I'm from Silver Bay, MN. The Fitz took on a load of taconite here, then finished loading in Superior, WI. Nolan Church was from Silver Bay...he was a porter. My 9 yo son has autism and a.d.h.d. He loves the song, and has read several books on the Fitz. Two years ago, on Nov. 5, a woman in town woke up feeling like something was going to happen that day...along came my son delivering the popcorn she'd ordered from him. He noticed a poem she had on the wall of her kitchen about the Fitz. He read it and sang Gordon's song. Then he told her all about the sinking..."Nolan Church, he was a porter...he was from Silver Bay here." The woman stared at my son in awe...she asked, "Ben, do you know who Nolan Church was?" "Yea, he was a porter. He was from Silver Bay, here." "Ben, Nolan Church was my dad." The woman gave my son a bulletin from the memorial service they'd held for the crew of the Fitz., and a copy of the National Geographic that had the pictures of the sunken Fitz. in it. On Nov. 10, after attending the ceremony for the crew at the Split Rock Lighthouse, Ben had a present for her...a replica of the Fitz. he'd made out of recyclables for a school project. That November 10, the weather was identical to the night the Fitz. went down...with one exception...all ships had been ordered back to port.
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