National Marine Sanctuary Foundation: Thunder Bay Maritime Fest

The 4^th annual Thunder Bay Maritime Festival, a free family event, took place on the nation’s birthday and featured tours of the three-masted 19^th century Great Lakes schooner, Denis Sullivan, as well as a line-up of entertainment, games, displays and boat tours. The Festival is co-hosted by the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve, the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation and the City of Alpena.

The festival provided a rare opportunity to see the reproduction of the 19th century 3-masted Great Lakes schooner, Denis Sullivan, Wisconsin’s flagship and a floating classroom!

This outreach event engages people of all ages in a wide range of maritime history on the Great Lakes - from tales of life on the sailing ships of the 19th and 20th centuries to recent shipwreck discoveries by scientists aboard modern research vessels. The Festival, scheduled during peak tourist season, fosters the stewardship necessary for the cultural and environmental preservation of the Great Lakes.

2004 Thunder Bay Maritime Festival Underwriters

Patrons: Charter Communications/Charter Media, Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve, and the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation

Sponsors: Alpena Power Company, Banner Realty, Holiday Inn, Hudson Motors, Independent Bank, and Wal-Mart Foundation

Supporters: Alpena Furniture Company, Lafarge North America – Alpena Plant, National City Bank, Neiman’s Family Market, and Timm Construction

Friends: Kadrich Carpet and Alpena Agency Inc.

Audiences were delighted this year by Wisconsin folksinger and songsmith David HB Drake, as well as these festival favorites: the award-winning folk singing group Song of the Lakes, the popular acappella group The Overtones, and well-known Great Lakes storyteller Genot Picor.

Throughout the day, members of public could view a unique recreation of a portion of the wooden passenger and package freighter carrier, Pewabic, as well as the sanctuary film, Tragedies in the Mist. And, as in years past, popular maritime artists and authors were on hand to discuss their work.

	“Naturally, we want people to enjoy themselves, but this is also a terrific opportunity for the public to see some of the sanctuary’s ongoing projects and discoveries, and to enjoy the maritime history that led to the designation of Thunder Bay as a federally-protected national treasure,” -- Jeff Gray, Manager of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve.
The sanctuary hosted public tours of the 80-foot modern research vessel, Laurentian, which supports the activities of the sanctuary and NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. In addition, sanctuary staff shared video from their research missions.

The Thunder Bay Maritime Festival is key to a region-wide campaign to educate the public about the maritime history of the Great Lakes. Despite the creation of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve, the public has much to learn about the remarkable collection of shipwrecks and underwater relics that inspired the designation of Thunder Bay as a national marine sanctuary. See photos of the 2003 Thunder Bay Maritime Festival!

Photos by TBNMS&UP

Thunder Bay is a 448-square mile sanctuary and underwater preserve that protects an estimated 116 historically significant shipwrecks ranging from nineteenth century wooden side-wheelers to twentieth century steel-hulled steamers.

The mission of the Thunder Bay, as with all the national marine sanctuaries, is to undertake innovative efforts to inspire people to preserve, protect, and promote the unique environmental and/or historical and cultural treasures that are found in our nation’s marine sanctuaries.

The sanctuary is helped in its mission by the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, which supports the outreach and education efforts of the National Marine Sanctuary System, part of the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

You can help further the mission of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve and all our national marine sanctuaries by supporting the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation! >> I want to help!