Sandusky - Funcoast Magazine

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BIERKELLER PUB
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TRANSITION FISHING
VOLUME 1 | ISSUE 2
WINTER 2015
EDITOR Beth Werling
PUBLISHER Timothy Parkison
ART DIRECTOR Amanda Mazzo
PHOTOGRAPHY Jason Werling
DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING Linda Gandee
440-263-4384
lindagandee@funcoast.com
Published by:
Sandusky Newspapers, Inc.
314 West Market St. | Sandusky, OH 44870
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Brandi Barhite
John Benson
Sarah Ottney
Beth Werling
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TIM DORSEY’S
FITNESS EMPIRE
Just. Keeps. Growing.
18
DOWNTOWN SANDUSKY
There’s No Place Like Hare
30
SOMETHING’S FISHY
Funcoast Magazine, published quarterly by Sandusky Newspapers,
Inc., distributed through the circulation of The Sandusky Register, a
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In Port Clinton
ON THE COVER
Lake Erie waves crash into the shoreline of the
Marblehead Peninsula near the Marblehead
Lighthouse on Monday, November 30, 2015. The
lighthouse has been in continuous operation since
its construction in 1822 and is a landmark to Ottawa
and Erie Counties as well as Lake Erie and Ohio.
Photo by JASON WERLING
WINTER 2015
6
18
22
6 BUSINESS
HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO
8 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
BAD INK
10 IN GOOD HEALTH
TIM DORSEY’S FITNESS EMPIRE
JUST. KEEPS. GROWING.
14 LAKE EFFECT
CHARTER ICE FISHING
26
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FUNCOAST MAGAZINE
8
18 THROUGH THE KEYHOLE
DOWNTOWN SANDUSKY
There’s No Place Like Hare
22 LET’S EAT
BIERKELLER BRINGS AUTHENTIC
GERMAN TASTE TO BELLEVUE
26 ANYTHING BUT CHICKEN FINGERS
30 DWELL
SOMETHING’S FISHY
14
BUSINESS
By JOHN BENSON
s owner of The Hero Zone in downtown
Sandusky, it would be a bit on the nose if Matt
Morgan turned out to be the hero that, well, helped
save and revitalize the area. Still, that’s exactly what this
Huron native and Sandusky has planned by spinning
off The Hero Zone components in an effort to energize
the area.
“What I would like to do is take elements of the
store and split them out into other store fronts so that
each has its own smaller business that can focus exactly
on what it does,” Morgan said. “And also synergize with
each other so the area becomes known as a thematic
destination.”
Morgan is confident The Hero Zone’s three big
components — a trading card area with tournaments,
comic books and recreational computer play — can not
only be expanded but exist independently.
“Let’s just pretend the microbrewery isn’t moving
into where San Bay used to be on Market Street, and
I put those businesses all along East Market Street
between Wayne Street and Columbus Ave.,” Morgan
said. “That’s three separate businesses that all kind of
do the same thing at different hours to attract people
downtown and suddenly a portion of downtown is
known for pop culture and pop entertainment.
“That adds to the diversity of downtown instead
of it just being considered just a bar location. Also,
it revitalizes the opinion and concept of what we do,
and helps make things safer since we’re a late-night
location. I have a very good reputation with the
police.”
Morgan said The Hero Zone continually attracts
people from around the region, including as far
away as Canada, with its tournaments and other pop
culture-related events and attractions.
As far as the retail opportunities located
between his three anchor stores, Morgan foresees
attracting ancillary businesses that cater to the pop
culture audience.
“They all lie over each other in a Venn
Diagram,” said Morgan, who with that one statement
confirmed why he’s the perfect owner of The Hero
Zone. “I would hope it would draw more success
for the individual entities but it would also improve
downtown businesses.
“Now instead of one venue having events or
even competing with itself for events, we have
three that can each hold their own while attracting
customers for other local businesses.”
The impetus behind Morgan’s plan started last
year when he felt like he needed a challenge. While
he enjoyed being his own boss of The Hero Zone,
there was a pull to do more.
“I needed to do something differently so I
started going to school,” Morgan said.
That leads us to the business owner taking
this inventive plan for downtown to the next level.
Morgan hopes to have his MBA from Bowling Green
State University this spring.
“I figure why get a degree if you’re not trying to
use it,” Morgan said. “So I’ll get through the winter,
which is traditionally the slowest time of the year,
and then in the spring when Cedar Point people
come back and there’s more prosperity, I want to
start putting this together.
“I want to see this vision move forward.”
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
INK 911
By JOHN BENSON
ftentimes those folks who are feeling sexy, rebellious or antiestablishment will visit their local tattoo establishment for
confirmation of the intended desire.
What they have in common is the fact such a decision is often an act of
impulse, which means they didn’t take the time to think about the future.
Recently the Pew Research Center released a study that revealed 14
percent of Americans have a tattoo. This explains why last year the tattoo
industry was estimated to be worth $1.65 billion.
The data also revealed a dark or remorseful side to using your skin as a
canvas. Of those who get a tattoo, 17 percent have regrets for many reasons.
Further, 5 percent of people have covered up a tattoo with another tattoo.
It wasn’t too long ago that the only folks getting tattoos on a regular
basis were sailors, bikers and rock stars. Now, bankers, teachers and moms
are lining up to get under the gun for tramp stamps, sleeves and cover-ups.
As for the latter, one could imagine tattoo artists have stories galore.
Brittany Loretta, who has been tattooing for 18 months at Sandusky’s
Atomik Tattoo, said she regularly runs into people taking a different type of
walk of shame coming into the shop.
“We get a lot, maybe on a busy day two to three people wanting to
cover stuff up,” Loretta said.
Many folks looking to have a cover up are attempting to hide fads.
Loretta said the tribal armbands or infinity symbols with feathers bursting
into birds are common.
