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Moss on
the Rock
PIB Arts Council
The Put-in-Bay Arts Council and PIB’s own island thespians have been busy getting ready to put on a play at the Put-in-Bay Town Hall on Saturday, May 7th, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, May 8th, at 3 p.m. The play is “Breaking the News,” by Don Zolidis. It’s a funny satire about two high school news outlets that take sides about the student council president and a shocking fundraising conspiracy. The cost is $10 for adults, $7 for kids ages 5 to 12, free for kids under 5, and $7 for seniors 55 years and older. Plan now to attend this first PiB Arts Council play in several years. Everyone is welcome, so please attend and support the Arts Council and our very own island actors.
Island Wide Garage Sale
Sat., May 14th – Conservancy Fundraiser
The Lake Erie Islands Conservancy will be participating in the Island Wide Garage Sale to be held on Saturday, May 14th, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. with tables at the John and Paula Ladd residence at the corner of Catawba and Erie Avenue. We will have native plants, t-shirts, tote bags, hats, beverage koozies, and more for sale.
If you would like to donate any household items for sale that day, please bring in a box with your name with suggested pricing that morning at 8:30 a.m. So now if a good time to go through your garage and home and see what you could donate for us to sell! The Ladd home is a great sale location and we thank them for letting us use the space again!
We will ask that you pick up later anything that does not sell. Stacy Clink will be organizing for us. Questions contact her at scscout@embarqmail.com or Lisa Brohl at 419-366-2087 or leiconservancy@gmail.com. The Lake Erie Islands Nature and Wildlife Center will also have sales items for purchase.
Erie Islands to Host
Great Lakes Islands Alliance
Planning for this fall’s 2022 Great Lakes Islands Summit is underway! Visitors from other Great Lakes Islands will come to visit our unique Erie Isle community. GLIA members will arrive Sunday, October 2nd, and depart when the summit is over on Wednesday, Oct. 5th. This will be a four-island experience – headquarters on South Bass Island (Put-in-Bay) with visits to Middle Bass, Kelleys and Pelee Islands. Increasing fuel costs may be a challenge for some. If flying, nearby airports include Detroit (DTW), Cleveland and Toledo. A nominal registration fee will cover meals, meeting logistics, etc.
May Chamber of Commerce Meeting
The kickoff to the 2022 season Put-in-Bay Chamber of Commerce meeting and event will be held on Tuesday, May 10th, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., at the Put-in-Bay Yacht Club. An annual meeting and program will be presented by the Chamber and guests. Come to network and hear about all of the great things happening at the Chamber. Appetizers and refreshments will be served. For any questions please email Wendy Chambers at director@visitputinbay.com.
Miller Ferry Offers Free Ferry Passage
to U.S. Military and Active Personnel
During Memorial Weekend
In honor of American soldiers who died in military service, Active U.S. Military Personnel and American Veterans will receive FREE passenger fare aboard Miller Ferry to Put-in-Bay or Middle Bass Island on Saturday, May 28th through Memorial Day, May 30th, with military identification. *Please present a Military ID at the Miller Ferry Ticket Booth to receive a free passenger round trip ticket.
Life Flight Changes
Even though Life Flight’s enrollment and membership program will end this year, Mercy Health is still committed to serving the islands.
Volunteer Opportunity
The Lake Erie Islands Conservancy is working with the Put-in-Bay Township Park District on the new Morrison Woods Preserve. Mark LeKanka has already been busy installing the new trail there at the corner of Meechen and Put-in-Bay Roads. He has picked up the larger items from the new preserve but the LEIC still needs a few volunteers to walk the trail and pick up garbage. The Conservancy will also need some help with mulching the trail. The group also provides garbage bags and gloves if needed and will have wheelbarrows and shovels for mulching. Let Lisa Brohl know if you can help. This project is eligible for panther pride hours for students.
Back to the Wild Visit
Back to the Wild, the Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic in Castalia, Ohio, will visit Put-in-Bay, on Wednesday, May 4th, 2022. They will bring their birds and critters for a show at 3:15 p.m. at the Put-in-Bay Town Hall. Don’t miss it! The visit is sponsored by the Put-in-Bay Recreation Committee, the Lake Erie Islands Nature and Wildlife Center, the Lake Erie Islands Conservancy and the Miller Boat Line.
Smooth Sailing!
