AID - Drive along State Route 141, past the peaceful farms and picturesque valleys that weave themselves into one another, cross a bridge or two and before long, you will find your journey takes you to Aid.

Small in size, the community can nonetheless boast of the SEOEMS station and Aid Township Fire Department, its own rural health clinic and stores that perform double duty: the R&D Carryout offers gasoline for your car and is also a Giovanni's pizza restaurant. Dickess Market is both grocery store and snack bar and Dickess Hardware carries just about everything else that is not edible.

The hardware store has been part of the community for decades, offering everything from PVC pipe to dog food to galvanized fencing to new keys, made while you wait.

"I'm working on a house out here, remodeling, and I needed some drywall screws," Greg Lewis, of Ironton, said. "I'm in here quite a bit. It's convenient, and it has what I want."

Across the street, Teresa Dillon, of Mason Township, stopped in Dickess Market for a few groceries. "It's clean; it's comfortable," she said of the store. She described the area as a nice place to live and shop. "Everyone knows everyone out here."