By John Schaffner

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend! Now it’s time for my annual speech. The next 6 to 8 weeks are some of the most beautiful times to visit Lake Erie and our communities. Many of the local businesses call it the “Shoulder Season.” The Lake Erie temperature remains moderate almost all the way into November.

This is the big weekend for the “Rock the Light” Music Festival at Port Clinton’s Waterworks property. Friday and Saturday, the gates open at 3:30 p.m. Friday night’s feature act is “Here Come the Mummies” for a return engagement. Saturday night features the incredible 60s and 70s rock band, Jefferson Starship. For ticket information, call the Port Clinton Area Chamber of Commerce at 419-732-5503 or visit RockTheLightPC.com.

Friday night (Sept. 6) will be a special night at Oak Harbor High School. The Rockets will host the 100th Anniversary of the first Oak Harbor vs Genoa football game at 7 p.m. There will be a special ceremony held at 6:45 p.m. on the 50-yard line featuring team members from the 40s,50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s,  2000s, and 2010s. Former Genoa coach Jim Firestone and former Oak Harbor coach Gary Quisno, along with other former coaches, will also be there to celebrate the “Celestial Bowl” rivalry. Pre-sale tickets are on sale at both Oak Harbor and Genoa.

Mary Ann Pressler from the Cleveland area is our winner this week in our “Find Wylie” contest. She was chosen from among 99 entries who successfully figured out that our friendly fish was NOT hidden inside any ads in The Beacon last week. So, Mary Ann 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 Beacon has set the date, time and location for our annual Best of The Best awards dinner and gala. It will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 18 at the Camp Perry Clubhouse again this year. The voting has ended and the ballots are being tabulated as we speak.

Congratulations to Kate Messa, the executive director of the Marblehead Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, who gave birth to a bouncing baby girl!

This Sunday is the “Fly-in or Drive-in” pancake breakfast to help the efforts to restore one of the original Island Airlines Ford Tri-Motor airplanes. It will be held at the Liberty Air Museum from 8 a.m. to 12 Noon. Adults and children 15 and up can enjoy breakfast for just $8. Kids between the ages of 6 and 15 can eat for $5 while youngsters 5 and under eat for free.

Actress Sarah Hernandez, who performed in the movie “Unplanned,” will be the featured guest speaker at Heartbeat of Ottawa County’s “Feel the Beat” fundraising event on Saturday, Sept. 28 from 6 to 9:30 p.m. at the Port Clinton Elks Lodge. Classic Trendz will provide the entertainment for the dinner/dance. Tickets are $40 per person and can be acquired by calling 419-734-9359,

Genoa Bank will host tonight’s Port Clinton Area Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours. They are located at 4068 East Harbor Rd. (SR 163 just east of SR 53).

Magruder Hospital will host the monthly Alzheimer’s Support Group on Monday, Sept. 9, at 9 a.m. in the Conference Center. Meeting on the second Monday of each month, the group provides helpful tips, education, encouragement and resources to family, friends and caregivers of anyone dealing with dementia and memory loss. For more information about this program as well as other support groups, events and screenings, go to www.magruderhospital.com and click on the events calendar.

Magruder Hospital will also offer their 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 Sept. 12, and 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!