Retired tattoo artist Tony Corte, who owns Pain & Pleasure tattoo
studio in Sandusky, said most of the cover ups his shop sees are Tweety
Birds and Yosemite Sams.
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FUNCOAST MAGAZINE
“We did a lot of those on ankles and the back,”
Corte said. “Like now, I have a friend who has a
Tasmanian Devil on his chest shooting his guns. It
looks like crap now.”
Something that doesn’t look like crap, unless
of course it’s on your body, is the name of a former
spouse. Despite the fact common sense would dictate
getting a permanent tattoo on your skin is akin to
the Sports Illustrated jinx, where whatever team gets
the cover is doomed to fail, Loretta said it’s all too
common.
“I’ve covered up numerous names,” Loretta said.
“There is bad luck when you tattoo a significant other’s
name on you. It’s kind of like walking under a ladder.”
Despite Loretta’s best efforts to dissuade customers,
they often go ahead with it anyway.
“I try to look out for my customers,” Loretta
said. “I don’t want to put something on somebody’s
body they’ll regret later on. Usually I give them a few
options. If they go through with it, I’ll offer to do it in
red because it’s easier to cover up later on.”
Of the folks who come in wanting somebody’s
name tattooed on their body, Corte said he successfully
talks them out of the idea roughly 50 percent of the
time.
“I tell the guy, nowadays everybody changes
girlfriends and boyfriends like changing their
underwear,” Corte said. “We tell them about our
experience and hopefully we can talk them out of it.
Now, if you’re doing your child’s name or mother’s
name, that’s a different story.”
One of the funny cover-ups Loretta talked about
involved her shop’s owner, who apparently had a
customer who wanted to cover up a tattoo with a big
brown blob. When asked if it looked like a big mole,
Loretta laughed, “No, it looked like a big piece of poop.”
Talking about regrets, Corte said when he was a
tattoo artist apprentice decades ago in Germany he had
to cover up a girl’s ink mistake that was located on her
private parts. He put a Playboy Bunny over what was a
guy’s name.
“That’s pretty weird, and very uncomfortable,”
Corte said.
The other type of cover-up involves, well,
misspellings. While both Loretta and Corte admit
such blunders are becoming infrequent nowadays with
designs completed on the computer, thus allowing for
spell check and auto correct to play an integral role, it’s
often the simplest spellings they have to fix.
“That’s something that happens, where they miss
the I with the E or things of that nature,” Corte said.
Added Loretta, “Actually the word ‘strength’ is a
very commonly misspelled word in the tattoo industry.
People forget the E.”
When it comes to those folks thinking about
getting a tattoo, Loretta said the biggest mistake is that
people don’t want to pay for a good tattoo.
“They go to somebody who is shooting out of the
house and get a bad tattoo that they’re not satisfied
with because they only paid $20,” Loretta said. “You get
what you pay for. Good tattoos aren’t cheap, and cheap
tattoos aren’t good.”
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IN GOOD HEALTH
Tim Dorsey’s Fitness Empire
JUST. KEEPS. GROWING.
By BRANDI BARHITE
im Dorsey could be making a lot of money right now.
“I came back to Ohio in 2010 and I had a couple of good opportunities
where the money was really, really, really good, like exceptionally good,”
Dorsey said.
But that’s not how the fitness guru measures success.
“Fitness fits my personality,” he said. “I love helping people. I love
making people better. I love helping people find out that they can be better.”
Not everyone agreed with his decision to set aside his business
management degree to focus on fitness. Many people said, “Can you make
money at that?”
As it turns out, the Margaretta graduate can
— and has.
Before founding Tim Dorsey Fitness in
2012, he trained clients in his home and theirs.
He also worked at Anytime Fitness.
“I formed Tim Dorsey Fitness with the
intention of trying to grow my name in the
community,” he said. “A friend of a friend
introduced me to the Best Western Hotel
location, which has 2,300 square feet of open
space in the basement and sublevel.
“I told people to bring a yoga mat and
water. That was all we had to work with at the
beginning,” he said, laughing.
Eventually, he was able to start purchasing
fitness equipment. It took 2.5 years to get
established with about 800 people coming for
classes and training at some point.
Part of his secret is the personal attention.
“People feel discouraged or feel confused or
they feel like something is missing when it is just
themselves and a gym membership.”
That’s not a hit on gyms. Dorsey has a
membership to Planet Fitness, but knows what
he is doing and feels comfortable working out
alone. Some people walk into a gym and say,
“Crap.”
Lee Jordan, senior vice president of Civista
Bank, helped Dorsey get the business started
from a marketing standpoint. He introduced
him to people around town because of his
connections with the bank.
“The bank hired him, and eight of us started
circuit training in a cheerleading warehouse on
101 and then we opened it to the public,” Jordan
said. “It blossomed and we had to move to the
Best Western for more space.”
Jordan had never worked out, not even in
high school, until three years ago. He has lost
6 inches in his waist and 3 inches in his chest.
Dorsey focuses on inches versus pounds.
“Tim is funny, goofy, exciting and
motivating,” Jordan said. “It is his personality
that makes people come back.”
Jordan said many personal trainers are great
with one-on-one training, but it takes someone
special like Dorsey to run a class of 30 and keep
it personal.
“He gives you 100 percent attention, even in
a group setting,” Jordan said. “I am OK one-onContinued on page 12 >>
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IN GOOD HEALTH
An upscale resale shop
126 Columbus Ave., Sandusky
(across the street from the Sandusky State Theatre)
Monday through Friday: 11 am to 5 pm
Saturdays: 11 am to 2 pm
one, but I’d rather be around people. I am very social. It
is one big fitness family.”
Dorsey’s life philosophy of “Just. Keep. Moving.”
resonates with his clients.
“Regardless whether they are super fit, on their way
to becoming fit or nowhere near fit, we are all doing the
same thing,” Dorsey said. “We have the same goals. We
are on the same journey.”
