Let's Talk Clermont

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Episdoe 19 of Let's Talk Clermont. In this episode we talk with Judi Adams and Susan Barger from the Bethel Historical Society and Museum. They share the inspiring story of how they revitalized the museum, local Civil War and Underground Railroad history, and their favorite artifacts (including Jesse Grant’s plumbing). You’ll also get updates on upcoming Clermont County events including Shakespeare in the Park, archery lessons, and more!

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We've been living in it since so long.   All  

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Welcome to episode 19 of Let's Talk Claremont. I am your host, Patrick,   and thank you very much for tuning in.   Another good episode for you today. I'm if I don't say so myself.   I'll be honest, we're, like, we're gonna start like we normally do with, some news and then move into the interview, and then we'll talk about some events.   For the news,   I think it's a combination of a light week and I think the biggest news of all,   we just had a baby on Friday.   Vincent George Ventarello   came in at seven pounds five ounces. He's healthy. Mom's healthy. So,   we're really thankful,   for all of that. And we're thankful for everybody that's been helping us out   with little Vinny.  

So like I said, it's it's kind of we have light news and I think it's probably a combination of, I'm not sure there was much news,   going on, and,   I'm I'm running on on kinda empty when it comes to sleep and   energy.   So,   we'll probably be back to full swing next week, but we do have a little bit of news. So we'll start off with Union Township.   Veterans Memorial Park is gonna get a new playground, and it's gonna be between the sand volleyball courts and the basketball courts.   They've also got a splash pad planned for the park, and the basketball and pickleball courts,   are have been resurfaced. So sounds like a lot of really nice improvements to Veteran Memorial's Park.  

Next up, we have Batavia Township. This is another park update.   There's gonna be two more pickleball courts added to the community park,   and this has been funded as part of the State of Ohio Capital Grant.   There are additional improvements to the basketball court, that will be taking place in the future.   So that's all the news I have. Light week, as I said. So that'll lead us right into we are a value for value podcast.   What that means is if that you find value in what we're doing, we just ask that you show a little value back in the form of time, talent, and treasure.   In terms of time and talent, let us know what's going on in your community.  

We recently had somebody get in touch with us on Facebook with some really great interview suggestions.   So if you know somebody in your community that's doing great stuff, let me know and we'll try to get them on the podcast.   For treasure, we have a donation page   on our website, let's talk claremont.com.   You can go there and you can make a donation.   Any dollar amount   is greatly appreciated,   but for dollar amounts 50 and above,   you get to be an executive producer of the show, and that is a that is a real credit. I will vouch for that credit. You can put that on a resume. You can put that on IMDB. You can put that anywhere. You will officially be a producer and executive producer of this show.   And for dollar amounts over $200,   I will read your note off live on air. And that can be anything. That can be,   just musings that you have, that can be an ad read for, you know, your business or whatever you're doing. So that's how you can support us. And you can get in touch with us on, Facebook, Let's Talk Clermont podcast. Instagram, Let's Talk   at Let's Talk Clermont.  

You can follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or whatever it is you happen to use for podcasts.   That's really good to do. It helps us out,   and it also make sure that you get notified whenever we have a new show that that goes live. You can always email us infoletstalkclaremont   dot com, and we have a newsletter.   Go to the website. Again, that's letstalkclaremont.com,   and you can sign up for our newsletter, and we'll send you, you know, show updates,   stuff that didn't quite make the cut for the show,   maybe fun little articles that I just write, you know, just for fun.   But sign up, for that newsletter. It's a really great way to stay in touch and get notified   whenever we have a new podcast out.  

For our interview today, we're talking with Judi Adams and Susan Barger.   Both are from the historic the Bethel Historical Society and Museum.   Judi Adams is the president, and I believe Susan works in the archives and she helps arrange the displays and kinda keeps the place looking nice.   And we just talk about we talked to Judi a little bit about how she came in and essentially saved the museum. She's done a lot of great work there to get it to where it is today.   And we also talked with her and Susan about some of the history of Bethel.   It was a great interview, like I've said with all of these. I really enjoyed talking to both of the ladies,   but the museum, I have to say, is is very impressive.  

They've done just a wonderful job of arranging all of their   displays and all of the the   artifacts that they have. It's it's a really, really great museum,   and I would highly recommend,   visiting and checking the museum out and check their website out, for events that they host. I think in August,   they're doing something with antique buttons. It's in the interview, I believe,   but they do a lot of really, really great stuff out there. So thank you to both of those ladies,   and we'll get into the interview, and I hope you really enjoy it.   Alright.  



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Alright.  

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So the way I start all of these off is just tell us who you are and what you do. Okay. Well, thanks for having me, Patrick. Oh, you're very welcome. Thanks thanks for doing this. Pleasure.  

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So I'm Judi Adams,   and I'm the president of the Bethel Historical Society and Museum in Bethel in Claremont County.  

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And, very proud of it. So So how did you how did you get started with all this?  

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So the historical   society was formed in 1972.  

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Okay.  

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And the small group of,   business people and and residents of Bethel started it up and just as a way of preserving the history of Bethel.   And,   in 1998,   Bethel's bicentennial,   I   joined as a member   and continue to be a member,   for several years   until   2014.   And in 2014,   the current   president   and   officers were,   getting some age on them and having health issues.   And one year, all we had were two meetings   that we had a quorum of seven people to to be there.   So, needless to say, something had to be done. Yeah. So,   a group of us got together and we said, well, we either have to make this happen and preserve what history they started   or it's gonna go by the wayside. So what do we wanna do?  

And it was pretty much the consensus that we said, well, let's let's continue to keep the museum and make it bigger and better. So what I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cut you off. Sure.  

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What what drew you to history in general? What do you like about it? Oh, I just have always thought that our past has a lot  

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to,   do with our future Yeah. And how we are.   And you can't change history regardless of what some people wanna try to do. Mhmm. History is history.   And I think sometimes it's just a a matter of   people trying to make a difference   and say, you know what? This is where we came from. This is not something we just invented.  

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Right.  

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And I think that the founding   families in in our town,   were amazing   Yeah. With what they accomplished, with what they had to do. Who were who were the founding families of the town? Obedynam   was our founder.   And,   then a lot of the older families, the Salt family and the,   the Hannah's   and some of the older families in town, you know, had,   they just formed   our our village, our community,   and they made it vibrant. They brought their talents,   whether it's blacksmithing   or or farming or making harnesses   or lumber, You know? They brought all of their talents and and made it what it is today. What so I don't even know what year Bethel was founded.   It was in   when   1798.  

Yeah.   Okay. So trying to A land grant? Yeah. Okay.   So  

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What did he do you know what he got a land grant for? The revolutionary war? The revolutionary war? Okay.   Sorry. No. That's okay. I should probably tell people that there's two, I've got two people here.  

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So but  

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So Anyway What,   what do you primarily do here?  

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Well Just in general, I guess. Oh, yeah. It's a it's a museum. It's a historical museum.   And, again, back in 2014,   what when we knew it had to be revitalized, this building had originally been the village   administration offices. Okay. It was started back in 1929.   They had the grand opening in 1930,   so it's soon gonna be a 100 years old.   But over the It's a pretty good looking building for us. Yeah. It is. I I think it's the most prominent building in in Bethel. Yeah. And,   but over the years, it served as part of it. That was a library. You would pay your utility bills here. They had mayor's court here. They had a a temporary holding   cell in the basement.  



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So there was like a jail in the basement? Jail.  

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And,   actually, when I was in sixth grade, the schools were overcrowded. They had two sixth grade class rooms here, one in this room where we're at and one downstairs. So you actually went to school there? School in this building. Yeah. So   but,   anyway,   so we had one room   in the building for the museum,   and it started it was just a a very small room downstairs,   and the rest of the building was basically   empty. Mhmm.   The boy scouts and girl scouts would have meetings in here. Sometimes this room would be rented out for occasional,   whatever, birthday parties or whatever.  

But the village wasn't using it anymore. So,   they wanted us   to they had an interest in us making it into a museum and buying it, but,   frankly, we had no money.   We had no money. You know, how do you buy it when Right. When you pay,   $20 a year for a membership fee and, you know, it it just wasn't much to go on. So,   we did expand into a bigger room downstairs.   And   and,   actually, in 2014,   the the members who got more active,   we decided, you know, let's   organize a little better. So everything came out into the middle of the floor, and we started organizing it into sections, military or Bethel businesses or school or whatever.   Cool. All all just a mess. We closed the for the whole summer.  

And   things started to grow. Things started to grow. We had more of an interest. In that year, we went from 37   members   to a 150.   Wow. So and that was just in a seven month period Yeah. Yeah. When we did that, we had a membership drive and and so we knew there was an interest. Well,   the village,   mayor at the time,   was   having conversations with me for a couple of years about why don't you buy the building? Why don't you buy it? So finally, we got a little more serious about it and brought it up at one of our, membership meetings, which we had a very good attendance at at our meetings. There would be 20 to 30 members there at these meetings.   And we brought it up,   about buying the building and and, of course, the important important question was, how in the world are we gonna pay for it? We have nothing.  

So we thought, okay. Well, let's just see how the community would support it. So we decided to have a fundraiser.   Mhmm. And,   we partnered with Grant Career Center to have a dinner out there. And we knew to buy the building.   At that time, it was estimated   to run between 13,000   and 15,000   just for operating expenses. Yeah.   And the building was in great disrepair. Yeah. I mean, you know   so, we thought, okay. Well, if we could raise $15,000,   let's see what we could do. Mhmm. And we had our first fundraising dinner   and with sponsors   and the interest from the community,   we made just over $40,000  

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at one point. So the community really came together for this. Really pulled together. It was overwhelming,  

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and it was like,   this is this is so cool. And the sponsors were a big part of it, and we just knew that if we did it once,   we could keep this going. We can make this happen.   So we took   $30,000   of that, which would be two years operating expenses and put that aside,   into two separate   CD accounts at the bank and said, we're not touching this. That's our emergency   money in case we really screw up and and fail. You know? Yeah. But but Well, it's nice to have that cushion. You know? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And we still have that. That's awesome. We still have that. So,   anyway, we took the rest of the money,   and we put,   we started in. We bought the building from the village of Bethel for $1.  



