A Brave Life Remembered: On Tuesday, as he’s done every April 30 for many years, Capt. Tom Mackay left his Park Point home and traveled the short distance over the bridge to the north pier in Duluth's Canal Park to place four cut flowers beside a bronze plaque bearing the name “Edgar A. Culbertson BM1.” U.S. Coast Guard Boatswain’s Mate First Class Edgar Culbertson died at that pier April 30, 1967, while trying to save three teenage boys from the Halverson family. It was a chilling tragedy that Cap’t Tom (as he is nicknamed) wrote about for Lake Superior Magazine on the 50th anniversary of the sad event to remember the boys, whom he didn't know, and to honor his friend Edgar.
In 1967, coming to Canal Park after a church function, the brothers, Nathan and twins Eric and Arthur, were drawn, as so many are, to the pounding waves of a Big Lake storm. The piers, now with gates and locks, at the time were not closed during storms; the boys walked out on the pier and were swept away. Cap’t Tom picks up the story: “When the call came in at the Coast Guard Station, a crew of volunteers was mustered. BM1 Edgar Culbertson joined Boatswain Mate 2nd Class Richard R. Callahan and Fireman Ronald C. Prei to attempt to reach the lighthouse. The three tethered themselves together with a rope spaced 25 feet apart, believing that would secure them safely. Using only a hand lantern, they began to follow the same ever more precarious route from shore out to the North Pier Light. They struggled against the wind and waves to the end of the pier, but found no sign of the missing boys. Sadly, to this day the boys have never been found. When Ed, in the lead, was near the lighthouse stairs, a huge wave slammed into them, knocking Ed over the side into the water against the pier. Richard and Ron could not pull him up. Richard’s wrist was broken by the taunt line; Ron untethered to try to reach Ed. By the time they reached the beach, Ed had drowned. He was 31.”
On Tuesday, a US Coast Guard rigid inflatable from the USCG Station Duluth (in the first photo) sailed by the plaque and the Coast Guardsmen gave a hand salute to honor BM1 Culbertson’s sacrifice. By this time next year, the Coast Guard will have another honor for him. The Coast Guard announced in 2017 – and will have delivered in March of 2020 – the 154-foot Coast Guard Cutter Edgar Culbertson, the 37th vessel in the Sentinel Class of fast response cutters (same as the white boat in photo). The boat is under construction at Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, Louisiana.
Happy River, Blessed Port: During the annual Blessing of the Port ceremony, hosted Thursday by the Twin Ports Ministry to Seafarers in the Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center, the arrival of a wind-tower loaded ship flagged from the Netherlands, Happy River, got counted among the business blessings of the maritime season so far. Kate Ferguson, director of trade and business development for the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, spoke early in the ceremony, summarizing last year's maritime season and updating how the season is shaping up so far this year. "It looks strong," she said of the 2019 season, mentioning the arrival on Thursday morning of the Happy River. "It's going to be here a lot this year." Last year proved to be very healthy for the Twin Ports, Kate noted, with 36 million short tons shipped out in total, and the highest volume of iron ore since 1995. Also last year, the port sent out its first shipment of soy beans since 2007, and appointed the first woman to the helm with the promotion of Deb DeLuca to executive director of the port. Among other upcoming notables mentioned for the Port: The commander of the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit in Duluth will change for the first time from one woman to another when Erin E. Williams accepts assignment elsewhere (the new commander is not yet named) and a $447,750 port security grant will fund a new hazard response vessel for the Duluth Fire Department. On the local horizon, said Kate, are the 2021 move of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority into the Seaway Building on Rice Point and continued talks of cruise ships coming across Lake Superior. The blessing ceremony, with slightly more than a dozen in attendance, continued with ministers from several local congregations who are on the Seafarers Ministry board and featured the premiere of an original song, "Anthem for All Sailors," written and performed on electric piano by Jackie Ranco along with two singers. The Rev. Doug Paulson noted in his remarks that a boat-loving friend of his came away with a more global perspective after attending a previous port blessing. "It was here that her eyes were opened to a bigger picture," he said, pointing out the blessing include the vessels, crews, dock workers, the countries from which the ships hail and basically everything from the Port Authority to the pest control connected to the maritime industry. The port, he said, "is more than watching big boats go under the bridge."
Meanwhile, about that Happy River … Duluth Cargo Connect noted in its post about the vessel's arrival: "The BigLift Shipping's Happy River, a 452-foot cargo ship, entered the harbor today with wind towers. Flying under the Netherlands flag, Happy River is a great example of the Twin Ports shipping industry’s worldwide reach. Duluth Cargo Connect will deftly handle the cargo throughout the weekend, and store the towers on the Clure Public Marine Terminal Expansion for furtherance onto the customer."
