PCHS junior Emma Johnson, left, shadowed City of Port Clinton Administrative Assistant, Sandye Chafee, on Government Day. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

BY SHERI TRUSTY

PORT CLINTON – Each spring, Port Clinton High School juniors have the extraordinary opportunity to shadow local leaders in city government, emergency response, municipal court, and more. Government Day, held this year on May 19, gave students an insider’s look at civic infrastructure and helped them explore career options.

Students climbed on fire trucks and into ambulances, argued cases in court, and toured the back rooms of Port Clinton City Hall. Student Emma Johnson shadowed City of Port Clinton Administrative Assistant, Sandye Chafee, where she learned that everyone has a role – and everyone supports the others – in the city office.

Students had the opportunity to see the fireproof safe room where important documents like this mausoleum map are stored. Shown are, from left, Chloe Clark; Emma Johnson; Port Clinton Service Department Supervisor, Lucas Johnson; Port Clinton Administrative Clerk, Elpida Hohenberger; Noah Jackson; and Dylan Scott. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

Emma’s father, Lucas Johnson, is the Port Clinton Service Department Supervisor. Lucas and Port Clinton Administrative Clerk, Elpida Hohenberger, gave Emma, Chloe Clark, Noah Jackson, and Dylan Scott a tour of the city offices, including the cemetery, water, and tax office.

The cemetery office holds modern deeds to plots, maps, and other records.

City of Port Clinton Administrative Assistant, Sandye Chafee, and Port Clinton Mayor Mike Snider welcome students to City Hall on Government Day. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

“There are about 13,000 stones we’re in charge of taking care of,” Lucas said.

Hohenberger showed the students an 1873 gravestone that once marked an infant’s grave. The stone washed away in a flood, was discovered in a stream in the 1970s, and was eventually sold at a garage sale. The person who bought it brought it to the cemetery office, where it is now stored. The office workers don’t know where the grave is located.

“In the 1900s, a lot of records were lost in a barn fire and in a flood,” Lucas said.

City of Port Clinton Administrative Assistant, Sandye Chafee, left, talks to PCHS junior, Emma Johnson, about the records that are stored in the safe room. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

Lucas and Hohenberger also showed the students the fireproof safe room, where important files are stored, including older cemetery records.

“There are also records in here from the two mausoleums in town. One is owned by the city, and one is privately owned by the True family,” said Water Office Manager Julie Frattaroli.

Chafee told Emma that when she started working for the city, records were not available online. She digitized thousands of records, but paper backups are kept as well.

“Cemetery records are kept forever,” she said.

Auditors Office Administrative Assistant, Erin Ward, left, teaches PCHS junior Lillian Dale how to check payroll. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

Emma plans to seek a marketing and business management degree after high school and hopes to one day own a business, so getting a backstage look at the business of running a city gave her practical insight. She said the students could request their top three choices for government day, and she got her first choice – Chaffee.

“She seems pretty cool, and her job seems nice,” Emma said.