Quilts have long served the practical purpose of keeping people warm, while also telling stories through materials, colors, and patterns that reflect a maker's heritage. In Ohio, Donna Sue Groves honored her mother, an avid quilter, by painting a large image of a quilt block on the side of her barn, and other families soon created their own barn quilts, beginning an American folk art trend. The first official quilt trail was established in 2001 in Adams County, Ohio. Kelly Whitmer of the Flat River Historical Museum created a barn quilt reflecting local history through traditional colors and pattern: crossing canoes at the center represent the area's Native American heritage, green stands for trees and lumbering, blue suggests the Flat River, red and white represent the Danish flag and the heritage of many of Greenville's early settlers, and the yellow surround signifies sunshine.