MARK THACKER

Three and one half hours on the road will get you to Fort Wayne, Indiana from Chillicothe, Ohio as long as you don't stop at the Tanger Outlets in Jeffersonville. My wife, Julie and I have made the trip many times because that is the home of our good friends Jeff and Sheryl McDonald.  Jeff and Sher have also made the trip from FW to Chilli to visit. On one trip Jeff was found on our front porch swing with a guitar, enjoying a Spring afternoon, looking across the street toward the brick facade that hides the less attractive inner workings of the paper mill, its tall red and white smokestack high above the Scioto River Valley . He began work on what would become the song Over On Paint Street. Blending fact and fiction, the song touches on a few local landmarks, including the thirty-two steps leading up the hill to the porch where Jeff was "Sitting on the front porch, makin' up songs..." Sung by Jeff.