Gales of November … In Your Own Home: Lake Superior Magazine has long been a sponsor of the annual Gales of November fundraiser for the Lake Superior Marine Museum Association. This year, LSMMA had to go "virtual" for the special event. Because of that, even more people can enjoy this year's speakers. There is no charge for the presentations (though donations and memberships will be appreciated!). All the presentations will be via Zoom and you can find the links on the LSMMA website.
Here is the line up for the week:
At 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10, Peter Brunk: "Finding the Fitz & Commanding a Lightship" – Peter served from 1954 to 1980 with the U.S. Coast Guard. He began his Coast Guard career serving on a buoy tender in the Chesapeake Bay and along coastal Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina. Then in 1975, just in time for one of the most notorious and tragic shipwrecks on the Great Lakes, Peter joined the USCG Atlantic Strike Team. The team was sent to spot oil spills from the eastern U.S. coast all the way to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Greenland. In November 1975 that duty included trying to spot a spill or wreckage from the lost Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior. While on the Atlantic Strike Team, Peter also served from 1970-71 as captain on the LV Nantucket lightship (or lightvessel) sent out to mark the Nantucket Shoals south of Nantucket Island. These ships would substitute for the lighthouse that could not mark the open-water hazards. More than a dozen lightships would be assigned to this location, starting in 1853. After retiring from the USCG, Peter took on a number of jobs, including for Industrial Marine Service, in part as an oil spill contractor; operating tugboats by North Carolina and the intracoastal waterway; and doing fishing and crabbing part time. Before logging into Peter's talk, we encourage people to view the annual Nov. 10 lighting of Split Rock Lighthouse to commemorate the crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Livestreaming begins on the lighthouse's Facebook page at 4:30 p.m.
At 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11, Hayes Scriven: "A Modern Keeper's Tale" – Hayes is the new site manager of Split Rock Lighthouse. Originally from Nerstrand, Minn., a small town just outside of Northfield, Hayes earned a history degree from University of Minnesota Duluth. After college he served as executive director of the Northfield Historical Society for 11 years, and in 2017, he became the director of the Richard I. Bong Veterans Historical Center in Superior, Wis. In 2019, he became the site manager of Split Rock Lighthouse, taking over for Lee Radzak who held the position for 36 years. He has been married to his wife, Jenny, for 14 years and they have two children, Aneliese (12) and Devin (9). Hayes is an outdoor enthusiast that enjoys hunting, fishing, canoeing, kayaking and photography. If he is not at Split Rock, he is probably on a trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area or chasing pheasants/grouse or ducks.
At 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, Dave Mascarenas: "Going Wherever the Evidence Hides" – Dave recently retired as commander on the Los Angeles Police Department's dive team. He spent much of his 20+-year career using his diving skills to find and secure evidence of crimes. In the pursuit of that goal, Dave dove under moving ships, in underwater reservoir sheds, in dams, beside piers, in pipelines and, perhaps more tamely, into swimming pools. Dave and his team came to their tasks with the attitude that they didn’t want anywhere to be considered a “safe” place to hide incriminating evidence. That attitude is what moved Dave to do one of his most famous dives – into the LaBrea Tar Pits. It’s a dive both Dave – and later his wife – would consider one of the craziest things he’s done.
At 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, Fred Stonehouse: "Things that Go Splash in the Night" – Who better than the author of the Haunted Lakes series to tell a few of his favorite Great Lakes ghost tales. Most of his long career as a maritime historian, Fred has stuck to the facts in the tales of shipwrecks, lighthouses and the Life-Saving Service. But among his more than 30 books are the perennially popular stories of hauntings around the Great Lakes in his Haunted Great Lakes series. Fred teaches maritime history at Northern Michigan University in his adopted home of Marquette, Michigan, where he also serves on the City Commission and has been its mayor. He has consulted for the U.S. National Park Service and Parks Canada and has been an “on-air” expert for National Geographic, History Channel and Fox Family, and many regional media productions. He’s received many awards for contributions to Great Lakes maritime history from such organizations as Underwater Canada, Our World Underwater, Marquette Maritime Museum and Marquette County Historical Society, the Association for Great Lakes Maritime, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society and Lake Superior Magazine. In addition he was named the Marine Historical Society of Detroit’s “2007 Historian of the Year” and a Northern Michigan University’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2014.
