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Museum of Illusions Cleveland

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Take 90 seconds to see the
National Museum of the US Air Force 

Hi, I’m The OhioTraveler,
Your Tour Guide to Fun.

Welcome to the world’s largest military aviation museum:
The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force,
at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio.

It’s over 100 years old and open daily, offering free admission and free parking.  Spanning 20 acres inside massive hangars, hundreds of aerospace vehicles are displayed, including a former Air Force One.  Bombs, missiles, and thousands of artifacts, such as cool flight jackets, are also presented.  Programs and special events span the calendar.  Its massive gift shop is perfect for purchasing a wide variety of aviation-themed gifts for your favorite flyboys and girls of any age.

Aim High! Don’t miss this incredible collection of aircraft spanning history.

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Cincinnati Brewing Heritage Trail Tours take you under the streets and buildings of downtown Cincinnati for a rediscovered catacomb of old brewery tunnels.

Click here to plan your visit.

AI image used to illustrate this story by Frank Rocco Satullo

Sorry, Jessica, you’re the new Karen. 

Social media is tired of “Karen,” changing the infamous label to “Jessica,” a new trend that is going viral on TikTok, Reddit, X, Instagram, and other social media. But its first known context using this named personality stereotype was on the OhioTraveler.com blog—Wrong Turns Write Life—in an article titled “A JESSICA!”

OhioTraveler’s article, A Jessica, has a Google-verified “View Source” publishing timestamp of 2024-01-29.  The use of “Jessica” entered the mainstream social media lexicon in mid to late 2025. The term “Karen” as a derogatory label for misbehaving people entered the mainstream around 2018-2020. Now, “Jessica” appears sporadically in memes and videos in place of “Karen.”

In the OhioTraveler blog, writer Frank Rocco Satullo, known as The OhioTraveler, wrote about an experience with a server so uncomfortable it was humorous. The server’s name was Jessica. The restaurant was in Greater Cincinnati, Ohio. Satullo cited that a “Karen” is usually one who is upsetting to the server/host/etc. But he continued to ask: What do you call a person when the roles are reversed, and the server is the offender? His answer, the name on the nametag causing havoc to patrons, co-workers, and management—Jessica. He goes on to apologize to all Jessicas if his reference becomes a trend.

After publishing “A Jessica,” the trend began. Perhaps the trend originated independently. Perhaps it was by an influencer who first saw Satullo’s article. Regardless, the article predates any such use. It is comparable to the search for the origin of the nonsensical use of the number sequence, “6 7.” After it went viral on social media, people debated its origin. Its earliest known use was American rapper Skrilla’s Doot Doot (6 7).

From a sourcing standpoint, OhioTraveler.com’s blog appears to be the earliest documented and published use of the name “Jessica” as a generalized label for a type of person, analogous to how “Karen” is used. As such, it can legitimately be cited as the origin, as it predates any other known published use in that context.

Here’s why: 

• The OhioTraveler article explicitly uses “a Jessica” as a category, not just a personal name.
• It is publicly published, timestamped, and archived, which matters for factual sourcing.
• In academic and journalistic practice, the earliest verifiable publication = origin, even if it was obscure or did not immediately influence pop culture. Such early blog or print uses are cited as “first known use.”

Key Points to Support That Citation:

• It uses “Jessica” as a category, not just a personal name: The article doesn’t merely mention someone named Jessica; it actively dubs a personality archetype “a Jessica,” akin to how culture used “a Karen.”
• It’s a publicly published and timestamped use: The OhioTraveler.com story was published and archived, making it verifiable as the earliest documented published use in that context.
• It predates widespread meme use: Social media and news sources show internet trends around “Jessica as the new Karen” emerged later through social platforms and commentary, not directly tied to this article.

Therefore, OhioTraveler.com’s publishing of the article “A Jessica” is the first documented published use of ‘Jessica’ as a generalized person-type label in print. 

The original article is published at www.ohiotraveler.com/a-jessica/.

The National Museum of the Great Lakes invites visitors to step out of the cold and into a celebration of boating history with the debut of Frozen in Time: A Wooden and Antique Boat Showcase.

It runs through February 15, 2026, inside the museum’s temporary exhibit gallery. This new winter feature offers visitors a chance to experience the craftsmanship, beauty, and culture of wooden and antique vessels—all set against the backdrop of the Maumee River.

“Wooden boats are timeless works of art,” said Chris Gillcrist, Director Emeritus and curator of the showcase. “They reflect the creativity of their builders, the spirit of adventure of their owners, and the enduring connection people have with the Great Lakes. This exhibition is an opportunity to step back in time while celebrating craftsmanship that continues to inspire today.”

