Logan County Relay for Life Annual Quarter Auction

Everyone loves a friendly competition, especially one quarter at a time. This year's Relay for Life Quarter Auction was even bigger than last year with paddles selling out in just a few days of announcing the event!

If you've never been to a quarter auction before, here's the scoop... you WIN AWESOME PRIZES for JUST $0.25 A BID!! There are four categories for the evening. Gift baskets that range from the $25 price range, $25-$50, $50-$75 and $100 and up.

If the item up for auction is in the $25 category, it's just a twenty-five cent bid for each paddle you have. If the item is in the $100 category it's a 4-quarter bid for each paddle you have. Each paddle has a matching number in the hopper. If you're paddle number is pulled from the hopper and you placed a bid for that item, then you win the current item up for auction. Pretty simple, right? AND TONS OF FUN!

The 2nd Annual Logan County Relay for Life Quarter Auction was held Wednesday, March 20, 2013. Indian Lake Outfitters was asked to donate a little swag to help with the cause so we decided to participate full-throttle and offered four great gift baskets for the auction.

If you're interested in joining our Relay for Life Team or would like more information on how to get involved, don't hesitate to give us a call!

This post is brought to you by Indian Lake Outfitters, your outdoor retail connection for hunting, fishing, camping, archery, marine, firearms and ammunition. We’d love to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter!

"We're in the People Business"

My friend has this line that she likes to say and it goes like this... "We're in the People Business". (There's more to it than that, but it comes later.)

The cool thing about my friend, and Indian Lake Outfitters, is that we're in the people business too. Although I'm selling worms for a living and Carrie is selling insurance, the most important part of either is YOU. With out YOU as loyal customers we couldn't do what we enjoy on a daily basis and we surely couldn't do it well.

If you haven't figured it out, my friend's name is Carrie, sometimes referred to as the Insurance Goddess. Carrie works at Alan Galvez Insurance where she sells all different forms of insurance on the personal and commercial level. Visit their website, www.galvezinsurance.com for amazing resources like their informational newsletter, Q and A about insurance, a comprehensive terms glossary, latest agency news or read the blog - Confessions of an Insurance Goddess.

Again, we as Indian Lake Outfitters can share another common point with Galvez Insurance...we're both family owned and operated businesses in Logan County. We understand the importance of being rooted, having a local agent, someone you can trust, and someone that knows your situation. Galvez Insurance is just that, the reason we'd like to refer them to you.

How cool is this?! When you call Carrie for a quote, tell her we sent you and you'll receive another AWESOME reward, a $10 gift card to either Sweet Aromas or Peach Tree Books and Gifts, two other local businesses in Logan County. That's it! No gimmicks or strings attached.

So here's the rest of Carrie's line, "We're in the People Business. We just happen to sell insurance." While at Indian Lake Outfitters, we ask you to "Release Your Inner Outdoors" but you'll probably hear "We've got Worms" a lot more often!


This post is brought to you by Indian Lake Outfitters, your outdoor retail connection for hunting, fishing, camping, archery, marine, firearms and ammunition. We’d love to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter!

Browning 4-H Member Promotion

Attention 4-H Members - The Browning Cash Back Promo has been extended! 

We offer several Browning shotgun selections on our web-site to improve your 4-H experience. 

This post is brought to you by Indian Lake Outfitters, your outdoor retail connection for hunting, fishing, camping, archery, marine, firearms and ammunition. We’d love to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter!

Taste of Logan County Relay for Life Event

Who's excited about the upcoming Taste of Logan County Relay for Life event?

WE ARE!

The event, to be held at the Ohio Hi-Point Career Center, will be Tuesday, March 13th, beginning at 5:00. If you've never been, here's what to expect - loads of fun, lots of food and awesome auctions - all for a good cause.

The night will consist of several area restaurants and caterers set-up inside the Career Center Cafeteria for you to indulge your tastebuds, hence the title, "Taste of Logan County". After you've tried all that hospitality has to offer, you'll make your way to the raffle and auction center.

Local Relay for Life Teams have donated several gift baskets and packages to be auctioned off during the event. All the money raised goes back to the team that donated the items and the funds stay local within Logan County.

