For more than 40 years, the music of legends has echoed through the hills of the aptly named Legend Valley outdoor concert venue: Charlie Daniels, The Allman Brothers, Willie Nelson, The Grateful Dead, Alabama, ZZ Top, Bon Jovi and Jimmy Buffet all have performed here. And still this historic venue remains as relevant as ever, drawing thousands of people annually from across the globe for concerts such as the Lost Lands Music Festival. The legend began quite simply. The 230-acre plot of land now known as Legend Valley has long been hallowed ground. For as many as 1,700 years, a 50-foot tall stone mound on the site marked the final resting place of an Adena person, adorned with copper jewelry and flowing black hair. The Reservoir Stone Mound, as it became called, was largely destroyed in the 1820s when its stone blocks were used to build the retaining wall of nearby Buckeye Lake. As European settlers began moving into the region, the land became the site of a farm owned by the Easton family.
It later passed to Clifford and Helen Jinks, whose foresight led to the creation of Legend Valley as we know it. The Jinkses utilized their property to host small get-togethers and family events, which led to the idea of hosting large-scale concerts and festivals. They contracted with George Biddle and Gary Kutch to promote the venue and start planning shows.
As a result of this partnership, Legend Valley hosted its first Dixie Jam in 1978. The festival drew more than 30,000 guests who were eager to listen to headliners The Earl Scruggs Revue, The Charlie Daniels Band, Dickey Betts and Great Southern, The Outlaws and Southwind. From that point on, it was clear that Legend Valley had secured its status as a premier music venue. The years following saw the site play host to an all-star list of performers, and included a name change to Buckeye Lake Music Center in 1986. On June 25, 1988, something happened that can only be described as fate: 19-year-old Steve Trickle visited the Buckeye Lake Music Center to see The Grateful Dead. He had planned on staying for a day, but the excitement of being part of the 50,000-person crowd led him to stay for the weekend. It was an experience that changed his life forever.
Laura and Steve Trickle
Eight years later, in 1996, Steve’s moving concert experience led him to purchase the faltering Buckeye Lake Music Center, which had closed its doors because of competition from the recently opened Polaris Amphitheater. Trickle knew that the same potential that had attracted tens of thousands to the venue still existed.
Reviving the name Legend Valley, Steve and his wife, Laura, took advantage of the pastoral setting and began allowing attendees to camp at the site, creating an entirely different experience from the traditional concert concept. The Trickles began frequently booking Ohio’s own Ekoostik Hookah and their long-running Hookahville Music Festival. The momentum gained by these shows, coupled with the ability to host campers, helped Legend Valley to attract an increasing number of festivals.
And the growth has continued. These days, Legend Valley has established itself as a major music festival venue, with Lost Lands as a cornerstone. The multimedia experience combines electronic dance music (EDM) with a cutting-edge light show and life-sized dinosaurs and attracts upwards of 40,000 people each year.
It’s easy to forget, though, that behind the world-class productions is a community of people making it happen. For Laura Trickle, the success of Legend Valley is due to the local people involved. It takes hundreds of employees to put on a Lost Lands-scale show, she said, and thanks to their assistance, Lost Lands alone generates more than $2 million for the local economy.
But the Trickles’ focus on community goes beyond that. They’re both Licking County born and bred, and their love for the area is evident. Steve, a graduate of Newark High School, and Laura, who graduated from Lakewood, place an emphasis on giving back to the communities that support them. Through the success of Legend Valley, they have been able to support many others with donations to the Lakewood Band Boosters, women’s shelters, and Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
“This is our home. It’s our community first,” Laura reflects. “It’s not just our business.” It’s the can-do attitude of people like Steve Trickle and Clifford Jinks that have made Legend Valley what it is today. “I’ve never said, ‘Never again,’” Steve said when reflecting on the challenges and successes of his time spent at Legend Valley.
Looking through concert T-shirts and photos revives memories that are familiar for thousands of others who’ve visited Legend Valley over the years. And for Steve, the memories continue. Each year brings new experiences, new visitors and new memories made. For him, the diverse people traveling from far-flung places make everything worthwhile. Seeing license plates from across the continent and hearing stories of repeat visitors further fuels his passion. Despite inevitable setbacks, Steve and Laura, like the trailblazers before them, have continued to invest time, money, talent and grit into creating a destination unlike anything else.
And it truly is a legend.
