Let's Talk Clermont

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Episode 4 of Let's Talk Clermont. We look at some nuances of Ohio’s House Bill 113 and what it means for local annexation processes and school districts. We also sit down with Tom Lemon from The World's Only Cardboard Boat Museum and Bob Lees from Renaissance New Richmond, talking about everything from underground railroad stories to building boats with cardboard and tape. 

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We've been living in it since so long. All   Hello, and welcome to Let's Talk Claremont episode four.   Thanks for being here. And we're sorry we missed everybody last week. We just didn't have have an interview lined up. So, I think that'll probably just happen sometime starting now. I think that's part of the growing pain to start in something like this. In some weeks, we'll just won't be able to find somebody. But,   that said, I think we have a really good interview today, and we've got some good ones coming up.   We're gonna be talking to some people from Claremont Parks. We'll be talking to a a lady from the genealogical   society. She'll talk about some of the history of Claremont County. So I'm I'm excited for them. I I'm especially the history ones, those I think those are always   really interesting.  

So, let's let's get started. And today,   I wanted to take a closer look at House Bill one thirteen   and just a closer look at annexation   in general. And,   well, this is actually the second time I'm recording this.   The first time I recorded it, I let my wife, Katie, listen to it, and she very politely told me that, no, she didn't listen to a single thing.   So she saved everyone from a   long boring lecture about annexation. And one of the things I realized,   in in looking back on,   what I had written for this,   I forgot a hook. I forgot to tell you why you should even be interested in annexation. So   I here's my pitch. I'm interested in annexation, and and I think everybody should be interested in in this topic because it's it's how our cities grow. I mean, it impacts   the the taxes we pay, the schools we send our kids to.  

It influences, you know, what we build, where we build it, how we build it.   And there's an interesting balance to make in in this kind of growth equation.   If if we just let our cities grow and develop without any oversight, I mean, we could lose a lot of the county's   natural beauty. I mean, speaking personally, I moved to Batavia Township where I'm at because it's, you know, it's kind of away from everybody, and it's very beautiful.   And, I that's one of the reasons I live where I live.   So with that said, if our cities don't grow, well, then we can't develop economically, then we're not gonna be able to attract businesses and entrepreneurs   and and grow and have, you know, good industries here, good companies here. That's those are all very, very important things.  

So I think we all kind of just need to keep our eye on,   development and and what's happening because I don't   I I think we just need to make sure we build,   the things that we want to build.   So,   and the other this ties into a a kind of a broader thing, I think, across the state too that,   I talk about this in the interview. I grew up in Middletown, Ohio, and it's got a lot of similarities with a lot of these small   towns where a lot of the industry left, and they're all trying to reinvent themselves.   And in that process, I mean, it's creative and it's destructive and it's,   you know, you   it's a it's a tough balance to make. And sometimes people will have good ideas and sometimes people have bad ideas. And so I think us as citizens, we just need   to pay attention to, to what's going on. So that's my pitch   for annexation and and why I'm interested in it and I wanna talk about it.  

So   let's let's look at annexation. And annexation, and I kinda hinted to this if you don't know, it's essentially how towns grow.   A city will look at a piece of land, and the people that own that land will say,   we'd like to be part of the city or the city would say we'd like to be part of our,   our city. And   they merge and they become the city then becomes bigger.   In a lot of cases, townships will become smaller.   So there's a couple different   processes for this,   but there's   really three   that are relevant for house bill one thirteen. So regular annexations got a lot of steps. It takes a while. It takes about a hundred and twenty to a hundred and fifty days, days, and that's really if everything goes off without a hitch. I mean, it could be two hundred, two hundred fifty days, I think.   So it can be very long.  

So there are some expediated types of annexation, though. There's a type one. And for a type one   annexation,   all the property owners have to agree, and it requires consent from the municipality and the township.   And it can be land of any size, and it's pretty much automatic. There's no hearing about it. The commissioners just as long as   all the paperwork's in order,   that happens.   There's a type two. This is another type of expediated annexation.   Again, all property owners need to sign a petition   for the territory that's proposed for annexation, but it does not require consent from the township.   And it requires that it's at 500 plus acres of land,   and it must have a contiguous boundary with the corporation   of at least 5%,   and that number will be important later.  

There can be a hearing or a review if the township or city objects to anything.   But at this point, when it gets to the commissioners,   they're really just looking for mistakes. They're looking for things like improper petitions or not meeting the land or contiguity rules, something like that.   And so these type two expediated,   processes take about thirty days. And so already you can see that type one and type two are far,   far faster than   a regular annexation, which is important especially if you're a developer   and you wanna get moving on your development, you're gonna wanna move fast. So   that makes sense. It's important to note that for type one and type two,   if you sign one of these petitions, you waive any appeal rights. So   resigning one of those petitions, you automatically   consent to waive any kind of appeal right to the annexation.  

And it say it should say that on the petition, but, again, this is something that house bill one one three talks about.   And then there's a third type, and this requires a majority of owners greater than 50%,   and it needs to have an economic development project attached to it. It can be of any size land,   but it needs to meet certain economic development criteria.   And, again, the commissioner has to approve this unless the facts exist, and this is gonna be stuff again like improper petitions or missing service plans or something like that. So it's not as automatic, but it's   fairly automatic.  

And this will take anywhere from forty five to sixty days. So that's kind of it. That those are the main ways that annexation happens. So   what does house bill one one three change?   Well, for all of the expediated petitions, there's going to be a step where the commissioners can deny it if it fails   a general good test. So there can there will be a point where the commissioners can say this is not for the general good   of the county. We will not approve it.   Right now, that doesn't happen. Type one and two are almost automatic.   But with h bill one one three, commissioners are gonna have a much greater say in the process.  

It's also gonna tighten the tap two,   the type two parameters.   The acreage cap is gonna be cut from 500 to 200 acres,   and the contiguity bar is gonna be raised from 5% to 20% of of the perimeter.   And these two moves are to make it so that towns can stop annexing   large strips of road that just connect to   municipal developments.   So that that's why that language is in there.   The petition language is not gonna force signers to acknowledge that they have no appeal rights for one and two. So from my understanding,   instead of now on top of your petition, you see a big,   a little piece of text that says, just so you know, you're signing away your appeal rights. Now I think you'll have to actually   sign and acknowledge, yes. I'm signing away my appeal rights, and, yes, I agree to this petition.  

And this is another interesting thing that house bill one thirteen does, and this really affects school boards. So   the affected school board in the annex the the school board that's going to be affected is now needs to be notified and provided a written service plan.   It'll also add a mandatory school board approval step   for residential   CRA property tax exemptions. And those CRA property tax exemptions are just when a development comes in, they'll they can   give a tax cut to the people who are moving in there,   in return for essentially moving in there.  

So   what that does is is that decrease that can potentially decrease property taxes,   or not increase property taxes   enough   given the surge of students that the   that the school might have.   So that's, I think, important.   And then there's gonna be, more transparency. The so right now, lots of of high level,   government officials have to,   file ethics and financial interest statements. But this is going to make city managers, assistant city managers, village administrators, and assistant village admin administrators,   they're going to have to file,   ethics and financial interest statements too.  

So   what does, what does this all mean? Well, it in general, it's gonna take expediated   annexation, and it's gonna   give the commissioners a little bit more say in whether or not it's for the general good.   So it's not just gonna be a paperwork ex exercise where, you know, all the criteria are met, annexation happens. So it's gonna kind of align these expediated processes with a more regular,   petition process, and it's gonna slow the approval cycle down,   which I think,   I again, there's pros and cons to everything.   I think I like that there's a little bit slower process because I want as much control over,   you know,   where I live as possible.  

But, again, it's gonna slow the the approval process. So,   you know, that that will slow down developments, and it it can kind of come up the work.   So, I guess, you know,   you can come to your own conclusion.   And and this is just an overview of of the whole thing. And like I said, I recorded this before, and it was   long and boring because   some of this is long and boring.   But this is just an overview. And I've you know, I'm not an expert. I'm doing my best, Google job over here, but,   we are gonna try to, have some experts on a future expert in future episodes,   people like,   on zoning commissions and and city government. So so if you know anybody like that, please please get in touch with us because we'd love to talk to them.  

So that's all we have on on the, I guess, news side of things.   But today, we have, Tom Lemon with the Cardboard Boat Museum   in New Richmond, and there was a surprise guest, Bob Lees from Renaissance   New Richmond.   I got there and I I started talking with Tom and Tom says, you know, I should call Bob. He, he knows a lot about the history of New Richmond and so I'm talking to Tom and Bob shows up and   Bob kinda stole the interview from Tom,   which, you know, we're gonna try to get Tom back. I wanna get closer to the cardboard boat boat regatta. But I had a wonderful conversation with both of the gentlemen, and,   I really appreciate them sitting down with me.  