Team ILO has donated a Personal Defense Package valued at over $200! The package includes one Concealed Carry Weapons Training Course, a pistol ammo case, two boxes of critical defense ammo, a pepper spray key chain, cleaning patches, ear protection, eye protection and a holster. So, let your guard down for the night and join us for the Relay for Life Taste of Logan County!

Event tickets are $10 at the door or $8 pre-sale at Indian Lake Outfitters or FastTrack Signs. Your admission ticket includes 6 food vouchers to tempt your tummy.

For more information about donating or joining a local team, click here.

This post is brought to you by Indian Lake Outfitters, your outdoor retail connection for hunting, fishing, camping, archery, marine, firearms and ammunition. We’d love to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter!

Local Christmas in Lakeview, Ohio

For the last four years the Lakeview Business Group has partnered with the Indian Lake Area Chamber of Commerce to offer a local parade through Downtown Lakeview. This year's parade was themed "It's a Magical Christmas at Indian Lake". We at Indian Lake Outfitters wanted to support the local hometown event as much as possible so we submitted an entry in the 4th Annual Lakeview Christmas Parade where we were awarded a plaque for "Best of Theme".

After the parade, the Lakeview Business Group sponsored the Lakeview Christmas Event for area residents to stroll the shops of Downtown Lakeview, enjoy a horse and carriage ride through the city and enter to win numerous prizes. Residents could also participate in a scavenger hunt and take the kids to visit Santa at Osgood bank in exchange for a canned food items. Area businesses offered door prizes, drawings and refreshments as well.

It was a great evening in Downtown Lakeview of Indian Lake - thank you to all who came!

This post is brought to you by Indian Lake Outfitters, your outdoor retail connection for hunting, fishing, camping, archery, marine, firearms and ammunition. We’d love to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter!

Outreach to Indian Lake for Christmas in the Park 2011

It’s that time of year again for the annual Logan County Neighborhood Outreach Christmas in the Park at the Indian Lake State Park. If you haven’t seen the light display, it’s a must see! Several area businesses and organizations donate their time to build a display of holiday cheer for local residents and visitors to enjoy. With over 40 businesses on display and two roads of campsites, the program continues to grow each year marking 2011 the 5th Annual Christmas in the Park.

All proceeds from the event benefit the children and families from the Western, Chippewa and Russells Point neighborhoods through the Outreach Centers. Outreach centers partner with neighbors and residents to facilitate and organize programs that promote stability, children safety and strong communities. Locally, the activities include monthly meetings, holiday events, birthday parties, family outings, mentor programs, nutrition programs, job training and homework help. For more information on the Outreach Center, contact Drew Shick or Aaron Pool at 937-843-9283.

Christmas in the Park is open to the public on December 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 16th, 17th, 18th and 23rd from 6-9 at the Indian Lake State Park Campground. The group is asking for a $5 donation per car load that tours the display. Bring the whole family, drive through a Winter Wonderland of twinkling light displays, enjoy the show and send us a picture of you and the family in front of the Indian Lake Outfitters scene. Santa doesn't like to duck hunt alone!


This post is brought to you by Indian Lake Outfitters, your outdoor retail connection for hunting, fishing, camping, archery, marine, firearms and ammunition. We’d love to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter!

2011 Willard O'Brien Youth Pheasant Hunt

Behold, the Annual Williard O'Brien Memorial Youth Pheasant Hunt sponsored by the Logan County Pheasants Forever Chapter #285, Logan County Whitetails Unlimited, Logan County Fish & Game and Indian Lake Outfitters.

Pheasants Forever is a non-profit conservation organization, dedicated to the preservation and restoration of wildlife habitat. PF believes that the pheasant and all wildlife can be appreciated and admired by hunters and non-hunters alike. Located in the heart of Logan County, the Logan County Fish & Game offers 109 acres of ample opportunities for sportsmen and women to enjoy their favorite fishing and shooting sports. Whitetails Unlimited strongly endorse the idea and practice that those who choose to hunt should do so in a safe, legal, moral and ethical manner, always making an effort to conserve and maintain our natural resources. While the ethical hunter is a conservationist, and can actually improve the conditions for those who follow, the unethical hunter can destroy not only the image of outdoorsmen but also the environment, thereby depriving future generations of hunters and non-hunters the beauties of nature that we can experience today.

