JANUARY'S MILD WEATHER

Old barge slowly reduced to pieces with
work aided by warm weather.

Detroit Harbor, Washington Island -

This month must be going down on the books as one of the mildest Januarys on record.

We've had a few light snow falls, hardly enough to shovel or plow.  I've picked up a snow shovel once - no, twice, if I count dragging it from the tool shed in mid-December.   Ice finally covered Detroit Harbor, after fits and starts, and early last week with water temperature on the verge of making ice, several nights and days in lower teens and then a dose of single digits, froze the channel entrance.

It was at that point, January 17, the Arni J. Richter began making the regularly scheduled trips and the Washington was sidelined.  Ice formed overnight along the route to Northrop, three to four inches at most, but it was soon layered by wind and current, with some stretches that slowed down the ferry's forward progress.  There are many large openings of open water, however, and it looks questionable now whether or not the Bay itself will freeze over into one solid sheet.  More likely, the ice patches will continue to shift with the wind.  This coming weekend we expect to have colder temperatures, low 20s, perhaps, then back into the mid 30s for nearly all of next week.   This has not been a good January for skiers, snowmobilers, or ice fishermen.

The old barge shown above has been reduced by more than half original size within a week or so to scrap. One large dumpster bin is filled with foam, and an empty stands by to receive more.  And, there is a stack of hull plating awaiting pickup by a semi.   The old barge had been foamed quite a few years ago in bow and stern sections, in an effort to maintain flotation, and there is mud inside every bottom frame section.  Surprising, that much of the hull is made of quarter-inch steel plate, considering the beating its taken over time.

With the Packers having tossed in the season's towel several weekends back, attention locally now turns to life in general, how to stay warm, how to make a dollar, how not to lose the dollars you have any more slowly than is possible.  For towns and municipalities, such as the Town of Washington, the lack of snow could mean a nice savings on the monies normally allocated for snow plowing.  Some years, cities and towns have blown through those budgets within the first 45 days of winter.  Not this year!

And yet, plans for the future need to be made, with details and execution starting on schedule.   There are several public dredging projects in the works for Washington Island, and we expect to hear more about those shortly.  The ferry Arni J. Richter, as soon as its winter duties are over, will go to the shipyard for a five year Coast Guard hull inspection, and for some maintenance to the underbody in the vicinity of the skegs.

For the present, the going by ferry is good, but we do hope for more ice to satisfy participants in the Lions Club Annual Ice Fishing Derby.   This is considered a great mid-winter mark, a week that encourages a variety of shore-side and on-ice activity, bringing visitors here and occupying the pent-up energies of islanders.
  - Dick Purinton

O'CONNOR TRIFECTA

Margie O'Connor proudly displays three grandsons:
 Sullivan and twins Isaac and Aaron.

Detroit Harbor, Washington Island -


Washington Harbor homeowners Steve and Margie O'Connor (also a Ferry Line ticket seller) are still coming down from an exciting several days experienced last weekend.

They had left the island on the early boat Thursday, July 14, knowing son Patrick and daughter-in law Emilie were expecting a child any moment, given Emilie was nearing one week beyond the due date.   Margie and Steve arrived in Milwaukee in plenty of time, following some appointments of their own, and they met 10 lb. 13 oz. Sullivan soon after he was born, which was approximately 2 a.m. early Friday morning, July 15.

While enroute to the Milwaukee hospital on Thursday, they had spoken with eldest son Sean who said that he and his wife Fran were just returning from a night in the hospital for observation in Hoffman Estates, IL, due to false contractions, and that everything was "normal"with the twins she was carrying.  Fran was not expected to deliver until mid-August.   Later that day, however, Sean called Margie back to say that he and Fran were proud parents of twin boys born at the St. Alexius Hospital:  Isaac Stephen (5 lb. 3 oz.) and Aaron Joseph (6 lb. 9 oz.)

This made three new O'Connor grandsons, all on July 15!

Further fulfilling their role as grandparents, and a promise to have granddaughters stay with them for two weeks, Margie and Steve picked up two older grandchildren of daughter Shannon, who had vacationed in Ripon, at an arranged rendezvous as they passed through Fond du Lac.   Then they raced to catch the Saturday's late afternoon ferry, in time for Steve to sing in the Red Barn's Folk Festival that evening.

More grandparent stuff


Saturday afternoon I offered to take Hoyt and Kirsten's two boys, Aidan and Magnus, ages three and five, to see the planes at the Island Fly-In, and to buy them lunch in Jackson Harbor.  They had just come from shopping with their mom at the Twice Around Shop and each boy had with him a new toy truck.

One of 25 photos taken by Aidan of his
new toy truck

With cars parked along both sides of Airport Road, I looked for an open space to park from where we could watch planes land and take off. During this time, Magnus informed me he had to use the bathroom.  I decided the public restrooms at School House Beach would be the closest, so I drove there from the Airport.

While I entered the School House Beach men's room with Magnus, his brother Aidan, a knowledgeable little photographer with a point-and-shoot camera, located my camera and used it to snap a few photos of his new truck.

Then, we headed east from Washington Harbor to Jackson Harbor and lunch at the Time Out Concession operated by Karen Baxter and her mother-in-law, Shirley.   I ordered three hot dogs: one with ketchup only for Aidan; ketchup and relish for Magnus; and the works for me.  I soon learned I had heard it wrong, that Magnus didn't like relish at all, and that Aidan didn't like hot dogs (although he ate his without complaint).  Magnus ate only his pickle, but he wouldn't touch the hot dog despite my "scraping off" the relish.  We sat at a picnic table in the heat of the midday sun, two of us eating hot dogs while Magnus climbed on the anchor, and we sipped lemonade.  In between bites, I kibitzed with Barry McNulty who rested in a nearby chair placed under the shade of the old Coast Guard boat, Valiant. 

Hoping I could regain the boys' confidence, I offered to return to the concession wagon to buy ice cream in the form of packaged drumsticks.  In due time, I learned that not all young kids like drumsticks, or nuts on chocolate for that matter, or that they can keep ahead of melting chocolate and ice cream while standing in the sunshine.   Magnus licked his slowly, but steadily, to the point where the remaining ice cream leaned to one side before toppling to the grass.   Aidan had made great headway on his drumstick, working top to bottom, but he lost the lower third to the ground once he'd eaten the sugar cone sides that provided support.

Magnus passes up hot dog for a climb on
an anchor near the Fishing Museum

I ignored sticky hands and faces as seat belts were snapped once more and we drove toward their home where nap time awaited.  Approaching the driveway, I was informed Magnus again had to go "peeps."  As soon as car doors opened, both boys jumped out and thoroughly christened the bush that grows alongside the driveway.

It was a great time!

 -  Dick Purinton