How I Came to the Township

I am a lifelong Westerville resident. I grew up across from Otterbein Cemetery and spent much of my youth riding around town on my bicycle. Times were a bit different then, so it wasn't really an issue if I took some change and fed the ducks at Hoover with bread I'd purchased at the Dairy Mart near the corner of Walnut St. I enjoyed dozens of movies over the years in the Glengary Center movie theater - one of my mom's favorite places to take us kids because of the lower ticket prices. During high school I used to drive down Cubbage and East Walnut in the late hours to have some peace and look at the night sky. In 2003, I began dating Leah (m. 2007) and heard stories about her family's experiences swimming at the Glengarry Pool. We bought our "starter house" in in Huber Ridge in 2014 and quickly began making connections with the neighbors on our street. We became members of the HRAA almost immediately because their value to the community was easy to identify. In 2016, we had our daughter (Elie), turning our starter house into our "home," and we began to become invested in the improvements that had initiated shortly after we became residents - even attending the teardown of the Hollywood Theater to make way for the brand new standalone ALDI.

The relationships that we struck in the neighborhood were with some of the most involved members of the community - and most of those relationships stand today. From these individuals I have learned about the history of Huber Ridge, the township, the challenges that have occurred over the years, the persistence and dedication of residents, and some of the missed opportunities. It first seemed that we had "just happened" to make these connections, but it is now quite clear that it was the alignment in ideology around the sense of "community" that drew us to these neighbors. Our small family has joined in to pick up the legacy these individuals worked to maintain before we arrived and become the stewards that the township deserves.