Hardin County’s KENTON TIMES www.kentontimes.com Kenton, Ohio — Saturday, September 22, 2012 USPS 584-440 50 cents area high school football scores Cooler for O-G . .52 the weekend Ada/Bluffton set for P-G . .40 Today, cloudy to partly Kenton . .16 1:30 p.m. in Ada H. Northern . .0 cloudy. Chance of show- ers. Lower 60s. R’mont/USV to play Riverdale . .21 Ben Logan/Tippe- Sunday, partly cloudy. Highs in the upper 50s. Hardin County News at 3 p.m. today. Buck Central . .20 canoe 10 a.m. start More weather P-5 by Hardin County People C + M Y Museum seeks public’s help to replace roof of historic barn By DAN ROBINSON Times staff writer The barn at the Hardin County Historical Museum in Kenton may be the largest artifact in its collection and it is in need of repair to survive. Caretaker Tim Striker said the barn at the Hardin County Farm Museum, locat- ed just east of the fair- grounds, was built 100 years ago and has stood the test of time until recently. A effort is underway to help the county raise funding to have the large structure’s roof replaced and restored so the old barn can live a new productive century. The barn was built in 1912 or 1913, said Striker, after its predecessor was burned to the ground following a thun- derstorm in July 1912. Times photo/Dan Robinson Workers witnessed the light- ning bolt hit the 60 x 80 foot Pumpkin prize building at 5 p.m. No animals Autumn Klesmit of Kenton picks a pumpkin during a visit to were killed in the following the Athauser Honey Farm. Autumn is one of the members of fire, said Striker, but 20 tons Karen Jesionowski’s first grade class at Kenton’s Espy School of hay were reportedly lost. who visited the farm Friday morning. The Althauser farm will cel- A smaller barn was erected ebrate its annual Sweet Harvest Festival today and Sunday at and was an important part of the community throughout Times photo/Dan Robinson the farm, located at 10718 TR 205, east of Kenton. Families are the 20th century. When the The nails holding the shingles to the 100-year- encouraged to pick pumpkins from the patches, learn about fairgrounds was created in Barn needs help old building are rusting off, said Striker, and honey-making, play games and enjoy the gourds, Indian corn 1939, said Striker, the race Caretaker Tim Striker stands with the barn at presenting a concern for not only the future of and other items available at the festival. track was located along the Hardin County Farm Museum. The missing the historical barn, but for the artifacts stored Fairground Road on the shingles of the roof can be seen behind him. inside. northern part of the grounds. The curved lanes of the track strong at this time, the roof forces the cost above com- The museum board will be Sniping from within can still be seen, he noted. needs attention. mercial rates. giving presentations to corpo- Race horses for the track “The nails in the roof are The commissioners have rate, business and communi- were kept in the barn’s stalls. 100 years old and rusting been supportive of the effort ty sponsors and looking to own party adds to Small trees and branches away,” said Striker. “Any to repair the barn, but Striker the public for help. were cut into 8-inch sections farmer will tell you once a said the board realizes fund- The cost of repairing the and crowded on the floor of roof starts going bad, it does- ing is limited. In response, roof may seem difficult to Romney’s struggles the stalls before being set in n’t take long for the barn to they set up a fund to allow secure, said Striker, but not By DAVID ESPO “And they’ve done it effectively place with sand. suffer.” donors to “Buy A Shingle” when it is taken into consid- AP Special Correspondent by showing leadership from The wooden sections were The museum buildings from the barn during the fair. eration with the historical WASHINGTON (AP) — Mitt the top. ... This president has easier on the feet of the and property belong to the Striker said about $700 was value of the building. Romney struggled to steady not done that.” standing race horses then a county, said Striker. He and given to offset the cost of the “The population of Hardin his presidential campaign on But there seemed no letup harder surface, said Striker. his wife, Lisa, rent the house project. County is about 33,000 peo- Friday, buffeted by an out- in the bad political news for In the back of the barn was and two acres of land from The falling shingles come ple,” said Striker. “If every break of sniping among frus- Romney, hit by a barrage of it a dairy. In recent years, the the county. at a time when the old barn person in the county gave one trated Republicans, fresh evi- since he was seen on videotape barn has not only served as a The museum board has to in seeing a breath of life, said dollar, we would have enough dence of a slide in battle- saying that his job as a candi- centerpiece to the farm muse- find money to maintain the Striker. The Kenton FFA has money for the roof and to ground state polls and date is not to worry about the um, but also is used to store buildings they lease from the begun using the barn for paint the barn. If we don’t do President Barack Obama’s 47 percent of Americans whom some of the artifacts in the county for the Sullivan- classes to educate young peo- something, we can lose the accusation that he was writing he said pay no income taxes museum’s collection. Extra Johnson Museum and the ple on agriculture. The chap- barn and then there will be off “half the country” in pursuit and see themselves as victims. display cases are kept on the Farm Museum, but, said ter has also used some of the no place to store the artifacts. of the White House. In an interview taped for mow area of the barn, along Striker, the estimated farmland for test crops. We could have to sell some of Republican running mate broadcast Sunday on CBS’ “60 with pieces which date back $23,000 for the big barn roof He said all FFA chapters them and I don’t want to see Paul Ryan drew boos at an Minutes,” Romney said of his to the earliest settlers in the is beyond their budget. are soon to be invited to use any of that happen.” AARP convention in New campaign: “It doesn’t need a county. Since the barn is owned by the barn and grounds and he More information on how Orleans when he said Romney turnaround. We’ve got a cam- But the cases and the arti- the county, said Striker, reg- envisions a time when larger to donate to the barn renova- would repeal Obama’s health paign which is tied with an facts are not as secure as ulations need to be followed FFA projects can be displayed tion fund may be found at the care law, which closed a gap in incumbent president to the they need to be, said Striker. to meet state code in the on the farm ground for fair Hardin County Museums at coverage for seniors’ prescrip- United States.” While the structure remains repair/replacement, which visitors to view. 419-673-7147. tion drugs. The Wisconsin con- Obama, for sure, was eager gressman accused the admin- to keep the controversy alive. istration of weakening Campaigning in Woodbridge, Kasich sounds warning note over economy Medicare and flinching from Va., he defended himself COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — concerns going forward about beer,” Kasich said. state’s non-farm payrolls tough measures needed to sta- against Romney’s jabs at his Gov. John Kasich warned where we are and where we Kasich’s “doom and gloom dropped by 2,000 compared bilize Social Security’s own statement that change is Friday that Ohio’s economy is could end up.” message” won’t resonate in with July’s figures. finances, adding that the pres- impossible from the inside in not as strong as he would like He said the pipeline of pos- the state because Ohio is con- Ohio’s rate has remained ident has “put his own job Washington. “It can’t happen if and he’s seeing signs of a pos- sible jobs coming to Ohio isn’t tinuing to recover from the about 1 point below national security over your retirement you write off half the nation sible slowdown. as strong as it was a year ago. recession, Obama spokes- unemployment rate, which security.” before you even took office,” he Kasich said he’s concerned He cited an overseas company woman Jessica Kershaw said dropped from 8.3 percent in Obama rebutted Ryan’s said. that businesses are in a hold- planning on bringing 800 jobs in a statement. July to 8.1 percent in August. charges point by point in a According to Wall Street ing pattern until after the to the state, yet a final deci- Kasich made his comments The number of unemployed video appearance to the same Journal/NBC News/Marist election and that the state sion continues to be put off. returning from Cambridge Ohio workers dropped by audience.