As our site grows and more and more of you e-mail, call or write with interesting antidotes we continue to build pages that we hope will be informative and entertaining. This page is for you to contribute information regarding interesting people of the Pataskala area, their goals and victories. Also, we hope you will send interesting information regarding places of interest in the Pataskala area to visit or places that you have traveled to firsthand. Please e-mail with any additions you would like to make to this page. people_places @ pataskalaohio . com

Pam McCoy
01/26/01 - Your website is a gift, I lived in Pataskala until I was 12, but still return there often, hoping to move back soon, my name was Pam McCoy, if any of my old classmates remember me, I would love to hear from them, e-mail me at Jackieh49162@aol.com

Debbie (Smith) Karbo, Kentucky
12/12/2000 - Thank you for this site. As I remember growing up in this lovely (boring) little town, I wish I could have given my 2 grown children the same peace, closeness, and security we shared as children. I now live in Lexington, Kentucky and my mother Carolyn (Smith) Gindhart, that "mean bus driver" lives in Morehead, KY. While I have a wonderful happy life I still miss the summers at the pool, walks through the WHOLE town, the Street Fair, (by the way, does that still happen?) and the friendships that developed. I miss the teachers, Mrs. Osborne especially, Mrs. Doran, I am sorry we were so horrible in your class, and Mr. Blackburn's math class. We had a great small school and town. I would love to hear from former friends and class mates. I would also love to see more of the 78/79 class next time I visit. While I remember Sandy Butler, my sisters and I enjoyed having Linda Sprouse and Joni Runyon baby-sit us. Dicky Meyers was always a clown as was Ralph Burgess. My mother had several people I remember on her bus runs through the years, and as she turns 59 on the 11th, I am sure she would love to hear from you. Mrs. Smith can be reached at gimmey@hotmail.com . She is still as strict as ever (but has a wonderful out look on life and a great sense of humor, especially to the ones that kept her on her toes) except with her grand children, they are 5. The oldest is 19 and the youngest is 8. E-mail soon, enjoy the memories........................................
--- karkrew2@earthlink.net

12/04/2000 - I want to thank you for this web sight. If anyone from Pataskala knows or where Tonya Hardy is please let me know. I grew up in Pataskala and I'm looking for her. my email address is: dtolan@lincoln.navy.mil I am in the US Navy and I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas. Thank You.
- Danny Toland

11-14-00 I grew up in Tatman Homes ... actually, my parents (Tom and De Kimble) still live there. I live in Kentucky now because I go to school here. I'd love for people to get a hold of me.
- Laura Kimble, Forensic Chemistry, Eastern Kentucky University, Stukimbl@eku.edu

10-30-00 This is a lovely website. (sigh)
Pataskala is where I met my husband, and we fell in love....
*His Grandmother Liddie Phillips was beloved here, may she rest in peace together with her husband as they have gone home to the house of our Lord.
* I would love to hear from anyone who cares to share a tale, or sweet story about her, her friends her family, and farm lives. I have quilts she did hand stitch to earn money for her church, I hope to pass them down to my daughter- her great granddaughter , with a journal of special moments from the life of a woman I wish she had known......
- Jamie Phillips Trumbull, CT email jeepman7@swbell.net or write 4 Daniels Farm Rd #277 Trumbull, CT 06611-3698

Greetings!
I passed much of my childhood on Nelson Langel's dairy farm on Refugee Road just north of Kirkersville, went to Kirkersville Elementary (teachers were Smith, Snider, Harriet, Fritz, and Little), went to Etna for one year (Reinert), then on to the Watkins' schools. I enjoyed growing up in the area and was fortunate to experience it before creeping suburbia came calling. After time spent in Chicago, the Florida Keys, Kentucky, and New Mexico, I have now settled myself, my wife, and two daughters in the lovely community of Buchanan, Michigan. Funny how much my current home reminds me of the best aspects of Licking County.

Places and events I recall: The incredibly untimely deaths of several classmates at Watkins during the late 70's and early 80's; iceskating on the creek that crosses Refugee Rd. just west of Langel's and Stout's old farms (I wonder who owns them now?...); recklessly borrowing apples from some of the area orchards (sorry, Mr. Lynd!); buckeye trees along the fencerows; bicycling to Brian Laughlin's house in order to play with my friends; Stout's barn burning in the summer of '74; the Hartford Fair; the annual gridiron battles with Newark Catholic; hot chocolate under the bleachers; Jill Squires' dad's death in a plane crash; planting trees on Arbor Day behind Kirkersville Elementary; going through the haunted house in the basement of the school; Tom Caw's relentless pursuit of the local news stories; studying "biology" in the woods behind the high school thanks to a pass from Miss Redmond (the BEST teacher who ever lived, God rest her soul...); and so much more that I'd need 500 pages to write it all.
Thanks, Pataskala (Kirkersville, Etna, Outville, and Wagram, too) for molding at least a little bit of who I am!
Bryan Bradbury--7th grade English teacher
Buchanan, MI
August 2000

