December 2017 Diary Day By Day Account Of Events At Put-in-Bay
Put In Bay Diary Fri., Dec. 1st – The Crew’s Nest is being decorated for Christmas. There are still a few private boats in the water. Gary Kowalski’s fuel vessel, “Cantankerous,” heads home with the last load of fuel for the 2017 season!
Put In Bay Diary Sat., Dec. 2nd – Bobbi Jo Dobos holds photo sessions with Santa at the Town Hall. In the season-opening games, the girls Panther basketball team falls to Temple Christian by 28 points, but the boys win an exciting game against Ottawa Hills by one point.
Put In Bay Diary Sun., Dec. 3rd – In the morning, you can hear gunfire from those who are duck hunting.
Put In Bay Diary Mon., Dec. 4th – A special Put-in-Bay Village Council meeting is held to take a vote on the completion of the probationary periods for Chief Steve Riddle and Lt. Doug Miller. Billy Market is warning islanders about the boats not continuing to run. His mainland vehicle is first off the last morning ferry to Catawba, but surprisingly the first ferries to Put-in-Bay in the afternoon is loaded with cars.
Put In Bay Diary Tues., Dec. 5th – Miller Ferry Schedule to Put-in-Bay are running their normal scheduled trips today, but incoming weather sees 30+ mile per hour winds with gusts at 35 miles per hour.
Wed., Dec. 6th – Brenda and Tommy Dailey celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary. There is too much ice on the docks and ferry to run. Winter is closing in. Thurs., Dec. 7th – There’s snow on the ground. Instead of three boats in the morning and three boats in the afternoon on the extended schedule, there are only two boats in the AM and two in the PM.
Fri., Dec. 8th – Roundhouse Bar entertainer Mike “Mad Dog” Adams flies to the island for a little walkabout. He has lunch at the Old Forge and gets to see a side of Put-in-Bay he doesn’t normally see during the busy season. Billy Market announces a ferry schedule for the next few days and says Monday, the 11th, is likely to be the day for the last ferry.
December 2017 Diary Sat., Dec. 9th – McKenna Stacy, who writes a column for the Gazette, plays her first Panther basketball game of the season. A snowy owl is spotted by Steve Stapleton at the Massie Cliffside Preserve. They have been spotted several times in recent weeks on Kelleys and the three Bass Islands. Matt Fuchs is going around dropping hams off to Crew’s Nest employees. Later in the evening, there is a party at Melinda Myers’ home for the Crew’s Nest employees and their families.
December 2017 Diary Sun., Dec. 10th – Sun., Dec. 10th – Island youngsters and their families head to the Town Hall for Breakfast with Santa. Pancakes and sausage prepared by some of the Put-in-Bay Volunteer Fire Dept. members are served by the Panther basketball team before Santa arrives to pass out gifts to all the good little island boys and girls. The event is sponsored by the Put-in-Bay Recreation Committee. In the evening members of the Put-in-Bay EMS and the Put-in-Bay Volunteer Fire Dept. enjoy a Christmas party at Tipper’s.
December 2017 Diary Mon., Dec. 11th – Cars are left on the Lime Kiln Dock as the first ferry pulls away. It looks like this is the last day of ferry service. On the last ferry returning to Put-in- Bay, passengers sing happy birthday to Lisa Brohl. As the M/V Wm Market arrives at the downtown dock, there are fireworks shot into the air signaling the end of the ferry season.
December 2017 Diary Tues., Dec. 12th – The Lake Erie Islands Conservancy Christmas party is held at the Reel Bar. Miller Boat Line has a party at Topsy Turvey’s for those island employees who have stuck it out until the end of the season. St. Paul’s has it’s December Vestry meeting at Mary Ann McCann’s home at the Anchorage.
