COLERAIN TWP. — Scott Hagan painted furiously Wednesday, trying to place the Ohio bicentennial logo on Bernie Fiedeldey's barn before the state's first lady arrives.

        Hope Taft will appear at the barn at 4 p.m. today. Colerain Township officials will bring a band and fireworks to celebrate Ohio's 2003 bicentennial. The public is welcome.

Scott Hagan roughs out the remainder of the Ohio 2003 bicentennial logo on a barn in Colerain Township. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

        “We just stained the barn to make the image on it very crisp,” Mr. Fiedeldey said Wednesday. “I want it to look good five years from now.”

        The 102-year-old barn at 7941 E. Miami River Road is receiving the bicentennial's red, white and blue logo.

        Mr. Hagan, a 25-year-old Belmont County native, started painting the logo on barns in 1998. After today, he will have 16 more barns to go. When finished, he will have painted a barn in each of Ohio's 88 counties.

        Each project requires about 18 hours of labor and 7 gallons of paint.

        “He paints free-hand,” Mr. Fiedeldey said of Mr. Hagan. “He sketches the image out in chalk first. It's amazing.”

        In case of rain, the township is bringing a tent for officials and the public. The barn will be finished somehow, Mr. Fiedeldey said.

        “It's been busy out here,” he said. “I've had a lot of retired people and others who are curious about the bicentennial.”

        Lee Yoakum, a spokesman for the Ohio Bicentennial Commission, said the only other counties in this area that lack logos on barns are Greene, which will be done Aug. 19-20, and Clark, Aug. 21-22.

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