Even if you did not grow up in Ohio, you likely have family roots that extend into the Buckeye State. The Hayes Presidential Center offers a class specifically designed to help you find your Ohio ancestors. Head Librarian Becky Hill is instructor for “Searching Your Ohio Roots”. The class takes place 9:30-11:30 a.m. Saturday, May 18, in the Hayes Research Library and is sponsored by RootsMagic Inc. Cost is $10/adults and $5/students through high school. Pre-registration is required. Call 419-332-2081 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to register.

Discarded trash in our communities and along our roadways is ugly and unwanted. It can also be costly in time and maintenance of equipment for township and county road crews when they are working, or mowing along our roadways. Litter is also a hazard for animals in their natural habitats.

In an effort to reduce those costs and the danger of unsightly litter, local agencies are cooperating together to solve the problem. The OSS Solid Waste District contracts with the county Juvenile Courts in Ottawa, Sandusky and Seneca Counties for supervision of a Litter Crew to clean District roadways. Weather permitting; thousands of pounds of debris are being removed from township and county thoroughfares during the course of a year.

State Representative Chris Redfern has scheduled office hours in Ottawa County. Office hours will be Monday, May 13, from 2-3 p.m. in the Oak Harbor Public Library Lower Level Meeting Room, located at 147 West Main Street in Oak Harbor. The public is invited to attend.

On June 8th a daughter of Ottawa County will be heading on a grand adventure, and we have been invited along. Woodmore graduate Madelyn Hille, 23, and her partner Adam Hoffmeister, 25, will set out with their canoe and their dog Joschko to paddle and capture the Mississippi--all 2500 miles of it, beginning at the headwaters at Itasca State Park in Minnesota and ending with the Gulf of Mexico. 

Along the way Hille, an aspiring photojournalist now living in Indianapolis, will be documenting the trip. She will select one photo each day that captures that day’s experience, then compile the photos into a hard-cover book titled “Capturing the Mississippi”. Madelyn will also be sharing photos each week with Beacon readers.