2017 Editorial Winners

by Susan Hartley, The Early Bird A Greenville barn-find was enough to get a lot of classic car enthusiasts excited, including some at TV’s Discovery Channel. Richard Rawlings, star of Discovery’s Gas Monkey Garage made the trek all the way from Texas to Greenville just to check out some dusty old cars. But not just […]

By Ellen Pill, AloNovus Corp “I had a good barber I was close with growing up,” Ryan Helms said. “He cut my hair my entire life.” Helms is now on the road to being that lifelong barber himself for a new generation. “We are a traditional barber shop,” Helms said. “We still use a straight

By Dedra Cordle, Columbus Messenger Trik Nasty struggled to rise. After an exhaustive battle with his opponent that featured the use of aluminum folding chairs, the wrestler ambled to his knees to try to locate his foe and finish him off. As he got his bearings, two boot-cladded feet sliced through the air and met

By Colleen Callahan, AloNovus Corp Abandoned, decaying and crumpled, they seemingly hide behind thick, gnarled vines and broken barns. Colorless washboard exteriors blend with all seasons as wind, rain and snow relentlessly whip through shattered windows, doors hanging by the grace of one rusted hinge. These are the homes of a bygone era. Though antiquated,

By Ellen Pill, Columbus Messenger “Every good thing in my life was related to running or fitness,” said Liz Ferro, founder of Girls With Sole, a national nonprofit organization devoted to changing the lives of girls and young women. On March 8 Ferro will speak in Wooster at 6 p.m. at the American Red Cross

By Rick Palsgrove, Columbus Messenger Groveport Madison Schools Assistant Superintendent John Hurd said the new synthetic turf at Le’Veon Bell Field at Cruiser Stadium is about more than being a modern athletic field. It is a symbol of the area’s sense of community. “Earlier today,” said Hurd prior to the ceremonies dedicating the new field at

By Andrea Cordle, Columbus Messenger The statue of a Civil War soldier standing atop the arch in the Camp Chase Confederate Cemetery has been toppled and parts of it stolen. According to the Columbus Division of Police, in the early morning hours of Aug. 22, someone pulled down the statue. When the statue broke, the

By Chelsea Peifer, Engle Publishing “Every fastnacht is a work of art,” said Jim Knapp, who runs the fryer room at the annual Fastnacht Bake at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, 409 Cherry St., Columbia. “They do not all come out the same like doughnuts,” he explained. “They’re like snowflakes. No two are the same.” As

by Susan Hartley, The Early Bird Former Union City resident and Hospice nurse Chris Williford-Hole may never forget the night of Sunday, Oct. 1st. “I’ve never been to a war zone, but could imagine that’s what it would look like. There were bodies everywhere,” said Williford-Hole of her experience following Sunday’s mass murder at the

by Dedra Cordle, Columbus Messenger They are stories of the “before” and the “after.” In the before, a young girl beams while holding her father’s hand, eager for a night of trick-or-treating. In the before, the young man poses in his football uniform, pride apparent in his stance. In the before, the teenage boy with