Not All Heroes Wear Capes
It took many hands chipping in to make Hanover Reserve a reality.
It’s common knowledge that in the summer of 2018 three brothers, Jason, Bradley, and Benjamin Barnes along with their wives Jess, Anna, and Melanie respectively first discussed the idea to open a wedding and event center in Hanover Township Ohio. Eventually, after countless hours of planning, meetings, and others tasks large and small, Hanover Reserve was completed in May of 2021. It’s easy to look at something as beautiful as Hanover Reserve and imagine all the sacrifice and toil from those six partners.
But that doesn’t tell the entire story.
Here’s Rob covered in dirt and dust working the Bobcat.
Hanover Reserve also represents the hard work and sacrifice of dozens of other friends and family members who answered the call to help in whatever way they could. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to mention them all by name and the impact they had on the building process. Countless meals were prepared and dropped off, snacks and drinks were donated, and kids babysat at a moment’s notice because of a pressing meeting. While others simply showed up in work clothes, tool belts and power saws to be put to work. During the winter of 2020 and early spring of 2021 Hanover Reserve was bustling with volunteers doing whatever they could to get her open on time. Windows were installed on lifts crowded with men huddling against the damp winter chill. Insulation was stapled into the walls for hours upon hours. Networking cables were run in tiny culverts in the walls. Interior tongue-and-groove woodwork was painstakingly measured and cut. Trees and bushes had to be planted, sod and grass seed put down to prepare the landscaping of the grounds. Stain and sealant were applied to every square inch of wood, and, if you’ve ever seen the massive beauty of Hanover Reserve, you know that was no small task.
All these tasks and more were completed by the partners and those volunteers who showed up to help for no other reason than just to show love and appreciation for their friends and family who were working so hard to see such a monumental dream become a reality.
No one represents this sacrifice more than Rob Embry.
As freshmen in 2004, Benjamin and Bradley met Rob at Miami University in a weightlifting class. Back then they were strangers, paired up by the university’s scheduling department. Over the years the three have gone from casual acquaintances to a close friendship forged by hours spent sharing a meal at a dinner table, soaking up the summer sun on a boat or pontoon, or talking over a fishing pole at Brookville Lake. He even was a groomsman at Benjamin and Melanie’s wedding.
Here’s Rob lying down on the job
When construction was in full swing, Rob took five weeks of leave from his job to help. Not an hour here and there, but an entire five weeks! Every day during that time - weekdays and weekends - he was there, dawn till dusk pitching in wherever he could. It would be almost impossible to list all the ways Rob pitched in to help. Indeed, it would take less time to list the few things Rob didn’t have a part of. But if you know Rob, you know that’s who he is.
Rob is the sort of guy instantly liked wherever he goes. A blast to be around, he can brighten the darkest of atmospheres by simply showing up. He has a blend of humility, kindness, and humor that is difficult to find these days. It’s an understatement to say he’s funny. He doesn’t have the sort of polished humor of a stand-up comedian who tells the same jokes in different venues for laughs. Rather, he’s got an authentic sort of humor that finds the laughs in situations from everyday life. He has a unique blend of sharp wit, snarky comebacks, and self-deprecating humor that is fresh and funny each and every day. He can read a McDonald’s menu and by the end, you’ll be laughing.
And when you’re working twelve to seventeen hours a day on building construction to meet a deadline, when each task you mark off seems to be replaced by another five, Rob is the kind of guy you want around. It’s people like him that make the hours seem less onerous, more bearable.
But Rob’s also pretty daring. He’ll go to great lengths for a joke.
There is an infamous photo that made its rounds during the construction of Hanover Reserve. Rob is pictured with his back turned to the camera holding a hammer overhead, nailing in a piece of decorative trim over the top of the door frame. In the photo, he’s wearing one of the Barnes brother’s brand-new tool belts.
And nothing else.
This might seem crude to some, but when times are hard, people are tired, and the work seems never-ending, Rob is there to do whatever it takes to get a laugh and lighten the load of everyone involved. Even if that means breaking in a new tool belt in a “non-traditional” way.
When the fire happened in October of 2021, more than just the Barnes family was affected. It was a gut-punch for all who had sacrificed and helped to see Hanover Reserve become the go-to wedding venue in southwest Ohio. On that cold and chilly night, many people were gathered, hoping and praying for the building and the safety of those fighting the blaze. Which brings us back to Rob, yet again.
That job that Rob took five weeks of work from to help with Hanover Reserve? Maybe you’ve guessed it.
Rob is a firefighter for Fairfield Township and Ross fire departments.
Which means Rob was not only someone who worked hard to see Hanover Reserve completed, but he was also one of the first responders on the scene to battle the fire. When the emergency call went out to fire departments in Hanover Township, Oxford, Ross, Fairfield, and Fairfield Township, Rob was on duty, suited up, and got to the scene as fast as possible. Rob was instrumental in helping to battle the fire and coordinate communication between the partners and the first responders on the ground that night. Like the others on scene, Rob worked all night, refusing to leave until the fire was out. Rob’s bravery extends to more than just doing what it takes to get a laugh when people need cheering up. He’s the sort of guy who would climb on a ladder to fight a fire, respond to a life-threatening car crash, or charge into a burning building to save someone trapped inside.
Rob is living proof that not all heroes wear capes. He proves that, when the situation is dire enough and a laugh is the only thing that will get you through, sometimes heroes don’t even wear pants.