Go Guards: U.S. and Canadian Coast Guards took on the ice at Sault Ste. Marie (Michigan & Ontario) and Whitefish Point to clear the way for maritime traffic after the opening of the Soo Locks. Above, U.S. Coast Guardsmen on the cutter Mackinaw secure the ship after ice breaking. See a slideshow of images online.
Shipping News: The St. Lawrence Seaway started its 60th season on Thursday when the Welland Canal officially opened for business. The chart at right, from an interactive Canadian government website, indicates current ice conditions in the seaway. Cargo shipped on the seaway increased almost 9 percent last year, reports WWNY TV. Meanwhile at Thunder Bay on Lake Superior, CSL Welland became the first laker into that port, arriving Tuesday. It wintered south of the Welland Canal and took five days to arrive north for grain, reports Leith Dunick for TBNewsWatch, gaining Capt. Wilson Walters, a 40-year sailing veteran, his first T-Bay top hat, the traditional marking of the first oceangoing vessel in for the season.
In for a Lifetime: The youngest ever “lifetime member” joined the Lake Superior Marine Museum Association in Duluth this week. Evin Poquette, 9, saved for two years, stashing away his Christmas and birthday money, lawn-mowing payments from his grandmothers and a few financial donations from other family and friends in the Hayward, Wisconsin, area to reach the $1,000 goal of joining the other 20 lifetime members of LSMMA. His support, as with all members, keeps alive the free Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center with its displays. He also gets a one-year subscription to Lake Superior Magazine, a Know Your Ships book, a certificate, a few other gifts and … what he wanted most of all … his name on the plaque in the museum of all the lifetime members. In fact, that plaque got him thinking about membership, his mom explains. He saw it and said, “How do I get my name on that?” Two years of saving later, he’s destined for that designation.
His dad, Bruce, also a boatnerd, remembers Evin was just 4 when he became fascinated by the Great Lakes boats after seeing the CSL Niagara come through the Duluth canal. That was about the same time he came up with the name for his pending baby brother, his mother Sara explains: “One day Evin got off of the bus at my office (he was 4 at the time) and a coworker asked Evin what he thinks about this baby brother (soon to be). He said, ‘Good!’ She asked him what he wanted to name him, and he immediately replied, ‘Ryerson!’ We laughed, and I told him we were NOT naming his baby brother after his favorite ship! Well … eventually it grew on us more and more.” And so while most boats are named for people, Ryerson Poquette is named for the Edward L. Ryerson, considered one of the best-looking Great Lakes freighters for its sleek lines.
On Thursday, when Evin officially became a lifetime LSMMA member, he told the small group of well-wishers from the LSMMA board, the visitor center staff, and a few reporters that another of his favorite lakers is the Paul R. Tregurtha (“It’s the longest”) and that his goal is to go to the Great Lakes Maritime Academy and become a captain (“Probably on a saltie”). Evin got a welcome aboard (above) from LSM editor Konnie LeMay, who is on the LSMMA board, and received his lifetime certificate (at right) with mom Sara and little bro, Ryerson. The presentation got some nice news coverage, too, from Brady Slater in the Duluth News Tribune and Mariah Janos of Fox21.
Saving Birds on the Brink: Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin, recently did a profile of Class of 1979 graduate Susan Haig, an ornithologist who has worked for three decades on avian species facing extinction. According to the story, “She is leading an international team to develop recommendations for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as part of their efforts to enforce environmental laws in the Kingdom.” That’s a big reach from Lake Superior to the rest of the world. While in graduate school, she researched the piping plover, one of the species it’s hoped will return to western parts of the Lake Superior shore where it abandoned traditional nesting areas. Susan links her avian interests to spending time working for Northland biology professor Dick Verch in the college greenhouse. “By working for Dick in the greenhouse on Saturdays, I got to tag along on his birding adventures, which resulted in my becoming an ornithologist.”
All Mine: Life in Michigan blogger Brenda Sodt Foster takes us along on a photo tour of the Quincy Mine (looks to be in the summer, considering her sandals). We don’t recommend the footwear, but we do recommend the mine tour, and we like Brenda’s take on it. (Click through to the extra photo gallery at the end; it’s worth the additional time.)
