Today is Volume 30, Issue 1 of The Beacon. That means we are beginning our 30th year as a community newspaper serving the people of Ottawa County.
Much has changed over the past 29 years since we began publishing in a tiny upstairs office at 106 W. Perry St. in Port Clinton. One big change has been the Internet. Many newspapers have been adversely affected by making choices about what to put online and what not put there. Fortunately for The Beacon, our circulation has remained virtually unchanged for 29 years, while our website has grown dramatically in popularity and readership.

Last week we ran the story about “The Last Shot” at the Port Clinton Middle School Gym/Auditorium. That got local historian Lock Zeis going and he went back into the archives of the Ottawa County Museum and pulled out an article in the Port Clinton Herald from Dec. 16, 1937, highlighting the FIRST GAME at what was then the brand new high school gym/auditorium! It was a 22-8 Port Clinton victory over Oak Harbor and drew a crowd of nearly 1,000 people. The player of the game was Gene Bolte, who replaced “Big Jim Sims” at center and was a rebounding machine.

One of Ottawa County’s true pioneers and philanthropists, Jack Schiller, passed away recently.
Schiller was truly an accomplished individual having served as a delegate of President Eisenhower for the People to People program and also served on trade missions to Europe, Asia, South America, Australia and China for Ohio Gov. Jim Rhodes.
About a year ago, he was named a Trustee Emeritus for the Ottawa County Community Foundation. He started his own Agri-business, Hayward and Company, in 1932. Jack was 103.

Valentine’s Day is almost upon us.  To celebrate, you may want to present your loved ones with chocolates, flowers or any number of other traditional gifts. But if your valentine also happens to be your spouse or your life partner, you also might want to show your love in another way  — by making sure you have adequate insurance.
Just consider some of the things that life insurance can do for you and your family:

The field is getting crowded for the various Congressional races this coming November. Actually, there will be an important Primary election in March, just a month away. We received word that a Put-in-Bay woman, Donna Glisman, has thrown her hat in the ring to run for the United States Senate. She is holding a “Meet & Greet” on Saturday, Feb. 11 from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Carroll Township Hall, 11080 W. Toussaint East Road north of Oak Harbor. I have no idea if she is an “R” or a “D”!