At last count, Ottawa County has only five reported cases of COVID-19, and only three were hospitalized. While we must grudgingly accept the new normal within our communities for at least the next few weeks, we are determined to make the best of it. So please be aware that The Beacon and thebeacon.net maintain our commitment to providing you with the news and information to help you see the “good news” of the week.

We plan to continue our normal publishing schedule. We ask that you also keep us posted by submitting your news and views to editor@athebeacon.net. Knowledge is power for us all. As we spend less time in face-to-face dialogue with each other, publications like ours can help maintain the sense of community we all share. With many of our associates here working from home, we wish them, along with our readers and advertisers good health and we look forward to the day we can all shake hands again as we begin to seize the new opportunities awaiting us on the other side of this worldwide problem.

Please stay healthy and safe.

One of Ottawa County’s most popular “ex-cops” passed away last week. Chic Elum, who was Chief of Police in Cuyahoga Falls for many years, and who retired on Catawba and became active in local activities for almost as many years, will be missed. He started Scrambl-Gram in Port Clinton and turned his hobby for word games into an amazing business that still exists today. I was introduced to him by the late Frank Seidel, Chic’s next door neighbor, who was the original writer of the Ohio Story, which appeared on TV back in the 50s. Chick will be missed by all who knew him.

Jim McManus of Brooklyn, Ohio was chosen from among 87 entries who found Wylie hiding in the ad for Oak Harbor Hardware on Page 6A in last week’s Beacon. So, Jim 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.

COVID-19 has captured yet another classic local event. The Port Clinton Knights of Columbus had to shutter its Friday Lenten Fish Fries. They actually did so last week, but we didn’t get the info in time to pass it along to you.

Benton-Carroll-Salem School District has an email group for parents (parents@bcssd.com). They send important communications to parents using this email group. If you are not getting emails and would like them, please email ksprouse@bcssd.com with your name and email address and the school will add you to the group. Be sure to let them know if your email address changes.

On another note, if your phone number changes they also need to know so they can update our Instant Alert System. If your phone number changes, you can email ksprouse@bcssd.com or call the Board Office at (419) 898-6210.

Karla, the activities Director at Otterbein Senior Life in Marblehead, entertained residents earlier this week wearing a headdress and doing a happy dance to the song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”

The Oak Harbor Development Group announced its 5th Annual Mother’s Day Flower Program. The goal is to raise money to fund the 32 flower pots downtown. For a $50 donation, the Oak Harbor Development Group will send your mother, spouse, mother-in-law, daughter, aunt. Grandma, or whomever you choose, a beautiful Mother’s Day card saying a contribution was made in her honor for a flower pot in downtown Oak Harbor. Plaques will display a customized message that will be placed in the planter.

You can even add a photo to the plaque for a special touch. You can also choose to sponsor a flowerpot as an individual or a business. The deadline for sponsorship is May 1, to ensure cards are sent before Mother’s Day! Stop into the Oak Harbor Area of Commerce to reserve yours. Only a limited number will be accepted.

The Oak Harbor Athletic Booster’s Annual Reverse Raffle Tickets are now available. The Reverse Raffle is now rescheduled for Saturday, May 30, at the Ottawa County Fairgrounds. Tickets are $75, with extra meal tickets available for $25

In Christian faiths, this is Holy Week and today is Holy Thursday. Tomorrow is Good Friday and this Sunday is Easter. Immaculate Conception Catholic Church is holding a “drive through” Stations of the Cross event in their back parking lot this Friday from 5-6 p.m. It is also Passover in the Jewish faith. Perhaps, in a perverse kind of way, staying at home just might not be such a bad thing. This is a good time for reflection on what really is important in our lives. So please have a happy, HEALTHY, and safe time this week with your families.