Letter #203 from Ohio

Letter #203 comes from Bethany in Ohio.Bethany is also homeschooled,so she was glad to help us with our project.She enjoys art,most crafts,basketball,snail mail,and more.She says her town is pretty boring and that their courthouse looks more like a post office.

She has 5 brothers and sisters.She also loves penpalling and making her own postcards (she included one for us),stationery and envelopes.She says she has been penpalling for five or six years now.

She asked us a few questions that we will answer.She wanted to know what we do with the letters.Currently their home is in some decorative boxes,but their final destination is for them to be incorporated into a scrapbook.She also wanted to know if we have received letters in any other language.Yes,we have,we have received some letters from children in Germany who wrote their letters in German.It was so fun to see letters in another language.We also get letters that have some phrases written in another language.It's always exciting to compare their language with ours to see if there are any similarities or if we can figure out what the words could be.Sometimes we really have no idea until we look at the translation.

Bethany said she will be sharing our project with her penpals,thanks so much for helping spread the word.Her lovely letter and homemade postcard can be seen below:

Letter #25 from Ohio

This letter really surprised us because it arrived in an amazon package at our front door.I didn't think I had another order coming in,so we were really confused until we saw that it was labeled for the letter project.We were then really anxious to open it once we saw it was for the project.As soon as we opened it we saw a can of chili and were really dumbfounded as to the reason for this until we read the letter.Shannon lives just northeast of Cincinnati,Ohio,where this chili is made.There seems to be a big debate as to which brand is better,Skyline (the one she sent us) or Gold Star.I hope it doesn't seem like we have picked sides,although one could maybe entice us with some wonderful Ohio buckeyes. :) I wouldn't want to have Gold Star lovers mad at us.

Shannon grew up in Ohio and still lives close by her childhood home,which she shared with us in the pictures below.It's so weird how I can find something in the letters that I can relate to.Shannon says she went to St. Cecilia school as a child,I used to attend catechism as a child at St. Cecilia (in Louisiana)...small world. :)

She also says that Cincinnati had the nickname "Porkopolis" because of the number of slaughterhouses in the 1800's.She says that even today,they like to keep the "pork" identity.For example,when a commons area called Sawyer Point was renovated to celebrate the bicentennial,a sculpture was built with four smokestacks and atop each one was a winged pig.She said it was quite controversial for a while,but now people have grown to love it.They even have a marathon there called "The Flying Pig Marathon", where people put on pig masks and pig noses.There are also various events such as "The Final Mile" for kids.From Jan.-April kids keep track of how many miles they walk at home or in gym class on a "Hog Log".The goal is to accumulate 25 miles,with the last mile being walked in the downtown area before the actual marathon.So then the kids have walked a whole marathon (26 miles),just not all at once.

She also mentions a wonderful museum at Union Terminal.It used to be a train station in the 1930's - early 1970's. A lot of soldiers leaving for World War II went through that terminal.There is a huge mosaic in the rotunda showing Cincinnati's history.She said that once the train station was closed,many businesses tried locating there with no success.Then in the 1990's someone got the idea of moving the Natural History Museum there and turning it into a museum complex and it has been very successful.One of the exhibits features clothing and how rooms looked during the war and much more.Her family enjoys visiting the many exhibits there.Her son is currently studying Egyptian history,so they will be visiting an exhibit on Cleopatra.Sounds fun and very educational....just our thing.

She also mentioned that they have a wonderful zoo in Cincinnati that is known throughout the country.Correct me if I'm wrong,but I think Jack Hannah works there,too.She says the zoo is installing special solar grids over a renovated parking area to keep the cars cool while absorbing solar rays to convert to power.That is very cool.

Below is Shannon's awesome letter,along with some brochures and a print out of pictures that featured them at the Pig Marathon,her childhood home,her current home,Museum Center,Skyline Chili factory,and the Great American Ballpark and of course,the can of chili she sent us.Thanks Shannon for the great letter,brochures & chili.We really enjoyed your package!

Letter #20 from Ohio

Letter 20 comes from Gabi in Cleveland,Ohio...not far from our old home in Michigan.Gabi attends the university there and is in her third year of school.She is studying Art History and also Asian Studies.She also enjoys studying French and Japanese in school,too.As you can see below,she loves taking photographs and sent pictures in representing each season in her area.I can remember the snow storms like that in Michigan...even though I hated it while we lived there I now miss it after being away almost 2 years. :( The snow can be so lovely,yet so dangerous.I think that's why Gabi says srping is her favorite season.

She likes to visit her friend that lives in the state capital,Columbus, on the weekends.She says in a city near there you can find Indian mounds that were built before the Europeans came to America.Some were used as burial grounds,while archaeologists believe some were used for astronomy.Pretty interesting.What is saddening is she said that the people who own the land put a golf course on it so people could be playing golf on top of burial mounds.I think we should try to preserve more of our history here in the U.S.

Gabi also mentions another thing we know Ohio is well known for- it's Amish community.We had planned to go shopping at their stores but never got around to it.She says they have amazing food.Her mother loves to buy their cheese and pastries.They are also well known for their crafts and furniture.In case you didn't know,the Amish people live without modern technology-no electricity means no ipods,computers,etc.They like to live off the land and make everything themselves....I often dream of being able to make everything myself but by the time that happens,I guess I'll be too old to do anything. ;)

Thanks Gabi for your wonderful letter and pictures!Please enjoy Gabi's letter and pictures of the four seasons below: