"A lot of energy came from sharing stories and resources," said John Winnenberg, a community organizer from Southern Perry County. He was talking about one of the first meetings sponsored by Ohio's Hill Country Heritage Area Program. Winnenberg is a member of a group that had been trying for years to promote tourism, save local history and plan events in several former mining towns. "In a region that is spread out and sometimes parochial, these meetings helped put our individual efforts into perspective," he said.

Ohio's Hill Country Heritage Area Program is a new project that hopes to foster effective planning and community development in the state's Appalachian counties by identifying, conserving and developing cultural, recreational and economic resources of the state's southeastern region. The Ohio Arts Council is leading the administrative efforts.

"We see our role as a matchmaker and facilitator," says Pat Henahan, Ohio Arts Council Design Arts Program coordinator. "We help local organizers with communication, coordination and collaboration. It is not always funding that they need. But if they receive funding, the effectiveness of the resources is enhanced by networking."

Development of heritage areas is gaining wide acceptance throughout the country as a way to encourage sustainable community development, promote the arts and unique culture of place, encourage historic preservation, promote travel and tourism, improve transportation and develop outdoor recreation and conservation efforts.

There are approximately 150 heritage initiatives nationwide. As part of this effort, the Ohio Arts Council has become a member of the National Center for Heritage Development. The Ohio program will be part of the national group's biennial conference agenda next month in Chicago.

The two-year-old Ohio Hill Country Heritage Area Program made its first annual Community Assistance Awards last October. "The amounts are not large, but the impact is," Henahan says. For example, the Muskingum River Parkway will use a $1,000 grant to create an audio-guided tour of a four-county state park that incorporates the only remaining hand-operated lock and dam system in the United States. Other efforts include converting a railroad depot in Haydenville to a local history museum and a statewide effort to identify and document Ohio sites associated with the Underground Railroad.

"Because of the Hill Country Heritage Area Program, several projects are getting off the ground that never would have happened otherwise," says Henahan. "And we have heightened awareness of the Ohio Arts Council in a culturally rich region of the state."

The program hosts its next quarterly meeting May 15 in the Trimball-Glouster area of Athens County. New partnerships and information sharing often result from these regional workshops, held in different locations across the 31 counties served by the program. Applications for the next round of grants are due April 1. For information call 614/466-2613.