So it was a fun interview, and I hope you enjoy it.   River out there. You see the river? It's a I mean, it is a great day, isn't it? It's a great day, man. You know, I always feel a little   I I really like the winter. I I just I hate winter. I hate There's something about winter that I love. I hate it. I love the cold, and so I always get a little sad in spring, which I think confuses some people. Like, well, it's beautiful outside. I'm like, yeah. But   winter's over. I like the spring and fall. Yeah. Keep the heat. Yeah. The heat, I can't   oh, I'm not built for the heat.  

I know. I know. I know exactly what you're saying. I know, man. It's just I could never get comfortable. I'm always like, oh, everything's   ugh. Anyway   alright. Well, I well, let me turn this down just a little bit.  

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And mine sounds okay. Okay. Perfect. Sounds a little muffled, but I can hear it and everything. And I I've got a program at home that I can kinda  

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adjust levels and things like that. So I think I think we should be good. Full disclosure, I'm just starting this out. So I'm still working kinks out. No problem.   So, anyway, why don't we get started? Let me make sure I'm recording here because that would be  

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alright. So why don't we just start with who you are and where we are and what you do?   Tom Lemon. Mhmm. We're at the world's only cargo boat museum that we know of.   We always say that.   We started this place in about 02/2007.   There's four of us. We're building boats in the garages, myself and my brother's house. And, I said, hey. We need a place to display these. And they said, you're crazy.   And then my buddy's like, hey. I know a guy that's got a garage. It's been empty since the ninety seven flood. Yeah. I said, well, let's go look at it. He said, okay. So we come down here. We opened the garage door, and it was a mess. I mean, there was mud. There was trash. There was everything.   I looked at it. I said, this would work. He's he's just, you are crazy.  

But We've been here eighteen years. Wow. So, this would be eighteenth year this year. That's July.   So how so it all started out with you just I know there was a regatta, then the regatta came before the museum. Right? Correct. Yeah. They they started the regatta probably around thirty years ago. Okay. It's probably some guys having some drinks, and they were saying, hey. I can build a boat better than you can.   And they started building them down on the riverbank,   and they built about four of them, and they'd race them. Mhmm. And they kinda had a little not feuds, but they'd challenge each other and they'd steal each other's boats wherever they had them stored for the next year. Yeah. But, as the year's gone on, it's people started building boats and bringing them down and racing them. And now this would be, I think, our thirtieth year doing it. Not my thirtieth. Right. Right. I've kinda came in in 02/2001   working with them on it. And then 02/2007,   we started this place. So have you been building boats since we build boats every year? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. We average,   at least seven years that we'll build eight boats. We'll build some boats for people, and, we'll we'll they'll donate money, and we'll give them to them to race. They take them home and decorate them. Right. I'd rather have other people build their own boat. Yeah. Because you see so many great ideas come down. I mean, looking around here, there's a giant egg carton behind you. Yeah. That's hilarious. We did build that one. We built that when the well, the eggs were were high just not that long ago, but we built that a couple years ago. Yeah. When the eggs were high, they said, hey. What can we build? And I said, let's build a cart of eggs. Cart of eggs.  



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Yeah.   That's awesome.   So what what does the regatta actually entail? Like, I imagine it's a competition. Is it just build something out of cardboard that'll float? You build a boat out of cardboard, tape, and paint. That's all. No glue, no caulking, no styrofoam, no wood,  

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decorations. We let you use different types of decorations that makes kinda finishes the boat out, makes it really look nice. And you race it down the river 200 yards. Okay. Fastest boat wins. It's like drag racing on the river. Yep.   We have a youth category single crew, and we have youth category multi crew, same with the adults. Okay. And then we have a mechanical class   where you can use metal, wood, and plastic for your propulsion steer and your steering. Mhmm. But it can't add to the structure of your boat, and it can't add to the flotation or the structure.   And, that's a different class. And then we have a another race after that, cardboard cup race. That's whoever boat's still   lasting to get into that and race.  

And then, we have the final race of the day would be the endurance race. That's a 200 yards downriver, and then you turn around and 200 yards back. So they're getting it. So people are it's it's not just these things are free floating down river. People are in them and racing them. Yeah. We're in them and racing. Yes. I bet that's kinda   fun when people go down because I imagine some boats sink. Definitely. Well, yeah, we have a, you know, we have a Titanic Award. Yeah. Okay. Most dramatic sinking of Titanic Awards. So Has anybody won that several years in a row? Is there some I think there's somewhat different every year. If I had a gentleman one year, he said, hey. I need a boat. I said, okay. He said, but I want   it to sink. I said, no problem.  

That's easy. But he was doing it for his business. And as they was going down through there, they were sinking, but they kept announcing his business over and over and over and over. So What was the name of his business? I couldn't tell you now. We've had so many boats come through. I mean, so many boats and people that,   come down and Yeah. Yeah. Join in with it. So how many people regularly come to the Nevada? We have before the pandemic, we was up to, like, 75 boats. People bringing boats down and racing them. And then after that, it kind of fell down to about half. Sure. And then over the last few years, we've been building back up. We're probably up to fifty, fifty five boats again now.  

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So how does something because I was thinking about this today because it does sound like it was kind of a bunch of guys having a couple buds. Like Yeah. I I bet I could baseboard.   I bet I could put a boat in this river and make it further than you. So how does something that starts like that  

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just build all of this momentum and energy to turn into something thirty years later, we're sitting in the only The world's only. The world's only cardboard boat. I don't know. It's it's it's a lot of fun. And, I mean, so many different groups get in on it. Mhmm. And it's kinda like a team building for their groups. Sure. We have different, you know, businesses that kinda do a team building. They bring things down to boy scouts or churches.   And it's it's a really good time, and I think people just really enjoy it. We have moved it this year to July 5 weekend. Okay. We used to have it in August. Okay. And then,   River Days moved their event. We always ran with them, and they moved it to May, late May. And there's no way we can get into water in May. Yeah. This is too cold or you just don't know what's going on. So we moved it to July 5, and we'll be running,   during   FreedomFest.  

Okay. Nice. And I'm assuming anybody can enter a boat if they want. Anybody can enter a boat. You just come down and get a registration.   It's $20 $25 to register a boat.   Day of the race, it's $30 because we try to get all the boats before that in all the heats Sure. Get them on the,   scoreboard.   We usually have about 13 or 14 heats Okay. Of different boats racing. So is it an all day event then? I find if I'm planning on coming in It starts at 01:00, and we're usually at the bandstand for the award ceremony at 03:30. Okay. So it takes a couple hours. We've been doing it to where we kinda once boat one boat group of boats get out, we get another one in the starting line. As soon as they're out, we start the next, and we try to keep it moving, try to keep people interested. Yeah. You don't want a bunch of time down in between each boat race and people just like, oh, yeah. Okay. And there's there's, like, two different races.   There's the boats that are fast Yeah. That get down there, and there's the boats that try to get down there.  

So those are actually the fun ones ones to watch. The ones that are trying to make it to the end. You don't wanna watch a guy that's an easy for you. That's the guys that are struggling. Yeah. Now we the the fastest boat that has raced down here, I hate to say it, but it's   it's not in here anymore. But, Rich Jeter, he's got a Okay. He's got fifty eight seconds Okay. In, 200 yards.   I was I was in that race. I came in third with a minute and two seconds. So maybe a little bitter about it. I have not. He deserved it. He does   have the record. So I have to give him give him that. Give him give credit where credit's due, I suppose.  



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So if I were to come down and just watch,   I imagine I mean, do you guys have food and and water and drinks and all that stuff? Oh, the event, they'll have,  

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they'll have vendors up there selling food. They'll have rides, I think. I think they have rides, and they'll have food, and then they have bands throughout the   the village Yep. At different parks. They have bands set up at different times. So it's a it's a whole It's an all day thing. It's an all day event. Yeah. Yeah. So I remember I worked on  

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in Middletown. Like I said, I told you I grew up there. They have a hot air balloon festival. Oh, okay. Yeah. And I remember working on that,   and   it's   like, the balloons are great, but they don't go up all the time. So you've gotta have all these other things. Yeah. You're sitting there looking at other they're pretty. Yeah. Well, there there they go. Now what do we do? So I I know what it's like to have an event where it's like this. You know, you've got the cardboard boat race, but you need tons of other stuff to Yeah. They they, did a very good job last year on it, putting it on the VFW. It's on FreedomFest.   So so I I gotta ask you how   because I'm I'm I'm gonna go out on a limb   and suggest that you might be more knowledgeable about building things with cardboard than most people.  



