The life ring Joe Rasch and his daughters found.Nice job, Joe.
Posted on 08/07/2007 10:24:07 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Joe Rasch and his two daughters, Emily and Elizabeth, were looking for agates on the Lake Superior coastline last Friday. Instead, they found a piece of history -Â a life ring from the Edmund Fitzgerald. Rasch admits he didn't realize what he found when he first saw the orange ring lying under a with pine tree that had fallen. Only when his daughter Emily read the words on the ring, it hit him. "It was pretty hard to read," Emily said. "I saw the Ed pretty good, then Fitz, so." They made the discovery near the Keweenau Peninsula, about 200 miles from where the Edmund Fitzgerald sank in November 1975. Rasch said he gets chills whenever he carries the ring, and doesn't believe it was a coincidence. "It was time for it to be found," he told 24 Hour News 8, "for people to be reminded of all 29 people who went down and the power of Lake Superior. It wasn't that long ago." Rasch, an apple farmer... and his family plan to donate it to the museum, which already has one ring from the ship... on November 10, the 32nd anniversary of the Fitzgerald's sinking.
(Excerpt) Read more at woodtv.com ...
The life ring Joe Rasch and his daughters found.Nice job, Joe.
Merchant Marine BTTT
ping
“..Everyman knew and the captain did too....”
The Wreck Of the Edmund Fitzgerald
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they called ‘Gitche Gumee’
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty.
That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early.
The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
With a crew and good captain well seasoned
Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
And later that night when the ship’s bell rang
Could it be the north wind they’d been feelin’?
The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
And a wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the captain did too,
T’was the witch of November come stealin’.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the Gales of November came slashin’.
When afternoon came it was freezin’ rain
In the face of a hurricane west wind.
When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck sayin’.
Fellas, it’s too rough to feed ya.
At Seven P.M. a main hatchway caved in, he said
Fellas, it’s been good t’know ya
The captain wired in he had water comin’ in
And the good ship and crew was in peril.
And later that night when his lights went outta sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Does any one know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searches all say they’d have made Whitefish Bay
If they’d put fifteen more miles behind her.
They might have split up or they might have capsized;
May have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.
Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the rooms of her ice-water mansion.
Old Michigan steams like a young man’s dreams;
The islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her,
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the Gales of November remembered.
In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed,
In the Maritime Sailors’ Cathedral.
The church bell chimed till it rang twenty-nine times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call ‘Gitche Gumee’.
Superior, they said, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early!
========= by Gordon Lightfoot
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy.
With a load of iron ore - 26,000 tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty
That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early.
The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconson
As the big freighters go it was bigger than most
With a crew and the Captain well seasoned.
Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
And later that night when the ships bell rang
Could it be the North Wind they'd been feeling.
The wind in the wires made a tattletale sound
And a wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the Captain did, too,
T'was the witch of November come stealing.
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the gales of November came slashing
When afternoon came it was freezing rain
In the face of a hurricane West Wind.
When supper time came the old cook came on deck
Saying 'Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya''
At 7PM a main hatchway caved in
He said ''Fellas it's been good to know ya''.
The Captain wired in he had water coming in
And the good ship and crew was in peril
And later that night when his lights went out of sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the words turn the minutes to hours
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd put fifteen more miles behind her.
They might have split up, or they might have capsized
They might have broke deep and took water
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.
Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the ruins of her ice water mansion
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams,
The islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below, Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered.
In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed
In the Maritime Sailors' Cathedral
The church bell chimed, 'til it rang 29 times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
Superior, they say, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early.
==========
Nonetheless, FReegards!
Thank you for the link. Was a great slideshow along with a great tune.
You’re quite welcome. Nothing drives home the impact of a such a disaster quite like the “Before” photos — especially ones of the people involved. And that song is probably the best thing Lightfoot ever wrote.
Thanks!
It’s as haunting a song as has ever been written.+
I would really like to know WHERE EXACTLY on the Keweenaw Peninsula he found it. I was born there and lived there for about 6 years through various parts of my life. It is one gigantic welfare/envirofreakland. That is why I live in Oro Valley, Arizona...one of the richest towns in Arizona. Although I must say, up there in MI had the greatest 4-wheeler trails...they had miles upon miles of railroad bed, which had not seen a train since 1967, plus you could use shoreline of Lake Superior.
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy.
I did a double take, how could they quote the song before it came out and while the initial search was under way? It seems it was the other way around. Lightfoot was lightfingered as far as the lyrics.
The Freddie was the smallest boat I've been on, the Gott was the biggest. I did Electrical Commissiong on all ten Bay Ship 750 hulls in the 70-80's in Sturgeon Bay WI.
I saw a documentary, a year or two ago, on Nat’l Geographic or the History Channel, theorizing why she split in two. It was very interesting.
Mrs. RushLake, Amy RushLake, and I visited the Whitefish Point Lighthouse museum north of Paradise, Michigan last summer (again) and took the time to sit thru the taped presentation of the event featuring the survivors and the Lightfoot song in the background. It really grips you, hard.
Lightfoot had a lot of good tunes although Fitzgerald is certainly his most haunting. Canadian Railroad Trilogy is another great one about the opening up of the continent to the railway.....
There was a time in this fair land when the railroad did not run,
when the wild majestic mountains stood alone against the sun.
Long before the white man and long before the wheel,
then the green dark forest was too silent to be real.
