Shipwreck Journaljournal the Light Page 5 Journal of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society Fall 2014 / Winter 2015 Volume 32 No
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Run For ShipwreckShipwreck JournalJournal The Light page 5 Journal of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society Fall 2014 / Winter 2015 Volume 32 No. 3/4 one day before the 40th Anniversary of the sinking performances in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Florida Special Benefit for the of the Edmund Fitzgerald. and Ohio with plans to continually expand. “It is our privilege to perform in the LSSU “This is my retirement job, so I have more Shipwreck Society on the Performing Arts Center to help this wonderful time to work on marketing. This year alone we cause,” Fornes said. “The Great Lakes Shipwreck have played the Calumet Theatre, the Braumart Edmund Fitzgerald Historical Society and the museum have done Theatre in Iron Mountain, the Ramsdell Theatre th so much to preserve the maritime heritage of in Manistee, the Northport Community Arts 40 Anniversary our area, especially of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Center and beautiful outdoor amphitheaters in There are many projects on the drawing board Minnesota and Wisconsin,” said Fornes. Monday, November 9, 7:30 pm at the museum and we want to put on a show to – Continued on p. 2 Fine Arts Center raise money for them. We feel that we owe a lot to the song, ‘The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,’ Lake Superior State University and we want to assist the museum in what they ~Also in this Issue~ do for the surviving family members who travel RV Boyd’s mission on to Whitefish Point to remember their lost loved the wrecked steamer HB Smith Eight years into a project that began as a ones.” benefit to help the Cheboygan Opera House, Fornes and his band, “Whispers of the Navy Radio Building Mike Fornes is more enthusiastic than ever North” have become staples of the annual Nov. 10 bell-ringing ceremony for the Fitzgerald crew about playing the role of Gordon Lightfoot in a Morale Among Lighthouse Keepers show that will benefit the Great Lakes Shipwreck at the museum. The band’s bookings also include Museum. His 7:30 p.m. performance of “The a steady schedule of theater concerts, casinos, Gordon Lightfoot Tribute” on Monday, Nov. 9 county fairs, group tour and convention work Annual Appeal coming in November will recreate the Lightfoot concert experience adding to solo shows by Fornes that include …and more! and his band members, who have each played key audiences to feel they’ve experienced the next Shipwreck Society roles in assisting Fornes and his group. best thing, and maybe for a moment be immersed “This project has come a long way since enough in the music that we can create that illusion Benefit Concert 2008. We’ve worked very hard at authenticating for them. We continually add new songs to keep –Continued from cover each instrument’s role and sound in the music,” the concerts fresh and new.” Mike explained. “The songs are the best they’ve Cheboygan’s George Krawczyk, an original “We appeared at the Blueberry Festival in ever been right now. Anyone who hasn’t seen us band member, will play the show’s keyboard Paradise and are booked at the Cheboygan Opera since the beginning, or in the past few years, will score. Mike Freymuth, of Gaylord, plays lead House and the Crooked Tree Arts Center in immediately see how hard we’ve worked on our acoustic and electric guitar. Jack Boyd, a native of Petoskey. We’re looking forward to performing presentation. The instrumentation is very, very Waterford, is on bass guitar and Cadillac’s Matt in the Sault. It’s really fun to play when you know close to hearing Gordon Lightfoot live. We want Wohlfeill plays drums and percussion. practically everyone in the house. We really feed off that energy.” General admission tickets for the Gordon available from the LSSU Box Office; at the Of course, the show is more than just Mike Lightfoot Tribute are $20 each. Patron Weather Brueau Building in Locks Park, Sault playing the part of Gord. The other four members tickets are available for this fundraiser Ste. Marie; at the Shipwreck Coast Museum of Whispers of the North also play the roles of at $100 each. Patron tickets allow each Store, Whitefish Point, through October 31; Lightfoot’s band members using authentic instru- holder to receive a print of Fitzgerald’s online at www.shipwreckmuseum.com; ments and effects. The show’s lighting and back- Final Storm as well as preferred seating, or by calling the Society office at ground set are identical to those experienced at a Lightfoot concert. Frequent trips to see Lightfoot Row F with extended legroom, at the 800-635-1742. on tour and gain technical and musical advice concert in the LSSU Fine Arts Center, have resulted in approval from the Canadian icon Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Tickets