What the heck is a derecho anyways?

"According to the National Weather Service, a derecho is a widespread, long-lived, straight-line windstorm that is associated with a fast-moving band of severe thunderstorms. Generally, derechos are convection-induced and take on a bow echo form of squall line, forming in an area of wind divergence in the upper levels of the troposphere, within a region of low-level warm air advection and rich low-level moisture. They travel quickly in the direction of movement of their associated storms, similar to an outflow boundary (gust front), except that the wind is sustained and increases in strength behind the front, generally exceeding hurricane-force. A warm-weather phenomenon, derechos occur mostly in summer, especially during June and July in the Northern Hemisphere, within areas of moderately strong instability and moderately strong vertical wind shear. They may occur at any time of the year and occur as frequently at night as during the daylight hours."

In other words, derecho's are fast moving bands of thunderstorms in the Midwest that can create hurricane force winds. On June 29th, a derecho came through town, clocked at 83 mph. The storm was so fast moving that it left little warning or preparation time. We had several projects set up and we had several projects go down because of that storm. While the toll was rough for a tent company in terms of loss, over a hundred thousand people lost power due to the storm, some for over a week.

We have not seen storm related damage like that since Hurricane Ike blew through the Midwest before it finally fizzled out. All told, a couple of dozen tents were lost due to the winds. More amazing to us were the tents that didn't fall down. There was no rhyme or reason as to why they were left standing. A structure engineered to with stand 80 mph winds got yanked 15' into the air and tossed about 75' through and past a chain link fence, but a 20x20 frame tent with no engineering or wind load design was o.k. in an open field. It's mind boggling.

In the end, no one was injured by our tents or structures and that's the most important thing to consider. It was an awesome reminder of just how powerful mother nature can be. Some times there is nothing that you can do but sit back and pick up the pieces when its all over.

What derecho damage looks like in person (photo by NBC4i.com):


What a derecho looks like on the radar (photo from the National Weather Service):

Columbus, Ohio ...

Columbus Ohio has many reasons to celebrate. Columbus is consistently ranked by major publications as one of the top cities to live, learn, or let your hair down in. The city is among the nations most diverse in terms of urban, suburban and rural residences. Its citizens work in diverse markets balanced between manufacturing and service industries. Columbus is a center of higher education. Schools range from the very large like The Ohio State University, the nations largest public university with an enrollment of over 60,000, to Ohio Dominican University, a smaller school with 3,100 students, but still an integral part of the community. Columbus does a fantastic job of helping its citizens enjoy their down time with a thriving downtown nightlife, professional sports teams, or with festivals and fairs. Columbus has many reasons to celebrate. That's why O'Neil Tents & Party Supplies is proud to serve the party rental needs of Columbus, Ohio whether it be where the people live, learn or play.

O'Neil Tents & Party Supplies made our name a long time ago by providing the best tent rentals in the state of Ohio. Several years ago, we set up tents for county fairs or local festivals exclusively. We were the best at showing up to an empty field, setting up tents, tables and chairs and turning it into a festival by the end of day. We still are the best, as evidence by our work with the Dublin Irish Festival, the Asian Festival, and the Ohio State Fair. Around 1960 though, our focus started to expand.

Columbus Ohio needed party equipment for their residential and corporate events. Doing what any good business does, we satisfied the need demanded by our market. Our inventory expanded to include tents that were more suitable for the Morgan's wedding as well as MOPAR Nationals race course. We added specialty items like linens, dish and barware rentals to accompany our tent, table and chair rentals. The combination of our developed skill in tenting and growing specialty items made O'Neil a great fit for corporate events and universities alike.

Regardless of job size, O'Neil recognizes that our results must be exceptional. We deliver the same results for large Ohio State University tailgate parties as we do for back yard graduation parties. The reason for this is simple: Our goal is to give you the best event experience possible. Because the Columbus market is diverse in its needs, O'Neil has made our inventory equally as flexible. Our inventory can be as big or small, elaborate or simple as our customers need it to be.

When you go out and see our tents or event rentals, whether its in the Arena District, the Short North, the Campus Area, or its to your local Festival or Fair, you can be comfortable knowing that over 100 years of knowledge and experience went into that event. O'Neil Tents has grown with the City of Columbus over the years and we have been happy to help it celebrate its many occassions large or small.

Getting to Know O'Neil Tents

In 1886 several important events occurred: Karl Benz patented the first gas powered automobile; Coca Cola was invented; and the Statue of Liberty was dedicated, ensuing in the first ever ticker tape parade. That same year, in Columbus Ohio, O’Neil Awning and Tent Company was founded. Since 1886, changes have affected all of those events: Almost everyone drives a car; Coca Cola now competes with Pepsi globally; New York’s skyline is now dominated by skyscrapers instead of a lonely Lady Liberty; O’Neil Awning and Tent Company has grown to become a Tent and Party Rental industry leader.

Buckeye Tent Products Circa 1922:

O’Neil Tents and Party Supplies, as the company is known today, is really the combination of two companies: O’Neil Awning and Tent Company and Buckeye Tent Company. Buckeye Tent Company was established in 1909 in Columbus, Ohio. Buckeye was purchased by the Ritchey family in 1960. Three years later, the Ritchey’s acquired O’Neil Awning and Tent Company. For a couple of years in the early 60’s the two companies operated independently of one another until they were merged into the same business under the O’Neil name. After about five years, the Ritchey family decided to specialize in tents and non tent rental items and the awning portion of the business was spun off.

O’Neil now provides a wide range of rental products with tents as their primary focus. In addition to tents, rental products also include tables, chairs, linens, dishware, barware, silverware, staging, dance floor, and dozens of other accessories. All of these elements combined allow customers to meet their rental needs all in one location. O’Neil has developed its manufacturing capabilities over the years and makes their own tent tops and related vinyl products. The demonstrated strength in manufacturing is leveraged to respond quickly to customer needs.

Both rental inventory growth and expanding areas of service to include Cincinnati, Cleveland, Michigan and Kentucky have made O’Neil a leader in tent and party rental.

O’Neil realizes that their customers rely on them to make their events successful, no matter the size. O’Neil is committed to helping its customers make each event the best it can be.