I used to live in Pataskala. I went through 3-6 grade at Jersey Elementary. Then I went to 7th grade at Summit Station. I played a clarinet in the band. I visited the old Jersey elementary in 97. I can't believe the old school is now a memorial. I saw that Miss Calland's house was still across the street along with the Bell's house. I don't know if they still live there. I also saw the old ball field where I played little league. It was nice to visit the old place again.
My name is Steve Brown.
My email address is brown_sr@yahoo.com.
I am an electrical engineer and now live in Missouri.

Even before moving back to Pataskala in early 1968, my family's roots were firmly planted in this once sleepy, little village. I'm sad to say that I don't know the earliest dates of residence, but I do know my Father (Roy Butler) lived there at least since he was a child, as did my Mother, (Dorcas - Dottie- Sanders Butler) in the even smaller town of what was then called Columbia Center. While I've resided in south Florida since 1981, my parents, brother, two sisters, a few nieces and nephews, cousins, aunts and uncles have remained in the fast-developing borough of Pataskala. On the outskirts in nearby Reynoldsburg lives another sister and many more relatives are scattered throughout central Ohio.
For myself, growing up in Pataskala was at times maddening since there was nothing much to do, and at other times wonderful for the very same reason. Looking back now through 42-year-old eyes, I see just how wonderful it really was. Times were slower, morales higher, and people friendlier. It's amazing to think that we never locked our doors, even when we went out of town. And on most summer nights, we actually slept with the windows open and the screen doors exposed. Being a nature lover, I used to walk for hours without fear and without seeing anyone else for miles on the mostly houseless old roads and in the woods and meandering streams around and beyond the cemetery along "Creek Road" (or Crick Road to some).
From 4th grade on, Pataskala kept a fairly steady pulse. I first began to see the heart of the little village change in my mid-teens. I can remember how it was a major life event when the swimming pool and park were built! Kids from Pataskala and the surrounding areas finally had something to do during the hot summer months. The only other major growth spurt I witnessed as a teenager was when Watkins Memorial High School gave birth to another building during my senior year. Although I'm not certain, I believe my class was the last to graduate from the combined middle/high school. As I reminisce, it's funny to think that some universities have almost as many students in one classroom as there were in my entire WMHS graduating class of 1976.
Yes, times have changed in dear old Pat-alaska, as some affectionately call it. Traffic lights and fast food chains now dot the major thoroughfares. Golden fields where deer and other wild animals used to frolic have been mown down and built up. Old country roads that once displayed only tall grasses and wildflowers are now heavy laden with pavement and houses. In spite of the miles, I'm able to enjoy Pataskala a few times a year and with each visit the snapshot reveals sometimes subtle and sometimes major changes to the little town I left behind.
As with Pataskala, through the years change has not escaped my family. Each of us has grown somewhat older and, perhaps, somewhat wiser. Our faces and bodies no longer hold the graces of youth. Our spirits, however, strengthen as trials and tribulations linger or pass. Today, as we struggle with the pain of losing one of us, we grow stronger as a family. You see, in contrast to the new life growing in one of her granddaughter's womb, my Mother's life is rapidly deteriorating from recently diagnosed pancreatic cancer. Of course, this news is a very low blow, but in view of the fact that she's survived colon cancer for just shy of five years, the blow becomes even lower if that's possible. As the very special person she is, in spite of this death sentence my Mom's spirits remain amazingly high. She says this is because she's ready for the great beyond, as she believes strongly in God, Jesus, the resurrection and life after death. She quotes the Bible where it says that the time of death should be one of celebration and not mourning.
Not long after the diagnosis, my Mom started to think about all the friends and family who would attend her funeral that she hadn't seen in a while. She said she hated to think of them seeing her in that final state without having had the chance to say goodbye. And so, she decided to throw what she jokingly called a 'going away' party. In fact, I've just returned from Pataskala after attending her Celebration of Life party where nearly 100 people were able to speak with and hug my dear little Momma. Incredibly, there were no tears as one might expect. Yes, there was a heavy, sweet sorrow as the weight of what we'd be missing sunk deeply into our souls, but mainly there was a sense of joy and love and peace and even laughter.
Some of you Pataskalonians (?) reading this may remember my Mom always lending a hand here or there, giving a shoulder to cry on, and helping and consoling others during rough times. I remember her dressing up her grandkids as bunnies and carting them around to the homes of Pataskala's elderly and homebound citizens at Easter time to give out baskets of candy and other goodies. Christmas often found her rounding up kids, grandkids, and adults alike to go caroling at these same houses with cookies and little trinkets in hand. She said she just enjoyed seeing how "tickled the little old people got just knowing someone thinks about them." Countless times she gave when she herself had nothing to give. That's just how my Mom has always been. Thinking of others. Worrying about how they feel. Making sure everything's okay. Brightening paths wherever she goes.
And so, during her going away party, it was no surprise that it was she who comforted others, told them it would be okay, and offered up strength and courage. My loving, caring, strong, courageous, little Momma... that's how I'll remember her.
In spite of all the additions to Pataskala over the years, along with my family and countless friends, it will soon suffer a great loss.

