Left to right: Debbie Pellington, gifted facilitator at Genoa and Heritage middle schools; Tom Lanier, principal of Westerville Central High School, students Sarah Gellner and Anna Borders; Dan Troth, vice-president, Friends of Ohio Barns; student Rachel Kauffman; and Caley Nestor Baker, gifted coordinator for Westerville City Schools. Not pictured: Adriane Thompson.
On May 15, Dan Troth, Vice-President of Friends of Ohio Barns, presented a plaque, which will hang at Westerville Central High School, to the group that passed the Ohio Barn Bill (Senate Bill 86, Section 5.074), making the barn the official historical architectural structure for the State of Ohio. The magnificent commemoration, made of barn wood, was first given to the group at the 20th annual Ohio Barn Conference, which was held on Saturday, April 27, at the Virtues Golf Course in Nashport, Ohio. It will permanently reside at Westerville Central, where three of the four originating students attend school.
After many years of working to get the bill passed, the plaque recognizes the monumental perseverance of this group of students and educators, saying, “Friends of Ohio Barns hereby gratefully recognizes four young women and their teachers, for their efforts in highlighting the historical significance of Ohio’s barns, icons of our state’s agrarian past. Their work over many years to successfully pass this legislation, honors and pays tribute to Ohio’s history and serves to preserve its barns for generations to come.”