Marking Maritime: Today is the U.S. National Maritime Day, always celebrated on May 22 and established by Congress in 1933 to commemorate the American steamship Savannah’s voyage from the United States to England. That was the first successful crossing of the Atlantic Ocean with steam propulsion. The Duluth Seaway Port Authority posted a grand 2020 Salute to Maritime Day, that starts with a WWII-era newsreel about shipbuilding and noting the maritime industry's continued importance for the Twin Ports with tributes from the
Port's Executive Director Deb DeLuca, Duluth Mayor Emily Larson and a variety of maritime industry leaders. According to the U.S. Maritime Administration, this year's theme – Resilient Sealift for a Resilient Nation – reflects the maritime industry’s unwavering support of the nation, especially during the current challenge of COVID-19. The administration has a video page with a number of worthy posts, including one today with a virtual celebration of the day (live at 10:30 a.m. EDT and then available for viewing), another on the NS Savannah, a nuclear ship with the same name as that famed steamship, and another on the merchant marine heroes of 9/11. On our sweetwater sea, this photo by Gus Schauer shows the Paul R. Tregurtha, the largest freighter on the Great Lakes at 1,013 feet, 6 inches, as it goes under the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge this week on its way to Indiana Harbor with a load of ore.
Open Parking & Stamp Sands: Today the St. Marys Falls Canal Park at the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., opens for visitation, though the visitor center and the lock viewing platform will remain closed for now, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced. The district also announced that the Keweenaw Stamp Sands Dredging Project remains on schedule for completion this summer. Peterson Companies Inc. and its subcontractor, Newt Marine, began dredging in April and Newt plans to dredge 24/7, weather permitting, according to the Corps. “Dredging will buy time for the Buffalo Reef Task Force to develop a long-term, adaptive management plan to deal with the estimated 15 million cubic yards of stamp sands that continue to threaten the reef through littoral drift,” Steve Check, project manager, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District posted. The stamp sands, detailed on the Michigan Tech Research Institute site, are mining waste material dumped decades ago into the peninsula's surrounding waters and now threaten the 2,200-acre Buffalo Reef on the eastern side of the peninsula. Several agencies, including the Corps, are working to halt the sands' migration. As of this weekend, the park visitor centers and buildings remain closed, but the staff can be available for calls daily fro 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. or questions can be sent to apis_information@nps.gov. There are no overnight stays within the park, but day trips are possible.
Assessing the Damages: Ramping up for welcoming the public, the staff at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore has also been assessing winter storm damage around the 21 islands under the park's care. The docks on Michigan and Manitou (seen here) islands were damaged by storms, and a vault toilet on York Island was buried in sand. Those facilities will remain closed as work crews assess needed repairs, the park noted in a recent press release. “Every year the winter storms take their toll on docks, buildings and trees on all of the islands,” Park Superintendent Lynne Dominy said in the release. “It will take many weeks to fully assess the extent of damages and to begin repairs. Within Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, there are 155 miles of shoreline, 15 public docks, 59 miles of hiking trails, 35 vault toilets, 65 campsites, 7 historic light stations, and over 150 historic buildings, spread out across 21 islands in 270 square miles of Lake Superior.” This year is the 50th anniversary of the park’s creation, a story told by Neil J. Howk in the April/May issue of Lake Superior Magazine.
Meanwhile … another of the Lake Superior region's five U.S. national parks, Isle Royale, will not have ferry transportation to the island from Minnesota or Michigan, plus Rock Harbor Lodge there is also closed for the year. Off-shore fishing during the day is possible now, but no fuel will be available for the time being, so any boats coming to the park will need to have enough fuel for the round trip. The National Park Service will re-evaluate loosening the complete closure in late June or early July, though people would still need their own transportation to reach the island, already one of the least visited national parks in the country. This is the 80th anniversary of the park. Whether and how to handle on-going volunteer projects on the island has yet to be determined.
20 Bucks, 40+ Yummy Choices: A new program hopes to help local Duluth and Hermantown restaurants – $20 at a time. StrongNorthland.com, billed as “a collective effort to provide an economic stimulus to our area during this challenging time,” encourages individuals and businesses to buy $20 vouchers to use at 40 local participating restaurants until Aug. 31. The initiative is meant to throw a lifeline to restaurants, among the hospitality businesses that have suffered the most vital wounds during the COVID-19 shutdowns. “Let’s take flight with this,” Kristi Stokes, president of the GDC, said Tuesday morning, harkening to the Cirrus location of the press conference. Already $25,000 vouchers have been purchased, she added, mainly by large companies like Cirrus to gift to employees or use as perks in other ways. Restaurants
get reimbursed for the vouchers used. Local eateries remain closed to sit-down guests until June 1, when the Minnesota state restrictions are lifted. You can order single or multiple vouchers online and then pick them up and pay for them at any of four North Shore Bank locations in Duluth and Hermantown. Read the full story at BusinessNorth.com. in this photo, Patrick Waddick, Cirrus president of innovation and operations, explains his company's support of StrongNorthland as Kristi looks on. "We’re pretty good at solving problems together,” he said Tuesday. “In the next 90 days, we can make a huge difference.” During the press conference, Carol Valentini, whose family owns Valentini’s in Duluth, Hermantown and on the Iron Range, urged people and businesses to support Strong Northland. "The restaurant and hospitality industry provides a tremendous amount of support for a lot of organizations,” she said. “Today we are looking to the community. We need help today. We need help so we can survive.” Valentini pointed out that opening with even 50 percent capacity limitations will damage businesses. “Some of us are not going to survive. … Come and see us as soon as possible.” Although the vouchers cover so many restaurants, Carol still sees the initiative as a vital step in recover. “Spread the vouchers out,” she said. “We all need your help. … I always say, ‘Competition makes you better, but collaboration will sustain us.’”