Waterfront Opening: Leith Dunick of TBNewswatch gave a little photographic tour with a story about the Delta Hotel by Marriott, newly opened on Thunder Bay's waterfront. The eight-story, 145-room project has faced years of delays going back before the hotelier was even chosen for the space. Construction started in 2014, Leith reports, and the official ribbon-cutting came this week with guests checking in Thursday. "From the Anchor & Ore restaurant to the floor to ceiling windows on the ground floor to a wide variety of room styles, ranging from $179 a night for a regular room to $489 a night for the presidential suite on high-demand nights like the Thunder Bay Blues Festival, the hotel is expected to be a magnet for business and leisure travelers alike," according to Leith. The highly touted view of the waterfront across to the Sleeping Giant was a little obscured by weather this week, but the lobby fireplace looked very inviting in Leith's photos. Jeff Walters of the CBC in Thunder Bay also did a video of the grand opening.
That's a Lot of Pizza: Sammy's Pizza presented a $16,964 check to the local Disabled Veterans organization "as a thank you for all of their sacrifices – as well as their patronage over the years." Sammy’s locations in Cloquet, Duluth, Hermantown, Grand Rapids, Hibbing and International Falls donated 65 percent of proceeds earned on the final day of the company's 65th anniversary celebration to local DAV chapters. The company has operations in Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota and was featured in a 2014 story in Lake Superior Magazine.
Sweet Evaporation: Sawtooth Mountain Maple Syrup Company in Lutsen, Minnesota, did some sweet upgrades earlier this year that are helping with this season’s maple syrup making. Thanks to a Business Energy Retrofit grant from the Iron Range Resource and Rehabilitation Bureau (IRRRB), the family-owned business bought a new evaporator, sugar house lighting and a reverse-osmosis room heating system. “The enhancements improved maple syrup processing time by 50 percent, cut fuel consumption in half, reduced fuel emissions and lessened the environmental impact of daily operations,” the IRRRB noted in its latest newsletter, The Ranger. Sawtooth taps 25,000 maple trees across 320 acres. Owner Kirstin van den Berg, her husband, Greg Nichols, and her brother Chris Cordes are first-generation syrup makers who bought the Lutsen sugar bush acreage in 1995 and produced their first syrup crop in 1997. Their maple trees are part of a natural grove about 3 miles inland from Lake Superior, making it, according to The Ranger, the most northern location in the United States where maple syrup can be made. “Sawtooth’s maple syrup production is award-winning and the largest USDA certified organic operation in the Midwest." The operation hires four full-time employees (including the three owners) and seven part-time seasonal workers. "Together they begin tapping trees each January and acquire 250,000 to 320,000 gallons of sap that is boiled down with the new evaporator to make 6,500 to 8,000 gallons of maple syrup,” reports The Ranger. The Business Energy Retrofit program began in 2013 and since then 285 grants have been awarded to help small businesses with energy efficiency upgrades that can result in reduced utility bills, operational efficiencies, improved building aesthetics and increased building life.
Bear with It: A number of regional Facebook posts have begun to note the return of bears to backyard bird feeders and other bits of mischief. Bearing in mind that the bruins can become a nuisance, especially if we don't pay attention to the things we do to attract or annoy them, we're linking to a nifty page posted by the Wisconsin DNR about Living with Bears. It has info about bears and their diets, about behaviors and how to avoid conflicts. Let's keep our bear buddies – and ourselves – safe this season.
Wolves 15 – Moose 2,060: The latest winter count from Isle Royale has been posted and marks the 61st year for the world’s longest-running predator-prey study. “The report chronicles the four-week research expedition to the island, where researchers track – by ski and plane – wolves and moose, collar moose, and catalog the cascading effects of an ecosystem that has lacked a healthy population of apex predators for a number of years,” reports Kelley Christensen in a Michigan Tech story. The boosted number of wolves, up from two in recent years, reflects the wolves transferred there from various Lake Superior shores and Michipicoten Island.
A Few Final On-the-Water Notes: The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Alder crew, homeported in Duluth, is out placing data-gathering buoys around the Lake, a sure sign of spring. In a video done by Lt. Kubasch, Boatswain's Mate Third Class Perez walks a 6-foot buoy off the deck and into the water, ready to log and send information. Here's another fun video about buoy placing from the Cypress, a saltwater Coast Guard cutter.
Meet Kayak Express: Coming into the homestretch after five months of work on a new kayak-launching vessel for Pictured Rocks Kayaking in Munising, Michigan, Moran Iron Works Inc. sent out a press release with new photos of the 64x19-foot aluminum passenger vessel and its new name. The Kayak Express came from the boat's captain, Joe Lasak, but there were more than 100 suggestions (and entries to a boat-naming contest). Among the other suggestions were Michigan Paddler, Kayak Launcher, Innovation Maiden and Gitche Gumee. Betty Sherburne of Onaway, Michigan, won Pictured Rocks Kayaking's drawing for a two-person kayak trip. Moran called the vessel, expected to be on the water this summer, "a remarkable splendor" with "a custom-designed kayak launch system, room enough for 72 passengers and 36 kayaks, a Gyro-Stabilization system that will keep the boat from rocking – in even the roughest of Superior’s surges – and a paint scheme that is as lively as the neon green kayaks which will sit upon it."
Photo & graphic credits: Mary Mackay Gaidis; Petty Officer 3rd Class Cory Rowland/USCG; Leith Dunick/TBNewswatch; Sammy's Pizza; Sawtooth Mountain Maple Syrup Company; Wisconsin DNR; Lt. Kubasch/USCG; Moran Iron Works Inc.