Happy Wanderers take leap day trip

Thirty happy wanderers boarded a new Cardinal Transportation coach at the Drug Mart parking lot on Thursday, Feb. 29, to visit three unique businesses in Columbus. The “Leapin’ Into 2024” excursion was planned by coordinator Linda Ruehrmund.

The first stop was Growlers Dog Bones, a 501(c)3 business housed at Columbus Communitiy College culinary arts building. We were welcomed by Tina Williams, who organizes all her special needs employees and volunteers to create the dog bones. The main ingredients are spent grains from local micro brewers, brown rice flour, and peanut butter. After being baked, they are bagged for sale. After witnessing the process of making these dog treats, we each were able to fill a bag which had a special Happy Wanderers label. There should be a number of happy dogs in Morrow, Marion, and Crawford counties!

After lunch at Roosters, we traveled to North High Street in Columbus to The Flag Lady flag store and The Buckeye Lady store — about a block apart. The Buckeye Lady was featured in the Marion Star and was pleased to see the article which led us to contact her. Her interest in making buckeyes has led her to “stuffing” the buckeyes with additional surprises — many of which are reflective of the season. She also supports rescue dogs with her extra finances from her business.

The Flag Lady is an older establishment which began as a passion for having a U.S. flag made in the U.S. rather than out of country. It has expanded through the years and proudly makes over 10,000 flags of various designs a year. We were able to see how the designs were laid out and how they were carefully sewn and cut by hand. They are proud of the flags that are flown at OSU — especially the very large one.

All three establishments were created from a personal passion and all three have added a creative, positive story which makes for a strong, caring community.

For any information on upcoming trips, call 419-864-7520.

Information submitted by Linda Ruehrmund.