Submitted story & photo on Urbana Daily Citizen
All aboard! Hop onto a vintage train leaving Urbana on Oct. 20 and travel south to Maitland, west of Springfield, while viewing the scenic countryside. Join the Champaign County Preservation Alliance’s round-trip train trip and step back in time to when the railroads were the champions of travel. Each trip will be approximately 80 minutes and the railroad reserves the right to alter schedules and routes as operating conditions demand. Three trips will be offered – 10 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2:45 p.m. – and all tickets will be $20 per person. Children under 2 years of age may ride on an adult’s lap at no charge. The train is not handicap accessible and no pets are allowed. For more information please check out the full article here! By Nancy Lokai Baldwin
On Sunday, Sept. 8, you can enjoy Ohio’s best bike trail and help to pave several more miles of it at the same time. Bicyclists, walkers, runners and roller-bladers are invited to the 20th Annual Bike Ride. Registration is from 8 to 10 a.m. at 644 Miami St., Urbana. This year’s tour honors the memory of Betsy Bohl, one of the founders of the Simon Kenton Pathfinders. Betsy held the treasurer position until 2015. An avid rider throughout her life, her dedication and ability to promote the trail project has made a lasting improvement in the quality of life for our community and others from around the state and nation. The goal of Sunday’s tour is to make the Simon Kenton Trail even better. All proceeds will support trail maintenance and the chip-seal paving project of the trail from Lippincott Road in Champaign County to Township Road 199 in Logan County. This will complete the chip-seal of the entire compacted stone trail. Last year, the trail was chip-sealed from the city of Bellefontaine south to Logan County township Road 199 and state Route 296 to Lippincott Road in Champaign County. Click here to read more about this event on Urbana Daily Citizen. By Kathy Fox - [email protected]
Photo Credit: Steve Stout | Urbana Daily Citizen The city of Urbana plans to move its finance offices into the former Fifth Third Bank next door, corner of South Main and East Water streets, on Friday. The offices for accounts receivable and payable, income tax, utility billing and human resources now in the municipal building at 205 S. Main St. will be closed Friday for the move. They will reopen on Tuesday, following the Labor Day weekend, in the remodeled Business Office at 225 S. Main St. “This will be great for the community,” Finance Director Chris Boettcher said. “You won’t have to park the car and go in to make the utility payment. You can just use the drive-thru to make the payment.” She noted that people who prefer to park and walk into a building to pay can continue to do so. The Business Office will be open from 8 to 4:30 p.m. weekdays. If that’s not convenient, utility customers can use the after-hours drop box. Click here to read full article from Urbana Daily Citizen. Submitted story
Photos courtesy of the Champaign County Historical Society In recognition of the 100th anniversary of the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau, the Champaign County Historical Society is noting the history of previous offices of the Chamber. These circa 1937 photos (#0130, #0131) of the Four Gables Building located at the NW corner of Church and Main streets document before and after the sides of the building were covered with an imitation brick veneer. Note in photo 1 the start of the covering on the wall at the left and the presence of scaffolding on the front of the building. At the time of this photo the Interurban tracks had been removed from the middle of Main Street. Photo 2 is after completion of the cladding. Note in both photos the gasoline pumps and the tank cart for dispensing motor oil. Canned motor oil probably was not generally available then. Note the air hose at the extreme left of the photos and the buckets for radiator water at the base of the pole upon which a thermometer has been mounted. The Chamber of Commerce offices were in this building in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
Story from Urbana Daily Citizen
Submitted Photos to Urbana Daily Citizen Mercy Health employees were “on the hammers for HFHCCO” on Saturday. Habitat for Humanity of Champaign County (HFHCCO) has started construction on its 11th home, 142 S. Russell St. in Urbana, which will be occupied by Dwight Saylor and Chasity Pitts along with four of their children. Dwight and Chasity will share the house with their children Logan Saylor, 15, Camden Lewis, 15, Lance Saylor, 10, and Issabella Meyers, 6. Mercy Health sent a “dynamic build crew” to help on Saturday. The crew included Adam Groshans, Holly McGowen, Pastor Ray Branstiter, Rick Finkbine, Heather Cramblett, Jamie Houseman, Heather Rabley, Terry Ceyler, Mike Benna, Cathy Minton and several others. Click here to read the full article on Urbana Daily Citizen. Join us for a half-day talent forum featuring University of Cincinnati's Economics Center and national workforce expert, Ady Advantage as we uncover resources and best practices in talent attraction and retention.
