Special
150th edition
Section 5
1927-1941
Special 150th Anniversary Edition • Thursday, October 26, 2017
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Ludington daily newS/SECTION 5
| THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2017
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Fruit farming: A Ludington constant By Andy Hamilton Daily News Copy Editor
J
ust like the city streets in Ludington are named for lumber barons, the roads of the surrounding townships are reminders of the generations of fruit farmers that were — and in many cases, still are — vital to the area. Carole Christofferson’s family has been raising fruit in Riverton Township since 1921, when her grandparents, Augusta and Nels Nelson, first started. Her parents, Carl and Bessie Peterson, continued the tradition on Morton Road. Carole and her husband, “Red,” purchased their farm in 1967 from the Carrs, who were originally from Chicago. The Carrs bought the farm in about 1950 from the Gametsfelder family from Ohio. Several members of the Gametsfelder family raised fruit on Morton Road. The house that Red and Carol live in was built by the Gametsfelders, who bought the land in the
Andy Hamilton | Daily News
Austin Christofferson helps his grandfather Red Christofferson make apple juice. 1880s and built the house that still stands today in 1886. “There’s quite a history with this farm,” Carole said. “Our farm was really known as the Gametsfelder farm.” It’s also known as Maple Hill Farm, because of
paul Alderink
the maple trees — some of which still stand — that the Gametsfelders planted about 1886. Several fruit-raising families have deep roots in this area. The Christoffersons, Olmsteads, Houks, Harmons, Bucks, Bryes, Wagners, Dalys, Fitches, Petersens, Petersons, Hackerts, Listers, Ehlers, Wrights all, at one time or another, raised fruit in Pere Marquette, Riverton and Summit townships, said Jim Dittmer.
“Back in those days, you had several prominent families, some of whom there are relatives and descendants still in the business,” said Dittmer, who began as an intern on Elwyn Olmstead’s farm. Elwyn Olmstead’s father, Earl, worked the same land before him. “We’re about five generations removed now,” Dittmer said. Dittmer is now 83 and considers himself “half retired” from fruit farm-
ing. He began working at the Olmstead farm in the 1950s while he was still in high school and continued there until he finished college. “I never got the fruit business out of my blood,” he said. This area is ideal for growing fruit because of its location near Lake Michigan, Dittmer said. “The fruit growing area is concentrated for good reason mostly along the lake and higher ridges,” Dittmer said. “The lake provides protection from frost and prevailing winds.” Fruit does not grow as well in valleys or lower elevations because those areas are more prone to frost, he added. Many of the original fruit farms in the area have been bought by other families, Dittmer said. Today’s operations might be more commercialized than those of the past, but many of the same types of fruit — peaches, several varieties of apples, sweet and sour cherries — continue to be standbys still today, he added. “Fruit growing was a lot different picture back in those days than it is today,” Dittmer said. The Christoffersons agreed.
“It’s not like it used to be,” said Red. Farmers don’t live as close to one another like people do in the city, but decades ago people always knew what was going on with their neighbors, Red said. He recalled how, when there was a fire, a farmer would ring their dinner bell to signal that help was needed. The closest neighbor to the emergency would ring his dinner bell, then his neighbor, and the next, and so on. “There isn’t the community spirit that used to be,” Red said. They enjoy talking with and learning about the people who come to their farm to pick apples, raspberries, cherries, plums, pears, peaches and more. “We just really enjoy the people,” Carole said. The Christoffersons said they’ve seen a lot of changes along Morton Road. They’re also witnesses to a continuing tradition. Carole and Red’s son, Shane, is the fourth generation of fruit farmers in their family. Shane and his wife, Jessica, live and work on the same farm as Carole’s grandparents, which means the family is only a few years away from having a Centennial Farm.
