This is graduation weekend in Port Clinton. Once again, Perry Street is lined with colorful signs of each graduate. We would like to wish the best for the Port Clinton High School’s Class of 2022.

Reggie Langford is one of my favorite extended reporters. He is always coming up with great story ideas. He gave me one last week, and I forgot to get it in. He is doing a program at Catawba Community Hall on Wednesday evening (May 18) on “The Critters of Catawba.”Should be fascinating. I plan to be there. So, those of you who get or pick up The Beacon on Wednesday, don’t miss it!

Joan Arnold was selected from among 128 entries who found Wylie Walleye hiding in the ad for Ciao Bella on Page 8A in last week’s Beacon. So, Joan wins our weekly $25 gas card graciously donated by Friendship Stores. Each week we hide Wylie in an ad for our readers to find. When one does, they can either mail in a contest entry cut out of the paper, or log onto our website, www.thebeacon.net and let us know where he is!

Oh, and don’t forget to send Wylie any questions that you are looking for answers to. He gets excited when he can help our wonderful community members out with knowledge or advice. You can mail questions to The Beacon, P.O. Box 176, Port Clinton, Ohio or email askwylie@thebeacon.net

The Red Cross has a very special feature gift for those who give blood before the end of May. They are giving away to donors a free 20 oz. water bottle. The Bloodmobile will be at the Port Clinton Elks Lodge on Wednesday, May 25 from 12:30 to 6 p.m. and at Magruder Hospital on Friday, May 27 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. There is a great need and one blood donation can save up to three lives.

The Ohio Justice Bus, a mobile legal aid office and technology hot spot that allows legal aid and pro bono attorneys to travel to provide free legal assistance to Ohio citizens at no cost will be making a visit to Port Clinton next week. It will be at the Ottawa County Family Advocacy Center on 570 S. McKinley St., Port Clinton on Monday, May 23 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. You will be able to talk privately with an attorney about civil legal, including family law issues related to adoption and kinship care. People will be seen on a first come-first served basis.

Advance Ride Tickets for the 2022 Main Street Port Clinton Walleye Festival are now on sale.  Each ride ticket is $50 and good for the entire Walleye Festival weekend.  The Walleye Festival will run from Thursday, May 26 to Monday, May 30.  Quantities are limited so please buy them early.  Deadline to purchase Advance Ride Tickets is Thursday, May 26 at 5 p.m.  Please make checks payable to Main Street Port Clinton.  You can purchase the Advance Ride Tickets at the Port Clinton Chamber located at 110 Madison St., Port Clinton.

The Benton-Salem-Carroll School District will be breaking ground on their new Intermediate School Building at 2 p.m. on Thursday, June 2 behind RC Waters School. This is an event long hoped for by many BCS parents and citizens.

The BCS Schools are also holding a Garage Sale on Friday, June 3 from 1-6 p.m., and Saturday, June 4 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the B-C-S Annex Building located at the corner of Park Street and Benton Street. Tables, chairs, filing cabinets and more will be available to purchase!

Separate from the garage sale, the school is accepting sealed bids for higher-value items that are listed below. Bids must be sent to the attention of the Superintendent by Monday, June 6 at noon for the following items and the minimum bid: Planer – $200; Small Hobart Mixer – $1,400; Large Hobart Mixer – $2,700; and Salad Bar – $200.

The Marblehead Peninsula Chamber of Commerce will hold their 14th Annual Golf Outing on Monday, June 6th at the Catawba Island Club. The fee is $140 per player and includes green fees, golf cart, box lunch and dinner. Please call Teri Cassell at the Chamber office at 419-702-7492 for more information.

The Port Clinton Chamber and Main Street Port Clinton announce a Groundbreaking Ceremony to be held today (Thursday, May 19) at noon. This event will take place at 2415 NW Catawba Rd, Port Clinton. American Servicing Corp. of Findlay will be developing property acquired from the late Robert Gustav Schraidt and his family.

The development and the roads will be named by the family. They intend to develop the new residential property maintaining a pristine agricultural feel. The development will include Eight 1.5-acre lots located on the golf course. There will be a 160-foot by 150-foot pond within the development. The property was originally farmed by Robert (Bob) Schraidt as a peach orchard and will be named Peach Tree Estates.

Freddie Mac (OTCQB: FMCC) has announced the winners of its “Home Possible RISE” Awards. The annual program, RISE (Recognizing Individuals for Sustained Excellence), salutes Freddie Mac’s top clients across multiple categories for excellence with the Home Possible® mortgage – Freddie Mac’s affordable lending solution for very low- to low-income homebuyers.

Croghan Colonial Bank earned the Home Possible RISE Award within the “Greatest Volume” category for making an impact on affordable lending. Lenders within this category represent the top originators from national to local organizations who are producing and/or aggregating the greatest volume of Home Possible mortgages. Congratulations to our friends at Croghan Colonial Bank.

The July 18 meeting for the OCTID (Ottawa County Transportation Improvement District) Board has been cancelled. The next meeting is scheduled for Oct. 17.

On April 21, 25 folks from the Ottawa County Court of Common Pleas Specialized Dockets Program visited Joyful Connections for a few hours of Community Service. Participants of Drug Court, Mental Health Court and Veterans Court joined with providers from Common Pleas Court, Firelands Counseling and Ottawa County Probation to help clean up Joyful Connections’ outside play area for the warm weather months.

They also completed some spring cleaning and assembled several new large toys and equipment to be used by families and children visiting at Joyful Connections. This was the first time that all three specialized dockets had come together for what they hope will become a quarterly activity.

Terra State Community College has released the Dean’s List for the spring 2022 semester. To be eligible for this honor, students must be full-time, with a minimum of 12 credit hours, and a minimum GPA of 3.5. Local students include: Jonathan McNally from Marblehead; Julie Young, Amanda Clark, Alannah Pond and Weston Schroeder of Oak Harbor; as well as Gabriel Armendariz, Cooper Kowal, Kristen Laird and Gracey Riffle of Port Clinton.

Ella Dedes, a native of Oak Harbor, was recently initiated into the Bowling Green State University Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa, the National Leadership Honor Society. The Society welcomed 1,971 new initiates from 78 universities during April. Students initiated into the Society must be sophomores, juniors, seniors, or graduate/professional students in the top 35% of their class, demonstrate leadership experience in at least one of the five pillars, and embrace the ODK ideals.

Fewer than 5 percent of students on a campus are invited to join each year. Omicron Delta Kappa Society, the National Leadership Honor Society, was founded in Lexington, Va.

Folks do not forget the great memory lane that we started in the paper. Please email any pictures that you would like to see of memories from Ottawa County to memorylane@thebeacon.net. Who doesn’t like walking down memory lane every week?