Recognizing the need to provide young hunters with the appropriate hunting educational opportunities, the Logan County Pheasants Forever Chapter, the Fish & Game Club and the Logan County Whitetails Unlimited is presenting the 2011 YOUTH PHEASANT HUNT on Saturday, October 29, 2011.

The Youth Pheasant Hunt, which will be conducted in a morning hunting session, will expose the young hunter to all elements of an upland bird hunt. The participants will meet at the Logan County Fish & Game to discuss hunting safety and ethics. After this short meeting, the participants will be given the chance to warm up their shooting skills on the trap range. Following a brief shooting and instruction session, each hunter will meet with their guides and caravan to the hunting sites. The hunt will last one to two hours, or until each participant has reached his or her limit, whichever occurs first. After the hunt is completed, the hunting party will return to the Fish & Game for participants to share stories and photos and receive hands-on demonstrations on how to clean their birds.

Lunch will be provided to both hunters and their guardians. Over the lunch period, the participants will be introduced to the Fish & Game Club, Pheasants Forever and Whitetails Unlimited at the national and local levels. Door prizes will be drawn and recognition of volunteers and landowners made.

Youth Pheasant Hunt Participants must be age 10 through 17, have a valid 2011-2012 Ohio Youth Hunting License and be accompanied by a non-hunting adult. To obtain an Ohio Youth Hunting License, one must first attend and pass a Hunter Education Course. For course information, please contact the ODNR at 1-800-WILDLIFE. Ideally, the participant will be accompanied by a parent, relative, or close friend who is a licensed and experienced hunter. If such an adult is not available, the young hunter will be paired up with a Mentor who is an experienced hunter. Non-hunting parents are encouraged to participate in all aspects of the training and the hunt.

If you have a son or daughter, or know of any young boys or girls who would like to participate in the Youth Pheasant Hunt, please have them complete an application available from Indian Lake Outfitters at 937.842.1934. Spaces are limited with first time hunters being given priority. The hunt will be limited to approximately 30 youths.

At the Peak of it ALL!

As a business owner, you come across some extreme opportunities, meet extroidanary people and build some ultimate relationships but I think it's what lies within yourself that brings those highlights to life. What lies within yourself comes alive because of your upbringing, your surroudings and your support system. All of which equal YOUR COMMUNITY!

With in Logan County, you have so many beautiful natural resources, lots of fantastic history and phenomeal support to build a foundation on. Have you recently had the pleasure to experience Campbell Hill, the highest point in Ohio at an elevation of 1549.09 feet?  If not, you really should consider the venture.

The foundation of Campbell High exists at the Ohio Hi-Point Career Center, which was at one time the location for the 664th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron during the Cold War. Both sites are identified with historical markers, open to the public from dawn to dusk and a free attraction right here in YOUR COMMUNITY!

The hike to the summit is fairly easy and handicap accessible - similar to Indian Lake Outfitters, your outdoor retail connection for hunting, fishing, camping, archery and marine...Indian Lake Outfitters - Release YOUR inner outdoors right here in YOUR COMMUNITY and be AT THE PEAK OF IT ALL!

Archery Rental with the Boneheaded Tourist at Indian Lake

Indian Lake is the perfect vacation or relocation destination for lots of obvious reasons - the scenery, state parks, unique dining options, 5800 acres of water, 27 miles of shoreline AND INDIAN LAKE OUTFITTERS!! That's right, Indian Lake Outfitters, your retail connection for hunting, fishing, camping, archery and marine; just two blocks from the spillway.

We had the opportunity to entertain Ohio Traveler's Boneheaded Tourist for a few days. The Boneheaded Tourist, also referred to as BT, is a puppet created by Frank Satullo of Ohio Traveler for the purpose of highlighting tourism throughout Ohio. The Logan County Convention and Tourist Bureau hosted BT for his vacation in Logan County. During his week long stay, they brought him to Indian Lake and made a stop at Indian Lake Outfitters to check out the shop and test BT's archery ability.

