A Crafty Success

By Corinne Minard

Eloise Drenner is a perfect example of the accidental businesswoman. She did not start making crafts to sell them. And she did not start selling them in hopes of one day owning a store. While she did not originally plan to own a business, she’s been the owner of Weaving Stitches (a peculiar mix of home décor store and handmade craft shop) for almost 15 years and doesn’t see that ending any time soon. “It’s pretty much my baby,” she says.

Eloise started this crafting venture by making items she loved. “I’ve always sewn and I just started making baskets,” says Eloise. While she started making baskets and stuffed creatures for the fun of it, she eventually found herself selling them at craft shows as well. Soon, she was behind a table every weekend. Eloise says, “My house was getting so full of product that I needed to get out of my house and into a store.”

To make room for her expanding business, Eloise opened her own storefront to sell her crafts. To keep up with demand, Eloise began buying from other vendors. Along with her work, she sold painted signs, dishes, candles and other forms of home décor. “It took 10 years. It wasn’t something that happened overnight. It was mostly gift items to start with and then I got really interested in home décor, enough to start helping people decorate their houses,” Eloise says.

She would eventually move to two other locations and cut shows from her schedule completely to keep up with the business. When she moved to the current location and its 4000-square-foot showroom, she asked herself what was more important: her crafts or the business. She says, “I asked God, ‘What do you want from me? What’s your purpose for me?’” Eloise found that she wanted to be able to spend more time helping customers and stopped making her own product completely.

What started as a platform for Eloise’s crafts has instead become a store that lets Eloise help people design their homes. “I love to decorate,” she says, and she loves to show people different ways to do it. The store is divided into sections and each section is filled with displays. Using furniture she’s bought from others as display pieces, she’s worked to fill the store with different examples of what their home could be.

A friendly woman who smiles while she speaks, Eloise uses her approachability to help her customers. “I want to be able to read you and know what you like, not just trying to push my product, but listen to you and know what you like and please you because if I don’t please you to start with, you won’t come back. So I listen real hard to what you like and try to get on your page,” says Eloise.

She works to keep the place homey. With the antique furniture, the oldies music and the staff that has been with her for years, she works to keep the place a reflection of herself. “This is where I can show people who I am and who I am through God. I believe God gave me this place ... and he wants me to let my light shine so you can see God through me. That’s what I believe my purpose is here,” she says.

2010 Spring Issue

Photo by Helen Alwan

Spring Stargazing

By Megan Greve and Katherine Bercik

In the Spring 2010 issue of Southeast Ohio Magazine, writer Josh Spiert explores Marietta College’s new planetarium. In the meantime, here’s a sneak peak at the spring sky and the upcoming issue.

For readers who do not have a planetarium nearby, George Eberts, Astronomy Lab Instructor and Outreach Specialist at Ohio University, says that apart from the constellations, there are two big events to look forward to in the upcoming months. Both events can be seen in any backyard.

From May through the end of summer, Venus is visible. “Venus is naked eye cool,” George says. He explains that the third brightest object in the sky (only after the sun and the moon) is Venus, and that “it is often mistaken for a UFO.” Venus will be visible in the west-northwest and can be seen close to the horizon right after sunset.

The second object to look for is Saturn, whose famous rings can be observed with “a surprisingly small telescope.” Although it will be visible throughout the summer, George says that it will be easiest for the amateur astronomer to find in April. That is when it will be nearly aligned between the bright stars Spica (in the constellation Virgo) and Regulus (in the constellation Leo) in the southeastern sky.

Other celestial objects are often visible in the night sky, but their appearances are much less predictable.

Meteoroids are any small particles of matter in the solar system. Visible as they fall into Earth’s atmosphere, they become known as meteors. Frictional heating causes them to glow, which has led to the nickname “shooting star.” A meteorite is a meteor that reaches Earth’s surface.

Porstmouth Local Helps Businesses Through Second Job

by Michael Bruton

People tend to cherish weekends and vacation time because it gives them a break from their hectic work schedules. Portsmouth local Tamela Moore loves weekends and vacation time from her full-time human resources job, because it gives her time to work more. Huh? Tamela admits that she “pretty much has two full time jobs.” She has one in HR for a government agency and the other as the sole employee of Accomplish Moore Enterprises LLC.

“I probably work about 70-80 hours a week with both jobs,” says Tamela. “One day I hope my speaking job is successful enough to be my only one.”

Through Accomplish Moore, Tamela gives keynote addresses and sponsors workshops for small businesses, non-profit organizations and government agencies. Some of her programs last two hours, while others can range up to six, depending on the needs of the client.

The speeches are primarily on proper hiring practices and consist of Tamela speaking and then answering questions. The workshops are much more interactive, though, with Tamela guiding clients through a series of activities to get to the root of any communication problems they are having.

