Organizations unite to end food deserts
Tootles Pumpkin Inn, Stockport Mill Inn and the ABC Players are all In Your Neighborhood
INSIDE: The poetic justice of Ohio Poet Laureate Kari Gunter-Seymour
Talking Points about opioid harm reduction with Project DAWN
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The toxic trade-offs of your local petrochemical (or coal) plant
As I entered into my role as Southeast Ohio Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief four months ago, I could never have pictured the astonishing issue that would come alive from our talented staff’s combined efforts. In every step of our production, I was floored by the keen eye and verve of our writers, photographers and videographers as they scoured southeastern Ohio for stories to enchant and inspire our readers. Looking was the easy part. All the weird and the wonderful parts that make up the region scream to be noticed. But what we found—the driven and daring people, the passionfilled projects and the sensational sceneries exceeded all expectations.
While we put this issue together, I began to notice that each story pointed back to the idea of making a home, regardless of who or where you are. Home could be a tavern, serving up burgers saturated in love (10). Home could be a theatre performance that encourages the audience to sit back or run wild (14).
Home could be an art exhibition with an ever-growing family of determined Appalachian women (18). Or home can be in the soil, providing nutrients to those that
Southeast Ohio strives to spotlight the culture and community within our 21-county region. The studentrun magazine aims to inform, entertain and inspire with stories that hit close to home.
Tessa Wien, Food Access Partners Coordinator at AAFN, reaches for a handful of fresh radishes, potatoes, and other vegetables during a distribution event on Tuesday, February 28, 2023, in Athens.
nurture it (24). Sometimes a home might need protection against environmental harm and advocates must fight hard to preserve it (36). Home could be a place of unabashed acceptance, where a drag queen wows her audience with dance, glitter and lined lips (46).
When I sought a home to chronicle the next chapters of my life, Southeast Ohio became mine. And so, it is with the utmost reverence for this place, its people, and the homes that they have so graciously shared with us, that I present this issue to you—enjoy.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Audrianna Wilde
MANAGING EDITOR
Erin Finan
DEPUTY EDITOR
Emma Skidmore
DEPARTMENT EDITORS
Savannah Okray, Lauren Serge, Tre Spencer, Taniah Stephens
SITE EDITORS
Jesse Jarrold-Grapes, Lauren Patterson
MULTIMEDIA EDITOR
Bryce Auster
SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR
Audrey McQuillan
WRITERS
Anna Birk, Joe Collins, Dori Gray, Jack Knudson, Kate Mauer, Liz Partsch, Carlie Reese
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Joe Timmerman
DESIGNERS
Carrie Legg, Malaya Tindongan, Zoe Touris
PHOTO EDITORS
Carrie Legg, Liz Partsch
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Joe Collins, Jesse Jarrold-Grapes, Carrie Legg, Liz Partsch, Joe Timmerman
– Audrianna Wilde, Editor-In-Chief
Facebook: Southeast Ohio Magazine
Instagram: @SEOhioMagazine
Twitter: @SEOhioMagazine
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FIND US ONLINE
southeastohiomagazine.com or scan this QR code to the right:
RESEARCH EDITOR
Hunter Mull
COPY CHIEF
Zoe Touris
FACULTY ADVISOR
Elizabeth Hendrickson
The Scene
4 Hold Your Horses at Ben’s Happy Trails Riding Stable and Campground
Behind the Bite
6 Portsmouth’s Donut Distillery is full of sweet surprises
10 Try some deep fried delights at Deep-Cut Tavern
11 Experience high spirits in Circleville
In Your Neighborhood
12 Stockport Inn offers a room with a view
14 ABC Players give a sense of place
Talking Points
16 Project DAWN offers an approach for recovery
What’s Your Story?
46 Chris Nevil’s glamorous turn as Kazma Knights
18 Rooted in Poetic Justice
Ohio Poet Laureate Kari Gunter-Seymour talks poetry, power and life after laureateship.
22 Appalachian Embodiment
A fine arts exhibition communicates the soul of Appalachian femininity through the power of art
24 On the Frontlines of Food Insecurity
Southeast Ohio organizations unite to provide fresh produce and end food deserts.
30 The Barn Artist
A man and his paintbrush gives new life to the past with murals in unexpected settings
36 The Price of Plastic
Petrochemicals plant their feet in Appalachian backyards (and rivers)
Cleaning Up Coal
40 As the Gavin Plant faces operational restrictions by the U.S. EPA, a decision looms in Cheshire
If you follow the meandering Big Spruce-Little Bear Creek Road long enough, you will find yourself transported back in time to a pioneer’s palace: Ben’s Happy Trails Riding Stable and Campground. A mock, old western saloon watches over the barns, stables and cabins that dot the property before disappearing into the neighboring woodland of Shawnee State Forest. The air is marked by the smell of manure, sweet hay and the loud bray of Spirit, a buckskin-colored stallion, fastened to a nearby post alongside a fleet of fellow Morgan horses.
After purchasing the 100-acre plot of land in 1986, “Old” Ben Thompson got to work crafting this cowboy’s corner. Now, the place is teeming with an impressive bunch of livestock and a pair of shimmering peacocks that are sure to delight guests of all ages. The 80-year-old has never been far from a four-hooved friend for too long, and soon after es-
tablishing his homey getaway, he was on the hunt for 35 horses and saddles with the intent to share his fondness for the animal with others. “I loved every horse I ever met,” Thompson says.
Today, Thompson provides guests with a one-ofa-kind experience, sending them off with a guide to trot along 60 miles of zig-zagging trails atop one of his gentle steeds. Thompson prides himself in helping visitors face their fears of riding and treasures the opportunity to meet so many people through his passion. “It’s just my life; I’ve enjoyed every bit of it,” Thompson says. When the riders return, a cozy home away from home awaits them where they can gather around a campfire and soak in the sounds of nature and a dazzling view of the stars.
Canter over to our website, www.southeastohiomagazine.com, to learn more about Thompson’s story.
One of the two blue-eyed horses that live at Ben’s Happy Trails stares over the fence. The young horse sisters share a paddock that they play with each other in. They are the only two blue-eyed horses on the farm.
Unlike most restaurants, mimosas are not reserved for brunchtime within the walls of Donut Distillery. Its “Boozie Menu” takes the tipsy tradition a step further with the Mimosa Pairing Flight, which couples the eatery’s titular features: donuts and alcohol.
Wife-and-husband duo Shauna and Todd McCoy founded the original Donut Distillery in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2017. Later, in June 2022, Portsmouth became home to the business’s first franchise location, co-owned by Mike Scott and Nate Hinze.
A close-up look at Donut Distillery’s strawberry lemonade donut in Portsmouth.
Photograph by Jesse Jarrold-Grapes
This partnership evolved after Scott’s previous business was shuttered due to COVID-19’s impact on small business everywhere. Then post-pandemic, Scott was introduced to the concept of Donut Distillery through Hinze, who described the ingenious enterprise owned by his family member,
“We decided to go down [to Nashville] one weekend and check it out and the atmosphere and just the draw,” Scott says. “The people loved it.”
The two teamed up to become franchisees of their own Donut Distillery, right in their hometown, Portsmouth. With the city being rebuilt and remodeled, the restaurant’s location felt right. In the past, downtown Portsmouth did not have many local restaurants, so its opening was welcomed.
Lisa Carver, executive director of the Portsmouth Area Chamber of Commerce, says there has been a lot of interest in remodeling the older buildings downtown, and there has been a surge of new businesses. Over the past 10 years, local ownership of buildings has surpassed out-of-town ownership.
Carver attributes part of the city’s growth to Portsmouth being a small town with a big-town feel. “Our people are one of our biggest assets,” she says.
For Scott, the most exciting part of the new business is providing something good for his community. “We have a wide variety of people come here, from kids to middle-aged to older, and everybody loves our products,” Scott says. “We do a lot of fundraisers, which helps a lot of schools and kids and stuff.”
Carver emphasizes the positive impact Donut Distillery’s fundraising partnerships and outreach have brought to the area.
“They’re a great community partner,” Carver says. “Donut Distillery has been a great addition to the downtown.”
On a typical, relaxed Sunday at the restaurant, a classic rock playlist keeps the energy upbeat. Neighborly staff moves about behind the glossy, turquoise-andblack-tiled counter that serves as the centerpiece of the restaurant.
Groovy, ’70s-inspired rainbow stripes dance along the rightmost wall, while a room to the left houses ruddy, exposed brick and games such as darts and Uno.
Though families stroll in and out of the establishment at their leisure, it is typically quite busy. Elishaa McKinley, a cashier and donut maker, says that between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. the day before, Donut Distillery sold 300 mini donuts.
“I like it, though,” McKinley says. “I like the rush.”
