Put-in-Bay Island Diary February 2025

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Island Diary February 2025

Sat., Feb. 1st – Jake Market is celebrating his birthday. PIB Village Council holds an emergency meeting that was rescheduled from the day before. Among the topics discussed are the proposal/bid to lease the Village Public Docks for 2025. The Panther junior cheer squad performs at halftime of the Varsity Basketball game after their week-long cheer camp. A group of Middle Bass and South Bass residents meet at Topsy in the afternoon to ride over to Middle Bass on the ice. They settle in at JF Walleye’s for a few hours before eventually stopping at Eddie Sheller and Art Wolf’s houses. There’s an amazing sunset over the ice as the group returns to Put-in-Bay. This is Tom Cooper’s first full day as an 80-year old.

Sun., Feb. 2nd – Taylor’s Tae Kwon Do, Dance and Tumbling classes are cancelled for the day due to sickness. A squall rolls in the afternoon covering the island in a nice blanket of snow. Planes are grounded until the storm passes.

Mon., Feb. 3rd – Put-in-Bay Gazettes get delivered to the island in the afternoon. A case of Influenza-A is spreading around the island and many of the island school children are out sick for the day. Temperatures reach 50 degrees for the first time in over a month, melting most of the snow that fell the day before.

Tue., Feb. 4th – There’s still around 10” of ice off of the West Shore, but a very large crack has developed between South Bass and Middle Bass making the trek across more difficult than in the past several weeks.

Wed., Feb. 5th – Mayor Judy Berry is celebrating her birthday. An ice storm hits the island overnight. Half of the students in Ms. Troiano’s Kindergarten class are home sick.

Thu., Feb. 6th – PIB School is cancelled due to ice. Roberta Scarpelli, PIBHS Class of 2003, is celebrating her 40th birthday. “Mainland Luxury” night at the Forge features a taste of India.

Fri., Feb. 7th – Put-in-Bay Panther Varsity Basketball plays a game against Harvest Christian Academy in the evening. Sign up for the Kurt Rohrbacher Memorial Ice Fishing Tournament is at Topsy’s in the evening.

Sat., Feb. 8th – Anglers head out in the early morning to compete in the Kurt Rohrbacher Memorial Ice Fishing Tournament. This is the first time in several years the weather has allowed for fishable ice. It’s the last home Panther basketball game of the season. The Panther Twirling Club performs at halftime of the varsity game. Rob Hard is manning his “Chili Weiners” ice shanty selling hot dogs for a good cause. All proceeds benefit fixing the ice ramp for next year’s ice fishing season.

Sun., Feb. 9th – The annual pancake breakfast is served at PIBVFD in the morning. Dustin Shaffer and Island Air Taxi is busy flying Girl Scout cookies to the island for Troop 1314. Courtney Blumensaadt and Jill Koch reshovel the ice rink in the harbor by the Boardwalk. Former Island resident Mel Geithmann turns 90. He worked at the PIB Airport for Milt Hersberger. Mel remembers that at one time the basement of Scott and Caroline Jackson’s stone winepress house was full of Tri-Motor engines and other parts. The yacht club hosts a Super Bowl party with wings and pizza.

Mon., Feb. 10th – “Mr. Ed” Fitzgerald is celebrating his 70th birthday with friends and family in Ft. Myers. Roger Rhoad from the Lakeview Allotment, who recently returned to PIB after a few weeks in Grenada, finally gets his chance to go ice fishing, unfortunately no one told the walleye. On this day in 1935, ice fishermen from one of the Lake Erie islands requested through Congress that the Coast Guard supply a crew and boat to be stationed on their island after a car with three ice fisherman fell through in 40’ of water.

Put-in-Bay Quick Links

• Things To Do At Put-in-Bay
• 2025 Put-in-Bay Event Calendar
• Our Favorite Places To Eat At PIB
• Put-in-Bay Ferry Service

Tue., Feb. 11th – Paul Jeris visits the island to film some live videos of ice fishing for his Put-in-Bay Island Guide Facebook page. PIB Township announces the cost of commercial cardboard recycling is going up from $18 per load to $20 per load.

Wed., Feb. 12th – Put-in-Bay Days in Key West kicks off with Reese Dailey at Rick’s. Residents are informed that the Town Hall will be closed indefinitely until the furnace is repaired. Aaron Shaffer and Scott Sneller are working to winterize the building before any pipes freeze.

Thu., Feb. 13th – PIB School is cancelled for the day due to ice. About .2” of ice hit the island throughout the previous night.