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Done a few different things, but yeah. So how do you  

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well, let's start with what what was your first boat like?  

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The first boat we built? Yeah.   Myself and a buddy built it, We built a stealth fighter jet. Okay. And, it took us,   didn't take us real long to build it, but we built it before the race, and we brought it down to the race. And,   he was inside of it. Yeah.   So, like, it was closed in. It was closed in, and we had boat wars sticking out the side. Well, the gentleman that was with me, I didn't ever I never knew he had better never been in a boat rode a boat.   And I said, well, you sit backwards and you row, and then I'll sit forward so I you know? No. I'll sit backwards. You sit forward so you can tell me which which way to go. And we're paddling. Wind's blowing, and we're paddling. I'm said, we're about a minute and a half, two minutes into the race. I said   I said, Dwayne, how far are we? He said, we haven't crossed the starting line yet.  

The wind was blowing. It's backwards, and   so I had a little tube in there. It's where I dropped smoke bombs out of. I mean, it landed a landed a pan at the end of the boat. Yeah. Yeah. Put it like an exhaust out. Yeah. Well, the wind was blowing, and it blew it up inside the cabin.   Took my shirt off. I'm stuffing it in the hole. There's smoke coming out the windows.   Yeah. We didn't do that anymore.   But we we finally did make it to the end. It took us about fifteen minutes to get down the coast. Oh, man. So it was a slow day. That's a long trip. That was the first minute. Yeah.  

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So   I'm just picturing you with the smoke coming in. Oh, it's coming everywhere.  

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Plug it up. That seems like an ambitious first build. That was. It was it turned out really nice. I have a picture of it on the wall. I'll show you that in a little bit.   So where did it go from there? Like, what over the years, what have you learned about building boats with cardboard? Like, whatever depends on what you want. Okay? I mean, I figured out how to build a fast boat Mhmm. Where you can make a creative boat. Sure. And most creative boats are, you know, they're pretty slow. Yeah. It's like the egg carton. Right. That is not It's not gonna go very fast down the river. Yeah. But, the longer boat you get Mhmm. And the skinnier boat, the faster you're gonna be. Okay. So,   my friend and I built that white one up there on the ceiling. It's two men in a boat. We built we raced that last year. Okay. And, it did really well. Is it hard to shape the cardboard?  

We do a lot of,   would it start out with, like, a large box Okay. Laid out flat. Is there a particular kind of cardboard that works best?   You can use any type of cardboard. We don't use waxed cardboard or anything plastic, you know, sheets and that. We don't use any of that. The thicker your cardboard for your first layout is probably the better. Okay. I'll take a box that I can fold it out. It's probably almost 16 foot long Sure. And about 45 inches wide and lay your boat from the center out. Okay. And then make creases around the edge where you're gonna fold it up or make some relief cuts. And then that way you can get your form to round it off and Okay. Raise it up. You just gotta keep shaving off pieces till you get that shape. Sure. Sure.   And then reinforce it with other pieces inside of it and just tape everything up. We tape every layer as we're going along. So there's a lot of tape. I'm not using of tape. Duct tape.  

We use, like, a white pipe insulation tape Okay. That you use on ductwork. Okay. We use that and that works a paper tape. Okay. It holds paint really well. Okay. So duct tape is good for you're gonna use it, but, you know, if you're gonna use your bit one time Mhmm. It's really good. Okay. But it doesn't hold paint real well. Okay. It's kinda kinda got   on a duct tape so it don't stick to each other. It's kinda like got, like, a little film on it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So when you paint it, it does flake off of it eventually or in the sun, and it it kind of   Yeah. Duct tape gets in the sun. Yeah. Yeah. So we use the pipe insulation tape, and it holds paint really well. We have some of these boats that we have in here.  

This boat here is probably the oldest boat right there that's, it's called double vision. My daughter used to race that when she was about 14 years old. Oh, really? And my granddaughter raced it last year, and she's 13 now.   That's cool. And, she got second place in it. So that was pretty nice. She raced her mom's boat. Yeah.  

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You passed the boats down from family to family. From member to member.  

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You've got a special section in the wheels to bring the boats together. This one. Yeah. No. I don't think they want them.  

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So how long does it take to make I mean, because   looking around here, these are really they're really well built boats. Not that I would assume that they would be otherwise, but I think more so than most people would expect a cardboard boat to look like.  

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Right. I mean, they're   I I'm to where the point now. I can go to boat pretty quick if it's just a,   you know, like, a straight streamline boat. Yeah. When you get in the the larger ones, the creative ones Yeah. Now that takes a few months to put those together.   And a group of us build them. Group of us down here, we'll get together, and we'll start cutting out. People will be taping, people will put pieces in.  

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And so So do you,   I'm assuming the paint is what waterproofs   it. So you gotta have a pretty good paint job on it and make sure everything's taped. Yeah. No. That what you just said, make sure everything's taped. Yeah. You don't wanna leave any holes,  

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even inside your cockpit. Mhmm. Because when you get in, you have water in it, you're paddling   waves, water gets in it, but you wanna tape up   every hole you see. Okay. Any hole you see, you wanna put a piece of tape on it. Okay. And then put about five quits of paint. We use an exterior latex house paint. Okay. I was about to ask No no two part epoxies.   No no flex seal paints.   We even put that in the rules. No flex seal. Yeah. No flex seal. Who does that, screen door right now? Screen in. Yeah. I'm I'm sure it doesn't work that good. Yeah.  

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I don't think it does. If it does, I I think he'd probably be selling it to the government or something. There you go.   So for the   the ones that are in so because because this is just audio. I mean, there's a a Wile E. Coyote Rocket one. There's,   was it a riverboat? That's the Majestic. Okay.  

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Majestic boat. It was   it was docked down in Cincinnati for many years.   You know, they use it as a showboat. Okay. And then, I think it's upriver now in Augusta or   Maysville, somewhere up here. I'm not sure exactly where it's at.   Ripley or and then,   we have the nourishment steamer. That's a steamboat,   and it's a mechanical   where you get in that one and pedal it. Okay. And the paddle on the back goes around. And then we have the So the act the thing actually Yeah. It looks actually like it looks like a paddle boat Yeah. Down the river. That's really cool. And then, the other one, that's the the island queen. That's a replica of the island queen.   We had pictures, and we tried to make it look   as much on it as as we could.  

We have groups that come in, and, we had a retirement group come in. And when the ladies are looking at it, she's like,   my husband proposed to me on that boat. That's really cool. And I thought, that's really neat. That is cool. She wrote it because, in fact, that's how you got from Cincinnati to Coney Island and   and up to Pittsburgh or whatever. Oh, yeah. Riverboats were really big at that time.  

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So for the I know you said it seems like a lot of work goes into them, but how do you   do you, like, work out a design in CAD? It sounds like you work with a lot of people. Are there any Nope. We, engineers or just guys that know what they're doing?  

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I don't know if we've ever worked.   Some of us.  

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Yeah. Some of us more than others. Yeah. But everybody helps out. We don't need no CAD or anything, but, we  

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we used to, like, get a model Mhmm. Or we get pictures,   and then we'll just go from that. Kinda just think how long it's gonna have to be and kinda make it proportional to what the boat is. You know? Now did you have you always been interested in boats, or is this No. No? No.   I have lived outside in New Eastman here all my life pretty much, but I've never really   had my own boat on the river. Sure. Been on many other people's boats. Sure. Well, that's what they say about boats. It's the best one to have is somebody else's. Somebody else's boat.  

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That's that's my boat policy.   Oh, well, I I think  

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that's Bob. Hey. How are you?  

[00:29:25] Unknown:

Do you want Yeah. I can ask him some Yeah. Bob can, tell you a little bit about the town. Yeah. We got some big events coming up next month. Yeah. What's been going on? You know, recently, there was a flood down here and Yeah. This next month's gonna be, Were you guys affected by the flood? I forgot. Not. We were very fortunate. We were like an island. Yeah. There was water all the way around us, but it stopped before it was at the bottom of our deck. Okay. And our deck is right there. So   we were very fortunate. All the buildings right across the street. Right across the street too. Yep. There was five three foot in them. Comes along. Yeah.  

[00:30:00] Unknown:

Yes. It does.   Oh, here. I'll get up and introduce myself.   Patrick   Ventarello. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Might be Italian. I   how'd you guess?  

