By Nicole Gearhart
Beacon Correspondent
The Grand Island Shanty Club will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald with a Great Lakes-themed sing-along and invites the public to join the event.
The group will meet at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 5, at the East Channel Brewery Connection in Munising. The event will include a rendition of Gordon Lightfoot’s popular 1976 song, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”
Club co-founder Roxanne Steinhoff said the song is not part of the usual repertoire, but felt it would be a fitting way to honor the occasion.
“Because it’s the 50th anniversary, we wanted to do our own tribute to the lives lost in that wreck as well as other lives lost in the Great Lakes,” Steinhoff said.
The S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald was a large American freighter that sank in Lake Superior on Nov. 10, 1975, during a violent storm, claiming the lives of all 29 crew members. The Fitzgerald is the largest ship to have ever sunk on the Great Lakes, and the wreck has become a famous maritime disaster.
“It’s like our version of the Titanic,” Steinhoff said.
“It’s a gripping story that makes you think, and makes you realize the power of Lake Superior is just jaw-dropping,” group co-founder Rita Morris said. She said part of the group’s goal is to bring people together to honor maritime history.
“There’s just something about singing these historical songs that have lasted hundreds of years,” she said.
Morris said the uniqueness of the club is a big draw as well.
“Anybody can go to a bar,” Morris said. “But not anybody can go to a Shanty Club at a bar.”
She said they have had many people stumble upon their events and stay for the duration, with some participants hailing from as far away as Sri Lanka and Denmark.
“It doesn’t really matter who you are, or how experienced you are; everybody can connect,” Morris said. “The magnetic quality of Shanty Club that brings in people from all over is definitely my favorite part.”
Morris said she and Steinhoff decided to start the club after attending a meeting in Wellington, New Zealand, of what is now their “sister club,” the Pōneke Shanty Club.
“It was a beautiful community experience,” Morris said. “Kind of emotional, but also fun. Very inspiring.”
The Shanty Club’s website offers a Spotify playlist and songbook for anyone interested in joining in the fun.
“It makes it more accessible and gives people a foundation,” Morris said. The group also offers paper copies of the music at its meetings.
As the group nears its one-year anniversary in December, Steinhoff said organizers are looking forward to having similar themed meetups in the future.
“This will likely become a tradition for us now,” Steinhoff said. “It’s about having fun together and celebrating our community.”
The group meets at 7 p.m. on the first and third Wednesdays of each month at the East Channel Brewery. For details, and to find the group’s playlist and songbook, visit grandislandshantyclub.com or its Facebook page.