MasonBuzz.com

Divya Takkellapati / Provided photo

Thirteen Mason students earned honors at the National History Day in Ohio contest held Saturday at The Ohio State University.

The History Day competition challenges students to research historical topics related to an annual theme.  This year’s theme was “Turning Points in History.”

Twenty-nine Mason students were invited to submit projects at the state level.  Of those, two were named national finalists, two national alternates, three honorable mentions and two special awards.

Mason sophomore Divya Takkellapati was named a national finalist for her paper, “The Lady with the Lamp: The Start of a Revolution in Healthcare.”

Mason Middle School seventh-grader Ahalya Ramesh was named a national finalist in the junior individual exhibit category with her paper, “The Discovery of Insulin: A Second Chance for the sugar Sickness.”

Both girls will go on to compete against the top national students June 9-13 at the National History Day contest in College Park, Md.

Two students received special prizes:  Mohamed Elzarka, a Mason High School student, won the Ohio Academy of History award for his paper, “The Hijrah: The Impact of a Journey,” while Mason Middle School student Vineet Sai Prasad won the American Founding Award-Ashbrook Center for Public Affair award for his paper, “Declaration of Independence: A Document of our Past.”

Ahalya Ramesh / Provided photo

Mason Middle School students Chinmay Bakshi, Sritej Devineni and Vardhan Avasarala were named national alternates.  Chinmay’s paper addressed “The India and Pakistan Partition” while Sritjej and Vardhan collaborated on a website on the “Cuban Missile Crisis.”

Mason High School students Gokul Muruganantham, Sai Madichetty and Shreetej Reddy and Mason Middle School students Ranjani Ramasubramanian Atneya Nair and Tristan Groenewold received honorable mentions.

This year’s crop of students marks the school’s strongest showing in several years and is the third consecutive year a Mason student has advanced to the national contest, said team adviser Dan Langan.

Posted in: Schools, Student achievements |

Tags: Tags: Ahalya Ramesh, contest, Divya Takkellapati, history day, mason high school, mason middle school, national history day in ohio

The Harris Products Group in Mason. The Enquirer/Rachel Richardson

A Mason manufacturer of metal working products has made IndustryWeek Magazine’s list of top manufacturing organizations.

The Harris Products Group is one of six plants nationwide to receive the “Best Plants” honor. The company will be profiled in the magazine’s January issue.

• Photos: Harris Products factory

Contest entrants are evaluated on criteria such as management practices, safety and operations, supply chain and logistics, technology, customer and supplier relations and environmental stewardship, among others.

David Nangle, the company’s president and CEO, said the award represents one of the highest honors in the manufacturing industry. The monthly trade publication has a circulation of more than 120,000.

“Our process was vetted by an outside firm that holds very high standards and we were one of their best,” he said. “I’m really proud of what I see.”

Harris Products employs about 600 worldwide, including about 200 at its 250,000-square-foot corporate headquarters in Mason.

The company manufactures metal working products used in the brazing, soldering, welding, cutting and gas distribution industries.

Nangle said the company, which does about $350 million in sales each year, plans to expand its research and development efforts and develop new products for the aerospace, carbide drilling and automotive industries. The company expects to add 10-15 new positions in 2013, he said.

Harris Products, a subsidiary of Cleveland-based Lincoln Electric Company, has operations in several states, Mexico, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany and Brazil.

Posted in: Business, News |

Tags: Tags: award, best plant, business, contest, harris products group, honor, industryweek, manufacturing, mason

The Enquirer

Posted in: Community, News |

Tags: Tags: cincinnati enquirer, contest, dress the turkey, thanksgiving, the enquirer

Have you had fun following the Reds this year? We here at The Enquirer and Cincinnati.com hope you’ve had as much fun watching the Reds this season as we have.

Submit your favorite picture to win a pair of 2013 Season Tickets! Photos must include you and/or your family celebrating your love of the best home team around – the Cincinnati Reds!

Deadline to enter is Oct. 20. Enter online on Cincinnati.com’s Facebook page.

Posted in: Community, News |

Tags: Tags: cincinnati reds, cincinnati.com, contest, enquirer, raffle, reds, season tickets, season to remember, the cincinnati enquirer

Drew, a student at St. Susanna Schol in Mason, drew this Angry Birds-themed pumpkin for the 2011 contest.

It is time once again for the Your Hometown Enquirer’s Pumpkin Patch coloring contest.

If you and/or your children love to color, submit a pumpkin to the Pumpkin Patch. The best pumpkin artists will see their creations printed in the Your Hometown Enquirer and on Cincinnati.Com.  Submissions from Mason will also be featured in a gallery on MasonBuzz.com.  Check out some of the local talent from last year.

• Download template

Send entries to:
Pumpkin Patch, c/o Hometown Enquirer
The Enquirer
312 Elm St.
Cincinnati, OH 45202

You can also scan in your entry and submit it online at Cincinnati.Com/Share or submit via MasonBuzz.com.

