NEEBISH ISLAND, MI – A change is coming to the Neebish Island Ferry schedule Monday, May 18, and residents on the island, along with the ferry crew, are very excited. This has been a story SooLeader has been following since October 2023 after ferry runs to and from Neebish Island in the St. Marys River were drastically cut by the Eastern Upper Peninsula Transportation Authority due to United States Coast Guard regulations and a skeleton crew. Unless there was an emergency run, the ferry did not run in the late evening and overnight hours, preventing island residents from participating in evening activities or events on the mainland. Island residents and visitors were very vocal about the limited schedule. However, EUPTA worked on a schedule with Capt. Lon Calloway that adds more crossings, including weekends, longer runs into the evenings and an extra crew.
Calloway said it’s a win-win for everybody. “In the last year, Pete Paramski (EUPTA director) and I have been working really hard trying to come up with an ‘outside the box’ schedule, and we came up with a kind of a hybrid schedule where we have two crews now working every day in increased crossings all week. For us to be able to go forward and offer the schedule, we couldn’t be happier that we’re able to provide this extended service to our Neebish Island family. With this new schedule, we got it all. And everything I have heard from
Neebish Islander II.
the Islanders, they couldn’t be happier. I think they are going to be overjoyed with this schedule. We are happy that it came out like this,” Calloway said.
Phylis Reed, president of the Neebish Island Improvement Association, could not be happier “Because of the expanded schedule, we now have accessibility to our community, whether it be in school attendance supporting educational programming, furthering education, cultural events, mobility to connecting transportation systems like the airport, employment and medical treatments, or attendance at family celebrations and sporting events. We are greatly appreciative of this new schedule and the collaborative efforts that brought it about. With this increased accessibility, we look forward to enriching the lives of Neebish Island residents and the sustainability of the island itself,” Reed stated.
There needs to be a lot of shout-outs to all those who made it happen. “EUPTA was able to move some things around and with the way the schedule was gonna work out, it all came together. We’d like to thank the Islanders, thank you to Pete, a special thank you Sen. John Damoose who was bringing both sides together on this. We are just happy that it did come out like this,” Calloway continued
Calloway is concerned about the shortage of mariners, and not just on the local scene.
“This has been long and agonizing for everybody. For us trying to move forward, the biggest problem we had was staffing issues. For the last couple years there’s been a nationwide shortage of licensed mariners, big companies, all restricting schedules and canceling runs because of the shortage of licensed mariners that we also felt very strongly here,” Calloway explained.
Soo Leader – Jim Lehocky
