Press Releases
Edmund Fitzgerald Memorial Ceremony, Thursday, November 10, 2011
36 years A Legend
Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum
Whitefish Point, Michigan
Please join us at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum on Thursday, November 10th for the 16th Annual Edmund Fitzgerald Memorial Service. The service begins at 7 pm.
It has been 36 years since the Edmund Fitzgerald and her entire crew of 29 men was lost in one of the worst storms in three decades. To this day, no one knows why a 729 foot ore carrier could founder so suddenly and disappear so mysteriously. The Fitz lies 17 miles north-northwest of Whitefish Point in 535 feet of water.
Each year, in honor of the Fitzgerald crew, the bell is uncovered and rung 29 times during a “Call to the Last Watch Ceremony”. The 30th ring is for all mariners lost on the Great Lakes.
Special guest speaker this year will be Dennis Hale, shipwreck survivor and author. Hale was sole survivor of the November, 1966 sinking of the Daniel J. Morrell, and will reflect on the Edmund Fitzgerald and his thoughts upon learning of its sinking.
Music will be provided by Mike Fornes and his Gordon Lightfoot tribute band, “Whispers of the North.” The Shipwreck Museum gallery and theater will be open from 10 am to 3 pm. Reserved seating is provided for family members and bell ringers. General admission to the memorial service will begin at 6:30 pm. First come first seating will be provided. Overflow viewing of the service will be available in the shipwreck Theater building through live video broadcast.
Refreshments will be served following the ceremony. For more information, please call 800.635.1742.
Shipwreck Society Launches New Educational Programs
The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum is now open for the 2011 Season! Museum hours are 10 am to 6 pm, 7 days each week, through October 31, 2011.
The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society, with galleries and offices in Sault Ste. Marie, MI and its main campus at Whitefish Point on Lake Superior, presents a variety of cultural activities for the 2011 season. Operations Director Bruce Lynn and Site Manager Terry Begnoche announce a new educational program, for the sole purpose of better accomplishing its mission of maritime exploration, documentation, interpretation and education.
Lynn explains, “The Shipwreck Society will in addition to all of its other reknown programs, place a heavy emphasis upon lectures offered at nominal cost to its members and the general public. Several guest speakers are lined up for the main museum gallery at Whitefish Point throughout the summer season. Shipwreck explorers, maritime historians, artists, authors and academics will update the audience on all that is happening in the fascinating and multi disciplined world surrounding underwater archeology.”
Begnoche added, “Check our website; www.shipwreckmuseum.com. We will soon post a summer schedule, which is merely the beginning of what will grow into a year around effort, whether in the Sault or even throughout Michigan. The interest in and demand for details surrounding the stories of ships and the men who went to sea, on these inland seas, continues to grow. Our mission is to meet that demand, in every way we are able.”
Shipwreck Society President, James Spurr, offered a specific example of this new educational initiative. In March alone, generally considered “the off season,” the Shipwreck Society, its Board of Directors, employees, volunteers and friends organized two lectures in Flint and Grand Rapids. “Partnering with other excellent museums, such as the Alfred P. Sloan and Grand Rapids Public Museum,” Spurr explained, “we marketed, with their assistance, to local newspapers, radio and television stations. More than 350 persons attended, which for the cost of a movie, the guests were delighted with speakers of international reputations speaking about famous shipwrecks and the efforts to discover, preserve, document and interpret these priceless cultural resources. We will continue to carry our educational programs to those throughout Michigan.”
Director Emeritus of the Shipwreck Society, Tom Farnquist, spoke in Grand Rapids. Joining him in Grand Rapids and also presenting in Flint were Ken Vrana and Paul-Henry Nargolet, representing the Center for Maritime Underwater Resource Management and Richard Gross, chief historian for Great Lakes Exploration having perhaps located the remains of Le Griffon in northern Lake Michigan. These “titans of the industry” presented on topics including R.M.S. Titanic, LaSalle’s Le Griffon and the French Minesweepers, not yet located on the bottom of Lake Superior.
Development Officer Sean Ley promised, “These high caliber speakers are just the beginning of what talent we will bring to our members and friends over the next several years. It is an excellent time to join the Shipwreck Society and support its programs.”
