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Check out the Webmaster's Blog and 2 others,  Lisa's Middle Bass Blog and Brian's Middle Bass Blog. Also see the Middle Bass Island Editorials.

Middle Bass Island State Park Marina - Pictures of Opening Day - July 1, 2009

Middle Bass Island State Park Marina To Open on Wednesday, July 1, 2009 - June 28, 2009; updated June 30, 2009

George Lonz Will Build New Dock - 1938 article about the creation of the old Lonz dock beside the main ferry dock, and the dispute with the Middle Bass Dock Company at that time. - June 23, 2009

Presidential Candidate William Howard Taft at the Middle Bass Club in 1908 - A collection of pictures and articles (PDF, 3.7MB). - June 23, 2009

Wonderful Isle St. George articles from 1955 and 1963 - PDF, 5MB - June 8, 2009

Civil War Records for Put-in-Bay Township - June 8, 2009

We're on the ferry, while our friends think we have been kidnapped in London - June 4, 2009

Letter from Dairy Air Bob: So Tom GRIFFING is the new AIRPORT MANAGER for the PIB AIRPORT - May 25, 2009

Middle Bass Island State Park Marina - Photos taken on May 24, 2009 during Memorial Day Weekend - May 25, 2009

Middle Bass Island Arts Week 2009 & Nature Camp Info & Forms (PDFs) - May 14, 2009

Scott Doty, former MBI State Park manager, earns state honor - Scott Doty recently received the 2008 Ohio State Parks Leadership Award. Doty has more than 29 years with Ohio State Parks with 10 years as regional manager of the Lake Erie Islands parks. - Port Clinton News Herald, May 13, 2009

Middle Bass Island State Park Marina Dock Map - May 11, 2009

Middle Bass Island Calendar - See all the new summer entries. - May 9, 2009

Jennifer's Middle Bass Island Photos on Facebook 50 great pictures. - April 30, 2009

Aerial View of Docks in the New State Park Marina - April 23, 2009

Additions and Corrections to the Wehrle Gallery - Since we posted the oldest picture of Wehrle's recently we are now adding what may be the newest and last one, from 1920. - April 14, 2009

The Middle Bass Volunteer Fire Department has a new Web Site The new site's calendar indicates that the Sunset Cruise fundraiser is on Saturday, July 11, 2009 at 7:30PM. - April 13, 2008

Boat slams into tug in St. Johns, FL, killing 5, injuring 9 - Our readers seem to like articles about pleasure boat accidents as a way to help learn to avoid them, and this one is for the record books. It's the first one we have published that did not occur on Lake Erie. The location is the dock being built as part of construction on the empty lot just west of this marker. It occurred just after I finished reading the wonderful book How to Avoid Huge Ships, by Capt. John Trimmer. (The tug wasn't a huge ship, but the principles are the same.) No matter how much you think you know about driving a boat, you can learn more from Capt. Trimmer, if you can find the book at a reasonable price. It's apparently a cult classic. BTW, based on page hits, the most popular boat accident article on this site is Boat Crashes into/onto Mouse Island - April 13, 2009

More Pictures of Wehrle's Hall and the Wehrle Home, 1885-1913 - April 11, 2009

1860s or early 1870s Picture of Wehrle's Hall - Contrast this with the 1888 picture previously published here. - April 7, 2009. Updated April 11, 2009 with additional links to more pictures.

National Geographic channel to have special about Kelleys Island tonight There will be additional showings on 4/5 and 4/6 as well as later dates. If you have DirecTV, the next showing is at 10AM Sunday 4/5. - Port Clinton News Herald, April 2, 2009

New Luxury Hotel to Open in the Middle Bass Island State Park - Opening is Planned for July 1, 2009. - April 1, 2009

Fire Destroys Downtown on Pelee Island - also see a follow-up from April 1 here. March 31, 2008. Updated April 1, 2009

Ferry Schedule Starts This Friday March 27 - There were also two ferry runs to Middle Bass on Saturday, March 21. March 23, 2009

State Park Marina Updates From ODNR - Lottery Update and Other News - March 12, 2009

Island History: Lonz Marina Almost Complete, 1967 - The Lonz newsletter from 1967 (PDF, 2.3MB) has a great picture of the almost completed Lonz Marina, with the channel in the Yacht Club/Roesch Basin not finished yet. It also points out that much of the rock for the retaining walls came from the basement of the winery, under or near the deck that collapsed in 2000. - March 7, 2009

State Park Marina Updates From ODNR - Only 35 applications were received for the 70 slips available so all applicants will get a slip unless the slip length requests conflict with what is available, which is not very likely. The lottery on March 5 will mostly determine who gets the leases of different durations and different slip lengths. - March 2, 2009. Updated March 3, 2009

1929 Ford-Tri-Motor Sold for $1.21M in January - For fans of the former Island Airlines. You can view pictures of the plane or auction results. - March 2, 2009

