By Fred Steiner
Want to hear a good Halloween story? Here’s one. And it’s true.
Most of us have forgotten that the bend in the road on State Route 235 north of Ada was originally laid out as a 90-degree angle. If you head north, you can see a remnant of that angle - but look closely.
Most of us have also forgotten that the 90-degree angle once had a name: Dead Man’s Jog. I know how the name came to be. My grandfather told me. He told me the story over a half century ago. It was a story that took place, well, I’ll put it this way - several generations ago.
Here's Nickel Plate Road Berkshire 759 pulling out of the former Lima Locomotive Works in the spring of 1969. Although NKP 759 never passed through Ada, similar steam locomotives were familiar passing through Ada on a daily basis during the era of steam.
The locomotive, built in Lima in 1949, was pulling the Golden Spike Limited. The train was headed to Utah where the centennial of the Golden Spike was to take place. The train headed south and passed through Bluffton.
Five Hardin County soybean fields were part of a statewide OSU Extension Soybean Yield-Limiting Factor Study to determine how to increase production, profits, and quality for local farmers.
Cooperating Hardin County farmers participating in this study were Craig Geberin, Ted Griffith, Jan Layman, Paul Ralston, and Mark Watkins. The study was made possible in part by a grant from the Ohio Soybean Council.
Hannah Claw won the fifth-sixth grade "most original" costume in the Ada Kiwanis Halloween parade contest. For an interesting video, which includes a "walk through" of the contestants click here.
In hopes of garnering state Straight A grant funds for this region, 12 area school districts have joined forces to submit a proposal for an innovative project that would put laptop computers and other devices into students’ hands and establish a way for teachers in all the schools to share ideas and experiences.
The new Straight A Fund is part of Ohio’s $62 billion, two-year state operating budget. The $250 million grant program aims to reward creative ideas that boost student achievement, reduce spending or put an impressive share of resources into classrooms.