John W. Carey Tribute

John Carey not only had an influence in nearby Sidney, but is the founder of my hometown Anna. He had originally named the town Carey's Station but later changed it to Anna in honor of his daughter.



Anna is also home to the local High school's Anna Rockets as noted by the town water tower.



The latest town renovation was a complete overhaul of the main street through town. Street lights now escort you from one end of town to the other.

There are two churches in the town, Anna Methodist and St. Jacob Lutheran pictured here.



There is a placard memorial that gives the details of our founding father beside the Village Hall.

In the town of Sidney just 10 miles south of Anna, Carey built Carey's Hall along with the local jail and did work on the Big Four Railroad Bridge.



"The Old Jail" was closed in 1994 when a new facility was opened. The jail was operational from 1875 till then.



The "Big Four Bridge" is named for the four major railroads that had ownership at one time (Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis). It truly is an engineering feet and back in the day people would come just to see this marvel in concrete.



The bridge spans the Great Miami River and two roads.



Check out what Rich Wallace a local historian has to say about the Big 4 Bridge for more information on this unique landmark.

Anna Homecoming

Like a lot of communities my hometown of Anna has an annual festival complete with parade. The homecoming queen competition is huge and is where the festival gets its name--"Anna Homecoming".



This year my wife and I made our annual pilgrimage with our grandchildren. We have seven; three girls and four boys. We missed the parade and the kids are more interested in games and rides than they are homecoming competitions so I have no pictures of those events.



This is definitely a kid friendly event, with rides for young and old.

My granddaughters tried out he face painting booth.



They rode every ride there with the Musical Swings, Tempest and the Fun Slide being their favorites.







As you can see the girls have a bit of a competitive streak in them.

They even had a small coaster. It took several times through but two of the boys finally got to ride in the first car.



One of the boys went in the Run-A-Muck fun house and never came out. We waited and waited and finally had to track him down. We found him hiding in the ball pit.



While Nanna and the kids took a break for some food and drink, I cruised over to the car show and took these.



How cool to find a Buckeye Car for the My Hometown Ohio blog.



I just loved this patriotic Dodge and who doesn't love Betty Boop.



This last one is my favorite night shot.



These community festivals are a great way to get out and have some good ole fashion family fun. We make the trip every year and every year the kids can't wait to do it again.

Left Click on any Image for are larger view.

Anna Street Lights at Night

Anna Ohio, is a small community just north of Sidney. The most recent town improvement project was the addition of street lights on the main street through town.



Some of us think they may have overdone it a bit.