Latest News

2009 Friends of Ohio Barns Fall Picnic

Please plan to join us for the Friends of Ohio Barns fall picnic, September 19th from noon to 5pm at the Fling Family Farm in beautiful Hillsboro, Ohio. We will provide the meats and drinks if you can bring a side dish!

Bill Fling, our 2009 recipient of the Barn of the Year award for adaptive re-use will host the event. He offers beautiful and unique weddings in the country at his farm stead, and the barn is one of the focal points to the experience! Part of the fun for the day will be a tour of the grounds and the barn. Bring your barn detective hat with you!

The address is 8205 Berrysville Rd, Hillsboro, 45133. Call toll free (877) 248-3456 for directions and check out their website, www.flingbarn.com for pictures and more information. This will be a rain or shine event, so come out and see us!

Photos from the Ohio Barn Conference

After ten years of celebrating Ohio's beautiful barns, we still manage to find interesting aspects of design or joinery work wherever we go. Here are a few examples from our spring conference bus tour in the Bluffton area...enjoy!

Barn of the Year awards for 2009

This years recipients are Bill Fling and the Fling Family Farm in the Adaptive re-use category, and Ed Martinek in the Agricultural use category.

The Fling farm was purchased by Albert J. Fling around 1900. He built the barn in 1902 and farmed the land for many years. Bill and his family converted the barn into a facility to host weddings, reunions and private parties. The farm is in Hillsboro, Ohio in Highland county. You can check out their website (www.flingbarn.com) to view pictures of the farm.

Dr. Martinek's farm, located in Bellbrook, Ohio in Greene county, had a 1851 german style bank barn that was in need of repairs. Purchased in 2007 with 62 acres, Ed sought to restore the barn to its original glory, and use it to house hay and farm equipment. He hired Architectural Reclamation Inc. to perform the work, and today it proudly stands ready to work another 100 plus years!

Congratulations to you both!

New Options for Supporting our Heritage

Interested in donating to a worthy cause, and help save Ohio's Barns? Now there is a way to do it online! Through our affiliation with the Columbus Foundation, a state wide philanthropic organization, you can donate to Friends endowment fund established through the Power Philanthropy arm of the Foundation. Simply visit the Columbus Foundation and log in to Power Philanthropy to view our portrait and make your donation online! Under the Power Philanthropy logo, click on create a username & password. That page will open and you will see the Public Users access. Simply click on the sign up form, follow the directions and direct your donations to Friends of Ohio Barns Endowment Fund. Registration is quick, free, and secure! Thanks for helping out!

The Columbus Foundation

Friends of Ohio Barns 10th Annual Ohio Barn Conference

Come celebrate our 10th anniversary in the beautiful Village of Bluffton, Ohio on April 24th and 25th as we look back and look ahead in this two day event. Friday’s barn tour will give participants a rare view of some of the regions unique barn structures, and a chance to play barn detective! Saturday’s program will be at the Bluffton College, and will feature presentations, demonstrations, displays, and a silent auction. Fan favorites, the Barn Detectives & the Barn Repair Panel will highlight the event.

In an effort to reduce costs, but not the quality of presentations, this year’s conference is a two day event. We are planning a Friday evening meal get together after the bus tour. There are hotel rooms reserved at the Comfort Inn with a group rate discount. Don’t miss out on the early bird registration discounts!

Check this webpage for more information, and ways to register for the conference.

Donate to the Conference Silent Auction!

Part of the fun we have each year during the Ohio Barn Conference is of course, the silent auction. Friends encourage everyone to bring silent auction items for the Saturday event. The proceeds help us offset the costs of the conference, and still provide you, the members, with a quality program.

We hope you can contribute an item or two – something handmade, collectible, store bought, or something interesting you’ve found in your travels. The more you bring, and the better the items, the more exciting the auction gets!

If you can’t find anything to bring, at least come prepared to make someone else bid a little higher before walking off with a treasure!

Friends Board Member Elections

Friends of Ohio Barns will once again be seeking candidates to fill board positions of members whose terms are expiring. There are currently two open positions.

Responsibilities include participating in the annual barn conference, attending board meetings and conference calls, and representing Friends at festivals and events with the satisfaction of knowing that you are doing something to help save a part of Ohio’s rich agricultural heritage.

If you are interested in a board position, please send a short biography with your goals and ideas to:
Friends of Ohio Barns, P.O. Box 203, Burbank, Ohio 44214, or e-mail Friends. Remember, new blood brings fresh ideas, and keeps the organization alive with promise!

Accepting Barn of the Year Nominations

Do you know of an outstanding barn in your region? If so, drop us a line and get it nominated for the annual Friends of Ohio Barns “Barn of the Year Award”. The deadline for entries is April 17th, 2009.

Read More...

The Barn Repair Panel is back for ’09!

Were back...!

The barn repair panel is ready and ready to take your questions and conundrums at the upcoming OBC X.

This is again your chance to get some free advice from some of the tops in their field! Please bring questions, but more importantly, pictures to share with us, and we will do our best to help. If you can put the pictures on a CD, they will project better for all to see and learn from.

If you send CDs in early, it gives the panel a chance to study your problem better, and maybe provide a more in depth answer! Feel free to send the pix to me, Ric Beck, at 7215 Kimberly Ct. Westerville, Ohio 43082