Saturday, March 29, 2014

From Porkopolis to Flying Pigs and Giveaway by Jillian Kent

Airport Spirit
If you are visiting Cincinnati beware saying, "When Pigs Fly!"

Flying High at the Library

I picked my hubby up at the airport recently and while I was waiting for his flight to arrive I was reminded of Cincinnati's history. No you are not hallucinating? We really do have flying pigs and they are everywhere. But why? you may ask.

During the 1800's Cincinnati was known as Porkopolis because of the vast number of hogs that entered the city via the riverboats. During the Bicentennial pig sculptures were designed by Andrew Leicester to promote the history of the riverboats and agriculture. Trust me, this was not without much debate.

"In 2000, 425 pigs decorated by professional artists lined streets, then were auctioned to raise $825,000 for 300 Tristate charities."

"The "Pig of Possibilities” was displayed on Fountain Square during the summer of 2000 as part Cincinnati (Cin-sow-nati) Ohio’s Great Big Pig Gig tour. The public art initiative brought local artists, businesses, arts organizations, schools and individuals together in an unprecedented way to have fun and to celebrate Cincinnati’s porkopolis past.




If you want to participate in Cincinnati's now famous FLYING PIG MARATHON there is still time. It begins on Sunday, May 4, 2014 at 6:30 a.m.

You can even buy a book about The Big Pig Gig. 


I hope you've enjoyed this historic pig peek of Cincinnati. And now you know . . . pigs really do fly. Share your favorite pig picture or pig name from the Big Pig Gig Slideshow or these little piggies which brings a whole new concept to the term, HOG WILD, and I'll put your name in a drawing for a ten dollar gift card from Amazon.Void where prohibited. You have until April 5th at midnight Pacific time. I'll announce the pig winner on Sunday, April 6th when someone will squeal with delight.



Jillian Kent loves England's Regency era. In 2013 her second book in The Ravensmoore Chronicles, Chameleon, finaled in both the Selah at Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference in romance fiction and in Romance Writers of America's prestigious Daphne du Maurier for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense. Jillian is employed as a counselor for nursing students in Cincinnati, Ohio and possesses a masters degree in social work. She is a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors and passionate about mental health, wellness, and stomping out the stigma of mental illness. You can reach her at jill@jilliankent.com and explore further at her website www.jilliankent.com.You can also find her on Twitter @JillKentAuthor and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/JillianKent 





20 comments:

  1. Jillian, I love this post and I love pigs! Our children raised pigs for their FFA projects every year so we learned a great deal about pigs over the years. We had great pigs and great names for them. One year we had Billy Bacon, Hillary Ham, and Chelsea Chops. Baby Fern was my favorite of the pigs. She had such personality and when I would call her name as I started outside, she would be lying on her back ready for me to rum her tummy by the time I got out to her pen. Pigs are smart animals and really fun to be around. With all the precious pictures of the pigs on the other post, I loved Posie Pig the best.
    Fun pictures, and great memories brought back to mind. Thank you!

    mauback55 at gmail dot com

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    1. Hi Melanie,
      Great piggy names! Glad I could take you down memory lane.

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  2. This crazy Jillian. I never knew it had that name at first. Glad they changed it. I think I will pick"
    Piggy Goes To Market. It's neat and I trade with Kroger. Good store. I really did like Penny too. Would love to win this gift card. I need it. :) Maxie mac262(at)me(dot)com

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    1. Hey there Maudemaxine,
      I love looking through these pictures. I'm glad we are Cincinnati and not Porkopolis too. But I can easily see how it got that nickname in the early years.

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  3. Our town did a similar thing, only we had decorated penguin statues everywhere to help raise money for a new penguin exhibit at the zoo. That was probably ten years ago, and some of the statues are still standing.

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    1. Vickie,
      I adore Penguins! You should do a post on that, it'll be fun.

      Delete
  4. Pig Poisey! I loved them all but picked one that looked like BLOOM, my favorite word!

    missionwife AT hotmail DOT com

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    1. Hi Melody,
      Pig Poisey seems to be a favorite. Thanks for joining in the fun!

      Delete
  5. Jillian I had never heard this before and I lived up there in that area long time...never saw the pigs at airport either and been there many times, are they there now? I hope to get back sometime this summer...thanks for sharing
    Paula O kyflo(at)yahoo(dot)com.

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    1. forgot the pig name...very pretty one is "Pig Idea" not very good name but she is beautiful...
      Paula O

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  6. Hi Paula,
    The only pig I saw while at the airport is the one I snapped "Spirit" at the top of the post. It's near Starbucks. Pig Idea is cute too.

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  7. "PorkChopper, powered by GE was my favorite -my sons would've gotten a big kick out of it...great post it was Pig-tacular and Swine-derful and Hamazing!! Okay I'll stop but it really did brighten my day! =)

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    1. Eliza, your are a riot! Love "Pig-tacular and Swine-derful and Hamazing!!" You obviously have a talent for this. Great that your sons would have enjoyed PorkChopper. :)

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  8. As someone who wrote for a newspaper for years, I'll pick Headline Hog!

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  9. How appropriate! :) That's perfect, Michele!

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  10. Jillian, this is a wildly wonderful post! The Johnny Test cartoon character lives in Porkbelly. I've always chuckled at that. But, now, I have a new appreciation for pigs - ""The "Pig of Possibilities” was displayed on Fountain Square during the summer of 2000 as part Cincinnati (Cin-sow-nati) Ohio’s Great Big Pig Gig tour. T" - what a hoot. Down the road from us is a sign "Hogs are Beautiful" from a long ago hog farm. I'll be more reverent when we pass by. Thanks for great post.

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    1. Linda,
      I left you a long piggy reply and of course my computer burped or pigcuped and all was lost. What a complete oink! So glad you are enjoying all the wonders of Cin-sow-nati. :) I fully expert you to be more reverent next time you pass the "Hogs are Beautiful" sign. Miss Piggy would be proud.

      Delete
  11. Faswinista. I cant remember if that's the way it was spelled. It was made with fashionista and swine.

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    1. Hi Lena!
      Thanks for stopping by and picking your favorite piggy. "FashSWINEista" is a looker isn't she?

      Delete
  12. Happy Sunday Everyone!
    Thanks so much to all of you who stopped by to share in your fascination with the Cincinnati Pigs. For all those interested don't forget about the marathon on May 2nd. http://www.flyingpigmarathon.com/race_information/schedule/marathonweekend.shtml

    And now for the winner of the $10.00 gift card who was chosen through Random.Org The winner is Melody who picked Poisey Pig as her favorite. CONGRATULATIONS MELODY! I'll e-mail you soon.

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