Good Morning Everyone,

It is “Letter Time” again. Wow! A month goes by very quickly. Recently, I’ve been noticing the many wildflowers along the roadsides and especially this morning on my way to work. The sun was behind me and shining out of a clear blue sky made the flowers almost shimmer in their pristine beauty. The combination of the periwinkle-blue color of the Chicory and the greenish-white of the Queen Anne’s Lace created a pretty scene. It is a beautiful morning in the country.

Lots of sweet corn has been harvested and packed into freezer for later use. Although there is still some available. Local peaches are ripe, ready and delicious. Last week there were still some fields dotting the countryside that had shocks of oats, but they may have been threshed by now.

The road (State Route 241) in front of the store has been closed since last Monday (August 6th). They put in a new culvert and hope to be done by Tuesday (tomorrow, August 14th) evening. We hope they will be.

The 56th annual Steam Thresher’s Reunion is to be held at the Harrison County Fairgrounds in Cadiz, OH (a new location) on Saturday & Sunday, September 8th & 9th.

The 32nd Annual Ohio Haiti Benefit Auction is Saturday, September 1st at Mt. Hope, OH. It starts on Friday evening, August 31st with food and a singing program. On Saturday breakfast starts at 6am. The auction starts at 8am with locally made quilts beginning at 10am. Some of the food available is homemade ice-cream, barbecued chicken, pies, date pudding, etc. and also a bake sale. Summer is the time we get a lot of visitors/customers from distant states, etc. in the store.

Just recently, we had folks from Boston, MA; California, Texas, Iowa, and I’m sure there were others that I did not hear about. It is very interesting. Schools will be starting in a week or two which means Summer is coming to a close.

Here is a recipe for a glaze for Fresh Fruit Pie.

• 3 oz. package or 1/3 cup Jello (any flavor to match the fruit you have, like peach or strawberry, etc.)

• ¼ cup clear jel

• ¾ cup sugar

• ¼ cup teaspoon salt

• 2 cups water

Use some of the cold water to dissolve the clear jel. Bring the remaining water, sugar & salt to a boil. Add the clear jel/water mixture and boil for 1 minute, then stir in Jello until dissolved. Cool. When cold stir in 1 quart fresh fruit or less if you don’t have that much. Put in a baked pie shell & put whipped cream on top. Enjoy!

“The greatest leaders are not necessarily the ones who do the greatest things. They are the ones that inspire others to do great things.” – Ronald Reagan

Have a great month,

Sovilla