“I lead hiring workshops, personality assessment activities, give speeches; pretty much whatever a client needs me for,” says Tamela.

Tamela runs Accomplish Moore out of her home, but she has gotten the opportunity to help clients all over Ohio and in parts of West Virginia. She is looking to expand to new territories (a potential client in Chicago is in the works), but it is difficult because Accomplish Moore relies solely on word-of mouth testimony to attract future clients. On the flipside, the business’s growth is all the more impressive without any true advertising.

“It’s so exciting. I have only been in business since 2004 and don’t advertise, but I have had a positive impact on most of the groups I have worked with so I have been successful,” Tamela says. “Cleveland loves me for some reason,” she adds with a laugh.

Although Accomplish Moore is Tamela’s passion and she hopes it one day is her sole means of income, she does not want people to get the wrong idea.

“I love my HR job, and it has helped me with my speaking career. As long as I need to, I will do both until I physically can’t handle the hours anymore.” And when she can’t, she travels.

“Traveling is what I like to do most during my off time,” Tamela says, citing Orlando and Gatlinburg, Tennessee. “I am trying to plan a fun trip for this September, and I am taking my mother for a birthday cruise in February of next year.”

But as nice as that sounds and as much as Tamela likes to travel, she just cannot resist putting her time off to productive use. “I love volunteering for my church, Bigelow Church, and I am also very active with the Scioto County Chamber of Commerce,” says Tamela. “What can I say, I just can’t help being involved in the community. It’s fun for me!”

The Truth is Out There in Pickaway County, Man pt. 2

by Emma Frankart

Leading the (para)normal life

The P.C.P.S. members are by no means experts; they have no ghost-hunting degrees or fancy equipment and they do not charge for their services. By day, Oby, Gabrielle and Kurt are students; Oby and Gabrielle attend Hocking College to study art and English, respectively, and Kurt studies information technology through the University of Phoenix online. Kevin and Scott work the night shift at Trimold Plastics in Circleville.

Because they are only amateur paranormal enthusiasts, the amount of high-tech equipment they utilize is limited. They do have an EMF detector for recording electromagnetic fields (which can indicate paranormal activity, or lack thereof), an EVP recorder which records electronic voice phenomena that cannot be heard with the naked ear, night vision cameras and a thermal imaging camera, which can visually represent changes in air temperature.

Kevin and the rest of the crew are excited to try out some of their newer equipment in an upcoming trip to the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio. Gabrielle has connections with the woman in charge of tours and is setting up an overnight investigation. But this is not her first rodeo; Gabrielle has conducted an investigation at the reformatory in the past, with her previous group. While the team saw nothing unusual in the building, their EVP recorders revealed that a ghostly presence had been in the room, unbeknownst to them.

“There was a guy that I was with in a cell, just feeling things out” she explains, “and he was trying to put the moves on me.” She refused his advances, and when she listened to the recording of their conversation the next day, she could hear a faint voice asking, “What is this guy doing?” She laughs now, to think that a ghost had been on her side, but at the same time she admits the experience is a little scary.

Searching for the strange

The P.C.P.S., on the other hand, has had only one major investigation thus far. Kevin attributes the lack of cases to the area’s general aversion to the paranormal.

“It just seems like around Pickaway County, people just don’t really wanna come out [and] say … they have a haunted house,” Kevin says. “They’re just worried about what everyone else is gonna say.” Another roadblock for the team is a lack of cooperation from the city. A few locations in Circleville are rumored to be haunted, but the city will not grant permission to investigate.

The one investigation they did conduct was last year in Tarlton, Ohio. A client claimed that he heard voices and experienced lights and an electric oven turning on without being touched. Kevin and Oby conducted the investigation, but found it inconclusive when they failed to witness any of these phenomena personally.

“The only weird thing that actually happened,” Kevin recalls, is “one window on the back side of the house that I just couldn’t stop looking at.” The light in that room was turned off when the men began walking the perimeter of the house. When they came back to that window, the light had been turned on. The house’s resident was outside with Oby and Kevin, though his son was still inside. Naturally, that alone is not enough to draw any conclusions.

“The important thing is to go into [investigations] with an open mind,” Oby says, “but at the same time, [with] a certain level of skepticism, because it’s very easy to get drawn in.” Oby and Kevin both doubt that there was any sort of true paranormal activity involved in that particular investigation. Oby chalks the homeowner’s claims up to a combination of factors, including the client’s penchant for alcohol and an open fuse box in the basement.