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Oh, nice. You got one of those deals. Yeah.  

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And then we had a money pit. Yeah.  

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Have you seen that movie Money Pit with Tommy? I love that movie. I can relate.  

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First thing. Yeah. I could relate.   But,   but the biggest thing was we had the interest of the community.   And more than just   by monetary donations,   all of a sudden, we were overwhelmed   with donations of stuff. Yeah.  

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Artifacts. I was about to ask you how you find it because this is a big place and there's tons of artifacts around here. I I how do you go about even finding those? I'll tell you what. We we've just people were bringing in their treasures. You know?  

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And,   so it got to where boy, we now that we own this building, now what?   We had   several immediate issues that needed taken care of.   As far   as there was water in the basement   and we had, you know, plaster falling off the walls and and   you couldn't plug in two different coffee pots without blowing all the fuses in the in the building. And so,   I'll tell you, it it was these challenges where I just go to bed at night and couldn't sleep because of all the things. So we we just   every the members got together. We made a list of priorities.   What do we have to do first? Mhmm. Okay.  

And,   a lot of praying went into this building. I could tell you that. And our first blessing came from waterproofing that basement. We knew before we did anything, we had to do two things.   We had to have   our foundation   solid. Mhmm. So we had to get the the water out of the basement,   and then we had to get the roof taken care of.   And,   actually, both things were a blessing. Found out that the roof can be repaired. It didn't need any major   what we were afraid of, you know, have   thousands of dollars of expenses that we didn't have.   And then the basement was the other thing. And,   so we got,   the roof, like I said, it it ended up being,   just needing repaired and not having to be replaced.  

And then the basement, we had three different estimates.   And all three of them were were over $20,000.   And we're like,   okay. Yeah. That's a big difference. We have 2,000.   You know? But, anyway yeah.   So,   after getting those bids and not wonder and, you know, just thinking how in the world are we gonna get these extra funds.   And,   one of the companies, the owner called me one weekend.   And,   he said, you know what? After coming out there and seeing your museum of what you're trying to do,   he said, I really want to   do I really wanna do something for you? He said, I really just this is just touched my heart that what your your organization   is trying to accomplish.  

And,   he said, we're going to   donate   all of our time and labor.   And he said, we'll do the whole job for $10,000.   That's really do you have do you wanna say his name? I'm I'm I didn't know if I was allowed to yell. It was it was Aqua proof. They were they were fabulous. And, I mean, I still get cold chills when I talk about it because that was our first blessing Yeah. Was from Aqua proof. And he said this just he said it just came on me that I wanna do something for you. So   we had already been talking with   one of the local,   trust   funds that's here in town. It's the Burke Trust. Okay. And,   they had, you know, said that they would help us out with some expenses if they could, but I had to apply for it and so forth.  

So they were gonna give us $9,000.   So of the 10,000 we had to come up with to get this accomplished, they were giving us 9,000.  

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That's not a bad deal. And,  

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at the time, I was still working for our local bank here, Community Savings Bank, and and they said, you know what? We'll pitch in that last thousand. Go ahead and get the job done. And I was like,   oh my gosh. Okay.   I could cross that off my list. You know? So we got the basement dried out. We got all the junk out of there that that that had been ruined from the water. Just, we had some Did you lose anything that's terrible?   Well, not terrible. You know what? We didn't   we didn't lose   anything that we know of because the things that were too bad   ruined Mhmm. We couldn't even look at. I mean, you know Yeah. Yeah. Boxes that were falling apart and just had to be destroyed.  

Yeah. Yeah.   But   the then,   one of our other members and I got together and we said, you know what? Let's start painting these walls. And we got dry lock paint, and we just started painting. And everything is dried and sealed. And another local business,   gave us   a a wonderful deal on a commercial,   dehumidifier Yeah. For the basement. Yeah. And so   it's still dry today. How come it's still dry? And we were able now we've been able to put, you know, nice shelving units down there. Everything that goes down there   has to be in a Rubbermaid tub. It's not gonna go down there in a paper box anymore, but it but it's, you know, good. So   since then,   we knew there were just too many other things. We had to address the electric.  



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Mhmm.  

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And I had never written a grant before. I just,   yeah. It was scary, and I thought I've I've written a few of those in there. Okay. They're not fun. No. They're not. They're not fun at all. You get these grant questions. I don't even know how to answer that. Exactly. And and but I am not afraid to ask questions. Yeah. So I made a lot of phone calls and and, I thought, you know, at one time, we were even gonna pay a company to write our grants for us. But I found that   every time   they were   writing it, they would call me to get documents or get this. And I thought, I may as well do it myself and save us some money. Yeah. I muddled through. Yeah. Well, that's what you have to with those things. I mean, they're And when I say muddle, I mean that in every sense of the word. But,  

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did you know Was it down to the wire too? Because every single grant I've ever worked on, it's like the minute before it's due, everybody's still looking at it. Like, do we need to add this? Should we do we answer this question right?  

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I have to say it was a challenge, and and, I   admire   people that write grants. I really admire Yeah. Enough to work them through. But we got,   over   two years or two different applications for grants. We got,   $90,000   to redo all the electric in the building.   That's amazing. We had the whole outside of the building. The brick had to be tuck pointed and sealed up.   And you guys really did have a money pit. We really did. I mean but but you know what? Like I said, we have a a very passionate group of members that care about this this project.   And every year, we made that project list, and we'd cross some things off. Some we'd have to move to the back burner.  

And, you know, applying for grants, you don't get the money right now. Yeah. It's,   you know, two years from now. But   you learn patience and you just get through. But,   I have to say that a lot of the things that we did,   you know, were just,   on prayer and a luck. You know? I mean, it was just it was just that. So   the these donations in the meantime are coming in.   We had to find places to put it. And, I mean, the room we're sitting in and almost every room in this building had so much damage in it with plaster coming off the walls and   needed painted. And   and,   from this being a party room from time to time, there were little bits of streamers and tape hanging from everywhere.  

But so it looked awful, but we had,   a business went out of a little business here in town went out of business   and donated   seven  

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showcases for us. Are those the ones  

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Here and there. Here and there. Yeah. Yeah. And and so that gave us a better start.   Then we had a a local family that donated   three big showcases for our military gallery.   And little by little, we started filling up the rooms,   not only with showcases, but things to put in them. And people would bring us things that, you know, boy, we really love what you're doing trying to make this a museum, and and we wanna help. I have such and such that   and so everything,  

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as Did you have to go through all of that and, like, catalog it? Holy cow. Yeah.   Oh, man. Yeah. Man. So  

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and,   and that's an ongoing project. Sure. But,   we have an archive committee that that's what they do. They take when things come in, they   make a,   inventory sheet, assign it a number, get as much history as we can about it. And   but there's some things that we have no idea where they came from. People would bring things and drop them off, and   and we just have   no idea whose it was, where it belonged to, but we do try to research as much as we we can and get as much information as we can. How do you go about doing that with an with a with an artifact? Like, where do you start, and how do you track down its history if you don't know what to do? People. Yeah. Just ask some of the older people in town, and they love to tell their story, and we'd love to do that.   We had started a group of,   younger,   teenagers.  

Mhmm.   And we called it the the young historian. So we had that for a few years until it it just kinda fizzled.  

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Yeah. Yeah.  

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But one of their jobs was to interview some of our older citizens, and we have those interviews. You know? Really? Yeah. That's really awesome. You should put those out on the Internet somewhere. Well, we have, yeah. I mean, you know, sometimes we just don't have the know how to do things like that. But we have those interviews, and we have them recorded on on   CDs Mhmm. To where people and we have them down in our little gift shop where people can purchase some and hear their stories, but  

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they love to tell about Bethel. Have you listened to some of them? Oh, every single one. What are some of your favorites? Yeah.  

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Oh,   we have a couple in town.   He just turned a 102 years old this year. Really? And she is 97,   I believe, 96 or 97. That's wild today. Janet and Bill Bick. It's  

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1924?   Yeah. I hope I can subtract by Or '3. Yeah. 1923. '23. But they have,  

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so they were both educators here in Bethel.  

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Okay. Really? So they've lived here  

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since they were young? Well, not since they didn't live here, but they moved here later in life. But,   he, he was actually superintendent. One of our school buildings is named after him. Okay. And, she was a sixth grade teacher, and she was my teacher. Oh, really? In sixth grade. Yeah. That's really cool. So, anyway,   they are one of my favorite interviews.   And,   so the actually, the students from the,   Grant Career Center Mhmm. Came up and did their interview,   two years ago back in 1923.   And they interviewed them up here in this very room.   And,   you know, it's just really interesting to hear their stories about how things developed. While they were being interviewed up here, another one of our members,   James   Arthur Brown, Jim Brown,   he was being interviewed downstairs   by another group of the students.  

So between all of these interviews,   we have quite a collection of just stories and local history and   their memories   of growing up and or   being in business here. Jim Brown,   was born here,   and he just passed away this year, this past few months ago.   And,   very big supporters   of our museum.   So, you know, it's   ongoing,   and we love it. We love everything. You know? I always kinda joke, and I say, well,   we can't dispute their stories because none of us know for sure.  

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We just take it for what it was, but that's what makes it. Right? Yeah. That's what makes a story. That's exactly what makes a story. So So when when you're listening to some of those interviews,   what strikes you the most about how Bethel has changed and evolved since, say, the nineteen twenties till now? Yeah.  

