The Worthington Historical Society wants your personal stories from the past

Did you grow up in Worthington? If so, you probably have many memories of those early years. Now you have an opportunity to share some of those memories with the rest of us. The Worthington Historical Society is launching a new project to collect stories and feature them on the worthingtonhistory.org website, and they want to hear from you! Everyone is welcome to participate, regardless of age. Best of all, the project is already underway, so some stories have already been submitted. If you decide to participate—and hopefully you will—here are some guidelines from the Worthington Historical Society:

• Be specific. Share the details of your story. For instance, if you were on the swim team or in the cast of the school play, include that information. If you rode a float in the Memorial Day parade, worked on the pageant for the 1953 Worthington Sesquicentennial or the 2003 Bicentennial, we want to know. Perhaps you went to Gabel’s Dairy (or Strader’s) for ice cream, or maybe you collected for the WWII scrap drive. We want details. You get the idea.
• Include the when and the where. Let us know when and where your story took place—perhaps at a school, a business or another organization. If you were a child at the time, be sure to include your age as well.
• Name names. Be specific about who was involved in your story or event—teachers, scout leaders, coaches, business owners and others. Include their names.
• Keep length in mind. Each submission should be a single story that ranges in length from 200 to 800 words. If you have several stories to share, please send them separately rather than lumping them together. There’s no limit to the number of stories you can share; we’ll take them all. And if you know a friend or neighbor with an interesting story, encourage that person to share as well. You can even interview that person and write it yourself, especially if he or she doesn't have a computer.
• Group stories are also welcome. If you belong to a work or social group that has a story to tell, talk it over and then choose someone to write the story and share it. This might be anything from a high school class to a women’s club.
• Pictures are a big plus. If you have photos to accompany your story, please scan them and insert them into the story. No scanner? Send them to us, and we will scan them for you. We promise you'll get them back.

How to submit your story

Give your story a short title, include your name as the author, and add the date you’re sending it. Please send it as an email attachment to historian@worthingtonhistory.org, and include an email address where we can reach you. It will take about one week for your story to appear on the website.

If you have questions, email historian@worthingtonhistory.org.