The 11th edition of this Hocking Hills Region spring event was quite the success, with photographers from many states dropping in for the weekend to compete for over $3,000 in cash and other prizes. The competition continues to grow in national stature, and pre-registrations were double the number of 2007. And this year, "Shoppe the Hills" was added to allow artists and other sponsors to show and sell their offerings in the Lodge at Hocking Hills State Park....word is that they all did a nice bit of business through the weekend of April 18-20.
The event is one of the highlight annual fundraisers for the Friends of the Hocking Hills State Park, an all-volunteer organization that works to provide funding for various state parks needs and projects (watch for more information about plans for the astronomical observatory....).
The competition rules meeting on Friday morning was standing-room-only, and just about all the chairs were filled for Sunday's awards ceremony in the very-large lower-level meeting room at the Lodge. The Lodge staff also put out a nice spread of goodies for those in attendance, and there wasn't much left to eat at the end! Looks like The Friends will have some additional logistical planning to do for 2009....many more amateur, pro and junior photographers can be expected next year, and Shoppe the Hills is likely to grow as well. By the way, although most folks know the famous Hocking Hills Region is in Hocking County, Shoot the Hills photo entries can be also be taken in Athens, Fairfield and Vinton counties....which underscores how the Hocking Hills has been growing in appeal beyond its traditional boundaries.
The event's official Web site is http://www.shootthehills.com/. Winning photographs will also be displayed in June on Time Warner Cable, by the way....stay tuned for additional information. You can take a peek at some of the event activities in a quick Visual Tour.
'Twas an interesting and probably quite cozy and perhaps romantic weekend in "The Hills" from Hide-A-Way to Hocking. For folks who were able to make it through the snow prior to the Level 3 Snow Emergency Alerts, staying put (or simply getting stuck, as they say) in a warm cabin in the woods was no doubt a great tonic. Not a good weekend for the HAH Lodge and other restaurants and services in the area, and the white stuff (and whiteouts) no doubt put a heavy damper on lots of pre-spring events planned in the Hocking Hills Region...but peaceful and restful nonetheless.
Gave us an opportunity to do a quick update on Visual Tours of the Hide-A-Way Hills resort community, with perspectives during and after the storm....thanks for taking a peek.....
We've been known to call Hide-A-Way Hills a "Gateway to the Hocking Hills"...although many, if not most, who find the community do so after first coming to see "The Caves" and other areas that comprise Hocking Hills State Park....most notably, Old Man's Cave. No matter which comes first, there's a lot of common ground and certainly significant differences when it comes both to recreation, amenities, and definitely when it comes to buying a vacation home or acreage....or a place to retire, for that matter.
On the left above is Lake Hope, just below the city of Logan; most folks will see it as a drive-by as they make their way down Route 664 to Old Man's Cave. On the right is Lake of the Four Seasons, in Hide-A-Way Hills (also referred to as "HAH" or just "The Hills" by members. The photos point to some differences....Lake Hope is larger, but has a 10-horsepower limit (as do other state-operated lakes). Lake of the Four Seasons has no horsepower restrictions, and is operated by the HAH Club....which means, simply, the members/property owners.
(Quicknote: Much of Hideaway Hills rests within Hocking County (Marion Township), but part of the Club falls within Fairfield County.)
Hideaway Hills feels quite the same as the Hocking Hills, as you might guess. But HAH neighbors are closer together, given that the average lot size is about a half-acre....although many members own 2 or 3 adjacent lots. Those who want to "getaway" outside of neighbors' eyesight probably will opt for acreage in the Hocking Hills....and current laws require approximately 2 acres for a septic system permit in Hocking County (ditto in Fairfield County...). Hideaway Hills is all well and septic system, like most of the Hocking Hills....but wait, you say, aren't HAH lots less than 2 acres? Yes, but Hideaway Hills was platted as a resort community in the 1960's, and so you can build on the smaller parcels within the HAH gates.
That's another important difference....security. When we bought our first cabin in HAH years ago, we looked at resort communities within about 60-90 miles of Columbus. The difference for us was the 24-hour security at Hideaway Hills, and we really didn't mind being able to see our neighbor's place(s). Although property ownership in either Hideaway or Hocking Hills is essentially a lifestyle decision, you'll find most HAH members quite comfortable with, if not downright attracted to, the notion of a closer community sort of perspective on things.
