Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityChesterhill, Ohio, stands as a testament to the rich and diverse roots of Appalachia, challenging the often oversimplified narratives of the region's history. Founded in 1834 by Quaker pioneers as Chesterfield, the village quickly became a haven for freedom seekers on the Underground Railroad, embodying a legacy of courage and inclusivity that resonates today. A tractor, car and Amish buggy travel down Marion Street, the main street of the village, in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Saturday, March 23, 2024. The village boasts a small but diverse population, encompassing a spectrum from Old Order Amish to Melungeons (descendants of mixed Black, white, and Native American ancestry).
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityA truck drives down Coal Street onto Route 555, past the Chesterfield Meeting House in Chesterhill, Ohio, February 16, 2024. The building was built the same year the village was founded, keeping to the original name of the village, and received its Ohio historical marker in 2003. As the Quakers were abolitionists, the Chesterfield Meeting quickly became a ‘station’ on the Underground Railroad.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityQuakers observe a moment of silence in memory of Chesterhill's late Mayor Richard Wetzel, a devoted member of the Quaker faith, during a quarterly business meeting in the Chesterfield Meeting House in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Saturday, April 6, 2024. According to longtime attendee Bob Rothwell, the Chesterfield Meeting House is left with only four active members after Wetzel's passing.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityA guest book sits open by the entrance of the Quaker Meeting House in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Sunday, February 25, 2024. With exceptions to the late Chesterhill mayor Richard Wetzel, the remaining four active Quakers that attend Sunday service in Chesterhill live outside the village.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityA wooden partition wall separates what used to be the men's and women's seating areas in the Chesterhill Quaker Meeting House in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Sunday, February 25, 2024. According to Janet Hammer, a longtime attendee of the Chesterhill Quaker Meeting House, the men's seating area was converted to house two restrooms and a pantry during renovation works done in the 1990s.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityFoliage partially covers Kincaid Cave in Chesterhill, Ohio, Friday April 19, 2024. As noted by Ada-Woodson Adams, co-founder of the Multicultural Genealogical Center, the village served as a crucial stop along the Underground Railroad journey to Canada. The cave, nestled amidst dense forest and near the village center, provided an ideal refuge for escaped slaves evading capture.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityAn aerial view shows the gravel covered Henman Road cutting through a forest in Chesterhill, Ohio, April 15, 2024. The road eventually leads to Kincaid Cave, a refuge spot for freed and escaped slaves seeking freedom from the American South before the Civil War.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityMotorcyclists drive through the Barkhurst Mill covered bridge in Chesterhill, Ohio, Sunday, March 3, 2024. According to the Morgan County Convention and Visitors Bureau, the bridge was built in 1872, and is one of the five remaining covered bridges in Morgan county.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityVickie Ball-Seiter, who runs equine-assisted coaching studio Journey With Horses, scratches gelding Teddy at her farm in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024. Ball-Seiter shared that she adopted Teddy from Bella Run Equine, after the non-profit rescued it from slaughter in 2016.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityA white house and farmland that belongs to members of the Strode family, which Triple Nickel Diner founder Kathy Strode is a part of, is seen in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Friday March 29, 2024. Strode revealed she spent much of her childhood at the white house, which previously belonged to her grandfather.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityJamie Walker stands on a cherry picker as it passes the former Chesterhill village office building in Chesterhill, Ohio, February 20, 2024. Recent revitalization initiatives led by the village council and community members aim to breathe new life into Chesterhill. These efforts include the establishment of new businesses such as an insurance office and a sit-down dining area within Ron's Convenience Store's relocated premises in the former First National Bank building, new street lights, and the repainting of the village's water tower.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityDeanna Mayle checks out groceries for a customer at Ron's Auto and Convenience Store in Chesterhill, Ohio, Wednesday, February 20, 2024. The convenience store is the only spot in the village where residents can purchase basic groceries. According to Mayle, the convenience store will serve burgers and pizza along with groceries once they move across the street to their new expanded premises.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityInsurance and investment broker Cyrus Mayle chats with tech support in his office in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Tuesday February 20, 2024. Mayle shared that the COVID-19 pandemic and the shift to work-from-home made him realize he could continue his job from his hometown instead of having an office in Columbus.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityA view shows the living room of Amish farmer Warren Fussner in the outskirts of Chesterhill, Ohio, on Monday, February 26, 2024. Fussner, who was born "English," expressed his deep admiration for the Amish lifestyle, stating his intention to embrace it even without his marriage to an Amish wife.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityA chicken peeps out of its coop on the homestead of Amish farmer Warren Fussner in the outskirts of Chesterhill, Ohio, on Monday, February 26, 2024. Apart from rearing chicken for fresh eggs, Fussner also rears sheep on his farm.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityMillie Fussner peeps out of her home as clothings hang to dry on a tree in the outskirts of Chesterhill, Ohio, on Monday, February 26, 2024. Fussner shared that her father ingeniously extended their kitchen space to incorporate their well into the interior of their house, which conveniences the family when retrieving water for cooking and drinking regardless of the weather outside.