At 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, Ken Merryman and Jerry Eliason: "On the Trail of the Pere Marquette 18" – These two Lake Superior guys are among the best known shipwreck hunters on the Great Lakes. Jerry Eliason started diving in the small lakes around Rice Lake Wisconsin in 1966. His first dive in frigid Lake Superior was in 1968 at age 15. He wore a wet suit but without hood, boots, gloves or buoyancy compensator. From 1976 to 1989 he logged 700 wreck dives. After a case of the bends in 1989 he has focused his attention on locating previously undiscovered wrecks. In collaboration with Kraig Smith, Ken
Merryman, Randy Beebe, Tom Farnquist, his son Jarrod and wife Karen; Jerry has been part of more than 20 successful hunts for virgin wrecks including the 'went missing' wrecks Hudson, Benjamin Noble and Henry B. Smith, which was the topic of the book The Last Laker by Fred Stonehouse. Jerry plans to retire from shipwreck hunting once the U-656 is located; the first German U-Boat sunk by U.S. Forces in World War II. Ken Merryman is past president and founding member of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society and retired computer engineer. He is a veteran speaker at scuba shows around the Great Lakes and gives several shipwreck talks each year. Ken has been an avid Great Lakes shipwreck diver for 49 years and operated a scuba diving charter service for 40 years. Although his charter business operated mostly at Isle Royale National Park, he also frequents the Lake Superior North Shore, Apostle Islands, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron diving and searching for new shipwrecks. His underwater photos and video can be seen at museums and shipwreck displays around the lakes. The last five summers Ken and friends have been circumnavigating the Great Lakes in his 1947 Owens Cruiser. He has cruised over 11,000 miles covering most of all five of the lakes finding nine new shipwrecks along the way. This season due to COVID he made the Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan loop, this time covering northern Lake Michigan. In the winter Ken travels to warm water ocean destinations using his video camera to capture stunning images of the ocean critters. The underwater photo here is a view of the top of the "flying bridge" on the wreck of the Pere Marquette 18 in about 500 feet of water in Lake Michigan. (The tiny diver is the Gales of November mascot ... and was not in the original image!)
At 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, Scott Bjorklund: "150 Years of Maritime Transits" – Originally from South Saint Paul, Minn., Scott came up to Duluth in 2015 to study history and museum studies at UMD. He's an avid history buff and once in Duluth developed a passion for maritime photography, quickly rising to a sparkling waterfront shooter. Since 2017, he's combined both his love of history and the working boats as a Park Ranger with Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center in Canal Park. The center is run by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and is one of the main missions of the LSMMA.
Going Down, But Still Up: Sounds like a conundrum, but it's the usual state of the lake levels this year. The International Lake Superior Board of Control and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers just released the figures for October's water level shifts. "Great Lakes levels continue to decline, but are still well above average and the risk of high water impacts remains," the press release notes. Lake Superior declined 2.8 inches in October, more than its long-term average decline that month of 1.2 inches. The Lake starts November at 9.1 inches above its 100-year average and 5.1 inches below this time last year. Lakes Michigan and Huron declined 3.1 inches over the course of October, close to their 2.8-inch average decline for the month. Those lakes start this month 31.9 inches above average and 2.4 inches below this time last year. All three lakes are expected to continue to decline in November, as usual, but the International Lake Superior Board of Control advises to prepare for potentially severe coastal impacts, especially during periods of strong winds and high waves. Of course, while Lake Superior can kick up some grand waves, it has lovely periods of calm, as seen in this image of the Joseph L. Block at anchor off Duluth on Thursday taken by David Schauer.
