Events

June 17-19
Fort Amanda Historic Site Frontier
Ohio Day Camp, ages 9-16
During this bicentennial year, discover what life in the 1800s was like. Participants will explore pioneer traditions and skills as they have the opportunity to make candles, work with shaving horse and buck saw.  Costumed re-enactors will visit each day and share stories of Ohio’s past. OAIP’s Annie Oakley will be there on Wednesday and Harriet Beecher Stowe on Thursday. Call the Johnny Appleseed Metropolitan Park District at (419) 221-1232 for more information.

7 p.m. nightly, June 19-22, 2003
Ohio and Its People Tent Show at The Ohio State University at Lima. Join us under the big tent as scholar actors recreate the characters of Annie Oakley (Thursday), Jesse Owens (Friday), John D. Rockefeller (Saturday), and Harriet Beecher Stowe (Sunday). Live music will start at 7 p.m. each evening. The Olde Michigan Ruffwater String Band will perform Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The Lima Area Concert Band will perform Sunday.  Underwritten by Bank One.

11 a.m., Friday, June 20, 2003
How to Make the Most of Your Kitchen Utensils with Don Hayes of the Olde Michigan Ruffwater String Band. Bring your own spoons and enjoy a workshop at the Allen County Farm Park.  For information, call the Johnny Appleseed Metropolitan Park District at (419) 221-1232.

2 p.m., Friday, June 20, 2003
Tea at Two with Annie Oakley
at the Allen County Museum for 4-12 year olds and their adult chaperones. Join Annie as she talks about her childhood in rural Ohio and recreates parts of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show with help from the audience. Refreshments will be served. The cost is $4 per person and reservations are required. For questions or to register, call Jean Engstrom at (419) 225-5586.

4-6 p.m., Friday, June 20, 2003
1800s Family Workshop brought to you by the Johnny Appleseed Metropolitan Park District on the quad at The Ohio State University at Lima. Step back in time and explore Ohio’s heritage.  Bring your family and experience life in the 1800s. Dip a candle, churn some butter, work with the shaving horse and use a bucksaw. Talk with local re-enactors about life in Ohio in the 1800s. Spend five minutes or two hours as we celebrate Ohio’s history.

 3 p.m., Saturday, June 21
Mountain Dulcimer Workshop with the Olde Michigan Ruffwater String Band under the tent at The Ohio State University at Lima.  Some instruments are available with prior arrangement. Recommended for 16 years and above. Capacity is limited. The workshop is free, but registration is required by calling (419) 995-8382.

5 p.m., Saturday, June 21
Sea Shanty and Old Time Tunes Workshop with the Olde Michigan Ruffwater String Band under the tent at The Ohio State University at Lima.  Join the Ruffwater singers to sing Sea Shanteys, Old-Time and Gospel songs with a lean toward how to construct singing harmonies for a variety of song presentations.  Free and open to the public.

2 p.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday, June 21, 2003
Real Wheels Cruise-In: Ohio and Its People Classic Car Show sponsored by The Lima News, Sign Pro and The Lima Auto Mall. Cruise-in in your Classic, Restoration or Performance Vehicle. Registration at noon. Registration is $5 and includes a T-shirt. For information, call The Lima News at (419) 993-2118.

6 p.m., Thursday, June 26, 2003
All-American Classics Dinner and a Movie Series at the Veterans’ Memorial Civic and Convention Center. Celebrate one of the most famous films of Dudley Nichols, a Wapak native who made it big in Hollywood. On June 26, a Prairie Barbecue Buffet will be served to an expanded audience in the Civic Center Exhibit Hall, followed by a screening of John Ford’s Stagecoach starring John Wayne. Dudley Nichols wrote the screenplay. Cost for the Dinner and a Movie combo is $25 for adults and $15 for children. For the movie only, the cost is $4. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington on July 24 and The Milagro Beanfield War on August 28 will be back in Windows on the Square to round out the series.  For information and ticket reservations, call the Civic Center Box Office at (419) 224-1552.

8 p.m., Saturday, June 28, 2003
Firefly Fireworks at the Ottawa Metro Park Amphitheater. Join us for campfire stories and a leisurely walk as we share the legends, facts and folklore of fireflies, bats and owls. All fireflies will be released at the program’s conclusion.

8 p.m., Saturday, July 5, 2003
Life on the Ohio Frontier at the Ottawa Metro Park Amphitheater. Local re-enactor Jim Fletcher will share stories of life on the Ohio frontier in the 1790s.

8 p.m., Saturday, July 12, 2003
Appleseed John at the Ottawa Metro Park Amphitheater. Meet the legendary “Johnny Appleseed” of the Ohio Frontier.

8 p.m., Saturday, July 19, 2003
Storytelling Night at the Ottawa Metro Park Amphitheater. Join Vickie Hardesty, a member of the Johnny Appleseed Yarn Spinners, for an evening of storytelling fun.

8 p.m., Saturday, August 2, 2003
Musical Campfire at the Ottawa Metro Park Amphitheater.  Join Gary Sanning, campground host and volunteer, for an evening of musical fun.

8 p.m., Saturday, August 16, 2003
Storytelling Night at the Ottawa Metro Park Amphitheater.  Join Rita Essick, a member of the Johnny Appleseed Yarn Spinners, for a relaxing evening of storytelling fun.

7 p.m., Thursday, September 18, 2003
Tom Crouch, senior curator at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, talks about Ohio in Flight  in Memorial Hall.   Crouch is the author of The Bishop’s Boys, a biography
of the Wright Brothers.  Underwritten by Sky Bank.

Saturday, September 20, 2003
Tombstones in Time historic tour of two local cemeteries. Meet at the Johnny Appleseed Metropolitan Park District office. *This event is tentatively scheduled. Please contact the park district office to confirm at (419) 221-1232.

7 p.m., Monday, October 6, 2003
Joan Hedrick, author of Pulitzer-prize winning biography of Harriet Beecher Stowe, talks about her work.  Underwritten by Lima Community Foundation.

Saturday or Sunday afternoon in October 2003*.
Fort Amanda: Fact and Fiction
Walk the trails and visit the site of an 1812 fort with local historian Dave Johnson. Discover what he has learned about this historical area during his 25 years of research.
*This event is tentatively scheduled. Please contact the park district office to confirm at (419) 221-1232.

7 p.m., Saturday, November 15, 2003*
Conclude our years of history with a lantern walk through one of the Johnny Appleseed Metropolitan Park Districts woods. Experience the woods at night as the early settlers may have.  Meet and talk with a group of pioneers and discover what travel through Northwest Ohio was like. Only the light of the moon and our lanterns will guide our path.
*This event is tentatively scheduled. Please contact the park district office to confirm at (419) 221-1232.