[00:30:13] Unknown:

So that's my business card. I'm a resident for Renaissance in Richmond.   Excellent. That's a nonprofit  

[00:30:19] Unknown:

that we set up a few years ago.  

[00:30:23] Unknown:

I know Tom said that you could probably talk about   the history of New Richmond and some of the events that are going on around here.   It's a walking   tour map. Oh, thank you.  

[00:30:37] Unknown:

And who are you with? Myself. Oh, good. Yeah. Okay. That's cool. So I've I've talked to Tom on the phone.  

[00:30:45] Unknown:

Frankly, part of this, I work from home a lot. Yeah. So part of me doing this is like, well, it's just nice to get out and   see people, frankly.   But also,   I just   it seemed like it was hard to find   really good stuff about what's going on in Clermont County. Yeah.   So I've got this stuff and I thought, well, I'll just go start talking to people and see what's going on around town.   Because I think,   you know, if we wanna make our world better,   we've gotta start in a backyard. And if you don't know what's going on in your backyard,   how are you gonna do that? So so that's kinda what I'm trying to do.  

So, and, I guess, before we start, why don't you tell everybody who you are and and who you're with and what you know? My name is Bob Lees, and I'm president of, Renaissance New Richmond Incorporated.  

[00:31:30] Unknown:

And,   just quickly on that subject, we, established an organization, several of us did,   at a time when   the   our school district   was slammed by the loss of about $8,000,000   when they closed both the Bektoward power plant Mhmm. And the,   Zimmer plant up in Moscow, both of which were in our school district.   And, also, the town lost tax tax revenue,   jobs Mhmm. And,   and growth as a result of that. So we, we started this, and we've worked with the village on grant writing,   which is,   contributed to the, $13,000,000,   grant that we won to redo the waterfront Congratulations. And   but the the purpose of all that, of the,   major grants that we won is,   transitioning   away from coal powered plant   power plant Mhmm.  

To, just a livable   more livable community   and also,   the the activities from business standpoint   to, highlight,   the history of the town and the, you know, the the amazing history of the town. I'll get into that in just a bit. But,   but also river recreation,   it's it's as as you know, we recently had a a high water,   episode. I don't like to use the f words.   So No flood? No no flood. No FEMA.   No.  

[00:33:00] Unknown:

We'll stay away from all the f words. Yeah. Exactly right. All of them.  

[00:33:04] Unknown:

But you can also walk around now and see,   to a lot of people coming to town, you'd never know when there was one.   Some of the floods are more,   you know, more tragic than others. Mhmm. It's part of life here, and everyone that lives here will tell you they wouldn't live anywhere else. So, it's also, you know, it's an amazing asset, which   has not been,   ex   exploited. And I say that in a positive way by things like,   having,   better access to river recreation   Mhmm. Different events. And,   so the the future of the town will be,   the Dora District is, will bring life to the town. So you guys are getting the Dora District too? We actually have have that, and it's, been very, very successful.  

And,   one of the things Renaissance in Richmond started doing a few years back is every Wednesday,   evening, we have live entertainment. Some of the best in the Tristate area in terms of entertainer entertainers come to town.   And so, that that's throwing a lot of people in. And it it it also contributes. So it's economic development, but it also contributes to the quality of life Sure. Of the people who live here. And even if you live in the newer developments in the hills, which, you know, most of the new, new people coming to town would,   the quality of life from the standpoint of what the river has to offer,   the the history that's here with our with   our,   different museums that we have and the the pubs,   each of which have,   live entertainment in their own right. And then the fact that we've got,   a different two,   two different   stages, if you will. One is a a smaller gazebo in Elkmont Park just, down the street up street, from here. And the other one is a bandstand area that   it dwells, in some cases, hundreds of people and Yeah. And the, the other area that,  

[00:35:00] Unknown:

that helps on the economic development front. And by the way, tourism is economic development. Oh, absolutely. And I was telling Tom I worked I grew up in Middletown. Yeah. And we had a hot air balloon festival event that I worked on up there. And it's   they would always ask you how to calculate the economic the economic impact of these events. And you just kinda look at them and go,   well, I can run a formula, but there were thousands of people that weren't here before. That seems like pretty good economic development to me. And what what's interesting about those people that that come to festivals and things is that in some cases,  

[00:35:33] Unknown:

they will like it so well, they'll   you'll you'll find them scouting around. And we've had, Ray Persick is a good example because we,   had an active marina and he was a boater. He said, why am I driving out here from the city all the time? Why not live there? Right. And at that time, he was one of the principles   of   one of the, I guess, it'd be world's largest,   branding companies   on the planet that was in Cincinnati. He's a he's a P and LPK.  

[00:36:04] Unknown:

Oh, okay. And Yeah. I know LPK. Yeah. And, Ray was  

[00:36:08] Unknown:

instrumental,  

[00:36:09] Unknown:

in in working with us. He probably did very well for himself. He was the p in LPK. Yeah.   He was a good guy. Yeah. I think he was also the heart and soul of LPK as well. We he's such a lovely, lovely gentleman. Well, they do. LPK does really good. I'm Yeah. I'm in the marketing world. Yeah. That's what I do for a living.   And they're, I mean, just renowned for Yeah. How good they are. Well, and and if you  

[00:36:32] Unknown:

drive around to Richmond a little bit,   the the logos of many of the businesses, the the police department's logo, the signage, and everything else is sold for APERZ who we dearly miss   and love or and will forever. So   on the on the, events front,   this is where the excitement really comes in.   The, Coney Island's closure, of course, broke our hearts,   so close by and very much a part of our our our high school kids pretty much handled all the parking. They had all the jobs, you know, from here from New Richmond. They're easy to get there.  

[00:37:08] Unknown:

And, but It's always nice to have a place to put a bunch of idle high school kids. Yes. Absolutely.  

[00:37:13] Unknown:

Summer jobs. Summer   jobs. That's always a very good place to put high school kids. Especially just down the creek a little bit here in Montana, Ohio.   And,   so,   we we reached out to, the the the folks at the Appalachian   Festival, for instance,   and they are now, it'll be Mother's Day weekend. So that's,   May.   Their new home is in Richmond, Ohio. Okay. And that draws about 25 to 30,000   people a tenth,   you know, to, to the to the area.   And that's economic development. Oh, yeah. But this entire waterfront will be it will be crafters, high end crafters from all over the region. And when does that start again? It's Mother's Day weekend. Mother's Day weekend. The tenth and eleventh of this Of  

[00:37:58] Unknown:

of May. Okay. Yeah.  

[00:38:00] Unknown:

And I I've just looked at the the   the   music lineup.   It's it's phenomenal. It's all the roots of Appalachia music and which includes blues and jazz and the condition, of course, the country and Mhmm. God's music, bluegrass. So God's music.   He   he he he loved the banjo. So   but a a good I'd say a good part of the population of of this part of Clermont County,   have deep Appalachian roots, and then it's not that far, you know, over to Kentucky. Yeah. And then in my case, my mom is from Kentucky.   So I think there are many, many, many don't know if you have any roots from Kentucky as well, but and we're all proud of that. Yeah. So and then that'll be followed Memorial Day weekend by, something that's, it's called,   River Days.  

And that's a three day festival,   and it's Memorial Day weekend.   And then in the, later in the fall, we have the, River Arts Festival,   and that's in, that's the first weekend in, October. Okay. And that one is,   sort of higher end crafts and,   and, usually, that's combined with the Taste of New Richmond,   event and other activities as well.   So we we were really staying busy during the during the summer periods of time.   But,   dropping back to history a little bit, there's so much and and I think with Well, how long have you lived in New Richmond? Well, I I was born just to about one block up the street from here and Okay.   Lived above our, my family lived above our family pub at the time. It's no longer there. Okay. But I,   I I was born upstairs, weighed in eleven pounds thirteen ounces. You're a big boy.  

And the story was my mom was cooking in the kitchen that night, so I, you know,  

[00:39:52] Unknown:

women were tough. I know. I know. I have a wife. She does.  