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityA vehicle waits to turn onto Marion Street between the Union Hall building and the Multicultural Genealogy Center (MGC) in Chesterhill, Ohio, on April 26, 2024. The MGC purchased an abandoned house in Chesterhill in 2005 amid rumors of its connection to the Underground Railroad. Constructed by the Bye Quaker family around 1859, the building initially served as a log cabin.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityAdrienne Grady talks to librarian Cheryl Kirkbride as she multitasks putting a puzzle together for her eldest son Elliot while holding her three-weeks-old son Esmond after the Preschool Story Time activity in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Friday, March 8, 2024. Grady, who is a mother of four children, shared that she homeschools her children.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityElliot Grady grimaces as he presses down on the lever of a button maker with librarian Cassie Palmer during the St Patrick's Day Button Making activity in Chesterhill Branch Library, on Saturday, March 9, 2024. According to librarian Cheryl Kirkbride, Grady and his siblings are regulars of the library's activities, and usually walk to the library from their home with their mother.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityMops lean against a chair in the Union Hall theatre in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Friday, March 8, 2024. According to librarian Cheryl Kirkbridge, the theatre has been closed for restoration since 2020 with no definite date for its reopening.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityA horse stands in a field of a farmstead along Goshen Run Road in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. Goshen Run Road, which sits outside the center of the village is home to both Amish and "English" farmers.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityMulticultural Genealogical Center (MGC) member Linda Nippert points at the screen of a laptop while reviewing one of the logo options for the Chesterhill Trail Town Network (CTTN), during their meeting in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Tuesday, March 5, 2024. Members of the CTTN had previously agreed on the slogan "Rooted in the Hills" to accompany their logo. However, CTTN coordinator, Dr Amelia Adams shared that a focus group put together by Appalachian Center for Economic Networks (ACEnet) preferred the alternative slogan "History in the hills".
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityChef Melissa Kline holds a plate of fried chicken sandwich and coleslaw to be served to a customer at the Triple Nickel Diner in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. Food is freshly prepared at the diner's kitchen once a customer places their order.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityTriple Nickel Diner co-owner Rosie Berardi carries plates of food out to diners during lunchtime in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. According to Berardi, the diner purchases many of their menu staples like meats and eggs from within a seven-mile radius of their location, some of which coming from her mother Kathy Strode's extended family's farms.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityTriple Nickel Diner founder and co-owner Kathy Strode stands in front of corn silos at a farm that belongs to her extended family in Chesterhill, Ohio, Thursday, March 14, 2024. Strode shared that the diner got its name from late Mayor Richard Wetzel, who thought the village's only sit-down dining spot should be named after State Route 555, which runs through the village.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityCorn cobs stacked up in a storage container to be made into feed for cattle are seen in Goshen Run Farms, which sits at the border between Chesterhill and Stockport, Ohio, on Thursday, March 14, 2024. The farm is operated by Daniel Strode, nephew of Triple Nickel Diner's founder Kathy Strode.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityCattle graze on pasture at one of the family farms owned by the extended family of Triple Nickel Diner's founder Kathy Strode, in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Thursday, March 14, 2024. Triple Nickel Diner's founder Kathy Strode shared that her diner sources ingredients locally, including meats from farms operated by her extended family.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityBarbara Fischer buttons up her sleeve in her kitchen while contemplating leftover pizza she took home from a dinner with friends the previous night as she gets ready for church in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Sunday, March 17, 2024. Fischer revealed that she convinced her friends to travel down to Athens with her for Donatos Pizza to satisfy her craving after watching their pizza ad on television.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityFamily photos are seen in the home of Barbara Fischer in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Sunday, March 17, 2024. Fischer shared that she has spent most of her life in Chesterhill, apart from the early years of her marriage
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityBarbara Fischer, a registered Republican, signs her name for a signature collection effort for anti-gerrymandering in Ohio, in her home in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Saturday, March 8, 2024. According to the Ohio Capital Journal, Ohio is regarded as one of the most extremely gerrymandered states in the U.S. Activists are currently working to gather about 415,000 signatures of registered voters to get an anti-gerrymandering amendment for the 2024 ballot.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityChesterhill Trail Town Network (CTTN)'s members take a vote as they decide on which facilities to include and exclude for their summer event in the gymnasium of Marion Community Center in Chesterhill, Ohio, Tuesday, March 19, 2024. The gymnasium is the only remaining structure of what was once the village's only public school.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityA dog looks on outside a barn at non-profit humane society Saving Pets One at a Time's compound in Chesterhill, Ohio, Friday March 22, 2024. The non-profit led by retired preschool teacher Susan Moody helps and rescue Morgan County animals.