I could go on for hours talking about Jim Hastings, the former head football coach at Port Clinton who passed away last week in Johnson City, Tenn. Jim took over a struggling football program here in 1975 after a stint as an assistant coach at Arkansas State University. He was only with us for two years, but what an amazing two years it was.

The Redskins were 7-3 in 1975 and in their last game beat previously unbeaten Sandusky Perkins. The following year, the Redskins lost their first game to Bellevue, and then won nine straight. He returned a couple of years ago when that team was honored.

Hastings left in 1977 to become the offensive coordinator for Morehead State in Kentucky, where he got to coach the legendary Phil Simms. He maintained many local friendships. Now he’s just a memory, but a very good memory.

The Port Clinton and Marblehead Chambers of Commerce are hosting a job fair on Wednesday, March 4, at the Port Clinton High School. Local high schools and the public are participating in this hiring event for our chamber members. This event is free to chamber members, and tables and chairs will be provided. Registration is necessary. For an application email admin@portclintonchamber.com. Deadline to register is Thursday, Feb. 27.

Howard Routson is the winner this week in our “Find Wylie” contest He was chosen from among 78 entries who found Wylie hiding in the ad for Bayside Comfort on Page 1A in last week’s Beacon. Howard wins 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 Oak Harbor American Legion will be hosting a series of broasted chicken dinners on the following Sundays, March 29 and April 16, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The meals are $10 and feature a full 3-piece meal and $8 for a 2-piece thigh/leg meal. Dine in or carry out.

Welcome to the Lenten season and the weekly Port Clinton Friday Fish Fries starting this Friday night from 4-7 p.m. at the Denny Bergeman K of C Hall on E. Perry Street.

Benton-Carroll-Salem School District will hold a Kindergarten Information and Registration Night for parents of incoming kindergarten students on Thursday, March 5 at 6 p.m. During this meeting, parents will receive enrollment paperwork, information about kindergarten, tour the building, and will sign up for a screening appointment.

Kindergarten screening appointments will be on Wednesday, April 8 from 8:15 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. and Thursday, April 9 from 8:15 a.m. – 3:00 p.m at R.C. Waters Elementary. In order to be eligible for kindergarten, a child must be 5 years old by Sept. 30. All kindergarten students should be screened and registered to begin the school year.

The Ottawa County Democratic Party will host their Blue Plate Special Dinner this Friday at the Oak Harbor VFW Hall starting at 5:30 p.m. Guest Speakers include Ohio Supreme Court candidates Judge Jennifer Brunner and Judge John O’Donnell.

Meanwhile, the Ottawa County Republican Party will hold their Lincoln Day Dinner on Thursday, March 19, at Catawba Island Club, starting at 6 p.m. Captain Guy Gruters, a pilot who was a Prisoner of War for five years during the Vietnam War, will speak on the “Price of Freedom” and Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague will talk about the importance of the 2020 elections. George Wilber will be recognized for his 40 years of public service as Port Clinton Law Director.

Tickets are $50. The deadline for RSVPs is March 13. Please contact ShirLee Eberle for reservations: 419-310-3182 or steberle6@gmail.com.

Tickets are still on sale for the Marblehead Purse Bingo event on Saturday, March 7 at Danbury School. The event is hosted by the Marblehead Peninsula Chamber of Commerce and the Danbury Parent Teacher Organization.

On Thursday, March 26, Urologist Dr. Brad Buck will present a Free Men’s Health Seminar: Signs, Symptoms & Treatment Options for Erectile Dysfunction and Male Stress Urinary Incontinence, in the Magruder Conference Center.  Check-in at the event will be at 5:30 p.m., and the seminar will be at 6 p.m.  To register for this event, please call 1-866-869-7951.

To learn more about ED and SUI treatment options, we encourage you and your spouse / partner to join us for this free Men’s Health Seminar. You will also be able to hear about an experience firsthand from a current patient.  Light refreshments will be served.

Celebrating the Season! Otterbein resident, Peg Bauman, took advantage of the snowy weather to build a snowman for the residents of Otterbein Senior Life to enjoy outside their windows.

March is National Colorectal Awareness Month and every Monday through Friday in March, Magruder Hospital will have free take-home colorectal health screening kits available from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. in the main lobby of the hospital. This is being offered to increase awareness and early detection of disease.

The take home kits are a basic screen for blood in the stool, which could be a sign of several colorectal health issues.  A colonoscopy, which is an outpatient screening procedure, is more widely accepted as the screening that is most effective for early detection of colorectal polyps and cancer.

For more information on the colorectal health screening kits, please call Rachel Fall, Magruder Director of Community Outreach & Physician Recruitment at 419-732-4061.