We Need Your Vote!: Help us choose the Best of the Lake 2020. We're asking visitors and residents to the Lake Superior neighborhood to take a few minutes to make your top picks in the categories of Best Beautiful Wayside Pullover; Best Roads for Motorcycles; Best Camping Site (tent or RV); Best Shopping Stop (name any kind of store, shop or gallery); Best Place for a Local Fish Dish (name a restaurant/eatery); Best Indulgent Overnight Stay; Best Wacky Attraction; and Best Day Trip. You get one vote for each shore – Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and Ontario – in each category. The Chosen Ones will be published in the August/September issue of the magazine.
Open Island: The Madeline Island Chamber of Commerce sent out a note reminding folks that the island is open for visitation this Memorial Day Weekend. The Madeline Island Ferry Line boosted its trips, running on a special half-hour schedule 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday-Monday. Some island shops may be closed, but many of the favorite icons, like Bell Street Gallery and Island Carvers. are open. The Inn on Madeline Island's Pub Bar & Restaurant has take-out with limited patio seating, and The Beach Club also has takeout and outdoor seating. Many of the small shops may have some new requests, keeping customers and the heretofore isolated island residents safe. "We ask everyone to please observe the rules at the businesses they are frequenting. Be kind to others you see out and about. We are a friendly community, and we expect nothing less from our visitors," the chamber requests. The annual Memorial Day Remembrance Walk and Ceremony at MIHPA Veterans Memorial Garden (seen in this photo) had to be cancelled for this year, but the island's two Best of the Lake-award winning parks, Big Bay state and town parks will be open. Bikes and mopeds are available for rental to make your own way around the island. The Chamber has a listing of businesses to check hours.
Food Sisu: "It’s said that to survive and thrive in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, it takes a healthy serving of 'sisu' – a Finnish word that roughly translates as 'grit.' The term is also apt for describing how scientists, healthcare professionals and planners have pivoted to ensure Yoopers have access to nutritious, local food and to gardening despite the COVID-19 pandemic," Kelley Christensen writes. Kelley's story follows the research of Angie Carter, an assistant professor of environmental and energy justice at Michigan Technological University in Houghton. Angie has been studying local food systems in the Keweenaw Peninsula, including community gardeners, community-supported agriculture (CSA) farming, and farmers markets. When the COVID-19 pandemic threatened food supply chains, she switched her study focus to examine how independent the local Keweenaw food supply might become. “We need to increase food production in this region,” Angie told Kelley. “A lot of the work published about local food movements and infrastructure focuses on urban areas but forgets rural areas, where in some cases there is higher food insecurity than urban areas. Now that food scarcity is in the news a lot, it’s ever more important to strengthen the infrastructure and educate people about what we can do to strengthen the long history of local foods right here in the western UP. … We can restructure our food system to address our communities’ needs during the pandemic and into the future." Read more about Angie's work and how the Western Upper Peninsula Food Systems Council is linking food growers to local needs on Michigan Tech's website.
Pasty Powerhouse: The Mohawk Superette (in Mohawk, Mich., of course) came out on top in the Keweenaw Pasty Challenge, surging ahead of the substantial and tasty competition that one finds in the Keweenaw Peninsula. After the friendly, but fierce, competition, the grateful winner produced proof of its pasty power on Tuesday with a pasty sale … and an excited Facebook post (seen here). Fridays at the Superette, by the way, are pasty day, but you should reserve yours in advance; they sell out fast. Brad Barnett, executive director of the Keweenaw Convention and Visitors Bureau, declared the competition “an overwhelming success. The event reached over 300,000 online viewers through social media. And best of all, we brought a lot of positive attention to several of the Keweenaw’s small businesses. That means a lot during these challenge economic times."
Easy Fishing: Three northern Wisconsin restaurants earned their way into the state's Top 10 in Travel Wisconsin's Fish Fry Faceoff. In Bayfield, Pier Plaza Restaurant & Lounge (it's Friday fish fry is shown here) made the list, as did Patsy's Bar & Grill and Good Thyme Restaurant & Catering, both in Washburn. Plan your "fishing trip" to these eateries now.
Cute Critters: Our Facebook friends seem to be finding lots of cute babies to photograph outside these days, from roly-poly bear cubs to the ever-adorable fox kits. We thought we'd share this Thunder Bay baby from photographer Chris Artist with you. Through Fine Art America, you can even make this into a fashionable face mask.
Photo & graphic credits: Gus Schauer; Duluth Seaway Port Authority; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Apostle Islands National Lakeshore; Konnie LeMay; StrongNorthland.com; Michigan Technological University; Pier Plaza Restaurant & Lounge; Chris Artist