By John Schaffner

I attended the annual conference of the Independent Free Publishers Association in Philadelphia over the weekend. There was much discussion about how the FREE community newspapers can differentiate themselves from the overall PRINT media, particularly paid circulation newspapers. The numbers are staggering since the internet use by regular newspapers has cut their readership in half! We are very happy at The Beacon to continue the work we have done for over 36 years bringing you the LOCAL news. You have rewarded us with close to 75% readership within our market area. So, I’d like to send out a big THANK YOU!!!

Get ready for the big Festival Weekend coming up Oct. 12-13. The Oak Harbor Apple Festival takes place both days next weekend and the Marblehead Lighthouse Festival will be Saturday, Oct. 12 with many of the activities throughout the Marblehead Peninsula and inside Lakeside. Enjoy.

Joel Prucha of Lakeside/Marblehead is our winner this week in our “Find Wylie” contest. He was chosen from among 75 entries who successfully found our friendly fish hiding in the ad for the Marblehead Village Sidewalk Sale on Page 8A in The Beacon last week. So, Joel wins a $25 gas card graciously donated by Friendship Stores. Each week we generally 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 the contest.

The Salvation Army in Ottawa County has partnered with the Cousino Restoration and The Ottawa County Community to provide new and gently used warm winter coats for local children and families in need. The Salvation Army’s “Coats for Families” program will run through January 2020. This program is based on donations from the general public of new and gently used coats only that will be cleaned by Cousino Restoration.

Last year, The Salvation Army collected and distributed over 1,018 coats to local families in Ottawa County. This is the 25th year this program has been providing coats to the local residents. Collection areas for new coats is at The Salvation Army’s office. If you would like to donate new coats, please drop them off at the collection site listed or call The Salvation Army at 419-732-2769 and speak with Director, Maureen Saponari.

A reception and show for national award-winning artist Jessica Henry will be held this Friday, Oct. 4 at Ferguson Gallery in Marblehead from 4-5 p.m. She will also hold a 2-day workshop in Plein Air painting for artists of all levels in several of Marblehead’s parks and natural areas.

Nationally recognized illustrator Barbi Sargent will be at R Coffee Corner at Harbor Light Landing this Saturday, Oct. 5 from noon to 2 p.m. She is the person who developed the character of Strawberry Shortcake in the early 1970s for American Greeting Cards in Cleveland. The character became so popular that it has been applied to dozens of products and distributed throughout the U.S. and many foreign countries.

She has remained friends with Grant and Jodie McCallum of Marblehead over the years after they all worked together at American Greeting Cards. She will be signing Strawberry Shortcake memorabilia on Saturday during her visit.

The Annual Gun Raffle at the Port Clinton Elks Lodge this Friday is a sellout! The 250 tickets were sold at $100 each which will help the Elks fund their two local Christmas parties.

The Elks Lodge will also be hosting its annual Clam Bake on Saturday, Oct. 12 from 5:30-7 p.m. and the public is welcome. Non-Elks members can acquire their tickets by calling 419-734-1900.

The Ottawa Soil and Water Conservation District is closing out its annual Pond Fish Sale. Fish orders will be accepted until Wednesday, Oct. 9. Fender’s Fish Hatchery will bring their tank truck, with aerator, on Tuesday, Oct. 15 from 1-3 p.m. to their office to distribute the fish orders. Individuals who order fish will be notified, reminding them of the pick-up time and date. Bring your own container, filled with pond water. A trash container (with a plastic trash liner) serves as an ideal container. A 5-10 gallon (clean) can is adequate for 100 fish. For more info or an order form call 419-898-1595 or email beki.hineline@ottawaswcd.com.

The Port Clinton Rotary Club will host its 10th Annual Rotary Pizza Challenge on Tuesday Oct. 22 from 4 to 7 p.m. at Mon Ami Restaurant and Winery. They are currently seeking pizza vendors to participate in the event. Contact Challenge Chairman Duane Waite if your business is interested in participating by providing pizzas for judging. He can be reached at rotarypizzachallenge@gmail.com

Magruder Hospital offers a monthly screening on the second Thursday of every month starting at 9 a.m. in the lab.  The test is a venipuncture/blood draw rather than a finger stick, and will include a Basic Metabolic Panel (glucose, BUN/Creatinine, calcium, potassium, sodium, chloride, CO2, etc.) and a Lipid profile (Total Cholesterol/LDL/HDL/Triglycerides), as well as a Blood Pressure check. The cost is $16. The next screening will be Oct. 10. Appointments can be made by calling 419-734-3131 Ext. 3420. For more information on events and screenings, go to Magruder’s website at www.magruderhospital.com.

Your new Mobile App is available for you use! It is called “Lake Erie Coastlines” and it’s FREE! Just download it on your iPhone or Android device from the App Store. It is chock full of useful information on local events, things to do and places to go. “Lake Erie Coastlines” … enjoy!