[00:39:57] Unknown:

But,   so all of my formative   years and everything else, Young, was was there.   I went into the service,   worked for the FBI after high school for a year in Washington, and then, went into the Navy   and, was in Japan and Vietnam   and, came back and got back into the restaurant business for a period of time. But I had this international   itch,   that, that I had.   And so I,   did advanced degrees in University of Cincinnati   and then offer a master's degree in international   relations and international business.   So I did that for about forty years Oh, wow. And decided that I was living in,   technically, in Hong Kong and Honolulu at the same time  

[00:40:41] Unknown:

and, commuting and Commuting from yeah. That's quite a commute. You take the drive I I was gonna say I get grumpy about a forty five minute commute. Well, 3,000,000 miles on United Airlines was enough  

[00:40:54] Unknown:

for me. That is. Yeah. And I I knew I always wanted to come back here. And, because I just and and as a as a a youngster,   I was always fascinated by the old buildings and the stories that the older people told.   And,   so I I knew I was gonna end up back here. Yeah. There's no question. And and we moved back and we opened,   the town needed a gathering place. So we opened the Front Street Cafe, my wife and I did. Okay. And we, about five years ago, we sold that to our our key staff members.   And, and it continues to be a, you know, prosperous,   enterprise.  

And,   but, so I was gone for a long time, but I always knew I wanted to come back. And the stories that I heard about the town from some of the older people is what really motivated me motivated me to really have a a deep, deep love,   for for my community, but and in particular, the underground railroad, the abolitionist movement that,   that, was,   Sutton,   which which is all around us here. You know? And, again, slavery there, freedom here. Right. You know? And we, the the building right next door to here to the Carpaw Boat Museum,   there was a doctor lived there. His name was doctor John Rogers. And   among other things that he did, he,   delivered   president Ulysses S. Grant into the world. He was the official He was he was his doctor? He was his doctor. Yeah. No kidding. And, he lived in the house that   right next to us here. Really? But he also,   helped to finance the publication   of, the philanthropist   newspaper.  

And that was one of the earliest and most important of the, antislavery   newspapers   published anywhere in the nation.   And, so,   very proud to be, an elder in the,   the Cranston Presbyterian   Church here. But, the leaders of of of that church, he was he was a deacon.   And,   they much of the fundraising   supporting the publication of that newspaper,   which,   you know, came through the the God fearing church people who, you know, who hated the institution of slavery. Yeah. So the stories of the underground railroad is deserving of, of its, in this county.   It and a lot of lot of towns were a part of it. Absolutely. From here when when they would help, an enslaved person,   get north,   they would it would go they would go typically from here,   to,   like, Nicholsville   Mhmm. To to Bethel. Yeah. And then they'd work their way north. So the the stories are unbelievable, and we we,   have some some of this,   that you'll find in the little walking tour map that we put together. But I I believe there are 13,   recognized sites,   underground railroad abolitionist movement. In New Richmond? In New Richmond alone. Yeah. Yeah. And, and multiple others, Felicity was very important. Moscow was very important. The river communities in particular. That's one of the things that I really love about  

[00:43:58] Unknown:

the Ohio is just it does have that rich history in the underground railroad,   especially,   you know, along the Ohio border, obviously.   I think a fair bit of people know that, but it's, you know, you drive through these towns and you don't realize that what was it? Maybe a hundred, a hundred fifty years ago.   I mean, there were people   in danger Oh, yeah. Trying to get to their trying to get free. Yeah. And just good people helping them out right here. Well, one one of the stories  

[00:44:23] Unknown:

of the story of Leroy Lee, no no no relation. Right.   He he had actually been,   he had actually been,   captured by a a a slave breeder   who lived across the, the the river from here, a a mile or two up,   up to,   up up New Richmond Road here in in in Campbell County on the other side of the river. And his,   he and his sons,   actually,   someone   caught a a, you know, runaway   slave person in Cincinnati,   and they brought him here to cross the river back to to where they live. Mhmm. And there was a standoff, the abolitionists on this side and the townspeople saying the ferry boat captain said, I'm not gonna take a man back into slavery on my watch. So if you leave him here, I'll take you guys back home to Kentucky.   And, it went on for hours, and, it was picked up as a national story. Really? And,   but the the closure of it was they ultimately agreed to leave him here. He became a prominent citizen here and then ultimately   went on to up into Indiana, I think.  

But, the newspaper account of that was,   it asked the question at the end. They said,   why he chose to go up to New Richmond and cross   the river   back into, you know, to Kentucky, his home. We'll never know because everyone knows it's a hell hole of abolitionists.   Right. And I thought that should be on a billboard somewhere. You know? So yeah. One one other of abolitionists.   So one other event that I I've I've I failed to mention this. You were passed a note by your executive producer over there. That's exactly right, I guess.   I forget about that. It's it's it's it's one it's one that I'm very involved in, as a proud veteran   of of of the, you know, of of the   US Navy and and all. But,   we have a river festival each year that's, managed by,   organized by the the Veterans of Foreign War with help from legionnaires   as well.  

And it it's a three day,   just it's a major celebration   of patriotism.   It's always capped off by, Joe Razi,   brings up a barge up at Cincinnati Red Zone at their barge. Mhmm. And they do a a mid river,   show Sure. Of fireworks. Rossi fireworks. Right? Rossi fireworks. Yeah. And,   and,   that's that's the time that we were doing the cardboard boat race this year, and that that becomes the the highlight of of the, you know, of of the the event, which will take place on July,   in the case of,   the cardboard boat regatta.   And,   so it's it's one more thing, but now back to history again.  



[00:47:07] Unknown:

Well, I Thank you.  

[00:47:10] Unknown:

You're gonna throw me in the river here.  

[00:47:13] Unknown:

I did wanna ask.   I know you so you you were born here, and then you went and traveled the world, and you came back.   I've I've I've be really curious to hear just how the town the ebbs and flows of the town Yeah. Throughout your life,   and also   what what brings you back? Like, what made you really just wanna come back home?  

[00:47:33] Unknown:

I have a son who's a psychiatrist in the military. He's a lieutenant commander in the navy, and he said one time to me,   someday I wanna get you on the couch. Yeah.   You you left you left Hawaii   to   move to New Richmond, Ohio. And and I said to him, there's no place like home. And I was so deeply rooted here with my, you know, multiple generations and things and appreciation,   again, for the history   and   also the just the the love of the the river. The rivers to me is, it's it's it's   I think I've got flood mud in my veins.  

[00:48:10] Unknown:

I've heard that about   Use that word.  

[00:48:14] Unknown:

I don't know. I don't  

[00:48:18] Unknown:

know. I've heard that about about rivers. Like, when you when you grow up around them, when you live around them. I never grew up around a river, but we we have one now that runs we live on 222 Yeah. Right across from my was it the little Miami or the little Miami? I always get the Little 1 grape mixed up.   But there's something about it. There's just something about the river that kinda Yeah. You don't feel right when you're not close to it. Well, I I can remember just setting on the riverbank. We we used to, in the summertime,  

[00:48:46] Unknown:

go fishing and me and my buddies and,   and we dig fox holes and Mhmm. Sand and mud   down down the riverbank and   camp out overnight and all. But I always I always wondered,   you know, the the river starts somewhere and it ends somewhere and all the the different stories that, that exist, obviously, from the Native Americans Yeah. Forward. The advent of the steamboat made this town. Yeah. And, we built them actually. This building on the corner here at 400 Front Street that's being restored now,   is,   is a place where they actually,   behind it, they built riverboats and punched them right next door to us here. And that was a just boom boom times. We we actually competed with Cincinnati   for,   certain industries,   at that point. And growing up as a boy, we had factories.  

There were factories all over this town.   Woolen industry, we had, at one time, I think there was many as four or five woolen mills in town.   And one of the getting all those supplies just from the rivers in the way? So so the the, the wool would come in, you know, from farmers up upriver from both sides of the river.   And, and then it was turned into yarn here and dyed. And and it,   I think in particular around war times, most of the woolen socks that the the the GIs,   would have worn, you know, in in the war would have been,   produced right here in this town. But but also other things. It was there there was a different there was an iron foundry, that I I can remember,   a wooden coat hanger factory that's dating me a little bit. But, and They still make wooden coat hangers. Yeah. I guess they did. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I guess so. But the, it was just a booming industrial town, but it's,   no different than much of our nation. You know? It's been,   the manufacturing  

[00:50:37] Unknown:

has gone other places. That's why, like I like I said, I grew up in Middletown and Yeah. You know, I'm   young, not younger. Yeah. I'm not that young, unfortunately.   But   even growing up, you know, you could feel when the mill wasn't doing well, the town wasn't doing well.   And you hear stories from   older generations about, you know, the paper was a big industry there. There was just a lot of a lot of work. Yeah. And it just kinda slowly went away. Yeah. Well, Armco Steel was one of the great steel producers in the nation, as an example, in Middletown. Yeah.   But it's Cleveland Cliffs now, actually. I think Cleveland It's still being operated because I know Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's just so   Armco merged with Kawasaki Kawasaki. Right. AK. Yeah. And I think that was in the eighties, early nineties. My wife's from Japan, and I remember,  

[00:51:26] Unknown:

Kawasaki is a city outside of, Tokyo.   And,   when I found out that Kawasaki still   they they merged, they done whatever they did,  

[00:51:36] Unknown:

that was very interesting to me. So Well, it was it was around that time in the eighties and nineties when   Japan was, I think, you know, they didn't have to focus on military. So they would focus on business. Yeah. You know? They were the China of their day. Yeah. They really were. But I think people I mean, I don't remember this personally, but I Yeah.  