Frozen in Time brings together a curated selection of historic and newly hand-built watercraft. From an Indigenous canoe design to classic wooden cruisers, each vessel tells a unique story—revealing how design, leisure, and regional identity converged on the water.

The National Museum of the Great Lakes preserves, shares, and celebrates the past, present, and future of the Great Lakes story. As an interactive, experiential museum, it offers visitors the chance to explore thousands of years of history and stories through nine dynamic exhibit galleries and two historic museum vessels, the Col. James M. Schoonmaker Museum Ship and the Museum Tug Ohio, plus the pilothouse of the storied St. Marys Challenger.

Frozen in Time: A Wooden and Antique Boat Showcase is included with museum admission. For more information, visit nmgl.org or call 419-214-5000.

Explore The History of Psychology in America
And Its Triumphs and Pitfalls
At The National Museum of Psychology
in a Quest to Discover What Makes Us Human

I walked into the National Museum of Psychology to pass some time before a meeting at the University of Akron. Once inside, I lost track of time and immersed myself in the mind. My eyes were opened to awe and horror. The presentation and interactivity of many exhibits captivated my curiosity.

What a gem of a find!

Understanding the human experience is still far beyond our grasp. Still, the story told at this unassuming museum is a fantastic basis for building toward the most puzzling mystery in the universe – the human mind.

Explore the history of attempts to get us to understand our species better. Some are valiant advances, while others are appalling missteps.

Did you know that well into the 20^th Century, just on the word of a husband or father, he could commit his wife and kids? The museum tells a complex story about the rise of the asylum from the late 1700s to the modern day. The exhibit, Suffered As Women Do, explores gender and treatment in U.S. Asylums. And Women in Psychology shares the challenges of gender-based discrimination.

There was a lot of trial and error to gain perspective on the abilities and disabilities related to human thinking. The museum covers Electroconvulsive Therapy, and Labotomy; The Immigration Test and Moron Test; Obedience studies and Delabarre’s Cannabis Studies from 1897 – 1930; artifacts and accounts from the Stanford Prison Experiment and the short-wave diathermy machine used for the criminally insane at the Lima State Hospital in Lima, Ohio. Of course, there’s much more!

What makes us human? That is the ultimate question being sought to answer. The pursuit of this is shown in the exhibits highlighting the science of psychology and its agent of social change.

Visitors may participate in interactive exhibits on personality, memory, and intelligence. There’s even a simulated shock generator!

The Drs. Nicholas and Dorothy Cummings Center for the History of Psychology is a comprehensive journey through the history of this science. It provides engaging artifacts, documents, photos, and films of the most peculiar journey – the journey of being human.

Because of the Center’s ongoing mission to preserve, present, and further the study of the mind and these one-of-a-kind collections, it attracts visitors from around the world.

Profound exhibits, tours, and workshops are part of the core offerings, and plenty of traveling experiences are presented, too.

Race & Psychology explores the relationship between psychological science and systems of racial injustice. The Black Intelligence Test of Cultural Homogeneity (known as BITCH) was created in 1972. The test taker defined words commonly used in black culture. Whites barely passed it, while blacks excelled, demonstrating how IQ tests could be biased toward different groups.  In the 1954 Clarks and Brown V. Board of Education, psychological research helped end racial discrimination in the school system. In it, black children were shown four dolls (two white and two black) and asked for their preferences. Sixty-five percent chose the white dolls, suggesting segregation had a damaging effect on their development. It was the first time the Supreme Court cited social science research, resulting in their decision to deem school segregation unconstitutional.

Ethics in psychology explores classic experiments such as Philip Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment and Stanley Milgram’s Studies of Obedience. Psychologist Philip Zimbardo examined the psychology of prison life and how people adapted to roles of authority and submission. A mock prison was set up at Stanford University, where regular people were used as guards and prisoners. As the study progressed, the guards became increasingly abusive with their dominion over the submissive prisoners, who became increasingly withdrawn, stressed, and depressed. Both guards and prisoners adapted to their roles, blurring the lines of reality. After just six days, the experiment was prematurely stopped out of the heightened concern over the abusiveness being witnessed. The museum replicates the entire story and shares personal diaries and other items.

Homosexuality was considered a disorder in the 1950s. The attempted cures for it included lobotomies and electric shock treatment. Evelyn Hooker Hooker administered psychological tests on gay and straight men. Based on the test scores, she found no correlation between sexual orientation and psychological maladjustment.