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H
e bought his first bike with the money saved up from walking a paper route in the 1930s. Paul Alderink still remembers those days working for the Ludington Daily News, and one thing has stayed constant since he delivered papers by foot from 1937 to 1939 — his love for the Ludington Daily News. “I wanted to make money,” said the 90-year-old Alderink. “My route started downtown on the corner of Rath and Ludington (avenues), Paul Alderink, now 90, delivered paand I went east on the pers for the Ludington Daily News in north side all the way the 1930s. No more a paperboy, Alderto the outskirts of ink expresses his love for the paper by Ludington. … A fel- reading frequently. low Ludington High School graduate asked me if I’d like the paper route. I said, ‘Yeah, that still remembers the houses would be fine.’ So he sold and stops he made. The first time Alderink ate me the paper route, and I had it for two years before at a restaurant was at Gibbs we moved out of Luding- Restaurant when it was located in Ludington. He also ton.” Alderink, a seventh- said he remembers the grader then at Longfellow Cartier mansion near the school, delivered roughly Ludington Library, where 100 papers a day. Winters the lumber baron lived and didn’t make the delivering drove electric cars. “I saved my money and process any easier, but Alderink adjusted with some bought a brand new bike at help from his dad, who Sear’s and Roebuck,” Aldermanaged the JC Penney in ink said. “I was given precise order as to where to leave Ludington before it closed. “My dad made some skis the papers,” Alderink refor me,” Alderink said. “At calls. “They would mail the times, I would use those be- paper cost to the owners (of
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“Mother’s Boy” becomes first talking movie shown in Ludington
Oriole Tim Quinn wins half mile at National Scholastic Track and Field Championship; repeats in 1931
State begins work on scenic highway to Big Sable Point; extends U.S. 10 to carferry docks
Ludington merchants ask for one-hour parking limit downtown Boy Scouts camping near Hamlin Dam notice leak in structure; 100 volunteers place 600 sandbags to stop leak
Pere Marquette carferries get wireless radios
1927
1928
LHS enrollment at 580 students
1929
1930
Carrom Co. reports it will increase production
Carferry City of Flint breaks world records in a year for lake crossings (1,010), miles sailed (101,000)
“Cyclonic storm” sweeps through Mason County, causes heavy damage
Scottville Harvest Festival revived
1932
1931
Several homes raided, stills broken in name of prohibition
Scottville schools add gymnasium, classrooms Ludington Basket Co. burns; Daily News describes blaze as “picturesque”
1927-
Mason County Road Commission waives county road tax because of Depression
Daily News publishes first beer ad in 13 years after Prohibition ends
1933
193
Charles Dennis wins state championship in mile run, finishes second at national prep track meet in Chicago
New York Stock Exchange collapses on what becomes known as “Black Thursday”
CCC
Civilian Conservation Corps camp establ
In This
Era
1927 — Charles Lindbergh flies the first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean May 21 from New York to Paris in his plane The Spirit of St. Louis, according to the New York Times. On Oct. 6, “The Jazz Singer,” the first feature-length movie to include spoken dialogue, was released. 1929 — The stock market crash of October sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors to begin the Great Depression, which lasted until 1939, according to the History Channel. By 1933 an estimated 15 million Americans were unemployed and nearly half the country’s banks had failed. 1933 — Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated for the first of his four terms as president. He would be re-elected in 1936, 1940 and 1944 and died in office April 12, 1945. 1935 — The Social Security Act of Aug. 14 provided more adequate provisions for old Americans, blind people, dependent and crippled children. 1939 — The German invasion of Poland in September launched World War II, which would last six years and kill an estimated 45 million to 60 million people, including six million Jews who were murdered in Nazi concentration camps, according to the History Channel. 1941 — The Japanese Navy launches a surprise attack on U.S. military forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Dec. 7 and the United States entered World War II.
The Dec. 7, 1941 Japanese attack on U.S. forces at Pearl Harbor brought the United States into World War II two years after it had started.
Did you know?
Charles Lindbergh flew the first solo, non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean May 21 from New York to Paris in his plane, The Spirit of St. Louis. Prior to flying over the ocean, Lindbergh, 25 at the time, set a record for the fastest transcontinental flight while flying from San Diego to New York to make his historic flight across the Atlantic. The price of flour in 1935 was 5 cents a pound. People could also buy already baked bread for 8.3 cents a pound. Gasoline cost 19 cents a gallon in 1935, which had the spending
In This
Era
Thank You
for making the City of Scottville Great! Happy 150th Anniversary Ludington Daily News
We are proud to bring to our community many enriching opportunities and projects that encourage beauty and serenity.