[00:51:54] Unknown:

I don't think a lot of people remember how I think people were very scared about Japanese businesses coming over and Yeah. Taking everything over. Yeah. It was a real fear. And, of course, now they're one of the biggest, domestic producers of cars in the country. Yeah. And and maybe steel here Yeah. Like, it goes gets together with US Steel. But,   but but, anyway, it's just been it's just a wonderful town to raise your kids in. We've got good schools. Again, they, they were damaged by the loss of income,   you know, from the tax losses of closing the two power plants.  

So we we just have to transition   away from,   I believe, the day of burning coal for Yeah. Unless some major changes in cleaning up, you know, the Yeah. Results of it because we're stuck, you know, still we're just outside our village,   where the, the the plant was.   I I think it's an ungodly amount of   of fly ash. It's still Yeah. Still there. And one of the keys is gonna be whether we'd be able to cap the,   the ponds,   and actually do something on the ponds, which at the tops of the ponds would be above flood level. So,   there's been different solar groups that have have looked at it and,   and and also distribution   centers, that kind of thing. Because it would it's a short drive to Cincinnati. Yep. As you know, nice,   somewhat bumpy right now. Yeah. Okay.  

US 52 is a nice artery. Yep. This used to be US 52 right here on Front Street. And, of course, that caused,   that in itself was was   a a shot in the arm from the standpoint of everybody traveling through town. Some after work, people would stop for a beer and do whatever, do their shopping here. That point, we had a Kroger store on Front Street,   and the big three were all represented right on the street. So the the loss of manufacturing in the country has certainly affected,  

[00:53:47] Unknown:

smaller communities. But I think too what a lot of people   I don't know this for a fact. I this is kinda speculation. But, again, using the comparison of Middletown,   like, places like AK, they had really good jobs for for, you know, manufacturing people, but they also had really good jobs for engineers. And Sure they did. So your engineers are living in the town and everybody's   got a good place to work, and it runs the gamut not just from, you know, a guy turning a CNC machine or something, but also to a guy that's   managing the plant. And so you just get this incredible wealth of  

[00:54:20] Unknown:

Well, and and then there are people that come to service the plants. Yeah. Everything. And,   so I I Entrepreneurs. You get I happen to like Bill Maher, but the other night,   I my whole life was my career was involved in international trade. Mhmm. And,   he was   throwing up pictures of these,   horrible working conditions,   of the factories in back in the day, but that's not the way factories work today. You know? And, I know I've been down to,   Georgetown, Kentucky where Toyota has their plant.   And,   they, it's I asked the plant manager how many robots they had, and it was something like 1,600.   And,  

[00:55:01] Unknown:

but he says, but just keep in mind that I'm sorry. No. That's alright. No. I don't think this was on your schedule for today.  

[00:55:12] Unknown:

So it,   it it, the the the decline of manufacturing,   in the today's manufacturing.   So he answered the question 1,600   robots, but I think they employ, like, 5,000 Kentuckians  

[00:55:28] Unknown:

Right. Directly. And then you've got all the service providers that come in. And that's why manufacturing, I think, is very, very, very important. So Yeah. I'm I mean, I would absolutely agree with that. It's I mean, you gotta make stuff. It's it's all well. I used to work on, oil rigs in, like,   Texas and Pennsylvania,   stuff like that.   And  

[00:55:48] Unknown:

it's it's also just good work. You know? It makes you feel good at the end of the day to to have built something. Yeah. Exactly. You know? Exactly. So But now the vocational schools, you know, they gotta be focused on tomorrow's industry, but, yeah, you don't know where the industry is going. You know? Yeah. It's all gonna go offshore.   Like you said, you won't need the engineers, or you won't have the opportunity for the engineers to get you know? Which would be a real loss of just brain capital or, you know, just  

[00:56:15] Unknown:

people being able to think about problems and solve them. And so that's subject to to basically  

[00:56:19] Unknown:

being a nation   of serve of of,  

[00:56:24] Unknown:

you know, nothing wrong with restaurant workers having owned restaurants myself. I've worked in restaurants too, and I'll tell you, they're fun. Yeah.   Yep. Yep. That's another thing that gets into a lot of the fun to work for them than it is to own one. So but anyway I guarantee you, it's more fun to work for them than it is to own one.   I've never owned a restaurant. I've had a great time in every restaurant I've worked in. Yeah. It's, Maybe it's too good of a time. It's it's not a good, it it it  

[00:56:50] Unknown:

it can be very rewarding financially or it can, in my case, one of my problems and what I've done in investments   has been more labors of love and, you know, and and community.  

[00:57:01] Unknown:

And, you don't get rich like that. And so No. But I imagine you live a pretty good life like that. We would if if it wasn't a bad life. Yeah. Still got a few years left here. So So what have what have been some of the major changes that you've seen outside of manufacturing in in New Richmond? Well, I over the years,  

[00:57:17] Unknown:

again, back to f words, but, FEMA has,   at one point, I truly believe that they had as an objective   eliminating all the river towns. Yeah. And, and so after the   sixty four flood, it started, and that was a bad one. And then in '97,   they they paid   top market value for anybody that had a house that wanted to tear it down. Yeah. And,   as a result of that, a lot of people did and moved away. Yeah. And so there are far, far fewer   homes down on the flood plain,   where the opportunity is to have elevated houses. Yeah. And someday, we'll wake up to that point. But the loss of housing stock in the the old village itself is one of the things that's pronounced.   And what happens when FEMA,   does the mitigated properties they're called,   they they they they pay top dollar,   tear them down, and then they   force the land onto the village to maintain with very strict mowing and everything else regulations   and without any income associated with it. Now the now they're mitigated properties owned by the village, so there's no tax income that comes from that. So it, it it actually,   is it's hurtful. Yeah. It's a loss. It's So now you can't build on any of the mitigated properties. But on the other hand,   it's a lot of green space. It would've all been green space, unfortunately, if you if, you know, if it this is up to FEMA. But, that green space now with these big events that we're planning to have, one after the other one,   that, we're gonna need parking as an example.  

And and you improve playgrounds for quality of life for people to live down here as well as up on the hill.   One thing the village did, this last year that I think was a good move, we've got as you come into   town, you'll see these, RV parks.   And, they're now up into the hundreds and hundreds,   in particular in the summer, but even more and more even,   people are doing traveling all all year round. Mhmm. And those people,   there are fees that go into the village   coffers and,   but they   the the the greatest contribution they make   is, is the shopping when they're when they're here.  

And so, that's that's really increased our, you know, our population as well. But the developments,   the sales of those in the hills not far from town but actually in the village Mhmm.   Through annexation,   has   taken our population up by many, many hundreds of people. So you guys went through a pretty heavy annexation period right now? Yeah. Well, we've we've the annexation has pretty much been done. But when a new developer comes to town, we offer them all the village services that we have Mhmm. Including, you know, water, sewer,   and usually,   offer them, you know, a deal to get them to to come and do what we need them to do. Yeah.  



[01:00:16] Unknown:

And they just, did one of those in Batavia. What do they call them? A CRA Yeah. Yeah. District. Yeah. Where where you only have to pay taxes on the unapproved land for Yeah. X amount of time. So the,  

[01:00:26] Unknown:

it's it's worked for us, and the the people that are coming in town   typically are two income earners.   It's their many it's cases their first home. Mhmm. In like in some cases, of course, not. But, but we found them to be very energetic. Their first home. In in many cases. That's kind of a big deal nowadays because people are it's so it's more and more difficult for younger families  

[01:00:49] Unknown:

to buy homes because they're so expensive.   So that's really nice that you're getting That's why you need two income owners. That's why you need two income owners. That's exactly why. Yeah. So,  

[01:00:59] Unknown:

it's I I think we've got a very bright future. I think, the highway connection So it sounds like there's a lot of youthful people coming in. They're they're it's really been,   heartwarming to see the number of younger families, and they they they're they're joining our churches. They're they're,   after after this high water incident that we just had,   you see them right down with the townspeople helping to clean up and do things, and,   their kids are in our schools. Mhmm. And,   so it's it's a positive. And and the stores benefit from them, of course, and that's just Economic, you know, opportunities.  

