Scene Magazine

It’s become New Year’s tradition in Port Clinton, Ohio: Hype heightens. Excitement escalates. And Capt. Wylie experiences a big letdown.

Come Dec. 31, all eyes in an expected crowd of 10,000-plus will be looking up to Capt. Wylie – a 20-foot long, 500-pound fiberglass walleye. As the waning seconds of Y1K tick away, a crane will lower him from his perch of 60 feet into a net below, marking the New Millennium for the “Walleye Capital of the World.”

“He’s going to drop into a big fishing net made of a soccer goal,” says Port Clinton Mayor Tom Brown. “We’ll have kids holding the net as his front part drops into it and 2,000 lights on the net light up.”

The tiny village’s fish frenzy will be complemented by a fantastic fireworks display featuring “three or four grand finales,” Brown says. If you’re into walleye, the non-alcoholic, family-oriented festivities will have it all – walleye chowder, walleye tacos, walleye bagels, walleye chips – whatever your walleye pleasure.

The plunge is No. 4 for Wiley. His first two came in the guise of an 18-foot, 127-pound papier-mache figure designed by Andre Cuthall of Berea. The fiberglass Wylie — $8,000 worth of faux fish — debuted last year and is the handiwork of local taxidermist Jim Wendt. Fashioning a flair for the dramatic, Wiley varies his entrances; in past years, he has been lowered onto the street, into a boat and onto a stage.

And lest “Walleye Capital of the World” seem a lame claim to fame, the “Wylie Drop” continues to be the focus of local, national and international attention for Port Clinton, says Brown. Major periodicals, news organizations and “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not” have recognized Wylie’s World.

“There have been several detailed calls from ABC,” says Brown. “There’s a positive belief that we’ll be on ABC’s millennium stopovers. They are going to be all over the world New Year’s Eve, covering unusual events.”

Located on Lake Erie’s Western Basin – where fishing is a year-round sport – the Port Clinton area houses more than 16,000 docks. Western Basin anglers harvested 77 percent of the lake’s walleye in 1997.

The “Wylie Drop” was the brainchild of Brown; Melinda Huntley of the Ottawa County Visitors Bureau; Julie Wahlers, former executive director of the Port Clinton Chamber of Commerce; and Dan “The Drop Man” Sedlak, former manager of The Island House in Port Clinton.

Adopted and revered as a community mascot, Wylie has a cousin, Wally, who can be seen splashing about at summertime festivities. Oh, and in case you wondered, papier-mache Wylies don’t die: They hang from the ceiling at City Hall.

                                                                                                                 

The New Year’s celebration begins with a stage show on the Port Clinton town square at 11:30 p.m., Friday, Dec. 31. For further details, contact the Ottawa County Visitors Bureau at 1-800-441-1271.