There's more to compare and contrast, and we'll get to it future articles. But we do emphasize to clients and plain visitors that no matter which of the "Hills" your're referring to, they're close in both proximity and spirit. If you're in Hideaway Hills, there's so much you ought to see and do outside the gates. And while you're staying in the Hocking Hills, you're invited to come see us in HAH....you can make reservations to dine at the Club's lodge (restaurant and microbrewery), for example. If you'd like to take a tour of the community, just let us know (and by the way, you'll have to be with a member or real estate agent to tour HAH, although non-member agents can show specific HAH properties to their clients). We're also happy to help non-member agents show the community to their clients. And of course, we'll also be happy to show you around the Hocking Hills, too....the parks, shops, restaurants, and more!
©2008 Doug & Karen Parker, ikarensell Enterprises Inc.
There's now wireless internet access available in the Lodge at Hideaway Hills...but we'd guess that it won't turn things into a everyone-hunched-over-their-laptop sort of environment, as "The Hills" is a social setting as much as anything else. Folks also often ask about wired home internet access in the community, along with cable and satellite TV. Since Time Warner has now taken over the operation of the community's cable system, we can direcly compare things as well as anticipate what's likely to happen in the relatively near future. Currently, members who basically live on the east side of Lake of the Four Seasons ("the big lake") have Verizon phone service....which means they can most probably get DSL high-speed interenet service, which is always address-specific. Our HAH home has DSL, and we've found it to be at least as dependable and speedy as the Road Runner service we had at our home and now at our condo in Hilliard. Cable broadband service can be affected by the number of users along the "line" at any given time....so if we're working on the internet at our condo on a school snow day, we see a slowdown. DSL is not technically affected by the number of subscribers online.
So what's up down the road? Time Warner intends to complete the fiber optic cable rebuild that was (somewhat) started by the previous cable provider (Adelphia)....often referred to in the cable business as a rebuilt of "the plant." That's now projected for 2009. When it's done, Time Warner will be fully in the "bundling" business in Hideaway Hills....meaning, packaging high-speed internet, digital cable TV, and telephone. We have that full Time-Warner Road Runner package in our condo, with the price of all three services in Hilliard costing about what we now pay for DSL and telephone service from Verizon.
And Time Warner will surely price its initial service bundles to significantly undercut what a HAH member might now be paying in total to Verizon and Time Warner. So Verizon would then have to respond, as would AT+T....which maintains telephone service on "the other" side of the big lake. AT+T subscribers are currently limited to dial-up internet service....so AT+T would at the very least be thinking of providing DSL sometime soon. Of course, legal and technical development in the area of non-traditional "cable" TV service delivery will also come into play along the way.
As we always used to say in the broadcasting business, please stay tuned....
(and stay tuned for new tours come spring....these tours are a bit dated now, given changes in appearance throughout Hideaway Hills....lots of volunteer work and updates through 2007!)
©2008 Doug Parker, ikarensell Enterprises Inc.
Like others in the community, we were disappointed to see that prospects for a successful end to the negotiations between the school board and teachers union (Hilliard Education Association) dimmed last week when the teachers voted overwhelmingly against the board's last offer....which was to be a firm and final one, as everyone understood from various news coverage. Sad, because no matter what side you stand on (and cliched or not), the kids are held hostage....given that the operating levy passage on March 4 becomes more problematic, and the levy covers ongoing operating funds.
Voters will usually tend toward the simplest reason to vote no, and the teachers' contract vote can unfortunately provide a quick way out. And the coverage now makes it clear that health insurance is the biggest hurdle, along with the traditional annual percentage increase.....at issue is about $66 per month for a teacher opting for the family health plan, we're told. Again, we'd ask both sides to talk candidly with the voters about the meaning and impact of built-in "step" increases across the salary schedule, along with any annual percentage increase in a new contract. When that's done, the public can literally and figuratively measure the school district world in light of their own personal and employment situations....so that they aren't inclined toward that easiest reason to vote no.
Essentially wedged in-between in all of this are the volunteers working on the Vote For Strong Schools committee, who have less-than-enough time to both get out the word about the true meaning and impact of the operating levy and raise the necessary funds to do so. If you're asked to make a donation of time and/or money, please at least let your thoughts and questions be known, as the volunteers will be happy to pro-actively share them with those responsible for operating the district....and that includes administration and staff. We'd suggest that a donation to facilitate communication is something apart from the negotiations.
©2008 Doug Parker, ikarensell Enterprises Inc.
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We Kare'n Sell ('n Live!) primary & vacation homes, log homes & land, Hilliard to The Hocking Hills & Hideaway Hills. Hillard Chamber of Commerce, Hocking Hills Tourism Assn, Friends of Hocking Hills.
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