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| Lent kicks off |
Lent officially begins this week — on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 17. Lent is the season leading up to Easter and lasts 40 days. It is a time of preparation and a time when many people engage in meditation or religious  study. Lent is also (often) a time when Christian people make some kind of sacrifice. This might involve not eating a favorite food or not participating in a particularly enjoyable activity. Any or all of this is a way to concentrate or focus on Easter, a commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christians believe that Jesus is the son of God and that He was raised from the dead after being crucified (nailed to a wooden cross). From the resurrection of Jesus comes the promise of eternal life for his followers.
Recently I spent part of a day in Sandusky doing various errands. Among them was a trip to Ollie’s outlet store to check over their supply of books on religion. There is a wide selection of those as well as many cookbooks and books for children and juveniles. It’s an interesting store and it is fun to go there. Did you know that a teacher named Christy Harp in Massillon grew a pumpkin that weighed 1,725 pounds? It was a prize-winner. That seems obvious, doesn’t it? I wondered: how would a person actually weigh a thing like that? Would it have to be put on a truck and carted off to a massive scale? I can’t imagine how that would be accomplished but official rules for growing the largest pumpkin likely were worked out long ago. It’s the time of year when garden and seed catalogs start arriving in the mail. The weather proclaims it is still deep winter; the catalogs announce that spring is coming. The snow storms around here last week seemed excessive but were minor compared to what my brother and sister-in-law experienced at there home in southern Delaware state. Power was only out for about five hours. But snow of nearly 2 feet accumulated during several storms and there was a freezing rain just to add to the general mess. When I talked to Jim and Joanne on Sunday night they had gone to church that day for the first time in three weeks. The parking lot at church had been plowed repeatedly and the snow had been piled up around the edges 10 feet high and higher. Jim said from inside the parking lot it looked like a fortress. “Swing into Spring” craft show will be hosted by the Riverview Nursing Home Auxiliary from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 20. Reservations are needed for children (age 12 and under) to have lunch with the Easter Bunny from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.. Kid-friendly foods will be served. A lunch stand will serve foods for anyone over 12 years of age (adults, too). There will also be an Easter Egg Hunt at 2 p.m. Vendors are sought for the craft area. Call Kimberly Geldien for information. The number is 419-732-3163. For those of you who enjoy the painting of James Whistler, there will be a display of his prints at the Toledo Museum of Art beginning Feb. 26. Works of Whistler’s contemporaries will also be shown. Stein Hospice, headquartered in Sandusky, publishes a great newsletter, “Hos Speak.” Port Clinton resident Susan Lambert Keefer was featured in the front-page article of the last edition. She is a volunteer who works with Hospice patients to create a video and DVD featuring milestones in the person’s life. Susan was pictured with Ken Turvey, formerly a resident of Put-in-Bay and well known in our area. Jan Bucholz, Executive Director of Stein Hospice, wrote in the newsletter that 2009 was a year of innovation and expansion for the organization. “On an average day we now care for 350 patients, which is 100 more patients than when the year began. …We have been able to extend our services into a fifth county, Seneca County. … Another area of remarkable growth has been our volunteers. We now have about 200 men and women. ...We have more than doubled the number of volunteers we had when the year began.” These are just some of her comments about the growth of the helping organization. Stein Hospice also promotes many support groups. They are too numerous to list here, but you can call 419-625-5269 to obtain information or to find out how you can become a Hospice volunteer. The Hayes Presidential Center and Museum in Fremont has a wonderful collection of print materials about the old-fashioned game of croquet. Croquet is played with wooden mallets and wooden balls. The balls are hit with the mallets around a course, putting the balls through wire wickets that are stuck into the ground. I like to play croquet. We had a beat up old croquet set when we were kids and it was a fun game. And you don’t have to be an athletic super-star to play it. People of all ages can compete. To find out more about this game, visit the Presidential Center. The Ottawa-Sandusky-Seneca Joint Solid Waste District has established its 2010 schedule for recycling collections. Do you have things to dispose of? Appliances or televisions? Household hazardous waste or tires? The first recycling event will be for any appliances or household object made primarily of steel. This includes grills or mowers but does not include plastic or wooden items. Dispose of appliances on April 24 at the Ottawa County Fairgrounds. For recycling computers, take them to any Goodwill Store location in Port Clinton, Fremont, Tiffin or Bellevue. This may be done at any time. It’s good news that you don’t have to wait for a recycling event date to get rid of your old computers! The Ottawa County Historical Museum has finished a new addition that enlarged its display space. The museum is located at 126 W. Third St. in Port Clinton. Peggy Debien is curator. To have “coffee with the curator,” join Peggy from 10 a.m. until noon on the third Wednesday of any month. Call 419-732-2237 for confirmation of these events. The museum is open on Wednesdays, noon to 3 p.m. from Labor Day to Memorial Day. Or you may tour the museum by appointment. The next offering in the Firelands Musical Arts Series takes place on Saturday, Feb. 27. The Berea College Chamber Singers will perform a wide range of music. Performance begins at 7:30 p.m. at 2626 E. Harbor Road, Port Clinton. Congratulations to Angela Benner and Sarah Joseph. They are the winners of the adult scholarships awarded by the Business and Professional Women’s Club in Port Clinton.
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