Wastewater Accidentally Released: Garrett Neese and Graham Jaehnig of the Daily Mining Gazette of Houghton, Michigan, reported on a leak of some 400,000 gallons of untreated wastewater from the Grant Township lagoon into Lake Superior at the beginning of March. The wastewater seems to have gone under the lagoon, seeping through the soils to the bedrock and onto the shore. The state’s Department of Environmental Quality determined there is no risk to drinking water, which is taken from groundwater wells to the south, and, with no swimmers at this time of year, other contact was unlikely until the wastewater is diluted by the Lake. The township, which reported the incident to the health department, has been working to fund replacement of the lagoon liner.
Ryder Curling Cup?: Our Olympic curling champions were called in to announce that Minnesota will be home in 2028 to the Ryder Cup. A sweeping video shown on Golf Central uses the Gold Medal winners, mostly from the Twin Ports of Duluth and Superior, like team skip John Shuster (in photos), to promote the PGA’s decision to return to Chaska, Minnesota, and the Hazeltine National Golf Club. Pretty fun stuff. And we’re not going to debate which is more intriguing – curling or golf on TV.
Meet the Meats: A Thunder Bay boutique butcher shop hopes to do well at a juried show in Toronto this weekend, reports CBC Thunder Bay. The Bay Meats Butcher Shop is known for its specialty beef jerky (like those made with beers from Sleeping Giant Brewery) – though perhaps known better outside its hometown, according to general manager Bruce Krupp. "I think Bay Meats Butcher Shop, even though we're out of Thunder Bay, we're better known downtown Toronto than we are back home," he’s quoted. The meat shop was started by Cindy Salo after she was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and became more aware of avoiding gluten and additives. The shop is in the city’s “Finnish” section that includes the Hoito Restaurant (which explains the Finnish flag on the butcher shop logo along with “lihakauppa,” the Finnish word for butcher shop). Bay Meats produces its signature beef jerkies along with gluten-free Smokies and Kielbasa, Italian sausages and meatballs, maple breakfast sausage, bratwurst and chorizo and smoked sausages (in photo above) with a variety of flavors from mild to maple bacon to cheddar with jalapeno.
Happy Birthday, Print Pals: Pro Print in Duluth, which works with Lake Superior Magazine on many projects, including our soon-to-be-printed 2019 Lake Superior Calendar, recently celebrated 40 years in business. Business North published a photo of owner Creston Dorothy (the guy with the big scissors and bigger smile), the staff and Chamber of Commerce ambassadors ribbon cutting on their newest investment, ProTouch Digital Enhancements Press, one of only 300 in the world and 50 in the United States. “The press applies polymers in single or multiple layers and can put gold, silver, holographic or colored foils on printed sheets,” according to the story.
The Burgers of Spring: Some places have robins to alert them to spring. In many places around the Big Lake, we’ve got our best burger joints, which close for winter and open to the delight of all for the summer season. Hope you dieted this winter, ’cause you’re going to want to splurge now that these seasonal favorites are open for business. In Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, you can try out the two locales that perennially compete for the city's best burgers – West Pier Drive-in and Clyde’s Drive-in. Both West Pier, 849 W. Pier Dr., and Clyde’s, 1425 Riverside Dr., opened last week. (If you want to start a conversation – or a friendly argument – in the Soo, just ask two locals which place serves the better burger.) Meanwhile, around the Duluth area, the opening of Gordy’s Hi-Hat at 411 Sunnyside Dr. in Cloquet is cause for local spring celebration. “And our 58th year is under way!” the family-owned restaurant announced on its Facebook page March 20. “It may not feel like spring outside, but burger season is here.” Yum.
Photo & graphic credits: Master Petty Officer Alan Haraf; Government of Canada; Bob Berg; Susan Haig; Life in Michigan; GolfChannel.com; Bay Meats Butcher Shop; Business North; Gordy’s Hi-Hat.