Author: kdrenten
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Ragersville offers a surprising amount of history
Ragersville, an unincorporated community in Tuscarawas County, is well off the beaten path on the fringes of Ohio’s Amish Country. I would never have passed through the tiny burg if it hadn’t been for a detour off SR 93 for a bridge repair project.
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Remembering Sears, Woolworth and other retailers in Ohio, part 2
This 1950s postcard scene of downtown Canton, Ohio, shows an F.W. Woolworth Co., a McCrory’s, a Kresge’s and a Grant’s store all lining the left side of Market Street. By Ken Drenten This is the second of two parts about retailers that were around (and some that are still around) in Columbus and central Ohio…
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Circleville Pumpkin Show is Ohio’s oldest festival
If I were to provide a person new to Ohio a glimpse of what the state’s festivals are all about, I would steer them to our oldest festival, the Circleville Pumpkin Show.
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Remembering Buckeye Mart, Lazarus and other retailers in Ohio, part 1
The recent post about former restaurants was pretty popular with readers, so I decided to do a similar roundup of former department, discount and variety stores that I remember from the Columbus and central Ohio area. And let me tell you, there are a boatload of them.
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Travel Ohio with Dusty Tires: Roseville & Crooksville
On August 10-11, 2026, the communities of Roseville, Crooksville, New Lexington, Junction City and Corning received 6 to 10 inches of rain in storms with heavy downpours. The record rainfall caused extensive flood damage and upended the lives of hundreds of residents in Muskingum, Morgan and Perry counties. On Sept. 21, 2026, torrential rains struck…
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Dusty Tires YouTube channel hits 20,000 views
By Ken Drenten The Dusty Tires YouTube channel, a companion to Dusty Tires blog and website, has surpassed 20,000 views in about a year and a half. While that sounds like a lot, it’s not uncommon for a single YouTube video to hit that number — and much higher — in just a few hours.…
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Travel Ohio with Dusty Tires: Triple Nickel highway may be Ohio’s twistiest road
State Route 555, a 63-mile two-lane highway that winds from Zanesville in the north to Little Hocking in the south, has near-legendary status for motorcycle riders and driving enthusiasts..
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Do you remember these former Columbus-area restaurants?
Growing up on the east side of Columbus near the suburbs of Whitehall and Reynoldsburg, I was at the epicenter of much of the explosive growth of the fast-food and restaurant industry.
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Antiques and more on East Pike near Zanesville
During the National Road Yard Sale week, I wanted to go east of Zanesville to find some of the goodies on sale there. I didn’t make it then, so recently I went to some of the permanent antique shops and flea markets in this area. They are well worth a visit.
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Ohio has a tasty tradition in potato chip products
Conn’s Potato Chips’ production facility in Zanesville is one of a number of Ohio-based potato chip makers. (Credit: Ken Drenten) By Ken Drenten Ohio has a proud — and tasty — tradition in the manufacturing of potato chips, second in the country only to Pennsylvania. Among the famed brands that Ohioans have become fiercely loyal…