Into the Home Stretch: On his circle of Lake Superior, Andy Kaknevicius give us the eighth in his Circle Tour series "Wisconsin to Marquette." About creating this segment, Andy tells us, "To be honest, I often shook my head at the lack of time I scheduled when I drove this leg of the circle tour, and I honestly declare that I will return to properly cover the south shore of Lake Superior! There were only two days to cover some of the most interesting and unique locations on the Lake Superior Circle Tour. Some of the highlights in this episode include charming roadside historical museums, beautiful coastline vistas and roads, the Apostle Islands, a fun story and ending this leg is a historic spiritual inspiration. The Bayfield and Keweenaw Peninsulas are gorgeous and there is sooo much to do and discover. I have got to take my gear on the water because the Lake Superior Circle Tour is incomplete unless you explore the Apostle Islands and many other islands around the entire Lake. I need a reliable boat and experienced captain, or an invitation to travel on any ship on the water (post COVID-19).
End of the Trail, Beginning of Fundraising: The Bayfield, Wis., folks have a lot going on recently. This cool photo, by the way, comes with a "where is it" question from the Bayfield Chamber and Visitors Bureau: "Name this trail. (Hint: this is where it ends!)". Meanwhile, the City Parks and Recreation Committee in Bayfield is leading a push to renovate the Waterfront Walk along the harbor. (No, it's not where the photo is; that would be too easy). "We need a total of $50,000 to reconstruct the section by the gazebo for improved accessibility, create a harbor viewpoint and widen and repave the full length from the gazebo to South First Street," the committee notes. "We are seeking funds as 50% match for a grant submitted to the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program." Pledges can be made through the City Clerk's office.
Meet the Makers!: From now until Christmas, we thought we'd introduce you to some of the artisans and artists who help to create items for Lake Superior Gift Collection. This week D. Shields of Lake Superior Jewelry in the Upper Peninsula answers a few of our questions. Lake Superior Jewelry creates the ruggedly beautiful leather bracalets with the Lake bauble (which happens to be our featured item below!).
LSM: I know you are based in the U.P. – are you from there?
D: Yes, we are based near Munising, Michigan. David & I have been living in the U.P. for just over 20 years now, though I am originally from Illinois and David from the UK.
LSM: How did you come to jewelry making as a profession?
D: It all started with a class held at a local bead shop. Pretty beads, stones and shiny things can get to be addicting. Pretty soon you’ve got a lot of items and need an outlet and the local Farmers’ and Artisans’ Market seemed to be the best place to take it. The jewelry was so well received and recognized that local shops starting asking to carry it. As we took our things on the road to art festivals, we gained more requests from shops wanting to purchase wholesale and the business grew.
LSM: I noticed you use natural elements in your jewelry. What about these materials, such as agates, draw you to them? Does this mean you have to spend a lot of time rockpicking?
D: Seeing the beauty around us that nature has made is what draws us and many others to this area. What’s better as a reminder to have with us than a keepsake from nature made into something you can wear and look down upon to remember a special place, moment or trip? Agates in all their intricate patterns and colors just amaze us, but the simplest of things, such as the blackest basalts or the whitest quartz, make stunning pieces as well. Some of our best moments have been spent walking the shoreline with the wind in our hair and the sun shining down on us but it seems the time to do this can be as elusive as an agate at times.
LSM: What the most memorable comment you've gotten about your work?
D: Sometimes it’s not so much the comments as it is the actions. When someone comes back to us with a piece of our jewelry in need of a bit of TLC because it’s been loved and worn so much it needs a new strap or clasp, that in itself speaks volumes.
LSM: What's the favorite piece of jewelry that you own, and why?
D: I would have to say my favorite piece of jewelry is a pair of silver earrings that feature a tiny stack of black basalt stones. I just love the way the black and silver go together. The basalt always looks great whether it’s a casual or dress occasion to wear them. Best of all, they remind me so much of my favorite Lake Superior.
Photo & graphic credits: Ken Merryman & Jerry Eliason; Gales of November; David Schauer; Andy Kaknevicius; Lake Superior Magazine