We're a good example.

Ohio Bicentennial officials are taking note of the effort Lawrence Countians have made in celebrating the state's 200th birthday, and the creativity with which the county has done it.

During the final ceremony for the county's bell pour at the Lawrence County Fairgrounds, state committee member Bill Lowe said the tour of the bell throughout the county is Lawrence County's own success story.

"Other counties are doing tours, but not like this," Lowe said. "This is wonderful." While he was in the area, Lowe not only took note of the bell tour, but the ingot plaques as well. The Lawrence County Bicentennial Committee purchased a bronze ingot from the Verdin Bell Co., That ingot was cut into slices, and most of the slices were then mounted on plaques and given to people and entities that participated heavily in the local bicentennial effort. One chunk of the ingot was given back to the Verdin Co., and it was added to the making of the county's bell. Lowe said he will take Lawrence County's ideas with him when he visits other counties.

"They (state officials) kept saying that no one had done anything like this and that we have been so innovative," committee member Dave Milem said. "And they were surprised that we could draw the crowd we did for the bell pour, especially since it was on a weekday."

Milem said two other counties who have yet to celebrate their bell pours have called him wanting advice and information about how to plan their own bell tour.

Lawrence Countians outshined their neighbors in other counties for its barn painting as well. The crowd that came to see the Higgins barn painted was the largest for any county in the state.

The Lawrence County bell will tour the county Saturday and Sunday. It begins Saturday with a pancake breakfast and ceremony at the VFW Post 6878 in Proctorville. From there, the bell will visit the Scottown Covered Bridge, Symmes Valley High School, Higgins farm at Linnville and Symmes Valley Church before overnighting at Collins Career Center. The career center will host an old-fashioned hoedown Saturday night.

After an interdenominational church service and breakfast at the school Sunday morning, the bell tour continues to Proctorville, Chesapeake, Burlington, South Point and Coal Grove before a final installation ceremony at the Lawrence County Courthouse in Ironton.