As our readers know well, MyHometownOhio tends to be a compendium of news, trends and views on preservation across Ohio. On rare occasions in the last three years (so few, in fact, that they likely can be counted on two hands) we have also talked about Preservation Ohio as an organization - where we are, and where we’d like to be.This Tuesday, the Executive Committee of Preservation Ohio met in Columbus to do just that. Composed of corporate officers and other elected members, the Committee meets in the interim between meetings of the Board of Trustees to deal with such subjects in depth. On Tuesday’s agenda was the proverbial “full plate” - from considering present needs to a long-term look at direction and programming possibilities.
Now moving into its 28th year of existence, there is a new energy at Preservation Ohio, so much so that at times it seems almost like a new organization. While fully affected by the dramatic economic downturn, there is also a general recognition by our Board that Ohio strongly needs a committed statewide preservation voice more than ever. Our recent trips to Mansfield, Hamilton, Yellow Springs, Columbus, Dayton and elsewhere have reinforced that sense of purpose. In community after community, we have discovered local individuals and organizations exploring new ways to preserve historic resources for a new economic reality. Many of these efforts are profiled, and will be profiled, in the pages of the Ohio Preservation Network, the country’s first statewide preservation-based social networking site. Its free and easy to register on the Network, by the way -- just click here.
If any of our readers would like to be a more involved part of the state’s preservation and preservation-based revitalization movements, you are more than welcome. From volunteers to Board membership, the door is open to you, your energy and your ideas. Its an intensely rewarding and enjoyable experience. For more information, please drop an e-mail to: info@preservationohio.org.
And - huge thanks to Falhgren Mortine for hosting today's Executive Committee meeting!
The Ohio Preservation News reader located on the left side of this blog provides an excellent way to learn what is happening in the word of preservation, downtown and neighborhood revitalization, heritage tourism, smart growth, archeology and local history not only here in Ohio, but across the country.