Ohio: Truly the Heart of It All!

While some people think that I am weird for my new attention to inciting Ohio state pride (not Ohio State pride—I’m actually a Michigan fan), I believe that I have good reason. Many other states have pride about their state (some more than others, some weirder than others). Some are proud that their state was one of the original 13 and that their state helped gain America’s independence (i.e. South Carolina). Others are proud because they can fly their state flag as high as the US flag and could form their own nation if they wanted to (yea Texas, I’m talking about you). There are many reasons given for being proud of one’s state, but I think that if we logically weighed the facts (that is, without allowing attachment issues and overboard emotions weigh in our decision), Ohio, that great state that is round on the outside and ‘hi’ in the middle, is indeed the greatest state—“The Heart of It All!”

Let me first start by mentioning the fact that Ohio is well named as being the “heart,” since it is somewhat heart shaped.

But let’s really get into it (this is going to be off of the top of my head, so it won’t be very exhaustive).

Ohio has at least 6 major (decently) cities (the three “C’s”, Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati, Akron, Toledo, and Dayton). Ohio has every type of major sports team (2 baseball, 2 football, 1 basketball, 1 hockey, 1 soccer, etc). It also has one large lake and one of the major US rivers (Erie and the Ohio). It also has everything from foothills to extremely flat plains.

I must also mention that Ohio has at least 3 international airports within its borders. It also has 4 zoos, at least 3 major amusement parks (Cedar Point—the world’s greatest, Geauga Lake, and Paramount’s King’s Island (which has the world’s 2 largest wooden roller coasters—nobody else would dare try to put its customers through such pain).

Ohio is either first or second when it comes to the number of US Presidents to come from a state (I’ve heard VA has had more, but Ohio wasn’t one of the original 13, so that’s pretty good!). We have also had Neil Armstrong, John Glenn, Drew Carey (had to slip him in somewhere), the Wright brothers, Thomas Edison, and a host of other extremely important persons. We also have the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame, a really nice art museum in Cleveland, the world’s 1^st and 3^rd largest vacuums, our own islands, 2 Cosi (Cosis?), and what I’m pretty sure is America’s largest university (OSU is at least very close). And the U of Akron is known for its Polymer Science and Akron used to be huge in tires (and blimps). There is also the fact that Ohioans (for the most part—though we too have been affected by the fall—cf. Southern Ohio or parts of Northern Ohio) speak correct American English and without any accent (Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan however can make this same claim). And, Ohio is a ‘swing state.’ In other words, crucial elections are often decided by Ohio (Ohio had a huge part in the last two).

Ohio also has one of the top 5 symphony orchestras in the hemisphere, the Cleveland Orchestra. Plus, the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Oberlin Conservatory are world famous music schools. Akron is also home to one of the two largest TubaChristmas concerts, averaging about 600 each year.

What other state can claim to have both Ernest Angsley (sp?) and Rod Parsley? We have the world’s second largest Jesus statue (the Solid Rock Church). Mormonism took off in Ohio, and we have the Way International (okay, so all of this isn’t something to be too proud about, but at least we can claim it).

There’s actually more about Ohio than I either have the time to write about or that you would be interested in reading. But I think that that is enough for now.

Yes, Ohio truly is the heart of it all! But there is one more thing about Ohio that I must mention.

There is no other state that is truly able to claim that they experience all four seasons…in one day.