Posted in: Community, Events |

Tags: Tags: cincinnati.com, coloring, contest, hometown enquirer, pumpkin patch, template, the enquirer

A Sugar Maple tree in fall. File photo

Do you have the largest Sugar Maple tree in the county growing on your property?

The Warren Soil and Water Conservation District is accepting nominations for its annual largest tree in the county contest. This year, the agency is looking for the largest Sugar Maple, a shade tree found throughout Ohio and valued for its hard, fine-grained wood.

Entrants should measure their tree’s trunk circumference at 4-foot and make a rough estimate of height. Call the office between 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. M-F at 513-695-1337 with measurements to enter.

Deadline for entries is Aug. 22. Entrants with the largest trees will be contacted for official measuring by judges. The winner will receive a plaque commemorating the tree at a formal presentation on Aug. 29.

Posted in: News, Warren County |

Tags: Tags: contest, largest tree, sugar maple, warren soil and water conservation district

Wildflower Cafe is in the running to be named the city’s burger champion in Cincinnati magazine’s Burger Madness contest.

The magazine recently launched round one of the contest, in which readers narrow down votes from among 32 area restaurants.  The “Sweet 16″ finalists will be announced on Tuesday. Voters are also entered into a drawing to win a burger-themed prize package.

Wildflower Cafe, a family-owned business in Mason, says it strives to use locally-produced and organic ingredients in its menu. Its Webb Valley Farm Burger features grass-fed beef, served on a Blue Oven English muffin, with double-smoked bacon and fresh herb aioli.

The restaurant posted a photo of its burger, shown right, on Twitter.

For a list of other finalists or to vote, go to www.cincinnatimagazine.com/burgermadness.

Posted in: Business, News |

Tags: Tags: best burger, burger madness, cincinnati magazine, contest, mason, webb valley farm burger, wildflower cafe

A Mason teen took top honors in an international writing contest.

Tina Zhang, who will enter her senior year at Mason High School, received awards for poetry and short story writing in the EPIC (The Electronic Publishing Industry Coalition) 2012 New Voices Young Writers competition.

Zhang’s poem, “Tragedy,” about bullying received a first place finish in the senior division (ages 15-18) while her short story, “Addiction,” earned second place in the senior division short story category.

The annual competition invites writers middle and high school students from across the globe to enter poetry, short stories and essays. Entrants receive professional feedback from professional judges and winners have their work published in an online anthology.

Judges praised Zhang’s works, calling her style “innovative” and “well done.”

Zhang said her passion for writing began in the sixth grade, when she began journaling.  She has since filled dozens of notebooks and diaries.

She previously won the Silver Key in The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards of 2012 for her poem “Sepia-Toned, The Lesson.”

“Tina is a great kid. We are so proud that her talent is being recognized at the national level,” said Mason High School teacher Nathan Coates.

Read the 2012 New Voices Young Writers anthology here (PDF link).

Posted in: Schools, Student achievements |

Tags: Tags: contest, epic, mason high school, new voices young writers competition, poem, short story, tina zhang, writing

The Warren County Convention & Visitor’s Bureau is offering an online giveaway just in time for Father’s Day.

Submit your favorite Father’s Day activity from the past or what you plan to do this coming holiday and be entered to win a package including these Warren County attractions:

•  Six-mile canoe excursion on the Little Miami River from Morgan’s Outdoor Adventures
• Family pass to ride the Lebanon, Mason & Monroe Railroad
• $50 gift certificate to Ole Friends Tavern in Lebanon
• One-night stay at the Drury Inn Middletown

Winners will be chosen at random and notified via email.  Official rules are here.   Enter online here through June 16.

Posted in: Community, News |

Tags: Tags: contest, drury inn middletown, father's day, free, give-away, lebanon, lebanon mason monroe railroad, lm&m railroad, morgan's canoe, ole friends tavern, warren county convention & visitor's bureau, wccvb

A Western Row Elementary second-grader’s story about moving to a new school earned her a first-place finish in Think TV’s PBS Kids Go! Writing Contest.

Krithika Dama wrote and illustrated “Face Your Fears” about a girl who moves to a new school and must face her fears in order to make new friends.  The story’s main character, Sonia, ends with her feeling excited about the move.

“You were right,” Sonia tells her mother in the book.  “Sometimes we start new adventures in our lives. And is seems scary and nervous at first but we hold on and face our fears.”

Krithika won in the second-grade division.  The contest encourages children in kindergarten through third grade to explore the power of creativity by writing and illustrating their own stories and promotes reading skills.

Think TV is one of 63 public television stations across the nation to participate in the national PBS Kids Go! Writer’s Contest.  All first-place winners will be placed in the national contest, where they will compete against entries from across the nation.  National winners will be notified in June.

Read Krithika’s story at www.thinktv.org.

Posted in: Schools, Student achievements |

Tags: Tags: books, contest, face your fears, krithika dama, pbs kids go writers contest, think tv