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You know,   they've been through a lot. Those people saw a lot, went through the depression,   and saw so many things.   They went through the period of time where with Prohibition where there used to be a bar on every corner and and then they did away with it for, you know, they did away with That's crazy to think about that they were alive during prohibition. Yeah. And then a few   years ago,   because Bethel was always a dry town until just a few years ago. And   and, that changed a little bit. But so they went through that, but they saw the thriving businesses.   Even when when I was working here in the village   and every   afternoon, all the business people, we walked to the local   Blue Haven restaurant.  

Yeah. And that is that was the eating place. You know? That's where you had your good home cooked meal.   And, actually, we have a booth from the Blue Haven restaurant. Oh, do you really? Yeah. And we have one other Was it good food? Oh, absolutely.   Yeah. It was absolutely Oh, she's shaking her head.  

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The thighs were good.  

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But,   you know, that's where everybody met. People walked you walked in town.   You know? You didn't drive when you had to go down one block. Yeah.   So That's what I've noticed. Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead. Oh, I was gonna say we had a a theater here in town. Yeah. Midway Theater.   And,   phone booth out here on the corner was lined up every Friday. Downstairs. Yeah. Yeah.   Well, the phone booth would be lined up every Friday and Saturday when the theater got out because you had to call your mom to come and pick you up, you know, and come and pick you up after. Wild to think about that because you don't  

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you know, everybody's got cell phones. Yeah. And you just don't think about. I I I didn't I grew up when there were telephone booths, and I remember my mom with a big cord in the kitchen talking. It was attached to the wall. Yeah. And you get tangled up, and then she'd yell at you and tell you to go play somewhere else.  

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Exactly. And party lines. People had party lines. Was are those the lines where it's like everybody's on the same line so you could, like, pick up and listen to them? A kid, there were five families on our line. Did you ever sneak a listen to what people were talking to? You know, as a You don't have to incriminate yourself. No. No. No. Somebody asked me that the other day, and I said, as a kid, I don't remember ever talking on the phone. Oh, really? Be because, yeah, you didn't get on the phone and call your friends and everything like you did now. And and if you called outside,   I mean, it was a toll call. Yeah.  

We had Felicity is only, what, eight miles   south of here. Yeah. And it was a toll call for Bethel to call Felicity.  

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Really? Yeah.  

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So you just didn't do that. Yeah. Yeah. You know?  

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I remember my mom would always because I had a we lived in the neighborhood,   and there was a cul de sac behind us. I had a friend that lived there, and she would insist   that I call him   or call them before I go play. And I think it was to teach me phone manners. You know? Like, hi. This is Patrick Ventrella. Can Steven come out to play? Yeah. So it it's interesting to hear the difference   just in a couple of years probably.  

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Yeah. Yeah.   So Yeah. Yeah.  

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So My husband Well, wait wait till you get some of the mic Here. Let me get this up. Yeah. Just scoot it over there. I lived 30 mile I grew up 30 miles towards Cincinnati from here. Yeah. And when my husband would call me, he would drive down the road to a phone booth because it was cheaper if he got out of Clermont County Really? To call because it was a toll call from his mother's house, and that might might have cost, like, 50¢.  

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And so he would call me from a phone booth. Really? Yeah. Well, actually, before you get off the mic, why don't because I imagine we'll switch back and forth a   little bit. Why don't you tell people who you are and and what you do real fast?  

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Well, my name is Susan Barger,   and I do a lot of stuff around here, not much of anything. A big thing. We all sorta just pitch in and do whatever we wanna do. But,   I got involved around the same time Judi did at the museum. I was new in town, and I love always been a lover of history. So I got involved in I joined the historical society. Didn't know a thing about Bethel, but I read our the history book that, committee put out during the bicentennial.   And so that's how I learned   how it got settled through Obedynam   who received   land from a revolutionary. He came up from from Virginia up through Kentucky   and settled here in 1798.  

And,   then he had a big family, lots of children, and so they in laws, and they all that's how the town got started. Very religious. It was called   Denimsville.   Denims Denim Denim's Town after him. Mhmm. But he was very proud. He didn't want the town named after him, so he renamed it Bethel because Bethel was a place in the Bible. Absolutely.  

[00:33:22] Unknown:

But they're all buried in our Pioneer Cemetery right down the street. Oh, so you have a cemetery here? Uh-huh. Are there any other   prominent, I guess  

[00:33:30] Unknown:

Yes. Residents?   Yes.   And Edmund Burke, who is the town benefactor,   he, graduated from Bethel High School in 1894.  

[00:33:40] Unknown:

Okay.  

[00:33:41] Unknown:

His Seawyer had a little job at the shoe factory.   He wanted to go and do bigger and better things. His mother says, oh, that's a nice job. Just stay here at the shoe factory. But he and his brother ventured out to Pittsburgh and then eventually to New York. Okay. And,   made lots of money in real estate.   And,   always remembered his hometown. Mhmm. And when he passed away in the nineteen sixties, he left a,   $500,000.   And they have used that money for different things in the village scholarships. There's a scholarship fund at the high school, but the principal has never been touched. They've done everything off of the interest. So the $500,000   is still  

[00:34:23] Unknown:

Well, I guess in 1962,   $500,000   would have been Yeah. Quite a sum of money. Mhmm. Mhmm. Quite a sum of money. But he's he's buried in our Pioneer Cemetery and,  

[00:34:33] Unknown:

all all the early settlers are buried there. And then, of course, we have the big Tate Township Cemetery that's bigger and and, but our little townships are Pioneer Cemeteries right down the street, and it's fun to walk around and look at all the streets in Bethel, a lot of them are named after Obedynam's   kids. Oh, are they? Like, Charity Street, I didn't know it at the time, but he had a daughter named Charity. And so he knew that. Found that in the in the Pioneer Cemetery. I mean, I just kinda, like, look around and Yeah. Yeah. And, that's how we learn things. But,  

[00:35:04] Unknown:

You wanna talk about some of the other founders of the town? I know you were you were talking to her.  

[00:35:08] Unknown:

Well, we have a connection. We're very proud of our connection to your list, s s Grant. Oh, yeah. Please talk about that. But his his mother's family, it's Simpsons. They were this some of the early settlers.   But,   actually like I should have remembered all this from Greg Roberts' interview. I should have listened to this interview back. Of course, was born in Point Pleasant down in the Ohio River. Only lived there till he was, like, two years old, and the family moved to Georgetown.   His father was a tanner and had a tannery business in Georgetown.   And when Grant went to West Point,   the family, his mother and father moved to Bethel. Mhmm. And he became Bethel's first mayor.  

Ulysses s Grant? No. No. No. I'm sorry. Jesse Grant. Ulysses's father. His father. Okay. He was Bethel's first mayor or mayor. And at that time, Ulysses was at the military academy at West Point. So he did come and visit his parents. So we do know that he's walked the streets of Bethel.   And then,   his wife was visiting. He was stationed someplace on the West Coast. His wife was visiting and staying at his parents' house, and his youngest child was born in Bethel. Okay. But he never ever lived in Bethel, but we like him.   We like him. I feel like everybody in Clermont County has a is a little bit of an attachment to Grant somehow. Well, Georgetown really is, his boyhood home is there and, of course, that's Brown County. But they have a a good,   group of people up there that really have a lot of lot of,   events   honoring Grant. There's an interpreter that comes, and you would think that was for you. If you ever knew Ulysses S. Grant, this interpreter is him.  



[00:36:43] Unknown:

He really is. So like, does he dress up? Oh, absolutely. He smokes a cigar. Does he really? Yeah. And he's a little short guy. Does he drink a bunch of booze too? Well, now that's that's not I know. I know. I talked to Greg Roberts. We dispelled we dispelled the He did drink, but and he couldn't handle it. I think,   Greg Roberts said that Abraham Lincoln  

[00:37:02] Unknown:

said if if Grant is a drunk, then I want all of my generals to be drinking when he's drinking. Did say that. Yeah. Lincoln said that. And they were very good, they were   on the same side. Of course, they were both,   for the Northern   army. I mean, but Lincoln they had the same feelings about the the situation, the slavery situation. And then,   it's a shame as, of course, we all know because of history that Lincoln got assassinated because things would   have afterwards would have been much improved from what they were because we went through a really bad time. But Grant was good about the getting trying to get rid of the Ku Klux Klan and things like that. Well, that's good. I know when I talked to Greg, he he talked about Grant as like a almost a vehement abolitionist. Mhmm. And Grant and, Well, his father was too. Well, right. And he had a connection to,  

[00:37:49] Unknown:

John John Brown? John Brown? The abolitionist?  

[00:37:53] Unknown:

I don't know about a connection to John Brown. He was kind of a radical. Oh, yeah. Yeah. That's what yeah. You know, I really shouldn't make any sense.   Was a Bethel native. Okay. And he was a US senator, and he was one of the first in the early part of the eighteen hundreds. He was one of the first senators to speak out against slavery, and he was almost tossed out of the senate because he only served one term. Oh, dear. But he was from Bethel Really? And grew up. And I don't know whether he grew up in Bethel or not, but is now where is he? He? Was he buried in the Pioneer Cemetery? Yeah.  

[00:38:27] Unknown:

So   while I've got you on the mic,   can you talk about some of Bethel's role in the civil war and in the underground railroad?  

[00:38:36] Unknown:

Well, it was a main,   stop on the Underground Railroad, this road right out here, 133.   Mhmm. It runs from the Ohio River all the way up to Lake Erie. Okay. I didn't know it ran that far. And it was a main route during the in Tecumseh traveled the road. Mhmm. Simon Kenton. It was a Daniel Boone. It was a main route from the,   I mean, there wasn't a lot of travel between that. Was gonna say. Ohio River and It probably wasn't paved paved with asphalt either. And it goes it we live on that on this road, and it just got every they followed a cow path and they never straightened it out even today at the crooked road.   But, there's a lot of homes in Bethel that sheltered the runaway slaves. Okay. And, so we've got a lot of history there.  

