June 2013 MICHIGAN Sault Ste. Marie 2 - You Don't have to be an Engineer

... to enjoy Engineer's Day in Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan (also known as The Soo). This is a very special day for SSM and the Soo Locks. Lock construction began in 1850 and the gate system transports pleasure boats on up to 1,000-foot long freighters from the upper St. Mary's River to the lower St. Mary's River (or vice versa), which has a 21 foot drop in water level. At the west end of the river is Lake Superior and at the east end is Lake Huron.

Engineer's Day celebrates the engineers who built the Locks, along with the men and women of the past and present who maintain them. For current day security reasons, you normally have to watch the locks in action from behind a strong steel fence. But one day each year, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hosts an open house, where visitors may walk across the lock walls. For a demo of how the locks work, see: huron.lre.usace.army.mil/soo/alock.html‎   or   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow9DDqj-Hio

Mike's dad graduated from the Merchant Marine Academy in New London, Connecticut and then worked on the ship Ralph H. Watson. It was built in 1938 and ended its career at sea in 1989, being sold for scrap in Turkey, of all places. Mike's dad was away from home a lot as his ship traveled the Great Lakes.

Mike remembers when his dad's ship traversed through the locks, his mom would haul him under arm across the lock walls to the particular lock where the ship would pass. Being a toddler, he remembers being scared to death looking down into the deep black waters, but he was really happy to see his dad wave from on board ship. So this day was a particular thrill for him.

One other Ralph H. Watson story. In 1978 Northwest Airline pilots went on strike, and Mike and I were both laid off. We needed a cheap vacation so we planned a camping trip in the U.P. We stopped in the Soo to watch the ships go by and coming through the locks was the Ralph H. Watson. Mike flipped out and hollered, "That's my dad's ship." His dad had passed a few years earlier, but I think it was a sign from him telling Mike "everything is ok" and "you married a great gal." Haha.

Two more short stories about that trip. We stopped for a cocktail in a little bar named Shute's Saloon in Calumet, Michigan (on the far northwest side of the U.P.). One very cool thing about this place is the Tiffany-like canopy that hangs over the bar. They say it is one of only two or three left in the world. Anyway, as we were drinking the volunteer fire alarm went off and everyone in the bar scattered to help. The bartender said get what you want and leave the money in the till. Pretty trusting and we did the right thing. We drank, paid, and left before they got back.

The other story is that we spent one night camping in our tent, also near Calumet at the state park. It was VERY cold that night. We huddled in sleeping bags but still way too cold for me. The next morning we heard on the car radio that "Calumet was the coldest spot in the nation" that night. Not the ideal camping situation, but we can laugh about it now.

Oh, well, back to today's events. Cousins Don and Chris and their two grand-daughters, Emily and Madison, met us at 10am at the hotel and we set off on a very full and exciting day. First stop was the walk across the locks. We actually got to cross and return over two sets of locks and the greenways in between. And we got to wander around two historic administration buildings which are still in use to manage the lock system and all its traffic.

The Davis building is almost untouched since it was built in 1914. We came across a display listing the Chief Lockmasters over the years. We had heard that Mike's Aunt Carol's dad had been a Chief Lockmaster here, so we started looking for his photo. We found photos of most of the Lockmasters over the years, but not his. We looked harder and found his name listed as an early Lockmasters with no photo. Yes, here was his name--George E. Fenwick (27 August 1950 to 21 April 1959).

In other spot, we found info about the building of each lock and Cousin Don said he had worked for a bit on the Poe Lock, the largest of the four on the American side. We took his photo by the display.

Throughout the day, in the background you heard others telling tales about what they had experienced or heard or seen over the years. It was all very interesting and a lot to take in, but alas we had to continue with the other events of the day.

There were a LOT of National Guard personnel in camo around for security, including a Super GI Joe. If anything happened to the locks, it would be a blow to our economy and day-to-day life.

So along with that was a display of various and interesting military work vehicles and paraphernalia. We saw a demo of a bomb de-detonator, a blow-up desert housing tent, a huge "portable" tool shop, drills, hoists, etc. These were some very big-boy toys.

While there, the two gals tried out some "competitions." Emily (on right above) ran into a girlfriend and challenged her to an arm-to-arm combat. I think it was a tie. Madison decided to try the obstacle course, which she finished in record time.

For the next stop, we took the trolley down to Cloverland Electric Coop.