As of Thursday, Dec. 31, Ottawa County has had a total of 2,340 confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began last February. We have also had 34 deaths due to the virus. Also, the Ottawa County Health Department has been informed that it is the authorized distributor of the vaccine now that it has begun to arrive.

For those of you who watched the Vienna Philharmonic New Year’s Day concert, you might have noticed the gentleman who introduced the program. Daniel Froschauer was a young violinist who performed in Port Clinton years ago as the member of a trio from Vienna, a concert in the series I ran for the Port Clinton Music Boosters years ago.

Today he is a member of the first violin section and President of the Board of the Vienna Philharmonic. It pays to play in Port Clinton!

Ruth Gresh of Marblehead was chosen from among 100 entries who found Wylie hiding in the ad for St. John Lutheran Church on Page 5B in last week’s Beacon. So, congratulations Ruth. 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.

The Ottawa County Community Foundation has announced that Community Grant requests are now being accepted. Since the first Community Grants were awarded in 2003, the Foundation has awarded grants annually to local organizations that have identified important needs within our community and have formed a plan to meet those needs.

Nonprofit organizations located in or serving Ottawa County are invited to submit grant requests to the Foundation. This year, the Foundation is rolling out a new online portal for accepting grant requests. Details on how to apply for a Community Grant may be found on the OCCF website www.ottawaccf.org/grants.

A good friend of The Beacon and a Lake Erie Islands icon, Peter Huston has decided to retire as director of the Put-in-Bay Chamber of Commerce. Known best as the Island Ambassador, he served the chamber well and was on the board of Lake Erie Shores and Islands, Lake Erie Foundation and many other organizations. Huston and his wife, Amy, plan to travel the country in their home on wheels.

The Leadership Ottawa County program will begin its third decade of grooming local men and women to take the bull by the horns with its annual leadership school. This time around, the pandemic will mandate virtual Tuesday night classes from Jan. 26-March 30 at 7 p.m.

The program is directed by Port Clinton Middle School Principal Carrie Sanchez, a dynamic leader. Class sizes are generally small, and the lessons learned that help students find success in business are huge. To learn more, or sign up for classes, visit leadershipottawacounty.org. Don’t wait. Registration is only open through Friday, Jan. 15.

Magruder Hospital will host two Red Cross Blood Drives in the hospital conference center on Friday Jan. 8 and Friday, Jan. 22. Both blood drives will be 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Appointments are required by calling 1-800-Red-Cross or visiting RedCrossBlood.org and enter sponsor code: MAGRUDERHOSP. Blood donors should enter the hospital through the Outpatient Entrance, where they will be screened and escorted to the conference center.

Miss the virtual Walleye Drop? Or want to see it all again? Visit www.walleyedrop.com and see lot of business friends from around Ottawa County among the show’s commercials featuring Walleye Drop sponsors. Watch Miss Kitty and the Litter perform, check out the slapstick comedy and listen to interviews with such notables as Port Clinton Mayor Mike Snider, State Senator Theresa Gavarone and Father Time.

Otterbein Senior Life partner Toby administers a COVID test to Otterbein partner Diane.