There's a house right down the street.   It was owned owned by a doctor, doctor Thompson,   and they were a main stop. And we've got some artifacts that were found in the basement of that house Really? In the museum. Uh-huh. And then doc the first doctor Thompson, he had a son who was spot in the he was a surgeon in the civil war   and,   he when he got out of the and when the war was over, he came back home and served as a doctor and he lived until '19 in the nineteen forties. He was a 103,  

[00:39:49] Unknown:

104. What are they putting the water around here? Everybody's   everybody's living to a 100 medicine  

[00:39:54] Unknown:

up until that till his death. He he died my husband remembers him as of Really? My husband's 90, and he remembers doctor Thompson.  

[00:40:03] Unknown:

And, Your husband's 90. Mhmm. Seriously, what do you guys have a fountain of youth around him or something?   Are you hiding a fountain of youth in Bethel, Ohio? Maybe. I don't know.  

[00:40:13] Unknown:

This is gonna be breaking news on the podcast. Fountain of youth found in Bethel. Well, the the Jim Brown that she talks about passing that just recently passed away. He was 94, wasn't he? And, of course, the Bicks,   he's a hundred and hundred and three and 102.   And, they're Bethel royalty, mister and missus Bick. They are you know, we're here for, in the school district for many, many years. But, So your husband  

[00:40:37] Unknown:

remembers a man who was a doctor here in town   that was alive  

[00:40:42] Unknown:

when the civil war was happening? Correct. But that's a lot of people   have like, my great grandfather was in the civil war.  

[00:40:50] Unknown:

Really? Yeah. I'd my my great grandfather was probably in Sicily somewhere, so I don't have that. Well, yeah. You're so you're a baby. I know. But,  

[00:40:59] Unknown:

anyway, we have a lot of artifacts in our military room of, from the civil war. And then we just recently a really neat thing we got was a diary from a Bethel resident who was captured by the   Confederates and was in Andersonville Prison. Really? And That was a pretty gruesome prison. Awful. Awful. In fact, the only person who was hung or, executed   from the from the Confederacy   was the commandant of Andersonville   Prison.   He was executed after the war for war crime war war crimes.   Really? But this diary,   his name was, McMurchy,   James McMurchy,   and he had a farm after the war was over. He had a farm right here in town. Mhmm. But,   I from what I understand, I don't know for sure. I've not read the diary word for word. But there was a company of 10 men from Bethel, and they were all captured at Andersonville.  

And he they all got they all came home Yeah. And, went back to their normal life. But we have his diary that he wrote, and it's   price it's priceless. Have you read it? I can't remember. She has. I've not I've read bits and pieces of it. But we even had the little stubby pencils that he wrote it with. No. You don't. Do you have those pencils? Yes. His great grandson mailed it to us. He lives down in Georgia, and he,   mailed he sent it to us, gave it to us just like about two years ago. Yeah. And we have intentions of transcribing it. We have a transcription,   but it needs to be,   brought up to date. Not up to date, but   redone.  



[00:42:29] Unknown:

And we just it's one of those things that we gotta do. Well, I I know we talked a little bit of this off mic, but if you get on a computer and you screw around with AI a little bit, that might help you out. Like, I all these episodes are transcribed.  

[00:42:42] Unknown:

Well, this this is priceless. And what you can see we'll show it to you. It's in there. It's under lock and key. But that's one of our most precious   possessions.   And, we have and then, of course, we have, Obedynam   who founded Bethel. Mhmm. And this we have his family bible, and we have a coverlet that was used in his house, and we have a broken dish.   And then we have,   from Grant, we have Jesse. Grant was a tanner. We have a tool that he used to scrape the hides.   And we have a water pipe that was in front of his,   tannery shop,   and it's a log.  

And it's got it's been bored through, and then it's just a piece of it. But evidently, the whole street was had these log water pipes, and they had they're pointed on one end, and they have holes through them. And they could fit together Yeah. And the wood would swell and hold them together to keep the water from leaking out. So we've got one of those.  

[00:43:33] Unknown:

So you have Jesse Grant's plumbing. Yes.  

[00:43:36] Unknown:

Yes. We have Jesse Grant's plumbing.   And we we don't ever hear anything really nice about Jesse Grant. Everyone says he was a big windbag. Oh, yeah.   But,   he loved his he loved his son. He was very proud of his son. Bragged about him all the time.   And what's interesting is Jesse Grant what I think is interesting, I like   my   hook with history is the not battles of the civil war, but little things that went on Yeah. With the encampments and things like that. But,   Eudice Grant's wife, Julia Dent, she her father was a slave hold holder. And they were from Missouri.   Grant's father was an abolitionist   from Ohio. Mhmm. Well, when Grant was in the White House, both of his his father and his father-in-law   would be there at the White House and argued all the time and just drove Grant crazy. He wanted nothing to do with his father or his father-in-law because they were constantly Well, you're talking about not liking your in laws. Right. Right.  

Grandpa. This was after this was after the war when he was president, but they would visit at the White House all the time. But from what I understand, Jesse Grant was a big braggart and windbag. But,   I should probably shouldn't say anything bad about Jesse Grant.   And his father-in-law was the same way, only he was on the opposite side. Opposite side.  

[00:44:54] Unknown:

It's a big windbag.   But that that's the way that's the way I actually kind of interesting because from what I understand about Grant, he wasn't   particularly  

[00:45:03] Unknown:

like, he wasn't a braggart. Oh, no. He's very shy. Reserved. Very shy and reserved. Yes. From what I've read about him too. But see, that's the kind of stuff I like in history. It's all that little background stuff, not the major events. Yeah. Well, that's what I really like about  

[00:45:17] Unknown:

talking about history like this. It gets more granular. Right? Like, there's when you hear, like, you've got Jesse Grant's plumbing, like, that's  

[00:45:24] Unknown:

that's real. You you know what you know what I mean? I never thought of it as Jesse Grant's plumbing, but we won't have to mention that when we do tours. This is Jesse Grant's plumbing. Maybe we don't wanna know.   Because, evidently, tannery shops were horrible places. Oh, yeah. I think even today, I mean, it's not Yeah. It's the stuff you have. Blood and flies and One of the chemicals you have to use, it's not. It's not Well, Grant detested the tannery business. He wanted nothing to do with it. And, Sounds like you found a good job outside of tanning. He had a rough he had a rough way of going though in the military before the civil war, you know. And he left the military   because he was so homesick for his family, and that's what caused his drinking, supposedly what I've read.  

But he failed in several businesses   and was sort of like the army where they didn't want a whole lot to do with him. And then Well, I think you said he was stationed out on the West Coast. If I recall  

[00:46:20] Unknown:

Greg's interview,   he was just out there bored. Yeah. Like, they didn't they weren't doing anything. And to get to the West Coast, he had go down  

[00:46:28] Unknown:

clear around South America.   Or no. I think they went through the Isthmus, but they   there was no water wave at the Isthmus Of Panama. Yeah. Yeah. But so they had to go overland, and that was supposed to be horrible with the mosquitoes and Oh, malaria. That's when they dug the Panama Canal. I think that's a lot of guys. Well, that was much later. Yes. Oh, yes. Of course. But,  

[00:46:48] Unknown:

but did you hear about accounts of taking the Panama Canal and how I think probably thousands of workers just died from malaria. Mhmm. That's and I imagine   because that was in, what, the early nineteen hundreds? Yeah. I think it was a October   project.   You think about   forty, fifty years earlier  

[00:47:09] Unknown:

than that, I mean, it couldn't have been I mean, it had to have been jungles. And then can you imagine if you didn't do it overland through the Isthmus Of Panama, you had to go down and around around.  

[00:47:19] Unknown:

Which I think is very dangerous that the tip of South America.  

[00:47:22] Unknown:

Bad   tides and things, I think. It's storms from what I've I mean, I'm not really that bad. I'm not a sailor either. I have heard that too. I've just heard rumors. Or else you could go across than a covered wagon Yeah. And fight the Indians. I was gonna say that's not Grand Canyon. Can you I always wonder when they came across and saw Grand Canyon, I'm like, boy, that's a big that's a big thing to cross over.  

[00:47:45] Unknown:

Well, even Ohio, you know,   like I said earlier, I I worked out in the oil fields and you drive, like, in Pennsylvania and around Eastern   Ohio and things like that. And it's nice because you're on a highway and you look at the hills and it's like, oh, isn't this all pretty? But then you think a hundred hundred fifty years earlier when people were trying to go westward,   I mean, it was wilderness   and a dangerous wilderness. I mean, if even today, if you got caught out in the East Fork in the middle of nowhere,  

[00:48:12] Unknown:

you're in trouble. Mhmm. I mean, you it's gonna get cold. It's gonna be They were I I don't know how they did it. I could I would've never gotten in a covered wagon. I would've stayed in Boston.   England. I wouldn't have come over on the Mayflower. I'm not adventuresome.  

[00:48:26] Unknown:

I have a theory that   as you get further and further west, the people get crazier and crazier and crazier   because   you had to be nuts. I think the misfits all went out. That's what I mean. It's like you had to be a little crazy.   It's like, you know, you find a nice place in Ohio   in the, what, 18,   fifteens or something. You're like, oh, perfect. I've got a log cabin. Mhmm. I don't need to go anywhere. It was the nuts that were like, oh, no. We should keep going. Mhmm. We should go through that desert with hostile Indians that are Mhmm. Trying to kill us.  

[00:48:58] Unknown:

So that that's my theory. Not to disparage anybody out west. Well, yeah, I'm not disparaging them either, but I would thought well, I think a lot of bad people went out there too to escape the law Yeah.   And the rules and regulations. And I don't know. I would have been I would have stayed in Boston.  

