Marathon Pundit: Ronald Reagan Trail: Ohio, Illinois

Wednesday, July 06, 2011

Ronald Reagan Trail: Ohio, Illinois

Ohio, Illinois is the last hitchhiking spot on the Ronald Reagan Trail. Like Princeton, the subject of my previous post, and Walnut, the next stop, it's in Bureau County. Ohio, with 540 residents, is the smallest town on the trail. But it's arguably the most changed among the trail towns since Dutch and his brother Moon (Neil) stood at the intersection of Illinois routes 92 and 26 looking for rides to their home in Dixon.

Ohio is surrounded by windmills. Over 100 of them were built last year. Even the nearsighted Reagan couldn't miss them. I'm wondering why the windmills were left out of Ohio Reagan Trail YouTube segment. Otherwise their videos are quite good. On the other hand, perhaps the videos were made last year--although they were uploaded just last month.

Wind power is not economically feasible without massive government subsidies, which is why I'm certain our 40th president wouldn't like 21st century Ohio. Not that Reagan didn't embrace technology. He did. Except for John F. Kennedy, no president was a stronger supporter of the space program than the Gipper. Our current president loves wind and "green" energy and their federal subsidies, but he's killing our manned space program.

West of Ohio on Route 92 is Walnut, where Reagan's Eureka classmates Elvin "Pud" Fordham, Eddie Wilson, and Jeff Livey lived. According to the Reagan Trail web site, they co-owned a 1922 Buick and would stuff up to ll people into the car, which they purchased for $10.

The mailbox and the assorted artwork on the lower right is my favorite spot in Ohio.

Here's the aforementioned Reagan Trail YouTube entry on Ohio:

And I almost forgot. Today is Nancy Reagan's 90th birthday. Happy birthday, Mrs. Reagan! Although she was born in New York City, the former first lady, like her husband, grew up in Illinois.

Earlier posts:

Princeton
Henry
Chillicothe