Benjamin Pennington / Ohio UniversityJames Cotterill flips through a hymnbook alongside other congregants during Sunday worship at the Harrisonville Presbyterian Church. Located in Meigs County, the church has existed for over a century and a half. Cotterill, who grew up attending the church says, “It would be practically full in here, back in the day.” Over the COVID-19 pandemic, the church faced the threat of closing. “The church itself had gotten down to where there was only about eight [people in the congregation,] said the current pastor, Jim Oliphant, who hadn’t yet become a pastor at the beginning of the pandemic but was familiar with the congregants’ struggles.
Benjamin Pennington / Ohio UniversityThousands of protestors gathered in Lafayette Square and circled the White House on June 8, 2024, in one of the largest demonstrations yet in Washington D.C. over Israeli’s bombing campaign in Gaza. Protestors dressed in red chanted, “[Biden], we are your red line!” in reference to an earlier statement made by the president warning that the U.S. would not supply “the weapons and artillery shells” for an Israeli invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza.
Benjamin Pennington / Ohio UniversityJason Bailey holds onto a ladder while James Dolan climbs upward to tie new ropes along the trellis system at Morning Dew Hop Farm in Albany, Ohio. Steve Geisler, owner of Morning Dew Hop Farm, founded his businesses as a farm stay with cabins available for visitors to book online. As the craft beer industry grows within Ohio, Geisler's business exists as one of few farm stays in Ohio harvesting hops. As the hop- growing season begins, Geisler and his only employee, Jason Bailey, enlist friends as extra farmhands to tie new ropes on the trellis system used to grow the hop plants over the summer.
Benjamin Pennington / Ohio UniversityA poster commemorating the 2009 inauguration of former President Barack Obama framed and reflecting inside the Athens County Democrat Headquarters. Athens, alongside nearby cities Lancaster, Zanesville, and Cambridge, are represented in Ohio's 12th Congressional District. In the 2024 general election, Jerrad Christian, a Democrat born in Gloucester, challenged incumbent Republican Rep. Troy Balderson for Ohio's 12th District seat. Christian, who grew up nearby Athens, in Gloucester, Ohio, criticized his opponent as not representative of the region and its constituents. “He has owned a car lot, he inherited it from his dad, and then he got into politics," claimed Christian. "That dude has literally never applied for a job in his entire life. Has he met anyone from the district? There are no jobs out here. People are struggling.”
Benjamin Pennington / Ohio UniversityIndependence Day fireworks drew large crowds to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on July 4, 2024. The fireworks were launched after 9 p.m. near the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, putting on one of the largest Independence Day displays in the nation. The showilluminated nearby monuments and attracted families and other sightseers who captured the spectacle on their cellphones.
Benjamin Pennington / Ohio University
Benjamin Pennington / Ohio UniversityDanny Farleigh enters LeElla Lanes bowling alley in Wellston, Ohio, on Sept. 23, 2024. Farleigh says he lived in Wellston as a child and frequented “Trio Lanes”—the bowling alley now known as LeElla. “My cousin used to be the manager of the place” he says. “My mom and dad used to [go] bowling all the time. … I’ve been in bowling alleys all my life.”
Benjamin Pennington / Ohio UniversityBill Euton bowls during the LeElla Lanes men’s league in Wellston, Ohio, on Sept. 17, 2024. LeElla Lanes has five bowling league nights offering prize money during the week, with the men’s league on Tuesdays and Thursdays. “We were the Thursday Nights Men’s Championslast year” says Euton, a member of the league team “Backfields & McCoy.”
Benjamin Pennington / Ohio UniversityMembers of the men’s league team Backfields & McCoy, John Lance (left) and Kevin McCoy (right), stand around their table as their teammate Greg Kennard prepares to bowl at LeElla Lanes in Wellston, Ohio, on Sept. 17, 2024. McCoy started bowling around two years ago, following the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. McCoy says he was told by his wife, “you need to get out of the house.”
Benjamin Pennington / Ohio UniversityDanny Farleigh shows his “bowling hall of fame” ring—awarded to him in the mid-90s for a perfect game when he lived in Minnesota—inside LeElla Lanes in Wellston, Ohio, on Sept. 17, 2024. Danny moved to Minnesota and worked as a carpenter for over 30 years. He didn’t stop bowling. “In Minnesota, I’m in the bowling hall of fame. … [I’m a] jack of all trades,” he says. Now retired and soon turning 64, Farleigh is back in Wellston where he spent his childhood. “Once I moved back here … normally I’m in here every day.”
Benjamin Pennington / Ohio UniversityDanny Farleigh poses for a portrait as his friend walks by and grabs his shoulders inside LeElla Lanes in Wellston, Ohio, on Sept. 17, 2024. Regulars of LeElla Lanes are familiar with Farleigh, who remembers the earlier days of the alley. Several years ago, Farleigh had a stroke. He refers to himself as being “healthier” now, but Manager Joy Bunnel says, “If we don’t see him for a few days, we start to get worried.”