Lake Erie Island Groups on Facebook - If you haven't signed up at www.facebook.com and explored it, you may be in for a surprise. Island groups include

and many more. Make the right friends on Facebook and you'll find pictures of the 2008 antique car parade on MB, historic pictures of PIB and much more. Also see the article Primates on Facebook. - March 1, 2009

Put-in-Bay in Winter - YouTube video by PutinBayTV, with links to more island videos. Watch carefully for some Middle Bass faces. - March 1, 2009

The Flora of the Erie Islands - Very nice free 1948 book with some Middle Bass pictures. PDF, 6MB. Also added to our bibliography - February 27, 2009

Middle Bass Island Town Hall News - with a Commemorative Brick Sale Order Form - February 27, 2009

Middle Bass Island School Board Summer Activities:

Watch for registration forms this spring. Q's contact Kelly Halterman at 440-748-1939. February 27, 2009

Murray Announces Funds for Middle Bass Island State Park Construction - COLUMBUS- State Representative Dennis Murray (D-Sandusky) is pleased to announce the Ohio Department of Natural Resources release of $1,256,700.00 for the Water, Waste Water and Electrical Utilities project at Middle Bass Island State Park in Ottawa County. The Beacon - February 27, 2009

Island History: Four Cottages in the Middle Bass Club Burn, Sept. 2, 1909 - February 26, 2009

Middle Bass flag design contest deadline extended - The Board of Trustees for the Middle Bass Town Hall have decided to extend the application deadline for the "Design a Middle Bass Flag" contest until June. It was decided because not many designs have been entereed and the thought was that more people might get involved as the island warmed up. Designs should be submitted to Town Hall, PO Box 58, Middle Bass, OH 43446 - February 10, 2009

Response from Dan West of ODNR to Letter from 1/23/09 - February 9, 2009

1 Dead, Hundreds of Ice Fishermen Trapped on Lake Erie in Lucas County - Updated Feb. 9 with the story Family: Man who died on Lake Erie not on ice floe.

Read the story at the Toledo Blade, the NY Times, Sandusky Register, CBC.ca or Fox News. NBC News has an article and a video. For stories about area ice accidents in Februaries past, see our article. - February 7, 2009 Updated Feb. 9

Corrections Made to Green Island History - Footnote 7 and the caption for Figure 8 have been updated. The U.S. Coast Guard historic picture of the lighthouse on Green Island, OH turned out to be of Green Island, WI. - Feb. 7, 2009

Middle Bass Island State Park Dock Lottery Application - The deadline for applications is Feb. 25. Feb. 4, 2009

Snow and Ice Pictures from January, 2009 - Feb. 3, 2009

Letter to Dennis Murray, the local State Representative for the island area 80th district - Feb. 1, 2009

North Bass Island Ice Party on Feb. 21 - Note added 2/9: This has been re-scheduled from Feb. 14 to Feb. 21 because of weather. Let's hope for a good cold spell that will allow the party to take place.

Here's a news item I found on www.facebook.com, which has a group named "North Bass Island Ice Party Info":

"The Folks on North Bass Island will be hosting one of their famous ice parties, Feb. 14th, starting at 1 pm. It is going to be a Valentines Day Party, hobo style. So we will be serving chili, so please bring either a can or homemade. We also will be having hot dogs, so if any one would like to bring a side dish, or chips please do so. There will be hot spiced wine but we do ask you to bring anything else you want to drink."

"We will have a game or two set up to play, a bonfire, and a 50/50 raffle for the North Bass Church. This is a family friendly affair so bring the kids." And maybe someone will bring a new Lamborghini Ice Car, but I doubt it. - January 26, 2009 - Updated Feb. 7 and Feb. 9, 2009

Middle Bass Island Homeowners Not Happy with ODNR - ODNR has announced its plans for seasonal slips at the new Middle Bass Island State Park Marina, and they are not good for homeowners who are not year-round residents. (Note: This article is in a new format that allows reader comments, and was distributed privately to a number of people for review before being posted for the public. Please leave your comments.) - January 23, 2009

Walleye's Restaurant Is Open For the Ice Season - The walleye are biting, the ice is 10 inches thick, but has a lot of slush on it making transportation to the shanties off Rattlesnake Island a bit tedious, and sometimes treacherous! And the restaurant is open Thursday through Sunday from Noon to 8PM - January 23, 2009

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Middle Bass Island bookstore

The limited edition Middle Bass Postcard Poster that was available at the artist's fair at Aunt Irma's at the beginning of August, 2004 is still available, by special order only.

Four Other Books in the Middle Bass Web Store - When did you last have the opportunity to buy 3 different books with "Middle Bass" in the original historical title (in addition to the Lonz of Middle Bass book mentioned above)? All 3 are reprints and have great pictures, but none of these has ever been reprinted before. The 4th is a Port Clinton reprint, but with a full-page ad for Wehrle's on Middle Bass that we have touched up and put on the back cover. Three of the books have LOTS of Put-in-Bay pictures. The books are also available at the Lake Erie Islands Historical Society on Put-in-Bay.

The Middle Bass Island State Park Newsletters and State Park Master Plan can fill you in on the status of the plans for the new park.