Maritine Museum now open in the Nautical City
The Great Lakes Lore Maritime Museum has at last, after great volunteer efforts, completed its move from Sebewaing in Michigan?s Thumb to Rogers City, next to the Lighthouse Restaurant and Nautical Lanes. There is no mistake where one is, upon entering the refinished building front in gray with porthole windows trimmed neatly in white. Upon opening the door one steps into what appears to be the pilot house of one of the many laker ships plying the Great Lakes.
The actual wheel from the John G. Munson is fixed dead center and pilot house windows allow the visitor to peer into the museum before actually entering it off to the right.
A guest book is offered for visitors, along with pamphlets on maritime news. Entry is $3 to gander at original memorabilia provided by many sailors who spent their working years on the Great Lakes. Photos document the boats, the sailors, and the lore of many years on the Great Lakes.
DIRECTOR ED BRKLACICH said of the pilot house entrance, ?One of my board members laid out the whole idea for the pilot house as an entrance into the museum. It?s not yet complete, but we?re proud to display the actual wheel from the Munson.? Brklacich, along with fellow board members, had a dream to relocate his museum and looked for many years in the Bay City area along with Oza Brown, a retired sailor from the Huron Cement boats and member of the board. Brown, who is a major contributor to the museum said, ?Yeah, Ed and I looked every year down around Bay City, but they just didn?t even care about us.? Thanks to the funding supplied by people like Brown, the relocation was able to continue and come to fruition.
?He saved us,? Brklacich said gratefully. ?I wonder why,? drawled Brown jokingly. ?This is why,? Brklacich said with a broad smile and extending his arms about the completed museum displays.
?You know,? Brklacic said. ?I can?t say enough about Jerry Badgereo and Chuck Horn…they never stopped working on this (the museum).
?THEY DESERVE three-quarters of the praise,? Oza added. Before the furnace was installed, Horn, a retired Chief Engineer, went every day to the museum and lit a small heater and faithfully went back each evening and turned it off. Another volunteer,. Dave Mulders, the board treasurer from Bay City, helped install the exterior Museum sign, while Dave McDonald of Bad Axe laid out the pilot house entrance into the building. ?I have to say, when I first looked at this building, I thought…?no way?…but Ed did pretty good,? Oza said. ?He spent a lotta nights figuring out what he was going to do here.?
According to Brklacich, both Horn and Badgero worked incessantly to remove all the paint on the solid brass foghorn. ?The museum is in possession of the Bradley bell,? Ed said. ?This is not the bell from the Bradley that went down…this is from the first Bradley, which later became the ?Irvin L. Clymer.? (A self unloader b
WITH MANY new displays and a newly refinished home, the Great Lakes Lore Maritime Museum promises to bring new visitors and growth to Rogers City. Visitors are welcome Tuesday through Saturday 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. and Sundays 11 a.m. until 4 p.m.. The museum will be closed on Mondays. Students K-12 are admitted free of charge and memberships at $30 per family or $5 for students per year are always welcome by filling out a small form at the museum.
The e-mail address for the museum is www.lor@avci.net. A web site is presently under construction but should be up and running within a week.