Merry Christmas! From all of us here at The Beacon to all of our readers and friends, we would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. Of course, 2020 has been a year like no other due to the Covid 19 crisis. Even the traditional family gatherings are being curtailed this year. My favorite Holiday movie has always been “It’s a Wonderful Life.” It ends with George Bailey reading a note in a book left to him by his guardian angel Clarence… “no man is a failure who has friends.”

As of Monday, Ottawa County has had a total of 2,061 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began last February. We have also had 33 deaths due to the virus. Christmastime would be a great time for this thing to disappear.

Colleen Kaufman was chosen from among 101 entries who found Wylie hiding in the ad for Otterbein North Shore on Page 3B in last week’s Beacon. So, congratulations Colleen. 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 Commissioners struck gold when Dr. David T. Applegate II signed on to become the new Ottawa County Coroner, a job no one in this area seemed to want. Dr. Daniel Cardigan, who had been the coroner since 2014, decided not to run for re-election after two terms and a candidate for the November elections could not be found.

Dr. Applegate will retain his post as the coroner in Union County, northwest of Columbus, where he’s been a hospital administrator, a long-time family doctor and the coroner for a couple of decades. He and his wife, Mary, have a summer place on the Marblehead Peninsula, and they fly in regularly to enjoy the good life on the Lake Erie shoreline. In an interview with The Beacon this week, Dr. Applegate said he looked forward to working with the Ottawa County Commissioners and Sheriff Steve Levorchick.

Ruth Ann’s House, a transitional housing program located in Port Clinton that helps women, and their children if needed, to escape an abusive living situation, has been provided much-needed funding through a Violence Against Women Act grant for $31,245, reported the Department of Public Safety’s Office of Criminal Justice Services.

Ruth Ann Belknap and volunteers created Ruth Ann’s House in 1992 to assist area victims of domestic violence. The holidays would be a good time for generous folks in town to donate to Ruth Ann’s House, which serves up to six women and their children at one time. Domestic violence has been on the increase during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ottawa County Emergency Management Agency has been providing face masks for businesses in Ottawa County. The Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce has them available at its office free of charge for local businesses to help comply with the mask mandate. Please contact us to make arrangements to pick up a supply of masks for your establishment.

Congratulations to the following Dean’s List students at Terra State Community College: Jesse Holcomb, Jonathan McNally, and Madelyn Wise from Marblehead; Ella Dedes and Emily Haar from Oak Harbor; and finally Breann Christiansen, Sam Diaz, Cooper Kowal, Tristen Laird, Madison McKitrick, Dailee Terry, Eric Wammes, and Taylor Yates, all from Port Clinton. Bridget Sowers of Marblehead has been named to the Provost’s List, at Capital University. Full-time, degree-seeking students must have achieved a grade point average of 3.70 to 3.849.

More than 120 Marietta College students were named to the Fall 2020 Dean’s List, which features any full-time student completing at least 15 credit hours with a grade point average between 3.5 and 3.74. John (Jack) Alexander, of Port Clinton, is majoring in Exploratory and is a graduate of Oak Harbor High School.

For the chance to bid on a wide range of luxurious or practical purses, be sure to mark your calendar with the Marblehead Purse Virtual Raffle held by the Danbury Parent Teacher Community Organization on Saturday, March 6. The Marblehead Peninsula Chamber of Commerce is seeking sponsors for the popular annual event. Call 419-702-7492 or email info@themarbleheadpeninsula.com.

Congratulations and welcome to the new President of Marblehead Bank, Anthony Moczynski.

Otterbein Senior Life resident Karen Rinas wishes friends and family a Merry Christmas!