As you know, we at Indian Lake Outfitters have an outdoor retail shop but we also opened an indoor archery range in November of 2010. The range is climate controlled for comfortable shooting year round, has enough space for up to 8 shooters at one time and offers a 20 yard shot into state of the art 4x4 Block targets. The beauty of the addition to Indian Lake Outfitters is that it doesn't matter if you're a first time archer or experienced pro, we have the knowledge and equipment to assist you with our complete line of shop tools, bow press and archery rental equipment.

Because BT was a first time archer and traveling the county, he didn't have any equipment. NOT A PROBLEM!! Our rental bow program includes all the necessary accessories needed to try the sport and participate regardless of skill level. We even offer instruction and assistance. So, when you're planning your next trip in the area whether it be business or pleasure and you're looking for something unique to do, stop into Indian Lake Outfitters and enjoy some time in our Indoor Archery Range. We can offer rental equipment that includes range time or you're always welcome to bring your own equipment and purchase range time for as little as 30 minutes, by the hour or we offer annual memberships that allow you to shoot at your convenience.

We enjoyed having the Boneheaded Tourist and hope to see you enjoy the same experience at Indian Lake Outfitters where you can release your inner outdoors!

$5000 Publisher's Giveaway

WOW! What an incredible experience to be a part of - and there really was a winner!

The publisher, Lane Moon, of the Urbana Daily Citizen, Mechanicsburg Telegram, Indian Lake Current and River Current, offered a $5000 Publisher's Giveaway from February 24 to March 24th.  With 38 participating businesses, Indian Lake Outfitters was pleased to participate and draw one lucky semi-finalist.

Our winner, Kay McMillen, along with the other finalists were present at the Grand Prize Drawing on Saturday, April 9th. Held in the Michael Farms Horticulture building of the Champaign County Fairgrounds, we were offered great food and refreshments and the opportunity to meet and greet with other businesses in the Logan and Champaign County area.

The excitement continued as a Reverse Raffle determined Sandra Smith, to be the last "woman" standing as the Winner of the $5000 Giveaway! Sandra's entry was turned into Pam's House of Beauty and drawn as a semi-finalists.

Congratulations to Sandra on winning the giveaway and thank you to everyone that stopped into Indian Lake Outfitters with their entry forms to participate in the drawing.

Geocaching for Earth Day at Girl Scout Camp Myeerah

Happy Earth Day!!

Indian Lake Outfitters partnered with the Girl Scouts of Western Ohio to celebrate Earth Day at the Girl Scout's Camp Myeerah last Saturday. We teamed up with the Insurance Goddess, Carrie Reynolds, of Alan Galvez Insurance to educate the young girls on the importance of "Cache In - Trash Out" with litter pick-up and geocaching.

Geocaching, coined in 2000, combines location-based gaming, social networking, treasure hunting, GPS navigation and outdoor recreation. With more than 1.4 million geocaches hidden and 4 million users worldwide, geocaching continues to grow in popularity across the United States and here locally in Logan County. Did you know that Indian Lake Outfitters is the only place in Logan County that carries Geocaching supplies?

Donated by Galvez Insurance, the litter bag was full of fun educational pieces for each girl to take home as a souvenir, like the "geocaching.com" sticker created by FastTrack Signs. Then we stuffed a 2-sided Geocaching Fact Sheet inside, along with some other information about Indian Lake Outfitters and Alan Galvez Insurance. 

Alan Galvez Insurance is located at 134 West Columbus Ave in Bellefontaine, Ohio. For questions or policies regarding Life, Auto, Health, Home or Commercial coverage, please contact the Goddess at 937-592-4871.

To learn more geocaching basics, join us next Saturday, April 30th, at the Logan County District Library in Bellefontaine for a FREE demonstration titled "Let's go Geocaching" beginning at 2:00 in the AcuSport Community Room.

