Winter Day in the Soo

The latest report from the Soo states that there is lots of snow. That's from my mother and father. My father is working hard to keep the driveway cleared and the Christmas decorations uncovered from the heavy snow.

I found an interesting picture of the Soo in the winter on-line today and you might find it interesting. The Soo in Winter. Enjoy

Sault Tribal Chairman Heading to Washington

Sault Tribal Chairman, Joe McCoy, has been invited to the White House by President Obama. He will be attending a Tribal Nations Conference today. There are 564 Federally recognized tribes in our country and the Sault tribe is the largest tribe east of the Mississippi River.

That is amazing to think our Sault Tribe is that large and now the Chairman is bringing the concerns of the Tribe, which seem to be mainly financial, to the attention of the President.

The Tribe is one of the largest private employers in the area as well with over 1700 employees. I'd like to read more about the effect of the Tribe and its operations on the economy of the Eastern Upper Peninsula.

Salmon Fishing that Rivals Alaska

I read an article on-line this morning detailing the glory of salmon fishing in the St. Marys River. Pink-chinook salmon says that salmon fishing near the Sault rivals fishing in Alaska.

Here is a description of river fishing from a guide. Even describing a new hybrid species called the pinooks.

Happy fishing to all of you. I'd love to hear your best 'fish story'.

"When pinks first showed up 30 here years ago, they ran every other year, like they do out west," said John Giuliani, a St. Marys River guide. "Now they run every year. One year there are huge numbers of them. The next there aren't as many, but they're bigger. This is a year for the smaller run, but they're just pouring in right now, and we're seeing a lot that go 4 to 6 pounds."

In the past week, anglers also have caught several fish that look like pink salmon but weighed 8 to 12 pounds. Fish that size almost certainly are pinooks, the hybrid that looks like a pink on steroids.

"They're amazing," Giuliani said. "They get their size from the chinook side, but they look just like a pink. We're really doing well on them on flies right now, mostly caddis larvae, and there's hardly anybody on the river. We're out here today and there are, what, two other anglers?"

Gershwin Program

Last night I spend a wonderful evening enjoying the music of George Gershwin at the Soo Theater in the Sault. The program was performed at the theater which is being renovated by community activists who are restoring the building to its former glory. It was built in 1930 as a vaudeville and silent movie venue. You can read about the project and also the many events held there at Soo Theater Project.

The entire show was well-done with high quality performances by some local singers who were joined by some very strong voices with Soo connections. The program was written by Mike Dempsey who grew up here. His skill on the piano was the highlight of the evening for me.

Freighter's Restaurant

Yesterday we took our family which includes my parents and our son, his wife and four grandchildren, to Freighter's Restaurant which is on Portage Avenue right across from the Locks. It is in the Ojibway Motel which is also the Ramada.

The view from the restaurant is beautiful and we could see boats entering and leaving the Locks.

This summer Freighter's has breakfast specials. There was a choice of french toast, pancakes or 2 eggs with either eggs, bacon or sausage to accompany it. It also included some fresh fruit. It was plenty of food and a great bargain for only $2.99. I recommend it for a relaxing, delicious breakfast.






The dining room was not crowded and our waitress encouraged us to sit and relax as long as we wanted.

New Grocery Stores in Sault

This summer has seen the upgrades of two Sault stores that offer groceries. Walmart closed their one store to open a Super Walmart that is open 24/7. They have been so busy that I haven't wanted to shop there. I did once and found it overwhelming.

Another pleasant surprise was the upgraded Soo SuperValu located on the corner of Easterday and Ashmun. That site has a great tradition of grocery shopping. It is the location of the Soo A & P which dominated Soo shopping for decades.

We shopped SuperValu tonight and found it clean, well-laid out and with very helpful staff. They had many special deals including watermelon for $2.99. We are getting ready for an invasion of grandkids for the week and got stocked up. I definitely will be returning there for their weekly specials. You can click here for their Weekly Ad. I'll add specials as I find out about them.

What's your favorite place for groceries in the Sault?

