1st Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio University, “From Diner to Destination”From Diner to Destination documents the Triple Nickel Diner in Chesterhill, Ohio, and its role as a connective hub in a rural Appalachian village. Through photographs and documentary storytelling, the project examines how a family-run restaurant links farmers, residents and visitors, while reflecting broader questions of economic sustainability, community identity and change as the diner navigates expansion efforts and the decision to sell. A gravely dirt road is seen in the woods, steps away from the ancestral home of Triple Nickel Diner co-founder Kathy Strode in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Tuesday, June 3, 2025.
1st Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio University, “From Diner to Destination”Triple Nickel Diner’s co-founders Kathy Strode and her daughter Rosie Berardi guide Berardi’s son Henry Schulz as they prepare dinner at home in Canaanville, Ohio, on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025.
1st Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio University, “From Diner to Destination”Rancher Duane King's buffalos graze on pasture on the "death row" section of his farmland in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Saturday, June 7, 2025. King, a family friend and former neighbor of Triple Nickel Diner's co-founder Kathy Strode, exclusively supplies the diner with bison meat.
1st Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio University, “From Diner to Destination”A motorcyclist rides past Triple Nickel Diner during lunch service in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Saturday, May 24, 2025. The diner attracts motorcycling enthusiasts and tourists during summer.
1st Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio University, “From Diner to Destination”Rosie Berardi, co-owner and co-founder of the Triple Nickel Diner, chats with her maternal grandaunt, Barbara Fischer, a longtime resident of the village, during a meal break at the diner in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025. Berardi typically eats only at the end of her shifts.
1st Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio University, “From Diner to Destination”A motorcyclist navigates the curves of State Route 555, nicknamed the Triple Nickel, in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. The Triple Nickel Diner was named after the highway by Chesterhill’s late mayor, Richard Wetzel.
1st Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio University, “From Diner to Destination”An aerial view shows the village of Chesterhill, Ohio, on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2025. The Triple Nickel Diner (bottom right) sits at the end of High Street, intersecting the village’s Main Street, and is easy to miss from State Route 555 except for its sign along Main Street.
1st Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio University, “From Diner to Destination”Chef and new co-owner Taro Tamaki brings a dish of fries to the pass in the kitchen of the Triple Nickel Diner in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Thursday, May 22, 2025. Co-founder Kathy Strode said she told her daughter, Rosie Berardi, to make a role for him years ago, even though the diner did not need more staff, saying she felt an immediate affinity for him. Tamaki became a co-owner upon Strode's retirement in January 2025.
1st Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio University, “From Diner to Destination”Triple Nickel Diner co-founder Rosie Berardi prepares food on the grill during lunch service in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Thursday, June 12, 2025. Berardi handles multiple roles at the diner, including cooking, serving, dishwashing, administrative duties, filling in for staff when employees are sick, and at times working double shifts.
1st Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio University, “From Diner to Destination”Pictures and a news clipping of the late farmer Howard Strode, father of Triple Nickel Diner’s co-founder Kathy Strode are seen on display by the cashier in the restaurant in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Saturday, May 24, 2025. Strode credits her father for motivating her to open up the diner as a community space for villagers to catch up over coffee outside of their homes years after Chesterhill lost their only dining spot due to declining population and crowds.
1st Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio University, “From Diner to Destination”Customers eat lunch at the Triple Nickel Diner in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Friday, Sept. 2, 2025. According to co-founder Rosie Berardi, the diner sees its busiest season in summer and fall, when motorcyclists from around the country ride along State Route 555, part of the scenic Ohio Windy 9, and stop in for a meal.
1st Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio University, “From Diner to Destination”People react while bidding for fresh produce at the Chesterhill Produce Auction in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Thursday, June 12, 2025. Founded in 2004 by Jean and Marvin Konkle, the auction began under a tent the following year to connect local growers with buyers and strengthen the region’s food economy. The Triple Nickel Diner sources part of its produce from the auction as part of its seven-mile local food sourcing strategy.
1st Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio University, “From Diner to Destination”Kathy Strode, co-founder of the Triple Nickel Diner, loads fresh produce into her truck bed as her grandson, Henry Schulz, looks on at the end of a produce auction at the Chesterhill Produce Auction in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2025. Strode said she has been purchasing more produce from Amish farmers at the auction after heavy rain and drought during the summer affected the garden behind the diner.
1st Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio University, “From Diner to Destination”The cottage which belonged to the grandfather Triple Nickel Diner’s co-founder Kathy Strode sits among wheat fields and rolling hills in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. Strode credits the time spent with her grandfather a positive influence to her adopting her farm to table approach at her diner decades later.
1st Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio University, “From Diner to Destination”Co-founder Kathy Strode harvests peppers from her garden behind the Triple Nickel Diner in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. Strode said her harvest season was shorter this year because of unpredictable summer weather, with heavy rains preceding drought.
