Canal Winchester Messenger - June 12th, 2022
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www.columbusmessenger.com <strong>June</strong> 12, <strong>2022</strong> - CANAL WINCHESTER MESSENGER - PAGE 9<br />
Metro Parks wildlife advice<br />
THEY<br />
Continued from page 8<br />
Spring is here and its the season for calls about orphaned<br />
and abandoned animals. Metro Parks is unable<br />
to rehabilitate wildlife, but there are some steps you can<br />
take.<br />
According to Metro Parks officials, if you find an animal<br />
in a park that is orphaned, abandoned, or injured,<br />
leave it alone and call the ranger cell number, posted<br />
on bulletin boards and around the park. Sometimes, babies<br />
are left alone while mom is looking for food, and<br />
will return to the nest, other times they will require<br />
care or monitoring. Do not take them out of the park.<br />
If you find an animal in your yard, leave it be. Call<br />
the Ohio Wildlife Center 614-793-9453 and leave a message,<br />
or visit their website at ohiowildlifecenter.org for<br />
information on how to help.<br />
Photo courtesy of the<br />
Pierson family<br />
Bill Pierson (at right)<br />
working on the<br />
Shade Covered<br />
Bridge.<br />
Sadly, on March 9,<br />
<strong>2022</strong>, the Shade<br />
Bridge collapsed. To<br />
read about why this<br />
significant piece of<br />
history will be lost<br />
forever, go to<br />
savetheshade.org.<br />
For information<br />
about the fate of<br />
Misty Valley, go to<br />
savetheshade.org.<br />
For information email<br />
pierson0323@gmail.<br />
com.<br />
Bill Pierson passed<br />
away in July 2001.<br />
early 2001, led by the Piersons’ enthusiasm as members<br />
of Friends of LPR, fund raising began. Bill’s vision was<br />
to move this cabin from Clear Creek Metro Park to Alley<br />
Park where it would become the backdrop for Frontier<br />
Spirit, the Pumpkin Walk, and Santa in the Park. He<br />
never dwelled on his past accomplishments, but always<br />
looked ahead to what needed to be preserved next.<br />
Sadly, Bill passed away in July 2001. Betty then<br />
began a 13 year campaign of advocating and fund raising<br />
to see this project through to the end. She encountered<br />
many setbacks, but she was relentless and the<br />
dedicated Alley Park employees, along with family<br />
friend Bill Sands, completed the Green Blanpied House.<br />
In October 2016, it was dedicated to Bill and Betty.<br />
When Sugar Grove formed a development committee,<br />
they called on the Piersons. Bill and Dave Nessley,<br />
along with Betty and Jean Fox restored the original<br />
1830 jail in the village. Bill asked local artist Lois Bondurant<br />
to paint a mural of how Sugar Grove looked in<br />
the 1800s. She did a beautiful job of depicting the<br />
canals, trains, and buggies. I<br />
In 2004, Sugar Grove gained a visitors center in the<br />
form of a C&O Railroad caboose. For many years, Bill<br />
and Monsignor Geiger had searched for one. With help<br />
from Kathy LeVeck and the Fairfield County Visitors<br />
Bureau, they were able to secure grants and funding.<br />
The development committee purchased one of the 26 remaining<br />
red cabooses out of 100 made by the American<br />
Car & Foundry Company. A flowering crab apple tree<br />
planted beside the caboose was dedicated in memory of<br />
Bill Pierson.<br />
Betty continued to give back to her community by becoming<br />
a Meals on Wheels board member. She volunteered<br />
weekly as a Twig member working in the gift<br />
shop at Fairfield Medical Center. In 2006, she became<br />
a founding member of “A Priest and Six Old Ladies”<br />
along with Barbara Uhl, Jean Fox and Father Geiger.<br />
These volunteers, along with David Fey, raised $52,000<br />
to bring a sculpture park to Berne Township. They commissioned<br />
artist Ric Leichliter to create a red tailed<br />
hawk that weighed 2,500 pounds stands on a 30 foot column.<br />
More sculptures were added, including white tail<br />
deer and wild turkey gobbler and hen.<br />
After Bill’s death, Betty and her children continued<br />
to maintain Misty Valley and kept the historical structures<br />
open to the public. In 2013, Betty’s last wish was<br />
to leave this earth from her home overlooking the Shade<br />
Bridge and its beautiful surroundings. Hospice and her<br />
children made that wish happen. Then came the hard<br />
decision about how best to keep the Piersons’ dream<br />
alive. The sale was completed in 2015.<br />
Bill and Betty Pierson did not like the spotlight. They<br />
didn’t do it for the notoriety or to make money. They<br />
preferred to quietly preserve history for future generations<br />
to enjoy. Separately they accomplished much, together<br />
they were unstoppable for 51 years. They left<br />
Fairfield County a better place than they found it.<br />
Sadly, on March 9, <strong>2022</strong>, the Shade Bridge collapsed.<br />
To read about why this significant piece of history will<br />
be lost forever, go to savetheshade.org.<br />
For information about the fate of Misty Valley, go to<br />
savetheshade.org. The family can be reached at pierson0323@gmail.com.