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Kelleys Island/Put-in-Bay Cultural Exchange
The Put-in-Bay Gazette has learned that elected officials from Kelleys Island and Put-in-Bay have been discussing cultural exchange opportunities between the two islands. There’s no question that more robust conversations are needed between the two neighboring Lake Erie Islands to preserve their common heritage.
Major Ronnie Herbar of Kelleys Island recently told the Gazette in a taped interview that he was proud to be a member of the Lake Erie Islands community, but was stunned to find out at a recent Lake Erie Islands trivia night contest at the Casino Bar & Grille that he actually knew very little about the other islands. With that, he contacted Major Judy Perry of Put-in-Bay and suggested they indeed start a cultural exchange between the two islands.
After many hours of meetings, the two majors and volunteer committee members from each island came up with a plan that has the two islands trading historic artifacts with each other.
Put-in-Bay will send three of the cannons in its downtown park to Kelleys Island for display there, and in exchange Kelleys will send Inscription Rock to Put-in-Bay. The historic “Battle of Lake Erie” cannons from Put-in-Bays downtown lakefront will be placed on the waterfront at the West Bay Inn aiming out to Perry’s Monument across the lake. Inscription Rock will be on display at the Bathing Beach by Perry’s Monument.
The exchange will last for two tourist seasons before the PIB cannons and Inscription Rock are returned to their rightful islands.
The work of moving the Inscription Rock and the cannons will take place in May. A crane will first lift Inscription Rock onto a large flatbed trailer and then be transported to Put-in-Bay. Once at Put-in-Bay, the huge rock will be properly mounded on a large yet-to-be-constructed planter box. The three cannons will then be removed from DiRevera Park and be transported by the same semi-truck back to Kelleys Island for placement there.
As part of the exchange, Put-in-Bay officials have agreed to restore the weather-worn and faded markings on Inscription Rock. Workers will use battery-powered hand grinders to deepen the petroglyphs and then seal the entire rock with an epoxy mixture that will protect the rock for the next 100 years. Once that work is completed, the PIB Garden Club has agreed to plant and maintain a petunia and tiger lily garden in the planter around the base. Visitors will actually be able to climb a ladder to the top on the rock and see the petroglyphs close up.
Officials on Kelleys Island will have the Perry cannons restored to working order, so they can actually be fired. The bore size of the cannons will be measured and cannonballs machined for some real live-fire demonstrations.
If this first cultural exchange between the islands is a success, you can expect to see more in coming years.
The previous piece is published in this month’s Put-in-Bay Gazette. The Gazette has been producing incredible independent Put-in-Bay island news for over 40 years. If you have any interest at all in what is happening on South Bass Island, we urge you strongly to subscribe to the Put-in-Bay Gazette. One-year online subscriptions are only $15, and print subscriptions are available as well. To subscribe please click here.
