Friday, September 03, 1999
Family barn canvas for logo
State turns 200 in 2003
BY RICHELLE THOMPSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LEBANON — School doesn't start until Tuesday, but 6-year-old Russell Neeley already has his show-and-tell all mapped out.
Forget tales of what he did during the summer vacation. Russell plans to regale fellow sixth-graders at Jonathan Wright Elementary School with how his family is helping Ohio celebrate its 200th birthday.
There are no cakes and candles — at least, not yet — but the Neeleys, Russell and his parents, Tom and Brenda, are lending the side of a barn as a giant birthday-card billboard for the state, which turns 200 in 2003.
Artist Scott Hagan, 22, is painting a 20-by-20-foot, red, white and blue rendition of the Ohio Bicentennial logo.
“I think it's a neat idea that they're using the old barns for the canvas,” Brenda Neeley said. It pays tribute not only to Ohio, but also to Warren County and its rich agricultural tradition.
The Warren County barn on Ohio 48 north of Lebanon is the second in Southwest Ohio and the 28th in the state that Mr. Hagan has painted. The Ohio Bicentennial Commission hopes to paint at least one barn in each of the state's 88 counties.
The commission, established by the General Assembly in 1995 and funded primarily by state money, pays about $1,400 a barn, spokesman Brian Newbacher said.
“It's been a tremendous bang for your buck,” he said. The barns generally are in highly visible spots, along ma jor state routes and highways. “If you were going to rely on outdoor advertising, it would cost so much more.”
For Mr. Hagan, a resident of Belmont County in southeast Ohio, the barns provide a large-scale, statewide exhibit of his work.
“My office is my truck,” he said. “It's kind of fun to skip around the state and meet new people.”
Mr. Hagan got some tips from fellow Belmont County resident Harley Warrick, who painted the famous barn ad, “Chew Mail Pouch” tobacco. Mr. Warrick has estimated he painted the slogan on 20,000 barns in 20 states.
Each bicentennial barn typically takes two to three days and about 7 gallons of paint. Mr. Hagan will return for touch-ups. The barn owners pledge to keep the bicentennial logo until at least 2004.
BARNS WANTED
The Ohio Bicentennial Commission is still looking for barns in Hamilton, Clermont and Butler counties.
The ideal barn is in good condition and in a highly visible spot.
To volunteer your barn, call the commission at (888) OHIO-200. Also, locations of other bicentennial barns can be found on the commission's Web site, www.ohio200.com
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