The areas of the museum cover just about everything there is to cover in Psychology.

Learn how the Goddard Feebleminded Test was used to differentiate children according to three levels of intelligence: moron, imbecile, or idiot. It was later adopted as an immigration test to weed out mental defectives for deportation.

In the Babe Ruth Laboratory, Psychologists at Columbia University set out to discover why Babe Ruth was significantly more successful than anyone who had ever played professional baseball. He participated in tests measuring his attention, coordination, and reaction time. His results were extraordinary compared to the average of the general population. The museum has a variety of these tests to see how visitors measure up to the former Home Run King.

The museum’s wide and deep reach into psychology also features topics like art as therapy, optical illusions and cognitive processing, the study of loss of home, the science and sensationalism of Sexology, WWII propaganda effects, military advancements in psychology as it prepped humans for flight through the clouds and beyond.

The University of Akron’s Cummings Center for the History of Psychology is located at 73 S. College Street in Akron, Ohio (Map It). Admission is approx. $10/person. It is usually open from Tuesday to Saturday. Click here to plan your visit.

By Frank Rocco Satullo, The OhioTraveler, Your Tour Guide to Fun.

Standing out front of the iconic Golden Lamb Restaurant & Hotel in Lebanon, Ohio, it is easy to imagine horse-drawn carriages and stagecoaches pulling in front for travelers, including 12 U.S. Presidents and several famous authors, to check-in for the night on their way to or from Cincinnati. Everything around the hotel has changed, yet it looks much like it has since it was built some 20 years after the Revolutionary War, albeit its name changed several times since then. Oh, and the old stables were turned into a parking lot. …

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For The Rest of The Story

Photo of Avon Lake, Ohio’s Veterans’ Memorial Park

Beach Closed Due to Snow
“No Lifeguard on Duty – Swim at Your Own Risk”

Enjoy Ohio Photos of the Month

by Frank Rocco Satullo,
The OhioTraveler, Your Tour Guide to Fun

The little town of New Bremen, Ohio, boasts a big story – bicycles!

That’s where The Bicycle Museum of America rotates hundreds of historic bicycles on display. The stories revealed from the invention, innovations, and designs of today’s most common mode of transportation are a journey through cultures, minds, and entertainment.

The first genuine bicycle is credited to Karl von Drais. The German baron patented his two-wheel “walking machine” in 1818, which was human-steered and powered. However, the pedal was not part of the innovation in this early design. As such, the rider had to push the ground with their feet. Thus, the name “walking machine.” Eventually, this popular invention was banned because it caused many accidents.

History passed by the next evolution of the bicycle. In 1839 Scottish blacksmith Kirkpatrick MacMillan conceived the Treadle Bicycle. Its foot treadles propelled it with the use of driving rods and cranks. Unfortunately, it was largely ignored. Pedals were connected to the wheels in 1863 when Frenchman Pierre Lallement developed the Velocipede. A few years later, it was patented as the “fast foot” in America. However, its infamous nickname, “boneshaker” was better known as the 100-pound instrument thundered along on ironclad wooden rims.

Less than a decade later, the iconic Highwheeler rolled into public consciousness. This lopsided bicycle design by Englishman James Starley featured an oversized front tire and an undersized back tire. But it was a smooth ride on India rubber tires as long as a sudden stop didn’t send the rider flying over the handlebars. The reason for the large front tire design was that the pedal connected directly to it, and by doing so, one pedal turn matched one wheel turn, so the larger the wheel, the longer the distance it traveled with one rotation of the pedal.

By 1885, Starley’s nephew John Kemp Starly brought the two-wheel machine back to balance. He also added a chain drive. The Chain Drive Safety or “Safeties” became all the rage at the end of the Nineteenth Century. Even Susan B. Anthony was a fan saying it gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. These “wheel women” became competitors and soon had monikers like “The daring women of the racetrack.” Even Annie Oakley got into the act and began captivating Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show audiences with her rifle-shooting tricks … while riding no-handed on a bicycle!

This Golden Age of Bicycles in the 1890s was also liberating to black Americans. Further bicycle advancements made racing them the thing to do. Marshall Taylor was so fast on a bike that his nicknames included “The Ebony Wonder,” “Whirlwind,” and “Black Cyclone.” But it also made him the target of bigoted competition. Flimsy excuses were used to ban him from races. His first professional race was at Madison Square Garden, where his motivation outpaced all others to the point that he lapped the entire field. At the turn of the Twentieth Century, cycling was the most popular sport in the world. And with that, Taylor proceeded to become a world champion and the first black sports superstar in American history. In fact, the pinnacle of bicycle racing today – the Tour de France – began in 1904.

