Coast Guard Auxiliary Reports
By Carolyn Brown Treadon
The members of Flotilla 12 wish all of you a very special holiday season! In the spirit of the holidays, we wanted to share with you again the story about how the Coast Guard helps bring the Christmas Spirit to Chicago every year. This year, the Cutter Mackinaw delivered the trees on 27 November to Navy Pier.
As the story is told, Herman Schuenemann was the captain of the original Christmas Ship. He came to Chicago from Michigan for more than 30 years with fresh evergreens and wreaths for the holiday season during the late 1800s and early 1900s. On Nov. 23, 1912, Captain Schuenemann was at the helm of the fabled Christmas Ship, the Rouse Simmons. On that day while transiting from Michigan, Captain Schuenemann and the Rouse Simmons was lost in a storm and sank with a crew of 16 between Kewaunee and Two Rivers, Wisconsin.
As was reported by the Chicage Sun Times, “In the spirit of the tradition, This year, the Mackinaw brought about 1,200 pine trees, which are given to needy families. The drop-off in early December capped a five-day mission that started in Cheboygan, Michigan, on Lake Huro. In charge was Capt. Kristen Serumgard, the first woman to command the Mackinaw. The 240-foot icebreaker and its 55-person crew left Cheboygan on Nov. 30, arriving in Chicago on Dec. 2.” Once arrived, many community organizations, including the Auxiliary, work to offload the trees and deliver them to needy families throughout Chicago and the surrounding areas. In years past, the trees have been donated by the Chicago Christmas Ship Committee.
The annual event, held at Navy Pier, continues the legacy of the Captain Schuenemann and the Rouse Simmons, as it had become a part of their family tradition to purchase their trees from the schooner. The Mackinaw opens for tours following the unloading of the trees. This year, the ship arrived at Navy Pier on 1 December, with 1,200 trees that were donated to families in need.
The wreck was found in 1971, sitting upright on the bottom roughly nine miles off Two Rivers. In 2009, the crew of the Mackinaw held a solemn tribute and dropped a wreath into the waters near the resting place of the Rouse Simmons.
In addition to search-and-rescue and maritime law enforcement operations, the annual charitable activity takes place in conjunction with a scheduled aids-to-navigation mission in the southern region of Lake Michigan to remove buoys for winter maintenance and replacement with “winter marks” to protect them from ice damage. Additionally, regular underway crew training and drills are conducted in preparation for the ship’s primary winter mission of ice-breaking to keep commerce moving through the Great Lakes.
Thanks to Sherrie, we will always remember safe boating is no accident!!
Please contact us to get your own “If Lost Please Contact” sticker(s) or for more information about our safe boating classes or learning more about getting involved in the Auxiliary, check out our website at www.uscgaux.net follow us on FaceBook @ Apalachee Bay Flotilla 12 or contact our Flotilla Commander Phil Hill at pnkkhill2000@yahoo.com
If you would like to learn more about vessel safety checks, please contact Steve Hults, Staff Officer for Vessel Examinations at steve.hults@uscgaux.net.
The Coast Guard Auxiliary is the uniformed civilian volunteer component of the U.S. Coast Guard and supports the Coast Guard in nearly all mission areas. The Auxiliary was created by Congress in 1939. For more information, please visit www.cgaux.org.