We (DePue/DeHoyos) continue or Mid-West tour tomorrow with an appearance tomorrow morning on Toledo 11 News. Later in the afternoon, we will be performing in Bowling Green for a student assembly at Conneaut Grade School. That's the one where all the cool kids went so I'm gonna make sure we have the act extra polished for that one. TODAY'S kids at BGHS, RIDGE SCHOOL and MILTON TWP. were among the finest audiences for whom I've ever performed! We were all loud and together we rocked...

The new Junior High is unbelievable... each class room has a projector built in which is hooked to the internet. The auditorium alone (5.5 million) is perfect for all theater needs... absolutely beautiful. Hugh Caumartin (Superintendent) and Diane Tache (my ex-Science professor) led the tour. It was a very interesting and nostalgic experience... all the while learning that the people of BG are in REALLY good hands when it comes to the public schools. Like... SPOILED. Really. They will be able to brag freely about just the technology alone involved with the new facility for decades!

Many thanks to Stacey Timmons-Higgins, Hugh Caumartin and Scott Ballard for making these visits possible.

I did not even know where MILTON was until today. All of a sudden, there it was... yes, right in the middle of a corn field. I AM a hillbilly. But I'm a hillbilly from Bowling Green, OH and REALLY proud of it. Was a beautiful day... the sun lit up the fields like golden aisles of... well... chopped up... rows... of.

Corn.

...And such was life way back when the school day would finish at Ridge Elementary and the walk to BGSU's Campus began... come rain, shine, snow, blizzard, typhoon, earthquake, etc. My brothers and I trudged on.

The Wood County Fair's ferris-wheel could be seen from my backyard as a child. The fairgrounds are still there... just a little better than before. My neighborhood looks exactly the same that it ever did... only just a bit better... and that does somehow give me hope for the rest of the country. The City Park looks exactly the same, well, with only some minor improvements (and what I mean is that the improvements are already visibly there)... the downtown area is spot-less. Clean livin'? The people are friendly... and for the few who maybe are not, they let you know right outta the gate. It is a blue-collar town and there's no time to be fake with anyone. The "back lot" where all four DePue brothers spent their ever so precious play-time... a small field for which the residents on that block all paid a small tax... IS STILL THERE! I've been around and I've seen a lot... and I'm tellin' ya... these facts are nothing short of miracles... ESPECIALLY right now.

We still have the perfect place for families to raise children and to be part of a rather large community still small enough to allow it's residents to rely on those who have been appointed to help. John Quinn, quite obviously, has done a wonderful job as Mayor.

The city of Bowling Green, OH shines on a level unmatched in it's surrounding environment. Even Toledo looks a bit torn up from the recent financial woes we have all experienced. It almost seems like BG is just simply immune to such negativity! It's own seemingly private world continues to spin creating endless opportunities and positive experiences for the residents of the city.

BG is DEFINITELY growing... but it's the kind of growth that is expected from hard-working taxpayers. Bowling Green is not the exception to the norm. It is the norm. Or at least it SHOULD be the norm. It is the role model for the entire country to follow. Bowling Green, Ohio is a place which has retained EXACTLY the same charm for all of my 37 years.. and so, well there ya go. I love my home.


The Fiddler