Fri., Feb. 14th – A large group from Middle Bass visits Rob Hard at the Black Squirrel for breakfast in the early morning. An official Bash on the Bay Press Release is sent out announcing the dates for 2025, August 13th and 14th. The annual Science Fair is taking place at the school. Students present their science fair projects to judges. The event features creative experiments and detailed research, showcasing the students’ talent and hard work. For Valentine’s Day many couples have dinner at the Forge for their surf ‘n turf special. PIBYC is also open for the occasion, having a grill your own steak night. Scott (PIBHS Class of ‘71) and Debora LaPlante Ferrell celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.

Sat., Feb. 15th – Michael McCann and Fr. Bob Solon head out at o-dark-thirty to see what’s biting on the ice. Mike gets three, but Bob is skunked. The planned ice party on Middle Bass is moved to Eddie Sheller’s house. Becky Mandel Diaz, PIBHS Class of ‘93, celebrates reaching the half-century mark. Ray Fogg and Reese Dailey pay tribute to the songs of the “Coolest SOB ever” Patrick Huston Dailey at Put-in-Bay Days in the Key West Theater.

Sun., Feb. 16th – Around five inches of snow falls on the island overnight. Winter residents don’t miss the chance to get on the sledding hill at the State Park before winter break. There’s a 40th anniversary party for Kelly and Rob Mohn at Walleyes on Middle Bass. Greta Koehler has her birthday party in the Doller House after it was rescheduled from the temporarily closed Town Hall. Rachel’s birthday falls right before winter break so the Cooper Family celebrates a little early. Sandy Funtal created an absolutely beautiful and delicious cake for the occasion.

Mon., Feb. 17th – Village administration employees have the day off for President’s Day. Justine Cultice, Jill Koch, Joan Rhoad and Courtney Blumensaadt explore the island on ATVs. They’ve deemed themselves the “Snail Squad.” Massive ice shoves have formed off the south shore of East Point. They are quite the sight! Linda Mohony spots several deer in her yard.

Tue., Feb. 18th – Temps are below 10 degrees to start the day. Many of the shanties out off the west shore are being pulled off the ice for those going on mid-winter break.

Wed., Feb. 19th – Miller and Jet announce 2025 boat schedules. Wes Schwarz is working diligently to get the furnace fixed in the Town Hall. The 300+ pound part had to be specially ordered and flown over earlier in the week. Per reports, Lake Erie may be 95% frozen, but anyone fly over the South Passage can see plenty of pockets of open water. There’s a big difference between ice and safe ice.

putinbay.com Top Lodging Picks For 2025 At The Bay

Thu., Feb. 20th – Periodic snow falls on the island throughout the day. It’s the last day of school for all PIB students before mid-winter break. It’s pizza delivery night at PIBYC. Southwest of Sugar Island where several Middle Bass fishermen and women have been fishing, the ice is a solid 12 to 14” thick. There’s an election in Canada and Maureen Maxwell and Sherri Smith and Dawn Warkentin are manning the polls at the Legion on Pelee Island.

Fri., Feb. 21st – As of today, Lake Erie is estimated to be 95% covered in ice. This is incredible considering the amount of open water that was in the south passage earlier in the month. Reports are coming in of fishermen falling through the ice off Catawba State Park. Put-in-Bay fishermen are thankful the ice is still around 12 inches thick off the west shore.

Sat., Feb. 22nd – A group meets at Topsy Turvey’s and heads over on the ice to Walleye’s on Middle Bass. Some of the ice anglers are concerned about minnows dying in their ice cars.

Sun., Feb. 23rd – There’s a breakfast and bloody mary bar at the Yacht Club. Jeanette Luecke spots two different big herds of deer with about 12 to 15 deer each going through her property.

Mon., Feb. 24th – There’s a real warm up with temps hitting 45 degrees with winds of 30 mph out of the southwest. Could this be the beginning of the end (of ice fishing}?

Tue., Feb. 25th – Larry and Tami Niese- Knaser are celebrating their 25th anniversary. At 6 p.m. the temperature hits 50 degrees.

Wed., Feb. 26th – The Spectrum internet is out for some customers in different spots around the island. First National Bank is closed for the day due to weather.

Thu., Feb. 27th – If you look out where the fishermen are, you’ll find just a few shanties out on the ice. There are small patches of snow around, but for the most part it has all melted. Year to date precipitation for Put-in-Bay in 4.65 inches.

Fri., Feb. 28th – Chip Duggan makes a generous contribution to the ice ramp repair fund organized by Rob Hard. With warmer temperatures on the horizon, this could very well be the last Friday for many to be out on the ice fishing.

Putinbay.com is proud to present the Put-in-Bay Gazette’s Island Diary for February 2024, in the March 2024 issue of the Gazette.

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