The restaurant offers 12 signature donut flavors, available in customizable packs of three, six, 12 and 25. Carefully decorated miniature donuts rest in a food basket, with flavors such as classic cinnamon sugar and “The Homer D’ohnut,” a pink-frosted donut topped with rainbow sprinkles. Whisky Glaze is the restaurant’s original flavor, made with genuine Tennessee whisky.
Donut Shots are also available, inspired by the restaurant’s core donut flavors. Served in shot glasses topped with the flavor’s corresponding mini donut, customers are given the best of both worlds with a dessert shot and donut chaser.
Scott and Hinze made the switch from serving solely sweet treats and inventive drinks to operating as a full restaurant in December 2022. Now, the menu ranges from Donut Distillery’s signature mini donuts to chicken wings and coffee cocktails.
“Everything’s hand-battered, everything’s fresh, so we don’t just buy a frozen chicken wing or tender and put it in the fryer,” Scott says.
Though the donuts are always a fan-favorite, he believes either the chicken tenders or sliders are the most popular menu items.
Portsmouth residents Don and Doris Simon are frequent patrons, and Doris was in attendance on opening day. “I was curious, because liquor and donuts didn’t sound like a thing to me,” Doris says. The Dreamsicle Shot and handmade boneless wings won her over.
The restaurant is often filled with a medley of customers seated and savoring the menu of assorted goods. On Friday or Saturday nights, folks can enjoy dinner and live music performances.
“I wish I had a better word to describe it, but it’s unique,” Carver says. “They have a great menu lineup, and now they’re even offering entertainment.”
Donut Distillery is by Portsmouth, for Portsmouth and beyond. Business is going well, and it has resulted in meaningful fellowship.
“We’re thankful for all the help from our family and the city and all of our friends that’s helped us get through all this and basically help us get open,” Scott says. “So, just live one day at a time and stay blessed, right?”
Donut Distillery
416 Chillicothe St. Portsmouth, OH 45662
Hours: Mon. - Thurs. 11am - 9pm Fri. - Sat. 8am - 11pm Sunday 11am - 6pm
Website: donutdistillery.com/portsmouth
Friends, family and of course, deep-fried hamburgers are what keep Deep-Cut Tavern regulars coming back for more. The signature dish is made from fresh, local hamburger meat that is crusted with a secret spice and breading blend. It is then deep fried and perfectly dressed in locally grown tomatoes and finished with lettuce, onion, cheese and a fluffy bun.
The tiny yellow tavern is located on East Pike Road in Guernsey County, which cuts between mountains on either side, earning its name “Deep-Cut Tavern.”
In 1946, the Walker family opened the Cambridge tavern’s doors. The Walker family then sold it to several families: the Tomacs, Caples, Youngs, Romingers and now, Kissy LePage. Throughout the decades, these families were friends and worked together to create this legendary tavern.
The famous burger was concocted in 1956, when the Tomac family’s son, George, was toying around with the deep fryer.
“George got to messing around with the ingredients trying to find something different to make and he came up with the deep-fried hamburger and the recipe has never changed,” says previous owner Kristi Rominger.
Today, the menu also offers deepfried bologna sandwiches, fried shrimp, fried mushrooms and the newly popular Philly cheesesteak.
“Every local knows about here, has been here, or still comes here,” current owner, Kissy LePage, says. “We have people from Zanesville who move away, but they still
make sure to come back here for their birthday.” LePage mentioned Freddy Brown as one of Deep-Cut’s most memorable regulars.
In the 1940s, Brown first visited Deep-Cut as its weekly milkman, before graduating to its wholesale local produce buyer. LePage says Brown treated the restaurant like it was his own. “He would help her finish cutting onions and stuff to get ready,” LePage says. “He was kind of iconic. If you came in, that was Freddy’s chair.” LePage says while pointing to the barstool that looked out into the open kitchen. “Everybody who came in would say ‘Hey Freddy!’” Brown passed away in December of 2021, however, he still has a seat in Deep-Cut. A tiny urn on a shelf above the bar holds part of Brown’s ashes. Such personal connections are part of the tavern’s DNA.
Donna Cunningham is one of Deep-Cut’s current regulars and has been coming to the tavern for years. “My husband and I have been
going there since the 80s,” Cunningham says. “It’s gotten to become a family thing. All of our children and grandchildren go there. So, a lot of times on the weekends we all meet up there together.”
Today, Deep-Cut Tavern remains a gathering place where one can find friendship, family and one delicious, deep-fried hamburger.
“My dream was just to have a place where everybody in the community could come and hang out, have a meal, one cold drink and know everybody when they walked in,” Rominger said. “That seemed to work.”
By Kate Mauer | Photograph by Carrie Legg
Sure, the annual Pumpkin Show may be Circleville’s most famous attraction, but for the last 15 years, Tootles Pumpkin Inn has been its most memorable. (Blame it partly on the life-sized spooky man replica behind the bar.)
Located in renowned downtown Circleville, Tootles is a tuckedaway laid-back bar that serves up spirit, lighthearted engagement, and a welcoming atmosphere.
Tootles regular, Timberly Sayre, says she believes the Inn is different from other local establishments.
“In some other bars, you’re going to have club-like settings or you’re going to have a little bit of chaos,” Sayre says. “To me, this is a place to unwind, so I think that definitely sets it aside from most other bars that we have locally.”
Despite its long-standing legacy, Tootles has only ever had three owners, and it’s found its niche with current owner Ashley Tait. She has owned Tootles for 15 years and has transformed the bar into the venue it is today, which includes Tait’s sociable young dog, Auggie, the greeter and unofficial mascot of Tootles.
As Circleville is known as the pumpkin capital of Ohio, Tootles drinks menu includes many pumpkin flavored concoctions, such as the pumpkin mule and the pumpkin pie shot. Various pumpkin themed decorations grace the décor-filled space and the Pumpkin Show logo is featured on the walls.
But the pumpkins are merely window dressing for the skele-
tons, dolls, and memorabilia from horror movies displayed in every nook and cranny of Tootles. And the first item that started it all? That life-sized spooky man replica behind the bar.
Today, Tootles is known for its Halloween theme—and its live music.
Tootles has been one of the only live music venues in Pickaway County since its start in the 70s. In the room next to the bar, separated by curtains, lays a stage for Tootles’ increasingly popular live music shows. That room contains darts, couches, and a coffin-shaped table.
The walls around the stage are covered in the signatures of musicians who have performed there, both local and well-known.
Today, Tootle’s regular performers include the Rachael Brooke Band and Austin Stirling. The venue also hosts other events such as drag shows, donut eating contests, and themed DJ nights.
Under Tait’s leadership, Tootles has transformed into a place where everyone can feel welcome.
“She tries as hard as she can to get the community involved—she really strives for this to be a safe space for all people,” Sayre says.
Tait also aids her community by hosting various charity events at Tootles, such as a Toys for Tots toy drive during the winter, and coat drives and food drives. So in addition to offering good fun, the bar aligns with a good cause.
Under the management of Tait, this civic connection is both strong and inspired.
117 E Main St, Circleville, OH 43113
Hours: Fri. - Sat. 6pm - 2am Thursday 6pm - 12:30am
Website: tootlesmusic.com
Liz Guilkey, Stockport Mill Inn’s kitchen manager, stands next to two glass-paneled doors on a long wrap-around deck, one of them opened slightly, as she waits by the entrance of Stockport Mill Inn. The parking lot sits empty as they clean and prepare for the weekend surge.
After a friendly greeting, Guilkey walks through the cozy lobby and turns left into a spacious dining room filled with large round tables surrounded by bright red chairs. In the dining room is a woman waiting to say hello. A wide grin
spreads on her face from corner to corner as she introduces herself: “Hi, I am Dottie,” she says.
Dottie Singer is the owner of Stockport Mill Inn, and despite her small stature, her bright personality shines. As she walks to the back of the dining room in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the Muskingum River, she sits at a table basking in sunshine.
Singer has owned the Inn since 2004, but its history began centuries prior.
The Stockport Mill was originally constructed in 1842 but
only operated for a few years before it caught fire. It was then reconstructed in 1906 by the Dover Brothers and was used as a grain mill. By 1908, the grain mill supplied all of Stockport’s electricity via hydroelectric generators.
A few decades later, the space was repurchased in 1997 by Randy and Laura Smith and was converted into a restaurant and inn. The new and improved Stockport Mill Inn officially opened its doors in 2000, and four years later, Singer and her son-in-law purchased the Inn at an auction.
Guilkey, who has worked at Stockport Inn for 14 years, said one of the reasons she has stayed so long is because she loves sharing the Inn’s extensive history with people.
“I like the authenticity of it and the interaction with the people,” Guilkey says. “People in the area take a lot of pride in this building and it’s just fun to help it stay alive.”
Once Singer acquired the Inn, her first order of business was cleaning up and adding the finishing touches to the space. In particular, Singer wanted to make sure every part of the Inn had a spectacular view of the river. Every room is accompa-
nied by a balcony, and all the suites overlook the river and dam.