[00:49:18] Unknown:

So what other,   what other fun artifacts do you like around here around the museum?  

[00:49:24] Unknown:

Well,   artifacts around here. Well, my favorite artifact is we have a little doll that was, found in a basement down in Kentucky that we think was made by a runaway slave. Oh, really? And that's that's my favorite article. I think come to be here. It was found in One of our members   donated it. Okay. And, he was we used to go around and dig up stuff like that and mess with log he would build log cabins and tore down log cabins, and and he found all kinds of stuff in this. Tear down, like, old? Mhmm. Oh, really? Or how and he helped restore   them. Them. Okay. Mhmm.  

So he he gave us the our loan just that a lot of our things are on loan from people. Yeah. But,   we hope their heirs   forget that they're on loan.   I probably shouldn't say that. You can you can cut things out. Not getting cut.  

[00:50:16] Unknown:

You're on the hook for that one.  

[00:50:18] Unknown:

And Judi Adams said that, not Susan.   Because I'm not a native of this town. I can get run out on the rail real fast.  

[00:50:29] Unknown:

So I I can't remember. Did you say you you work in the archives here too?  

[00:50:33] Unknown:

Yes. Yes. I yeah. I'm we collect when people clean out their attics or their barns and they bring it here, and a lot of times we'll say, thank you, but no thank you. Right. Because we finally got the point where we had, like,   fifty and sixty   military uniforms. Really? And we've got so many trunks. And so we finally have to say thank you, but no thank you because we we just   You can't We don't need 50 navy suits. Well, and you don't wanna I mean, you you're then responsible for it. Right. And you don't want it to get a Right. And we don't wanna hurt people's feelings because they're treasures to to the people. So you have to be real careful,   and everybody wants to donate their grandmothers or their great grandmothers. And and,   you just you gotta really kinda walk on eggs with a lot of things. So what kind of things do you look for? Just if it's We don't look for anything.  



[00:51:23] Unknown:

Let me rephrase that.   If somebody's out there We're to that point where we're we're Oh, so, like,  

[00:51:29] Unknown:

you don't need you're you're all set. Well, I shouldn't say we don't need or we don't want, but,   just like for the uniforms as an example.   Bibles. Look at all the Bibles we have, but they're in that case back there. We but they're all, like, from the eighteen hundreds and they're family Bibles. People wanna bring their family Bible. And we finally had to say,   thank you, but no thank you. Yeah. I mean, it's not that we don't want them, but we just can't,   put every Bible on and the jackets. Yeah. I saw all of those. Those are really cool. I like that. And and, you have to be careful about that.   You'd really  

[00:52:05] Unknown:

am I talking too much? Same thing. Okay. This is a podcast. You're supposed to be talking. Well and this is good for people to know because,   like, let's say I live in Bethel, and I've got a whole bunch of historical artifacts.   You know, I don't I don't wanna come here and burden you with stuff you don't need. You know what I mean? So talking about what you guys need and what you take and what you probably don't need anymore of is a good thing,   at least from my perspective. I mean, if The thing is that  

[00:52:33] Unknown:

we just don't wanna take things if we can't display it. Right. Right. You know, if you donated something to the museum   and   and all we do is stick it in a box or stick it in a cupboard, that's not fair to you and it doesn't do us any good. Right. You know, we wanna be able to display it. Right. So  

[00:52:54] Unknown:

I said now the only thing where I'm gonna take is if it's we have Obed Denim's,  

[00:53:00] Unknown:

toothbrush or something like that. Oh, where's plumbing?  

[00:53:03] Unknown:

Oh, no. That's Jesse Grant's plumbing. I don't know. If you have, Obedenem's   Oh, okay. Yeah. I think You take anybody's plumbing or is it just I don't know what kind of plumbing Obedenem would have had. Did they have houses back in the seventeen hundreds? I don't know. I think we could make a positive  

[00:53:16] Unknown:

public service announcement. Do not bring your your plumbing Yes. To to the historical society. Well, we know where over Denham's  

[00:53:23] Unknown:

house was or cabin, so we could go down there and probably dig and maybe find broken because they from what I understand, when they wanna get rid of, like, old dishes and things, they would throw them in the privy. Oh, yeah. House. That's where Really? So that's a big thing is to dig where old outhouses were. Really? Yeah. You never knew that? I I didn't know that at all. That's because you're so young. Right. But,   apparently,   in Springfield, Illinois in in the house that Lincoln the Lincoln family Real real fast. If just push that towards you a little bit. That they found all kinds of things in the privy that was behind the house.  

[00:53:55] Unknown:

Who's privy? Lincolns.  

[00:53:58] Unknown:

In Springfield, Illinois. No kidding. Uh-huh. What kind do you know what kind of stuff they've put there? Broken dishes and and medicine bottles and things like that. I mean, no jewelry or anything like that. And the same with, like, Mount Vernon or Thomas Jeffer, any of the those old houses, That's where they find stuff is digging. Archaeologists   find that stuff. Yeah.  

[00:54:17] Unknown:

Man, that's   I don't know if I'd want the job of digging up old people's well, I guess, if it's a 100   years 100 years afterwards, it's probably just dirt.   Now do you have anything or know anything about, like, presettlement,   you know, when the Indian Cavemen? Yeah. Cavemen.  

[00:54:34] Unknown:

Well, the we we this is a big area for dinosaur bones,   especially, like, down around Newtown and the gravel pits in Newtown. Oh, you mean, like yeah. Fossils. Like,   I'd I I love fossils. Well, UC did a big study,   around the hamlet in the around Newtown when they were building all those gravel pits, and they found, like, a mastodon   and and and,   a lot of, Oh, like,  

[00:54:58] Unknown:

a mastodon? What's a mastodon? An elephant.  

[00:55:01] Unknown:

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then they like, the prehistoric   people, you know, and there's Indian mounds all over that area. I know. I'm trying to find somebody about the Indian mounds because those are wild. I've got a map of them if you can you know, I will show it to you of where they were around into the Newtown area. But,   we have   a couple of our members. Lamont is really into that. Like,   the there's they find a lot of stuff   from the prehistoric area. Right. Right. The mound builders and, because Serpent Mound is in the area. And,  

[00:55:34] Unknown:

I'm not I that's not my cup of tea. I'm not interested. That's too far back. I'll give you a fun a fun, geology fact if you'd like one. The fossils in Cincinnati are so unique and so prevalent that there's actually a little sliver of geologic time they call the Cincinnati. I've heard of that. Have you really? Yes. Oh, man. I thought I was gonna give you I was gonna be dropping cool geology facts. Well, if if you're ever down in Newtown, they have a little museum that was it's got a lot of that stuff in it.  

[00:56:03] Unknown:

And it was but UC started digging out there when I was a kid that would back in the nineteen forties, they had a big area they dug in and that's where they found all the prehistoric   Indian relics and things. And they've got a little museum in Newtown. I think it's I don't think it's run by the village. I think UC has something to do with I've been in it. It's too far back. It's not it's just not interesting to me. Yeah. But,   that's just my opinion. But they and it's very well done, but it's small. So if you ever wanna check on prehistoric   because there's a lot of Indian mounds around there. In fact, the cemetery in Newtown's got an Indian mound right in the middle of it. I didn't know that. Yeah.  



[00:56:43] Unknown:

So   and this can be just from,   you know, your history knowledge and your personal knowledge. How have you   how has Bethel changed  

[00:56:54] Unknown:

over the years, like, from its founding up until now? Well, I'm not really the person to ask because I'm a newcomer. I've been here Oh, okay. I've been here thirty years. But   since I've been here, all the I'm sorry. I forgot about that. All the little businesses are not no longer here, and I think Walmarts and Kmarts had a lot to do with that. But my husband talks about and you probably remember too, where the sidewalks were just full of people shopping. Yeah. And, like, my mother-in-law,   she would do her Christmas shopping   in Maysville, Kentucky. She didn't go to Downtown Cincinnati. Yeah. And this would have been, like, in the forties and fifties. She would go to Maysville, Kentucky to do the family Christmas shopping. But they had everything here, grocery stores,   dry goods stores, shoe stores. Yeah. Everything was here in town. That was before I came here. Mhmm. But that's they're just empty buildings now. And we get little businesses, but they don't seem to stay Yeah. Long. We just are now losing there's a gas station down the street that opened in 1932.  

The family that it's still family owned. Is that the  

[00:57:51] Unknown:

where is it? Is it next to the Bethel feed mill? Right next door to it. So I used to live in Felicity, and I would come through Bethel all the time. Oh. I mean, I'd go to the feed mill all the time. Okay. Well, was with Witcher is there anything? We've got a display case with all their things.  

[00:58:06] Unknown:

But they're going out they're closing at the end of this month, and I think it's real sad because saw that going out of business time. It was started by the grandfather in 1932,   and the grandson and granddaughter,   are just they're retired. They're Yeah. Up getting up there. Not out. They're not real old, but they're just Well, I mean, that happens retirement age. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that happens with a lot of small businesses. But they still pumped your own gas. Yeah. And that's what I hate to lose because I don't know how to do a gas pump anymore. So I told him the other day, I said, you're not allowed to close, Mark. And he said, watch me.  

[00:58:39] Unknown:

You know, speaking of that, this has nothing to do with any of this. But I think it's washing they're talking about how people out west,   you know, they got crazier and crazier.   I think it was in Washington state. It was illegal for you to pump your own gas   for the longest time. I have heard that. And then they recently, I wanna say in the last five, ten   years, changed that law,   and people were freaking out. They were like, I don't know how to pump gas. It's a flammable liquid. It'll kill all of us.  

[00:59:07] Unknown:

I just thought that was funny. But Well, the gas station, they used to come out and say,   they check your water and oil. They clean your windshield and pump gas. Yeah. I I remember that as a kid  

[00:59:17] Unknown:

that they would that we would still do that. Check the air and air in your tires? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Which would be great. Buddy.  