Well, it’s not exactly smooth sailing, but smooth driving. You may have noticed the scrape marks on the new paving on Catawba Ave. this past month. Apparently, the paving job was not up to the standard that the county liked so they had it micro grinded to see if they could smooth it out and avoid completely repaving the road.
Just A Few Woody Books Left!
The special edition of the late Woody Widmar’s Put-in-Bay Gazette poems, Play Ball, is just about sold out, so here’s your last chance to get a copy. There are only 19 left! It makes a great gift for Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. It’s only $40, and 100% of proceeds benefit the Woody Widmar Harvest Scholarship fund for deserving Put-in-High School graduates. $1,420 has already been added to the Harvest Scholarship fund from the Woody Poem Book, Play Ball, sales. Text Susan Byrnes at (419) 341-8769 to order yours.
Great Video About Washington Island
There’s a great short video that was made in early March for the Great Lakes Islands Alliance (Glialliance.org) and features the quiet off-season of winter on Washington Island, Wisconsin, in Lake Michigan. We highly recommend it. Thanks to Hoyt Purinton and Washington Island Ferry Line for some ice breaking insights with narration by Jordan B. Killam from Kelleys Island. It was shot, written and edited by Peter Huston (phuston@glialliance.org) of Put-in-Bay. Special thanks goes to the Washington Island Chamber of Commerce. Check out the video at https://youtu.be/AK9fNk_DRlA.
By the way, Washington Island will be hosting this fall’s Great Lakes Islands Basketball Tournament.
Officially Listed As Invasive Plant
Here is a forward below on some big news in the invasive plant world. Callery Pear is now officially listed as an invasive plant in Ohio and will no longer be sold starting in 2023. Although these trees can be beautiful, they are hard to contain once they spread. We are trying to rid our Scheeff East Point Preserve of the spread of this tree – you can see the white blossoms this time of year. We hope to keep our preserves in native trees and shrubs that native pollinators/insects/wildlife have adapted to.
Archery Hits Put-in-Bay
Plan now for “Archery Hits Put-in-Bay” on Wednesday, June 29th, from 10 a.m. to noon at Cooper’s Woods Preserve Parking Lot. This is a free program sponsored by the Lake Erie Islands Nature Wildlife Center. Outdoor Skills Specialist Jaron Beck from the Division of Wildlife will have a presentation about hunting, legality and safety guidelines from 10 to 10:20 a.m., and then there will be public archery with Jaron until noon. All ages and skill levels are welcome to attend. Participants in line before noon will be able to enjoy the program. Special thank you to Mother of Sorrows Catholic Church. The rain date will be the next day at the same time.
Gate at South Bass Island State Park
What’s going on with the gate by the office at the South Bass Island State Park? They are installing a gate to the campground! This gate is to help increase camper safety and to help improve the park’s quiet hours. The gate will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily to allow people to visit friends and family in the camp group and to allow for people to still come and see the glacial grooves and hotel ruins. After the gate closes at night, campers will still be able to come and go as they please as they will be given the pass code to the gate. During the winter months the gate will be open for the local residents during the off season for the islanders to enjoy the beauty of the park in the winter.
Walleye Genetics
Walleye is an important Lake Erie species, supporting both commercial and recreational fisheries. Management agencies need ways to identify how local spawning populations contribute to the lake-wide fish population, so they can continue to keep Lake Erie’s walleye fisheries naturally reproducing and sustainable.
Dr. Stuart Ludsin at The Ohio State University has developed a genetic tool that can differentiate between walleye from the eastern versus western basins of Lake Erie and successfully helped agencies to better understand the contributions of different spawning locations to the eastern basin’s commercial and recreational fisheries.
Stone Laboratory Sportfishing Workshop
Ohio Sea Grant’s angler educator Tory Gabriel is offering a sportfishing workshop at Ohio State University’s Stone Laboratory on Gibraltar Island, Put-in-Bay, from May 20th to May 22nd.
The price is $500, which includes three days of fishing from boats primarily for walleyes. smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, white bass and perch will be pursued as weather and species availability allow. Meals and lodging will be provided on Gibraltar Island.
Gamefish behavior, feeding patterns and seasonal movements will be covered to better understand proper tackle and gear selection and fishing strategies using specialized gear for improving lure presentations. For more information or to register, see: https://ohioseagrant.osu/education.edu/stonelab/courses/6i44m/lake-erie-sport-fishing-workshop.
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.