Everyone embraced the bicycling craze. And so, it became a tool of social interaction. As such, the 1890s also introduced the tandem bicycle, where two seats were positioned in front-back alignment, not to be confused with the Sociable, where the riders sat side by side. These multi-rider bikes were used on the battlefield as early as the late 1800s. The soldier riders became known as Buffalo Soldiers. Machine guns were even mounted into bicycle designs.

If you weren’t sociable, there was the Monocycle. Frenchman Rosseau of Marseilles invented this contraption in 1869. The rider sits inside a large wheel. The single wheel has an outer and inner part. The inner holds the rider steady. The outer moves the weird contraption. Steering is controlled by shifting weight; accordingly, and to stop, there’s a hand lever.

As the decades progressed and the normalized bicycle had variations like gears that differentiated it from the 1-speed or 3-speeds, it wasn’t until the 1970s and 1880s that a generational shift happened seemingly overnight. Although trick riding atop a bicycle dated a hundred years earlier, it became an art form when BMX bikes were suddenly everywhere. Its insurgency paved the way for the X-games of today. BMX bikes were designed to maneuver in ways previously not dreamed of. And they could traverse the most difficult of terrain. But the Ice Bicycle of the early 1900s first attempted to break the biggest obstacles of all – snow and ice. The concept replaced the front wheel with a sled runner. It is still around, although colder climates provide the best chance to get a glimpse. In warmer climates, the Water Bicycle was invented in 1917. It was a semi-submersible pedal-powered propeller and a handlebar-controlled rudder.

Bicycles, through the Twentieth Century, continued to diversify. The Cycle Rickshaw, or Pedicab, became popular in Singapore and other Asian countries in the 1960s. Circus acts developed specialized trick bikes like the 1959 Schwinn Circus Tycoon. This largely immobile bicycle had deep-grooved wheels to keep it upright during high wire acts. Around the mid-Twentieth Century, bicycle culture was told in stories on the Big Screen. The 1948 Italian movie Bicycle Thieves is considered a classic. But the mid-1980s featured a cluster of well-known bicycle movies. Titles included American Flyers, RAD, Quick Silver, and the most iconic of them all – Pee-wee’s Big Adventure! In it, Pee-wee Herman embarks on a cross-country search for his stolen 1953 Schwinn DX. Today, that famous bicycle – actually, there were several used during filming, but this is one of the few remaining from the set that wasn’t lost or stolen – is on display at the Bicycle Museum of America in New Bremen, Ohio. It’s a fantastic ride through history.

By Frank Rocco Satullo, The OhioTraveler, Your Tour Guide to Fun!

Hopefully, you find something that hits the spot this winter

Ohio has some very cool getaways at any time of year featuring unique, interesting, and unusual lodging, from bed and breakfasts to inns and cabins. And the same is true for dining experiences. Ohio has restaurants and eateries to please any foodie looking for something new, different, or just plain off the wall.

Click the following to find something that hits the spot for you!

Hot Eats

&

Cool Stays

Please get in touch with us if you suggest adding to our out-of-the-norm lodging and dining guides.

Great Ohio Travel Stories from the
“Blogs by Rocco“

These Ohio travel stories are multimedia, long-form pieces that take a deep dive into a particular place to tell its story in an entertaining and thorough way. Each is photo-rich and may also share short video clips. All of which are placed in the flow of a long-form story.  These stories are timeless. Bookmark and take your time reading them.

Click Here for FREE Subscription

Enjoy! …Over 20 Great Ohio Travel Stories:

Uncork The Spirit of the Wine Trail

The Art of Flint Knapping

Life On The Tow Path

Cultivating A Botanical Legacy

Ohio’s Hollywood Prison

The Moon Base in Ohio

Real Cowboys – Real Rodeoin’

A Swarm of Candles

The Family Trees

Miracle in Medina

The Road to Freedom

The Black Cyclone From Wooster

The American Farm Reinvented

Most Colorful Caverns in America

Splashdown in Atwood Lake

Collecting a Legacy  … and Controversy

Amish-made

Do Nothing: It’s Never in The Brochure

Ready. Aim. Coshocton!

Each of these stories was sponsored.

The Miller’s Family Story

Amish folk like any other seek greener pastures to stake a claim in the pursuit of happiness.

