My wife and I just returned from the November 10 ceremony at Split Rock Lighthouse, about 50 miles north of Duluth, MN. Every November 10, they have a ceremony and fire up the old lighthouse to show how the lighthouse once warned mariners of the craggy shoreline.
This year was special with the 30th anniversary of the Edmund Fitzgerald. There were probably over 500 people around for the ceremony. The names of the 29 men from the Fitzgerald were read and a bell tolled in their honor. It was a beautiful evening with hardly any wind, a bright moon in the east and the planet Mars flaming red right over the lake. What a sight.
The Minnesota Historical Society allowed people to go up into the lighthouse as it slowly turned to learn more about the history of shipping over the past 100 years. They said November 2005 is also the 100 year anniversary of severe storms in 1905 that prompted the building of the Lighthouse in 1909.
The light was lit for only about 3 hours and is the only day of the year they do so. The lighthouse has long since been made obsolete with GPS and satellite technology but Split Rock is a link to the Fitzgerald as she regularly hauled taconite iron ore from nearby Two Harbors, MN to the steel mills of the east. Undoubtedly, the Fitz was guided by this lighthouse many times.
Anyone listening to WCCO-radio 830AM in the Minneapolis/St.Paul on Sunday morning Nov. 13 between 6:30 and 7:00 a.m. (CDT) will hear the morning announcers play clips from the song and tell the audience a little about the story of the sinking of the Fitzgerald. I think their website is
www.wccoradio.com and you can listen to it over the internet on radio streaming. I know the announcer, and he will also be mentioning Gordon's upcoming birthday.
John/North Branch, MN