Lake Effect Voices Around Us™

East Toledo native Scott Carpenter, a former news reporter and editor has been working for Toledo Metroparks for almost three decades. His love of Lake Erie and all it has to offer has helped him forge a strong bond between Metroparks visitors and the lake, its marshes, tributaries and wildlife.

Cleveland native Cary Ferguson moved his studio, and life, to Marblehead more than two decades ago earning a living as a glass artist and painter. His art is almost exclusively centered on the lake and its flora, fauna and people. In this episode, Ferguson shares a little about his work, history with the lake and the future of the area.

Let's Visit with Peggy Debien, curator of the Ottawa County Museum. This former U.S. Navy officer grew up in Port Clinton, left and returned home. And now she knows, and catalogs, everything Ottawa County and Lake Erie.

In this episode, James checks in with 92-year-old Bob Reynolds, whose grandfather founded the Matthews Boat Company on a little creek in Seneca County but whose boats and yachts became treasured possessions for people around the world. The company also launched wooden boats for the Allies in both world wars. Unfortunately, the advent of fiberglass boats in the 1960s spelled the end for Matthews.

James Proffitt speaks with Scudder Mackey, chief of ODNR's Office of Coastal Management. All things related to where water meets land on Ohio's North Coast.

What began a decade ago as a small end-of-winter gathering has morphed into a massive business-boosting bash that raises thousands of dollars for local charities and culminates with the burning of a 30-foot "snowman" on the shores of Lake Erie. For some businesses, the last Saturday in February is the busiest day of the year.