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityRetired preschool teacher and animal rescuer Susan Moody poses with a supply of recently donated pet food in her farm in Chesterhill, Ohio,Thursday, April 18, 2024. Saving Pets One at a Time (SPOT), the non-profit humane society that Moody manages, has found homes for over 2800 dogs in Morgan county.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversitySunday school teacher Denise Tate, right, looks on as brothers Gabriel and Lucas play with their shoes while participating in an activity at the Chesterhill Church of Christ in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Sunday, April 14, 2024. Despite living in the unincorporated community of Plantsville, Tate is actively involved in Chesterhill's community life through groups like the Chesterhill Lions Club, Chesterhill library club, Multicultural Genealogy Center and the Chesterhill Church of Christ.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityA man pauses while having breakfast at Chesterhill Lions Club's breakfast event in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Saturday April 6, 2024. The all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet is held monthly, drawing crowds that includes former residents and those from neighboring villages such as Stockport and Pennsville.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityChesterhill village councilwoman Chasity Mayle speaks on the phone with her husband, assistant fire chief Charlie at the Chesterhill Volunteer Fire Department in Chesterhill, Ohio, Saturday, March 30, 2024. Mayle shared that she was inspired into community volunteerism by her mother Marjorie, who had volunteered for the fire department.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityThe helmets and uniforms of women volunteer firefighters hang in their lockers at the Chesterhill Fire Department in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Saturday, March 30, 2024. Chesterhill village councilwoman Chasity Mayle shared that the volunteer firefighters consisted of villagers of both genders.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityJude Garber adjusts his mask at the Chesterhill Fire Department in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Saturday, March 30, 2024. Chesterhill village councilwoman Chasity Mayle shared that Jude's grandfather is Chesterhill's fire chief Tim Smedley and that most of the volunteers past and present joined the fire department due to their family's influence.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityJacob, left, and Brady Mayle ride an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) along an alley during sunset in Chesterhill, Ohio, Sunday, April 14, 2024. The family, with exception of sister Morgan who resides and works in Zanesville, remain in Chesterhill despite commuting the distance for work and school respectively, according to their mother, village councilwoman Chasity Mayle.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityLee Hill, who is of Melungeon descent, stands outside the Little Red Schoolhouse, where he once studied in as a child, in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Tuesday, April 9, 2024. Hill shared that he completed all 12 years of unsegregated public school in Chesterhill, well before the rise of the Civil Rights Movement brought the end of racial segregation in the U.S.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityPatti Hill, left, checks out instructions for an escape rom game on the second floor of the Multicultural Genealogical Center (MGC) as she tours the building with her husband, Lee and MGC President Rhonda Cook-Tabler in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Tuesday, April 9, 2024. According to the MGC, the escape room game, titled "The Underground Railroad Immersive Journey" pays homage to Chesterhill's strategic importance for escaped and freed slaves that fled the American South before the Civil War.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityPeople attend Chesterhill Produce Auction's 2024 auction season opening day in Chesterhill, Ohio, Monday, April 29, 2024. The Chesterhill Produce Auction, founded in 2004 by Jean and Marvin Konkle, grew from humble beginnings under a tent to a thriving enterprise with gross sales reaching $64,000 by 2009. After the Konkles retired in 2010, non-governmental organization Rural Action took over ownership, expanding operations to include specialty auctions, educational programs, and community initiatives such as "Country Fresh Stops" and School Day at the CPA to address food insecurity in Morgan County.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityChesterhill Produce Auction Site Associate Emily Elam holds up a bag of winter lettuce as people bid for produce during the 2024 auction season opening day in Chesterhill, Ohio, Monday, April 29, 2024. Elam explained that she stepped up to be a "produce modeler" for the day as one of their regulars were not able to make it for the event.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityAuctioneer Michael Nichols gestures to a bidder during the 2024 auction season opening day in Chesterhill, Ohio, Monday, April 29, 2024. Flowers and fresh produce grown by local Amish farmers were auctioned during the event.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityThe water tower stands above tombstones lining the grounds of the Chesterhill Cemetery in Chesterhill, Ohio, Sunday, April 14, 2024. The cemetery and the Quakers Friends Cemetery are the two cemeteries located in the center of the village.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityAn Amish rocking chair, vintage lamp and chest, sit in the Stone-Matheney Funeral Home in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Friday, March 22, 2024. According to co-owner Susan Matheney, the building was previously a grocery store and home of Jesse Wood before it was purchased by her father Don Stone in 1941.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityA cloth covered coffin sits on display at the Stone-Matheny Funeral Home in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Friday March 22, 2024. According to employee Chantelle King, the cloth covered coffin is the funeral home's most economical model for purchase, outside of rental coffins.
Second Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio UniversityDenise Tate, who is of Melungeon descent, adjusts a strip of ultrasound images of her grandchild as her son Adam and daughter-in-law Jaclyn get ready to have their picture taken during their baby shower at the Chesterhill Church of Christ in Chesterhill, Ohio, Sunday, April 21, 2024. Tate shared she is excited for the arrival of the couple's first born child.