“We could actually feel pressure from [the fuse box],” Oby says, explaining that the EMFs that the box puts out can make people feel nauseous or even hallucinate. The ventilation system in the house was leaking as well, leading Oby and Kevin to conclude that the EMFs could seep through the house, causing strange electrical occurrences and unexplained (but imagined) sights and sounds.

The group is eager to conduct more investigations and encourages anyone with concerns about paranormal events to report them and request an investigation at the group’s Web site.

OU Grad Builds on Pizza Love

by Rachel Nebozuk

It was Spring Quarter of 1989 when John Moore, an Ohio University business major, decided he was going to open his own pizza shop. By November of that year, he was a recent graduate, a small business owner and pizza connoisseur. There aren’t many early twenty-somethings who are able to find this kind of success at such a young age, which sets John, and his popular pizza shop, Cardo’s, apart from the rest.

John spent nearly six years throughout his high school and college days working at another Cardo’s location in Waverly.

“I thought owning my own pizza business would be a dream come true,” John said.

After catching wind of his potential plans, John’s Cardo’s boss, Lloyd Harmon, suggested he consider opening a Jackson location. And without another pizza shop quite like it in the area, John’s restaurant quickly became a local favorite.

Cardo’s was originally located in a small shop on Broadway Street in Jackson County, offering only pickup and delivery. By 1997, however, the business was booming and John knew it was time to expand. Cardo’s relocated to its current location on W. South Street, near the historic Henry’s Grocery Store. The bigger restaurant allowed Cardo’s to offer a 100-seat dining area with an all-you-can-eat buffet and a private party and conference room.

In 2004, in the ultimate love story, John married one of his former Cardo’s employees, Jenny Armstrong. The pair has been living together happily ever since and despite the struggling economy, Cardo’s has been thriving as well. Last year, Cardo’s celebrated 20 years in business.

As Cardo’s became more and more popular amongst residents of Jackson, the facility wasn’t the only thing to expand; so was the menu. Today, Cardo’s offers nearly endless pizza possibilities, including 13 signature combos. One of the newest additions is the Fiesta Veggie, with green and hot peppers, green and black olives, red onion and tomato. Customer favorites include the Chicken Bacon Ranch and the Buffalo Chicken Pizza, which is complete with diced chicken drenched in Frank’s hot sauce (one of John’s favorites.)

Cardo’s also offers a slew of mouthwatering appetizers, 22 kinds of burgers and subs, eight different salads, spaghetti, lasagna and chicken parmesan. Cardo’s food, however, isn’t the only thing John prides himself on. He believes he has some of the friendliest employees who are dedicated to giving top of the line customer service.

“Sometimes I say I love my employees so much, I married one,” John said of his wife, Jenny, with a chuckle.

Athens Duo Expands Rising Business

by Danielle Zeisler

Christine Hughes wasn’t born in Athens, but she’s assimilated like the best of them.

Drawn to Athens by a treasure-trail of business success stories, Christine, along with her business partner Bob O’Neil, moved to the area roughly 10 years ago. They didn’t start by launching a restaurant, though. Instead, they sold bread. They sold so much bread that they had enough money to start their first business together, Village Bakery & Café, about eight years ago.

With the Village Bakery, Christine and Bob get to flex their organic muscles, reaching to the Athens Farmer’s Market for the majority of the restaurant’s ingredients. What doesn’t come from there comes from other farms in the area, and making an impact through serving natural food is something their adamant about. It says it right on the menu: “What you choose WILL CHANGE THE WORLD!” Joined to the Bakery is the Undercover Market, a small bazaar of local meats, cheeses, fruits and vegetables, along with miscellaneous trinkets such as mugs, canteens and tea-brewing products.

From the sprouts of Village Bakery grew a burgeoning organic empire. Just six years later, the partners opened the Della Zona pizza shop. The decision was simple: the two loved to make and eat homemade pizza and they wanted to share that love with the Athens community. The two restaurants are located next to one another and the two facades combine, each with hand-drawn looking business signs, to form an imposing block of natural business.

The pair continues to build its family of businesses, opening the Catalyst Café a little over a year ago. For the most part the café abandons the food aspect of the pair’s previous operations and instead focuses on espresso-based drinks, smoothies and sweets. And though these businesses are impressive on their own, what’s more impressive are the duo’s aspirations.

Their future plan is to start their own small, local farm that can produce food for their restaurants. Their goal of “Striving for the ‘Triple Bottom Line’ – measuring the success of our business based on our social, environmental, and financial impact in the local and global communities,” makes these partners a one-of-a-kind duo, and an influential part of the Athens and Southeast Ohio communities.

The Truth is Out There in Pickaway County, Man pt. 1

by Emma Frankart

For decades, southeastern Ohio has been known for its high levels of paranormal activity. Rumors abound of Ohio University’s ghosties and ghoulies, and the towns and counties throughout the region share the level of creepiness. One group, the Pickaway County Paranormal Society, aims to take on the supernatural creatures that go bump in the night.

