The 25th annual Lancaster Festival moved to full swing this past weekend, with a truly crowd-pleasing performance by The Temptations, backed by the Festival Orchestra, at the Ohio University-Lancaster stage. The concert was followed by the traditional stunning and lengthy musical finale and fireworks display. Next Saturday evening's concert headliner is Lee Ann Womack...hope to see you there! It's a great setting for dinner with friends and family, whether you opt for a table or table seats, or just a blanket and chairs on the lawn. And it's also a perfect setting to make or renew friendships among the thousands of folks you're likely to see.
You'll also find various music and arts events, along with other activities, at various other venues, including historic downtown Lancaster. Things are happening throughout the day, beginning at 10am...see the full schedule for details.
Including this year's proceeds, and since its birth in 1986, the Hocking Valley Community Hospital Foundation has raised over one-million dollars from its annual Auction and Golf Tournament. The funds have brought improvements in medical care facilities for residents of the Logan-Hocking Hills area that include last year's additions of an ultrasound machine and ventilator units for improved patient care. 2009's auction alone featured 360 items, and netted about $28,000. Next year's event is scheduled for Friday July 16 and Saturday July 17, again at the beautiful Brass Ring Golf Club.
Karen & Doug Parker, Prudential Calhoon Company Realtors, http://ikarensell.com, http://hockinghillshomes.info, http://hideawayhillshomes.com
Photographers Gather for Friend of the Hocking Hills State Park "Shoot the Hills" annual competition, 2009
Photographers from various states gather for The Friends of the Hocking Hills State Park's annual "Shoot the Hills" competition, April 2009
Ohio State Park superintendents have been directed to drop another three-and-a-half percent from their current budgets. For the Hocking Hills State Park operations, that means about $70,000 less for services this year. Superintendent Tim Archer says he'll have to determine from what areas the cuts will come, so the impacts on both visitors and the region's major tourism business remains to be seen....so stay tuned. Or better yet, let your voice be heard in the legislature.
It's estimated that about three million people visit the Hocking Hills State Park each year (including Old Man's Cave, Ash Cave, Cedar Falls, Cantwell Cliffs, Lake Logan and Rock House). Visitors spend an estimated $180-million in Hocking County (not to mention neighboring counties such as Fairfield, Vinton, Ross, Jackson and Perry), and local tourism-related businesses employ almost one-thousand workers.
The state is also considering elimination of Ohio's Tourism Division by the end of next year. According to the Ohio Tourism Roundtable, the state's tourism industry brings in $1.5-billion in state taxes revenues, and $1.1-million for local taxes. Ohio tourism provides jobs for more than 450,000 workers, estimated on a full-time-equivalency basis.
Ohio Senator John Carey represents the 17th District, and sits on the legislature's key Budget Conference Committee. You can give his office a call at 614-466-1856. Email address is sd17@senate.state.oh.us
You can also gather more information from the Hocking Hills Tourism Association and The Friends of the Hocking Hills.
Located near southeast Ohio's famous Hocking Hills Region, the gated resort community of Hide-A-Way Hills features plenty of annual events, and probably the biggest gathering of the year is the Dam Jam. This year saw what's considered to be the event's largest turnout ever, with as many as an estimated five-hundred members, family, and friends celebrating a summer evening beneath the Lake of the Four Seasons. A hog roast serves as the main course, and members bring along a covered dish to share as well....so there's certainly no reason to go hungry. This year, the Social Committee added some great extra attractions, including a moon bounce and face painting for the kids, along with train rides. And then there was another new highlight, the dunk tank. Thanks to all who attended, and especially the volunteers who worked so hard to make this quite a happening! Here's an inside look at the fun....
You might not find it on basic online highway maps of Ohio, but if you're not in a rush to travel from southwest Ohio or the Cincinnati area across and up to the Hocking Hills, consider taking Route 32 (off Route 275 in the Newtown/Batavia area). It's a laid-back sort of homage to the way 4-lanes used to be, and runs through some of the prettiest countryside you'll see in the state. You're also likely to find very minimal traffic, and that should help put you in the right sort of mood for the pleasures of your getaway or vacation destination in the hills. Apologies for the camera-phone quality of the photos, but hope you can get the proverbial picture....
You'll also be treated to some interesting homespun signage along the roadsides, such as the magic-markered one that tells you the business is "open til dark"....
(There is some construction underway as you near Waverly and Route 23, but the limited number of vehicles normally traveling the road should minimize the slowdown.)
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We Kare'n Sell ('n Live) primary & vacation homes, log homes, land, Hilliard to The Hocking Hills & Hide-A-Way Hills. Hilliard Chamber of Commerce,Hocking Hills Tourism Assn, Friends of Hocking Hills.
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