Encore Farm -- Marion, Ohio

11/19/2023

THE LAWRENCE Thanksgiving feast is tuning up.

01/25/2019

KINDNESS is the essence of greatness and the fundamental characteristic of the noblest men and women I have known.
-- Joseph B. Wirthlin

Tonight, I am humbled by the kindness of Marc Seckel of Seckel Farms.

Earlier today, he dropped what he was doing (and -- being a farmer -- he ALWAYS has something else to do), loaded up his forklift on his flatbed, and showed up at our farm in freezing temperatures to help me. Over the next two hours he: opened an overhead door that had come off its track, moved 5,000 pounds of limestone blocks out of the way, gently eased a storage client's boat out of our shed so its skipper could take it to its new berth, and towed my disabled tractor to a spot where the repair service could pick it up.

When I asked him what I owed for his time and machine hire, he said, "Nothing. That's what neighbors do for each other."

06/23/2015

WHEN MARK worked in his grandfather's grocery store, the cow tongues hanging in the walk-in cooler always gave him the wi***es. Now you know why.

02/02/2011

THIS AERIAL PHOTO of University Drive was taken this past November with evening coming on. Things sure look different from a bird's-eye view!

From the north, looking south:
The large brick complex in the foreground is the campus of Marion Harding High School on the old Lawrence Farm. Mark's parents' old house stood about where the three flagpoles are just visible above the main building.

The road running horizontally across the photo above the school is State Route 309 (Harding Highway).

The winding road -- starting at the intersection of the school drive and 309, and then running toward the upper right-hand corner of the photo, is University Drive (Marion County Road 221). The lower (northern) portion of the road runs across our farm.

Our place -- Encore Farm -- is the large somewhat triangular open space in the middle of the photo. Our northern boundary is 309. The dark horizontal line of trees about 2/3 of the way up the photo is our southern boundary.

Above the treeline (south of our farm), University Drive winds through the former East Lawn Manor property before it intersects with State Route 95 at the northwest corner of the OSUM/MTC campus. The Marion Plaza shopping center is just west (right) of this intersection, but is not shown in this picture.

The large white complex above the tree line is East Towne Center -- a shopping complex that includes Wal-Mart and Marion's east-side Kroger store. To the right of that is the Rizzo Juvenile Center. Above the Rizzo Center, on the south side of 95, is the campus of The Ohio State University at Marion and Marion Technical College.

Ultimately, the County hopes to extend University Drive further south -- down the west side of the OSUM/MTC campus -- to connect to State Route 529.

09/23/2010

WELL, the County just cut the ribbon, officially opening University Drive, connecting State Routes 309 and 95. We have since seen cars leaving Harding High School using it. A Payne's pizza delivery vehicle takes the honors for being the first commercial traffic!

08/13/2010

PAVING BEGAN IN EARNEST today* on the project to extend University Drive through our farm. The 2,100 linear feet of new road -- with over 75,000 square feet of blacktop -- stretches from our south boundary at the back of the former County Home property to State Route 309 at the west entrance to Harding High School. When opened, this will complete the connection between State Routes 309 and 95. We'll post more construction photos soon.

*08-13-2010

06/05/2010