The campus at Whitefish Point, home of the Shipwreck Museum and the 1861 Lighthouse, the oldest on Lake Superior, opened on Saturday, April 30, 2011.
Shipwreck Society Names Operations Manager
The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society has named Bruce E. Lynn as Operations Manager for its campuses at both Whitefish Point and Sault Ste. Marie. Lynn will begin in April, preparing for the summer celebration of the 150th Anniversary of Whitefish Point Light, the oldest on Lake Superior. As Operations Manager, Lynn will oversee the Shipwreck Society offerings to its members and the general visiting public, numbering last year over 70,000 persons interested in shipwrecks and our rich maritime past. Lynn will supervise staff providing for the highest quality visitor experience, including retail stores, an overnight program, group tours, educations hands on experiences and of course, the exhibits themselves in various buildings.
Lynn has a history with the Shipwreck Society and worked under its Director Emeritus, Tom Farnquist, as far back as the summer of 1996 as Interpretive Supervisor. Since that time, Lynn coordinated group tours and special events with Mackinac State Historic Parks on Mackinac Island, together with serving as a Historical Interpreter. He was also the Assistant Curator of Programs for the Alfred P. Sloan Museum of Flint, Michigan.
Lynn holds a Master of Science in Historic Preservation and Heritage Interpretation from Eastern Michigan University. He has been a presenter at Circle Michigan educational seminars and a long time member of both the Historical Society of Michigan and the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society.
Lynn offered, with respect to this new challenge, “I am both excited and humbled to be able to continue the good work already accomplished by the Shipwreck Society. It is a clear leader in the fields of underwater archeology and preserving the Whitefish Point Light Station, a premier historical destination.”
James Spurr, current President of the Shipwreck Society, added, “Bruce is deeply committed to our core mission: Finding shipwrecks, documenting the sites and telling the stories of not only the vessels but also the lighthouses and attempted rescues of mariners in peril. His experience with historic interpretation will be much appreciated and we look forward to a great summer season.”
Lynn is also a part time resident of the Eastern UP and looks forward to enjoying summers north of the bridge.
Shipwreck Society Names New Site Manager
The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society, in preparing for another busy season at Whitefish Point this coming summer, has named Terry Begnoche as Site Manager for its campus at Whitefish Point. Begnoche will begin in April, preparing for the summer celebration of the 150th Anniversary of Whitefish Point Light, the oldest on Lake Superior. As Site Manager, Begnoche will oversee the Shipwreck Society museum buildings, grounds, store and educational programming.
Begnoche has a long and deep history with the Shipwreck Society. He was involved with all three of the earlier Shipwreck Society expeditions to the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald, in 1989, 1994 and 1995. He is a certified technical diver and still underwater photographer. He assisted the Shipwreck Society in the underwater lighting for the productions “Graveyard of the Great Lakes,” “The Osborn Incident” and programs relating to the Edmund Fitzgerald.
In addition to being a volunteer with the Shipwreck Society for more than 20 years, Begnoche has served as President of its Board of Directors for nine years and was a leading figure in its successful effort to collaborate with other stakeholders at Whitefish Point. The effort resulted in a land use Plan, signed in 2002.
Begnoche holds a Bachelor of Science Environmental degree from the University of Michigan, Dearborn, a Masters in Business Administration in Quality and Operations Management and has spent most of his career enhancing the environment and developing management systems to safeguard or improve the environment. He currently teaches at Oakland University on Environmental topics. His career evolved from responding to environmental emergencies to managing liabilities through controlled compliance and on to proactive prevention and creative re-design. Begnoche, a Whitefish Township resident, offered, with respect to his new position with the Shipwreck Society, “I am delighted to be working with so many good people, assisting us at Whitefish Point for so many years. I look forward to being able to reinforce the values of teamwork and collaboration on a site that is both historically significant and environmentally sensitive.”
James Spurr, current President of the Shipwreck Society, added, “Terry’s deep knowledge of us and his core competency of improving management systems to more efficiently work as a team represents an exciting opportunity for the Shipwreck Society. We are fortunate to have such expertise at our disposal and look forward to a great summer season.”
Begnoche also serves on Michigan’s Underwater Salvage and Preserve Committee, appointed by Governor Granholm just last year.