“They had partitions in the dining room, they were making it look like a Cracker Barrel,” Singer says, “So, we opened that up so that everybody could take advantage, in the dining room, of the view.”
The Inn is only open on the weekends, with Sunday being their buffet day. By appointment, however, the Inn can accommodate guests any day of the week. Singer says accommodation and hospitality are her biggest goals as a businesswoman.
The Inn hosts a variety of gatherings and events, including weddings, graduation parties, card clubs, couples’ retreats and family reunions.
One of the Inn’s most popular rooms, The Captain Hook Suite, contains a spacious kitchen, living room, two bedrooms, a jacuzzi that overlooks the Muskingum River and a spiral staircase that leads to an upstairs reading nook.
Alongside beautiful rooms and gorgeous views, the historical mill has been home to a hydroelectric power site since 2006, which generates clean energy electricity for the entire Inn.
Linda Nedeff, a previous guest of the Inn, visited last October for
the Sunday buffet. She says her favorite part of the experience was not only the gorgeous view but sitting outside on the balcony while listening to the soothing sound of the water crashing below.
“The sound of the water is hypnotizing,” Nedeff says. “You’re on the edge of a dam that goes completely across the Muskingum, and you have this rushing sound the whole time you’re outside, you can’t miss it.”
Despite the positive reviews, Singer has had her fair share of challenges, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic. However, she states business is booming once again.
“Everyone wants to get out now,” Singer says. “All the different card clubs and things are making their reservations for July. We’re booking major group sizes now, clear up until September this year.”
Like many, Nedeff and her husband have already looked into booking a room for this spring, hoping to enjoy the great views and lulling waves once again.
“It just is not like most places that you would go to spend a weekend or a day,” Nedeff says. “It’s back to nature and at the same time it’s back in time.”
People in the area take a lot of pride in this building and it’s just fun to help it stay alive.”
-Liz Guilkey, kitchen manager, Stockport Mill Inn
The theater is abuzz as actors finish their final preparations. Not long after the opening announcements, voices from around the room rise as the first song begins.
For those accustomed to a traditional play setting where attendees enter, lights dim and audience engagement is discouraged, this is a different experience: ABC Players’ sensory-friendly show, “Animal Tales.”
The show utilizes several distinct elements to make it more enjoyable for those with sensory-processing disorders or other developmental disabilities, including colorful masks and puppets. Audience engagement is heavily encouraged as the cast invites the audience to sing, dance and ad-lib for the duration of the show.
The idea for an ABC Players sensory-friendly show started with Annah Korpi, an instructor for the Ohio Program of Intensive English at Ohio University.
Korpi’s relationship with ABC Players began in 2007. She has always felt drawn to the theater and live music, a trait she passed on to her six-year-old son. He has cerebral palsy and is nonverbal but communicates through gestures and vocalizations.
“For a child who loves music and performances, these vocalizations can seem disturbing to others in the theater who may not be accustomed to them,” Korpi says.“If I’m sitting next to someone in an auditorium who’s paid twenty dollars for a ticket … and I’ve got these vocalizations and body movements, it’s very subconscious as a parent.”
She says her son also has medical issues that impact the time of day that their family is able to attend theater performances, making seeing typical shows more intensive to plan.
According to the “Animal Tales” show description, a sensory-friendly show is one that allows a comfortable space for people who have sensory-processing disorders, autism or other developmental differences. This show is exactly that.
The performance area is wheelchair-accessible and includes space for movement and other activities like coloring. Mats line the floor of the space with easy accessibility to doors and restrooms. These amenities allow for vocalizations and movement without the social pressure of a neurotypical audience.
Korpi’s first experience with a sensory-friendly show was a dress rehearsal of a Christmas show at the Columbus Children’s Theater. She recalls the event having poor attendance, but the audience’s positive response and the accepting atmosphere of the show made up for the lack of community interest.
“You had teenagers who were walking up and down the aisle making vocalizations. You had someone … groaning during all of the dialogue, and as soon as the music and dancing started, he was just excited and watching,” Korpi says.
After attending that show, Korpi realized how beneficial sensory-friendly shows are for attendees, and after some persistence, ABC Players made a sensory-friendly show out of one of their rehearsals for “James and the Giant Peach.”
“We were able to do a rehearsal
where we invited a few people … they came to watch and we didn’t wear our costumes. We just had the stage lights on,” Jodi MacNeal, director and president of ABC Players, says.
The dress rehearsal allowed a smaller setting with more room for audience members to move.
“There are children and adults in the community that feel like they can’t attend a show because either it has flashing lights, or it’s too loud and overstimulating,” MacNeal says.
After the dress rehearsal, Korpi advocated for a sensory-friendly performance. Celeste Parsons, long-time ABC Players director, picked up the idea immediately and began writing music scores and conceptualizing the show.
“There is nothing like this being done down in this part of the state,” Parsons says. “There are a number … of caregivers and teachers and people who would be interested [in the show].”
After a short first half featuring a conglomeration of songs involving animals, a brief intermission allows audience members to reminisce about act one and ponder what will happen next.
When the second act begins, the elephant actor gallops onto stage sporting ginormous ears and a short nose to ponder questions such as, “What do crocodiles eat for dinner?”
Parsons wrote the music for the entire second act of “Elephant’s Child,” a story adapted from Rudyard Kipling’s, “The Elephant’s Child,” about how elephants came to have their long trunks.
After embarking on a daring quest to find the answer from an untrustworthy crocodile, the elephant’s child returns with a trunk, marking the end of the second act.
“Seeing the excitement on the faces of those who get to attend [the play] and enjoy it … and the fulfillment from ABC players to feel like we’ve met a need in the community that hasn’t been met yet.” MacNeal says.
The full cast then reappears on stage to close out the performance with a familiar tune: “So Long, Farewell,” from “The Sound of Music.” Afterward, the animals leave the stage and begin to mingle with the audience.
“We are also hoping to turn some kind of sensory-friendly performance into something that ABC Players does every year.
As this show comes to a close, Parsons is hopeful that it will not be “farewell” for long.
Ohio’s Project DAWN works to ensure that everyone has access to the opiate antagonist Naloxone, commonly known as NARCAN, and provides Ohioans with a new outlook on addiction, recovery and rehabilitation.
Coordinated by the Ohio Department of Health, Project DAWN is a program designed to educate individuals about opioid overdoses. The program also distributes Naloxone at no cost across the state to those who need it. They also offer syringe service programs (SSPs) to cultivate a safe environment for those with addictions.
Michaela Sumner, public information officer at the Ohio Department of Health, says that many Ohioans and their families have been impacted by the opioid epidemic and that the program is designed to give them hope.
“Many Ohioans lose their own life, or the life of a loved one, to unintentional drug overdose every year,” Sumner says. “Having Naloxone available can reverse an overdose and give the person who overdosed the ability to enter into treatment and recovery.”
Project DAWN has 145 programs registered in Ohio, all dedicated to helping people throughout the state. Project DAWN is named for Leslie Dawn Cooper who died of a witnessed opioid overdose in 2009. The program started in 2012 with the first site being in Leslie’s hometown of Portsmouth.
Southeast Ohio has been impacted by the opioid epidemic, but with the help of Project DAWN, people can get the care they need.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Naloxone is a medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose by attaching to opioid receptors in the human body, blocking the effects of the drug. If a per-
son’s breathing has slowed or stopped due to an opioid overdose, Naloxone restores their breathing to a normal rate.
Naloxone was approved by the FDA in 1971 and has since been used by paramedics and hospitals to reverse opioid overdoses. The drug is available in two different forms, injection and nasal spray, which can be found at pharmacies throughout the state.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in nearly 40% of overdose deaths, someone else was present. Having Naloxone available allows bystanders to aid someone experiencing an overdose and potentially save their life.
A lack of addiction treatment centers in more rural areas is one of the reasons Project DAWN is important to the state of Ohio. According to the website Addiction Help, there are a plethora of reasons people cannot get the help they need as most addiction centers are concentrated in urban areas. In 2013, following Project DAWN’s inception, around 300,000 people reported they that attempted to access addiction treatment, but nearly 40% did not receive it due to financial reasons.
Today, Project DAWN’s outreach has expanded to include over 380 Naloxone distribution sites across 77 of Ohio’s 88 counties. According to Sumner, preliminary data gathered by Project DAWN shows that in 2022, 198,000 free Naloxone kits were distributed and over 17,800 overdose reversals took place.
People with addictions can be left with little access to resources and support, but Project DAWN’s ultimate goal is to continue reaching underserved populations by providing harm reduction programs, education on substance use disorder and better access to Naloxone.
A packaged KLOXXADO nasal spray containing an 8mg dose of naloxone intended for use in known or suspected opioid overdose, is photographed in a studio on April 20, 2023. According to the City of Athens Health Department, Kloxxado is replacing Narcan due to its stronger dosage which increases the potential of overdose reversal.
