LCCVB 2013 Visitors Guide
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An invitation to a different sort of downtown
Newark Metropolitan Hotel & The Midland Theatre
Ten years since the historic Midland Theatre re-opened to rave reviews and sell-out crowds, downtown Newark has been waiting for a hospitality showcase to match the welcome at the Midland.
Newark Metropolitan Hotel is the ideal counterpart to the classic experience of the 1928 theatre just up the block. Completely refurbished from top to bottom, from the exterior to the interior, what had welcomed guests at "The Place Off the Square" as a quality hotel is now a high-tech, contemporary lodging experience.
With 118 rooms and suites and over 5,000 square feet of infinitely adaptable meeting space, with all new furnishings and interior finishes, it is an entirely new hotel. The latest in exercise equipment in the fitness center overlooking the indoor pool for your down time, and state-of-the-art audio/visual equipment for when the work needs to get done.
For many, the Newark Metropolitan will be all play and no work, using it as a base to explore Licking County sights as well as nearby attractions like the Longaberger Homestead, just across the county line to our east. The staff of the Metropolitan will be delighted to help you plan anything from a long golf weekend to a family wedding, and make it all go well.
Easiest of all is the stroll around the block to The Midland Theatre. Over 1,200 seats and not a bad view in the house, The Midland hosts the biggest of names and fan favorites as easily as children's theatrical events like the holiday Nutcracker and interactive science programs. Entertainers like Arlo Guthrie, Switchback, Wynonna, Charlie Daniels, and comedian Bill Engvall are just a few of the upcoming shows, and there's always more to come.
With the clean, crisp modern lines of the Newark Metropolitan Hotel, and the classic terracotta exterior and opulent interior of The Midland Theatre, you might expect a contrast, but the two compliment each other on the northern corner of Courthouse Square. Between the two, the staff and management of each make sure that the focus is on you as the guest, and the quality of the experience for everyone.
Come enjoy the hospitality of both on your next visit to Licking County.
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Cool times in four seasons
Lou and Gib Reese Ice Arena
You don't think much about ice rinks in August, do you?
In central Ohio, it's time to open up and prepare for hockey teams, beginner's lessons, and the all around fun that is skating!
This is especially the case if you're off of Sharon Valley Road in Newark, and you host the Ohio state champion Newark Generals, a high school club team. Ice is serious business in hockey, let alone for any sort of skating activity.
Along with the growth of popularity of the National Hockey League, spurred in central Ohio by the NHL Columbus Blue Jackets, interest in hockey has, well "caught fire" in this area, and with the support of local benefactors Lou & Gib Reese, Licking County has a centrally located ice arena that is open nine months of the year, from August to April.
During those three "down" months, the ice making equipment is being renewed and updated for another long season ahead: meanwhile, the arena area is air conditioned, allowing for rental to groups needing a large, indoor space for car shows, conventions, even indoor soccer. The arena never sleeps, even if the ice has to take a summer break.
Another plus of the long season is the opportunity to serve not only hockey teams from young to old, of men and women, but also the growing figure skating community in central Ohio. Add in plenty of free skate sessions for those just wanting to try out a few laps on shaky legs, and you have a major recreational facility, with plenty of parking as well.
If you're interested in casual skating, lessons, or joining a hockey league, just check out the website or give them a call: www.newarkicearena.com, (740) 349-6784.
Lou and Gib Reese Ice Arena
936 Sharon Valley Road
Newark OH 43055
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The secret ingredient of Licking County
Manufacturing and business have long been vital parts of the Licking County landscape. We make things here, all sorts of things, and we're proud of the ingenuity and quality that goes into what we send from this wonderful place to waiting customers around the world.
There are the old, old elements of trade that still color our image across the continent: Flint Ridge flint, a useful mineral for ancient hunters whose rainbow color is utterly unique, is found in the archaeological record all across North America, and the trade goods of the ancient world, such as mica, obsidian, copper, and sea shells, are found here in millennia old ruins just as our flint has been identified there. The quarry pits used by Native Americans can still be seen up at Flint Ridge State Memorial.
More recent engineering took everyday elements of the earth, like glass, and added skill, chemicals and dyes to create works of beauty, such as at the Heisey Glass Company, whose artistic and collectible products can be seen at the National Heisey Glass Museum in downtown Newark – also in all the colors of the rainbow!
More practically, research engineer Games Slayter and a product team at Owens Corning worked on how to make, and use "glass fibers." They came up with a practical method of manufacture that is still largely in use today, not only making fiberglass insulation possible, but also distinctively pink.
Trade secrets and proprietary methods can be found in large factories, or even in small shops down quiet streets. In Licking County, there are two branches of a single family, both of whom make chocolate and candies according to recipes brought over from "the old country." Each branch of the family asserts that theirs is the true mix, the proper blend, the real sweet deal.
But both have up on the walls of their respective shops an image of the same old, handwritten recipe used by their father. That list is out in the open for anyone to see, because the elements, the ingredients, they would tell you, are not the most important part.
And in a way, their dispute tells the story of all of Licking County's business and industry: the difference is in the people. What makes our products unique is the care our friends and family and neighbors put into everything that goes from Licking County to around the world.
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