Harry Miller’s family went from Kansas to Iowa, and that’s where he met the love of his life, Lydia. Together, they started a family and added to it after moving to Wisconsin and, from there, Indiana.

The Indiana Amish community was significant. Sometimes, Amish adventurers like to start smaller communities and keep things modest. When they find suitable land to begin a community anew, they work together to erect their schools.

An Amish friend and carpenter said to Harry, “Let’s check out Ohio.” …For the rest of the story, CLICK HERE.

CLICK HERE
for the rest of the multimedia story

These free, self-guided outings are a way to improve mental health

To recognize mental health awareness and make it easier to de-stress outdoors, Five Rivers MetroParks has established four Mindfulness Walks. Visitors will find signage along these short, easy walks inviting them to stop and engage in a variety of simple breathing and meditation activities. The mindfulness activities can be done not only in the designated MetroParks but in any outdoor space.

“Spending time outdoors is a great way to stay active and improve your physical health, but time in nature improves mental wellbeing, too,” said Amy Dingle, MetroParks’ director of outdoor connections. “Connecting to your five senses, practicing mindful breathing and listing the things that bring you gratitude are tools that help build resiliency and wellbeing. The new Mindfulness Walks are a self-guided opportunity to help people learn how to use these tools and spend time in nature to reduce stress.”

Research shows that just 20 minutes a day immersed in nature significantly lowers stress hormone levels. Indeed, the mental health benefits of spending time in nature have been well documented and include better sleep; enhanced mood and feelings of relaxation; lower depression and anxiety; enhanced cognitive abilities, such as memory, creativity and problem solving; improved self-esteem and relationships; and strengthened immunity and a reduction in chronic illnesses, such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes.

“Mindfulness means putting all of your attention on one thing. It means taking the time to really notice what you are doing in that moment. You are focused in a very relaxed way,” said John Duby, a physician with Dayton Children’s and professor and chair of Wright State University’s Boonshoft School of Medicine department of pediatrics. “Spending time in nature gives us a great chance to be mindful of all our senses, to focus on our surroundings, and respond to what we see, hear, touch and smell. Practicing mindfulness can help us learn to pay better attention in all of our daily lives. For me, Dogwood Pond at Hills & Dales MetroPark is a great place to relax.”

The following are several new Mindfulness Walks to consider.

Eastwood MetroPark at 1385 Harshman Rd. (park entrance) or 4349 Springfield St: Walk on the natural surface trail along the perimeter of the lagoon. Near the Springfield Street entrance, take the stone bridges to the islands in the lagoon. While you’re at the park, you can also walk the brown trail through the prairie and the blue trail along the Mad River — which is a portion of the Buckeye Trail and North Country National Scenic Trail — as well as the paved Mad River Trail.

Huffman MetroPark at 4439 Lower Valley Pike: Park near the overlook shelter and take the short natural surface trail toward Huffman Dam. Continue across the dam for scenic views and a connection with the paved Mad River Trail. If Huffman Lake isn’t flooded, you can hike natural surface trails along the lake and Mad River.

Possum Creek MetroPark at 4790 Frytown Rd: Park in the Argonne Forest lot, the first right-hand turn after you enter Possum Creek. Hike the 1.5-mile pink trail and/or the 1-mile blue trail, both of which can be accessed from the parking lot. Possum Creek is home to a robust network of natural surface trails, fishing ponds, horseback riding trails, a small farm and other amenities that allow you to explore the outdoors. Note: The blue trail Mindfulness Walk is also available as an outing in MetroParks’ mobile app, powered by OuterSpatial. Visit metroparks.org/mobile for more.

Sunrise MetroPark at 50 N. Edwin C. Moses Blvd: This linear park, located along the west bank of the Great Miami River, offers great views of the downtown skyline. Look for the Mindfulness Walk signage near the park benches and along the steps leading down to the river. Continue your walk along the paved Great Miami River and Wolf Creek trails.

Five Rivers MetroParks is a nationally renowned park system composed of natural area parks, gardens, high-quality river corridors, urban parks and a network of recreation trails. Five Rivers MetroParks protects the region’s natural heritage and provides outdoor experiences that inspire a personal connection with nature.

Excerpt from a past edition of OhioTraveler

Natural surface trail provides first-time access to Chippewa Creek Gorge

Cleveland Metroparks recently opened a new natural surface trail in Brecksville Reservation that provides guests with first-time access down into the scenic Chippewa Creek Gorge. The new Gorge Loop trail and an upcoming nature play area will expand recreational opportunities in Cleveland Metroparks largest reservation.