are Fitzgerald’s Final Storm by artist Arthur Anderson – gift to the Shipwreck Society, 2006 2 Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society • Shipwreck Journal Dennis Hale 1940–2015 As many of you may know, Dennis Hale passed away at his home in Rock Creek, Ohio. Dennis was not only the sole survivor of the 1966 shipwreck of the Daniel J. Morrell, but was also a true friend to all of us at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. We always looked forward to his summer visits and truly enjoyed watching him and his wife, Barb, interacting with museum visitors and signing books. Dennis got to know many of us on a personal level and would often ask “how are you doing?”, or “how have things been at the museum”, knowing that we might be in a particularly busy time of the season. For any of us that might have had the pleasure of visiting with Dennis and Barb in their hometown, one quickly got the idea that everybody knew Dennis and everybody loved the guy. His shipwreck story was one of tragedy, but he would always tell the story in such a way that you felt like you “were there” and you could almost relate to the incredible circumstances that surrounded his shipwreck and survival. Our hearts go out to his wife and family. He will be missed. 2015 Annual Appeal To Commence In November Members and friends of the Great Lakes • Installation of Audio-Visual equipment and MEMORIAL Shipwreck Historical Society are well aware electric service in Motor Lifeboat House CONTRIBUTIONS RECEIVED of the importance the Annual Appeal carries • 15.5% increase in museum attendance over to the Society and Great Lakes Shipwreck 2014 The Shipwreck Society is pleased to Museum programs at Whitefish Point and Sault • Painting and repairs to historic structures announce that contributions have Sainte Marie, Michigan. The Shipwreck Society • New presenters and increased attendance for office will be sending funding requests out Speaker Series been recently received in memory of during November via direct-mail and electronic the following individuals. We thank notifications. Please consider your giving request when it those who have made donations of arrives in the mail. Contributions may be made support as we remember: In contrast to the Summer Appeal, which is by mail, online at www.shipwreckmuseum.com, aimed at raising capital funding, this is the or over the telephone at 800-635-1742. The David J. Marcellus Society’s once-per-year request for private Society can also provide information about Joe Taylor operational support funds. The Society is a 501 Planned Giving or contributions of financial Keith I. Bassett c (3) organization, meaning that all contribu- assets. tions are tax deductible. Highlights of our accomplishments this year Contact Sean Ley, Development Officer, or Bruce Lynn, Executive Director, with any are: questions, at 800-635-1742. We thank all of you who so sincerely support the mission of • Restoration of the barrier-free access board- the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society! walk to Lake Superior • Research on the wreck of the Henry B. Smith Restored barrier-free boardwalk deck, 2015, which had been damaged by autumn storms. PHOTO BY SARAH WILDE Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society • Shipwreck Journal 3 U. S. Navy Building, a Survivor BY JAN MCADAMS HUTTENSTINE, AUTHOR OF REMOTELY YOURS Few shipwreck enthusiasts are aware of the U.S. Navy Radio Compass Station that operated at Whitefish Point beginning December 14, 1920. It arrived at the Point almost three years earlier than the U. S. Coast Guard and served the area for ten years before succumbing to ever-improving technology. At Whitefish Point, all that is left of the four and one-quarter acre location and its structures is the 1927 living quarters for the radioman-in-charge, which is currently undergo- ing historic restoration and will for the first time since 1930, be fully and publicly recognized as a Whitefish Point Light Station c. 1950 U.S. Navy Radio Compass Station building. at the museum complex. A real survivor, the U. S. elegantly decorated than those of other stations, After the U. S. Navy decommissioned the Navy’s sturdy old living quarters adjusted to most the two-story house was built seven years after Whitefish Point station on December 30, 1930, of this change after being moved one thousand the compass house and a combination radio all Navy buildings were returned to the Bureau of feet from its original location in 1938 to its cur- station-crew’s quarters, leaving the question of Lighthouses of the Department of Commerce. rent home near the Whitefish Point Lighthouse. where the chief and his family lived for seven The spacious living quarters was used by a few years. The likely answer is a two-story building, lighthouse keepers until consolidation with the Radio compass station history on the Great originally an old horse barn near the lighthouse, U.