Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary Brings Maritime History with a Holiday Story

Have you heard of “The Christmas Tree Ship?”

If you haven’t, you can ask a Hinks Elementary School pupil to fill you in or anyone who joined us for a family friendly event on a Saturday in early December.

This education outreach program includes an introduction to the sanctuary system and a reading of The Christmas Tree Ship by Jeanette Winter.  After finishing the story, the children get a chance to take on the role of archaeologist by looking at documents and artifacts and determining if it is “true” or “false” in relation to the Rouse Simmons history they just heard.  The program concludes with a Christmas tree craft that symbolizes the shipwreck that they can take home.

The Rouse Simmons was a three-masted schooner famous for having sunk in a violent storm on Lake Michigan in 1912. The ship was bound for Chicago with a cargo of Christmas trees when it was lost.

TBNMS teammates Sophie and Erin shared the program in all of the classrooms at Alpena Public School’s Hinks Elementary School, with a home-school group, and hosted a Saturday session open to the public.  More than 200 people took part in this year’s holiday-themed programming.