M C C S PA R TA N S
City of Scottville
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2017
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Current heavyweight boxing champ Joe Louis referees wrestling match in Ludington
-1941 Former heavyweight boxing champ Jack Dempsey referees series of boxing matches in Ludington
Daily News purchased by J.A. McFarland
34
Ludington beats Manistee 26-0 in first football game at Oriole Field; project completed by Works Progress Administration
1935
lished in Ludington
Mason County Airport completed Park Dairy opens
Ludington State Park dedicated
1936
City’s first stoplight erected
C officers
Western Michigan Fair, Fin & Feather Club begin
1937 New sewage plant opens
Don Cluchey brings city first state amateur boxing championship
Harold P. Furstenau purchases Daily News
Pres. Roosevelt signs Social Security Act, creating a federal pension system
1939
Ludington boasts 2,400 telephones
Pere Marquette announces construction of new $2 million City of Midland carferry
Local rationing of rubber forces closure of Weyenberg Shoe
Dow purchases former Morton Salt Co., plans construction of one of nation’s largest magnesium plants
Ludington looks to establish yacht club, small boat basin on property owned by Charles Peterson
40-foot tall cross erected at Father Marquette’s death site
1938 Mayor Enoch Anderson killed in auto crash
St. John’s Lutheran Church burns
Mason County Draft Board forms with signing of Selective Service Act
Ludington Jaycees form
Civilian Conservation Corps completes construction of Lake Michigan Beach House Construction begins on Paulina Stearns Hospital
Armistice Day storm claims three ships and 68 men
1941
1940 World’s largest carferry, first to have passenger accomodations on two decks City of Midland launched in Manitowoc
Carferry City of Midland makes first cross-lake trip to Ludington
Japanese attack U.S. forces forces at Pearl Harbor
Charles Lindbergh was 25 when he made his historic solo flight from New York to Paris.
Congratulations Ludington Daily News on your 150th Anniversary and many wishes for future success!
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Ludington Daily News Dec. 8, 1941 T
his edition of the Ludington Daily News, dated Monday, Dec. 8, 1941, was published the day after the deadly Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The act of violence led the United States to enter into World War II. The spread also includes stories on the number of warships lost, Roosevelt’s request for a declaration of war from Congress, an attack on the Philippines and Costa Rica’s pledge to enter into the fighting.
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Tragedy hits on Armistice Day By Paul S. Petersen Daily News Editor Emeritus
cars. The Coast Guard stood watch throughout the night. Then, as the storm moved east Tuesday morning, a breeches buoy was made ready to take people off the Flint. The breeches buoy, a tool which was used nationwide, was a canvas-like bucket attached by rope and pulleys to the ship. A Lyle gun fired the rope so that a person could be pulled ashore. Two crewmen were taken ashore that way, each suffering exposure and hypothermia from their dunking in frigid water during the ride to shore. The Coast Guard quickly abandoned that effort. Two days after the storm, the Pere Marquette 22 and a Milwaukee tug freed the Flint.
