One of the most enjoyable things we do in our office each month — it’s
all enjoyable, of course, but this is among the most enjoyable — is choose our cover image. Because our mission is to capture the beauty, the adventure and the fun of life in Ohio, selecting just a dozen ways to convey the character of the state over the course of the year can also be daunting. So, once a year, we cheat.
When we launched our Best Hometowns feature three years ago, we decided to take the unprecedented step of creating five separate regional covers — there’s a sixth for newsstands and out-of-state subscribers — with each tailored to the winning hometown in each region. In that way, we both personalize the issue and give ourselves the opportunity to celebrate more great places to live on our cover.
We also decided that the cover artwork would provide the basis for the actual awards we present to the winning towns. We change the style and approach each year to make the awards as unique as the towns themselves.
When we presented our art director, Lesley Blake, with this year’s winning lineup of remarkable hometowns — Athens, Chagrin Falls, Dublin, Perrysburg and Troy — she said that only something truly special would do. Her idea: Get in touch with our friends at Ohio’s own Cat’s Meow Village, nationally famous creator of wooden keepsakes, and ask their artisans to collaborate.
We could not be more pleased with the outstanding quality of the result.
The folks at Cat’s Meow — which, incidentally, is in Wooster, one of our winning hometowns for 2007 — enthusiastically responded to the project and created memorable pieces for our memorable towns. We are grateful to everyone who helped, and we extend particular thanks to Brent Rice, relationship development manager, who coordinated the effort.
We’re confident you will enjoy their work as much as we enjoyed working with them. For more information about The Cat’s Meow Village and their products, please check the Web site,
www.catsmeow.com, or call 330/264-1377.