The journey took a personal turn in December
2014 when Dorsey was diagnosed with a rare type of
cancer called nasopharyngeal.
“Before being diagnosed, I was just training people.
Afterward, I was making friends,” he said. “I think
cancer is very unfortunate and I wish that no one ever
had to deal with it, but in my experience with all the
negative that has happened, there was a lot of positive,
too.”
Dorsey said his health and fitness helped him
fight cancer. He lost 40 pounds of muscle instead of
withering away.
“I feel like my fitness level changed all the
probabilities,” he said. “It wasn’t easy to do the
treatment and make it through. It was the hardest time
in my entire life, but from what I understand, it could
have been way worse.”
Craig Stearns said Dorsey was open about his
cancer struggle. The vulnerability he demonstrated
reinforced the philosophy he lives by.
“He has come back with a reinvigorated purpose
of pushing, poking and prodding everyone to be better
today than they were yesterday.”
Stearns said Dorsey helped him lose 40 pounds
and subsequently stay off of medication for high blood
pressure.
“Your average class could be 16 to 25 stations, doing
weights, cardio and abs on each for 25-30 seconds,”
Stearns said. “As you struggle through the moves, you
can see and feel the enthusiasm, passion, the constant
encouragement to get better, stronger, to prove to
yourself that you can do it.”
Kathy McKillips said Dorsey’s positive attitude is
contagious.
“When I first started doing his circuit classes, I was
very out of shape,” McKillips said. “I would get tired
or my knees hurt or something would make me take a
breather. And Tim would say, ‘Just. Keep. Moving.’ It
didn’t matter what you did as long as you kept moving. Maybe walking in
place or marching; it didn’t matter as long as you kept moving.”
Dorsey said his job feels like hanging out with family all day.
That’s another difference with Tim Dorsey Fitness — families are
welcome. His wife, Kayla, and their infant daughter, Addison, come to his
studio all the time. Other people bring their kids as well.
“I am holding Addie while I am instructing 30 or 40 people,” he said.
“She is sitting in my arms and watching everyone work out. Everyone
loves her.”
Dorsey isn’t sure about his future. He is happy as long as he is helping
people get better. He is learning Brazilian jiu-jitsu as a way to expand his
fitness prowess.
“I want to be better. I want my clients to be better,” he said. “Whatever
they are doing in life, I want them to be better.
“I don’t know what the end game is going to be, maybe a different
location. I don’t know how it will evolve,” he said. “My only hope is that
I can leave an imprint on someone else and, hopefully, they can imprint
someone else.”
Tim Dorsey Fitness
Best Western, 6011 Milan Road, Sandusky
www.facebook.com/TimDorseyFitness
SHOP
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jewelry, home décor and more, when
you can shop and save at Encore,
Sandusky’s popular resale shop. We
guarantee that if you visit us once, you
will be back.
All purchases support Stein Hospice
DONATE
Does your favorite china dish or love
seat need a new home? How about the
designer dress that doesn’t fit, and the
dangling earrings and heels that go
with it? Drop off your gently used and
greatly loved items and we will find a
new home for them. We accept furniture,
jewelry, clothing, accessories, home
décor and more.
All donations are tax deductible.
VOLUNTEER
We are in need of men and women to
help with sales, back room sorting and
donation pickups. For more information
contact our volunteer department,
volunteers@steinhospice.org.
419.502.0019
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A repeat performance of unique items
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13
LAKE EFFECT
Transition Fishing
By SARAH OTTNEY
estern Lake Erie is known as a destination
location for great fishing year-round and
local charter captains just have to glance at their
busy calendars to know it’s the truth.
Calls about ice fishing start as early as October
and slots fill up fast, said Pat Winke, owner of
Winke Guide Service in Marblehead.
“I probably had 300-some calls for it last year
and we can only do it for a certain amount of time.
A lot of people want to do it on the weekend and
there are only so many weekends,” Winke said. “We
definitely do have to turn people away.”
Winke, a Port Clinton native, leads ice-fishing
trips during the winter and captains fishing
charters the rest of the year. Charter fishing
typically runs from mid-April to the end of
October and ice fishing lasts from mid-January to
mid-March, or as long as the ice holds, he said.
“The last two winters have been long and
cold and we’ve been ice fishing in March, but that
doesn’t occur every year,” Winke said. “Three years
back, we had a very short window where we could
fish. A couple years before that, we didn’t have any
ice fishing at all.”
Conditions for this upcoming winter are to be
determined.
“This year, I’m not sure yet,” Winke said.
“There are some calling for warm weather, but the
Farmers’ Almanac is calling for cold. We’ll just have
to wait and see what transpires.”
The phones are also ringing regularly for Jerry
Tucholski, co-owner of J.T. Sport Fishing Charters
in Port Clinton, which offers guided duck hunts as
well as fishing and ice fishing.
“People are calling now [in October] for ice fishing,”
said Tucholski, who owns the business with his father John
Tucholski. “All you can do is put them down and hope you
get ice. We won’t know till it gets there.”
The Tucholskis’ typical schedule is fishing from April
to October, duck hunting from October to December and
ice fishing from January to March. If there’s no ice, they’ll
take customers fishing in the winter, weather permitting,
Tucholski said.
Winke said many of his customers are from out of state,
looking to experience the great fishing the Western Lake
Erie basin is known for, primarily walleye but also perch.
“I do get locals too, but I probably get the most
customers from Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan,”
Winke said. “Last year, I had a guy from Nevada and had
some from Texas a few years ago.”
Tucholski said about 90 percent of his business
comes from out-of-staters, mainly West Virginia and
Pennsylvania. Many are repeat customers who have been
coming to Port Clinton to fish or hunt with his dad for 20
years or more.
