BY JOHN SCHAFFNER

Welcome to Independence Day Weekend. It’s a three-day celebration and you can expect the traffic in our area to be horrific! I suggest that wherever you go this weekend, leave early and prepare to be patient. Let’s all be safe.

Due to supply chain issues, inflation and who knows what else, fireworks displays were hard to come by this year. However, thanks to donations from a lot of incredible people and local businesses, the fireworks displays are all on!

Check the listing inside this week’s Beacon to find out where and when they will all take place.

Phil Helterbrand was selected from among 169 entries who found Wylie Walleye hiding in the ad for Riverview Health Care on Page 2B in last week’s Beacon. So, Phil 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 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!

Also, Wylie Walleye is eager to answer our community’s questions, keep sending them in to P.O. Box 176 or emailing them to askwylie@thebeacon.net. He has a wonderful time swimming around Lake Erie Shores here in Ottawa County getting information for you all.

Don’t forget about Memory Lane, featuring historical photographs of our area. If you’d like to submit your own, please send them with a written explanation to memories@thebeacon.net or mail to P.O. Box 176.

The Beacon has always been residential delivery, with fuel prices as they are we are doing a research of the area on who wants the paper and who does not. Please take the time to cut out the subscription form on page 2A this week and mail it back to The Beacon, P.O. Box 176, Port Clintion, OH 43452. We would greatly appreciate it.

The 33rd Annual Chick Schaffner Memorial Charity Golf Classic was held at Catawba Island Club on Monday. My personal thanks go out to the 100 players who participated, the incredible volunteers who helped out at registration and on the course, and our amazing sponsors, especially our friends at Materion.

There will be a “Welcome Home” escort for Sam Holbrook, who is returning from his overseas deployment with the U.S. Army on Sunday, July 3 at 3 p.m. The planned route through the streets of Oak Harbor begins at Oak Harbor High School and continues through downtown via State Route 163, with a rolling end near Finke Road.

CORRECTION: The story I reported a couple weeks ago about Rich Riley, who escorted a WWII vet to Normandy and followed the “Band of Brothers” story about EZ Company. They were with the 101st Airborne, not the 82nd. I definitely wanted to get that one right!

There will be a very special grand opening celebration and ribbon cutting at the “new” Lilly & Gert’s on Friday at noon at their new location at 1622 E. Perry Street in the Port Clinton Plaza.

The American Red Cross is in need of blood and will have a blood drive in the Magruder Hospital Conference Center Friday, July 1, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Appointments are required and can be made by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS, or visiting RedCrossBlood.org. Donors should enter Magruder through the Outpatient Entrance, where someone can show them how to get to the conference center. Also, the Catawba Island Township Hall will be the site of another bloodmobile from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m on Thursday, July 7. Nearby blood drives can always be found by going to reddcrossblood.org and entering your zip code.

In the late 1950s, the flag officers of Port Clinton Yacht Club took on the task of renovating their facility. In 2021 decided it was time to do the same and began a $1.4 million project to completely redo the facility. The project has been completed and there will be a dedication ceremony this Saturday at 9:30 a.m. It all turned out really great!

The Ottawa County Advocacy Center offers many services for those who live in Ottawa County. One program is called GrandLove. This program specifically offers services to grandparents or relatives raising grandchildren. One of these services is called GrandSuccess. This is a tutoring program for the grandchildren.

It was offered once a week during the school year in three different Ottawa County school districts and volunteer tutors gave one-on-one help to students. The content was tied to what was being taught in the classrooms.

During the summer, the GrandSuccess program will offer two-week tutoring for Port Clinton students in July and Oak Harbor students in August. The content will be a review of grade level material in order for these students to have support for the following year. If anyone is interested in volunteering as a tutor, please call the Ottawa County Advocacy Center at 419-301-0225 and leave your name and phone number. Someone will contact you.

Join the Firelands Symphony Orchestra (FSO) this Saturday, July 2 at 7:30 p.m. at the Marblehead Lighthouse as they perrform “Portraits of American Heroism,” a free outdoor pops concerts in celebration of Independence Day, featuring a diverse program of lively patriotic selections from all eras and genres.

Performed by the full orchestra and with featured guest vocalist Kate Klika, the event will also be accompanied by special recognition of our own Tuskegee Airman, Colonel Harold Brown. Conductor and music director Carl Topilow presents a program that is sure to offer a renewed sense of gratitude for music, freedom and true patriotism.

Big news! Friends of Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge nearly has the funds needed to buy the Puddles Shuttle. We just need another $3,000 to meet our goal and we have a special announcement: An anonymous couple stepped forward to offer a match for any gifts made through June 30th.

The couple is passionate about the refuge and believes in providing a means for people of all ages and abilities to connect with nature at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. If you feel the same, donate today to have your gift count twice!

The following local students earned their degrees at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio: Mara Yeager of Marblehead, earning a B.S. in Business in Marketing earning a B.S. in Engineering; Ethan Barnes of Middle Bass Island, getting a degree in Electrical Engineering; Max Brenner of Port Clinton, earning a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology.

Port Clinton native Alexander Sprenger, a graduate of Lawrence School, earned academic distinction for the most recent semester at Whitman College in Washington. This recognition is given to students who have completed a minimum of 12 credits, passed all credits attempted, and have earned a grade-point average of 3.5 or higher on no fewer than nine graded credits during the semester.