The brainchild of Kevin Ferguson and John Finley came to life in October of 2008. Despite John leaving the group to focus on his family, the P.C.P.S. is still going strong. The team is comprised of five paranormal aficionados—Kevin, Kurt Meteer, Oby Tisdale, Scott Holbrook and Gabrielle Ward—who dedicate their spare time to the investigation of the unexplainable. Though they range in age from mid-20s to early 40s and are scattered throughout the region, these inquisitive kids-at-heart are passionate about their hobby…and with good reason.

Influential incidents

The lead investigator of the ghost-hunting unit is Kevin, a self-proclaimed expert in the subject because of his experiences with ghosts. As a child, he lived in a house where he experienced an abundance of paranormal activity: invisible footsteps on the stairs, cupboard doors that opened and closed by themselves and other activity that he now considers “typical” of hauntings. That case was never formally investigated, but the experience left him with a passion for the paranormal.

Similarly, other group members have had childhood encounters with the unexplainable.

Gabrielle also grew up in a house that seemed to be haunted; she recalls hearing the ghostly whisperings of a woman who is said to have died there. Her experience drew her first to Seekers of Spirits, a group that disbanded when its leader got married, then to the P.C.P.S. As for Kurt, the team’s lead ufology investigator, a UFO sighting on a camping trip in the ‘70s led him to become the group’s lead ufology investigator. Ufology (pronounced you-eff-ology) is the study of UFOs, or unidentified flying objects, and often associated with aliens.

The group also has a cryptozoology unit, but is still looking for a lead investigator to replace John. Cryptozoology is the study of mysterious or mythical animals; famous subjects include Big Foot and the Loch Ness Monster. In southeastern Ohio, however, mysterious animals typically turn out to be a confused bobcat rather than a werewolf in hiding.

The rest of the group members are not assigned to a unit; rather, everyone helps with every investigation. Although the group is divided into three areas, the majority of their interests seem to pool in the ghostly realm, as it is the most well-known form of paranormal activity.

Somerset Woman Grows Zeal for Plants

by Megan Greve

Spring is just around the corner and thoughts of planting and growing are filling the minds of many. Some look forward to growing flowers to beautify their yards, while the lure of fresh herbs and vegetables make others’ mouths water. For Somerset Herbs owner Margaret Wince, both of these spring fevers hold appeal. She works to make Somerset Herbs a good place to stop while stocking up for the growing season.

Owner Margaret Wince opened Somerset Herbs about 10 years ago because she wanted a career change from teaching and she and her husband wanted to have a shop closer to home.

“We just wanted to have a business for ourselves on our own property as we’re growing things,” Margaret says. She also explains that the store has changed throughout the past decade, morphing from a wholesale herb store for restaurants in Columbus to what it is today: a shop that sells potted plants, herbs and decorative perennials.

Somerset Herbs is a seasonal store, with most of the business coming in April, May and June. To add to their business, the Winces also travel to a Columbus farmers’ market in the spring, summer and fall. In the wintertime they participate in a small, indoor farmers’ market in Worthington. Margaret says they enjoy the variety of customers they meet at these farmers’ markets, “from the old-fashioned home gardeners to people who want to decorate their yards with really fancy plants.”

Apart from plants and herbs, Somerset Herbs also sells produce during the summer months. Margaret says they don’t grow your regular crops, however.

“We don’t do corn and zucchini and stuff like that,” she explains. Instead, the Winces sell and grow such plants as garlic, heirloom tomatoes and shitake mushrooms. Margaret says she and her husband like learning about foods that people may not be so familiar with.

“There’s a whole world of alternate foods. And when you get into the farm market culture you understand there are a lot of people doing a lot of nifty things that are off the beaten path,” she says.

Margaret explains that she enjoys owning the store for many reasons, including the freedom to make her own decisions and try new things. “It is also an ongoing challenge which enriches me personally,” she continues, “and it gets a little of your artistic needs fulfilled as well.”

Margaret maintains that the zeal for growing and being creative with plants are what her store, as well as her attitude toward it, are all about. “We’re not in this for the capitalist portion of it,” she says. “We do need to pay our bills, but we’re not shop owners as much as we are growers and idea people.”

From Bud to Blossom: McConnelsville flower shop owner Ginny Bond focuses on community

by Megan Krause

Hidden in a store among Raggedy Ann dolls, angels and American flags is a sign that reads, “You don’t have to be crazy to work here, but it helps.” Ginny Bond, owner of Ginny’s Flower Shoppe in McConnelsville, received it as a gift, but it is a clear reflection of her personal philosophy. This flower and gift shop runs on relationships and creativity, but it’s a sense of humor that keeps it going.

