Island Diary March 2018 Day By Day What Happened At The Bay!
Diary March 2018 -Mar. 1st – The weather is absolutely lousy at Put-in-Bay – windy, rainy and cold changing to snow. The planes are not flying in the morning. Hefty winds out of the northeast bring lake water up to the top of the city docks, covering the roadway at Miller’s downtown dock and making the road impassable at the Monument except for big pickup trucks.
Bob Bahney reports 44 mph winds on Peach Point. Mark Lakanka and Lillian Thompson take a video while driving past the Monument. It shows the road and the lawn underwater. After three weeks on Facebook, it had been seen by 58,000 viewers. The Water and Sewer Committee for the Village Council meets in the morning, and among the topics of discussion are those who owe money to the utility department.
Diary March 2018 -Fri., March 2nd – Flights to and from the island resume as the winds die. By early evening, the lake is calm as the full moon rises in the clear sky behind the Monument.
Diary March 2018 -Sat., March 3rd – Deacon Mike from Mother of Sorrows is on hand at Miller’s downtown dock as ferry service begins for the season. He says a blessing for a safe season for all those who work, play, and travel upon the waters this season.
Diary March 2018 -Sun., March 4th – Islanders are happy that the ferries are running as they return from winter break
Diary March 2018 -Mon., March 5th – Classes at Put-in-Bay School resume after the winter break.
Diary March 2018 -Tues., March 6th – St. John @ The Bay Lutheran Mission is scheduled to begin its Bible study sessions. Paula Ziebarth talks to people at the Lake Erie Islands Conservancy and LEI Nature and Wildlife Center table at the Ohio Wildlife Diversity Conference in Columbus. Paula and Lisa Brohl enjoyed great talks about coyotes, dragonflies, and bats and talking to people about island conservation efforts.
Diary March 2018 -Wed., March 7th – The Village Council’s workshop meeting occurs in the morning.
Thurs., March 8th – Icy conditions on the docks limit ferry trips to one in the morning and one in the afternoon. East Point residents Glenn Cooper and Jackie Taylor are traveling to San Diego, California, from Key West International Airport to attend the U.S.S. Lake Erie Change of Command.
Fri., March 9th – Season passes can now be used on the ferry.
Sat., March 10th – The Round House Bar is among those doing open job interviews at the mainland’s Lake Erie Shores & Island Welcome Center. Barry and Piper Koehler are out hunting for beach glass and are very, very successful for this early in the season.
Sun., March 11th – Don and Sue Thwaite stop by Miller’s downtown dock, empty their son Oliver’s minnow car, and take it out
of the water. There are still several minnow cars in the water.
Mon., March 12th – About half the Bay gets a layer of skim ice overnight due to temperatures in the twenties. Agnes Uszak, Melinda Myers, Brooke Wertenbach, Dan Buckley, and Julie Leopold fly to Fort Myers, Florida, to have a Crew’s Nest management meeting at Robbie Morrow’s home in Port Charlotte. Todd Blumensaadt celebrates his 50th birthday.
Tues., March 13th – Winter doesn’t want to give up. Snow flurries remind islanders that winter isn’t over yet.
Wed., March 14th – Lisa Brohl is on the mainland at Hartung Title Agency. She is closing on another six acres of forest wetland on Middle Bass being purchased by the Lake Erie Islands Conservancy. It’s about 85 days until the 2018 season opening day for the Lake Erie Islands Softball League. Al Ruchala from East Point celebrates his 60th birthday.
Thurs., March 15th – Adam Bianchi (Put-in-Bay High School Class of 2009) and his two partners were featured on the TODAY Show in their popular YouTube Buzz Feed Worth It” food show with more than 400,000,000 views. Ferry service begins for the 2018 season between Kelleys Island and Marblehead. At the Erie Islands Petroleum Pit Stop, they are offering breakfast! – Eggs, bacon, biscuits, and gravy, hot and ready by 7:30 a.m.
