Veterans and Military Ride Free on Hocking RR

To celebrate a record-breaking year hauling more than 35,000 passengers in 2009, the Hocking Valley Scenic Railway in Nelsonville, Ohio, is running a special free Memorial Day train for veterans or military personnel on May 31.

Any veteran or current member of the armed forces can ride for free on the 1:30 p.m. train on Memorial Day. Immediate family members living with them ride for free, too.

Can’t ride on Memorial Day? Veterans, current military and their families receive a discount all year long on any regular train departing at noon or 2:30 p.m. Call to reserve a seat on the train and show your military ID or DD214 at the depot when picking up tickets. Leave a message at 800-967-7834 or call the depot on the weekend at 740-753-9531.

Weekends from May to October, volunteers blast the whistle, ease the train out of the station and start a trip back in time. The non-profit Hocking Valley Scenic Railway has been chugging through the scenery of the Appalachian foothills for 35 years ago.

Winter Carnival Fun for Families at Salt Fork

Salt Fork State Park Lodge in Cambridge, Ohio, will throw a Winter Carnival Family Fun night March 13, with games and special room rates starting at $79 per night plus taxes.

The games, from 7-10 p.m., will include Wii, a football throw, basketball and baseball toss, duck pond and bottle ring toss, putt-putt golf, face painting, balloon darts, trivia challenges, pop bottle target game and ping pong. Salt Fork also has a large indoor pool.

To book the $79 lodge rate and discounted cabin rates, enter the promotional code “CARNIVAL1” or call 1-800-282-7275.

Free Genealogy Workshop at Hayes Center

Are you using RootsMagic genealogy software to build your family tree? Then here’s a free chance to meet the software creator, Bruce Buzbee, and learn the latest tips and tricks.

The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center in Fremont, Ohio, is leading a free workshop 1-4 p.m. April 25. The center uses RootsMagic to maintain the family history of 19th U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes.

Pre-registration is required: 419-332-2081 or by email to bhill@rbhayes.org.

Inn at Cedar Falls Package from $199

The Inn & Spa at Cedar Falls in Logan, Ohio, a member of Select Registry, is offering the Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire package. The $199 package provides one weekday night’s lodging for two in a guestroom with double whirlpool bath; gourmet candlelight dinner in the Inn’s restaurant, housed in an 1840′s log cabin; full country breakfast; and a holiday cookie tin filled with fresh-baked cookies. Valid Sundays-Thursdays through Dec. 24.

Brutus Goes for Hands-On Fun in Central Ohio

By Betsa Marsh

Brutus the Traveling Teddy had a busy weekend making jewelry

Abby Rice helps Brutus make glass jewelry at The Works. Betsa Marsh photo

Brutus makes the Ohio and Erie Canal boat move at The Works. Betsa Marsh photo

 move, and learned that the factory was built beside the Ohio and Erie Canal in 1861.

At The Works, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, Brutus carded wool

Brutus cards wool at The Works. Betsa Marsh photo

and made jewelry, while young friends made circuits and slot cars,  and danced along to Wii Fit.

At the Longaberger Company, Brutus toured the factory and then got to build his own basket–

Flo Hills of Longaberger helps Brutus make his first basket. Betsa Marsh photo

 with a little bit of help from Flo Hills, a master basket maker.

Brutus Roars into Columbus, Ohio

Visiting Columbus, Ohio, for a football game, Brutus met new Buckeye friends Erin Michel and Clay Finken, a member of the Ohio State University Marching Band. And he met Brutus Buckeye himself.
Brutus is the traveling ambassador for Mrs. Schroeder’s third-grade class at St. Joseph Consolidated School in Hamilton, Ohio. The Traveling Teddy program is a geography outreach program of the Society of American Travel Writers.
Brutus is practicing his paw movements for O-H-I-O.

Brutus bonds with a member of the OSU Marching Band.

Brutus makes pals with an OSU co-ed.

Brutus meets the OSU mascot, Brutus Buckeye.