Ginny started working at Reed’s Flower Shoppe in 1960 after graduating from high school with no plans of one day owning the business. In 1983, the owner retired and sold the shop to Ginny and a friend. At this point, Ginny had already built a strong relationship with the store through working there. “I just loved the business,” she says. “I loved it completely. I still do.”

Two years later, the partnership ended and Ginny became the sole owner. She took the opportunity to expand the company, but made sure to keep the same friendly service that Reed’s provided. In a small town, good service defines a business, Ginny says.

A variety of gifts can be found at Ginny’s Flower Shoppe, but one of their specialties is Raggedy Ann Dolls. This year marks the dolls 95^th anniversary, and Ginny has been making her own Raggedy Anne-style dolls for 46 years. Her hobby began at a rummage sale where she found a doll dress and a woman in town suggested she make a doll to fit it.

Since 1964, Ginny has made dolls for her daughter and many others. Many of the dolls stay with the families for generations, Ginny says.

Between her creations and dolls that friends have given Ginny over the years, her collection has grown to over 400 dolls. Some are for sale at the store, but the core group of dolls is on display in Ginny’s office.

The eclectic nature of the store reflects on Ginny herself. She does everything from taking orders to making deliveries. Her daughter, Holly Bryan, buys for the store. “I’m not a real woman,” Ginny says. “I don’t like to shop.”

When Ginny is not at the shop, she spends time organizing a yearly tribute to war veterans at the county fair, and she plans a 300 to 400-child Easter egg hunt. She also enjoys photography.

Ginny serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Morgan County Chamber of Commerce and has been a member for nearly 30 years. She also helped to create the Downtown Business Association.

Over the years, the shop has become more than a store. Ginny sells tickets to local events, and considers her store a gathering place for the community. “We’re kind of like the local bar,” Ginny says. “Everyone stops, gossips and moves on.”

Landscape Artist Stays True to His Roots

by Elijah Turan

Gabe Hays had to make a choice. It was 1997, and Gabe was a landscape architect for a Pittsburgh-based business. He had traveled for design projects all over the world – from the Redwood National Park, to Europe, to Hawaii. He was happy, stable and successful. When fate interceded, he left it all behind to pursue a dream: he wanted to start a landscape architecture firm in his hometown of St. Clairsville.

“I grew up in various rural locations in Belmont County,” Gabe says. “My mother was a single mother of three and a school teacher. As such, we were often times very poor. However, I had a very happy childhood and attended St. Clairsville Richland Schools most of my youth.” As a boy, Gabe developed a passion for plants, and he spent many of his childhood hours planting trees, tending gardens and making landscape models. It was also during this time that he met a girl who would play an important role in his adult life: Sarah Mahan, his future wife. After graduating from St. Clairsville High School in 1990, Gabe decided to pursue his childhood interests by majoring in landscape architecture at Ohio State University.

“I was blessed to take advantage of two summer programs while at the Ohio State University,” Gabe says. The first program offered him the opportunity to help develop the Redwood National Park in 1993. The next summer, Gabe traveled to Europe to study architecture in England, France and Belgium. After graduating in 1994, he found work at a landscape architecture firm in Pittsburg, from which he designed parks all around the country. In 1997, he married Sarah. That same year, she graduated with a PhD. in communication studies from Ohio University.

“We were looking to find her an assistant professor position anywhere within five states of home,” Gabe says. “It seemed to be providence when Ohio University Eastern in St. Clairsville decided to start a four-year degree in communications and to offer a position which she applied and was offered. This unique twist of fate put us in the position of living between my job in Pittsburgh and her new job in our hometown or jumping off the cliff and establishing the Upper Ohio Valley’s only landscape architectural firm.

This was a difficult decision for Gabe. After all, the chance to start a practice in his hometown was perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. However, he had achieved much working in Pittsburg and there was no guarantee that a southeast Ohio firm would be successful. In the end, however, he decided to make the plunge and he opened Hays Landscape Architecture Studio, Ltd. in St. Clairsville.

“I joke with people that I started this business on ‘wife support,’” Gabe says. As with any new business, there was risk. As time went on, however, Gabe began picking up commissions in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and Hays Landscape Architecture Studio has become successful one project at a time. Recently, Gabe has even had the opportunity to design the future St. Clairsville Central Park, which will someday grace the center of his hometown. Currently, Gabe and Sarah are finalizing the adoption of their first child, Jaiden. “So, 13 years later, here I am enjoying a life I never thought would have been possible!”

