Hebron Crossroads 5-02-04
By Jeff Gill

In school athletics, the value we know our youth gain from participation is Teamwork.
Less appreciated is the teamwork that art teaches: the image of the lonely, solitary artist is perhaps too well known . . .sculptor in the attic studio with a chisel, painter in the stifling garret dabbing away, columnist banging away at a hot laptop late at night . . .

If you saw ?The Wizard of Oz? at Lakewood High School, you saw not only some wonderful young actors (of which more in a later column), but the result of teamwork involving literally hundreds of vitally necessary participants.

A hat tip, too, goes to the orchestra pit where every element of the Performing Arts Department of Lakewood was represented. All the band directors, led by the choir director at the keyboard, supporting the drama department; plus Band, Choir, and Drama Boosters all working together, with students, parents, and area businesses, along with a key role played by administration (the gatekeeper was typecasting for a superintendent, if you ask me). Productions are definitely a team sport!
Four shows plus four special performances made for some quality entertainment around the Hebron Crossroads; better than any TV that was on last weekend.

Footnote: just noticed TV Guide taking quite a risk in the checkout line at Kroger and Wal*Mart . . .putting their publication in sealed bags. Hmmmm. So, they?re admitting that you actually can get all you need to read from them while waiting to scan your rutabagas and canned goods? Was that really what they meant to say? Sounds like it to me. . . Will this get us to buy, not browse their mini-mag while the Advocate has a much easier-to-read version in the Sunday paper? Can?t wait to see how this gamble pays off. I did watch a marvelous TV program last weekend based on Kent Haruf?s novel ?Plainsong,? and that from learning about it on the internet, not on tvguide.com either.

There will be a movie in the Lakewood High School auditorium on Tues., May 4 at 6:30 pm, but this isn?t entertainment. If you would like to be better informed about school funding and how it (doesn?t) work(s), come and watch the film and join the discussion that night. Thanks to the Lakewood Board of Ed, the Citizen?s Advisory Council, and our sterling (emerald?) administration for bringing this to our area.

Kindergarten screenings are coming up in the next few weeks for both Hebron & Jackson Elementary; Hebron is Wed. & Thur. May 5 & 6, from 8:30 ? 11 am & 1 to 3 pm. Call 928-2661 to get scheduled with your child who will be ready for kindergarten next year. Jackson Elementary Kindergarten signups are Tues. May 11 from 1 to 7 pm, and Wed. May 12 from 9 to Noon, call 928-1025 for scheduling a time.

Sat. May 1 will be the observed Arbor Day event for Dawes Arboretum, which is celebrating their 75th anniversary this year, since Beman & Bertie got the big idea in 1929 to turn their Licking County home and grounds, Daweswood, into an arboretum. From 10 am to 4 pm an assortment of activities will take place on and above the grounds around the visitor center, just off Ohio Rt. 13 north of Jacksontown. That, or the Hebron Fish Hatchery fishing day from 9 am to 1 pm makes May Day a good start to the month (see elsewhere in the Booster for more on the hatchery).
Speaking of history (as we often do), the Hebron Historical Society is having a program on ?Amazing American Women? at 7:30 pm Mon., May 3, at the Masonic Building on N. High St. From their monthly first Monday meeting to the last day of May and Memorial Day, the occasions for history education and awareness come thick and fast through this month.

Spring is peaking in the month of May, and so are many tree pollen counts; some of us are relieved to learn that one of the worst allergy zones in the country is from Toledo down southeast through the Columbus area, since, there is so much hardwood forest and particulate pollution upwind of us in that belt. So we?re not crazy (are we? No I?m not, am I?), we?re just breathing, or at least trying to.

Even while sniffling my way through May, I love to see the tulips in full blossom. This time of year is amazing up around Holland, Michigan, on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, where the largest tulip festival this side of Holland, Holland can be found. The streets are lined with rank upon rank of every color tulip you can imagine; and wooden shoes in all sizes, even 14?s for me, are sold in every store it seems.
Holland, MI?s Tulip Festival is a long standing tradition; Hebron?s Crossroads Festival soon will be! Keep Memorial Day weekend marked on your calendar for carnival events at Canal Park and concerts there and at Evans Park on Sunday, May 30 at 3 pm by the Lakewood Symphonic Band.

We?ve mentioned many other Booster groups in the Lakewood area; mark also the Lakewood Athletic Boosters? Auction and Fish Fry on Sat., May 8 at the Lakewood Middle School. The auction will start at 6:30 pm after the fish gets going by 5 pm, with sensible prices of $5 per person and a $15 family fee. Come eat, bid, and bring home something interesting.

And for all you new readers in the Pataskala, Granville, Alexandria, and Johnstown areas, you?re welcome too! Come on down to our historic crossroads and spend your money. . .

Jeff Gill is pastor of Hebron Christian Church and a proud member of the team around these historic crossroads; if you have news of local interest to share with your teammates, call 928-4066 or e-mail disciple@voyager.net.