Scan the Code, Learn a Lot

FORT RECOVERY- A Fort Recovery Girl Scout is helping preserve her hometown's history by adding QR codes to nearly 40 building plaques throughout the village.

In her pursuit of the Girl Scout Gold Award, high school junior Cora Pearson added QR codes to 39 recently installed plaques on historic buildings throughout Fort Recovery. The project's overall goal is to bring more awareness to the village's rich history.

Once scanned, the QR codes- which were installed by Pearson over the summer- take people to information and photos from local author Helen LeFevre's 2016 book "Fort Recovery Businesses Then & Now: 225 years of Adventure!"

Pearson measured each brass QR code so they were centered on the brass plaques. She then applied spray adhesive to the backing and installed them on the plaques- a process that took around four hours, she said.

She obtained funding for the project, called History in the Making, through a donation from the Fort Recovery VFW Auxiliary, and was given permission from LeFevre to use information from her book.

"I knew I wanted to have my Girl Scout Gold Award project bring more awareness to my hometown. I first met with Kim Rammel and Chris Thompson of the FR Historical Society and they helped me with some ideas I already had," Pearson said. "They encouraged me to create a map of the newly installed brass plaques in our town. Later, the idea of adding QR codes came too."

The 39 brass plaques in which her QR codes now live were created and installed in January by Project Recovery, a local initiative that aims to restore the history of Fort Recovery, she said.

The Girl Scout Gold Award, available to high school scouts in grades nine to 12, is the highest and most prestigious achievement in Girl Scouts, according to the organization website. Gold Award projects require at least 80 hours of work and demonstrate leadership, planning and community impact.

Per the website, prospective recipients must:

•Let their council know they want to earn it.

•Find an issue in their community or the world that they care about.

•Learn everything they can about that issue through research and trusted sources.

•Form a team by identifying experts and people in their community who could help.

•Think about the root cause of an issue, then make a plan of how they could tackle it.

•Submit their project proposal to their Girl Scout council for approval.

  Pearson, who first joined Troop No. 20448, Fort Recovery in kindergarten, has done everything required accept for the final step of submitting her project, which her mom Amy said she hopes to do by December.

One of Pearson's QR codes sits on a plaque installed at the former Wayne IGA grocery store at 206 N. Wayne St. When that QR code is scanned, visitors are taken to a PDF that includes a brief summary of all the businesses that are known to have been there, along with images.

"The space on the plaques is limited, so the QR codes are able to provide even more history and photos as they link to pages of history from Helen Lefevre's book," Pearson said.

"In 1900 John H. Zehringer purchased the hotel and after demolishing it in 1912, he built a new hotel, the Old Fort Hotel. The Zehringer Building was built as a more modern and larger hotel and bar," the information from the QR code states about the former Wayne IGA. "This building remains today with only the top of the building showing 'Zehringer' and the year '1912'. The Old Fort Hotel building had two store fronts with various businesses occupying the space and the door for the hotel in the middle. As most hotels, a saloon/restaurant was part of it.Over the years, the hotel name changed to Hilliard Hotel, St. Clair Hotel, and Douglas Hotel and Restaurant and then back to Old Fort Hotel. Ivo Thobe purchased the Old Fort Hotel in 1938, and he assured folks that there would be orchestra music every Saturday."

She also created a building map that shows the location of all 39 of the building plaques around town, which Pearson said she hopes will guide visitors and community members around the village.

"By adding the QR codes, I have provided an interactive way to teach history. Many community members have no idea the date a particular building was built or how many businesses have used a certain structure," she said. "Hopefully they will gain a better understanding of the buildings as well as take an interest in more of the historic parts of the Fort Recovery."

Throughout her work on the project, Pearson said she's learned a lot of interesting local history she otherwise wouldn't have known, like the fact that Fort Recovery once had a Kroger grocery store.

The most difficult part of the project? Writing her proposal and getting approved through Girl Scouts of Western Ohio, she said.

"(It) was challenging because the process was time consuming and the application took a lot of thought," she said. "I had a lot of ideas but then had to turn it into an actual plan. Once I had the plan, it was much easier to complete the rest of the project."

However, she added that completing the project has made her proud to be a part of the town's history.

"Although my Gold Award Project Final Report has yet to be approved, gaining my Gold Award is something I have always wanted to achieve since becoming a Girl Scout," she added.

In an effort to further engage her community, Pearson handed out 100 brass plaque maps during Fort Recovery's America 250 celebration in July.

"I've also created a Brass Plaque Challenge and had around 120 entries in the 39 days of the challenge," she said. "One of my favorite quotes is from Emily Portz, who wrote 'We have loved this challenge. It's been fun and I learned a lot. I didn't grow up here, so I feel like I know a lot more about this great community.'"

More information on Pearson's project can be found on the History in the Making Facebook page.