New Walmart Opens Today

Sault Ste. Marie will host the ribbon cutting of a brand new Walmart Supercenter this morning. The store is located on the I-75 Business Loop and can also be entered off of 3 Mile Road. The new store is much larger than the previous store and will be open 24 hours a day.

I remember when the F. W. Woolworths opened their new store around 1964 in Sault Ste. Marie. I was one of the first customers after the ribbon cutting. My grandmother worked at the store as the cook and I was very excited about the new store. Several years later, I began working at the Woolworth's lunch counter as a waitress. I worked there for 2 summers. Never had a day as a waitress that I liked. But it did teach me that I had better pursue another career.

Dancing Crane Coffee House

I discovered a real jewel of a coffee house today while visiting Bay Mills which is west of the Soo. The Dancing Crane Coffee House is on Lakeshore Drive and is really worth the drive.

Dancing Crane has bagels, muffins and rolls as well as many games to encourage you to sit and enjoy. There are interesting articles for sale which makes it a comfortable spot to sit and sip.

There is a place for live music and some is scheduled in August. However, anyone is welcome to pick up an instrument and share their talents.

Cathy, whose husband cut the logs and build the coffee house, owns the Dancing Crane. She has a wide selection of fair trade and organic coffees and teas that she hand-picked for their taste. This means you will have a great cup of coffee no matter what flavor you order. And get this-a cup of brewed coffee is only $1.
The drive-up window offers convenience and even some good-natured kidding from the customers.
I'll definitely be returning to the Dancing Crane to try a latte and browse the assortment of things for sale.

Important Day is Sault History Passes Without Notice

Yesterday was an important day in the history of Sault Ste. Marie and I didn't hear anything about it all day. June 18 is the anniversary of the opening of the Soo Locks in 1855. I read the following piece this morning.

Today in Michigan history:

1855 - The Soo Locks open. The steamship Illinois became the first ship to pass through the Soo Locks, connecting Lakes Huron and Superior via the St. Mary's River at Sault Ste. Marie. Laborers worked two years building two 350-foot locks, arranged in tandem to overcome the rapids caused by the twenty-one-foot difference between the lakes. The state of Michigan operated the locks until 1881 when they were transferred to the control of the federal government. Today, the locks remain one of the world's busiest navigation routes. Via Michigan History Magazine

So it has been 154 years since the opening of the Soo Locks.

What are we going to do to celebrate?

Summer in the Soo

Today was the perfect summer day. The temperature was in the mid to high 70's with a soft breeze off the St. Marys River. The shipping traffic was moderate. I saw 9 boats pass out front. Between 11 and 1, I saw three 1,000 footers. This will help make up for the slow traffic the last week days.

The Soo is gearing up for summer. I'd like to hear what activities you enjoy here.

Next week is the Annual Engineer's Day at the Locks. This is the day when the Locks are open to the public and it draws a great deal of attention as it should.

Please send me your ideas for summer activities here. Comment on this blog or send me an email. Thanks for your help,
Brenda
saultboatwatcher@gmail.com

Whitefish

The whitefish in the Sault area is unparalled. If you have tried whitefish down state, it doesn't compare-even if the restaurant advertised it as 'fresh'. The whitefish is really fresh here.

We usually get our first whitefish meal of the year at Lockview in the Sault. But this year we stopped in Mackinaw City at Darrow's and I had a whitefish sandwich that was delicious.

What is your favorite spot for whitefish in the Eastern Upper Peninsula? Send me you favorites at saultboatwatcher@gmail.com.

Thanks

Famous People from Sault Ste. Marie

I came across a startling story last night. The news source was talking about possible candidates for nomination to the United States Supreme Court. Jennifer Granholm was the first mentioned (it was from a Michigan newspaper) but also listed was Kathleen Sullivan. It stated Ms. Sullivan was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

Kathleen Sullivan is currently professor of law and former dean at Stanford Law School.

She was born in Sault Ste. Marie in 1955. I have not been able to track down any further information on her early years.

Do any of you have any memory of Ms. Sullivan or her family living in SSM?

I'll keep you updated on what I hear. I emailed Ms. Sullivan last night and asked a few questions. She is probably a little busy right now.