[00:59:25] Unknown:

Now you're on your own. No. No.  

[00:59:29] Unknown:

So what   I I already asked you this question, but and I think you might have answered it a little bit, but   what   what is your favorite thing just about history? Like, what what really gets you going about it?  

[00:59:43] Unknown:

I it's hard to pinpoint because I I love American history, but I'm very I'm into English history   and a little   bit of Russian only because   the czar and the way their family was murdered and Yeah. Yeah. That's it that is it interests me.   Ever since I've been a little well,   I think when I was, like, 11 or 12 years old, we went to Grant's birthplace.   And that got me started and interested in American history. And then also my old Kentucky home, I was I was a little, like, in the fifth or sixth grade. We visited that. And there was an old black man playing a,   banjo out in the yard, and I thought he might have been a slave. I don't know whether he I don't think he was. I'm not that I'm old, but I'm not that old. Sure. But, I mean, it just got me   I just I've always loved history. Yeah. A little kid.  

And, so this was just my cup of tea coming here even though I didn't know anything about Bethel. Except it was You know a lot now. Bet Bethel was far away from where I lived, and there was nothing out here. And it's still far away, but   I'm it's my home now. Yeah.  

[01:00:46] Unknown:

Alright. Well, I   I think I might be out of questions.  

[01:00:51] Unknown:

I have one more question. Please. Please. Please. I have one more thing we need to bring your attention. It is one of our more recent heroes,   Steve Newman, the world walker.   I've got him over there. We have his display right behind you. So Steve was the first person   to walk around the world Like And on his feet. On his feet.   And,   he started here,   in 1983.   He went to sixth grade with me here. Oh, so you know? Yeah.   Oh, yeah. We went to church and school together. Oh, okay. He is a very   active member, he and his wife, Darcy,   of our historical society.  

And, it took him four years.   And and, we have a lot of his,   artifacts here,   but the you mentioned the East Fork  

[01:01:43] Unknown:

Hiking Trail. He didn't walk across the ocean. So He he didn't walk across the ocean. No. He If he didn't, that'd be something. That'd be really something.  

[01:01:51] Unknown:

Yeah. So   And,  

[01:01:53] Unknown:

but, to Russia and down to Australia and then back across the Pacific.   And then back across the Pacific. So And the country is looking four years, and you had a big welcome home. You have to pick So we had,  

[01:02:07] Unknown:

so   Steve has a lot of stories to tell.   And,   but,   anyway, we had a re   recreated his route a few years ago,   in 02/2024.   We,   went down to East Fork because that was the last night he spent before he walked into town back to his home Yeah. Was down at East Fork.   And but that perimeter trail around East Fork Lake is named for him. It's a Steve Newman perimeter trail. It's 33 miles long.   And,  

[01:02:43] Unknown:

so I mean, compared to walking around the world, that's not the 33 miles. Yeah. I know. But it is when you're,   doing it. No. Yeah. Yeah.   Well, I mean, 33 miles is I think it's longer. That's long. Yeah. Actually, a friend just roped me into some kinda   30 mile hike or something. I don't know. I don't know why I agreed to do it. But Well,  

[01:03:04] Unknown:

we have,   so I mean, but he's a more,   a newer   local hero. Yeah. So for us. So Very much so. You know, we just admit him, but  

[01:03:15] Unknown:

Yeah. No. No. No. That's just I'm sitting here looking at it. So it's right there in front of me. I have But that takes us through all his artifacts that he collected around Yeah. The world. But the most interesting thing you have to get up to go over and look at is his log, the way he wrote in the log. So he didn't use that much paper. He wrote real teeny teeny teeny.   Did he really? Oh, he did. Because he didn't have a lot of paper. You can see Yeah. Yeah. You can you can if we have one on display. But he graduated from Ohio University and was a journalist.   Was in journalism.  

Okay. Worked out in Colorado or   Wyoming. Wyoming. And newspaper business.  

[01:03:53] Unknown:

But,   the journal he's she was talking about, he said that each day would be one line.   And so he'd write real teeny microscopic and and, and that it was one of his most valuable things because for him to get in the Guinness Book of World Records, he had to keep two things. First, a journal of all his adventures,   but then another one is a book where   every time he would go into a town or or a village,   he would have to have somebody   to certify that he was there. They have to put their name and and address and and maybe an official stamp or something.   And then as he got those full, he would mail them home to his mom who kept those for him. But there that is,   was his proof  

[01:04:44] Unknown:

to be able to get into the Guinness Now is it just a log or does he is it more of like a journal or a diary? I guess you don't have you don't have a lot of space. It's it's a die he would just take notes from each day of what he did. So have a corner of And,  

[01:04:59] Unknown:

yeah. So   so throughout the busy, I'm I mean, we just have a lot of artifacts. It's hard. We have favorite things all through the museum. So and I've never known. I don't think. You know what? I think one of my favorite things is the log from Jesse Grant's tannery   and then the diary from the Mick Murchie diary because how we came to a to a to get that was   really just amazing.  

[01:05:23] Unknown:

So you have Jesse Grant's  

[01:05:25] Unknown:

tannery log? Log. The log. Log.  

[01:05:28] Unknown:

Oh, the log. The log. The pipe. His plumbing. Kind of log. I thought you meant, like, his the logging things in. No. His his plumbing. It was a water main. That when we did So that you always So You always mention that. I said, I have certain things that I'll mention more on. Yeah. We all have our little. Yeah. Yeah. So And we're getting ready to,   we're opening up our the last room of the museum,   August 30. We are having the dedication   of the scout gallery, which will be dedicated to the boy scouts and girl scouts of the community. And so we are just now,   collecting artifacts for that. And and, you know, the like I said, the the biggest thing with collecting artifacts,   we don't want a museum to get   junky looking Sure. Crowded.  

And that's why, you know, everything that we take in, I mean, we consider it. Is it you know, what what can we do with this? Where can we put it?  

[01:06:30] Unknown:

So consideration with Yeah. Change. Because, I mean, it's not like you just open a museum and you put stuff in it. You gotta arrange it in Yeah. A logical manner. Susan  

[01:06:38] Unknown:

is wonderful with the most of these showcases   are what she has staged.   You know, we give her the stuff. Mhmm. And then,   she that is one of the things that she does. She really stages things nicely.   But, Turn around  

[01:06:55] Unknown:

around in the CBD milk can. We You know what's you know what those things are in the milk can? Well, as somebody who briefly went to Catholic school, I would guess that's what nuns hit. They were rulers. Yeah.  

[01:07:06] Unknown:

Okay. So we have   so these these cases are mostly artifacts from businesses that were in Bethel at one time and now are no longer   and I think every business at one time had a yardstick that they gave to a customer. So that's our yardsticks.  

[01:07:20] Unknown:

That's awesome.   That's really do you have any   you know, I said I didn't have any more questions. Do you have because you you say you collect business artifacts. Do you have any other interesting   because  

[01:07:31] Unknown:

not so much anymore, but businesses would kinda give out wacky things. Oh, yeah. Well, we got a really cute little fireman's hat that was given by a gas station.   It's the kid's hat. You can't see it from where you are.  

[01:07:44] Unknown:

Oh, and all these things going around So  

[01:07:47] Unknown:

had millions of car dealerships, I think, over the years. Yeah. Right. These are all things that went on your license plate.   These things right here, we got all of those. They're different. They were all different car dealerships that were in Bethel, one from another. And downstairs, we have a banking display with the two oldest banks that were in in Bethel.  

[01:08:08] Unknown:

And some of the things that people, the kids especially like to look at is how big the paper money was. It was big. Yeah. And it has the name of the bank on it, on the bills, the First National Bank of Bethel. When it was signed, the bills were signed by the bank   president. Yeah. Yeah. You know? So it it's,   you know, those are just kind of the things that it's like, wow. We can't imagine. Yeah. So yeah.  

[01:08:34] Unknown:

That's kinda So So that's a ticket from the Claremont Fair from what year?   1865. 1865.   Yeah. Claremont County Fair has been going on that long. At least.  

[01:08:44] Unknown:

Wow.   And it's going on next week. Is it oh, it's the twentieth. Next week? So yeah.  

[01:08:51] Unknown:

You know, you don't what pop up on your stamps are again. You don't know what? So value stamps. I have no idea what that is. And that's an h green stamps? I have no idea what those are. See, you're too young.   What? When you shop when you shopped at the grocery store or gas stations, whatever amount you spent, you got a stamp to go,   like, so much. If you spent 50¢, you got maybe one stamp. And they had a you had a book that you pasted them in, and then you could redeem those for,   lamps and toasters and and, high chairs, coolers,   comforters,  

[01:09:24] Unknown:

comfort, household  

[01:09:25] Unknown:

items. So it was like a Kroger,  

[01:09:27] Unknown:

a Kroger card before they had Kroger cards. Well yeah. But it wasn't a card. You just got stamps. And we've got some stamps over there. My we you got when you got a book, like like, maybe a lamp would be two books of stamps. And it was really it was really nice. Yeah. It really was. I mean, you got nice things.   And you and you got  

[01:09:47] Unknown:

yeah.   And and they were not peel and stick. You actually got to lick them.   You stick them.   So that was always a big treat to be able to lick those top value stamps. So stick them in the book for your mom.  

[01:10:02] Unknown:

Another interesting thing about small towns were at back in, like, the twenties and thirties and forties, people didn't leave town their for their entertainment. So that's how lodges   got established.   They were,   so in Bethel had the Masonic Lodge, they had the Lions, they had   the Knights of Pythias, they had,   what's that? American Legion. The American Legion. Well, that but   nowaday and those are all dying now. Yeah. Because for for now where you would go for, like, social Right. Like sock hops or something like that. Because you didn't people didn't travel back and forth like they do now. Yeah. Everything was right in your little town. Yeah. You may go to Cincinnati   couple times a year, Christmas time or Easter time or something like that, especially out here. Yeah. Because it was now I lived much closer to town, so it was my my grandmother would go to the city every week. That was her thing that she did. Mhmm.  

