Ludington celebrates 70 Years of SS Badger
LUDINGTON, MI – Ludington’s Maritime Heritage Park was filled with Ludington residents and tourists on Saturday to celebrate the Badger’s 70th birthday. The Badger Birthday Bash included face painting, live music, yard games, and cake to honor the ship’s 70 years of service.
Guests brought their own lawn chairs and enjoyed the performance by local band Road Less Traveled, who even took song requests from the audience. Band members Daniel Mahynski, Mike Lenich, Carleen Shinn, and Deb Chase performed in the park’s pavilion, which was decorated with balloons and banners for the occasion.
Face painting for the celebration was done by Rachael Reed, who works as a bartender on the Badger. Reed expressed gratitude to the organizers for asking her to do the event, despite being fairly new to the art form. Her first time face painting was as recent as last month’s Memorial Day, she explained, calling it her “hidden talent.”
Her skills proved to be in demand as a line of children and adults alike, eager to get a portrait of the Badger painted on their cheeks, gathered at her table throughout the evening.
“People enjoy getting out and seeing other people… Especially when the weather turns nice,” said attendee Dave Bowden, whose daughter and grandchildren came up from Ohio for the Badger Birthday Bash and other festivities.
Ludington’s 150th Anniversary coincided with the Badger’s birthday, making the party one of many events that kicked off the summer season in Ludington this weekend.
The celebration also doubled as a fundraiser for the Lakeshore Child Advocacy Center, which was accepting donations of water, fidget toys, toiletries, and more. Guests who brought donations were entered into a drawing to win round trip tickets on the Badger.
“Their goals are to provide hope, healing, and justice for survivors of abuse,” said former Mason County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Spaniola in a speech on behalf of the advocacy center. The resources collected from the event will go directly to helping children in the community who have been victims of abuse.
The gathering to celebrate the Badger, which has been a beloved pillar of the community for 70 years, brought together many tourists and locals to admire the ship’s considerable history and support the Lakeshore Child Advocacy Center.
Steve Broc, a returning visitor to Ludington, stated, “(It’s) worthy of a big celebration. Ludington’s doing it right, as usual.”
View another video here: https://www.9and10news.com/video/2023/06/11/ss-badger-celebrates-70-years-with-birthday-bash-in-ludington/
Lighthouse tours resuming in Muskegon as city pursues taking over
MUSKEGON, MI – Tours of one of Muskegon’s two Lake Michigan lighthouses will be offered this summer as the city works toward ownership of the historic structures.
The South Pierhead Lighthouse, located near the U.S. Coast Guard station at Pere Marquette Park, is open for tours from 1-5 p.m. Fridays through Mondays.
The lighthouses are owned by the Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy, which is struggling to properly care for them. The conservancy asked the city to take over the lighthouses, which city commissioners agreed to last month. However, ownership transfer is expected to take some time.
The South Pierhead Lighthouse located on the Muskegon Channel has been the focus of significant repair efforts in recent years, including restoration of its lantern room. The 91-year-old South Breakwater Lighthouse, located at the edge of Lake Michigan on the end of the breakwater, is in need of significant repairs. It has been awarded $800,000 in state funding to pay for some of them, and the city is the fiduciary for that grant.
Tickets are available at the chalet just west of the Coast Guard station. The cost is $5 for adults and $3 for students and military veterans
Buttigieg: ‘It’s about time’ federal funds approved for Port of Green Bay expansion
GREEN BAY, WI – The Port of Green Bay is on the verge of starting work on its first new shipping terminal in more than 100 years thanks to federal dollars U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday said was long overdue.
“It’s about time. This city and this region is so key to Midwest commerce. It’s so well-positioned because of its infrastructure,” Buttigieg said, noting interstate highways, rail lines and the port’s connection into the global shipping network.
Buttigieg and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin took a boat tour of the former Pulliam Power Plant site as part of an effort to highlight the $10.1 million Port Infrastructure Development Program grant Baldwin helped secure for the port expansion effort.
“We really felt every inch of the bay just now, but really also saw the vision and the commitment,” Buttigieg said. “You’ve got a lot to be proud of. It’s a competitive program. It’s not a small thing for you and your team to have earned this (grant).”
The port expansion project would convert the former power plant site into a multifunction port terminal, a facility where ships can load and unload cargo. The county also plans to sell some of the Pulliam site to GLC Minerals for it to expand and add more jobs. The expansion project could increase the port’s economic activity by $87 million in the first five years after it is completed. It also captured a lot of community attention because it could help Green Bay and Brown County relocate the coal piles site out of the central city, a decades-old dream.
The $10.1 million federal grant is one key piece of the puzzle which port, county and city officials have had to put together to expand the port and find a possible new home for the coal piles. Here’s a look at what’s involved, how much it’ll cost, where the coal piles fit in and what’s yet to be determined.
