After Vance was elected vice president in November, Aikins addressed City Council during a meeting urging the city to honor her son, a 2003 Middletown High School graduate.
“These signs are not just a testament to his achievements; they represent ideas we hold dear,” she said, reading from a statement.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
The signs also serve as a “reminder to future generations that dedication and hard work do not go unnoticed and each one of us can make a difference regardless of our family circumstance.”
Nine years ago, Vance rose to national prominence with the publication of his best-selling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” which chronicled his broken-home life in Middletown and his mother’s drug addiction.
The book was adapted in 2020 into a Netflix movie directed by Ron Howard.
Vance was elected to the U.S, Senate in 2022, and vice president on Nov. 5, 2024.
Several motorcycle gangs attended the ribbon-cutting and they escorted Aikins to the event. Rocky Sexton, who organized the motorcycles, said the members always will watch over Vance’s mother, who has been sober for 10 years.
“Everybody needs protection, everybody needs a friend,” Sexton said. “We are here to help.”
He said Vance shows that regardless of your circumstances, you can be successful.
“He made it from there to here, from poverty to vice president,” Sexton said. “That’s great.”
State Rep. Thomas Hall (R-Madison Twp) recognized Butler County Auditor Nancy Nix who attended the ribbon-cutting. He said Nix was Butler County’s first elected official who said: “JD Vance is going to be our future, JD is our hope.”
State Sen. George Lang (R-West Chester) predicted that in four years, Vance will be elected as the 48th president and his story, described as “rags to riches,” should serve as an example to all, especially young people.
“Let JD Vance be an inspiration to you,” Lang said. “America doesn’t care what situation you are born into to. America doesn’t care about your race. America doesn’t care about your gender, America only cares about your ability to produce a result.”
After graduating from high school, where he served as class vice president, Vance joined the U.S. Marine Corps. He then attended Ohio State University, graduating in 2009. He graduated from Yale Law School in 2013.
JD VANCE SIGNS
There are seven signs that read “Hometown of JD Vance, 50th Vice President of the United States of America” at entrances into the city.
Sign locations are:
- Central Avenue eastbound at Carmody (approaching downtown from the river)
- Ohio 4 southbound at Germantown Road (near the airport)
- Ohio 73 eastbound at the city limits (coming from Franklin)
- Ohio 122 westbound near Bob Evans
- Ohio 4 northbound at the south city limits near Lafayette Avenue
- South Main Street northbound at the city limits
- Cincinnati-Dayton Road northbound at the south city limits (coming from Monroe)
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