NEWS from Rivertown By Heather Lake
The phrase “come hell or high water” dates back to the late nineteenth century. It is a declaration of intent, professing determination to do whatever it takes to overcome difficulty or obstacles. Everyone has been affected in some way by the challenges 2020 delivered, including Walstrom Marine. The five-week closure of our facility, mandated by COVID-19, was unprecedented. With winter projects and service nearing completion and commissioning on the horizon, everything came to a sudden and unexpected halt in late March. When and how would we be
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able to complete the jobs requested by our customers? With our storage buildings filled to capacity, we had full schedules for our technicians, and each week of the closure put us further behind. A few of us were able to work from home, answering phone calls and email messages, or check in at the office long enough to retrieve the mail or prepare bank deposits. We did our best to stay on top of things in a very uncertain time. With a pandemic wreaking havoc across the globe, Walstrom Marine rose to the occasion to give back to the communities that support us, and donated cases of gloves to McLaren’s Cheboygan Campus and to McLaren Northern Michigan Hospital in Petoskey. The items were received with much appreciation and made everyone on the staff feel proud to be members of such a thoughtful and generous company.
When we finally returned to work, masks and social distancing were strictly adhered to, and we gave it our all to complete the winter jobs, commissioning, and get all the boats launched in a timely manner. We had a busy crew! A few jobs were postponed, but with hard work and determination, our team was able to deliver either on time, or with only a slight delay. For the customers who opted not to launch their boats this summer due to COVID-19, Walstrom Marine graciously waived the summer storage fee in an attempt to ease any financial burden during an already difficult time. Having made it through the “hell” of the closure and the ensuing long and busy days to get the season underway, we then had to deal with “high water.” Like many other marinas across the state, the water level in the Cheboygan River created issues at some of our docks, leaving the
