Finally, after the first nice weekend of the season, we can finally put thoughts of snow behind us. This past May has been the coldest rainiest “winter” I can remember. Many here on the island were still wearing hats, gloves and warm socks half way through the month of May, seriously. No tropical nights on this island. When I used to live in Vermont the local wisdom there was to leave your snow tires on from October 15th through May 15th and it felt a lot like that here this year.
I like to think of this as a weather experience bonus for the summer people however, because many of them really have no idea what they are missing here on the island during the winter months. For most coming to the island is a summer activity, one that builds memories of warm summer nights, festivals, family get-togethers, cool breezes off the lake, and wonderful nightlife. I can guarantee that with the exception of the cool breezes none of that happens here in January.
But if you have ever mentioned to a mainlander that you live here all year round, they invariably ask you about winter life, groceries, gas, and getting to the mainland. I have refined this response to a few informative sentences. “Island life is not for those with chronic health problems, we don’t have any doctors but we have a great EMS service and we use Life flight in emergencies. You need a freezer to stock up on groceries in the fall and if we need to get to the mainland we fly on and off in a small six-seater airplane, which costs $40 dollars per person each way for a 5 minute trip”.
Winter island life is defined by ice fishing. And if you like Ice fishing, winter here is really all about catching Walleye. As soon as the ice gets strong enough to support the shanties, fisherman migrate from Wisconsin, Minnesota and beyond to catch a trophy fish. Perch is my favorite to eat actually, and thankfully they just don’t look that great over the mantle. This was a good year for ice, not so much for fishing, but it still helped to provide some winter commerce here on the island.
With snow on the ground and ice on the bay Snowmobiles and ATV’s finally have real purpose. And when a new snow first falls, the main roads here become the perfect trails for the snowmobiles and cross-country skiers alike. The guys who plow have spent years perfecting “snow grooming” that helps transform our island into a winter sportsmen’s paradise. Snow tubing takes on a unique form as kids are seen trailing behind their parents ATV as they head down the road.
On one perfect winter weekend we decided to go golf carting. We have found that we can get just about anywhere on the island in our cart. This year we decided to follow go the next step further and venture out on the ice following the ATV tracks. Golf carts are amazing vehicles and with some knobby tires and careful driving we found we could navigate the ice no problem. You should have seen the reactions we got as we drove past the fishermen out by Green Island.
For many, winter evening entertainment is playing cards. Euchre at Tippers on Wednesday is always entertaining and poker and bridge can be found at the senior center and else where. And while you can play cards anytime of the year, the winter doldrums are chased away with a night out.
I guess what comes from the quiet of winter here is a time to foster the growth of “community” and build on friendships here in Put-in-Bay. Because the hectic summer leaves so many islanders over taxed and time challenged. I am thankful for the quiet enjoyment of our island in the winter and the time we get to spend with friends that disappears in the heat of the summer, so while the weather is now seasonally warm and business has begun to hum again, I will truly miss those cold days and nights of winter, even the ones in May.
Tag Archives: winter
One of the most asked questions, (perhaps the most asked question) I get during the summer while giving tours is “What is it like here in the winter?’ It is often hard to hold my tongue and answer seriously, but usually my first response is “quiet really quiet”. Of course it must be difficult for visitors to envision that all the stores, restaurants and bars ever close. And even more difficult to imagine us out ice fishing, playing cards on Wednesday nights, or catching up on all the chores on the “honey do” list. But the weeks between Halloween and New Years are my favorite. You know just about everyone on the ferry, and if you don’t it doesn’t take long to find out why they’re on the island.
Usually a nosey question or two is all that is needed, (always a reporters best friend). Construction workers, sales people, and service providers from furnace repairmen to satellite TV make their last house call of the season before the boat stops running. There is such purpose to this time of year. Everyone is headed to a doctors’ appointment or buying supplies for a winter project or just getting all the final food shopping needed for the winter. I see parents and grandparents getting holiday presents and going shopping just because they can. It is a small pleasure for many to just spend leisurely hours in a mall or in a large “do-it yourself’ store. We get some time to indulge ourselves, or at least in the fantasy of personal gratification. For me it is test-driving new cars.
After all the rush back and forth is complete we get a minute to reflect on what is important. Perhaps it is time to catch up on letter writing or contacting friends and family. Maybe it is a time to spend sharing our time or talents with others like Joe Foutts does teaching and advising the new high school drama club (come join us for the play “Scrooge” December 9,10,11). I like to spend a little of this time thinking about how I may be able to give back to others (before tax time of course).
