putinbaylodging.com is happy to bring you the following piece, from the amazing Put-in-Bay Gazette. To subscribe to the Gazette (which we passionately recommend) visit putinbay.news!
Successful Shiphouse Tours
We would like to give a special shout out to Bryan Kasper, the www.putinbay.com team and the Put-in-Bay Chamber members who carried out an amazing event at the Benson Ford Ship House in August to help promote various island causes.
After a brief conversation between Bryan Kasper and Paul Jeris, they decided it would be a great idea to conduct tours of the ship for island causes. Bryan had only two stipulations, one was that he would not receive any of the money for the tours, and that he would like 10% of the proceeds to go to Alfred Parker Park, located nearly adjacent to the shiphouse property. People ask frequently if they can tour the ship but it’s really Bryan’s private summer home. Paul took the idea to the Chamber Board and the first tour was in August of 2021.
Last year, the tour raised over $12,000 and all of the funds went toward the new Put-in-Bay sign located at the South Bass Island State Park. The tour went so well the team decided to do two tours this year. The first one was on August 28th and was an amazing success. Over 525 tourists and locals toured the boat from 11:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. The tour raised over $18,000. The next tour will be Sunday, September 18th, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Most of the funds will be earmarked for various programs and Put-in-Bay promotional videos, like the current fly the bay video series. The primary goal of the marketing will be to get real comments and increase the branding awareness of the new Put-in-Bay logo.
A tip of the hat and a huge thank you for Bryans continuous generous help to the Put in Bay Community. Special thanks go to Paul Jeris, Brad Ohlemacher, Sara Booker, Wendy Chambers, Jordan Jenkins, Brian Cultice, and the Island Club staff who helped pressure wash, clean, prepare the ship for guests and man the various stations that made the event a huge success.
Editor’s note: In addition to generously offering his private home to be toured by over 500 people, Bryan has offered his home for small pre-gatherings of the amphicars, along with the putinbay.com summer sunset concert series. Also, One of the Put-in-Bay web cams is located on the house with a full tour of the west shore, green island, rattlesnake, Middle Bass and the ship itself. This year, Paul and Bryan teamed up to light up the entire boat so the passing Jet Express boats and boaters can enjoy the many different colors.
The previous piece is published in this month’s Put-in-Bay Gazette. The Gazette has been producing incredible independent Put-in-Bay island news for over 40 years. If you have any interest at all in what is happening on South Bass Island, we urge you strongly to subscribe to the Put-in-Bay Gazette. One-year online subscriptions are only $15, and print subscriptions are available as well. To subscribe please click here.
This piece of Put-in-Bay journalism has been provided to putinbaylodging.com courtesy of the Put-in-Bay Gazette, Put-in-Bay’s only local newspaper. Visit their website putinbay.news for more information and to subscribe!