Canal Winchester Renaissance Man Acts, Cooks and Curates

by Josh Spiert

What does a semi-retired part-time actor, part-time chef do with his down time? Mike Ippoliti of Fairfield County decided to use the extra time to take over a 40-year-old barber museum in Canal Winchester—an odd choice, but a rewarding one.

The Ed Jeffers Barber Museum’s roots wind back to 1968 when Canal Winchester native Ed Jeffers started collecting random barber artifacts. In 1978, he opened the actual museum, but did not advertise or attempt to promote it for commercial purposes.

The future of the museum was uncertain when Ed passed away on July 4, 2006. Both the Longaberger Basket Company and the Smithsonian showed interest in buying the artifacts, which could have meant the end of the museum’s residence in Fairfield County.

“Everybody in town knew Ed. He was one of the pillars of the community,” Mike says.

“They were both expressing interest in the museum, especially the Smithsonian,” Mike says. “And I thought, ‘if it goes to the Smithsonian, you might as well kiss it goodbye.’” Five years before Ed died, Mike had sent him a letter of intent stating that he would be interested in running the museum. Since he was retired and had some time on his hands, he decided to step up and help.

This is not simply an assorted set of barbers’ knickknacks. The collection Ed built up over the last 40 years of his life is impressive.

“We have about 71 barber poles, 700 or 800 razors, and 600 or 700 cleaning mugs,” Mike says. “There are even tools that go back to the medieval era when they used to do bloodletting.”

The museum is open by appointment only, and costs $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, and $3 for students. When large groups come through, such as the GOBA bikers, he gives them a special discount as well.

During Mike’s first year as owner, there were only 256 visitors. Since he stepped up efforts to promote awareness of it, however, attendance has risen. Several barber schools around the Midwest take advantage of the rare collection and visit with each incoming class. Mike said there have been visitors from all over the world, including Japan, Australia and England.

Still, the museum isn’t a means of income for Mike. He lives mostly on his acting work. He has appeared in numerous commercials around the country, including everything from the well-known, local Safe Auto Insurance commercials to the California Garage Door Association. He has appeared in many films as well.

“There have been a lot of B movies that you’d see at 3 o’clock in the morning,” Mike says, laughing. He has, however, also played parts in big-budget Hollywood productions like Traffic and Little Man Tate.

Honoring his culinary history, every Wednesday Mike goes to the Italian Club and cooks a meal for its weekly meetings. He has other cooking offers, but turns a lot of them down because he wants to take it easy and the museum is his main priority.

Mike will continue to spread the word about his little museum tucked away in the second story of a downtown Canal Winchester building. The Barbers International Conference is being held in Columbus this spring and they will visit the museum, which should give Mike an attendance boost of about 250. Still, he is always looking for more visitors interested in the barber’s unique history. When planning a trip, however, make sure to call ahead.

Cambridge Cowboy Pays Homage to Gunslingers

by Brittany Picklesimer

Boasting one of the largest collections of cowboy memorabilia in the Eastern United States with 15,000 pieces, Howard Cherry’s favorite pieces of his impressive collection remain the clothes on his back.

Howard owns—and sometimes wears—10 sets of American singer and cowboy actor Roy Rogers’ personal clothing. Howard acquired them through a personal mutual friend, who entrusted them to him after Roy’s death.

Roy Rogers, however, was also responsible for Howard’s initial interest in collecting cowboy memorabilia. Howard and Roy became friends after Roy visited the Hopalong Cassidy Museum in Cambridge, Ohio. Posing for a photograph with Roy, Howard introduced his wife to Roy as “your biggest fan from Ohio.”

“It just developed from there,” says Howard. “My wife and I had the same idol [Roy Rogers] and we didn’t even know it!”

That was 1989. Eight years later, in 1997, Howard retired and opened his shop, 10^th Street Antique Mall, which now also houses the Hopalong Cassidy Museum. Through the years, Howard has met hundreds of cowboy stars via various festivals, including the annual Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers festivals in Cambridge. Dealers, collectors and cowboy stars alike convene at the festivals to buy, sell, meet and greet. The festivals are a profitable avenue for the cowboy stars—and their descendants. Howard estimates that Roy Rogers’s granddaughter earned $2,000 through two afternoons of selling autographed photographs of her grandfather.

The most unique piece of Howard’s collection, however, is worth much more than that. A signed movie poster of Roy Rogers’s first film, Under Western Stars, is worth $16,000. Other pieces of Howard’s collection are worth as much as $25,000. Is it hard, then, for him to let go of such rare and valuable pieces of memorabilia?

No.

Howard has learned to keep pieces in his possession for a period of time before putting them up for sale. Then, once it comes time to sell them, it is no longer hard to sell them because he feels that he has already owned them. After all, he has to make a living.

Then again, as long as he’s got the clothes on his back, a gift from a dear personal friend, he’ll always be a very rich man indeed.

