Rase's Grove Lake
Minford, OH 45653
Owner: Carl & Madalyn Rase
Year started: 1950
Year ended: 1971
From 1950 until 1972 Carl & Madalyn Rase operated Rase's Grove Lake, which became a center for fishing, picnicing, and camping in the area. They had the two-acre lake dug with bulldozers in the setting of a seven-acre grove of beautiful oak trees. The lake was stocked with two tons of fish twice a year, brought in from Port Clinton, Ohio. An entrance fee of $1 included fishing and three pounds of fish. The Rases sold bait, tackle and refreshments from a building on the grounds.
Carl also ran a beekeeping business. Beekeeping had been his hobby since he was 16 years old. In 1936 he and Madalyn bought 10 bee hives and began selling honey from their home at 10 cents per pound. Their honey business escalated over the years and they became one fo the eighth largest honey producers in Ohio, with 600 hives of bees producing 22 tons of honey in their peak year.