[01:01:33] Unknown:

So It really seems like across the county that Clermont seems to be going through a pretty significant growth period. Because I know in Batavia, they've got developments going on there. Every so often you hear about a development over in this little town or that little town. I guess that's just the product of Cincinnati  

[01:01:48] Unknown:

growing. Yeah. The idea is Northern Kentucky, I guess, would be as well. But Claremont County's I think it's,   the interesting part of Claremont County,   you've got sort of boom areas like the Milford area would be and Lovell area would be in Batavia now with   the new green plant and all of that.   But we're also this part of the county is is very much, part of Appalachia. So Yeah. Just as an example, the Appalachian Festival that'll be here Mother's Day weekend,   it was held fifty three years in at Coney Island. Okay. Or in the city, you know. And,   and this this this year will be the fifty fourth year, but it'll be the first time the Appalachian Festival   was actually held in   Appalachia. In actual Appalachia. So we're getting a kick out of that. And that's because we're Claremont County is included in that and, I actually didn't know it was included. It is. Yeah. We had a congressman back in the day that got us included in that when they set that up under, I think, was president Johnson.  

But, but this part of the county clearly   qualifies in terms of,   income levels and everything else to to to qualify for,   federal, you know, government grants and Yeah. Economic development state and Oh, so that's a that classification opened up. It is. Grants. Especially this part of Clermont County. Yeah. It would be. It wouldn't be so much up in the, the other, you know, more affluent areas. Sure. So we got a real mix mix group of,   high income folks Yeah. Lower income folks,   middle of the road,   get it done kinda guys and gals. Yeah. Guys that build cardboard boats. They they especially those those are the most wonderful people.   Yeah.  

So if you come back down in the future, though, there are a couple other museums of the   military museum right across the street. Okay.   It's it's all local,   celebrating our our our local,   veterans of foreign wars and and and And it's just right across the street? Literally right across the street. Okay. And I'm trying to find his email.  

[01:03:49] Unknown:

Yeah. That's me. Oh, that's you. Oh, okay. Well, I found him then. It would say  

[01:03:54] Unknown:

No. No. Right. Volunteers that volunteer. Yeah. Yeah. No. No. I mean, in terms of, contact, our our Rick Mahan, it's actually the   president. Okay.   Very active with our schools. A great guy and because that'd be really interesting just to hear about the military just in not just in New Richmond, but anywhere in the county because Well, we and we've what we're focusing on is,   all the uniforms that go back to the Spanish American war. Okay.   The and, the other memorabilia,   they we we consider the other river villages,   to be as one with us. So needless to say, we claim the illicit stress. Right.  



[01:04:31] Unknown:

I feel like that's a smart move. Yeah. Yeah.  

[01:04:33] Unknown:

His home is only five miles up through. Yeah. It's five miles of suburbia.  

[01:04:38] Unknown:

Point Pleasant. So and by the way, this Sunday is   the birthday celebration at the the birthplace. So I'm out and about.  

[01:04:47] Unknown:

I used to drive by because I lived in Felicity for a little while. Oh, you did? Yeah. So we would drive by that you know, you see his little that little tiny house where he was born. And   it it always blew my mind driving past it because it's not big. I mean No. It was actually it's bigger now than it was when he lived there. Oh, is it really? It was really a one room Yeah. Kinda deal. And, Well, just and just to think that that guy, he grew up there and then he went on to, you know, win the civil war Yeah. I become president. I when I first moved back here, I was doing consulting work for University of Cincinnati on my alma mater on,  

[01:05:19] Unknown:

international outreach and stuff, bringing different   colleges overseas together and relationships and students and things.   And,   so I had a group from Shanghai that was in, and they'd I don't think they'd ever been out of the big city,   and they came here to visit.   And and then, first of all, I took them I wanted to take I had a day with them, and I wanted to so I showed him the Taft Museum Mhmm. Or president Taft's home. And, of course, that's what they expected. It's, you know, it's a it's a little mansion. Right. And then next stop well, of course, in Richmond,   but then to Point Pleasant.  

And   I overheard some of them chit chatting, and I I said, somebody seemed concerned. They said, there is no way a president of The United States  

[01:06:00] Unknown:

was born in in this house. Right. You know? It's so preposterous. Yes. So preposterous.  

[01:06:05] Unknown:

Yeah. That one of the most powerful men that Yeah. The country can produce Yeah. Yeah. Lived in this little Yeah. Yeah. And and then we took them up to ride the ferry, and they'd never been on a ferry or anything across the river. And when we when we got onto the ferry,   a a a a pig truck, a hog tail came on, and they had the the slats, and their snouts were sticking out. And we got these   city slicker, you know, Shanghainese,   young people. Yeah. And they're all taking selfies with the pigs now. The pigs. And then we locked them up in the jail. And, that that's the other key, by the way, the Ohio River Way with Brewster Rhodes as its,   as its, you know, founder and,   and, you know, mentor and everything else,   everything else, is really connecting the the small river towns together. So What's his name? Brewster Rhodes. Brewster. He does, paddle fest in Cincinnati each year, and he's just a,   an amazing guy. He's been very good to us here as   As we've been, you know, supporting the group. So we were charter members of something called the Ohio River Way. Okay. And it's it's basically   improving the river, but but also turning it into,   of course,   environmental concerns and all that dealing with that. But the the other thing, is economic development. So he's he's connecting us river towns,   that had never hardly ever spoken to each other Yeah. Again, you know, me before. And Sure. And we're learning so much from each other in terms of   how to deal with flood mitigation and that kind of thing. And and also to maybe get to a point where we can start standing up to the FEMAs. Yeah. You know, for for better service and more, you know, more understanding. Well, there's always strength in numbers. There there definitely is. Yeah. And then you've got   different states with different congressmen involved in senators and all of that. So  

[01:07:53] Unknown:

but I'd I'd I'm just getting that here in a second. Yeah. Because I'd like to he sounds like another good guy to talk to. Yeah.  

[01:07:59] Unknown:

He'd be great. He'd be great.   So,   so that's my story.  

[01:08:05] Unknown:

It's a pretty good one.  

[01:08:08] Unknown:

Yeah. I've had a pretty amazing life. I   was able to meet Ronald Reagan a few times. Oh, really? Bill Clinton and,   it's a had an incredible career, but it was it was time to slow down and come back and   smell the smell the river, I guess. Yeah. Smell the river. You can't even smell it today.  

[01:08:28] Unknown:

I said that earlier. I said, boy, you can smell the river.  

[01:08:33] Unknown:

Yeah. No. It's just the river is such a great asset. Oh, it's It's really good to see people taking advantage of it. And And somewhat somewhat someday,  

[01:08:41] Unknown:

there's no question that it let you know, that it that people are gonna understand that you can build   and elevate Yeah. And and live in a, you know, a a bicycleable   community and,   and, you know, just have all the the the assets, at your disposal, you know, for river recreation in the summer. I mean, you know, good months. And,   we have a pretty long season. Right? People get spring fever and they start venturing out this way. And   and then you get the summer and then fall is beautiful. Yeah. Absolutely. So   the new,   Liberty Landing,   project, which will be finished in   '20   let's see. 2026,   will allow riverboats to pull in as well. Okay. You're seeing more and more of that. Well, they're doing is that in because I know they were doing something in Ripley.  



[01:09:35] Unknown:

Yeah. They were they were supposed to be building a big dock, and I think Ripley's doing a similar kind of door. So on on, similar to what we're doing. Yeah. And that was a major  

[01:09:45] Unknown:

focus of of of our governor,   who's got some roots in the in the Appalachian Ohio.   And, I think this is his last year,   from, you know, as governor, if if not no more than two years left. I think he wanted to do something.   But,   so I forget. I think it was over half billion dollars he's put into Southeast,   you know, to, Southwest. That would be more Southeast than anything we're on the   the Western side of of of what they consider the Appalachian Region.   But,   he's, it's it's gonna   transform, I think, our, our economy   and cause people to wanna live here for quality of life reasons.  