Toward the end of fishing season, the crew at J.T. Sport
Fishing Charters takes a couple days each week to start
transitioning to duck hunting, Tucholski said.
“Normally at the end of the fishing season in October,
we start slowing down and we take a couple days a week
to start getting stuff rolled over to duck hunting mode,”
Tucholski said.
That includes winterizing the 30-foot sport boat used
for fishing charters and prepping the 20-foot flat-bottom
boats they use for duck hunting. Both the Tucholskis and
Winke ferry customers to ice fishing locations by sled,
pulled by snowmobile or four-wheeler. Airboats are another
form of transportation used by some area guide services.
Port Clinton native Greg Wozniak works with the
Tucholskis during duck hunting and ice fishing seasons
and with Baby Bear Charters in Port Clinton during the
summer fishing season. Both Wozniak and Tucholski grew
up fishing in Port Clinton. Tucholski grew up in Cuyahoga
Heights, but spent summers in Port Clinton.
Both Tucholski and Wozniak said they enjoy
introducing people to fishing.
“For people who have never fished before, we do
everything we can to help them and give them step-by-step
guidance and show them the ropes,” Tucholski said. “When
you get people who have never done it before, they catch
a fish and it puts a huge smile on their face, especially the
little kids.”
Ice guides choose locations based on ice conditions and
where the fish are biting—although a successful catch is
never completely predictable, Tucholski said.
“There’s a lot of luck to fishing. I’ve seen a guy sitting
Continued on page 17 >>
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FUNCOAST MAGAZINE
LAKE EFFECT
in a shanty catch a dozen fish and the guy sitting next to him doesn’t get
one,” he said.
Tucholski likes duck hunting the best, while Wozniak said his favorite
season is ice fishing.
“I like the thrill of being on 10 inches of ice and being able to pull a
30-inch walleye out of an 8-inch hole using a 20-inch rod,” Wozniak said.
Ice fishing has a reputation for attracting the more hardy fishermen,
Tucholski said.
“The winter guys are hard core,” he said.
Ice fishing trips can be canceled due to wind or unsafe ice—but
typically not simply cold, Tucholski said.
“If it’s cold, you better just button up,” Tucholski said, laughing.
Most shanties are heated by propane, making conditions typically
pretty comfortable—once you’re there, Winke agreed.
“It can be a cold ride out and back, but the shanties get pretty warm,”
he said.
Days with bad weather cancelations are spent repairing or tinkering
with equipment, Tucholski said.
“In winter, you change the oil in the four-wheeler. In the summer,
boats always need maintenance. So a day off is never a bad thing,”
Tucholski said.
However, bad weather is bad for the bottom line.
“If you can’t go out, you’ve got to cancel and you don’t make anything
that day,” Tucholski said.
Winke said local guides are friendly with each other for the most part
as there are typically plenty of customers to go around.
“We don’t really have to fight. I think last February I only missed two
days the whole month. We had them booked, but had to cancel due to
blizzard conditions,” Winke said. “We’re all pretty much priced within
the same ballpark. Some airboat guys get a little bit more, but there’s not
really that many people doing it (ice fishing). I only know of about four
or five guys in our area as far as good experienced guides.”
Going with a guide is recommended for those new to fishing,
especially ice fishing, Winke said.
“Ice can be extremely dangerous,” Winke said. “Just like in the
summer, the water will come up and go down. When it does that, the
ice has got to go somewhere. It forms pressure cracks that can open up
anywhere from 3-4 inches to 10-12 feet or larger. And later in the year,
when the ice gets to be honeycombed, strong south winds lead to what
I call going for a ride. That’s when the chopper has to come get you. I’ve
never been rescued but it happens. So it’s definitely better to be with
someone who knows what they are doing.”
Although the technique varies from season to season—ice fishing
is typically vertical jigging while charter is either trolling or cast and
retrieve—Winke said most of his customers just plain love fishing.
“The majority just love fishing year round,” Winke said. “Same with
me. I don’t have a favorite. I like it pretty much year round. I just love
catching fish and seeing other people enjoy it. When they get a fish, they
get so excited. I like to see that joy, that happiness come out of people.
Tucholski agreed.
“Some people come up and don’t catch a lot, but if they have fun
that’s the main thing,” Tucholski said. “If you have fun, I’m happy.
Catching fish is just a bonus.”
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FUNCOAST MAGAZINE
Let’s Get Social!
goodwillsquad
THROUGH THE KEYHOLE
DOWNTOWN SANDUSKY:
There’s No Place Like Hare
By BETH WERLING
t all started with a car.
Or maybe a couple of cars.
Okay, a lot of cars.
Bob Hare, a classic car aficionado, was looking for a
place to keep his collection that wasn’t too far away from
his wife.
“I didn’t want a place 3-5 miles away where Cindy (his
wife) couldn’t reach me. I needed to be somewhere she
could grab me by the nape of the neck,” Bob laughed.
And, as luck would have it, the perfect spot was
available: 212 E. Water Street in downtown Sandusky.
“We always thought it would be nice to be by the
water,” Cindy said.
The building, which was the former Gallagher
Warehouse and also the original Kerber Bros. grain and
feed store, most recently housed Commercial Printing.
The building stood vacant for several years before the
Hares stepped in and bought the property in 2006.
In order to maintain the rich history of the building
and of the area, the Hares poured over photos and
documents to make sure they maintained the integrity
of the building. The couple used as much of the original
building materials as possible. The home still maintains its
original wood floors, and exposed brick and timber posts
can be seen throughout the home.
“The second floor was a blank canvas,” Cindy said. “It
was just four brick walls.”
Those four brick walls—along with all of the others in
the original 2,500-square-foot structure—needed a major
overhaul. And given the Hares’ living situation—the two
were living in the Detroit area for Bob’s job with General
Motors—the makeover would take more time than
they originally thought. Demolition began in 2006 and
construction started in June 2007. The Hares’ daughter
moved into the three-bedroom, 2½ bath home in 2008 and
then the couple moved into the home full time in 2011.
