About two dozen people gathered for an icy party on a remote North Bass beach in late February. (Submitted photo)

BY DAVE HIRT, DANBURY TOWNSHIP TRUSTEE

I got invited to a beach party last weekend. What a great idea for a slow, calm, cold, quiet time at the end of February. They said they would be doing a bonfire with food, friends, and a chainsaw for the driftwood bonfire, and dogs are welcome as well.

As I told my wife about this, she began calculating the menu and what food to bring as she starts asking for the details. The when and what time went very well. It was the where that got her attention. North Bass, or Isle St. George. You know, that 600-acre Ohio State Park out in the middle of Lake Erie, surrounded by ice, with no cell service and about a mile from Canada? Also with no pavilion, no bathrooms, no place to wash hands, no place to go in and get warm, and no easy way in or out. Yeah, that place…Perfect!!…but not for her. This was just a beach on the frozen shore of Lake Erie with Pelee Island in the background and a bonfire.

The flight to North Bass Island. (Submitted photo)

There were about 20-25 of us that showed up. I brought my hearty, adventurous daughter. Wife is too warm blooded. Mine was the only plane there, as the rest of the crowd charted Griffing Flying Service. They were mostly normal looking boating people, but if you are on North Bass in the middle of winter, do you really think you are normal? The adult beverages were placed in the snow and ice along the frozen lakeshore, while the food was placed on logs up by the fire to keep warm. We had to keep the Golden Retriever back from that. Great time, great food, great friends. I love these Normal people! A very Cool Party. Looking forward to next year!

Pilot Dave Hirt, who is a Danbury Township trustee, flew to North Bass for the party. (Submitted photo)