SYMMES TWP. - Camp Dennison is one of those timeless towns that seems closer to 1953 than 2003.
On Tuesday, the small community will be featured in The Enquirer's Great Neighborhoods section on Loveland and Symmes Township.
The public is invited to attend a community meeting from 6:30-8 p.m. Tuesday at Loveland Intermediate School.
On the eastern edge of Hamilton County, Camp Dennison is an intriguing place that was originally named Germany and later Grand Valley.
The town was settled by German immigrants, whose historic stone buildings still stand. The Christian Waldschmidt House is now a museum. Another building of the early 1800s houses the Ohio Civil War Museum.
In 1861, the Union army chose the town as a training site, called Camp Dennison.
During the war, Confederate soldiers who died in the camp hospital were temporarily buried in Waldschmidt Cemetery. "At the end of the war," said Judy Havill, a local historian, "the Confederate bodies were moved to Camp Chase in Columbus and the Union (bodies) to Spring Grove Cemetery."
But the history of the town didn't end with the war.
"What many people do not know is that after Camp Dennison was disbanded, farmers who had leased their lands to the government sold much of this same land to land speculators," Havill said. "The idea was that the area could become a suburb of Cincinnati ... but a military name for the planned village was not thought appealing, so the community named itself Grand Valley.
"Most people including myself thought this name was short-lived. However, I was able to secure copies of postal records from the National Archives and our area was Grand Valley from 1870-1882."
What happened the bucolic name?
"The railroad continued to use Camp Dennison on the train schedules," Havill said, "so in 1882 the name was officially changed back to Camp Dennison."
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HAMILTON-The seventh annual Critter Caper, a 5K (3.2-mile) run or walk, will be held at 10 a.m. Sept. 20 at Joyce Park in Hamilton in Butler County.
Proceeds will benefit the Animal Friends Humane Society, 5225 Trenton Road, Trenton 45067.
On-site registration will be from 8:30-9:45 a.m. Sept. 20. It will cost $30 for adults and $20 for kids. Or you may pre-register by Sept. 8 for $25 for adults and $15 for kids (15 and younger).
Information: www.animalfriendshs.org.
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NEW RICHMOND - The Antique, Collectible and Curiosity Fair will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 6 at Union Square Park in this Clermont County town.
Information: 553-4146.
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OXFORD -- The 16th annual Oxford Summer Music Festival will end its Thursday night concert series with performances by Stagger Lee on Aug. 21 and John Kogge & The Lonesome Strangers on Aug. 28.
Both concerts will be held from 7:30-10 p.m. at the John W. Altman Performance Pavilion in the Uptown Parks.
If you haven't been to Oxford in the last few years, you'll notice a big change. Gone is the old water tower. In its place is the new pavilion.
Information: 523-8687. Or: www.oxfordchamber.org.
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LOVELAND - Congratulations to the Loveland Historical Society Museum for receiving the History Outreach Excellence Award from the Ohio Association of Historical Societies and Museums.
The award is for the museum's Morgan's Raid exhibit, which runs through Sept. 6.
Curator Jan Beller credited the success to a dedicated group of volunteers and to Lester Horwitz, a Loveland resident and author of The Longest Raid of the Civil War.
The award will be presented Nov. 8 at the Columbus Athenaeum.
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MASON - The Mason Public Library in Warren County conducts a monthly book discussion group for a general audience.
The Tuesday Night Group meets at 7 p.m. on the third Tuesday of the month at the library, 200 Reading Road.
On Aug. 19, members will discuss Gardens of Kyoto by Kate Walburg.
Discussions are scheduled through May 18, 2004.
Information: 398-2711.
Randy McNutt's community column appears on Saturday. Write to him at the Enquirer, 7700 Service Center Drive, West Chester OH 45069. Telephone: 755-4158. Fax: 755-4150. E-mail: Rmcnutt@enquirer.com.
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