T-L Photo/JENNIFER COMPSTON-STROUGH The Barkcamp Barn is a work in progress at midday Saturday, after members of the Mail Pouch Barnstormers and others began efforts to restore the faded, peeling sign on its side. The barn dates to the late 1800s, but the sign was added in the 1980s.

BELMONT — Every summer, a determined group of people from all across the nation travel to the village of Belmont to celebrate and help preserve something they love — the iconic Mail Pouch Barns that have advertised the famed chewing tobacco along American roadsides for more than 100 years.

On Friday, members of the Mail Pouch Barnstormers began arriving in the region for their 15th annual gathering and to work on a special project. They spent the weekend collaborating with the staff at Barkcamp State Park to restore the last Mail Pouch sign ever painted by the late Harley Warrick.

Warrick was a Belmont resident who journeyed from state to state painting advertisements on barns. Most of his work was to promote Mail Pouch and, in the end, Warrick and other painting crews posted about 20,000 ads for the product. Warrick became famous for his work painting barns and miniature barn-related products, such as bird houses and mail boxes.

Today, folks from all over Ohio and from places such as New York, Illinois, Wisconsin, Texas and even Canada are members of the Barnstormers organization. Its president is Roger Warrick, Harley’s son, who now lives in northern Kentucky not far from Cincinnati.

Each year, the members gather at the old school gymnasium in Belmont for a business meeting, potluck lunch and auction of Mail Pouch items. The overall goal is to raise funds and awareness to promote preservation of the iconic barns that are still standing.

“We do all of this so we can do what we are doing today — help keep another Mail Pouch sign from fading into obscurity,” said group Secretary Eddie Black on Saturday.

Black, 45, said she is one of the youngest members of the club. The Columbus resident worries that as members age, the organization will not be able to continue its mission of restoring and preserving the old signs and structures. She hopes other younger people, especially those in the local region, will get involved.

But Black was also very excited about the Barkcamp project that the organization decided to tackle this year. Because it was near his home, Harley Warrick made it a point to freshen up that sign every four to five years. He painted the first sign on that barn on the mid-1980s; his last work at that site was completed in the fall of 2000, about a month before his death.

Sixteen years later, the sign had become work and weathered, with paint peeling away from the wall. But a large group effort over a couple of days had the sign shaping up again by Saturday afternoon.

In addition to this year’s barn-painting party and the annual gathering and auction, Black said organizers work to help people all over America preserve the signs. Thanks to fundraisers held in Belmont, the group is able to make grants that help barn owners buy paint and other supplies to restore their signs.

The Bloch Brothers Tobacco Co. of Wheeling created Mail Pouch Chewing Tobacco as a byproduct of its cigar business. It began advertising the chew on barns in 1890 with the catchy slogan “Treat Yourself to the Best.” The use of barns to spread such messages quickly became popular, especially in the Ohio River Valley.

Today, barns are still used as the canvas for some messages. Scott Hagan, a New Castle resident, is one of a handful of painters who still create these signs.

Mail Pouch Chewing Tobacco also is still being produced, but no longer by Bloch Brothers. It is now manufactured by Swisher International Group.

The Barnstormers traditionally come to Belmont during the fourth weekend of July each year. While this group treasures folk art and works to preserve relics of the past, members are also in touch with the modern era. The organization’s website includes an extensive list of Mail Pouch signs that can be found across the country. The club also offers a smartphone app that alerts users when they are approaching a designated site.

For more information or to join, visit www.mailpouchbarnstormers.org or find the group at facebook.com/mail pouch barnstormers.