“It was two years of working on the weekends to rehab
the building,” said Cindy, a Perkins graduate who retired
after 35 years with Delphi. “We did a lot on our own and
added things. And we didn’t plan to rip out concrete.”
The Hares also didn’t plan on other elements of the
project, which included the need to open up windows that
had been bricked in. The couple was sure to utilize the
bricks, which came from the Hotel Wayne that once stood
next door. When they were forced to make some changes
to the back part of the building, they were sure to save the
wood from the floors and re-lay it.
The complexion of the project changed as well when
the Hares decided to add about 1,000 square feet with the
construction of a sunroom atop the building. An elevator—
new to the site—runs the whole way from the garage to the
sunroom, which overlooks Sandusky Bay.
As a bonus, the Hares can check on their boat while
enjoying the view from their rooftop deck, which is adjacent
to the sunroom.
“The boat is right over there,” Bob said, pointing across
the street. “We can check on it from up here.”
The Hares love that they can share their amazing views
with their family and friends.
“We have a view of Cedar Point and can see the
fireworks,” Cindy said. “The grandkids hear the church bells
and the train from Cedar Point.”
And, as they stand staring out at the lake, they hear
another sound familiar to downtown Sandusky: a ferry
horn.
“I like that, too,” Bob smiled.
What the Huron grad also likes is the part of the home
that started it all: the garage. It currently houses several
classic General Motors vehicles, including a 1967 Camaro
convertible, a 1969 GTO, a 1966 LeMans convertible and
a 1965 Corvair. It is even home to a large Commercial
Printing safe that was left behind by the previous occupants.
Despite all of the added expense and time, the Hares are
thrilled with the renovation results.
“We’re happy with the way the space turned out,” Bob
said.
And do the renovators have any tips for those willing to
take on the challenge? Get a building at a good price.
“Doing this isn’t cheap,” Bob said. “Be aware of the costs
to remodel, especially with an existing structure.”
Continued on page 21 >>
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THROUGH THE KEYHOLE
Bob also suggests owners do as much work as they can on their own.
“I tried to do a lot on the things I was able to do,” he said.
Because of these abilities, the Hares were able to add a lot of features they otherwise would not
have been able to, including electrical details and LAN cables. What they weren’t able to complete
on their own was contracted out to local companies, including Windau Plumbing Heating and Air
Conditioning, Schaefer Construction, Ohio Cabinet Makers, Fresch Electric and GT Myers Drywall &
Painting. Cindy also worked with K & K Interiors for additional furnishings and accessories.
While the Hares enjoy their home, what they appreciate even more is downtown Sandusky. The
due enjoy grabbing a bite across the street at Zinc Brasserie, walking to the local parks, library, or State
Theatre, or simply sitting out on the patio and watching the sunset.
“The general attitude of downtown is getting better,” Bob said.
Still, Bob—who filled a vacancy on the Sandusky Main Street Association board in 2014—said
there is still more work to be done—both in the home and in downtown.
“What we need to know is how to better utilize the waterfront,” Bob said. “We need to take
advantage of that asset.”
As they continue to improve upon their property—they also own the former Irwin Canvas/Klenk
Auto Body building next door—the Hares are confident about the future of Sandusky.
“The whole character of the area has changed since we started this in 2006,” Bob said. “There’s
been a lot of change for the better.”
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FUNCOAST MAGAZINE
LET’S EAT
Bierkeller Brings Authentic
German Taste to Bellevue
By BRANDI BARHITE
few years ago, Sylvia Burns went to the Bierkeller Pub
for an authentic German meal.
She was disappointed.
“It was terrible,” the Bavarian native said. “The owner,
Matt Strecker, happened to be there, and I was very honest
with him when he asked me about the food. I said, ‘I am
sorry this is not what a German meal is supposed to look like
or taste like.’”
Strecker said he couldn’t keep his cooks, and Burns said,
“I will come back and cook a meal for you.”
A few bites into that fateful meal, Strecker said, “Do you
need a job?”
Burns didn’t.
“I told him, ‘I am way too old. Plus, I have a job at Mix
102.7 FM.’”
But it didn’t take long for Burns to reconsider after he
re-approached her with an offer to be a partner. She was from
Hallstadt, Germany, and had always wanted to share her
German roots with the region.
“I brought all my recipes from my homeland,” she said.
“My grandma worked as a cook for a baron in a castle. I have
cooked all of my life.”
Since becoming a partner in 2014, Burns has overhauled
the staff and revived the menu.
“The secret to having a good German restaurant is to
have good German food,” she said. “I run everything. I
changed most of the staff. I won’t let anyone veer from my
original recipes.
“I also sold my house in Germany a few years ago, and
my mom had hundreds of beer mugs, which are now hanging
up in the pub. It makes it look authentic.”
Strecker said bringing Burns on as an equal partner has
changed everything.
“Sylvia has brought more authentic details from Germany
to the restaurant,” Strecker said. “She brings traditional
recipes, which puts the cherry on the sundae. If we ever
have a customer say, ‘This is not schnitzel,’ Sylvia, with her
German accent, will come out and speak to the customer,
which is pretty convincing.”
The beginnings of Bierkeller, which means “beer cellar
with a comfy roomy feel,” started in 2012 when Strecker
and his twin brother, Mark, decided to honor their German
ancestors from Baden, Germany. In the process, they saved a Bellevue landmark.
“We grew up in Bellevue and we found out that the Club Amer-ital was going to close,” he said.
“We didn’t want to see another building torn down. It was built right after World War II and it is a
part of the history in this town.”
Their goal was to offer a unique experience to townspeople as well as be an attraction for
the region. Authentic German food is not easily found in this area, and the pub offers 28 taps of
German, Belgium and other imported beers and microbrews.