Perhaps before the years end you may contemplate giving to your favorite charity, making a contribution to your church or looking at ways to make a difference in our community. Last month I got to write a story about Community Foundations, like the Ottawa County and Toledo Community Foundations and the important role they play for our local non-profits. TCF is actually a collection of funds. Some provide scholarships for our children, or help local non-profits complete their specific missions, others that provide unrestricted funds for achieving good for the community. You may not realize that one of those funds does great things behind the scenes right here on the Bass Islands.
The “William E. Market Family Community Fund”, established in 2008 by Mary Ann Market as a tribute to her late husband “boss” Bill Market, is one of these special funds. The Markets have long been supporters of the arts, church and civic organizations. Mary Ann hoped that the Market Family Fund would be able to contribute a modest amount of money each year to a worthy project, non-profit, or community organization on Put-in-Bay, Middle Bass Island, or North Bass Island. In 2008 a contribution was given to the Put-in-Bay EMS and in 2010 a donation was given to the Put-in-Bay Volunteer Fire Department (there was no contribution made in 2009 due to those wonderful folks from Wall Street).
Anyone is welcome to contribute to this fund that is coordinated through the Toledo Community Foundation. There are so many great ways to give back to our community, supporting a fund like this or any of the Toledo Community funds that provide hope for our community and county are great choices for giving a lasting gift for years to come. So don’t worry, if you find yourself fearing the shopping roulette wheel of fortune, getting the right gift for that hard to shop for family member is only a stamp and envelope away. Send a gift that will keep on giving this season. And please don’t tell the mainlanders how much fun we really have here in the winter you’ll only encourage them to come and stay. (For more information about the William E. Market Family Community Fund, please contact Julene Market.)
Beyond Belief “Bubble Boy rides again”
Last winter we took a chance and left both our cars on the mainland before the last ferry stopped running in December. We made a commitment to use our electric golf cart as our sole means of transportation for the duration of the winter. We had gotten a zippered weather enclosure and some knobby tires to make our cart “winter friendly”. As it turned out it really worked great. The enclosure kept us “relatively” warm and by keeping the battery charged every night we never needed to beg for a ride home.
But what about those really cold nights and the snow and the ice you’re wondering? As a car guy, I was often asked about the battery’s performance and the winter handling of our cart in the snow. There was this one morning in particular when we had just had a big snowfall that required digging out the driveway to get the cart to the road. The golf cart, unlike its ATV cousins, cannot double as a snowplow. So after a bit of shoveling I finally was able to “blast” my way out of the drive, and through the drift by the road. I was worried I would get stuck but amazingly no problem!
Luckily, the road crew had already plowed the road smooth long before I got the shoveling completed so we were able to drive around the island with impunity. The knobby tires gave us ample traction and some common sense kept us from following the ATVS off road, though it was a tempting option. Since we can never really go faster than 12-14 mph even “panic” breaking on snow was not a problem. At 14mph if you simply take your foot off the accelerator in an electric golf cart you come to a stop in less 20 feet. Try getting a car to do that on snow!
One afternoon as we rode around in our enclosed golf cart towards the end of last winter, we drove past one of the island golf cart vendors walking along Catawba. He yelled out to us “Bubble Boy rides again”. For those of you who are Seinfeld fans you will probably remember the seriously funny “Bubble Boy” episode. According to Wikipedia “The Bubble Boy” is the 47th episode of the American sitcom Seinfeld, as well as the nickname of Donald Sanger, one of the characters in that episode. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bubble_Boy_(Seinfeld_episode).
For those who don’t remember, “Bubble Boy” was an angry rude man confined to a controlled environment “bubble” because of his suppressed immune system. So while the “bubble boy” comment was not exactly a direct compliment, I realized that the larger reference in his statement about traveling in our protected slow moving “bubble” enclosure was right on. Heck we liked it so much we left the “bubble” on all summer as well.
It is so easy to get attached to our comfortable cars, especially in winter. Heat, comfy seats, windows…it sounds so luxurious. However, we found that there was no place we were headed on the island that ever took more than five minutes to get to by cart. We could get home in about the same time it takes to get the average car warm anyway. And I see a lot of folks here that willingly drive their ATVS in the winter with no wind protection, which has to be much, much, much colder than our “bubble” cart.
After reviewing our bills, we used very little electricity, less than 5 dollars a month. The annual cost savings were really worth a few shivers when compared to the cost of gas we had used the winters before. In fact we still have gas credits at the gas station from 2008.
Perhaps you saw the article in the last gazette about how the new electric golf carts for sale actually qualify for a huge US energy tax credit. This could be a very motivating consideration if you have been on the fence about this subject. There is no doubt that electric golf carts are a great transportation option year round here on the island. I am not sure if this is “green”, or carbon neutral, or if we are saving the planet, but I can tell you for certain golf carting works year round and its doesn’t cost much. See you on the road.