[01:10:28] Unknown:

You know, there's a wonderful I don't know I don't know if you like them like to read or anything, but,   what it oh, but I forget what it's called. It's a play.   It's it's one it's like an incredibly long play, but it's all about Appalachian. It just follows   from, you know, the times of the Indians and it follows kind of similar like characters   throughout the different eras of Appalachian.   You just get a real feel for how how much history   this area really has.   I mean, I I love going into West Virginia, and I love Southwest and Southeast Ohio Yeah. Just because   the land just feels different. It just feels like   old and lived in. Yeah. You know? And   I don't there's no other place in the world. It's not like I've been all I'm not a globetrotter by any means, but it you know, I've been out and about, and there's no other place in the world that feels like it does Yeah. In this area. Yeah. No. It's I I think it's it's unique, and it you you bring in the   the friendliness and warmth of the Appalachian, you know, roots that, that's here. And it's, it's it's different than Northeast Ohio. Oh, yeah. You know? I think some people think about Ohio and they just think, oh, bunch of flat farmland. I'm like, no. That's not. I know. It's a Every time I start getting out, especially since I've been living down here in the hills and everything, every time I get up to, well, about Middletown, everything flattens out Yeah. And the sky gets real big. I'm like, oh, this doesn't feel right anymore. Yeah. It's like, this is this is way too much sky. Yeah. Way too much sky. Yeah. Yeah.  



[01:11:55] Unknown:

But, it's a it's a special place.   And I'm I'm,   I know Carmel County is is understanding more and more that,   economic development   and tourism are one and the same Yeah. And, and history Yeah. As well to get people to come and travel and spend money and,   decide to move here or visit here.   We we've got a number of, wonderful Airbnbs.   Yeah. That are being developed. And if you notice, the buildings on the side of the street is one one new owner of the three of them. Yeah. And,   if you you I hear him scraping something in there, today, but those will be turned into retail before long. Yeah. And,   so it's it's kinda taking back,   and and refurbishing what was great at one time from the standpoint of, economic development right here on the waterfront. That's also one of the things I think is exciting  

[01:12:50] Unknown:

about  

[01:12:51] Unknown:

economic redevelopment, I guess you could say. Redevelopment. Yes.  

[01:12:55] Unknown:

Seeing how people in the absence of what, you know, previously drove these little towns Yeah.   Finding seeing the different ways that people are adapting Yeah. And changing and finding ways to make their towns prosperous again and bring people in. And it's it's really everybody's got kind of a different answer to it, and it's really interesting to see. Yeah. And you learn from each other Yeah. From each other's mistakes as well as their wins. And, but I I think as a people, we're pretty creative people. So Yeah. I agree with that. Can't hold us down.   Well, I've   I think we've been at this for about an hour.  

Let me see.   Yeah.   Yeah. You you got find it. You got replaced in your own interview. I'm sorry about that, Tom. That's okay.  

[01:13:42] Unknown:

I I actually got that call that I received earlier. It's a group of caregivers for developmental disability   Okay. Group that wanna   schedule a visit to come down a minute.  

[01:13:53] Unknown:

That's awesome.   Well, I'm gonna go ahead and wrap this up. If there's anything else you wanna say about New Richmond or about the boat museum?  

[01:14:02] Unknown:

July 5? July fifth. Our big race, July 5.   Put a boat, bring it down.   Maybe you could set a record. We have some records in here. Or you could get the Titanic award. I wear the Titanic. That's the guy. It's like that boat up there. I got a 22 miles on it Yeah. On the high river. Really? We do a fundraiser every year for the disabled American gutters,   and we do that in the in the Volks. Okay. So that'll be a paddling for a cause. Okay. So that's a big event that we put on too. Okay. Yeah. One when when I was in  

[01:14:30] Unknown:

I think it was on a business trip to Hong Kong one time.   BBC has a program called Mainsail,   and it's Yachty. Yeah. New Zealand,   South Of France, or whatever it was, and all of a sudden, we've got something a little different for you coming up. And sure enough, it was here. It was here.   International.   International. International.  

[01:14:50] Unknown:

Well, gentlemen, thank you very much. I I really appreciate everything.   Get these off.   Seriously, thank you so much, both of you. That was I   absolutely did. I'll tell you this.   I hope you enjoyed that interview. I think, in the future, we'll have to have,   Tom and Bob on separately so we can sit down and give them a full hour, both for the cardboard boat museum and,   for the History of New Richmond.   And I think as we get closer to to July 5, we'll we'll try to sit down with Tom again and talk more about the race that's coming up. Like I said, I might try to convince him to let me figure out how to livestream the event because I think that'd be fun.   But, anyway, let's look at I know we talked about events in our our interview, but let's look at some of the events that I found and some of the events that we talked about. Hopefully, I got all the ones we talked about.  

If not, hopefully, Tom or Bob will listen to this and shoot me an email that says, hey. Hey. You forgot this.   Then I'll I'll be sure to put it in the next episode.   In any event, there the hoedown in the park, it looks like that was rescheduled. I can't remember what the previous day was, but it it's now on Sunday, April 27,   and that's gonna be from two to 4PM   in Williamsburg, Ohio.   And it sounds like it's just a square dancing event with the Rabbit Hash, string band.   There'll be refreshments provided.   And I'm if I remember correctly, I looked up a song from the Rabbit Hash string band. It seemed like a pretty good band. So if you're in the mood to hold down,   head on to over to Williamsburg,   on Sunday, April 27.  

There's another knee high naturalist. The last one was, Mud,   where   they got the kids together, and I guess they just played in the mud.   And this one seems like it's gonna be focused on cicadas, and that's gonna be Saturday, May 3 from, 10AM to 11AM   at Shore Park.   And they'll read a cicada story. Your kids will read a cicada story, make a cicada themed craft,   go on a mini outdoor adventure to explore cicadas in the park. It's a free program. No registration,   and it'll be followed up by an optional nature play session   for, little ones to burn off extra energy. That's a direct quote,   which sounds great,   for somebody, especially like my daughter who loves bugs and   has so much energy to burn off.  

There's a star party with the Cincinnati Astronomical Society on Saturday, May 3,   from 8PM to 11PM at Clingman Park,   and it's just an after dark astronomy,   event. You'll join volunteers from the astronomical society and you'll do some stargazing and,   look through some telescopes.   You'll get an up close look at the night sky, planets and stars and all those all those things.   And, there's no registration. Everyone's welcome. You can just drop in and,   enjoy the night and look at some look at some cool stars.   The,   spring native plant sale   is   one of them is this Saturday. I the twenty sixth. I mean, the the month seems to be blowing by.  

And then there's another one on May 18. That's gonna be from 10AM to 5PM at the Roe Visitor Center.   And you can stock up on all your favorite herbs, native perennials, flowering trees, and shrubs and shrubs,   to get your garden going this year.   The Loveland Food Truck Rally, it's gonna be May 10 from 12PM to 8PM at Shoppers Haven.   No admission fee, 25 food trucks, beer, wine, water, soda, live music, and fun.   So if you like food and fun, head to the, Loveland Food Truck Rally.   We talked about this in the interview, the fifty fourth annual Appalachian Festival. It's gonna be Mother's Day weekend for, Saturday, May 10, Sunday, May eleventh.   It's gonna be from 10AM to 10PM   on Saturday   and 10AM to 6PM on Sunday.  

That's gonna be Front Street in New Richmond.   And it's just gonna celebrate Appalachian heritage with live music and crafts and storytelling,   traditional dance,   a recreated mountain village.   That sounds like a really a really good time.   There's an admission fee. Adults are 15.   Children five to 17 are $5,   and children under five are free.   Then we've got the mustard seed markets coming up,   May 16, '4 PM to 8PM, May seventeenth, ten AM to 4PM,   and May 19, '10 AM to 3PM,   Claremont County Fairgrounds.   Like we said before, it's a hundred low hundreds of local shops and small businesses, live music, food, fun.   And like I said, I've I've taken my family there, and it's just a great event.  

And then the River Days Festival, that's gonna be Thursday, May 22, Saturday, May '20 fourth,   at Front Street, New Richmond.   It's a multi day festival. There's gonna be carnival rides, live entertainment, food vendors, craft booths,   family friendly activities,   all   all stuff like that. Sounds like a really fun time,   fun time in New Richmond.   And then, of course, it's a long ways out, but I'll I figured I'd mention it. The, cardboard boat regatta will be on July 5 and anybody can enter a boat. So if you wanna try your hand   at making a making a cardboard boat that'll float down the Ohio,   go sign up for it. And if not, just show up for the race. It sounds I'm thinking I'm gonna try to go this year. It sounds like it's a it's a really fun time for everybody involved.  

So that's that's all we've got.   As always, if if I got anything wrong or there's something that you think we should know about or something you think we should be talking about,   give us shoot us a message. Let us know at info@let'stalkclaremont.com.   That's info@let'stalkclaremont.com.   Thanks for listening.