Visit naloxone.ohio.gov online to get free naloxone and find local distribution sites across Ohio to find naloxone and other harm reduction resources with the Project DAWN Dashboard.
The emcee announces the next student, who promptly walks to center stage.
An overhead light envelops them in a magenta glow as they adjust the microphone stand, bringing a story to life with a dip in volume or a flourish of the hands. When all is said and done, the student smiles as the audience responds with emphatic applause.
The Poetry Out Loud Regional Semifinals, held this past February at Stuart’s Opera House in Nelsonville, both literally and figuratively shined the spotlight on six students from Southeast Ohio.
Seeing the students’ passionate performances, it appears that poetry is alive and well in Southeast Ohio.
Kari Gunter-Seymour would agree.
Gunter-Seymour is the third and current Ohio Poet Laureate, selected in 2020 by Governor Mike DeWine. Now serving her second term, she has only one year left in this position. Still, she has plenty of responsibilities, and her goals remain ambitious.
Even as new events and trips are packed into her already busy schedule, she continues to enjoy her time as poet laureate, making the most out of the opportunity. She lights up when she recalls the people she has worked with so far whether it is a seasoned poet or a group of young students who are just getting their first taste of art.
A large part of her philosophy is driven by her enthusiasm to empower those who have not been properly taught about art and its value.
In January, Gunter-Seymour led virtual workshops with 18 prisons across Ohio where inmates produced work based on writing prompts. Taking significant pauses between each word, she describes the results: “So moving, gut-wrenching, gorgeous.”
These are people who have been told that they are unworthy or
Photograph by Carrie LeggPoet Laureate
Kari Gunter-Seymour shares her journey with poetry, its impact on her life and what she’ll do after her laureateshipKari Gunter-Seymour poses for a portrait on her land in Albany, Ohio. Gunter-Seymour stays connected with her Appalchian roots through her poetry, much of which concerns the land. She often walks through the trees and around the pond that is down a hill from her house.
unfit, Gunter-Seymour says. The same titles burden the women in recovery that she works with. These women often come from abusive relationships and have never been told they deserve better, she explains.
“And I always start things out by sharing that, ‘Hey, I know about labels,’” she says. “I’ve grown up with labels: hillbilly, hick, white trash. I know about labels. I know what it feels like to be less than.”
As a ninth-generation Appala-
chian woman, Gunter-Seymour has endured negative stereotypes. Still, her lineage remains a source of pride.
Appalachian identity is the heart and soul of “I Thought I Heard a Cardinal Sing,” a recently published anthology edited by Gunter-Seymour. Released in 2022, it features 134 poets with strong connections to Appalachia.
Grouped together with a hefty stack of other books Gunter-Seymour has published, this antholo -
gy resonates with her own history. Her voice teems with admiration as she narrates the history of her family: a long line of coal-miners turned tobacco farmers. Even the most specific quirks of her ancestors are fresh in her mind. She recounts a great-great-great-great grandmother whose boots were “big and rough” and who looked wild enough to “tackle a den of wildcats.”
Gunter-Seymour attributes the gift of her career to her family, but
her journey to embracing poetry wasn’t a straight shot.
She had an affinity for the arts at an early age, writing stories but never sharing them with a large audience.
Gunter-Seymour married a coal miner and moved to Meigs County after graduating high school. After the marriage did not work out, she decided to go back to school at Ohio University while caring for her three-year-old son. To feed herself and her son while studying counseling, she wove four or five baskets a day, selling them at local retail outlets, art festivals and other events.
With support from OHIO art professor Bob Borchard, she switched her studies to graphic design. This set her on a path to receive a master’s degree in commercial photography. Gunter-Seymour relied on journaling to work through her hardships and was soon told poetry would be a good pursuit for her.
“This is it,” she says. “This is what I’ve been looking for my whole life, is this. Those early poems were horrible, but people cared enough to lovingly accept them and listen to me read them . . . One woman very kindly told me, ‘Your poetry is not very good. Maybe you should think about doing something else.’ And I said, ‘Hold my beer because I’m going to do this!”
Gunter-Seymour sees poetry as a way to atone for past mistakes or recognize wrongdoings perpetrated against marginalized groups. She wonders out loud, audibly perturbed, whether her family had once owned slaves.
“I need to admit that, and I need to make compensation for that by my actions and what I choose to do and how I choose to talk about it and how I choose to stand up for it,” Gunter-Seymour says.
When it comes to the writing process, Gunter-Seymour turns to a few methods to manifest her thoughts into words. At times, she might find inspiration in a pile of
paper scraps. When she really cannot think of anything, she looks at the world around her.
To show what she means, Gunter-Seymour plucks a small shell with a spiral pattern from a bowl and rattles off a list of adjectives and nouns: ridges, rust-color, gray, circular, infinity, pockmarked.
“All of a sudden, you’ve got a jumping off point and you’ve got a poem in there somewhere, or story or song,” she says. “I encourage everybody to do that kind of thing.”
One of the more meaningful places in Gunter-Seymour’s life, potentially the most abundant source of inspiration, lies right in her own backyard.
A steep gravel path descends into a valley that is filled with traces of fond memories, many made at the large pond that lies in the center. Ripples skim softly across its surface while a family of geese float aimlessly in the corner.
Once there, Gunter-Seymour is surrounded by sprawling hills with trails snaking around the entire property. Her house sits atop the highest point like a crown.
Come summertime, Gunter-Seymour and her family spend entire days here together. During quieter seasons when she strolls through this sanctuary alone, she cannot help but think of a new poem. She describes this as her happy place, where her poetry imitates life.
As Ohio Poet Laureate, a top priority for Gunter-Seymour is to uplift aspiring poets all across the state.
“That’s really a wonderful part of this, is being able to promote people in that way and help them get a leg up,” she says.
Athens Poet Laureate Stephanie Kendrick believes Gunter-Seymour is a pioneer in Athens County, opening doors for writers and guiding them to the right platforms.
Kendrick met Gunter-Seymour through the Women of Appalachia Project and eventually worked with her to create a space for Athens residents to feel com-
fortable sharing poetry.
After their plans to start open mic nights were scrapped due to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the two realized that it could be done online. This marked the start of the Athens County Poets and Storytellers Group.
There were several poets who joined internationally, including regulars from New Zealand and Trinidad. Though the group stopped its virtual open mic nights in 2022, its Facebook page is still open as a hub for members to connect. A lot of close relationships were built there and remain to this day, Kendrick says.
“Those connections—pulling people into Athens and helping them experience our region—have translated from virtual to in-person, which has been pretty neat to see,” Kendrick says.
Gunter-Seymour knows poetry might not be for everyone, but she still encourages people to read one or two poems a day or try out a workshop. She hopes they can see the true value of poetry and other art forms.
“The true story is in the painting or in the literature of the time,” Gunter-Seymour says. “The history book will gloss over something or leave something completely out, but the artists do not.”
Gunter-Seymour stands near her empty garden, contemplating her future as a cool wind picks up. She is not quite sure what she will do after her laureateship ends in December.
“Do people still call on you if you’re not the poet laureate?” she asks herself aloud. “I don’t know. I don’t know the answer to that.”
Gunter-Seymour knows she will keep writing and hopes to meet with her workshop group forever. She aspires to keep connecting with the students, inmates and women in recovery whose stories have continued to motivate her.
“I’m Appalachian,” she says. “It’s about giving back, it’s about service, it’s about community and belonging.”
Sarah Heink, an undergraduate artist at Ohio University, “wouldn’t trade being a woman of Appalachia in my twenties for anything.”
Heink says while Appalachia might not be the richest place in America monetarily, it is wealthy in spirit and artistic passion.
Founder of the Women of Appalachia Project (WOAP), Ohio Poet Laureate Kari Gunter-Seymour, embodies exactly that. She believes being an Appalachian woman means service.
“When I thought I couldn’t possibly make it, somebody would lend a hand, or five dollars, and somehow, I made it through,” she says. “That made me realize that’s the Appalachian way … I owed the next woman who wasn’t going to get that chance.”
The WOAP’s annual fine arts exhibition communicates the soul of Appalachian femininity through the power of art. The exhibition consists of various pieces in different mediums including paintings, sculptures and even multimedia work.
Pieces were handpicked by several jurors chosen by Dairy Barn Exhibition Director Keri Anne Wolfe. Wolfe says the criteria to submit artwork to the exhibition was broad. “The artists had to be women-identifying who had a personal connection or some kind of tie to the Appalachian area,” she says. “Their work [also] had to be made in the past two years.”
Wolfe explains how she came to realize what Appalachian culture meant to her only after moving away from the area for a time.
“It inspired my creativity, and because of that, I find being an Appalachian woman empowering,” she says.
“I love that I have a unique story to tell, and I feel that many of the artists exhibiting also feel this way and express it within their work.”
