Detroit, MI
Edmund Fitzgerald life ring to be auctioned in Detroit this month
A life ring from the Edmund Fitzgerald, the famous Great Lakes freighter that was shipwrecked 50 years ago, will be auctioned in Detroit this month.
The orange life ring washed onto the Lake Superior shore after the Fitzgerald sank off the coast of Whitefish Bay on Nov. 10, 1975.
Larry Orr, who was 27 at the time, found it leaning against a tree alongside a plank from one of the Fitzgerald’s lifeboats, according to DuMouchelles, the auction house coordinating the sale. Both the life ring and plank likely came from one of the Fitzgerald’s lifeboats.
Orr took the ring and plank. Ten years later, he loaned them to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum in the Upper Peninsula’s Chippewa County. He decided this year to sell the ring, DuMouchelles President Joe Walker said.
Walker said the life ring is unlike anything the auction house has sold before. It’s an artifact from arguably one of the most famous shipwrecks in the world and the most famous to take place on the Great Lakes. He said he hopes it is purchased by a museum.
“It’s just a piece of Great Lakes history,” he said.
The life ring has a history of its own. It was featured in a lawsuit Orr filed against the state in which he accused a state police officer of violating his rights during a sexual assault investigation, the Associated Press reported last month. The state had initially asked for the life ring as part of a settlement deal in which the state would give Orr $600,000. After the AP called MSP spokeswoman Shanon Banner, the life ring was removed from the deal.
The unusual almost-arrangement shows the resiliency of the Edmund Fitzgerald’s legacy in Michigan.
The ship was built at Great Lakes Engineering Works at a shipyard on the border of Ecorse and River Rouge. Thousands of people crowded around the dock to watch it launch into the Detroit River in 1958. At the time, it was the largest freighter on the lakes. It remained a notable ship until its famous end in Lake Superior.
Other artifacts from the Edmund Fitzgerald are scattered across the Great Lakes. One of the ship’s anchors, which it lost in the Detroit River before it wrecked, is outside the Detroit Historical Society’s Dossin Great Lakes Museum on Detroit’s Belle Isle park. A life raft and oars are on display at the National Museum of the Great Lakes in Toledo.
Selling an artifact from the Fitzgerald is a rare and emotional process, Walker said. DuMouchelles is on East Jefferson Avenue near Mariners Church, so Walker grew up listening to the bells toll each November to honor the 29 men who died on the Fitzgerald and the thousands of other mariners who have died on the Great Lakes.
DuMouchelle’s wouldn’t have auctioned the ring if it had been removed from the wreck site, Walker said, but the ring was legally acquired and Orr is selling out of financial necessity.
“It’s a mixed bag for us, emotionally, to be honest with you,” Walker said. “A lot of what we do is (for) people experiencing emotional, physical, economic hardship, right? And this is one of those cases.”
The life ring will be on display for public viewing at DuMouchelles on East Jefferson Avenue on Dec. 12, 13, 16 and 17. The auction is scheduled for Dec. 19. The starting bid is $11,250.
ckthompson@detroitnews.com
DETROIT, MICH (WXYZ) — In partnership with The ALS Association, downtown Detroit parks will shine red May 10–16 in recognition of ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) Awareness month.
A special kickoff event will take place from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 10, in Campus Martius Park. The event will allow families impacted by ALS to connect, learn about upcoming initiatives, and take part in a meaningful “END ALS” photo moment under the illuminated park lights.
You can reserve you spot by visiting:
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=JlhGrOr9-kWQmmR_rZc61S9MfqDjPeBKvKV5YBqkMypUQThNMEs5TVpLRUY5R1FLV0o1WFExN1U4Uy4u
Detroit Tigers blow lead, lose to Kansas City Royals on walk-off hit.
The Tigers lost, 4-3, to the Royals on Kyle Isbel’s walk-off single in the ninth inning.
Kansas City, Mo. — The losing streak is now five games. The road record is now an MLB-worst 6-16.
The Kansas City Royals prolonged the Tigers’ misery Saturday night with a relatively breezy 5-1 win at Kauffman Stadium.
Oh, and the Tigers might’ve lost another player in the process.
Right fielder Kerry Carpenter left the game in the third inning. He banged his left shoulder running into the side wall chasing Bobby Witt Jr.’s first-inning, two-run, inside-the-park home run.
