Akron Life September 2023

SPONSORED CONTENT

SPONSORED CONTENT

AMISH COUNTRY

AMISH COUNTRY

“3 C’s, 2 B’s, at 1 Honey Run” The inn is a retreat among Ohio’s

three C’s — Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati — in this piece by retired Columbus educator Scott Ebbrecht that’s made up of 12-by-24-foot panels of reclaimed barn woods that are displayed unchanged. “It’s propagating and keeping the history of these buildings,” says Nies. “They came from all these different farms and different places around the state.” “Around the Bend” Three hundred glass discs melted down from recycled wine and liquor bottles from the inn’s restaurant become leaves and a tree trunk in this sculpture inspired by the curves of Northeast Ohio’s hillsides and created by Columbus-area metal art ists Brian Sell and Joel Burke and glass art ist Jim Lehnert. “You want to catch it at different times of the day because the glass reflects the light,” says Nies. “Chance Medley” While Columbus artist Mandi Caskey is known for creating forest scenes, Nies wanted something different. She delivered a massive mixed-media underwater scene mural that features violence with blood in the water. Caskey views it as chaos amongst serenity. While some think it’s too sharp of a contrast, Nies says that’s the beauty of it. “We’re going to excite you and try to give you a different perspective,” he says. Haiku Walk Find 30 boulders throughout the trail with original English and Japanese haikus gathered by Julie Warther of the Haiku Society of America and etched into steel plates shaped into ginkgo leaves by local metal sculptors. When it opened as the museum’s first installation in 2015, it was the first haiku trail in the U.S., accord ing to Nies. The haikus take you on a journey through the seasons and have inspired guests to write their own. “One of the last ones talks about warm light in the wintertime. If you’re on the trail, it’s snowing and you’re reading that haiku, you look above the stone, you’re staring at the inn,” Nies says. “We have soft lights, gas lanterns going. It’s the most Norman Rockwell scene — it’s incredible.”

Lehman’s Connection to the Amish Community Lehman’s was founded by Jay Lehman (1929-2020) to serve the local Amish community. Jay greatly admired the Amish community and wanted to provide them with the products they needed to maintain their agrarian way of life. He was concerned that the practical hands-on skills people knew would disappear if the younger generation didn’t learn them. As Lehman’s grew into a rambling 35,000-square-foot vendors to purchase items. Yet the connection remains strong today, as the Amish community is a key vendor for Lehman’s, producing handcrafted home decor, apparel and hand tools. Lehman’s is still helping the Amish community maintain their way of life since they are able to work at home producing the tried-and-true products they have been using for generations. store and attracted more visitors and tourists, many Amish people turned to relatives and smaller local

Charm Days at Keim Home Center O ! the beaten path and tucked away in the rolling hills of Holmes County, find the community of Charm. It is a place where life has stood still in many ways. If you’ve ever been to Charm, you know there is great reason why it has become a destination: its small businesses. The largest business in Charm is one of the largest single location lumber yards in the country. Over the years it has morphed into a large retail store and showroom. At Keim Home Center, find everything you need to build a house and make it a home. Keep your eye out for events throughout the year, including the upcoming Charm Days sale Oct. 13 and 14.

!$$% Kidron Road, Kidron lehmans.com

!!"# state Route ##$ , Charm keimlumber.com

32

akronlife.com | SEPTEMBER 2023