Upcoming Conestoga event on February 7

Conestoga is the "Friends" group of the Ohio History Center, and we do interesting tours within the state, and  also do a Spring fund raiser each year to support the Center.  Sometimes to beat the winter blahs, we have an inside Columbus tour.

On Thursday, Feb. 7, our program will be tours of the Judicial Center and the LeVeque building that we just heard about at the Columbus AIA program 2 weeks ago. It begins at 1 p.m. at the Thomas J. Moyer* Judicial Center/Ohio Supreme Court Building at 65 S. Front St. in downtown Columbus. Our newsletter reports:

"The renowned art and architecture of the Judicial Center creates a building that, while functional, also proudly depicts Ohio history. Its inscriptions and symbols, along with its many murals, celebrate all who shaped the state: the native peoples, explorers, soldiers, presidents, jurists and artists.

The first stop on the tour will be the Kingsley A. Taft Map Room, featuring a well-preserved collection of 16 original, historically significant maps donated by Conestoga member Sheldon A. Taft, son of the late Chief Justice. This collection, which is not usually available for viewing without an appointment, is the product of nearly 25 years of research by Sheldon Taft. Sheldon will be there to share the history of the collection, which dates back to the mid-17th century. In addition, Conestoga Steering Committee member Marilyn Goodman will serve as a tour guide for the Center visit that will also include the court chambers, hearing rooms and Law Library.

After leaving the Judicial Center, program participants will walk to the Hotel LeVeque for a guided tour of its newly renovated spaces. We’ll hear a presentation on the history of the iconic tower, view the original architectural model and visit one of the luxury suites. The tour will end at The Keep Kitchen and Bar."

A personal note: *Moyer, for whom the Center was named, was the longest serving state Supreme Court Justice in the U.S.  and he died suddenly in April, 2010. We moved to Ohio in June, 1967 and were invited to attend First Community Church. Since we weren't members we joined the fall 1967 membership class at FCC.  In our class and sitting at our table was Tom Moyer, who would later become the Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court. He was my age (28), so I don't recall what his position was then, but he had only received his law degree in 1964, so he probably wasn't famous. The only reason I remember him as one of the two people in that class I remember from 50 years ago is because our best man's name was Tom Moir, pronounced the same. Also in the new members class was a woman named Joanne.  She and her husband were in Couples Circle 50, but she wasn't a member of the church, so she was also taking the class.  Through them, we were invited to join their small group of about 8 couples, through which we then met our lawyer and our dentist, found a babysitter in the neighborhood where we later bought a house, and  many lovely couples we socialized with once a month for 8 years until we joined Upper Arlington Lutheran Church in the mid-1970s.