This week’s presentation of the Old Mission Peninsula Historical Society is not to be missed! Master Diver Chris Roxburgh will be giving a presentation on “Shipwrecks of the Great Lakes, Near and Far,” on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020, 6:30 p.m. at Peninsula Community Library.
There will be a business meeting at 6 p.m., with the presentation to follow at 6:30 p.m. The program is offered free of charge in the community room (to the left as you walk in the front door) and will include refreshments. Peninsula Community Library is located at 2699 Island View Road on the Old Mission Peninsula (on the corner of Center Road and Island View Road).
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The program will feature Chris’ stories and photos of some of Michigan’s most historic shipwrecks as they look today deep under the waters of the Great Lakes. He’ll also include the history and misfortunes of these vessels and their crews, and will be raffling off ten autographed shipwreck photos near the end of the presentation.
I would imagine the presentation will also include some discussion about “The Metropolis,” located off the tip of the Old Mission Peninsula, as well as Jake Anderson’s infamous 1979 Ford Pinto in Old Mission Harbor, off the shores of Kelley Park.
Jake, who is the grandson of Norm and Doris Nevinger, former owners of the Old Mission Inn and Nevinger’s Campground, says the car was sunk to attract fish to the area.
Here’s another video that Chris posted on Facebook of “The Eagle” shipwreck located in Northport Michigan. This was a fish netting vessel that sunk while tied to a pier in the winter of 1940, after the local fishing industry was decimated by the lamprey eel. The vessel still lies next to the pier, which is also submerged in water.
If you love local history and gathering with fun people each month, consider joining the Old Mission Peninsula Historical Society. Forms will be available at the presentation. Check out their website here.
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A NOTE FROM JANE: I started Old Mission Gazette in 2015 because I felt a calling to provide the Old Mission Peninsula community with local news. After decades of writing for newspapers like the New York Times and Los Angeles Times, and magazines like Family Circle and Ladies' Home Journal, I really just wanted to write about my own community where I grew up on a cherry farm and raised my own family. So of course, I started my own newspaper. Because the Gazette is mainly reader-supported, I hope you'll consider tossing a few bucks my way if I mention your event, your business, your organization or your news item, or if you simply love reading about what's happening on the Old Mission Peninsula. Check out the donation page here. Thank you so much for your support. -jb
[…] that whale I saw today was really close to shore! Then again, a while back, local diver Chris Roxburgh mentioned on Facebook that there’s a steep drop-off just off Bluff Road there. Evidently, […]
[…] and gave me permission to post them here on the Gazette. You may have heard Chris talk at the Old Mission Peninsula Historical Society or the Old Mission Women’s Club in recent […]