As of Jan. 15, 2021, Ottawa County has had a total of 2,785 confirmed or probable cases of Covid-19 since the pandemic began last February. The number of deaths attributed to the virus remains at 34. On the bright side, 2,293 residents have presumably recovered from the virus.

Also, the Ottawa County Health Department is rolling out Phase 1B of the vaccination process. That means individuals 80 and over can now be vaccinated. Their plan is to establish vaccination clinics throughout the county.

It was so nice to see the Catawba Trustees dedicate a stretch of SR 53 to the two veterans who were killed in action. One of them was Jim Davenport, a classmate of mine. Jim’s mom would pick me up off NW Catawba Rd. and take Jim and I to summer football practice. He was a great guy and I remember that learning of his death made quite an impression on me.

Melanie Anslow of Catawba was chosen from among 112 entries who found Wylie hiding in the ad for JJ’s Table and Bar on Page 6A in last week’s Beacon. So, congratulations Melanie. You are the winner of our weekly $25 gas card graciously donated by Friendship Stores. Each week we hide Wylie Walleye in an ad and our readers, when one of them finds him, can either bring in a contest entry cut out of the paper or log onto our website … www.thebeacon.net … and let us know where he is, thus entering, and possibly winning our weekly contest.

Holy Ken Gipe! In 1980, Kevin Kelley set the Port Clinton High School swimming record in the 500 Freestyle. That record stood for 40 years until last Saturday when Logan Brown established a new standard in that event during the Sandusky Bay Conference Swimming championships in Oak Harbor. Also, the Oak Harbor girls team won the Bay Division title while the Port Clinton lady swimmers won the Lake Division championship.

Oak Harbor Police and school resource officer Loren Welch is fighting non-Hodgkins lymphoma and the community is planning a chicken BBQ fundraiser for Friday, Jan. 22 from 4 to 7 p.m. at Oak Harbor High School.

“Anybody you talk to from Oak Harbor, whether they’re with the school, the police department, everyone just has high regards for him,” said Roseann Hickman with the Fraternal Order of Police #34 in Ottawa County.

Welch was injured in a high-speed chase last summer. Follow-up scans showed masses and he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. School leaders say he’s a role model for the students.

Tickets for the dinner are still available for $10 each and can be purchased through one of our school building offices or by calling the Oak Harbor Police Department non-emergency number. If anyone would like to donate a silent auction item for the event, please contact Roseann Hickman by email: roseann@cros.net. Roseann is handling this through the Ottawa County Fraternal Order of Police.

One of the most anticipated end-of-winter parties in Port Clinton will have to cool its heels next month. The Burning Snowman Fest on the Lake Erie shoreline in downtown Port Clinton that has become a giant downtown party every winter in late February won’t be held in 2021, sidelined by the COVID-19 social distancing restrictions.

On a smaller scale, however, the folks on South Bass Island managed to gather along the Put-in-Bay Harbor shoreline recently for the island’s annual sacrifice to the Ice God Ullr. In previous years, islanders would burn a papier mâché or wooden animal as a sacrifice to light up the night sky. The theme this year was a giant Covid Germ Ball. “The Germ Burn,” organized by Billy Market and the Miller Boat Line crew was great way to say goodbye to 2020.

There are many reasons why so many look forward to the third Thursday of the month in Port Clinton. The monthly free ELMS Community Meal is served at 5 p.m., drawing a crowd of local folks to the St. Thomas Fellowship Hall on the corner of West Second and Jefferson streets.

This month’s dinner on Thursday, Jan. 21 will feature pork, sauerkraut and desserts, but is carryout only because of COVID-19.

The Port Clinton Lions Club is having a Chicken Bar-B-Q on Sunday, Jan. 31. It will be carryout only at the Knights of Columbus, 121 E. Perry St. Port Clinton, from 11 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Tickets are $10.  Call Lorna Garber for tickets. 630-881-8230.

Otterbein Senior Life residents, Bud and Shirley Engle roll up their sleeves together to receive the COVID vaccination at Otterbein Senior Life in Marblehead.