Dedication of the Trella Romine Shelter House.

OHIO State University, Marion Campus September 23, 2011

Distinguished guests, Dean Rose and Friends: We are here today to dedicate this new shelter house on the Larry Yoder Prairie. It replaces the original shelter house that was destroyed by arsonists about five years ago. Now a new fireproof shelter house has been built. I am honored to have it named the Trella Romine Shelter House. My heartfelt thanks to Dean Rose, Dave Claborn, Gary Iams, and the staff who made today possible. It was a long journey to bring us to today. I would like to share some reminiscences with you. For years I had yearned over the strip of prairie plants along the Conrail tracks east of SR 98 just north of the junction with SR 309. My family had discovered the area in the late 1930s after reading about the Killdeer Plains in Dr. Edward Thomass columns in the Columbus Dispatch. I identified big bluestem grass and prairie dock from his descriptions. I knew this area along the railroad tracks must be a prairie remnant, but I had no verification. But that changed in the mid 1970s when Dr. Larry Yoder, botany professor at Ohio State University at Marion, visited me to see my greenhouse. When I asked Dr. Yoder if he would like to see a nearby prairie he seemed skeptical of finding a prairie in Ohio. But he was willing to take a look. At the prairie Dr. Yoder soon identified many prairie species from knowing them on Indiana prairie remnants. Among them he identified blazing star, grey-headed coneflower, black-eyed Susan, and sneezeweedall in bloom. Yes! It was a prairie remnant. This area is now known as the Claridon Prairie. It is named for the township where it is located. Guided tours are held there every summer. Shortly after I told Dr.Yoder about the railroad prairie he noticed a few clumps of big blue stem grass along a ditch here on this campus. This inspired him to create a restored prairie here. Members of his botany class became the Prairie Dogs who collected seeds from the Claridon Prairie. They planted them in the campus greenhouse to propagate prairie plants for the restoration. They were successful as you can see by the prairie surrounding us today. In early 1986 Ted Myers, Associate Dean, shared his concern with me about losing the campus prairie. Dean Hazard was suggesting that by renting it to farmers to plant crops it would produce income. Ted felt that funding for the maintenance of the prairie was needed to prevent that. And how did that happen? We succeeded in persuading the Ohio Prairie Conference to meet at OSUM in 1986. The auditorium was filled to capacity. Speaker after speaker praised the creation of the prairie on the Marion Campus. I was one of
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the speakers at the conference and presented a paper on the Sandusky Plains that includes the area of the campus prairie. At the end of my presentation I pledged my gift for maintenance of the prairie. This began the prairie endowment fund that saved the campus prairie. My thanks to the others who have contributed to it. When Dominc Dotavio became dean of OSUM he created the position of Student Prairie Coordinator. Some of those filling the position have been Cede Siler, Deb Green and Gale Martin--students in Dr. Robert Klips OSUM botany classes. While Gale Martin was the student coordinator she was instrumental in raising community awareness of the OSUM prairie. She created cross-curriculum programs for field trips by students. She planted rows of plants for future expansion and for sale. She started the prairie plant sale that continues to be held on the first Saturday of May for the benefit of the Larry Yoder Prairie. Larry Yoder returned to Marion for that 1986 Ohio Prairie Conference and I was privileged to enjoy his delight in seeing the maturing of the prairie that he had created with the help of his botany classes. He also returned in 2008 when the Campus Prairie was renamed the Larry Yoder OSU Campus Prairie and a bronze marker was erected in his honor. I was hoping he would be here today. I want to also mention Kensel Clutter. He has contributed so much to this prairie restoration. His dedication is outstanding. His knowledge of prairie ecology is boundless. He has been a valuable source of education and advice from the beginning of its establishment. He has given time, seeds, and plants. He has led tours, mowed paths through the prairie, and removed alien plants. I hope in some way his contributions can be remembered. As I look around here today I know that some of you remember that first shelter house on the campus prairie. Now we are making memories with this new shelter house. I am honored to have it bear my name. May it serve many in the years to come as a place where students, and the community, may come to enjoy a unique ecosystem and fellowship. Thanks to all of you who took the time from your busy schedules today to celebrate with me.