“When we brought Sylvia in as a partner, Mark, who is an aeronautical engineer for Eaton Corp,
was able to step back a bit,” Strecker said. “I handle all the accounting and the design and remodeling
because I own Strecker Remodeling and Construction.”
Strecker has used his remodeling experience to create an atmosphere that reminds patrons of
being in Germany.
“It is a real cozy, warm and interesting place,” Strecker said. “Patrons love the atmosphere. They
walk in the door and say, ‘I feel like I am in Germany.’”
The restaurant features stained-glass booths and 100-year-old beams. Cody Koselke, who works
for Strecker, burned a bar top with images of old town Bellevue and American history.
“Cody is an amazing artist,” Strecker said. “It took him four weeks, 50 hours a week, to burn
carve the bar,” he said. “People notice those touches because people are eating and drinking on it.
People are like, ‘This is so cool.’”
The 5-acre property includes the outdoor beer garden and the adjoining Meilenstein Hall, which
are both are available for special events. Meilenstein Hall — German for “milestone” — can sit up to
the 235 people; the outdoor area can accommodate 500.
“The hall is booked every single weekend, and the beer garden is booked with graduation
parties,” Burns said. “I can cater with German or American food.”
Burns said the food is what distinguishes their business.
“Our food is the best and that is what I am going to keep doing,” Burns said. “The schnitzel is
our most popular item. The meat falls apart while you eat it.
“When you come in, it is like walking into your Grandma’s kitchen. It is very rustic,” Burns said.
Marc Garner of Willard is a regular and credits Burns for the food and atmosphere.
Continued on page 25 >>
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DWELL
“It is almost like an old village tavern where you come and socialize,” he said. “They have leather
couches in front of the fireplace where you can sit and talk to people. It is very comfortable. The
patrons are friendly.”
Garner has become such good friends with Burns that he and his wife, Sue, traveled with Burns
and her husband, Mel, to Germany during Oktoberfest.
“You come in here, and the owners will come over and talk to you,” Garner said. “I have brought
people into the restaurant and they will ask me questions. I will go get Sylvia, and she will come talk to
my table about where the recipes come from. It is genuine.”
In the future, Burns would like to open a second location in downtown Sandusky. She wants the
Sandusky location to be a destination like the Bellevue spot.
“Locals are coming, but we draw a lot of out-of-towners,” she said. “I walk in sometimes and there
will be three separate tables talking in German. There isn’t a week that doesn’t go by where I don’t meet
someone who is from Germany.”
Bierkeller Pub
600 Southwest St. (State Route 269 South), Bellevue
567-214-4214
sylvia@bierkellerpub.com
24
FUNCOAST MAGAZINE
LET’S EAT
ANYTHING But
CHICKEN FINGERS
By BETH WERLING
eals at the Werling house are set on a predictable rotation:
Chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, chicken fingers, pizza,
chicken bites, macaroni and cheese, chicken fries…did I mention
we serve a lot of breaded chicken products at mealtime?
“Cooking” (yes, that comes with quotation marks, since preheating an oven isn’t exactly a culinary feat) for my children is
mind-numbing and soul-crushing for this Food Network junkie,
so we decided to enact a new rule with the hope of breaking the
monotony and, hopefully once and for all, out of our batteredpoultry prison: And so was birthed the “anything but chicken
fingers” stand.
In our attempt to coerce the children into branching out, we
sought out local restaurants where the kids would be pulled from
the lure of breaded meat products and into the web of something
that isn’t in what I call the “beige food group.” Something, dare I
say, downright adventurous. And yes, anything beyond chicken
fingers is considered an adventure for the two youngsters we claim.
ORIGINAL MARGARITAVILLE, 212 Fremont Ave., Sandusky
Our first stop was not by chance: the strategy was to distract the boys
with the Original Margaritaville’s waterfall. That way, the children would be
hypnotized by the rushing water and forget that they soon would be denied
breadcrumb-dusted delights.
Once Will got over the shock of the menu (“They don’t have chicken
fingers?”), he was forced to break out of his comfort zone and order the cheese
quesadilla, while Payton chose the grilled chicken breast with Mexican rice.
We were pleasantly surprised at his first choice, as we assumed he would go
straight for the grilled cheese. Perhaps this experiment wouldn’t be too hard to
pull off.
Perhaps I had spoken too soon, as that thought was followed by a basket
of warm, salty tortilla chips that the boys were grabbing before our server had
placed them on the table.
After filling their bellies with salsa and guacamole-laden chips, the boys
were too “full” to make much of a dent in their entrees, or unbelievably, the
churros that came with their meals. Still, the boys seemed satisfied (and so
were we since we were able to sample their remnants) and we left with meals
for later, so we considered this a win.
Continued on page 28 >>
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27
LET’S EAT
DANNY BOY’S PIZZA, 6207 Milan Road, Sandusky
By the time we hit our next stop a few days
later (we fed them in between, I promise), the kids
were wise to our “no chicken fingers” policy and
were prepared to revolt. We were hit with a bit
of resistance when we sat down at Danny Boy’s
Pizza and were surprised since, well, we were at
a pizza place. Isn’t pizza some sort of adolescent
Kryptonite?
Will held firm to his chicken-finger values and
(politely) demanded as such from the Kids’ Playlist
(aka the kids’ menu). After quite the standoff, he
agreed to the kids’ flatbread pizza only if he could
have a side salad (sans dressing) with it. What a
negotiator.
We agreed to Payton’s request for the big kids’
penne macaroni and cheese because at least it
was in a different shape noodle than the typical
macaroni and cheese. Faulty logic? Possibly. But
yes, that’s where we are in our culinary lives.
We also ordered a side of sweet potato fries,
which quickly turned into a second side of sweet
potato fries when someone at our table (fine, it
was me) spent most of the time with the first order
swatting others’ hands from the plate.
