Whether it was the car or the challenge, more than 800 Ohioans submitted more than 3,000 photo entries in the “Natural Treasures of Ohio” sweepstakes, which ran from May 22 through Aug. 8.
The winner, announced this month, is a couple — Bill and Suzy Wilson, from Troy. After first reading about the contest in the Dayton Daily News, they and several others visited all 30 sites. Their photo taken at Wildwood Metropark near Toledo was randomly selected to win the contest.
“What really interested us more than anything else was the challenge,” Bill Wilson said. “It sounded like a lot of fun – let’s see if we can get to all 30 places.”
Using weekends and some summer vacation time, they made it to all 30 spots.
“We didn’t do it to win a car, but that’s certainly a nice bonus,” said Wilson, 58, who works in materials handling in Sidney.
They visited some of the nearby places, such as Clifton Gorge, in the evenings. Their favorite areas were the Hocking Hills and some of the sites near Cleveland.
In addition to the grand prize, five second place winners, including Patrick Lipinski of Springboro, will receive $500 gift cards.
Free workshop for fishing instructors
Do you like to teach children how to fish? Perhaps it’s your own kids or grandchildren. Or maybe you would like to teach kids in your communitiy some of the finer points of fishing.
The Ohio Division of Wildlife can give you a hand, making you a certified fishing instructor as part of the Passport to Fishing program.
A free workshop is available from 5:30 to 9;30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 18 at Shelby County Soil and Water Conservation District office, 822 Fair Road, Sidney. Passport to Fishing is a one-day instructor training program that qualifies individuals to become Division of Wildlife certified fishing instructors, similar to a hunter education instructor. All participants will need to pass a background check before being certified.
Participants must pre-register by Oct. 12. To register for the workshop, call Brant Fulks at (937) 347-0929 or email him at Brant.Fulks@dnr.state.oh.us . For additional class information, visit wildohio.com.
Deer workshop planned for Eaton
A deer hunting workshop is planned for Oct. 13, opening at noon, at the Bruner Arena, Preble County Fairgrounds, 722 South Franklin St., Eaton.
The Ohio Division of Wildlife and the Ohio State University Extension Office in Preble County are hosting the event. Anyone wishing to attend must pre-register by Monday, Oct. 1. Call (937) 456-8174 to sign up.
There is a $5 fee for the workshop. It includes admission, dinner and a door prize ticket. Doors open at noon with vendors present. Seminars start at 3 p.m. Dinner will be served at 5:30 p.m.
Participants can also bring their deer mounts to be scored by the Buckeye Big Buck Club.
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