Barn Conference X is over!

Continue reading below to see what happened!

Ohio Barn Conference X Overview

Friends of Ohio Barns celebrates our 10th annual Ohio Barn Conference, April 24th - 25th 2009

Our tenth anniversary conference will take place in Bluffton, OH. The Village of Bluffton and our conference venue, Bluffton University are located at the apex of Allen, Hancock and Putnam Counties. Still agriculturally based, this area was settled in the early 1800’s by German immigrants and our expectations are high for beautiful barns to visit during our annual Barn Tour. Our local hero and Friends member Keith Sommers will help connect us with many significant historical farmsteads and other interesting examples of vernacular architecture in his area.

Out of respect for the economy and our valued presenters we are following a new format for our venue this year. Our event will be two days only; the Friday Barn Tour and our Saturday Conference & member meeting will be offered as a package. Registration for Saturday Only will be available for those who aren’t able to free up a workday for the Friday tour. We are not scheduling an evening dinner on Saturday or planning an additional Sunday morning event. Meals with their associated tax and gratuity have added to our registration costs in the past and without a Sunday program the additional overnight at the hotel can be eliminated. We feel these changes will make it easier for folks to attend.

The Friday Barn tour will stick to our established schedule. You should plan for a full day of fun on the bus and in the barns with your friends. We will also be test-driving one of our new programs called “Junior Barn Detectives”. You can participate and we will discuss its value and applications during our catered lunch. You can help us determine if this program will be useful in helping Ohio save and maintain its historic barns. If you still have energy at the end of the day, we know you will be hungry, we have found a few good restaurants in Bluffton where we can relax with friends and talk about our day.

We encourage you to support local businesses while in town.

Saturday will be a very Full day at Bluffton University. All our regularly scheduled segments are factored in: quality presentations, demonstrations, silent auction, good food, member meeting, Barn Detectives and the Barn Repair Panel will are all included.
You are encouraged to bring a CD or photos and questions about your barn for panel discussions.

Where else can you get free barn repair/maintenance advice?

Please start thinking now about your donations for the Silent Auction. Great items from the past have been: treasures from the cupboards, attic, barn or cellar. Hand made, found or acquired as a gift (what were they thinking), new, gently used or antique items, books, pictures or tools. Any donation is welcome.

Expected Schedule of Events

Friday April 24th

Day long Barn Tour. Meet, park and depart: 8am Bluffton University

Saturday April 25th

7:30am Registration, continental breakfast, Centennial Hall, Bluffton Univ.

8:00-8:30 Registration

8:30 Welcome to 10th Anniversary of Ohio Barn Conference!

9:00 Keynote speaker Bill Kimball from MBPN

9:45 Morning break

10:15 Junior Barn Detectives program

11:00 Demonstrations

Noon – 1:15 Lunch and Barn of the Year awards

1:30 Annual Meeting / Centennial Hall

2:00 Break out sessions:
Darrin Rubino: Making Timber Talk: Using tree rings to date historic structures
Tim & Christine Barnes: Barn Painting

2:45 Afternoon break, silent auction items, displays

3:30 Barn Detectives

4:00 Barn Repair & Maintenance Panel

5:00 Auction results

6:00 conference ends

Barn of the Year Award

Do you know about an outstanding barn in your region of the state?

If so, drop us a line and get it nominated for the annual Friends of Ohio Barns "Barn of the Year Award" The deadline is April 10, 2009.

Nominations will be judged in two categories: agricultural use and adaptive use (non-agricultural). Nominations should include photos, current owner's name, location of the barn, current use of the barn, history of the barn including age and builder if known, and information on repairs and who made them, if known.

Please Click Here for complete details about the Barn of the Year Award.

(cut off date for entries is April 11th 2009)

Barn Repair Panel

Back again this year!

The Barn Repair Panel will assemble once again to answer questions about your barn during the Saturday afternoon session. This is your chance to get some free advice from some of the best in the business! Please bring questions and pictures to share with us and we will do our best to help. Better yet, send in your photos on a disk and we will be able to project them for all to see and learn from! Send CD's to Ric Beck, 7215 Kimberly Ct. Westerville, Ohio, 43082.

Barn Tour

Here is but a sampling of what you will see on the upcoming chartered barn tour through Allen County during the Ohio Barn Conference X. It promises interesting joinery, unusual repairs, unique features, and beautiful settings, so please plan to join us April 24th & 25th!

Silent Auction

We encourage everyone to bring Silent Auction items for our Saturday event. The proceeds help the organization by offsetting costs for programs and operation. We hope you can contribute an item or two – something homemade, collectable, store bought, or something interesting you have found in your travels or cleaning out the shed.

The more you bring, and the better the items the more exciting the auction becomes! If you can’t find anything to bring at least come prepared to make someone else bid a little higher before walking off with that prize!

Board of Directors Election

The upcoming Ohio Barn Conference is also the annual business meeting for Friends of Ohio Barns. Time will be set aside for a member meeting and an election of officers and Directors. Responsibilities include: participating in the annual conference, attendance at board meetings or conference calls, conference or barn tour planning, reviewing and setting policy and representing “Friends” at festivals and events to promote awareness of Ohio’s historic barns. All Board members are volunteers.

It’s work, but its fun work! If you have an interest in serving the organization or would like to nominate someone please contact Friends of Ohio Barns, P.O. Box 203 Burbank, OH 44214 or email.