E.H. Tulgestka honored as grand marshal of Nautical City Festival
E.H. Tulgestka will be ?10 Nautical Festival?s grand marshal by Peter Jakey, Managing Editor
Erhardt Tulgestka, the backbone of E.H. Tulgestka & Sons and Transportation of Rogers City for more than four-and-a-half decades, will be the honored citizen during the 2010 Nautical Festival. Tulgestka, 66, was nominated by a member of the Nautical Festival committee, and while he prefers to stay out of the limelight, he graciously accepted the invitation as this year?s grand marshal. He?ll ride along the parade route Aug. 8 during the grand festival parade.
TULGESTKA STARTED working in the woods while still in high school. ?I cut pulp wood, peeled it, put it on rail road cars and sent it to the paper mill. That?s more than 47 years ago,? said Tulgestka. He started what is now an all-encompassing family business 46 years ago this summer. Sons Chris and Hardy are important contributors to the day-to-day operation of the seven-day a week business with additional assistance from Erhardt?s grandsons Jeremy and Phil, as well as Chris? wife Nancy who runs the office. They employee 75 people between transportation, wood harvesting and the mill.
?I always had trucks for hauling wood, even back in the 1960s and 70s, but the over-the-road trucking probably started in 1985,? said Tulgestka. ?I used to just haul produce to Detroit and Cleveland, primarily potatoes.? The business currently has 32 long haul trucks in use, with loads being taken to all four corners of the country. ?My job here is to take care of the mill, sell the lumber and make sure the mill is running,? said Tulgestka. While others his age are well into retirement, Tulgestka almost scoffs at the notion and wouldn?t hesitate to get a grease gun and get under a vehicle, or do any other job on the complex. He also keeps busy by
?I always did like farming,? said Tulgestka. THERE IS optimism that the economy is on the upswing in 2010, compared to a tough 2009, but through a down year, Tulgestka proudly said nobody was laid off. ?Almost all of 2009 was a strung-out deal. A lot of mills are on 70 percent quota,? said Tulgestka. ?Last February, March and April they were down to 50 percent quota.? There were times in 2009, he wondered how they would keep his employees working and not have to send them home; but that would be the time business would pick up just enough.
?It looks like the mills we sell wood to say 2010 looks like it?s going to be a good year,? he added. Tulgestka credits high school teacher Bill Barrett and grade-school teacher Esther Storms, who taught at the old Moltke Township School, for some of his success. One thing is certain, 2010 will be very special for Tulgestka and his family, especially on parade Sunday, when he?ll do the riding for once, and not the driving. He?ll take the honored ride with his longtime companion Wilma Mamp.