The lives of three renowned Highland County residents will come to life Friday and Saturday when the Highland County Historical Society holds a special fundraiser at its Highland House Museum in Hillsboro.
At 7:30 p.m. Friday and 2:30 p.m. Saturday, historical society members will use their acting talents to present three short radio dramas from “The Ohio Story.”
Featured will be: “Horse Collar Pad High School,” which tells the story of Edward Lee McClain from his beginning in business to his donation of McClain High School to Greenfield; “Ink On His Fingers,” which covers the career of Hillsboro native and cartoonist Milton Caniff, who created the “Terry and the Pirates” and “Steve Canyon” comic strips; and “The Bells of Hillsboro,” which recounts the founding of the C.S. Bell Company by Charles Singleton Bell through Virginia Bell Thompson’s securing of a contract to supply bells to the U.S. Navy during World War II.
Thompson also played a key role in the creation of the Highland County Historical Society.
Performers include historical society members John Glaze, Kevin Keister and Tim Koehl, along with trustees Denny Kirk, Jim Rooney, Steve Roush, John Kellis, Dr. Tara Beery and Bob Brown.
Written by Strongsville native and historian Frank Seidel, “The Ohio Story” aired three times a week from 1947 to 1967 in Akron, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Youngstown and Zanesville. The radio dramas were short pieces about Ohio communities, events and personalities, generally 10 to 15 minutes long, and were used to fill air time after a 20-minute news block.
“The Ohio Story” scripts were donated by the author’s son, Jonathan Seidel, to the Ohio Genealogical Society, and the scripts were digitized with the assistance of grant funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
Admission is $5. Vicki Knauff, Highland House director, said tickets for both programs were still available Tuesday afternoon.
Seating is limited. Reservations can be made by calling the museum at 937-393-3392.
The Highland County Historical Society provided information for this story.
