Ohio Barn Conference IX Overview

Friends of Ohio Barns ninth annual Ohio Barn Conference, March 28th - 30th 2008

This year our Conference sessions will take place at the Holiday Inn Springfield, in Springfield, Ohio. We're pleased to announce that the costs will be the same as last year and encourage you to take advantage of the early bird conference sign-up to save $25.00.

We will have a day long bus tour on Friday the 28th to visit Barns in Champaign and Clark counties with a lunch stop. Our theme for this year's conference will be Adaptive Re-use of Ohio's Barns and our presentations will reflect this theme, we plan as well to have hands on demonstrations and our barn repair panel.

The Board of Friends has some exciting new programs to talk about; we will have great food, a Saturday evening mixer, exhibits, vendors, and a terrific silent Auction!

You are encouraged to bring a CD or photos and questions for the barn repair panel and don't forget your donation items for the silent auction. Finally, join us Sunday morning for breakfast and a presentation from the folks at George Rogers Clark Historic Park about their fabulous adaptive re-use project, the Hertzler Barn. There will be tours of the Hertzler House too!

We have the makings for another terrific conference, so sign-up early get a discount and don't miss out on the fun!

Preliminary Schedule of Events

Friday, March 28th

Barn Tour; registration opens after tour

Saturday, March 29th

7:15 am. Registration opens; continental breakfast
8:15-8:30 Welcome, opening remarks
8:30-9:30 Featured Speaker; Author Alex Greenwood, on Adaptive Re-use
9:30-10:15 "Barn Detectives"
10:15-10:45 Morning break (book store, wood identification, & exhibits)
10:45-11:45 Steve Gordon on historic documents & barns
11:45-12:30 Wood identification old &new
12:30-1:30 Lunch (FOB year in review, Barn of Year Award)
1:30-2:30 Rudy Christian on Adaptive Re-Use Projects
2:30-3:30 Annual Meeting (new programs, annual report, questionnaire, officer elections)
3:30-4:00 Afternoon Break (submit wood ID forms, book store, & exhibits)
4:00-5:00 Barn Repair Panel (photo submissions & questions from audience)
6:30 Dinner, Silent Auction, Award Presentations, Live Music

Sunday, March 30th

8:00-9am Breakfast at George Rogers Clark Historic Park
9:00-10:00 Jim Campbell & Rudy Christian on the Hertzler Barn Project
10:00-Noon Tour of Hertzler Barn & Hertzler House

This schedule is subject to change, Please refer to your conference packet upon arrival at the event.

Barn of the Year Award

Do you know about an outstanding barn in your region of the state?

If so, drop us a line and get it nominated for the annual Friends of Ohio Barns "Barn of the Year Award" The deadline is March 10th, 2008.
Nominations will be judged in two categories: agricultural use and adaptive use (non-agricultural). Nominations should include photos, current owner's name, location of the barn, current use of the barn, history of the barn including age and builder if known, and information on repairs and who made them, if known.

Please Click Here for complete details about the Barn of the Year Award.

Barn Repair Panel

Back again this year!

The Barn Repair Panel will assemble once again to answer questions about your barn during the Saturday afternoon session. This is your chance to get some free advise from some of the best in the business! Please bring questions and pictures to share with us and we will do our best to help. Better yet, send in your pics. on a disc, and we will be able to project them for all to see and learn from! Send CD's to Ric Beck, 7215 Kimberly Ct. Westerville, Ohio, 43082.

Barn Tour

Friends of Ohio Barns is proud to once again present our area barn tour for OBC IX! This year's tour contains a selection of local barns with unique character and interesting aspects. Sign up for the Barn Tour for a wealth of information on area barns from some of the state's foremost barn experts! Remember; only the first 100 people to register for the tour can be accommodated, so register today and don't lose your place on the bus!

Silent Auction

Friends of Ohio Barns is once again encouraging everyone to bring silent auction items for the Saturday evening sale. The proceeds help us offset the costs of the Conference, keeping your fees low. We hope you can contribute an item or two - something handmade, collectible, store bought, or something interesting you found in your travels.

The more you bring, and the better the items, the more exciting the auction gets! If you can't find anything to bring, at least come prepared to make someone else bid a little higher before walking off with the prize!

Board of Directors Election

Friends of Ohio Barns is seeking candidates to fill board positions of members whose terms are expiring. Responsibilities include participating in the annual conference, attending board meetings and conference calls, and representing Friends at festivals and events with the satisfaction of knowing that you are doing something to help save a part of Ohio's rich agricultural heritage.

If you are interested in a board position, please send a short biography with your goals and ideas to Friends of Ohio Barns, P.O. Box 203 Burbank, Ohio 44214 or e-mail (friendsohiobarns@aol.com).

Lodging Information

The Holiday Inn

Our Friends of Ohio Barns discounted room rate is $74.00 plus tax. Please make your own reservation for your room, no lodging reservations will be made through the Friends office. For those attending the Barn Tour Friday, March 28th you may want to reserve a room for Thursday night; Tour buses leave the Holiday Inn parking lot at 8 AM sharp!


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