1st Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio University, “From Diner to Destination”Cattle rest in a pasture at Goshen Run Farms between Chesterhill and Stockport, Ohio, on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. The farm is owned and operated by Bill and Karen Huck, cousins of Triple Nickel Diner co-founder Kathy Strode, and supplies beef, which is a key ingredient for its signature dish, the Goshen Run Burger.
1st Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio University, “From Diner to Destination”Pat Strode, a farmhand of Goshen Run Farms and niece-in-law of Triple Nickel Diner's co-founder Kathy Strode, opens a gate to a pasture before feeding cows on the farm between Chesterhill and Stockport, Ohio, on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. Strode said she previously worked at a local Dollar Family store, one of several dollar stores that have expanded in the region as grocery stores have closed.
1st Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio University, “From Diner to Destination”Flies gather near the eye of a cow grazing on pasture at Goshen Run Farms between Chesterhill and Stockport, Ohio, on Tuesday, July 8, 2025.
1st Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio University, “From Diner to Destination”Stanley Strode, right, the uncle of Triple Nickel Diner co-owner Rosie Berardi, arrives with his friend Bob Stout for breakfast in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Saturday, Aug. 13, 2025. Strode, a farmer who specializes in pork production, supplies the diner with pork, bacon, and sausage.
1st Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio University, “From Diner to Destination”Triple Nickel Diner co-founders Rosie Berardi, right, gestures to her mother Kathy Strode to eat slowly while sharing a sandwich as they work through the lunch crowd in the kitchen of their restaurant in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. Strode, who retired from the business in January 2025, continues to stop by the diner to assist during busy shifts when needed.
1st Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio University, “From Diner to Destination”An aerial view shows a restaurant building between the Coonskin Crossing gas station and Village Productions’ community center along the main stretch of Amesville, Ohio, at sunset on Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025. Progress on restoring the building remained slow as Capstone Property Management, which funded the project, prioritized renovations to its rental apartments and houses in neighboring Athens, where most of the company’s income is generated.
1st Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio University, “From Diner to Destination”A motorcyclist turns past a restaurant building on Main Street in Amesville, Ohio, on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. The building previously housed Park’s Place, the village’s only restaurant until early 2024, and sits near the intersection of state routes 329 and 550, both promoted by the Athens County Visitors Bureau as part of Ohio’s Windy 9 motorcycle routes.
1st Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio University, “From Diner to Destination”Bricks manufactured in various Southeast Ohioan communities are seen on the facade of the restaurant building on the Main Street of Amesville, Ohio, on Monday June 9, 2025.
1st Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio University, “From Diner to Destination”Members of the local blues band StreetNoise perform during the Coonskin Saturday summer event in Amesville, Ohio, on Saturday, June 20, 2025. Former Amesville Mayor Gary Goodman said the monthly summer concert continues to draw crowds despite the village’s declining population.
1st Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio University, “From Diner to Destination”Michael Ford, founder of the nonprofit Amesville Revitalization Organization and president of the village council, paces the dining room of a restaurant building filled with construction materials and kitchen equipment left behind by the previous operator, Park’s Place, in Amesville, Ohio, on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. Ford approached Triple Nickel Diner co-founder Kathy Strode in June 2024 about opening a second location in Amesville, offering rent-free space for the first year of business. The building remained under renovation as of December 2025, and the diner later withdrew from the project as co-founder Rosie Berardi decided to sell the business.
1st Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio University, “From Diner to Destination”Rosie Berardi, co-founder of the Triple Nickel Diner, walks toward her car as her husband, Peter Schulz, carries their son, Henry, outside their home in Canaanville, Ohio, on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, as she leaves to open the restaurant for the day. Berardi announced in social media posts in late November that she and her family had decided to sell the restaurant following a demanding summer season.
1st Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio University, “From Diner to Destination”Triple Nickel Diner co-founders Rosie Berardi, left, and her mother Kathy Strode discuss potential buyers for the restaurant during a lull in the lunch rush in the kitchen of their restaurant in Chesterhill, Ohio, on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. Berardi announced on Nov. 24, 2025, that the family was selling the diner and said she hopes new owners will continue the business practices established by her mother, including sourcing ingredients from local farmers and employing Chesterhill residents. As of January 2026, the family was still seeking buyers.
1st Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio University, “From Diner to Destination”An aerial view shows Marion Street, the main road through the village of Chesterhill, Ohio, at sunrise on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. The village had 276 residents, according to the 2020 U.S. Census.
1st Place, James R. Gordon Ohio Understanding Award - Loriene Perera / Ohio University, “From Diner to Destination”Triple Nickel Diner co-founder Kathy Strode, front left, harvests sweet potatoes with her grandson Henry Schulz as her granddaughter Alyssa Smith and daughter Rosie Berardi, back right, chat at their family home in Canaanville, Ohio, on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. Berardi said selling the business would allow her mother to retire fully and give Berardi more time to spend with her family and focus on raising her son.