Sault Tea Party

Yesterday, April 15, tea parties were held all across the United States to bring light to the discontent that abounds concerning the direction the country is moving. The Sault was not left out of this party-time. I found this picture on Facebook of many Saulties dumping their tea into the Power Canal off the Ashmun Street bridge. I looks like a fun time to me.

What really impresses me is that there is no snow and not a cloud in the sky. It appears that spring has arrived in Sault Ste. Marie.

Lake Monster

Now that is not a photograph that I took but rather I got it off the Monster Quest file. But I watched Monster Quest tonight and saw an episode about a lake monster in western Canada. The story of the Ogopogo monster was eerily similar to a sighting my sister had in Lake Superior at Birch Point several years ago. I'm going to talk to her about it again and get all the details. I will share what I learn with my readers.

Have any of you had sightings of anything unusual like this in the Great Lakes or adjoining waters? I'd love to hear you stories. I know there are Native American legends that talk about these kinds of animals. I would appreciate any sharing you can do. Thanks, Brenda

7 Best Spots for Boat Watching around the Soo

Sault Ste. Marie has to be the best spot in Michigan for boat watching because it offers such a variety of places to watch from and most of them are never crowded or busy. Here is a list of my top 5 favorites.






1. My cabin-we're located between Six and Seven Mile Road. Although the St. Marys River is wide at this spot, we still get a good view. If we want a picture of a boat, we must take our wave runners out to get close. This is a little dicey because you are doing two things at once-hanging on the wave runner and also operating the camera. My worst experience at this was when one of the tall ships passed by. Tom drove me out there for pictures and I took many. Even got close enough for the crew to wave. Once we got back to shore, I found I had the lens cap on for the whole time. Not fun. I never told Tom what I had done!



2. Sugar Island Ferry Dock-The ships slow down for the turn in the river plus the river is narrow at this point. There are great parking spots plus Clyde's Drive-in which is located here has the best hamburgers in town.


3. 4 Mile Park-at the end of 4 Mile, there is a small public park where the ships come very close. In fact, if you are swimming there, you must get out of the water when the ships pass because of the current and wave created that will pull you out to deep water.




4. West Pier-the west end of the Locks used to offer a great boat watching spot before the condos were built there. It is still a good spot plus there is West Pier Drive-In with great burgers. Some people think the best in town but I have another favorite. See #2 above.



5. Soo Locks Boat Tour-I took the above picture while on the Soo Locks Boat Tour. You get up close and personal on the tour. I like to take the tour once a summer. We usually wait for friends to come visit from out of town.





6. The Locks-This is where you will get the closest to the boats and you can even chat with the crew while they lock through. We always take guests there plus we often go just to walk through the park. The Visitor's Center is a must see for guests too.





7. The Rock Cut/Neebish Island area-This location just south of the Soo has a good eating spot as well as a close up look at boats.

Now I want to hear from you. What do you think is the best boat watching spot in the Sault? I'd like to learn a few new ones for this summer.

Spring Break

This picture is from our arrival at The Cabin last June. We're looking forward to the day this year when our cabin life begins.

As I sit here today, drinking my morning coffee, I'm watching the snow flakes fall gently to the ground. Thankfully the snow is melting on the green grass. This would be a pretty picture if it was December but not April.

This reminds me of our first spring that we owned the cabin. It was 2000 and we arrived there the first week of April. We were very excited to have our cabin to get away and relax for the whole week. Things didn't go like that. First, there was still lots of snow there. We had to shovel to get in the driveway and then shovel the snow away from the door to allow us to open it.

Things went from bad to worse when we went to light the furnace. Our fuel oil space heater was full of soot and we had the 'bright' idea to use the shop vac to clean it out. Our plan was working well. We were both focused on looking into the opening into the fire space. I happened to turn around and saw the room was hazy. Further investigation-the soot was leaving the furnace and being propelled into the air through the vac. Our entire cabin became covered with a thin layer of greasy, dirty soot.

This required professional help and we had to have the whole cabin cleaned. Everything-curtains, furniture, walls, ceiling and floors. Our entire week was spend coordinating workers in and out to get the cleaning done.

