TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2001
Seneca County barn to bear state bicentennial logo
By Jefferson Wolfe
Staff Writer
Seneca County has a bicentennial barn.
The barn, owned by the Babione family, on SR 12 east of Fostoria to be painted with Ohio's Bicentennial Logo, said Beth R. Hansen, the northwest regional coordinator for the Ohio Bicentennial Commission.
The Seneca County bicentennial meeting was Monday night at the Tiffin-Seneca Public Library.
There were lots of volunteers from Seneca County who wanted to have their barns painted, and Hansen said she went and looked at every one.
"I finally found the perfect one," she said.
There were some barns that were considered on SR 18 and US 224, but they were too close to one on US 224 in Hancock County between Tiffin and Findlay.
The barn will be painted June 25 and 26, Hansen said.
By the end of 2000, barns in 53 counties were painted. All 88 Ohio counties are to have painted barns by 2002.
Hansen also discussed the bicentennial bell program, which is a to begin in late August or early September. Each county will get a bell, which will be cast at a festival or gathering.
This is to be a long-lasting legacy project, Hansen said. A bell roughly the size of the liberty bell will be cast in a traveling foundry. The people of the community will be able to watch and participate in the bell's casting.
"We will do everything in the county," she said. "The bell will never leave the county."
The bells are to have the bicentennial logo on one side and a design unique to the county on the other, Hansen said.
Other items that were discussed included:
- The historical markers project in which the commission helps pay for historical markers in communities. There was one placed in the Fort ball District last year.
- The corporation limit markers project in which cities, villages and unincorporated villages are eligible to apply for the markers for the entrances to their municipalities. Cities can get up to four, while villages can get as many as two. A grant pays for half of the markers.
- The legacy tree grant, which will provide money to cities for tree planting. Fostoria Safety-Service Director Ralph Wise said the city applied for the grant last year, but did not get it.
- The Kids See Ohio program, in which all Ohio's fifth-graders are to be given disposable cameras and instructed to take pictures of their favorite places. The pictures will be put on a Website and on display, and will provide a historical record of what the state looked like.
- The next meeting in Seneca County is to take place June 25.