Gunter-Seymour was fed up with constantly being overlooked by mainstream media.
“I got it into my head that I could do something about the stereotyping and the marginalization that was happening,” she says. “I had this degree in graphic arts, and I worked in communications marketing. I decided if mainstream America didn’t want our work, then I could create a space for it.”
Gunter-Seymour approached Ohio University’s Multicultural Center about the discrimination that she and her peers face as Appalachian women. After she put a proposal together, the Center allowed Gunter-Seymour to use its gallery space for the show.
In March of 2009, the WOAP was born. Five visual artists and four poets, all from Athens County, participated in its inaugural event.
Gunter-Seymour could not have anticipated the WOAP’s success.
“I got emails and people stopped me on the street, and so I thought, ‘Well, I guess I have to do this again,’” she says. “I set up a website and started posting on social media about the opportunity to submit. The second year it branched out of Athens County to surrounding counties. Fifteen years later and WOAP grew into a traveling art exhibition.”
After nearly 10 years of managing the exhibition, Gunter-Seymour found herself wanting to prioritize her writing and decided to delegate a portion of the project. “I was working and juggling a traveling art
show and a traveling literary journal, and I just realized I can’t do this anymore,” she says.
She approached the Dairy Barn, who agreed to host the Women of Appalachia Project Fine Arts Exhibit biennially. Gunter-Seymour continues to participate in the WOAP, editing and producing the anthology series, “Women Speak,” each year.
This year’s fine arts exhibition at the Dairy Barn expands on the WOAP’s legacy. This is the second year that the exhibition has been housed in the venue. Sixty-seven pieces from 46 exhibiting artists were featured—making the exhibition roughly 5 times bigger than its first year—and it has only continued to grow.
“It’s different from our other exhibitions because it is so unique and targeted to one region, but I think anyone who is interested in Appalachia or lives in this area should come in and see what women have to say, what we’re trying to express, who we are and what our stories are,” Wolfe says. “It’s unique because it is a barn that we’re exhibiting the artwork in ... so it’s nice to have the artwork shown somewhere that has a historical past.”
The WOAP has expanded its focus in the past decade to include the entire region of Appalachia—all 432 counties. Its goals include celebrating Appalachian culture and heritage, uplifting disenfranchised voices and putting stereotypes to rest.
“The Women of Appalachia Project has a mission … to encourage, enrich and empower Appalachian female voices and artists and our communities, because all of us have been shamed,” Gunter-Seymour says. “We’ve all been shamed for so long that now part of our mission is to go around within Appalachia and lift ourselves up, and we do that with our art.”
Heink, whose artwork was featured in this year’s exhibition, says the project proved all the negative
stereotypes wrong. “[The] artists included in this show [represent] Appalachia in such an extraordinary way,” she says. “It’s really awesome to have a space for women of Appalachia in particular, who definitely have carried the burden of these stereotypes maybe the most.”
Heink drew inspiration from the Appalachian landscape, particularly Strouds Run, for her piece, “Partly Sunny.” “Strouds is a place of peace and divinity to me,” she says. “It connects [us] to each other and the beautiful Appalachian scenery.”
Artist Mallory Stowe had three pieces featured in this year’s exhibition. Her piece, “Stole My Ma’s Lipstick,” was granted a juror’s award. Stowe found inspiration in her dual identity growing up around Appalachia. “Growing up, I wanted to be beautiful, and I wanted to be an actress, [but] I also felt very tomboy-ish,” she says.
Stowe believes the WOAP continues to reinforce “how vibrant the art community of anywhere can be if it’s supported in the right ways.”
Juror Miyuki Akai Cook believes this exhibition helps to reduce the stigma surrounding Appalachia.
“[Appalachia is] so often underlooked, [people think that] we’re poor, and uneducated, and not interesting people or not forward thinkers, but that’s not true,” she says.
The WOAP will continue to prove that being an Appalachian woman is not something to be ashamed of, but rather, something to take pride in, Gunter-Seymour says.
“I can look back, I can see all these amazing, sassyass women who made it through some incredibly hard times and worked so hard so that I get to be a poet,” she says. “How can you not be proud about that? How can you not speak up about that?”
The Appalachian Accessible Food Network (AAFN) distribution event on Tuesday, February 28, 2023, in Athens.
Anyone who stumbles upon the Athens Community Center on a Saturday morning will be greeted by a bustling, vendor-filled parking lot teeming with chatter, artisans and the smell of fresh produce wafting through the tents.
Though the Athens Farmer’s Market may be a hub for farmers, it is not always feasible for community members to access the market, let alone to eat healthy, local foods.
One out of six people face hunger in the Southeast Ohio region, according to Hocking-Athens-Perry Community Action (HAPCAP). For children, that
margin rises to every one out of four.
“The food that is near us is crap,” Tiffany Arnold, assistant professor of instruction in the College of Health Sciences and Professions at Ohio University, says. “It’s processed food. It’s high in fat, sodium and sugar. We just don’t have actual, physical access to [healthy food] … We can’t get to it.”
Lower-income communities tend to lack stores that offer healthy, affordable foods, meaning those in rural areas often need to drive further to access food of nutritional value.
The United States Department of Agriculture de-
fines a food desert as areas that meet two thresholds: low-income and low-access. Low income is defined as a poverty rate of 20% or greater, or a median family income at or below 80% of the statewide median family income. Low-access refers to at least 33% of the population living more than one mile from a supermarket or largest grocery store.
“As the economy kind of ebbs and flows—especially with the pandemic—we don’t have financial access and we don’t have logistical, physical access [to healthy food] , and that’s hurt a lot,” Arnold says.
To assist residents of Southeast Ohio, several non-profit organizations have joined forces to increase the access to fresh and local produce. The Appalachian Accessible Food Network (AAFN) is a collaborative partnership between Rural Action, Community Food Initiatives (CFI) and the Appalachian Center for Economic Networks (ACEnet).
“Something that we all really excel at is supplementing each network partners’ work in some way so that we can collectively work towards long term regional resilience and equitable access to healthy food here,” Susie Huser, director of outreach at CFI, says. “ACEnet really excels in busines support and supporting … food entreprenuers,” Huser says. “We need Rural Action working with farmers … and supporting beginning farmers. We need CFI working closely to distribute foods to those who are facing food insecurity.”
Each program within the AAFN’s umbrella is incredibly beneficial; Rural Action’s Chesterhill Produce Auction, CFI’s Veggie Van and ACEnet’s Food Ventures Center are some of its most well-known.
During peak summer months, the Chesterhill Produce Auction is an array of color as producers stock the space with fresh fruits, veggies, meats and other homemade products.
The people in attendance seem to rival the amount of produce as it is one of Rural Action’s most successful social enterprises. Originally run out of a tent, the auction has now found a permanent space on Wagoner Road in Chesterhill.
Founded by Jean and Marvin Konkle in 2004, the auction got its start before being purchased by Rural Action in 2010. “The Chesterhill Produce Auction … is a place where producers can bulk, or not-bulk, sell their food,” Tessa Wieneke, food access partner’s coordinator for ACEnet, says.
This year, the auction will begin regular operation Mondays and Thursdays in May. “It ebbs and flows with the season, so the markets at the very beginning
and very end of the year are much lighter,” Wieneke says. “But in August, the auction floor is just full. Sometimes the auction is an hour and sometimes it’s four and a half.”
The auction works as a connection between local farmers and buyers. Farmers from Southeast Ohio bring their produce, livestock, woodworkings and other wares to the auction. On the auction floor, buyers include restaurants, schools, universities and other AAFN services.
By hosting the auction, Rural Action helps stimulate the local economy, allowing produce and money to flow right back into the arms of residents.
Those who live in Southeast Ohio may have seen a bright white van driving through their neighborhoods, stopping in parks, libraries or markets to set up a mobile produce stand. The veggies pasted on the side of the van invite people to come and pay what they are able in exchange for local produce. This is the CFI’s Veggie Van.
The Veggie Van is a mobile farmstand that travels throughout southeastern Ohio, bringing local produce to towns that may not always have the best access to groceries. Manager Ivan Orquera says the Veggie Van initially began as part of a health study through the University of Buffalo. Although the study is over, Orquera explains they have extended their partnership into 2023.
“Last year … the library system did a presentation that some of our CFI people participated in,” Orquera says. “The towns that utilized the most social services were Nelsonville, Coolville and Glouster, which happen to be the towns that we serve.”
Last year, Orquera took the Veggie Van to both Coolville and Glouster once a week with pop-ups in Nelsonville, Albany, Athens and Marietta.
“It might be as simple as, we go directly to them,” Orquera says. “It’s obvious that those towns in particular could utilize services like ours, and ours focuses particularly on food access.”
This space may look like just another warehouse from the outside. Walking into ACEnet’s Food Venture Center, however, you will quickly be greeted with busy kitchens and the aroma of fresh food.