But,   so those are all Bethel had a lot of lodges and fraternal organizations and   there's, like, maybe one left. The Masonic Lodge is the only one left. I think so. And,   well, is it is the Catholic church has, Knights of Columbus. Does Bethel all have a Knights of It's an Emile. Okay.   So that and it's now starting with scouting. Scouting has gotten sort of,   not as popular. Like Girl Scouts. Yeah. Girl Scouts and things. They, I think are are hurting for members. Yeah. I don't know that for sure because I don't have any kids involved in scouts or but I was involved in scouts a lot. I mean, that was, like, my world when I was growing up in Before age is still going pretty strong though too. Yeah. Or I'm right. Yeah. Yeah. See, I don't see, I didn't live in a well, Newtown was kind of a farming community, but,   I wasn't involved with four eight four h at all. But we did have exhibits at the fair. Yeah. The Hamilton County Fair. But the   you should come in September to the Georgetown Fair. That is quite a fair. Is it? Uh-huh. And the Claremont County Fair is pretty nice too. Oh, I And that's going on now. Or no. Next week. Twentieth.  

But the Georgetown Fair is in the fall. Okay. And they have the real harvesty vegetables and things. That's when fairs used to be when I was a kid in the fall. Was Bethel's or Klamath County Fair ever in the fall?  

[01:12:16] Unknown:

I not that I know of. I don't know. It's only because that's is in the fall, I think. Isn't it? Brown County. Well, that's that's the Georgia Georgetown. Oh, yeah. Oh, I've been to the Brown County Fair. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I really like the   I like them both. But Yeah. I I like the fairs in the fall. I I guess it's not this isn't historical. This is just an opinion. But It's not 90 degrees. Well, it's not 90 degrees, but it's also I I like that idea of a Pumpkins and corn shocks. Like a like a post harvest. Yes. Like, we you know, we're all coming together before the winter Uh-huh. Celebrating the harvest and having a good like I said, I'd love the the Claremont County Fair, but I love I love the fall. I'm kind of a sucker for the fall.  

[01:12:54] Unknown:

Well and I I grew up in the area with him. I was in Hamilton County. So the Carthage Fair, it would now that they call it the Hamilton County Fair, and I don't even think well, I don't know whether they even still have it because there's no farmland in Hamilton County anymore. It used to be all farmland. Yeah. Or a lot or a lot of farmland, but that that's all gone now. Yeah. And that's where your county fairs were involved revolved around farming. Bethel was a big farming community. Oh, yeah. I mean, I think probably a lot of Clermont County was historically  

[01:13:23] Unknown:

very agricultural.  

[01:13:24] Unknown:

Well, you just drive out 01/25  

[01:13:28] Unknown:

and and '32. I mean, I lived in Felicity for two years. Like, I didn't it's it's out there. I mean, even   even by a lot of standards, it's out. It was, like, forty minutes to the Kroger. You know? Mhmm. So and I that's another reason. Again, this isn't anything here nor there, but   part of   why I wanted to do this whole podcast thing because like I said in the beginning, there's maybe about fifteen minutes of news. But, I mean, Claremont's growing. I think they they just had a housing study and it's   got over 200,000   people and it's gonna be continuing to grow. Food factory. The Purina factory is going in, and that's great. You know, it's great that the county's growing, but   at least in my view, you've gotta balance growth with   preservation.  

Like, you you don't wanna just pave over everything   in asphalt and concrete and then, you know, suddenly these little towns that are wonderful and people love of Honeys Island swimming pools. Well, you   but, I mean, that's I I try to pay particular attention to   developments that are going in and   because quite frankly, it's a selfish motivation. But I so I live on 222   in Batavia,   and it's great because it's kinda isolated. That's the craziest road they've ever put down. It's pretty windy. I live right there on Possum Hollow where it takes that big jog.   But we have a bunch of fields in the back. And frankly, I moved there because   I like that area. I like that it's remote, and I don't wanna wake up one day and   have a shopping mall behind me or something crazy like that. So   so, yeah, that's   it's interesting to think about how   you want the county to grow. You want it to be economically prosperous.  

But at the same time,   you know, I don't know. I I don't want it to grow that much. You know? I wanna still have my nice little piece of Batavia where I'm at. So, again, that's neither here nor there. It's just my opinion.  

[01:15:26] Unknown:

We all have our opinions. Yeah.  

[01:15:31] Unknown:

Well, I am now officially out of questions.   But I wanna give either of you a chance to just, again,   talk about the society, how people can get involved,  

[01:15:41] Unknown:

when when the museums open, when people can come, you know, how they can donate, all that good stuff. One thing we've done or we're trying to do is we we don't get people to come in. People say, oh, I always wondered what was in that building.   Even people that live have lived here twenty five years have never been inside here. Yeah. So we're trying   to do something,   so on we're only open two Saturdays a month. We'd like to be open more, but it's we're volunteers.   Yeah. And so it's just there's just we have a big membership, but there's only certain people that feel comfortable   being here when visitors come in. Sure. A lot of people don't want it don't know Can anybody volunteer to do that? Absolutely. Anybody can volunteer to be a docent, I suppose? Yeah. You have to join our you have to join the historical society. But yeah. We and we would love to have you if you wanna come and be a docent.  

But, so we've been trying to have and every month, we've been trying to have people's,   outside or any members, if they have a special collection Mhmm. To bring it and we'll have it on display. And then we put a little signboard on the street, special event today,   miniature tea sets. Mhmm. And so we had   Did you have a miniature tea set? Uh-huh. We had a mint that was in February, and then we had, knives. And the knife went to knife collection. I mean, he had enough knife covered this whole table with knives. That's a lot of knives. And we had 80 people in here that day. I I didn't know about the knife thing. I'd probably work under the knife thing. That's a see, we have a trouble we have trouble with publicity.   There's the local newspapers.  

We can't get we would love to have an ad in that,  

[01:17:15] Unknown:

but for some reason, we can't get any information out. Well, that's the other I I feel like I'm just plugging my podcast at the end of this, but that's what's happened. I mean,   small media,   like, small town newspapers and everything, they've just been they're gone. Yeah. And they've been like, I use the example from Middletown where I grew up. We had the Middletown Journal when I was very young, and it was great. You   hear about local news, you hear local high school sports, what's going on. Bethel Journal's right there. And that went out of business,   in, like, about fifteen years ago. Yeah. Totally. And a lot of the reason for that is is this it's expensive   to run a newspaper. And a lot of people think that, you know, like, things like Facebook advertising really kinda killed it. What killed local newspapers   was Craigslist.  

They made a lot of money on classifieds.   Uh-huh. And when Craigslist came out,   you could post whatever you wanted for free,   and   that kinda, you know, took a huge chunk of local papers revenue. And then they got bought up by bigger and bigger and bigger. Well, in the sense we still subscribe to the Cincinnati Enquirer, and it is it is ridiculous.  

[01:18:22] Unknown:

Oh, what about the button collection? Oh. Oh, the button. Yes. I got I'm sorry. Straight away. That's okay. So, next month, we're having antique buttons, and this one of our members has collected buttons of the Like, for shirts or, like, political buttons? All kinds of no. Buttons for your clothing. Clothing. Okay.   And she has she's mounted them on cards and then she's drawn pictures to match the buttons. Really? And, she's got   millions of buttons. There's something about buttons, isn't there? Well, there's so many different kinds. I know. I'm a I I'm kind of a sucker for buttons. Well, you have to come. You have to come. I I don't know why. In August, and then she'll be here. She she's in two Saturdays. Well, the first Saturday and the third Saturday. First Saturday and then third of August. Mhmm. One to four. One to four. Okay. And that's when we're gonna have our button collection. So this year, we had knives. We had miniature tea sets. We had,   wood carving,   and that was it. Right?  



[01:19:17] Unknown:

So far this year.  

[01:19:19] Unknown:

And then we have, there was a local photographer.   This is interesting too.   In Bethel for years and years and years and years. He took everybody's baby pictures and everybody's wedding pictures, and then he would publish them in the Bethel journal. But he he was also the mayor of Bethel for a long time. And he did a lot of I didn't live here then, but I he took our wedding pictures, so I do have a little bit. But anyway, we got   millions of his pictures when he died. I don't know how we all got them all. Do you they were they were here. Yeah.   Boxes and boxes, but nothing's,   categorized. Categorized. So we we we sort through pictures every week. Yeah. There's one gal who grew up in Bethel, and she knows school pictures and buildings and stuff. And so we're trying to sort them. But in that collection of photographs,   he was also a photographer for Clermont County,   for the, coroner's office. Right? Yeah. So we had pictures of dead bodies and car wrecks with mutilated bodies. Oh, lord. We,   we You didn't put those on display? Okay. We don't. But, school pictures, he took and there's a million school pictures. And so a couple of years, we would just, the ones that we didn't pertain to our historical museum,   we would lay out on the table and we put on sign out on the sidewalk, pictures, pictures,   come look, see, and take. Yeah. So and people came in and found, like, some baby pictures that they had maybe hadn't picked up at his studio or wedding pictures and school pictures. So we got rid of a lot of them, but we still have tons and tons of them. Okay. Tons and   we do. I mean, it's   unbelievable.  



[01:20:55] Unknown:

That's a lot of pictures.   I'll we'll show him our archives, and you can see. Yeah. I'll take some pictures of that too. I'm talking to pictures.  