But time has no beginnings and history has no bounds
as to this verdant country they came from all around.
They sailed upon her waterways and they walked the forests tall,
built the mines the mills and the factories for the good of us all.
And when the young man’s fancy was turning to the spring,
the railroad men grew restless for to hear the hammers ring.
Their minds were overflowing with the visions of their day
and many a fortune lost and won and many a debt to pay.
For they looked in the future and what did they see,
they saw an iron road running from the sea to the sea.
Bringing the goods to a young growing land, all up through the seaports and into their hands.
Look away said they across this mighty land, from the Eastern Shore to the western strand.
Bring in the workers and bring up the rails, we gotta lay down the tracks and tear up the trails.
Open her heart let the lifeblood flow, gotta get on our way ‘cause we’re moving too slow.
Bring in the workers and bring up the rails,
we’re gonna lay down the tracks and tear up the trails.
Open her heart let the lifeblood flow, gotta get on our way ‘cause we’re moving too slow.
Get on our way ‘cause we’re moving too slow.
Behind the blue Rockies the sun is declining the stars, they come stealing at the close of the day.
Across the wide prairie our loved ones lie sleeping beyond the dark oceans in a place far away.
We are the Navvies who work upon the railway, swinging our hammers in the bright blazing sun,
living on stew and drinking bad whiskey, bending our old backs ‘til the long days are done.
We are the Navvies who work upon the railway, swinging our hammers in the bright blazing sun.
Laying down track and building the bridges, bending our backs till the railroad is done.
So over the mountains and over the plains into the muskeg and into the rain,
up the St. Lawrence all the way to Gaspe, swinging our hammers and drawing our pay.
Driving ‘em in and tying ‘em down away to the bunkhouse and into the town.
A dollar a day and a place for my head, a drink to the living and a toast to the dead.
Oh, the song of the future has been sung, all the battles have been won,
o’er the mountain tops we stand, all the world at our command,
we have opened up the soil with our teardrops and our toil.
There was a time in this fair land when the railroad did not run,
when the wild majestic mountains stood alone against the sun.
Long before the white man and long before the wheel,
then the green dark forest was too silent to be real.
Then the green dark forest was too silent to be real.
And many are the dead men too silent to be real.
The article states that it was found near the Keweenaw Peninsula. That puts it somewhere east or west of the Portage Canal or anywhere between Marquette and Ontonogin excluding the Keweenaw.
That’s a great song! And a cool story too!
......The Freddie was the smallest boat.....
“Paddle to the Sea” was probably the smallest.
They are going back and reviewing reports of all sudden, unexplained ship sinking around the world...and there seems to be a high correlation to conditions that can generate these monster waves.
Hurricane-force gusts and waves coming from an unexpected angle likely contributed to the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, researchers say.
“During the late afternoon and early evening of Nov. 10, 1975, conditions deteriorated rapidly with winds in excess of 69 mph, hurricane-force gusts [over 74 mph] and waves more than 25 feet high,” said Thomas Hultquist, science and operations officer at the NOAA National Weather Service forecast office in Negaunee, Mich.
Waves travelled west-to-east, the new analysis shows. This could have created a hazardous rolling motion. The ship sank about 15 miles from Whitefish Bay, with all 29 crew members perishing. - Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
Stop it - sorry, but that’s one of my (countless) peeves. You are an expert on what moves you, and obviously Gordon did. Artists shouldn’t be writing for the critics or the artsy-fartsy crowd; a song like that was meant to move the masses of non-experts. It means a lot.
Bookmark
We have a friend who’s a Merchant Marine. He’s worked mostly in trans-Atlantic, trans-Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico. But this winter he did a stint on the Great Lakes. His words, “Never again.” He said in his 35 years of experience, it was the hardest duty he’d ever done.
I'm glad you posted that picture, I was thinking along the lines of a class ring or fraternity ring that you would have on your finger.........I've never heard the term "life ring" before.
I grew up on Lake Charlevoix and used to watch the smaller coal freighters sail up the lake from Charlevoix and dump coal at the local tannery in Boyne City. They'd also make a first stop at the power plant in Advance. This was back in the 50's
It was a very long ship and it was fully loaded. Speculation was that the large swells/waves lifted both ends without any support in the middle and the ship buckled in the center. Once it buckled water came rushing in rapidly and it sank very quickly.
Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours
Isn't two lines of great literature, then I don't care what is.
ELIANE: I love Edmund Fitzgerald’s voice.
We were just at the museum last week. Great place and worth the trip. Weirdly, I was just thinking a couple of days ago about finding a life ring from the Fitz.
I have great admiration for the men who brave the sea, whether it be our Navy or for commerce.
Awesome!
“Paddle to the Sea” was probably the smallest...
I totally agree!!! One of my kids’ favorite books (mine too!) and one that constantly came to mind while reading this thread!!!
MI shipwreck ping!
Thanks, leilani! The Fitzgerald was a bit before my time as a maritime lawyer, but I do remember walking along the Duluth Canal in 1993, watching the Laker traffic. I was admiring an inbound boat as it approached the Aerial Lift bridge, then noticed the name - Arthur M Anderson. Chills ran down my spine as recognition set in...
thanks.
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
Heh, I didn’t mean to be so cryptic, thought the Anderson had been mentioned upthread.
No movie that I know of - Bogart wasn’t available, and Affleck hadn’t been born yet. ;>)
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