The Rewards and Reasons to Geocaching

A year ago this week I discovered a hobby that would take me to so many interesting locations, I can't begin to describe them all here. I upgraded my pre Vietnam-era cell phone to a brand new smart phone with GPS capabilities and an application known as c:geo. After I set up my free account on the Ground Speak website, I was able to log in, on my phone and began seeing geocaches all around me!

I ventured out to a small roadside park The Hills of Hyland in a foot of snow and walked around staring at my phone until I came upon a knot hole in a small tree... bingo! A small plastic container wrapped in camouflaged duct tape contained many small trinkets that users trade out, as well as a log to sign. It was so interesting to think how many other people had taken the same journey and found this hidden treasure. I suddenly became part of a secret society of "geocachers". Thus became the addictive treasure. Suddenly I found myself walking through every nearby park looking in knot holes, under bridges and every other nook and cranny of public spaces. I soon found myself having to travel further to find new caches and discovering all kinds of hidden natural wonders.

One of the first such that our entire family took part in was Tree House, a very fun/unexpected discovery in a nearby state park. Many of these "hidden" treasures we have driven by 100 times and had no idea they were there. One thing that most every geocacher will tell you is that "they would have never discovered this site/location without geocaching". Another great example is an awesome water fall we discovered beside a major highway in Columbus of all places! While the cache itself La Cascada Escondida (The Hidden Waterfall) is pretty boring, the waterfall we discovered while looking for the cache was amazing! What a suprise to hear the roar of a waterfall while walking down a sidewalk in an urban neighborhood. One of Carly's favorite geocaches was Just Desserts Geocache which was a puzzle/multi-cache, where we had to find clues in a cemetery to find the final hiding location. The "cache" had cooking themed prizes, pretty cool! We also found "Freddy Kruger's" head stone! Would we have ever taken the family to see a cemetary in St. Marys, Ohio and see that without geocaching? Of course not!

After discovering my 100th geocache I felt I was ready to hide my very own geocache, and so Lily Pad Leap for Dummies was born. My favorite kind of geocache to find was one that required a long walk in the woods and an easy to spot cache, so I reviewed the local public parks in Google Maps and found the furthest spot from any road way. To date, only a handful of people have made the journey to the cache site, but I have had very good reviews, including this one:

"This. Was. Incredible! Especially doing it with 3-4 inches of snow on the ground. What a fantastic time. Of course when you start trekking in you think this is going to be a piece of cake. Well, let me tell you, after you spend about 15 minutes on the path... there is no path. And, if this was during the summer... well. All I can say is you best come with a football helmet on. You have to protect your noggin. This is one tough bushwhacking experience in the winter and I can only imagine the difficulty going way up in the summer.

Placed my feet in a stream once going through a little ice. No big deal I was ready for it. But then I got whacked in the face several times by small tree limbs. Fortunately none of them were nettles or thorns. I had my share of working my way through thorns and tightly packed trees, branches, downed trees... this was just too much fun.

Then, I arrive at GZ... or what I thought was GZ. Now remember, I have at least 3 inches of snow I am working with. So, the cache is supposed to be on a boulder in clear site in a small clearing... Right heh. I find a clearing and a boulder thinking this is it... and boulders are not that easy to find with the snow. Course I picked the wrong clearing and the wrong boulder. Thinking maybe the cache fell off I started clearing the boulder and looking ... no luck. So I backtrack and start combing the area. More trees, nettles, fun stuff.

I look around and see something that looks like a boulder, and its bigger than the other one. I reach it and slowly start to clear the top and woooohoooo the cache appears out from under the snow! What a relief. I was determined not to log a DNF. Needless to say I start yelling I was so excited. This was a great time, fun hike, and incredible cache. Thanks for the great time today. And I am quite satisfied being Third to Find. TFTC!"

I now have plans for a night cache, a tree climbing cache and an underwater cahce! But I figure I need to find a few more hundred caches before then. I would encourage you to get out in our parks and take advantage, after all, we all pay for them and we could use the exercise, right?!

While geocaching doesn't require a lot of special equipment, you can get some basic geocaching supplies and/or a GPS unit from our friends at Indian Lake Outfitters. They are the only place in Logan County that carries geocaching supplies and they can special order items in for you as well. We here at FastTrack Signs can also produce a variety of geocaching stickers should you need them.

