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Art Meets History
Art has spurred a revitalization of downtown Canton, whose arts district has more than two-dozen art galleries and studios and more than 40 pieces of public art.
Plans call for 11 statues honoring great moments in pro football history around town by the time of the NFL’s centennial in 2020. The two already in place honor the birth of the draft and mark the street corner where the NFL was born.
“They will be used to tie in the hall of fame with downtown,” said Allyson Bussey, executive director of the Canton/Stark County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
My final Canton stop was at the William McKinley Presidential Library and Museum.
“We are a little different than most presidential museums; we are not part of the National Archives,” said Christopher Kenney, the education director.
While the museum has an extensive collection of artifacts about McKinley, including items from his Canton law office and home and the White House, it is more than just a one-dimensional museum.
“We are not only presidential history, but county history also,” said Kenney.
The museum has a very well done county history museum; a hands-on science museum where visitors are greeted by Alice, an animatronic allosaurus; and a planetarium.
It is not a dinosaur but a 19th-century dairymaid who greets groups during a new progressive dinner at Zoar Village, a restored communal town in Tuscarawas County.
Zoar Village was founded in 1817 by a group of German separatists seeking religious freedom. It remained an active community until the late 19th century. Today, three blocks and 11 buildings are preserved as a museum.
“The first stop for appetizers is the dairy, where they made all their butter and cheese,” said Becka Lash, a representative of the town who showed me around. “She then takes you to the kitchen, where the grumpy spice lady takes over. You meet an older woman with a different perspective.”
The last stop is for a meal under a tent in the large gardens, where gardener Simon Beuter tells his story. The tour is set during the Civil War and gives the views of the villagers, who were pacifists.
“He wrote extensively in his diary about the position of the trustees about the Civil War. And he tells about his garden,” said Lash.
Authentic Amish Country
I had a different dining experience for lunch at the Amish Dutch Valley Restaurant in Sugarcreek in the middle of beautiful rolling farmland.
“It is our food; it’s not make-believe, it’s authentic,” said Shasta Mast, executive director of the Holmes County Chamber and Tourism Bureau in the heart of Ohio’s Amish country, one of the largest concentrations of Amish in the country, as we dove into heaping plates of ham, chicken, corn, green beans, mashed potatoes and homemade yeast rolls.
The Dutch Valley complex includes a theater, a hotel, a bakery and shops.
A drive along Highway 39, the main artery through Amish Country, takes you back in time.
“It is truly an authentic rural destination,” said Mast. “It is a slice back to America of the late 1800s. The traditional shops, harness shops, blacksmith, are not for show. They are operating shops.”
Ernest “Mooney” Warther was also authentic. For more than a half-century, Warther carved highly detailed trains and steam engines, many with tiny moving parts, in his Dover studio, first in wood and later in ivory and ebony — and never sold a one.
“Carving was just a hobby,” said Carol Warther Moreland, his granddaughter and president of the Warther Museum in Dover, where many of his carvings are displayed.
The craftsmen at the Cambridge Glass Company were also dedicated to their work, turning out beautifully detailed glassware from 1902 to 1958. Their work is displayed at the National Museum of Cambridge Glass in downtown Cambridge, with more than 8,000 pieces of glass in numerous designs and colors.
“It was known for its beautiful colors and innovative designs,” said museum director Cindy Arent.
For more information contact Tourism Ohio at 800-282-5393 or go online to www.discoverohio.com.