H
arold Furstenau was editor when he and the staff had the difficult task of reporting the tragic story of Armistice Day in 1940. The Armistice Day Storm of 1940 claimed the lives of 154 people, with the Ludington-Pentwater area getting the brunt of it. The hurricane-force winds, blinding snow and freezing temperatures battered three states. Three ships went to the bottom of Lake Michigan between Ludington and Juniper Beach, south of Pentwater. Sixty sailors were lost. A Ludington carferry went aground along the North Breakwater, just 500 feet from shore. On land, roofs were torn from buildings, windows smashed, power lines were downed and trees uprooted. The storm also spawned a daring but controversial rescue, and an attempted rescue that went awry. Communication was slow in 1940 — no television, no internet, no mobile phones, not even a local radio station. But there was the Daily News, with its 3 p.m. press time and inside, a forecast calling for cold temperatures with rain turning to snow flurries that evening. That was a considerable change from a string of days that had Ludington basking in 64-degree temperatures. By mid-morning on Monday, Nov. 11, 1940, the wind picked up and a steady rain was falling, causing postponement of an Armistice Day parade scheduled for that evening. At about 2:30 that afternoon, the storm touched down in the form of rain and high winds, causing the Pere Marquette Railroad’s Ludington carferries to remain in port in Ludington and in Wisconsin. Two of the carferries, however, were en route to Ludington and battled huge waves and a southwesterly wind before finally docking. The City of Saginaw 31 was more than six hours late, and the Pere Marquette 21 managed to dock after a five-hour trip from Manitowoc through what her captain called “mountainous waves.” The second surge of the storm hit around 4:30 p.m. and did the most damage. A Ludington man was severely injured when a wall collapsed, crashing his car and sending him to the hospital with a head injury. But the main drama of the storm was on Lake Michigan. Two Canadian and one American ship were lost, and Ludington carferry City of Flint 32 ran aground on the north side of the North Breakwater, just off Court Street. Two ships — the 400-foot Anna C. Minch, a Canadian vessel, and the 460-foot William B. Davock, an American ship — were lost between Ludington and Pentwater, as were the full crews. A third vessel, the Novadoc, a 253-foot coal carrier owned by a Canadian company, went hard aground on a sandbar at Juniper Beach, nearly breaking the ship in two pieces. Two Novadoc crewmen were washed overboard and never found.
DIFFICULT DECISIONS When the City of Flint hit ground around 8 p.m., the Ludington Coast Guard found its immediate concern was the precarious situation of the Flint and its 45 crewmen and four passengers. With the wind — Capt. Jens Vevang of the Flint reported gusts of 110 miles per hour — and darkness, there was little the Coast Guard could do except watch and wait. About the time the Flint went aground, the Novadoc (initials for Nova Scotia Dominion of Canada) was fighting to stay afloat. The Coast Guard at Little Sable Point saw that the ship was having difficulty and was heading toward the shore, either intentionally or because of the strong southwest wind. When the
BODIES, WRECKS FOUND
ued. “It might expose them for not being prepared, and not going out sooner.” Cross and his two crewmen were treated as heroes.
As the storm subsided, Flint crewmen saw two bodies wash ashore. The Coast Guard was notified and the bodies recovered, their life jackets bearing the name “Davock.” It was the first indication the Davock was lost. Within two days, 18 bodies from the Minch and Davock came ashore in Ludington. The final body was found 13 months later near the Mason-Manistee line. Divers found the Minch and Davock miles apart. The Davock was upside down; the Minch broken in half. The Novadoc remained close to shore, but defied salvage efforts. For years, buoys marked where she sank. But in time she no longer posed a threat to navigation and the buoys were removed. Bodies from the Minch and Davock were returned home. The unidentified were buried in a common grave in Lakeview Cemetery.
CITY OF FLINT
LOOKING BACK
While the Novadoc saga was unfolding, the Coast Guard had by no means forgotten the City of Flint. Hurricane winds prevented Vevang from maneuvering his ship through the pierheads, and the Flint was pushed dangerously close to the North Breakwater. The captain ordered the ship grounded to prevent serious damage. Aboard were 45 crewmen, four passengers and 28 rail-
The Armistice Day Storm of 1940 was the worst to ever hit the area. It caused massive property damage and took the lives of 60 seamen aboard three vessels, sending two of the ships to the bottom of Lake Michigan. Today, the breeches buoy and 30-foot surf boats the Coast Guard had to paddle with long oars are a thing of the past. Some found controversy in that storm,
Historic White Pine Village archives | Courtesy Photos
Rescue attempts went down in history after the Armistice Day storm left multiple ships trapped offshore, many running aground. A Pentwater fishing vessel braved the waves off the village to rescue the crew of the Novadoc. The Coast Guard also attempted to rescue the crew. Novadoc hit the sandbar it had no lights — only lanterns — and no communications. The ship’s captain, Donald Steip, said in an interview with the Daily News some years later that the wireless equipment was aboard but had not yet been hooked up. With the telephone line to Ludington down, the Little Sable Point Coast Guard called Chicago for instructions. The Coast Guard was told to drive to Ludington and report the situation. The Ludington officer in charge ordered a truck and equipment to Pentwater, but said it would be folly to attempt rescue until the storm abated. The Novadoc’s crew was so close to land but could do nothing but wait — 10 of them in the pilot house and seven in the aft end. Wait they did, for almost 36 hours. And therein was the start of the controversy.
