Parades a small part of Americana
By
Rory Ryan-hcpress@cinci.rr.com
The youngster sitting with his mother at the northwest corner of the uptown Hillsboro intersection Saturday afternoon was probably no more than 2 years old. He was there for the holiday parade. But he was fading as fast as the late November sunset. When a nice gentleman, perhaps a grandfather or other relative, returned with a blanket and placed it around the young boy at around 3:55 p.m., it was as good as over.
“He’ll probably sleep through this parade,” the man told me.
Whether the young lad managed to see this year’s parade – from the lead equine rider, with Hillsboro Police Chief Nick Thompson directly behind, to grand marshal Linda Allen, to Beverly Grover’s fine singing of “Winter Wonderland” and other selections, to Owen Jones (one of my all-time favorite basketball players at Highland County Christian School) on his vintage John Deere tractor, to the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and fire engines and award-winning floats – isn’t really important.
What’s important is that you were there.
This year’s parade was one of the better-attended events because you took the time out of your busy lives to be there. That meant a lot to the parade organizers who worked many hours to coordinate the holiday processional. (And, if you did miss the 2009 parade, simply go online to www.highlandcountypress.com and either watch a video of the parade or view the photo slide show.)
The Hillsboro Uptown Merchants Association deserves a good deal of credit for the parade, as do Mayor Dick Zink and the city officials. So does a young lady named Rachelle Trefz. If anyone worked harder in the pre-parade preparation than Rachelle, then that person gets a “shout out” and a tip of the ball cap, too.
One person working behind the scenes on publicity and, well, just generating community enthusiasm, was Dorothy Hodson.
Dorothy and her husband, Bob, (yes, that Bob Hodson!) are former grand marshals of the Hillsboro Holiday Parade. And they were in attendance at Saturday’s parade.
Bob and Dorothy Hodson have given so much to the city. They’ve given their time, their money, their advice. Much more importantly, they have given their support to others who are trying to maintain the city’s uptown vitality. They are true friends of the community.
There’s something that is pure Americana about the nation’s small towns. True, many of them look alike. That’s OK, though. The Brooklyn Bridge looks an awful lot like a span connecting northern Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio. The city square in Mount Vernon, Ohio resembles the city square in Shelbyville, Ind. There are similarities in the county courthouses in Wilmington and Portsmouth. So what?
Small towns across our great nation have been working hard on the revitalization front. Some have fared better than others. Many Midwestern towns fall somewhere in between. Many of us would like to think that Highland County’s small towns are among the best. In fact, many of southern Ohio’s small towns belong in that category.
That’s why we call Ohio home. That’s why we proudly yell OH-IO as we walk from Lane Avenue to the Horseshoe on a crisp autumn Saturday afternoon.
Pure Americana. Indeed.
Early support for re-election bid
Sometimes a period (or a “dot,” as former coworker Tammy Wheeler called the punctuation mark) is a good place to end one’s column. And, I really planned to end this week’s offering at the dot before last. (Indeed!)
But then I clicked on our Web site at www.highlandcountypress.com.
I was pleasantly surprised this past Monday to read online that Gary Heaton had announced his candidacy for re-election to the Highland County Commission.
In my opinion, for whatever it’s worth, that’s good news for Highland County. Several years ago, Gary was in my office after a losing bid for county commissioner. He said he was not going to run again. Personally, I’m glad he changed his mind.
As I’ve written before, Gary has served his country in the U.S. Army; he’s served in wartime (Vietnam) and he’s volunteered countless hours for youth sports and other programs. Yes, he was a state trooper, too. (I was going to avoid that subject!)
I will tell you this about Gary: He is fair, reasonable and accessible. He brings an honest, practical, common-sense approach to local government.
That ain’t all bad.
Highland County was wise to support him before. Voters should do so again.
Rory Ryan is publisher and editor of The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]
“He’ll probably sleep through this parade,” the man told me.
Whether the young lad managed to see this year’s parade – from the lead equine rider, with Hillsboro Police Chief Nick Thompson directly behind, to grand marshal Linda Allen, to Beverly Grover’s fine singing of “Winter Wonderland” and other selections, to Owen Jones (one of my all-time favorite basketball players at Highland County Christian School) on his vintage John Deere tractor, to the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and fire engines and award-winning floats – isn’t really important.
What’s important is that you were there.
This year’s parade was one of the better-attended events because you took the time out of your busy lives to be there. That meant a lot to the parade organizers who worked many hours to coordinate the holiday processional. (And, if you did miss the 2009 parade, simply go online to www.highlandcountypress.com and either watch a video of the parade or view the photo slide show.)
The Hillsboro Uptown Merchants Association deserves a good deal of credit for the parade, as do Mayor Dick Zink and the city officials. So does a young lady named Rachelle Trefz. If anyone worked harder in the pre-parade preparation than Rachelle, then that person gets a “shout out” and a tip of the ball cap, too.
One person working behind the scenes on publicity and, well, just generating community enthusiasm, was Dorothy Hodson.
Dorothy and her husband, Bob, (yes, that Bob Hodson!) are former grand marshals of the Hillsboro Holiday Parade. And they were in attendance at Saturday’s parade.
Bob and Dorothy Hodson have given so much to the city. They’ve given their time, their money, their advice. Much more importantly, they have given their support to others who are trying to maintain the city’s uptown vitality. They are true friends of the community.
There’s something that is pure Americana about the nation’s small towns. True, many of them look alike. That’s OK, though. The Brooklyn Bridge looks an awful lot like a span connecting northern Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio. The city square in Mount Vernon, Ohio resembles the city square in Shelbyville, Ind. There are similarities in the county courthouses in Wilmington and Portsmouth. So what?
Small towns across our great nation have been working hard on the revitalization front. Some have fared better than others. Many Midwestern towns fall somewhere in between. Many of us would like to think that Highland County’s small towns are among the best. In fact, many of southern Ohio’s small towns belong in that category.
That’s why we call Ohio home. That’s why we proudly yell OH-IO as we walk from Lane Avenue to the Horseshoe on a crisp autumn Saturday afternoon.
Pure Americana. Indeed.
Early support for re-election bid
Sometimes a period (or a “dot,” as former coworker Tammy Wheeler called the punctuation mark) is a good place to end one’s column. And, I really planned to end this week’s offering at the dot before last. (Indeed!)
But then I clicked on our Web site at www.highlandcountypress.com.
I was pleasantly surprised this past Monday to read online that Gary Heaton had announced his candidacy for re-election to the Highland County Commission.
In my opinion, for whatever it’s worth, that’s good news for Highland County. Several years ago, Gary was in my office after a losing bid for county commissioner. He said he was not going to run again. Personally, I’m glad he changed his mind.
As I’ve written before, Gary has served his country in the U.S. Army; he’s served in wartime (Vietnam) and he’s volunteered countless hours for youth sports and other programs. Yes, he was a state trooper, too. (I was going to avoid that subject!)
I will tell you this about Gary: He is fair, reasonable and accessible. He brings an honest, practical, common-sense approach to local government.
That ain’t all bad.
Highland County was wise to support him before. Voters should do so again.
Rory Ryan is publisher and editor of The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]