Amish Entrepreneur Constructs Fine Furniture

by Dylan Scott

Abie Trowler sits at his desk and surveys the work of his hands, laid before him. Rocking chairs. Bed frames. A cabinet with three mirrors and six drawers. All carved from white pine or cedar. Stacks of logs fill an airy warehouse behind the showroom.

This is Abie’s place, Hidden View Rustic Log Furniture, planted next to his parents’ Hidden View Bakery on a winding gravel road off State Route 325 near Vinton. Follow the little white signs or you will get lost.

He is lead craftsman, manager and CEO. Hands folded together, his beard draws to a little finer point when he laughs – and he often does describing his days drawing up new designs for his new business.

Abie, who is 28, and his family of seven moved down from the Pennsylvania-New York border a few years ago for the “warmer weather,” he says with a grin. His parents and seven sisters, all one big Amish family, came along.

His father, Sam, had heard talk among their people that log furniture was profitable enterprise. As Abie grew up, it seemed like a natural means for him to provide for his family. “As far as working for a living, there is nothing better,” he says. “It’s amazing to see what you draw become something in real life.”

So, in December 2008, Abie opened Hidden View. Business was slow at first, but he expected that, and the patience has been rewarded. Out of at least 30 pieces sitting in his showroom, only five are actually for sale. The rest were ordered. He has sold furniture to wholesale companies in West Virginia and Kentucky, but Abie is now finding most of his patrons in Gallia County.

They could leave with a whole new house. Abie can construct anything and everything, with his nimble hands and some help from three of his sisters.

The timber travels down from northern Michigan or even Canada, if possible. The further north the better, Abie says. Wood grown in colder climates matures at a slower pace, which tightens the grains and makes the furniture sturdier.

Then, he saws, sands and trims the logs down to the posts and planks he needs for anything from a queen-sized bed to a night stand to a porch swing. The orders depend on the season, Abie says. Customers can check out the showroom for ideas or Abie takes requests. If you’re interested in working some designs into your bed’s headstand, he sends those pieces up to “an English person” – that’s you or I – in Chillicothe with the equipment and skills for that. His parents also work a weaving machine to turn loose yarn into area rugs.

It is a family venture, and Abie clearly loves his work. He shows off the warehouse and workroom like a proud father, but takes little credit for his own talents. I guess he knows actions speak louder than words.

Historic family farm gaining recognition for handmade cheese

by Jaclyn Lipp

For Al Scheiderer, running the Buckeye Grove Farm is more than a job. It’s a way to spend time outdoors doing what he loves and improve a business that’s been owned by his family since 1867. Taking care of a herd of Jersey cows and producing milk and award-winning farmstead-artisan cheese are all part of a day’s work.

The farm has been passed down through five generations. Al earned his associate’s degree in dairy science and took control of the operation when his sister wasn’t able to take over and his brother was dealing with health problems.

“Each family member just keeps doing more and more to keep the farm going,” Al says. “It’s always changing.”

Al’s parents started the cheese-making part of the business in 2004 just a few short years before they moved to Kentucky and handed the farm over to Al in 2007. He and his wife Renee had to play quick catch-up to learn about cheese making, and now share the work on the farm.

The farm produces four types of cheese by hand from Buckeye Grove Farm ‘s own milk. The Dixie Swiss, Boeren Kaas Gouda and Hill Folk Jersey cheeses earned the farm medals in the 2009 North American Jersey Cheese Awards. They also produce a Jersey Emment variety.

“We’re pretty surprised. Everyone keeps saying Wisconsin makes the best cheese,” Al says with a chuckle. “We were the only ones eligible in Ohio and we brought back three awards. We beat out Wisconsin and that feels pretty good.”

The Scheiderers have been invited to the World Jersey Cheese Awards this year on the Island of Jersey in the British Channel and are working out the best way to ship the cheese overseas.

Their four-year-old Emily is already trying to help her parents with the chores as she’s growing up on the farm, such as going to the cheese house or tagging along to sell the cheese at the market.

“Every day in the barn is a new story and experiences with Emily,” Al says. The Scheiderers document many of those moments in their blog, along with updating their Web and social networking sites weekly for customers.

Part of what makes their farm and how they run the business notable is their care of the herd, which has been certified disease-free. Al says they even do 90 percent of the vet work themselves, including IVs and birthing.

Al and Renee enjoy taking care of different parts of the farm. He loves making hay in the summer and Renee likes to go to the farmers’ market on Saturdays and meet customers.

“The most rewarding part is just being able to go out and be your own boss,” Al says. “I can get on my tractor and enjoy the whole day outside. Renee can spend the day with our little girl and go on a nature walk.”