December 2017 Diary Wed., Dec. 13th – At the Put-in-Bay Senior Center, the islands seniors are treated to a Christmas luncheon featuring chicken cordon bleu. The staff in the kitchen includes Sue, Don and Oliver Thwaite, Kendra and Phoebe Koehler and Kelly Mohn. Diane Smith leads Christmas caroling accompanied by Mary Steunenberg on the piano. Annie Parker sang Silent Night in German. If you didn’t get your senior gift bag prepared by the island’s Girl Scouts, you could pick it up at the luncheon. There’s enough snow to see a few snowmobiles out, but those hoping to see the big meteor shower miss out due to the cloud cover.
Put In Bay Diary Thurs., Dec. 14th – Ladies head to the Town Hall in the evening to enjoy a paint party hosted by Bee’s Painting With A Buzz. $25 includes a canvas, paint, step by step instructions. Did we mention it was BYOB?
Fri., Dec. 15th – There’s ice around docks in the Bay, and some out in the lake, but the Bay still has open water.
Sat., Dec. 16th – The wreaths to be placed on the veterans graves in the island cemeteries as part of the Wreaths Across American program, don’t arrive in time to be placed in the morning. They finally arrive and are placed in the afternoon. Put-in-Bay’s girl’s team win their game against the Bowling Green Christian Academy 35 to 24, but the boys lose their game 53 to 45. Tipper’s has it’s Christmas party
Sun., Dec. 17th – It’s Bird Count day on the islands. There’s ice in the Bay, but it’s not hard set.
Mon., Dec, 18th – The M/V Wm Market leaves the open Bay in the morning to begin ferry service for a few days. The Island General Store has it’s Christmas party in the late afternoon.
Tues., Dec, 19th – Following the Put-in-Bay Township Board of Trustees meeting, there is a celebration at Tipper’s in honor of Dale Burris’s many years of public service. Mother Mary L. Staley is in seventh Heaven because a Direct TV technician is on the island to fix her broken antenna. James, the tech guy, is working on his day off and has eight other customers to service.
Wed., Dec. 20th – It’s the last day of school for students at Put-in-Bay School before Christmas vacation starts.
Thurs., Dec. 21st – Linda and Rudy Rence host a Christmas party at their home on the water off Put-in-Bay Road.
Fri., Dec. 22nd – Wind speed at the South Bass Island Lighthouse weather station is zero with gusts of two miles per hour. It must be all the thick fog that’s keeping the wind-down.
Sat., Dec. 23rd – There are two ferry trips in the morning. As it snows, fireworks send off the last ferry leaving the Lime Kiln. Piper Koehler and Harper Scarpelli enjoy sledding on the hill in Mc- Cann’s filed. With it snowing in the morning and the planes not flying, Robert Courtney from North Bass puts his boat in the water and heads to Put-in-Bay to pick up Sheldon Stonerook and Katie Dunlap.
They came over on Miller’s morning ferry to Put-in-Bay to meet up with Robert so they could head back to North Bass to enjoy Christmas. By mid-afternoon, the sun is out and shining brightly. John Glauser makes his last boat trip from Middle Bass to Put-in-Bay for the year.
Sun., Dec. 24th – Snow begins falling shortly after lunch. It looks like a white Christmas for the islands. The lazy, heavy water in the Bay signals ice is right around the corner.
Put In Bay Diary Mon., Dec. 25th – It’s definitely a white Christmas. There’s a good 5 to 6 inches of snow on the ground and it’s absolutely gorgeous out.
Tues., Dec. 26th – With temperatures in the teens the lake is covered with ice. The forecast for the next week looks great for those who want to fish an recreate on the frozen water. Wed., Dec. 27th – The low at the South Bass Lighthouse was 7.7° at 5 a.m. Trash pick up, usually scheduled for Mondays, is today instead.
Thurs., Dec. 28th – The January Put-in-Bay Gazette is printed in Sandusky today, but we are going to go out on a limb and predict what will happen on the islands during the last three days of the month.
Fri., Dec. 29th – With the lake filled with ice, there is absolutely no chance Miller Boat Line will start running again this year.
Sat., Dec. 30th – By this time, there will be Put-in-Bay ice fishermen out on the ice trying to catch a walleye or two.
Sun., Dec. 31st – Islanders celebrate the end of 2017.
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