Irish Pub will welcome the Catawba Island Historical Society drawing winner. Preparing for St. Patrick’s Day are, left to right, employees Peter Gillman, Hailey Ward and Manager Sarah Markus.

The Catawba Island Historical Society (CIHS) will hold a membership drawing on March 17 to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and determine which of its members has “the luck of the Irish.”

Kathie Holbrook, Vice President of CIHS, says the Society has made the March drawing a regular “annual members only” event to mark the halfway point between launching its membership drive each January and opening the Union Chapel Museum in May.

“The St. Paddy’s drawing typically generates a flurry of sign-ups for our yearly $25 Historian and $100 Curator memberships,” she said. “The drawing provides an extra

incentive for people who intended to support the CIHS mission but just haven’t gotten around to writing their membership checks. Those we hear from by March 17 will be included in the 2023 drawing pool.”

The drawing prize this year will be a $100 gift certificate donated by the area’s only entertainment venue with a truly Irish name, McCarthy’s Irish Pub at 101 Madison St., Port Clinton.

“The Irish culture goes back centuries and people who come from the Emerald Isle are proud and knowledgeable of their heritage,” Holbrook said. “Members of CIHS feel the same about preserving local facts, legend, and lore for future generations. The drawing connects one to the other with love of history as a common denominator.”

Those interested in helping CIHS and its Union Chapel Museum keep the Catawba story alive, can do so by becoming members of the Historical Society in time to be included in the St. Paddy’s Day drawing. Applications have been sent electronically to many area residents for return to P.O. Box 396, Port Clinton OH 43452. Information is available at catawbaislandhistoricalsociety.com.