VISIT TO A MANSION

{ The Sitting Room


I want to share the rest of my tour to the Ohio Governor's Mansion from last Sunday. It is my guess that about 400 people attended the function. I do remember the servers filling up the hot dog trays several times. As photos continued being taken with the guests and dignitaries, a funny thing happened.

I walked toward the tent after photographing the gardens, and found Concha who mentioned that she still had not been able to get the Governor to sign her photo of him in her Ohio book. I knew she was a bit disappointed, so I said, "follow me." I walked straight to the area where the photos were going on and noticed that they were taking a break and each was getting a drink refreshment.

As the Governor moved to the drink table set up next to their special area, I took Concha's book and pen, walked up to Governor Ted Strickland with book open and just politely put it in front of him and said, "please sign this." He looked and saw it was me, immediately took the book and wrote a very nice "Thank you for your support" type tribute and signed it. I thanked him again, and Concha and I walked away with her smiling. I'm not shy in some areas! It was good to know I was able to help accomplish something for someone else.

{ The Library
The Library is off the Sitting Room, and leads into the front door area and staircase up to the private residence.










{ Piano in Library
The Library is a beautiful room with two couches and several chairs, and two walls of bookcases.








{ The Dining Room
The kitchen has two doors off to the right in the photo, both closed off to visitors.








{ The Silver Service Set in the Dining Room









{ The Foyer, Rear Entrance from the Gardens










Last, I have to share the "pet in the pond" - there were several turtles of various sizes in the three ponds outside in the gardens. This one looked well fed!

A good time was had by all and I look forward to visiting again next year. After all, I still have a photo with Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher to get autographed!

A DATE WITH A GOVERNOR

One day I got the mail - and what to my wondering eyes should appear - an invitation to the Governor's Mansion in Bexley, Ohio for the annual picnic. I was one of several people from Washington Court House to receive the honor. Four of us went together, and I drove Sunday afternoon to the busy streets of Columbus. Upon arrival I met a new friend who joined our group - Concha, a long-time friend of my friend Sue.


The Mansion is large and impressive entering through the front gate to check-in and get our nametags. Along the walk to the garden, large stones are engraved with the name of each county in the state. In every direction, many beautiful flowers adorn the landscaped gardens.



The many visitors made their way to the huge tent where the food table was set up. The lines formed to partake of hot dogs, choice of snack-pak chips, cookies, lemonade or water. There was also a line to have your picture taken with Governor Ted Strickland and other dignitaries, as they stood on riser blocks. I joined the line and took along my photo of "Ted and I" taken here in town when the Governor spoke to a group at the Center For Economic Opportunity. The woman who moved us along and set up for the next photo shot said he didn't have time to do autographs. However, as Concha and I moved into place, Ted shook hands with me and I showed him the photo and said, "she said you didn't have time." After the photo was taken, as I was standing directly in front of him, he leaned over and said, "let's do this!" He graciously autographed our photo and he received my greatest thanks.


The gardens were open to tour and take pictures, as was the first floor of what the Governor called "The People's House" in his brief statement after his photos were finished. He gave us a little history of the home and I must say I took too many pictures for one blog entry.





In one area of the garden, stands an embellished stone Ohio State Seal surrounded by greenery. Needless to say, it was an enjoyable afternoon two-hour picnic and tour for my once-in-a-lifetime event. Stay tuned tomorrow for more Mansion comments.