The Ground Speak website tracks all your geocaching statistics, I thought you might be interested to know mine:

• You've found 117 caches (114 distinct) since your first cache find on 02/20/2010.
• You find the most caches in April and usually on Sunday.
• Find Rate 0.3324 caches/day.
• Longest Streak 5 consecutive days with finds from 01/02/2011 to 01/06/2011.
• Longest Slump 73 consecutive days without a find from 08/19/2010 to 10/31/2010.
• Best Day 8 caches in one day on 04/04/2010.
• Best Month 32 caches in April of 2010.
• Best Year 95 caches in 2010.

Happy caching!

This has been a guest blog post by local geocacher dennisschaub. Thanks to Dennis and Carly, of FastTrack Signs for introducing us to the wonderful world of Geocaching one year ago!

Logan County Youth Champions

2010 Logan County Fair

Although there weren't deer or elk at our annual county fair, there were plenty of rabbit, turkey and youth. From Tuesday, July 13th, to Sunday the 18th, Indian Lake Outfitters was able to talk with and educate local fair-goers about our business and what we have to offer. Although that was great exposure for us, we gained more by giving back to local youth.

We had the opportunity to bid on the Youth Grand Champion Peanut Brittle along with 14 other businesses, at the Baked Goods Auction. The Grand Champion peanut brittle was made by Allison Kinney. The bids hit an all time high record for the baked goods auction at $1500. We must say that little Allison knows how to bake because her peanut brittle tasted like a million bucks!

Kinney wasn't the only champion ILO was able to support. Long time fair-goers and sisters, Emily and Rachel Overs, won Market Lamb Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion. Rachel went on to win Grand Champion at the Ohio State Fair with her market lamb, setting a sale record at $45,000.

The Logan County Fair celebrated it's 156th year with Indian Lake Outfitters celebrating our first year with a long list of youth champions.

Your Chamber of Commerce

Are you starting a new business and not sure where to begin? Rest assured you are not alone! When Bryan and I decided to take the plunge and form Indian Lake Outfitters, one of the first things we asked was "How do you start a business?" and "Where do you go to start a business?" We were given a very common answer "You need to join your local Chamber of Commerce."

The Logan County Chamber has many of the answers to most of your questions and they will greatly assist you in getting started down the right path. The Chamber works closely with several other organizations including the Community Improvement Corporation, the Convention and Tourism Bureau, the Small Business Development Center of Columbus, Indian Lake Chamber and local county villages and officers. Each organization plays a role in developing a new or existing business.

The Community Improvement Corporation does a lot of behind the scenes research that allows you as a new business owner, to get information regarding utilities, population, growth and comparison studies. The CIC continuously works towards economic development and incubator programs for small business start-ups.

The Convention and Tourism Bureau operates out of the Chamber office as well. Much of the CT's focus is to bring people to your community as tourists, sharing with them what you have to offer in the county vis Bus Tours, Home and Garden Tours, Rally at the Peak, community celebrations and many of your obvious tourist attractions - Mad River Mountain, Marmon Valley Farm, Indian Lake, Maries Candies, Piatt Castles, Ohio Caverns, Logan County Historical Museum and the Holland Theatre.

On the first Thursday of each month, the Chamber offers a meeting place for the SBDC to sit down with you and answer questions that arise about your business ventures. Their consulting services are free and extremely informational - you just call the Chamber to make an appointment.

Once your business is open, the Chamber continues to work for you on many levels. They offer a First Thursdays Chamber Chat each month, which is a great morning meeting over coffee. It keeps businesses informed of what is going on in the county. City and county officials are present, several forms of news media, advertisers and lots of local county business owners.

The Chamber can also connect you with other forms of business networking that goes on in the county such as the Logan County Meet Ups or the local Business Networking International, both great groups of like minded business professionals that pass business through word-of-mouth referrals.

If you haven't joined your Chamber, you should and if you're asking what your membership does for you and your business, attend any of these events or organizations for a warm welcome and open arms to grow and start your business!