Local kitchens such as Crumb’s Bakery and Casa Nueva operate alongside one another. Layered chatter floods the shared 14-oven kitchen space and assembly stations.
Fresh radishes, potatoes, and other vegetables await distribution during The Appalachian Accessible Food Network (AAFN) distribution event on Tuesday, February 28, 2023, in Athens.
“Everyone deserves it. It’s a basic human right — to have access to nourishing and delicious food.”
-Susie Huser, director of outreach, Community Food Initiatives
The Food Ventures Center is not only available to existing local businesses but to those who produce food within their home looking to scale up, otherwise referred to as Cottage Food Production Operations by the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
“We provide business development assistance. We provide that infrastructure, that space for folks to grow into,” Adam Kody, food enterprise coordinator at ACEnet, says.
The beauty of the Food Ventures Center is that it offers a safe space for the ‘privilege of failing,’ a phrase that Kody first heard from the executive director of a kitchen in Boston.
“The ‘privilege of failing’ … is to offer a space where someone can come in to live out their dream,” Kody says. “Our space allows people to take that step … and if it doesn’t work out, their life isn’t ruined.”
The web of services the AAFN offers has proven successful in the Southeast Ohio region. The Veggie Van distributed over 11,000 pounds of produce to over 1,300 people, according to CFI’s 2022 annual report. In 2021, ACEnet celebrated its 25-year anniversary of the Food Ventures Center, and as of 2021, the
center assisted over 400 food and farm entrepreneurs. Although these organizations are incredibly beneficial to the community, there are still challenges. “In the winter, there’s just not any produce to be had,” Arnold says. “We’re dealing with seasonal produce … in the winter, what do you do?”
During these months, the AAFN and other community organizations contribute what they can. “Typically, we end up handing out more donated bread and eggs and sauces—pantry staples—than actual produce,” Wieneke says. “We end up getting a lot of donated bread from Crumb’s Bakery and from Jackie O’s. That ends up being most of the food we give away.”
The Chesterhill Produce Auction, Veggie Van and Food Ventures Center are only part of what the AAFN offers. Other services through AAFN partners include the Donation Station, Community Gardens and Farm to School services, all of which have flourished in the region.
While food insecurity in southeastern Ohio is ever-present, these organizations have made strides to provide healthy, fresh foods that also support local farmers and residents. “Everyone deserves it. It’s a basic human right—to have access to nourishing and delicious food,” Huser says.
We see his paintings all across the region’s landscapes, and even in many public school gymnasiums.Indeed, the artwork is so ubiquitious, it’s stunning to learn its creator is just one man —artist Scott Hagan.
Originally from Belmont County, the Jerusalem-based artist specializes in grand projects. While Hagan’s childhood artwork consisted mainly of drawing, he shifted to painting during high school. At age 19, he decided he wanted more of a challenge.
“I was starting to figure out that I liked painting things that were on the bigger scale,” Hagan says. “The biggest thing I could find to challenge myself was the side of [my] dad’s barn.”
Today, he is known as “The Barn Artist.”
“I didn’t want to be ‘The Barn Painter’ because that was Harley Warrick,” he says, referencing the American barn painter responsible for the Mail Pouch tobacco advertising on barns throughout the midwest. “I felt like I was more than a ‘barn painter;’ I was a barn artist.”
Haga inaugural barn sports the Ohio State University logo next to OSU’s mascot, Brutus Buckeye. That feat led to Hagan being hired by the Ohio Bicentennial Commission in 1998 to paint the state’s bicentennial “1803-2003” logo on 88 barns—one in each of Ohio’s counties.
Stephen George, former executive director of the Ohio Bicentennial Commission and current chief strategist and senior advisor to the CEO at Ohio History Connection, has known Hagan since he was a teenager.
With the Ohio Bicentennial Commission, George wanted to generate momentum leading up to the state’s 200th anniversary. Armed with the bicentennial logo illustrated by David Browning, he needed a way to obtain a steady interest in the historic occasion. After learning of Hagan through a newspaper article, the commission’s initial idea was to hire him to paint the logo on just one barn.
1. The Eight-Pointed Star is the only barn quilt in the Monroe Loop to have a sign nearby that gives any sort of indication as to what the barn quilt is.
2. A blue and green honeycomb pattern with a yellow center adorns the side of a barn in eastern Ohio.
3. The 17 counties that are shown in this piece of artwork are laid out in the way that they were in 1803 when Ohio became a state. 220 years later, there are now 88 counties in Ohio.
4. The Mariner’s Compass pattern can be seen on State Route 7, just outside of Marietta. The barn that depicts this image sits right next to a school.
5. This barn quilt is part of the Monroe Loop of barn art painted by Hagan. It shows the Baltimore Belle pattern in purple, yellow and orange.
6. The Diadem pattern is painted in teal, green, red and pink on the side of a barn near Marietta.
7. One of Hagan’s recent works depicts the quilt pattern Wild Goose Chase in green, pink and white on the side of a barn near Marietta.
8. The Bicentennial Barn in Dayton is one of many in honor of Ohio’s 200th birthday. Painted by Hagan, this barn is now a wedding venue and the subject to many wedding photos.
9. This variation of a diamond quilt block has the most shades of colors out of the Monroe Loop quilts. Paint peels on the side of a barn near Marietta.
“We talked to him and he kind of took a chance on us,” George says. “We kind of took a chance on him. That’s how it began. From that one barn, it became such a popular thing that it really spread the word around the state very effectively.”
George says it was hard to bring people together as the project took place before the wide use of social media as a means of quick communication.
“We don’t really have, in Ohio, a unifying cultural norm … So, the barn project actually became something like that,” George says. “We very soon said that we would do one in all 88 counties. That really seemed to resonate with people, and it still does.”
According to the commission’s final report, Hagan traveled about 65,000 miles and used roughly 650 gallons of paint throughout the five-year, one-man project.
“[Hagan] developed this into something that really kind of became a cultural phenomenon, and he just did outstanding work for us,” George says. “The Bicentennial accomplished a lot of things, but
probably the thing that people remember about us is Scott’s work.”
At 46 years old, Hagan’s barn artistry has evolved into a career with a nationwide portfolio. His work has a way of rejuvenating the surrounding environment, whether it be a high school gym or a wooden barn.
Previously, he held a goal of painting in all 50 states. He does not know if he has the same goal today, having painted in around 22 states so far.
“It would be nice to do that, but I seem to have enough work locally,” Hagan says. “I would like to paint [an American] flag in every state. That’d be fun.”
Hagan’s popularity as “The Barn Artist” only grew after finishing the bicentennial barns. When Monroe County wanted to celebrate its bicentennial in 2015 with a quilt barn trail, Hagan was hired.
“Just as patchwork quilts once graced the beds of most Monroe County residents, those same designs now adorn 20 century-old wooden barns,” Karen Schaefer, producer of See Ohio First’s audio driving tour says. “Each [barn is] a colorful quilt-work jewel
Scott Hagan’s signature is featured in the corner of one of his barn quilt paintings, differentiating his art from other barn quilts around the state.
which celebrates the history and culture of this rugged Ohio River landscape.”
Schaefer’s calm voice set to an instrumental tune guides listeners along an educational journey of the Patchwork Jewels of Monroe County, a trail of quilt barns painted by Hagan.
“In those days my equipment wasn’t what it is today,” Hagan says of the project. “The biggest part of my job was just putting the scaffolding up and down.”
Hagan estimates he completed the Patchwork Jewels Quilt Barns over two years. Then, with a grant from the Ohio Art Council, Ohio Humanities began making audio tours of Ohio’s quilt barns.
David Merkowitz, director of grants, programs and operations for Ohio Humanities notes that in Ohio, there has been a lengthy discussion regarding how to take better advantage of the heritage tourism assets in the state.
“What the quilt barns offer is an opportunity to tell the story of the community in ways that acknowledge that,” Merkowitz says. “The story is not a single really important place but an overall experience of the place.”
Hagan has helped multiple Ohio counties create barn trails. In September 2022, a work of Hagan’s made its debut in Bellevue. A barn in front of The Bellevue Hospital now displays a bold, black-andwhite depiction of a Berkshire-style No. 757 steam locomotive surrounded by the words “Welcome to Bellevue,” “A Historic Railroad Town” and “The Bellevue Hospital.” It is the seventh addition to the Sandusky County Historic Barn Mural Trail.
Sandusky County began its own barn trail in 2017 after Hagan painted a barn mural of former President Rutherford B. Hayes in Fremont for the Ohio Turnpike and the Ohio History Connection in 2015.
“We thought, ‘Wow, it’d be so cool if we did more than just one barn and created a trail,’” David Thornbury, marketing director for Sandusky County Visitors Bureau, says.
All the Sandusky County barns and their murals have some significance to the area. Thornbury says the No. 757 steam locomotive on Bellevue’s barn was a famous steam train that ran routes from Bellevue to beyond. Both residents and passersby enjoy the Sandusky County Barn Mural Trail, and people have traveled across multiple state lines to visit.