Witt, a right-handed hitter, sliced a drive inside the bag at first. Carpenter chased it toward the side wall, but the ball caromed past him. Witt never stopped running.
Carpenter stayed in the game and even rolled an infield single in the second inning. But he was replaced by Wenceel Perez when the Royals came to bat in the third inning.
BOX SCORE: Royals 5, Tigers 1
He was being evaluated during the game.
The two-run homer by Witt ended up being more than the Tigers’ sputtering offense could overcome. But, for good measure, Michael Massey added a three-run home run off Ty Madden in the fourth inning.
Madden ended up being one of the few bright spots in the game for the Tigers. He pitched six innings and allowed just one other hit. He set down the last 11 hitters he faced.
He entered in the third inning after opener Burch Smith and lefty Tyler Holton worked one time through the Royals’ batting order.
Holton made a nifty escape in the first inning. With runners at second and third and one out, and two runs already in, Jac Caglianone hit a hard ground ball to second baseman Zach McKinstry, who was playing in on the grass.
McKinstry got the out at first. The runner at second, Carter Jensen, mistakenly broke for third where Vinnie Pasquantino was holding.
Spencer Torkelson threw to shortstop Kevin McGonigle who threw to catcher Jake Rogers once Pasquantino broke for home — your basic 4-3-6-2 double-play.
Not much else went the Tigers’ way.
Royals right-hander Michael Wacha snuffed out the few scoring opportunities the Tigers mustered.
He worked around an error and a McKinstry stolen base in the third innings. He got Jake Rogers to pop to shallow right field with runners at first and third and one out and then got Matt Vierling to ground out with the bases loaded in the fifth.
Wacha allowed two hits in seven innings. The Tigers put 18 balls in play against him with a soft average exit velocity of 84.4 mph.
The Tigers broke through in the eighth against lefty reliever Matt Strahm. And it was left-handed hitters who did the dirty work. Riley Greene, who extended his career-high on-base streak to 20 games, doubled home McGonigle.
This season is a long way from over but Tigers, 18-22, are in serious need a course correction.
Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
4Warn Weather – SATURDAY: Mostly cloudy skies. A chance of showers and thunderstorms. A few storms could be strong with gusty winds and hail. High: 71.
SATURDAY NIGHT: Mostly cloudy skies, becoming partly cloudy skies late. Low: 45.
SUNDAY (MOTHER’S DAY): Mix of sunshine and clouds, cooler temperatures. High: 61.
SUNDAY NIGHT: Partly cloudy skies. Another chilly night. Low: 41.
MONDAY: Mostly sunny skies, remaining chilly. High: 58.
After a beautiful end to the week on Friday with sunshine and a little cloud cover, with warmer temperatures moving into the region as well, some of us are waking up to some patchy dense fog on Saturday morning. Some places south of M-59 are seeing reduced visibilities down to around a mile. If you do run into some patchy dense fog, be sure to use your low beams.
That warming trend continues into the start of the weekend on Saturday, but it also brings a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Another cold front will work through the region by Saturday afternoon and early Saturday evening and that will bring our thunderstorm chance. High temperature is warming into low 70s by Saturday afternoon.
The Storm Prediction Center has placed most of the region under a Marginal Risk (1 out of 5) on our severe weather scale for the start of the weekend. Gusty winds and hail are the primary threats as we work through the start of the weekend, but this will not be a widespread threat for severe thunderstorms.
Behind that cold front for the end of the weekend on Sunday, we will keep a mixture of sunshine and clouds into the forecast. High temperatures running about 10 to 15° cooler to end the weekend. Expect high to warm into the upper 50s to lower 60s by Sunday afternoon.
Drier weather sticks around for the start of next week, before another chance of rain moves into the region by the time we get to Tuesday. The cooler-than-average temperatures will continue into the start of next week as well. Expect high temperatures to remain in the 50s for Monday and Tuesday.
Temperature start to warm up by the middle of next week, and Drier weather moves back in by Wednesday behind another cold front moving into the region. Expect high temperatures into the lower 60s on Wednesday to warm into the upper 60s by the time we get to Thursday. Above average temperatures move back into the region as we look ahead into the end of the week, expect high temperatures back into the lower 70s by the time we get to Friday.
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