Both boys devoured their dishes and played
indiscernible games of cards (I blame Minecraft
for their inability to play a proper game of poker),
so we chalked this up as another win for the
Werlings.
TIN GOOSE DINER, 3515 E. State Road, Port Clinton
Our last stop took us across the bridge to the
Tin Goose Diner in Ottawa County. The boys
quickly chose a table near the windows so they
could watch colorful single-propeller planes cruise
around the Erie-Ottawa International Airport
runways.
The boys enjoyed reading the meal names on
the Junior Aviator Menu (not a chicken finger in
sight!) and Will settled on “The Rocketeer,” an
all-beef hot dog on a toasted bun, while Payton
ordered the half portion of the Mac-Arthur &
Cheese. Even though I was cringing that my
youngest, once again, chose macaroni and cheese
(should this adventure have been called “Anything
but Mac and Cheese?”), I was pleased that the dish
was homemade and not dumped from a box.
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FUNCOAST MAGAZINE
Typically, I am upset when my kids don’t eat all of their
food, but this time I was thrilled. The Mac-Arthur was, by
far, the creamiest, most delicious mac and cheese I’ve ever
consumed (sorry, Mom), and I’m quite the mac-and-cheese
afficiando. I’d like to think the children get their reckless
tastebuds from me.
When you’re done with dinner, be sure to stop at the
adjacent Liberty Aviation Museum and, of course, the gift
shop. Nothing caps off a great meal like flying some freshly
purchasing plastic paratroopers in the parking lot.
THE VERDICT
While they may not have partaken in the most exotic of
kids’ menu fare, the boys did step out of their comfort zones,
and for that, we are grateful. That is, until the next day, when
I once again fired up the oven for another round of — you
guessed it — chicken fingers.
We won the chicken finger battle, but, ultimately, lost the war.
For now.
limit one • one coupon per person per day
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DWELL
Something’s
FISHY
By SARAH OTTNEY
erhaps it’s fitting that, like all the best fish tales, some of the
details about Port Clinton’s own Wylie the Walleye have been
exaggerated over time and tend to vary depending on who’s telling
the story.
Dan Sedlak, the Port Clinton transplant credited with the
original idea for the city’s famed walleye drop, recently estimated
the familiar fiberglass walleye is 11, maybe 12 feet long. The
event’s website claims 20 feet while local taxidermist Jim Wendt
insists it’s exactly 17 feet, 6 inches and he should know because
he built it. No one can say exactly how much Wylie weighs either,
although both Sedlak and Wendt agreed it’s at least a couple
hundred pounds, perhaps as many as 600, as the website claims.
Details aside, there’s no question Port Clinton’s walleye drop
has evolved into one of the most popular and unique New Year’s
Eve celebrations in the country. It’s grown from a simple midnight
drop into a full day of “Walleye Madness” drawing thousands of
people, attracted national media coverage and is watched via live
webcam by nearly 20,000 more people worldwide each Dec. 31.
This year will be Port Clinton’s 19th walleye drop, but the
event’s humble origins can actually be traced back 25 years, to a
hotel parking lot about an hour east of the “Walleye Capital of the
World.”
In 1990, Sedlak was general manager of the now-defunct Aqua Marine
Resort & Country Club in Avon Lake, helping to brainstorm ways to draw more
people to the resort.
“The new owner at the time, a new investor, had some friends in town
and we were all sitting around throwing ideas around, talking about the Peach
Drop in Atlanta, talking about New York, and we got to, ‘Well, we should
drop something here,’” Sedlak said. “They were saying, ‘Well we can get a nice
taxidermied walleye,’ and I said, ‘No, no, no, if we’re going to do this, we’re
going to go big.’”
Sedlak contacted a friend from high school, Andre Cuthel of Berea, and
asked him to build a large papier-mâché walleye. The Plain Dealer reported the
resulting fish was 9 feet, 11 inches long and weighed 100 pounds. Sedlak strung
a cable over a light pole, hoisted up the fish and lowered it that New Year’s Eve
in front of about 500 people in the hotel parking lot.
The second year in Avon Lake was bigger than the first, Sedlak recalled.
“We were getting a lot of calls from the press. One call was from the Avon
Lake Police,” Sedlak said. “They were being swamped by calls from people
wanting directions to the event. They contacted us and said they were going to
have to send out officers for traffic control. All of a sudden, this parking lot was
just slammed with people to come watch us drop this fish off a light pole. Just
the novelty of the event.”
That second year, the papier-mâché fish was damaged by the drop. Rather
than a controlled descent, organizers heeded the request of spectators and just
let it drop.
“After we did it the first year, everybody was bummed we stopped it at the
bottom so the next year, we just let it go and let it crash into the parking lot,”
Sedlak said. “There was just kind of a dull thud, but everybody cheered.”
Afterward the crumpled fish was displayed in the resort’s golf pro shop
until the resort went out of business less than a year later.
Continued on page 33 >>
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FUNCOAST MAGAZINE
DWELL
“All that stuff was just thrown out I think,”
Sedlak said. “That was the end of that thing.”
By that time, Sedlak had already moved to
Port Clinton for a new job as general manager and
chef of The Island House Hotel.
Having lived in various cities around the
country during his hotel and restaurant industry
career, Sedlak said he remembers being surprised
to find Port Clinton didn’t have much of a New
Year’s Eve scene.
“All the hotels were closed. You had your
usual New Year’s Eve dinners, but nothing crazy,”
Sedlak said. “It wasn’t what I was used to after
working in Louisville and Kansas City and even
Avon Lake, where New Year’s Eve was a giant
event.”
After a few years, Sedlak started thinking
about the walleye drop again. “Why not bring it to
Port Clinton?” he thought. “What better place to
do it than the Walleye Capital of the World?”
