Keep Calm and Pass this Down

                   When thinking of a story that will be passed down to my children one memorable day comes to mind. It was June 30, 1995 and I was spending the week at my Aunts because my parents were in Las Vegas. My cousin Grace and I just finished an afternoon brunch followed by a nap. We decided to go outside and run around to get some fresh air. While we were picking flowers I noticed a dog guarded by a fence next door. Being the avid dog lover that I am, I decided to go over to the fence and say hi. As I approached the fence, I noticed a chocolate lab was standing there with playful eyes. Being a four year old, my first thought was to try and pet the dog. I stuck my finger through the fence and OUCH! The chocolate lab bit off the tip of my left index finger!
                    I immediately screamed and by the look on my cousins face I could tell that something was terribly wrong. My cousin immediately ran inside to get my Aunt. My Aunt called the ambulance and got me a towel to wrap my finger in until the paramedics came. I was in shock and could not believe that a dog just bit the tip of my finger off. The ambulance came and rushed me to the nearest hospital.            The doctors rushed me into surgery, where they operated on me for 6 hours. After surgery the doctors told me that the tip of my finger could not be replaced and that I would have to live with half of my index finger gone. To this day, it still amazes me when I tell people that I have half a finger. Most people do not believe me until I show them that half of my finger is actually gone. In the future I hope to pass this vivid story down to my children and grandchildren.

                    This story is valuable to me for many reasons. First, I am left handed and had to learn how to write with half a finger. I am used to it now but it was a struggle early on in my life. Also, the accident occurred during the summer which led my parents holding me back in school to deal with the injury. This story will be valuable to others because it shows a tragedy that I had to overcome early on in my life. Although a dog bit me, I still love them to this day and have a black lab at my home.

 (My dog Willow at home)

History of Ohio University

Cutler Hall

The topic  for this post was defiantly the hardest for me to come up with thus far. Athens and Ohio University has so much history located all around it. But I think that some of the most important history is Ohio University in general. Ohio University became the first public college in the northwest territory in 1804. It was founded by a man named  Manasseh Cutler (hence Cutler Hall, which is the oldest building on campus). The University didn't open for its first classes until 1808. One of the first students to graduate form OU was Thomas Ewing and he went on to become a senator as well as a cabinet member/adviser for a few different U.S. presidents. Graduating around the same time as Ewing was John Templeton who because the first African American to graduate from Ohio University and the fourth African American to graduate from any college in the nation! Templeton-Blackburn Auditorium is actually named after the first male and female African American graduates from the University.(After doing research on the auditorium, there are a lot of famous people/musicians that have come speak/play here!). On the Ohio Alumni website ( http://www.ohioalumni.org/notable-alumni) you can find a whole list of different people who graduated from OU and went on to do big things with their life.

Thomas Ewing

Ohio University has so much history to it not only within it's physical culture but also within its people that have passed through here.

Pass it on down

It was an average day,  I was enjoying my life as a 5 year old. It was Wednesday and Wednesday meant that it was time for swimming lessons at the YMCA. Im the youngest in the family and the only boy. I have three older sisters and everyone Wednesday the four of us and my mother would go up to the YMCA for swimming lessons. However, this YMCA trip would be one like no other. Being only 5 years old I would get changed with my mother and sisters in the women's locker room for I was to young to be alone. After finishing up a great session of swimming we all returned to the locker room to get changed and gather are belongings. My sister Cheryl tapped me on the shoulder and said "hey steven can you grab my shoes out of my locker." Being the great brother that I am I got up and reached into her locker to grab her shoes. To my surprise when I tried to pull the shoes out I couldn't get out! My head was stuck! The screaming and yelling began and my whole family was tugging on me trying to get me out from the lockers tight hold. It wouldn't budge they couldn't get me out. Ladies roaming around the locker room came running to help this poor screaming boy who was stuck in the locker. I had all the ladies in the locker room trying to yank me out. Nothing was working. Eventually they had to call 911 and get a medical team there to help me get out. When they got there they too couldn't get me out, it seemed like I might be stuck in there forever. They finally resorted to ripping the lockers apart to help gain and opening so my head could slide out. I still have slight memories of that day I was stuck in that mean locker. To this day there is still a scar on the top of my head from that locker in the womens room. Now that is a story I can see myself passing down to my children!