Peggy Courtney, executive director for Sandusky County Visitors Bureau, remembers a Californian couple who explained they followed Hagan on Facebook. It was there they learned of Sandusky
County’s barn mural trail, and the couple made the trip from California to Ohio, rented a car and drove the path.
“One of the things we wanted to do was make our county look beautiful [and] make our countryside look more appealing,” Thornbury says. “Also, [we wanted] to protect these historic barns that are becoming harder and harder to find.”
Hagan echoes Thornbury’s sentiment.
“One thing about this area, southeastern Ohio, it can be harder to find the sides of barns that work [for painting],” Hagan says. “A lot of barns are gone now.”
Hagan continued to work with George after the Ohio Bicentennial through the Ohio History Connection. George says that, because some of the barns are quite old, Hagan encounters holes, rough surfaces and warped boards. Browning of Browning Design illustrates and designs reference artwork Hagan can bring to life despite it all.
The team will join forces again for a years-long project that George says will be similar to the bicentennial barn project, involving barn paintings of prominent Ohioans. Hagan will also play a large role in Ohio’s celebration of the United States’ 250th anniversary.
George thinks many people are surprised to learn about historical changemakers from their local community, and when they become aware, they want others to know, too. Hagan’s talents have a dual outcome of bringing others joy and preserving history.
Ohio’s agricultural roots are part of what make barns significant to the state. In March 2019, the barn became Ohio’s official historical architectural structure, according to the Ohio Revised Code.
As the number of standing barns in the U.S. dwindle, Hagan not only brings new life to historic buildings but tells the story of the surrounding land. With art, Hagan ensures Ohio’s history will not be forgotten.
“He’s just a peach of a person. He’s just a very goodnatured, sweet guy who is very competent in his craft,” George says. “He’s proud of what he does, and he has every right to be proud of it. I’ve watched him grow in his practice and his artistry for a long time now, and it’s just astounding what he is able to do.”
According to the commission’s final report, Hagan traveled about 65,000 miles and used roughly 650 gallons of paint throughout the five-year, oneman project.
For years, Southeast Ohio has been a hub for fossil fuel jobs that the industry claims employ millions. With the rise of coal mining in the 19th century and the fracking boom of the 2000s, the industry presents its latest push: plastic production.
Now, petrochemicals have their sights on a new destination in Appalachia: Belmont County, located in southeastern Ohio, to accompany an existing plant in Beaver County, Pennsylvania.
In Belmont County, a global chemical company from Bangkok, PTT Global Chemical, has proposed plans to construct an ethane cracker plant alongside residents’ homes, shops and the Ohio River. The plant will produce plastic “nurdles,” small plastic
pellets that are later used in the production of single-use plastics in other facilities.
PTT Global Chemical has currently stalled production of the plant after its second investor, Daelim Chemical USA, pulled out in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. However, many supporters continue to look forward to the completion of the plant.
Longtime resident of Southeast Ohio and environmental activist who holds a doctorate in environmental studies, Dr. Randi Pokladnik, has been a witness to the fossil fuel industry for years. She describes petrochemicals’ effect on Southeast Ohio as a sacrifice, one that has persisted in the industry-rich region for decades.
“People that are right there, there’s no way for them to escape,” Pokladnik says. “And that would be the sacrificed community.”
Pokladnik refers to the residents of Dillies Bottom, a quaint neighborhood located in Belmont County.
A major proponent of the plant is JobsOhio, one of Ohio’s private economic development corporations that is funded by Ohio liquor sales. President and CEO of JobsOhio, J.P. Nauseef, has strongly advocated for the plant.
According to reporting by The Intelligencer, JobsOhio has already invested millions of dollars into the site. JobsOhio initially invested $20 million into the project, which was refunded by PTT Global Chemical in March 2022 after it failed to make an investment decision in 2020.
After the $20 million was refunded, however, JobsOhio proceeded to invest $50 million more in grants and loans to support future development of the site.
PTT Global Chemical has made no comment on whether they have secured another investor or if they will continue construction on the site. JobsOhio continues to appear confident that the site will bring jobs to Ohioans.
Beverly Reed, an independent environmental advocate raising awareness about the Belmont cracker plant and the wider oil, gas and petrochemical industry, knows her area could benefit from more jobs. She describes the fossil fuel industry’s “economic promise” as more of a bluff.
“When fracking first came here, the industry lied and said it was going to create hundreds of thousands of jobs, and it was going to be the thing that bails out this area, and it’s going to be a prosperous future,” Reed says. “But nothing has changed.”
In the American Petroleum Institute’s (API) 2022 report, which relies on 2019 data, they claim that 11.3 million jobs are provided by the oil and gas industry in the United States.
According to a September 2022 study conducted by the Food and Water Watch, a nonprofit organization fighting for a cleaner environment, only 695,000 people were employed by the oil and gas industry in 2019 and these jobs have declined 37% since 2014.
Pokladnik and Reed state that a substantial number of employees who were hired at previous fossil fuel facilities in Belmont and the rest of Southeast Ohio are not residents of the area and instead come from states like Oklahoma, Texas and Pennsylvania.
“[Residents of Southeast Ohio] can’t perform the job because they haven’t been trained to do it,” Pokladnik says. “And they aren’t the right age do it.”
Reed projects that if construction of the petrochemical facility were to be completed, nearly half of the promised jobs would not come to fruition as the projected numbers are likely overinflated.
“I’m pretty sure we can come up with different ideas to create 200 jobs that don’t kill us,” Reed says.
The infrastructure needed to operate the ethane cracker plants and produce plastic poses serious environmental and health hazards. The adverse effects of these systems can already be seen in Beaver County, Pennsylvania where one plant is currently in operation: the Shell Polymers Monaca Cracker Plant.
The plant officially began operations on Nov. 15, 2022 and will remain in its startup phase for roughly a year until it becomes fully functional in late 2023, according to WTAE Pittsburgh.
To monitor the harmful effects brought about by the cracker plants, Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community (BCMAC), an environmental awareness group, created Eyes on Shell.
Eyes on Shell is a community watchdog group for citizens of Beaver County to report concerns and observations related to the new Shell cracker plant.
A volunteer with Eyes on Shell spoke anonymously about being notified of the health effects of petrochemicals back in December 2021 at a virtual community meeting hosted by BCMAC called Preparing for Petrochemicals. During the meeting, Beaver County residents were asked to keep a health journal ahead of the plant’s arrival to monitor any impacts it could have on their health.
Since the plant came online, numerous residents have reported experiencing light pollution, noise pollution and air pollution to Eyes on Shell.
The volunteer specifically draws attention to Brighton Township, which is prone to loud, incessant popping noises at all hours of the day and night. Shell denies these noises come from the plant.
“There was one [incident] recently on the 20th of January, which actually coincides with a malfunction report from Shell,” the volunteer says. “But Shell denied that they were the source of the noise. It frightened a number of people and shook their homes.”
She draws attention to light pollution, specifically “flaring events” that are so strong and frequent, they can be seen 15 to 17 miles away. Many residents have been adding blackout curtains to their grocery list in an attempt to block out the light, according to the volunteer.
I’m pretty sure we can come up with different ideas to create 200 jobs that don’t kill us.”
-Beverly Reed, environmental activist
Taking all these disturbances into consideration, the volunteer states the unknown health effects of the air pollution from the facility are concerning to residents. She mentions that adverse health complications will impact surrounding communities and likely cross state lines into Ohio and West Virginia.
Since the cracker plant has only been online for several months, the full-scale health effects could take years to come to light. Residents have already noticed odd smells around their community and reported experiencing headaches and episodes of nausea, a possible side effect of the plant’s operation and emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
In its first month of operation alone, Shell nearly exceeded their entire 12-month emissions limit of VOCs, emitting approximately 512 out of a maximum of 516 tons.
Shell claims this was due to the initial startup of the facility, however, they have continued to exceed their limit since then. Several environmental groups, including Environmental Integrity Project and Clean Air Council, have filed multiple lawsuits against the plant in attempts to hold them accountable. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has yet to take action.
“Having people who can’t sleep, having to reassure your kids [about] the loud noises they are hearing, that’s not safe,” the volunteer says. “Is Shell operating safely? Perhaps in some ways, but there are a number of
ways that they can improve. They’ve been called on by the community to [do] that. And we’re still waiting.”
As Eyes on Shell and other environmental groups wait for the Pennsylvania DEP’s response, the community awareness group continues to work to keep residents informed via Facebook and provide residents with a safe space to voice their concerns.
The volunteer, who has lived next to the operational facility for roughly five months, says that despite all the disturbances, her biggest fear is that one day her and her family may need to leave their home.