I think that may have been the year we burnt out the heating element in the water heater by connecting the power before it was filled with water but that may have happened the next year. Those memories blur in my mind for good reason.

We are now pros at opening The Cabin but those memories hang close and we always do the opening in a step by step fashion. Oh, also we never vacuum out the furnace either without venting it outdoors.

High Wages in the Soo? In 1909-Yes!

Did you know there was a time when the average worker's wage of a Soo was the second highest in Michigan? It was exceeded only by the wages paid in Marquette. I found the following piece in the Battle Creek Enquirer. The section was telling what happened on today's date in past years.

100 Years Ago Today, 1909:

The profound fallacy of many of the ridiculous charges made against industrial conditions in Battle Creek by a few disgruntled parties here and elsewhere is apparent in a list of statistics received this morning from the state labor bureau. The average daily wage paid in Battle Creek is the highest of any manufacturing city in Michigan and the third largest in the state. The average wage paid in Battle Creek is $2.34. It is exceeded only by Marquette and Sault Ste. Marie, both of which are smaller and one of which is a mining town. In Marquette the rate is $2.41 and in the Sault $2.35.

Annual Burning of the Snowman

Friday marked the first day of spring and because of that LSSU held their 39th annual burning of the snowman. This event marks the end of winter with a hopeful coming of spring. The Upper Peninsula doesn't look very spring-like right now but Yooper Yarns caught some beautiful pics on Friday outside her place near Newberry.

Once spring comes the snow disappears very quickly. I've always found that early spring seems to be the time of year when there is the most difference in weather between the UP and the rest of the state. We are very spring-like here in Caledonia. People are working hard in their yards, the early spring bulbs are emerging and the wind has a warmth to it we haven't felt in many months.

Wednesday is the opening of the Locks and the shipping season. That is the real sign of spring to me. Anyone know what ship may be the first to lock through this year? I don't know but would appreciate hearing from readers who may go to the Soo for the big day or have a source to know about what ships are out there. Thanks, Brenda

Chippew County Courthouse

The Chippewa County Courthouse is one of the most outstanding buildings in the Sault. I came across this blog written about the building. A great site-Michigan Exposures.

Outhouse Races

I was in the Sault on Saturday but wasn't able to attend the outhouse races on Portage Avenue. I found this story at SooToday and it looks like it was a fun event. A great way to welcome the coming spring.

Winter is Still in the Soo

I spent this past weekend in the Sault visiting my parents and celebrating my mother's 79th birthday. I took these pictures to show you how much snow there still is there. The first picture was taken as we crossed the Mackinac Bridge where there is a crack in the ice but it has a long way to go before the opening of the shipping season on March 26th. It was a beautiful day Saturday with a blue sky and the snow is still very white.

Jane Johnston Schoolcraft

I have been working all winter on a children's book about Jane Johnston Schoolcraft who was from Sault Ste. Marie. She lived in the early 1800's and was quite a remarkable person. She was recently installed in the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame.

My question-are there others out there with an interest in Michigan history specifically of Sault Ste. Marie. I would love to hear from you and if you know of any interesting events coming up in the next year concerning Sault history.

Progress toward a new lock

News Flash from TV 9 & 10 web site.

NEW BILL COULD BRING FEDERAL DOLLARS TO THE SOO LOCKS

This week, the Senate is expected to consider a bill that could bring some
federal dollars to the Soo Locks. The House of Representatives approved
$17-million to go toward building a new lock in Sault Saint Marie. With
the money, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can begin to build the Coffer
Dams necessary to prevent water flow into the aging Sabin and Davis Locks.
The new lock will replace them.

Birding in the Upper Peninsula

I found a blog this morning with an absolutely amazing story of birding in the Eastern Upper Peninsula. Unfortunately the pictures wouldn't copy and paste. It would be worth your time to look at the blog. The last line of the blog is great-Before I knew it, we had to start heading home from an awesome weekend of boreal birding. If you haven't been up to the upper peninsula yet, I highly recommend it.

http://nomadicbirder.blogspot.com/

UP Birding
Saturday morning, Ben Warner, Andy Newman, Heather Raymond and I ventured out of our motel in Sault Ste. Marie to begin a fantastic weekend in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. After cruising some back roads we eventually arrived at the Dunbar Forest feeders which hosted hundreds, maybe thousands of redpolls and siskins. After a few minutes of scanning we eventually found this Hoary Redpoll resting above the feeders.