[01:21:01] Unknown:

But,   anyway, like, everybody who got married and he took their wedding picture, they're in those books there. So people come and they find their wedding picture. They find their grandpa's,   death notice. They see they say such and such date, and we go over and find the year. And we've come through because it's a whole year in each one of those black books. And and people sit here all afternoon and look through the Bethel journals and yearbooks. So can people come on the first and third Saturday and just do that? Mhmm. Okay. Yeah. So it's not just they get to look you can look around the museum, but you can go through your Yes. Your archives. And we have all kinds of books on Clermont County and people searching family trees and things. And that's why we hope to get this thing up and operating, but it's we gotta get light bulbs. I can't remember what the what the point what is that called? It's escaping me. Microfilm. Microfilm. Microfish.   I don't know. Film. Film. Better. Yeah. I don't I don't know how to use it. It's those things in in   libraries back in the day where it's, like, newspapers on film. Yes. It's got a big screen. Yes. Exactly what it is. Yeah. Yeah. And I don't know how to operate it. We have, like Sherry knows how to operate it. Is she the only one   that can opt in our museum? Yeah.  

But anyway,   we just, there's just a lot of stuff to look at.   It what's fun about looking at those old newspapers are the ads for grocery stores. And what grocery stores?   Well, there was really low, wasn't it? It was I just was saying It's gonna make me cry to hear some of these numbers. Well, when we had we just two weeks ago, we had the class of '19   Bethel is a big,   class reunion   town. I mean, the high school, everybody you grew up in the Bethel schools and you married your high school sweetheart. There's a lot and lots of that here. That and that's a big thing. Really? And, so,   where was the oh, we had they have class reunions. So two weeks ago, we had the class of 1965.  

So I laid out,   the yearbooks for them to look at and I opened I got four or five Bethel Journal or those books for the year, like, from when they were eighth grade each year of that that that place. And, where was I going with this conversation?  

[01:23:08] Unknown:

Well, it just it just shows that,  

[01:23:12] Unknown:

they could come up here and do research, and they'd love to look at Well, and the pictures and the old articles. And they looked at all the stuff downstairs, but they ended up up here Mhmm. And spent the majority of the time they were here around this table looking at that stuff. Yeah. They were late for their dinner. Yeah.   And that was a high school class reunion that just kinda came up here. Uh-huh. Well, they they re prearranged it. Oh, okay. They called and said they would like to do it on such and such a date. Would we accommodate we don't charge for it, but we get nice donations. Yeah. Yeah. And we do we do a lot of tours, lot of private tours for church groups or classes. Somebody can call you and, like, I'd love to. Okay. And we never turned anybody down.  

[01:23:52] Unknown:

But yeah. So   talk. I hope that everybody just comes up and joins us like, you know, like she said, we're open first and third Saturdays, one to 04:00. We have trouble getting the word out because there's no, like, little newspapers anymore  

[01:24:07] Unknown:

that will put well, there's the there's one in local area, but for some reason, we can't   Well, I think I'm gonna call that a successful podcast before we get into too much trouble. Thank you. Thank you. We have a radio station that advertises us. Don't we what's that radio station that advertises that Ray gets   us ads on? Is it Georgetown or some place? Or no.  

[01:24:30] Unknown:

Well, thank you both very, very much.   And  

[01:24:34] Unknown:

I'll probably bug you again. Can I cut cut listen to this and cut some things out?   I'll try to get you an advanced copy. Don't worry. I'll I'll make sure that is fine. I talk too much. My husband always accuses me of that, and she's giving she's giving me the old evil eye.  

[01:24:49] Unknown:

Alright. Well, it's still on. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.   Don't worry. Don't worry.   Well, thank you both.   I'm gonna call that successful. Thank you. Thank you.   I hope you enjoyed that interview. I thoroughly enjoyed talking to Judi and Susan.   It was just a really fun interview.   And, also, I I have to reiterate,   from the from the intro and especially if you're in Bethel, check that museum out. It's it's really, really well done.   So and they put a lot of time and energy and and, just hard work into making it a really, really nice, museum. And check out their events. I know they're always doing stuff over there,   so it'd be really great to to support them. And, again, thanks to both those ladies, and, hopefully, we'll have a chance to get them on, in the not too distant future.  

So with that, let's talk about some events going on. First up, we have Shakespeare in the Park, A Midsummer Night's Dream. This is gonna be August 8   at 7PM at Shiloh Park. It's a free   outdoor performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and it's gonna be put on by the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company. So that'll probably be a pretty pretty good performance.   Next up, we have Archery Adventure at East Fork State Park. This is gonna be August 9 from 03:15PM   to 04:15PM,   and it'll be at the Nature Center area   of East Fork State Park.   It is a beginner friendly archery program   and you'll get to learn some basic archery skills,   stuff like, safety and shooting techniques.  

They will provide you bows and arrows, so you don't need any equipment or anything like that.   The website did not say anything about cost or registration, but I would double check   just in case.   Next up, we have the twenty twenty five Cincinnati Hamfest on August 9   from 8AM to 2PM at the Clermont County Fairgrounds.   I originally thought this was, you know, like ham like deli meat, and I got kind of excited. I was like, oh, entire festival with ham. I'm still excited because it is a regional ham radio festival,   which I find interesting. I don't really know anything about it, to be honest. But,   the festival is gonna have electronics vendors, radio equipment sales. There'll be some amateur radio demonstrations,   parking's free. There'll be some air conditioned rest areas and prize drawings throughout the day. So if you're interested in amateur radio or ham radio, you can check that out on August 9.  

The full moon river paddle on August 9, 9PM to 10:30PM,   and this is gonna be near the Crooked Run Nature Preserve.   It is a guided moonlit canoe adventure,   and you'll take about a mile round trip,   and you'll be exploring river habit habitats.   Importantly, it is not recommended for beginners. So if you're not particularly confident in a canoe,   this might not be the event for you.   You also do have to pre register.   Music in the park, Tangled Roots. This will be August 13 from six to 8PM at Hauserman Park in New Richmond.   It is a free outdoor concert   and the local band Tangled Roots will be there. And, it is part of a weekly summer series hosted by Renaissance New Richmond. So, shout out to Bob Lee's.  

They also tell you to bring some lawn chairs and blankets so you can be comfy.   Next up, we have the Land Owner Conservation Chat, Caring for Your Trees. This is August 13   from six to 7PM at Clingman Park. It is an educational workshop led by an ISA certified arborist   and they're going to tell you how to maintain healthy trees and you just learn some tips for tree care and management.   It's free and you do not need to register.   The Ralph Shepherd   concert series, Ohio military band will be on August 14 from seven to 8PM,   at the John Hale Bandstand in New Richmond.  

It is a free patriotic concert,   by the Ohio military band on New Richmond's Riverfront.   It's part of the village's summer series honoring veterans and celebrating community.   So that sounds pretty cool.   Green teens informational session on August 15 from six to 7PM at Clingman Park.   This is an open information session about the park district's green teens program,   which is designed for nature loving teens, especially homeschoolers.   So what they'll talk about is   how, you can get your your teens involved in outdoor science activities and volunteer opportunities.   There will be some light refreshments   and it is free.  

There is another Shakespeare in the Park, another performance of Midsummer Night's Dream on August 15   at 7PM to 9PM at Nisbett Park, which I believe is in Loveland.   This isn't it's again free   and it is again put on by the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company. So, it should be pretty good.   We have a sweetheart stroll on August 15 at 08:30PM at Shore Park.   This is like all the other sweetheart strolls, a romantic lantern lit stroll through the park. You'll pick up a lantern and a trail map at the entrance, And then, you just get to take a nice leisurely stroll through the park.   It is free and you do not need to register.  

Union Township Pickleball Slam. There's a lot of pickleball stuff going on.   August 16   at 8AM at Clepper Park. It is a free community pickleball tournament open to all adults.   Doubles teams,   mixed or single gender, will compete in a friendly bracket style tournament on the park's courts.   You can register on-site. I believe you can also register pre register,   on the website.   Priority is going to be given to teams with you with at least one Union Township resident.   And last, but certainly not least, we have a yoga in the park on August 16 at 9AM   at Sycamore Park.  

Like all the other yogas in the park, this is a free outdoor yoga session,   and it's open to teens and adults. There will be a certified instructor, and it's gonna be gentle yoga. So this isn't gonna be anything crazy,   which means it's great for beginners or anybody else who just wants a nice,   yoga class out outside in nature.   Well, those are all the events that I have for you, which will lead us right into another plug for value for value.   We are a value for value podcast, and what that means is that if you find value in what we're doing, all we ask is for a little value in return in the form of time, talent,   or treasure.  

As far as time and talent go, let us know what's going on in your community. We want to talk about the things that you are interested in, and we want to talk to the people that you are interested in. So if you know somebody, that would be good for the podcast, let me know, and I'll track them down and try to get them on here.   As far as treasure goes, you can go to our website, let's talk claremont.com.   There's a donations tab. You go there. Any dollar amount is greatly appreciated.   For donations $50 and above, you get to be an executive producer and I will read your name off on air and that is a real credit. You can put that on your resume, you can put that on IMDB, I will vouch for it.   For donations $200   and above, I'll read your note live on air. And that can be anything. That can just be whatever you're thinking. That could be an ad read for your business, you know, whatever. If you wanna give me $200, I will read just about anything.  

And you can connect, with us on Facebook,   Let's Talk Clermont podcast on Instagram at Let's Talk Clermont.   You can follow us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or wherever it is you happen to get your podcasts. That really helps us out and helps you out. Let you know when we have a new episode.   We have a newsletter. You can sign up for that at let at our website, let'stalkclaremont.com,   and that's a great way to stay in touch and get some, you know, stuff that didn't quite make the podcast or,   things that I just feel like writing for fun. And you can always email us infoletstalkclaremont   dot com.  

And we'll kinda wrap it up with thanks for everybody for listening.   I don't have any olivisms,   mainly because   since Friday, it's been a bit of a blur with a newborn and all that, but we will, I'm sure, get back into the olivisms by next week. So   thanks again for listening and, we will see you next time.