It was around that time that Sedlak met
mayoral candidate Tom Brown during a Sunday
brunch at The Island House. Sedlak told Brown
about his idea to bring the walleye drop to Port
Clinton and Brown was immediately enthused.
“I was joking around with him, telling him
if you get elected mayor, I expect you to help me
put on a walleye drop,” Sedlak said. “If you know
Tom, you know he was super psyched about the
idea. And then he got elected. The first thing he
did within the first few weeks of being elected
was call me up and said, ‘We gotta do that walleye
drop!’ When he gets behind something, it’s like a
steamroller.
“I talked to the visitors bureau, who liked the
idea, but there was no money for it and no one
really knew what it was all about,” Sedlak said.
“But we just kept pushing.”
A committee was formed, money was raised
and word was spread. Cuthel was enlisted to build
another fish.
“We were starting to get a little plan. There
was big anticipation. The fish was being made, but
nobody had any idea of the scope of this thing,”
Sedlak said. “One of the townspeople lent us a
moving truck, so on a Saturday morning that fall,
my brother Kevin and I and one other person
went Berea to get the fish. We hung it in the
truck and very gingerly drove back. Tom told me,
‘When you’re close to town, give me a call. I want
to see it.’ So we called him and he said, ‘When
you get to the bottom of the off ramp slow down
and wait for your escort.’ We actually had a police
escort into town. That’s when the event got wheels
under it. That picture was in all the papers.”
Port Clinton’s inaugural drop—on Dec. 31,
1996—took place atop a tractor-trailer across the
street from The Island House.
“We thought if we could get 400-500 people
it would be a big success,” Sedlak said. “We had
gotten one police officer, to hang out downtown
in case we needed it. When we got ready to do
the drop, Tom told me to come up on the stage
and just look. And no exaggeration, there were
thousands of people there—almost two full blocks
of people who came to watch the drop.”
Since that first year, the event has built an
economic impact on the city of Port Clinton,
drawing hundreds of visitors who book hotel
rooms, buy groceries or dine out at restaurants,
and shop at local businesses.
“The Island House was about 60 percent full
that first year; other hotels weren’t even open,”
Sedlak said. “The next year, every hotel was open
and every hotel sold out. I had people calling me
the day after to book their window room for next
year so they could watch the drop. The rest is
history.”
Cuthel’s papier-mâché fish was carefully
patched up numerous times but was “taking a
beating” and it soon became clear a new fish
would be needed, Sedlak said.
“Being on the lake in the middle of the
winter, raising it up on a crane, the wind was just
battering that thing,” he said. “That’s when we
decided to go with something more durable.”
The new fish was modeled after the papiermâché fish, which Jim Wendt of Jim’s Taxidermy
deconstructed in his shop for research while
building the new fish.
Continued on page 34 >>
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33
DWELL
“Last year, more than 18,000 people watched the
drop in over 14 countries, including the U.S. and Canada,
England, Switzerland, Afghanistan, Italy and even one lone
viewer in China,” Peiffer wrote in an email. “The viewers
in Afghanistan, we later learned, were U.S. servicemen and
women who just wanted to be a part of the celebration at
home. We received a nice email from a PCHS grad who was
serving there and had a group watching the Walleye Drop in
their mess tent.”
In recent years, the fish has been looking rough. It’s been
patched many times, and the committee is weighing whether
it’s time to build a new fish, Wendt said.
Chairperson Lauren Schubach said the festival
committee plans to have a new fish by next year’s 20th
anniversary drop.
“It’s going to make it through this year, but it’s getting a
little haggard,” Schubach said. “We want to get one that will
last for many years to come.”
While the drop was Sedlak’s brainchild, he’s quick to
extend credit to fellow organizers and support from the Port
Clinton community for the event’s ongoing success.
“Everything starts as an idea and at some point they
disappear or they go, and this one just went,” Sedlak said.
“The only reason it’s been so successful is because of the
community support. The community owns the walleye drop.
There were a few who started it, but the community has
embraced it and added to it and took it on. It took everybody
to get the thing going.
“It’s pretty much talked about everywhere, which is kind
of crazy. It’s stayed and it’s passed the test of time.”
For more information, visit walleyemadness.com.
“It was a good evolution,” Sedlak said. “A lot of times when there’s a sequel
it’s not as good as the first, but this was so much nicer and more durable. The
original one got the whole event started, but this one we didn’t have to worry so
much. It could be out in the rain and snow without hurting it.”
“It was very time-consuming,” Wendt said. “I can’t even tell you how many
hours I spent working on it.”
Even so, Wendt said he doesn’t pay attention to the press or any of the
attention his creation garners.
“I take it with a grain of salt,” Wendt said. “I’m not a grandstander.”
In fact, Wendt said he has only attended the walleye drop once or twice.
“Heck no, I don’t want to go stand out in the cold,” Wendt said, laughing.
“I’m a fair-weather guy.”
For years, Sedlak personally hoisted and dropped the fish, earning the
nickname “Drop Man” from Brown. In the early days, Sedlak and Cuthel pulled
the rope themselves. Once the papier-mâché fish was replaced, it took more like
15 to 20 people to hoist it, Sedlak said. At first, he said he would pick people
from the crowd to help, but later switched to a pulley system for safety.
Today, Sedlak is the general manager of an Applebee’s in Elyria. He still lives
in Port Clinton but is no longer directly involved with the event. Last year was
the first walleye drop he ever missed. He had to work.
The drop has become an annual tradition for many families in the region,
and Sedlak said he’s happy to see how the event has grown.
“It’s one of those things where no matter how cold it is, people will
come out,” Sedlak said. “There could be just a couple people milling around
downtown, but then 15 minutes before the drop, all of a sudden the whole
downtown is full.”
The drop is also broadcast live on PortClintonRadio.com, the main channel
for WPCR Radio, said Greg Peiffer, media chair for the festival.
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