McDonalds who ran our ad on their marquee, businesses that let us display fliers, and Hebron Elementary who sent fliers home with children. Because of an emergency the Red Cross was operating with reduced staff for this event. They truly appreciate everyone’s patience with the slightly longer waiting times.

We also want to thank our faithful volunteers Dale McFarland, Jeff Gill and Jacob Hagans who donate their time at each blood drive. Cookies, juice, and other goodies were generously donated by Hometown Deli, Krogers and numerous village residents. Everyone’s next opportunity to participate in saving lives will be November 25th, 2003 from 1- 6 PM, at Hebron Municipal Complex.


Thank you,


Linda Nicodemus,
Blood Drive Coordinator