Fri., March 16th – Due to the northwest wind and overnight temperatures in the mid-twenties, the morning ferries are canceled due to ice on the Catawba Dock. The road by the Monument is a little icy from the spray over the seawall! The annual Talent Show takes place at the school gym. Put-in-Bay High School freshman Blake Booker walks off with the top prize.
Sat., March 17th – At Topsy Turvey’s, three brave souls, Andy Shuttleworth from the Round House, Jenny Robinson from the Old Forge, and Put-in-Bay High School’s basketball coach Craig Shuffeneker, jump off the dock into the frigid water following a St. Patrick’s Day tradition at Put-in-Bay. Cantankerous makes the first fuel run to the mainland for the 1918 season.
Sun., March 18th – The Kelleys Island Ferry announces, “For the next couple days, March 19, 20 & 21 we expect Northeast winds 25+. The wind is supposed to pick up Monday afternoon and be the worst on Tuesday, then finally subsiding on Wednesday. Please be prepared for suspension in service due to the winds.”
Mon., March 19th – March’s Put-in-Bay Chamber of Commerce meeting is held at the Put-in-Bay Town Hall. There’s a steady wind that’s bringing the water level up. Ferry service is curtailed in the afternoon.
Tues., March 20th – It’s the first day of Spring on Put-in-Bay. Islanders celebrate with no ferry service, icy roads by the Monument, water in the street on Bayview Ave., northeast winds pushing lake water over the Lime Kiln Dock, and temperatures hovering around freezing. On Middle Bass Island, there’s water on the dock in front of Lonz Winery and on Deist Rd., which separates the main part of the island from its East Point. What fun!
Wed., March 21st – As part of severe weather awareness next week, the Put-in-Bay Fire Department tests their fire sirens at 9:50 a.m.! It looks like a violation of the noise ordinance if you ask us. There are no trips in the morning due to continued high winds/water levels.
Thurs., March 22nd – Miller Boat Lines switches to the first “printed” schedule of the 2018 season. Sounds like a positive move on their part.
Fri., March 23rd – In Port Clinton, the third suppression hearing for Keith Blumensaadt occurs in Ottawa County Common Pleas Court. Keith was arrested last June when Put-in-Bay police surrounded his island home. An excellent post appears on the Put-in-Bay Facebook Page about Things To Do In Ohio and is an exciting read!
Sat., March 24th – Put-in-Bay’s St. Paul’s Episcopal Church joins members of Sandusky’s Grace Episcopal Church members for the local March For Our Lives event. There’s an Island Party in the afternoon at Tangier in Akron. Comedian Charlie Wiener and musicians Bob Gatewood, The Flyin Jays, and The Reese Dailey Band recreate that Put-in-Bay atmosphere.
Sun., March 25th – Frustration with winter hanging on sets in as ferry service is canceled for the day due to high winds, cold, and ice on both docks.
Mon., March 26th – The Bible Explorers from St. Paul’s Episcopal Church hold a Tenebrae service for Holy Week. There’s a meeting about Put in Bay High School’s new sailing team (grades 7-12) in the evening at school.
Tues., March 27th – Former Put-in-Bay Yacht Club Commodore Bill Boag and his wife Alice are beach condo guests of Put-in-Bay Yacht Club manager Barb Chrysler on Perdido Key in Florida. Island entertainer Ray Fogg is on stage at Rick’s in Key West in the afternoon. Former island resident Joe Suttmann is in the Keys on vacation, so watch out!
Wed., March 28th – Put-in-Bay High School’s seniors are in San Francisco, their first stop on their way to the class trip in Hawaii.
Thurs., March 29th – The April Put-in-Bay Gazette is printed in Sandusky, so anything after this date in the Island Diary is
pure speculation.
Fri., March 30th – Islanders are celebrating Good Friday.
Sat., March 31st – The island Easter Egg Hunt takes place. There will be no shortage of eggs.
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