Who Should Attend? Local company reps looking to obtain more tools for talent attraction and retention. What will be covered? Tools, trends and best practices in talent retention and attraction from local businesses, local and regional resource partners, and a National Consultant. Why attend? You will leave with concrete ways to improve your workforce!! Additionally, this program is approved for 5 HR (General) recertification credit hours toward PHR, SPHR and GPHR recertification through the HR Certification Institute, and through National SHRM. The event is $55 per person and includes light breakfast & lunch. Piatt Castles’ oral history project, Memories of Mac-O-Chee, allows former employees, volunteers and visitors to have their memories of the castle video-recorded. This is possible through the efforts of the Mac-A-Cheek Foundation for the Humanities, a non-profit organization that focuses on research and programming at Piatt Castles. Mac-O-Chee Castle is scheduled to close at the end of October.
To make an appointment for a recording at Mac-O-Chee, visit www.piattcastles.org or call 937-844-3902. Recordings will be scheduled on the half hour on these dates and times: – Aug. 31, Sept. 1 and 2 (Labor Day weekend) – 9:30 a.m.-noon and 4-5:30 p.m. – Sept. 7 – 2-4 p.m. – Sept. 28 – 9:30-11 a.m. and 4-5:30 p.m. – Oct. 26 and 27 – 11:30, noon, 12:30 p.m., 1 p.m., 1:30 and 2 p.m. Anyone who registers to record a memory of Mac-O-Chee at one of the times on the days listed will receive free admission to Mac-O-Chee Castle. Participants will be asked to sign a release form so short segments can be used on social media. Complete recordings will remain in the archive at Mac-A-Cheek Castle. Additional written memories may be sent to [email protected]. Submitted story, Info from Piatt Castles, article available on Urbana Daily Citizen. The Champaign Aviation Museum, home of a WWII B-17 heavy bomber, the Champaign Lady, and a B-25, the Champaign Gal, will hold the fifth annual Remembrance Day Ceremony at 11 a.m. on Sept. 28 to honor the men who served in the Army Air Corps/Army Air Force during WWII. There is no charge to attend or to visit the museum.
Relatives and friends can honor their servicemen by participating in the ceremony and reading the airman’s name and Military Service Record. These names will be entered into the Hall of Honor and become a permanent part of the Champaign Aviation Museum, flying with the B-17 wherever it goes. A link to the Hall of Honor application is available at here. To read the full article & more about Champaign County check out Urbana Daily Citizen! Story by Urbana Daily Citizen
In recognition of the 100th anniversary of the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau, the Champaign County Historical Society is noting the history of some previous locations of its offices. The “Then” circa 1935 photo (#0138) is of the building at 113 Miami St., Urbana. Note that Miami Street was bricked. The Urbana Banking Co., Urbana’s first private bank, was established at this location in 1814, probably in a log structure. The current two-story building is thought to have been erected circa 1820 by Dr. Adam Mosgrove. The bank closed in 1842. By 1892 it was used as the medical office and residence of Dr. and Mrs. William A. Mosgrove. In 1939 Dr. Vogt Wolf had his medical office on the street level. Dr. Steven Radar maintained his general practitioner’s office here from 1963 until 1990. Information source: Then and Now in Downtown Urbana, Ohio from 1805 by Barbara Stickley Sour. Note: if you can identify the bartender and/or beer vendors in this photo, please call the museum, 937-653-6721. The 2015 “Now” photo also is of 113 Miami St. The Chamber of Commerce was in this building in 2001. Note that the location of the A & P Food Stores next door is now the location of Fusion 40-83 Restaurant. Check out the full article here at Urbana Daily Citizen! Photos submitted by Champaign County Historical Society |
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