“My husband and I have go-bags,” the volunteer says. “We understand what our evacuation route is because the nuclear facility is just down the river. It’s a different way of living. Neither of us have ever had to really be that concerned about living near a facility or industry like this. And now it’s just something that dominates your day-to-day life.”
In Belmont, petrochemical production promises to provide hundreds of jobs for the region. In Beaver County, however, residents speak of disturbances that affect their day-to-day life. The question remains: Do the benefits outweigh the costs?
Update: On April 25, 2023, Shell announced they would be temporarily ceasing operations at the plant to work on its flare and wastewater treatment system. Eyes on Shell is pleased to see the company addressing residents’ concerns.
By Tre Spencer and Joe Timmerman
As Gavin Plant faces new EPA restrictions, Cheshire’s remaining residents ready for a new era
The General James M. Gavin Plant seen from Scotty Lucas’ kitchen window on Wednesday, March 8, 2023, in Cheshire, Ohio.
-year-old Scotty Lucas peers out his front window and reminisces on when he used to watch his children and their friends run around the neighborhood playing basketball and baseball in the small park across the street.
“Always a thumpin’ with a ball out… the kids were always playing,” Lucas says. “Now you don’t see any kids. There’s no kids here.”
Today, in Gallia County, the village of Cheshire is home to around 120 people—a shell of its 1960 heyday population of 369. A once lively town, now without a heartbeat, as Lucas says.
A resident of the village since 1955, and former mayor, Lucas has witnessed how the village has transformed over decades. He also happens to share his backyard with the catalyst for his community’s change: the General James M. Gavin Power Plant.
The General James M. Gavin Power Plant is the largest coal-fired power plant in Ohio. With the capacity to produce 2,600 megawatts of electricity, it has been operational for over 40 years after being commissioned in 1974.
The Gavin Plant has a notorious history of polluting, that has included a $20 million buyout of a multitude of homes where Cheshire residents lived. The buyout occurred in 2002 to avoid lawsuits that were related to sickness complaints from residents who blamed plumes emitted from the plant.
At the end of 2022, the United States Environmental Protection Agency released federal guidelines protecting groundwater from coal ash contamination that currently threatens to restrict operations at the Gavin Plant in Cheshire.
Coal ash is the byproduct of coal-powered plants and includes a variety of other byproducts like fly ash, boiler slag and bottom ash. When disposed of incorrectly or stored unsafely, that ash becomes a contaminant that can harm the environment.
According to a statement released by the U.S. EPA, coal-powered industrial plants must properly dispose of their waste materials. From the Gavin Plant’s commission in 1974, it has continuously disposed of its coal ash byproducts into unlined ponds that pose a threat to groundwater in surrounding areas.
Coal ash ponds are containment sites that are filled with coal ash, many of which are unlined. Lining coal ash ponds helps keep the chemical byproducts of coal ash from seeping into the groundwater. Lined ponds include a synthetic or organic liner that acts as a sponge to contain the toxic chemicals found within the remnants of the ash.
According to a map by EarthJustice, a nonprofit environmental law organization, 746 coal ash units in the U.S. and Puerto Rico have reported information
in compliance with federal coal ash safeguards since 2015. Out of those 746 units, 94% are unlined.
In a recent interview with an U.S. EPA official, it was revealed that out of the 23 federally regulated surface impoundments in Ohio, 22 are unlined, including the bottom ash pond at the Gavin Plant.
According to the U.S. EPA in documents about their decision regarding the Gavin Plant, the Part A Rule established that electric utilities must cease receiving waste into all unlined coal combustion surface impoundments. The Gavin Plant requested an extension on the ruling, but the EPA made a final decision to deny their application.
“We received 57 Part A applications. Gavin is the only one we’ve issued one final decision for,” an EPA official says.
According to comments submitted in its recent request for an extension, the Gavin Plant says it is actively working to replace unlined ponds by building new disposal capacity that meets the EPA’s requirements and claimed it would expedite the completion to March 2023. At the time of this publication, however, there have been no new developments.
“If you have an unlined pit, that coal ash is essentially sitting in the groundwater,” Director of the Environmental Studies Program at Ohio University, Natalie Kruse Daniels, who holds a doctorate in hydrochemical engineering, says. “You would have to have a lot of monitoring around that area in the water to understand where the particular metals are moving from that pond into the water, and they didn’t have that.”
Coal ash contamination is dangerous in a multitude of ways and can introduce harmful chemicals into groundwater that people ultimately consume. According to a report from Physicians for Social Responsibility that outlines coal ash hazards, coal ash contains many heavy metals including aluminum, arsenic, lead and mercury.
“When you have unlined ponds sitting in the groundwater, you’re going to have transport of those metals and metal alloys into the water, and that water is going to move,” Daniels says.
When ingested, inhaled or drank, those heavy metals begin to develop toxic effects that impact the nervous system and can potentially lead to a higher risk for cancer.
For many residents of Southeast Ohio, their source of water originates from places like groundwater wells. In a study conducted by Ohio University that outlined water accessibility in Appalachian Ohio, approximately 34% of the population across 32 counties did not have access to a public water system.
The EPA decision represents a larger debate concerning the future of coal-fired power across the country, and the Gavin Plant might be among the first targeted for reform.
Given that 96% of federally regulated surface impoundments in Ohio and 94% of coal ash units in the U.S. are unlined, the Gavin Plant could be the first plant to close if the EPA’s new guidelines are not followed.
“Sometimes you have to have a bigger case to help make change for the smaller ones,” Daniels says in reference to the impact the EPA’s decision on the Gavin Plant may have on the coal industry.
“With Gavin, it’s a big plant. It’s right on the Ohio River. It’s literally at groundwater level. It’s kind of a really glaring example,” Daniels says. “I do hope that these sort of decisions do further change the management of how we deal with this because it is yet another source of water contamination.”
The General James M. Gavin Plant dominates the village skyline at sunset on Wednesday, March 8, 2023, in Cheshire, Ohio.While many of the residents who accepted the Gavin Plant’s buyout in 2002 left Cheshire, Lucas continues to live in his home with a lifetime contract. As Lucas gets older, though, so does the plant. “The plant is in very bad repairs, it’s 40 some years old,” Lucas says. “It’s rusted down, to put it in plain words.”
Lucas says that his son, Brian, who worked as a foreman and machinist at the plant until retiring within the last year, has said that the plant is in need of repair and is unsure when or how these fixes would be addressed.
“I don’t see much future for the village,” Lucas says. “You got street lights, you got gas and paved streets and so on… there’s not enough people to support that so I don’t see much future for the village.”
“The plant… the way it sounds for the people that know and the people who are working there, it doesn’t sound too promising,” Lucas says. “They might give it up.”
A representive from Lightstone Generation LLC, the company that owns the Gavin Plant, did not reply to requests for comment.
I don’t see much of a future for the village.”
-Scotty Lucas, resident
“
By day, Chris Nevil works as a financial planner, an adjunct professor and president of the Southeastern Ohio Rainbow Alliance (SEORA). On certain evenings and weekends, however, Nevil transforms into Kazma Knights, a glamorous and sassy drag queen hosting events across Southeast Ohio.
When did you first begin performing in drag?
“It was about five years ago. It all started out as a bit of a joke. There was a drag queen that was trying to start a show here, and she convinced me to do it. So, I made my little debut. Eventually, she quit doing drag and let me take over the shows, and I’ve been doing that since the start of 2019.”
Was it nerve-wracking having never been in drag before?
“It was, but at the same time, it wasn’t, because you’re somebody else, you know? Of course, my makeup was terrible then, so you could tell it was me. Now, it’s a lot better.”
What is it like to perform in Southeast Ohio?
“Way more people from the community actually come to the shows than students do. The biggest show that the local drag community and I always do is the Athens Pride Show. In the summer, we usually have over 400 people there. Being from the area, it is really nice to see all those community members.”
Why are these events important to you?
“The main thing is just having that welcoming, open environment for anybody to visit. We had people come up to us at our events and say, “This is the only place I can be myself.” That is everything to me. One place where you can be yourself is better than no place to be yourself. That’s the biggest part.”
Tell us about your work with the SEORA organization?
“I always want to see the community that I grew up in thrive. Our goal is to have a physical resource center somewhere in Athens for
the public. Students at Ohio University have the LGBT center, but we want one for the public. SEORA didn’t exist when I grew up, which is part of what makes me feel so passionate about it.
Athens is an accepting place, but it’s a whole different world if you go five to 10 minutes outside. Now, there are way more people that are kind and accepting and just want to see the world in a brighter light.”
What is it like balancing your two different jobs?
“Being in a professional setting in my finance job and being an adjunct professor at Hocking College, it is very interesting having a nightlife side hustle. People are always a little shocked, but usually I get good feedback. Everyone loves it.
I can be a little more reserved in my professional settings, but Kazma is a little crazy when she comes out. Accounting and finance can sometimes be drab and boring, so this is my artistic outlet to combat that.”
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