Ivan R. Smith, SSgt, USAF GCCS System Administrator Usafe CSS\SCOG DSN: 480-7475 Comm: 011-49-6371-47-7475

I am from Pataskala and the surrounding area. I have lived on Mink St two different times, on both sides of 40, and I lived on Palmer Rd between York and 158. I attended Kirkersville Elem. until the 5th grade, then Licking Heights from the 6th through the 12th. I also attended LCJVS in the drafting program. I was born in at Licking Memorial in 1974, I graduated in1992, and I left Pataskala in 1993 to join the Air Force. I am currently a Staff Sergeant stationed at Ramstein AB, Germany.

When I was growing up in Pataskala there was just a flashing light and if you were driving through and blinked you missed it. I haven't been home in over a year, but the last time I was there it was a pretty busy place. With the BMV, and the new fast food restaurants, it is quite the city. And just as soon as you think the small town is no longer, you run into someone you knew when you were in kindergarten. I love where Pataskala is headed everything you'll need from the city right at your fingertips, but still the small town everyone loved.

The Indictment is the story behind the front page news during Warren G. Harding's campaign. New York Times headlines stated "COLLEGE PROFESSOR CHANCELLOR BECAUSE OF CIRCULARS ON HARDING, DENOUNCES HIS UNWORTHY METHODS."

Other newspapers chronicled the same story. They dismissed Professor Chancellor from the College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio because they thought it he wrote and sent out flyers saying that Warren G. Harding was Afro-American.

Was Harding our first black president?

Besides being ousted from his life time tenure at the College of Wooster, they tried to malign the professor, William Estabrook Chancellor, as a racist and mentally imbalanced. Was Chancellor a racist . . . or was Harding . . . who refused to publicly acknowledge his ancestry?

Abusing his power as President of the United States, Warren G. Harding would not let Chancellor rest. They order the secret service to help the postal department to suppress, confiscate, and destroy a book Chancellor was writing about Harding. These agents burned A copy of the manuscript in the home of Chancellor and they thought they stopped this "racist" once and for all.

Out of fear of his life and freedom, the ex-professor flees to Canada. His family moves to Columbus but the postal department daily checks and at times reads any mail going to them. The secret service watched the professor's family daily trying to find out where he disappeared to.

In 1922, they print a book in the United States about Warren G. Harding. The printers use William Estabrook Chancellor's name hoping to increase its success. They order the bureau of investigation into Ohio to destroy the book. A truckload of the books was sent to Washington, D.C. and burned by Florence Harding, the wife of Warren.

The Indictment is a book of political power, abuse and suppressing of freedom of speech. An essential read for everyone.

Shattered Glory, Book I and Book II, same issue, Greenville Peace Treaty, Council Minutes, will be available shortly. We will have preview at that time.

Thank you,
John A. Murphy
Author

Tommy Alsup, from Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin".
Tommy Alsup is buried there in Pataskala but I cannot remember which cemetery. Tommy was the "Uncle Tom" in Harriet Beecher Stowe's book "Uncle Tom's Cabin". The old Beecher homestead is in that area also. There was a large white 2 story house there just south of town with a hitching post in front which served as a part of the underground railroad with a hidden room in the basement. This old house may have been closer to Outville, Ohio but it had a railroad track behind it and an entry to the basement thru the rock springhouse. It has been many years since I visited the site but I would like very much to know the name of the cemetery where Tom is buried. This information submitted by S. Sellers , if you have any information on this contact S. Sellers at Shikaysel@aol.com

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The weather is awesome most of the year and Oak Island is one of those places that is populated mostly
by permanent residents not rentals. To find out more about accommodations, golf, and sites
to see in this area visit their website at www.southport-oakisland.com

- Ben Patterson

St. John, US Virgin Islands.

A great place to get away from it all! The weather is consistent - 85 day and 75 night. 2/3 of the island is owned by the Rockafellars who designated it a US National Park - to be untouched. There are 39 beaches to choose from.