Athens Farmer's Market history

A Farmer's Market is a fantastic way to bring a community together. I've been to several Farmer's Market events in my hometown of Louisville, KY, and a few in other cities that I've visited on vacation. I think that they're a great excuse to meet the people who live in the area and see what kind of agriculture thrives in that particular city. The Athens Farmer's Market started in 1972 and is still growing in 2012. Athen's county is not necessarily prime-farming territory; the land is hilly, and the soil is worn due to extraction of timber and coal. However, common fruits and vegetables (and some that are more unique) can still be grown seasonally.
The Farmer's Market started with vendors selling produce in metered areas of downtown Athens. Because this created conflict with popular Athen's street vendors, the Market was moved to East State Street (by the city park, near the tennis courts) where it has stayed permanently. Each vendor was intially charged $3 a day, or $25 a season. Now, vendors are charged $80 per stall, $130 for 1.5 stalls, or $200 for two stalls. Needless to say, the Market's attendance has skyrocketed since the 1970s.
The Athen's Farmer's Market is a good way for Ohio University students to stay in touch with the Athens community outside of OU. It is brimming with community issues, live music, and delcious fruits, vegetables, and crafts from the area. I look forward to attending the Farmer's Market repeatedly during my time at OU.

Passing Down Through Generations

     When my father was a young boy, my grandfather took him to see President Dwight D. Eisenhower (the president at the time). Being young and short, my grandfather hoisted my dad onto his shoulders to see over the crowd. They had gotten there early enough to ensure that my dad got a close view of the president. After his speech, President Eisenhower reached out with stretched arms and shook my fathers hand.
     That memory stuck with my dad forever, and he wanted me to endure that same experience. So, when I was young, about 6 at the time, my father took me to see President Bill Clinton in Columbus. We, like he had with his father, got there early enough so I could get a close view. He hoisted me onto his shoulders, and as President Clinton's speech ended, I reached out just enough to shake his hand. This is something I want to pass down; Not just the story, but the experience of being so young and small, and shaking hands with the leader of the country. 

The Ridges: Athens History

I've always thought The Ridges were an important part of Athens' history. Besides piquing the interest of many of those curious about the supposed hauntings that take place there, The Ridges have a fascinating story behind them that I was able to dig up at forgottenoh.com.
Some of the stories from The Ridges are really interesting to look back on. One I was able to find was about how the center often performed lobotomies and killed a whole bunch of people. Often, patients would reach through the bars of their rooms and carve anonymous words on window sills - apparently one, still there, reads "I was never crazy." That's reassuring. (Pardon my sarcasm.)
I think that The Ridges are an important part of Athens' history because they had such an impact on the town itself. Among other affects, when the hospital closed, the homeless rate skyrocketed because they simply let the patients go. This is an important part of Athens' history because the thinking back then equated to this hospital is so different from how we would deal with mental illness today that it's important to learn from our past.

Pass Dis Down

One story I would like to have passed down is the story of how my family ended up in the United States. In the summer of 1999, my dad was transferred to work in Ohio. After selling our house to my aunt and uncle and months of packing we finally were on to america. After a 8 hour flight we landed on July 3rd on a humid, 100 degree heat. The day before there had been a tornado in Cincinnati, which frightened the crap out of me. I had no idea why my parents had decided to move us to a tornado prone area. Around 1890 my family from Lithuania (eastern europe) decided to move to America. However after being on a boat for so long, when the boat docked in England, my lithuanian family decided england was good enough, why keep going. And from then on my family was english. We were suppose to only stay for 3 years, then it changed to 7, then we got green cards, and then social security. I am still not a citizen, and I have lived here for 13 years now. I dont see myself leaving anytime soon, so down the line, I would like my future family to know how we ended up in this country.