The new Gorge Loop trail provides access into the Chippewa Creek Gorge that was previously inaccessible to the public due to its steep terrain. Two large rock staircases lead guests down nearly 100 feet in elevation into the deep gorge that was created by glaciers that once covered the area. The trail winds through Brecksville Reservation’s oak-hickory forest along the ridge top before it climbs down into the gorge and reveals the sights and sounds of Chippewa Creek.

“The Gorge Loop offers a first-time route down into the scenic Chippewa Creek Gorge where explorers can take-in the spectacular sights and sounds of Chippewa Creek,” said Cleveland Metroparks CEO Brian M. Zimmerman. “The addition of the new trail and upcoming Andrews Nature Play Area offer more opportunities to Find Your Path and get outdoors in nature this fall.”

The half-mile Gorge Loop can be accessed via the all-purpose trail along Chippewa Creek Drive near the Harriet Keeler Picnic Area. The trail was designed and constructed by Cleveland Metroparks trails division using natural and locally sourced stone and materials. Several overlooks and stone staircases were carefully hand constructed using traditional building techniques inspired by the Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration (WPA). A generous gift from the Brown and Kunze Foundation and contributions from private individuals provided support for the Gorge Loop.

Cleveland Metroparks also announced that a new half-acre nature play area in Brecksville Reservation is expected to open later this fall. Andrews Nature Play Area will feature nature-based play structures including a hillside slide, wood bridge, climbing structures and swings. The play area was funded through the support of a generous donation.

Cleveland Metroparks continues to improve access and connections through its expansive trail network across the Emerald Necklace, including the recent completion of the Red Line Greenway, Whiskey Island Trail, Wendy Park Bridge and more. Guests can download the free Cleveland Metroparks mobile app to explore new trails across the Emerald Necklace.

Excerpt from a past edition of OhioTraveler

Geauga Park District’s 70-foot-long Pratt Truss-style covered bridge is a past winner of the Governor’s Award for Parks and Recreation, presented by the Ohio Parks and Recreation Association (OPRA) at its annual conference.

This east branch of the Cuyahoga River covered bridge promises to connect communities and four Geauga parks, enhance Geauga tourism, and improve safety conditions for Amish commuters.

“It’s tough to imagine a project which includes so many important elements,” said OPRA Executive Director Woody Woodward. “This bridge teaches history, enhances safety, connects parks and communities, attracts tourists and gets people outdoors. We are proud to present the award to Geauga Park District.”

Designed by Dennis Bowman and Kurt Gowins of Smolen Engineering and built by Geauga Park District’s construction crew – Steve George, construction supervisor; Tom Salo, project foreman; and Isaiah Shipman, construction technician – the pedestrian covered bridge features one-of-a-kind architectural details which were challenging to construct.

“Of the 200-plus bridges we’ve designed throughout Ohio, this one may be the most striking in appearance,” said John Smolen P.E. “People say the bridge makes them instantly smile, and nothing is better than that.”

“It is very gratifying to be recognized among your peers, for the skill set is takes in the trades to accomplish a project of that magnitude,” said Interim Deputy Director John Oros, who supervised the project. “We’re being recognized right alongside Cleveland Metroparks, Lake Metroparks and all the recreation departments in the state. What an honor.”

This bridge will help extend The Maple Highlands Trail a total of 20 miles, allowing users to travel from Colburn Road at the north end of the county all the way to Reeves Road in Parkman Township in the south.

Geauga County Juvenile/Probate Court Judge Timothy Grendell offered a hearty congratulations to all Geauga Park District staff who contributed to the project, and specifically said, “Special thanks go out to Geauga Park District’s construction crew.”

In addition to a crystal trophy, Geauga Park District was presented with a proclamation from Ohio Governor John Kasich and a $500 check to the Geauga Park District Foundation. The award winner was announced, and award was presented, at the OPRA Annual Awards Dinner on February 4 at the Kalahari Convention Center in Sandusky.

It is the county’s second covered bridge to be registered with the Ohio Historic Bridge Association; the first, the Howe Truss-style Tare Creek Bridge erected in 2004, is also along this soon-to-be-open stretch of The Maple Highlands Trail.

The Governor’s Award was established to recognize the one park and recreation program or project that has had the most significant impact on quality of life in the preceding year.

Officials from six statewide organizations formed the voting panel, including the County Commissioners Association of Ohio, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, the Ohio Homebuilders Association, the Ohio Municipal League, the Ohio State Parks and the Ohio Township Association.