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!”

Exploring Barkcamp State Park

by Sarah Binning

Mother Nature apparently did not get the memo. Unseasonably chilly weather is cooping us inside. Despite the fact it is only October, cabin fever is setting in already and I need to get outside. Unable to afford any of the expensive remedies to cabin fever (like going to a museum or seeing a movie), I pack a light backpack and head to Barkcamp State Park.

Conveniently located a few miles off I-70 in Belmont, nature beckons all to hike in the quiet hills of Barkcamp. Standing in the park’s overlook, I see peaks of autumn color beginning to emerge from the treetops. I begin my adventure with a simple half-mile hike from the overlook to the camp’s beach.

The weather is brisk, but welcoming. Within a matter of minutes I am lost in the excitement in my friend’s voice as he teaches me how to identify trees. He scoops a fallen leaf from the path, “This is a red maple leaf. Know how you can tell?” He draws my attention to the small, sharp teethed ridge of the leaf.

The sun dances through the trees as we continue the trail. “Oh, here we go. Smell this,” Bryan says as he plucks an overhanging leaf. I raise my eyebrow. “No trust me, you’ll like it.”

He rubs the top of the leaf, surfacing the plant’s oils so I can inhale the sweet, fruity scent of sassafras.

I am not sure which is more satisfying, my taking the time to learn and enjoy nature or the fact I am doing it for free. Other than the cost of gas, I spent nothing for an entire day of activities.

With Ohio’s unemployment rate reaching 10.8 percent in August, it’s no wonder why families are turning to Barkcamp for vacations and getaways.

For overnight excursions, families pay a small fee to camp on the grounds. “The economy is bringing more campers,” Park Officer Dave Casasanta says. April through October, regular camping costs $20 per night, about the fourth of a cheap motel cost.

Camping is available year round, even in the dead of winter. Prices drop to only $18 per night during off-seasons. “We’ve even had families who have camped here for Thanksgiving. More people are starting to come for Christmas Eve and Christmas,” Casasanta says.

Camping in winter? Who could be so crazy? Yet despite how absurd it sounds, the park offers special seasonal activities to entice late fall and winter visitors.

In addition to seasonal hunting, guests can take advantage of the archery range. Many guests also use the multipurpose trail for horseback riding. Once snow hits the trails, guests are welcome to use the 24-mile path for snowmobiling and cross-country skiing.

I can hardly wait for Belmont Lake to freeze. My ice skates are sitting in my closet, as I eagerly wait to return to Barkcamp and test my talents on solid ice. Who knows, while I’m there maybe I’ll try my hand at ice fishing too.