Benjamin Pennington / Ohio UniversityKevin McCoy, Greg Kennard, and Erica Johnson (left to right) share fist bumps during the Sunday men and women’s “mixed” league outside LeElla Lanes in Wellston, Ohio, on Sept. 22, 2024. The mixed league allows competitors in the Women and Men’s leagues to play together, and against each other. “[The mixed league], everyone’s drinking, it’s a little loosey goosey,” says Wendy Wright, a mixed league attendee. However, when describing the women’s league, Wright adds, “it’s serious … we’re vicious.”
Benjamin Pennington / Ohio UniversityJoy Bunnell shares high fives with regular patrons Kevin McCoy and Greg Kennard at the end of a league night on Sept. 26, 2024. Bunnell has been the manager of LeElla Lanes for about a year, joining after the alley’s change of ownership. “This bowling alley has been here longer than I’ve been alive, from what I’ve been told."
Benjamin Pennington / Ohio UniversityKevin McCoy hugs his friend Ryan Kilgour towards the end of an evening at LeElla Lanes in Wellston, Ohio, on Sept. 26, 2024. “I love you, man.” McCoy said, speaking within a group of fellow bowling league regulars. At LeElla Lanes, McCoy says “[I’ve] made a lot of good friends.”
Benjamin Pennington / Ohio UniversityBrian Rau, member of league team “Dead Presidents,” kisses a bowling ball before his turn the men’s league at LeElla Lanes in Wellston, Ohio, on Sept. 19, 2024. Between league days at LeElla Lanes, regular visitors outnumber the newcomers. Despite only being the alley’s upper manager for the last year, to Joy Bunnell, "These guys are like my family."
Benjamin Pennington / Ohio UniversityA bowling pin is knocked over during the Tuesday night men’s league at LeElla Lanes in Wellston, Ohio, on Sept. 24, 2024. Unlike many regular visitors at LeElla, Danny Farleigh often comes by just to be there. Everyone knows him. Farleigh, who claims Wellston isn’t the same as it used to be, says the bowling alley is unlike the rest of the town. “The only thing that’s changed is the name.”
![Benjamin Pennington / Ohio UniversityJames Cotterill flips through a hymnbook alongside other congregants during Sunday worship at the Harrisonville Presbyterian Church. Located in Meigs County, the church has existed for over a century and a half. Cotterill, who grew up attending the church says, “It would be practically full in here, back in the day.” Over the COVID-19 pandemic, the church faced the threat of closing. “The church itself had gotten down to where there was only about eight [people in the congregation,] said the current pastor, Jim Oliphant, who hadn’t yet become a pastor at the beginning of the pandemic but was familiar with the congregants’ struggles.](images/fullerton_pennington_01.jpg)
![Benjamin Pennington / Ohio UniversityThousands of protestors gathered in Lafayette Square and circled the White House on June 8, 2024, in one of the largest demonstrations yet in Washington D.C. over Israeli’s bombing campaign in Gaza. Protestors dressed in red chanted, “[Biden], we are your red line!” in reference to an earlier statement made by the president warning that the U.S. would not supply “the weapons and artillery shells” for an Israeli invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza.](images/fullerton_pennington_02.jpg)
![Benjamin Pennington / Ohio UniversityDanny Farleigh enters LeElla Lanes bowling alley in Wellston, Ohio, on Sept. 23, 2024. Farleigh says he lived in Wellston as a child and frequented “Trio Lanes”—the bowling alley now known as LeElla. “My cousin used to be the manager of the place” he says. “My mom and dad used to [go] bowling all the time. … I’ve been in bowling alleys all my life.”](images/fullerton_pennington_07.jpg)
![Benjamin Pennington / Ohio UniversityDanny Farleigh shows his “bowling hall of fame” ring—awarded to him in the mid-90s for a perfect game when he lived in Minnesota—inside LeElla Lanes in Wellston, Ohio, on Sept. 17, 2024. Danny moved to Minnesota and worked as a carpenter for over 30 years. He didn’t stop bowling. “In Minnesota, I’m in the bowling hall of fame. … [I’m a] jack of all trades,” he says. Now retired and soon turning 64, Farleigh is back in Wellston where he spent his childhood. “Once I moved back here … normally I’m in here every day.”](images/fullerton_pennington_10.jpg)
![Benjamin Pennington / Ohio UniversityKevin McCoy, Greg Kennard, and Erica Johnson (left to right) share fist bumps during the Sunday men and women’s “mixed” league outside LeElla Lanes in Wellston, Ohio, on Sept. 22, 2024. The mixed league allows competitors in the Women and Men’s leagues to play together, and against each other. “[The mixed league], everyone’s drinking, it’s a little loosey goosey,” says Wendy Wright, a mixed league attendee. However, when describing the women’s league, Wright adds, “it’s serious … we’re vicious.”](images/fullerton_pennington_12.jpg)
![Benjamin Pennington / Ohio UniversityKevin McCoy hugs his friend Ryan Kilgour towards the end of an evening at LeElla Lanes in Wellston, Ohio, on Sept. 26, 2024. “I love you, man.” McCoy said, speaking within a group of fellow bowling league regulars. At LeElla Lanes, McCoy says “[I’ve] made a lot of good friends.”](images/fullerton_pennington_14.jpg)