There are two subspecies of Hoary Redpoll and there is no doubt this is the Greenland form, C. h. hornemanni.

They breed in the very high arctic of Greenland and Canada and differ from C. h. exilpes by being extremely pale.

When we were done scanning through the hoards of redpolls, siskins and Pine Grosbeaks we headed to Pickford to find one of the Northern Hawk-Owls that have been present. It didn’t take long until we found one along M-48 in someone’s front yard.

I wonder if the home owners have any idea just how lucky they are to have a Northern Hawk-Owl hanging around their yard.

After loads of pictures, we headed west to Hulbert Bog to look for Gray Jays and Boreal Chickadees. Among the dozen or so Black-capped Chickadees that came into our pishing, a single Boreal Chickadee came in briefly and vanished just as fast. No Gray Jays were found but constant flocks of White-winged Crossbills and a single Red Crossbill entertained us instead.

We headed back east to Rudyard where a few Snowy Owls have been present for most of the winter. Luck was still with us as we watched three Snowy’s from one spot including this one.

The rest of day was spent driving around adding a few more trip birds such as Northern Shrike and Merlin among others. At 5:30pm we drove to Hay Lake Road where a Great Gray Owl was recently discovered. Through moderate snow, Ben spotted the owl off in the distance just before it flew towards the road. Here is Ben’s shot of ‘the ghost’.

Sunday was spent birding the feeders at Dunbar Forest again. Besides two more Hoary Redpolls of the C. h. exilpes form we had this leucistic Pine Siskin:

Before I knew it, we had to start heading home from an awesome weekend of boreal birding. If you haven't been up to the upper peninsula yet, I highly recommend it.

Bird Watching Near the Sault Ste. Marie

I read the following information in the Gennessee Audobon Newsletter. Have any of you seen snowy owls this winter in Chippewa County?

Currently, there are between 5 & 10 different Snowy Owls and 2 different Northern Hawk Owls which are being seen regularly south of the Soo. There have also been irregular reports of one or two Great Grey Owls, and even one brief report of a Boreal Owl near someone's feeder one day. A Gyrfalcon has been reported a couple times south of the city as well. Northern Shrikes appear to be in a number of locations. Rough-legged Hawks appear to be in lower numbers than usual, however. Redpolls are in good numbers, but most of the other winter finches are in average or below average numbers. Several different Glaucous and Iceland Gulls have been reported at the Dafter Dump, though this (like everything else) could change. It might be worth our while to try birding over to Whitefish Point, or even Grand Marais (Bohemian Waxwings).

Please report any interesting bird sightings.

Out of Work in Michigan

Here is an interesting blog from NPR with a Sault connection, Out of Work in Michigan.

It details a meeting held in the Sault to begin a series of people who are losing their jobs. I've been watching the news here in Arizona and the job situation isn't good. NBC calls it 'Pink Slip Blues' as the world economy continues to slide.

It's Cold in the Soo

I took this photo last week at my parent's house in the Soo.

I just talked to my mom who wouldn't leave the Soo in the winter for anything. It is -10 degrees right now.

I'm sitting in Phoenix, Arizona watching the sun come up over the mountains and the high temperature today will be in the high 70's.

It is all in what you like. I feel that I have the best of both worlds. In May I will be back on our St. Marys River home watching the sun come up over Sugar Island and loving that.

I took this photo at the Phoenix Zoo last year but it gives you an idea what the blue sky looks like.

Until then, I love the warm weather so I can get outside to exercise. But there is plenty of opportunity for that in the Sault too.

Let me know what you are doing to get through the winter months.

Picture Story from the Soo this week

My husband and I were in the Soo this past week for my grandmother's funeral. Here are a few pictures that I took. You can see there is lots of snow but everything looks beautiful.