Sailors, friends and family remember the Cedarville

Scores of S.S. Cedarville sailors, friends, and family gathered at the Great Lakes Lore Maritime Museum in Rogers City Saturday to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the accident that claimed ten sailors? lives. More than 100 people with links to the maritime community were on hand for a bell ringing ceremony in remembrance of the ten sailors who died on the carrier when it sank in the Straits on May 7, 1965. The event included the unveiling of a new model of the S.S. Cedarville by former crewman Dave Erickson. Of the 25 survivors, nine are still alive and seven of those men were on hand Saturday for the memorial program.

In addition to Erickson, there were Bob Bingle, Ed Brewster, Chester Felax, Len Gabrysiak, Jim Lietzow, and Jerome Kierzek. Dennis Hale, the sole survivor of the Daniel J. Morrill, sinking also participated in the bell ringing ceremony.

SOME SAILORS took part in the bell ringing ceremony while others still find the memory of the tragedy too painful and preferred to only observe the ceremony. Museum founder and director Ed Brklacich welcomed the standing-room-only crowd with a few brief remarks on the mission and promise of the ?Lore.? ?I hope I get through this because it is difficult for me. When the Lore started 15 years ago we didn?t have all the Ts crossed. As every year went by we started to really get down to the actual facts as to what we were all about. ?We developed a mission to honor the men and women who served the Great Lakes shipping industry and those in related occupations such as U.S. Coast Guard, lighthouse keepers, and anyone who contributed to the Great Lakes shipping business.

?OUR PROMISE is to honor the men and women who so nobly served the Great Lakes shipping industry and to always renew our remembrance on this day for those who lost their lives and to those who survived we dedicate our efforts in providing this facility,? Brklacich concluded. Rev. Harold Molzan rose to deliver an invocation but first he had an anecdote to relate: ?When St. Ignatius was dedicated I attended the ceremony with two other local ministers. We were standing in the back because there were no more chairs, so the prie

st said to one of the altar boys, ?Three chairs for the ministers.?

?The priest continued with whatever he had to do and saw we were still standing, so again he said, ?Three chairs for the ministers.?? ?Then the altar boy said, ?I guess he means it? so he called out, ?Three cheers for the ministers!?? Rev. Molzan then delivered a short prayer and a poem:

?GRACIOUS HEAVENLY father, as on this day our minds are turned in remembrance of the ten sailors who lost their lives in the sinking of the carrier Cedarville and the 25 survivors, we thank you for standing by us in these 40 years of heartache and sorrow.

The poem read, in part, as follows: Eternal father strong to save Whose arms define the restless wave Who bids the mighty oceans deep Its own appointed limits keep Oh hear us when we weep For those in peril on the sea

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