Al still likes to keep the business family oriented, because as he says, “It takes a family to run a farm.”

Belpre couple shares wine-making enthusiasm through retirement project

by Katherine Bercik

Unicorn Wine Guild isn’t your typical winery. Rows of luscious grape vines do not snake along a curvy hillside. Large wooden barrels do not gather dust in a barn, shimmering in golden sunlight. Unicorn Wine Guide is an urban winery instead, evoking an ambiance relative to a coffee shop like Starbucks.

The winery provides a quiet and relaxed atmosphere, says Barbara Whitaker, who owns the winery with her husband Joel. In addition to serving wine, Unicorn Wine Guild offers tea, coffee, snacks and gift baskets.

Joel and Barbara started to make wine in their bathtub after receiving a wine-making kit as a Christmas gift from their nephew several years ago. What started out as a hobby became a business plan for when the couple retires from their current jobs (Joel is a dentist and Barbara a nurse anesthetist). As two years’ planning elapsed, the winery opened in March 2009 in Belpre’s Washington Square.

Belpre, which is home to around 7,000 people in Washington County, is not the most anticipated location for a winery, especially since Belpre has been a “dry city” since Prohibition. Apart from a few letters appearing in the local newspaper, however, the winery has not met much resentment from the community. Barbara modestly says that Unicorn Wine Guild isn’t the first winery to open in a “dry city.”

Joel and Barbara produce the wine on the store’s premises by using juices made from all over the world. While the store’s location and city regulations do not make it feasible for the couple to grow and stomp their own grapes, Joel says they make quality wine by being able to pick and choose the juices they use. He says, “You can’t make a great wine [if you have] bad grapes.”

The winery currently offers 29 wines that fit several occasions and moods. Holiday Delight, Shamrock and Midnight Magic are some of the most popular choices among customers, but Joel finds it difficult to pick a favorite wine.

The winery already hosts a few club meetings, but Joel and Barbara are in the process of constructing a conference room so they can accommodate a larger crowd, with the hopes of being able to host wine-making demonstrations and to share in their enthusiasm. The couple’s plans for the winery are far from complete.

But like every great wine, Joel says. The winery can only get better with time.

Self-Taught Chef Keeps Food Close to Home

by Libby Brandt

Just outside of McArthur and off County Road 25, lies a magnificent brick estate at the bottom of a winding driveway. Inside this lovely home, Chef Mary Reynolds fuels her passion for cooking by dreaming up and creating delicious homemade recipes for her dinner club, Flutes & Peppercorns.

The large manor is both a place of business and home for Chef Mary, owner and only chef of Flutes & Peppercorns. Mary is a self-taught chef whose family recipes have been her motivation in sharing her talent with others since her father first taught her to make pies at the age of 10. Since that time, she has been experimenting and perfecting her many family recipes, making everything from scratch.

In fact, Chef Mary’s signature feature of her cooking is that it is truly made from scratch. Whether she’s making her delicious pies (which are locally famous) or creating entire event menus, everything, right down to her vanilla extract, is made locally or by her own hand.

Chef Mary always knew she would someday share her gift with the world. Even when she spent most of her time helping her late first husband’s dairy farm, cooking was still an essential part of her life. Mary’s passion for food and entertaining fueled the loving endeavor that has become Flutes & Peppercorns.

Mary, who specializes in country-style gourmet cooking, places a huge emphasize on the relationship between the food we eat and the farms that produce it. All of the items she cooks come from the Athens Farmer’s Market. This, she believes, is what sets Flutes & Peppercorns apart from other dining experiences. Mary says that people these days just aren’t thinking outside the box when it comes to food. “What I want,” she says, “is for people to get out of the box and back into the garden.”

And that’s exactly what she is working to do with her Farm to Table dinners beginning this June. The summertime Farm to Table dinners will give patrons the opportunity to dine upon locally grown and raised foods with the very people who produced it.

Even the atmosphere of her home, owing itself in large part to the woods surrounding the property, enhances the relationship between nature and how we consume it. Chef Mary handpicked Flutes & Peppercorns’ décor to augment its woodland backdrop. Even the log over her mantle was taken right from the woods in her own backyard. “I just love bringing the outdoors inside.” Mary says. She also emphasizes the relaxed, calm nature of the home with live Native American flutists, which is where part of the name Flutes & Peppercorns is derived.

Initially set to open April 1, 2009, the business experienced several setbacks due to problems with building codes and permits. Finally, after eight months of struggle and modifications, Flutes &Peppercorns officially opened for business on December 1.

Mary’s dream to share her gift for making delicious food has evolved beyond childhood fantasies and adult wistfulness. She is a real chef, with a thriving business that represents who she is and her cooking philosophy.