HEARING CONVENED Two weeks later, Coast Guard officers from Chicago convened a hearing in Pentwater to determine if the Ludington Coast Guard had been negligent in attempting to rescue the Novadoc crew. Local Coast Guard personnel testified that their 30-foot surfboat became stuck in mud and they had no success in freeing her. Then they spotted Clyde Cross, a well-known Pentwater fisherman, and crew aboard his fish tug, Three Brothers. They said Cross passed “within 100 feet of our boat, but he would not stop to help us despite us yelling for help.” Cross said no one ever heard a call for help. He sailed straight to the Novadoc, getting all 17 men safely ashore. That created the controversy that still lingers for some in Pentwater. On one side was the Coast Guard, saying Cross ignored their call for assistance. On another was Cross and his crew, insisting they never heard a call for help. There was yet another side. Some asked if Cross and his crewmen figured there might be reward money from the Canadian company or even the Canadian government. Cross denied that thought ever crossing his mind. The Canadian government later did award Cross a silver platter. The findings from the hearing went to Washing-
ton and were never publicly released. In 1975, former U.S. Congressman Guy VanderJagt, at the urging of the Daily News, found that record of the hearing had been destroyed in a government warehouse fire in St. Louis three years before. No public information from the hearing was ever released. During the hearing, Steip was adamant about the role of Cross and his crew. “If it hadn’t been for you, we may all have perished,” he wrote to Cross. He questioned the Coast Guard’s action after the storm subsided. “I don’t see what they can find out,” his letter contin-
while others recognized that the Coast Guard did everything possible to save life and vessel under conditions few would want to confront.
REPORTING ON THE STORM The edition of the Daily News published on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 1940 included an account of the reporting of the storm.
‘Grim, Determined News Force Published Paper’ It was a grim but determined band of journalists who made their way to the chilled and silent office and shop of The Ludington Daily News that morning and launched themselves into the seemingly hopeless task of assembling that edition of the paper with no power flowing into the building and The Associated Press teletypes, dependent on wire strung to Detroit, deathly silent. Dependent on the power that failed to flow from the wires stretched to the Daily News was the bank of linotype machines, which are used to beat out the columns of type for the paper and also the motor for the heating plant, hence the silence and chill in the office. As the forenoon wore on, however, the Daily News staff grasped the situation by the horns and, through the cooperation of Electric Tamper Co., installed a temporary portable power plant to supply current for the heating plant and linotypes. Deprived of its flow of Associated Press stories, the editorial staff put its shoulder to the wheel and members of the force soured the city and region, gathering information on the amount of damage done by the unprecedented storm. Meager flashes from the outside world came to the office via Western Union’s solitary wire out of Ludington but for the most part, the newspaper was printed for and about the city of Ludington and the county of Mason. Printing of today’s paper came after an almost all-night vigil by members of the paper’s staff as they stayed on duty until late in the night, gathering and dispatching news to The Associated Press and metropolitan newspapers whose readers were eagerly awaiting reports from this city.
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Ludington daily newS/SECTION 5
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Congratulations, Ludington Daily News!
The Ludington & Scottville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Ludington Area Convention and Visitors Bureau would like to congratulate the Ludington Daily News on 150 years of dedicated service to our community.
Thank you for telling the important stories that keep our community informed, educated, and also make us beam with pride. We look forward to our continued partnership, well into the future. Congratulations!
Carlos Alvarado, Chair Steve Carlson, Treasurer Thom Hawley, Past Chair Sarah Holmes, Member-at-large Dan King Debra Kinnaird Dan Meysar Jeff Mount Jeanne Oakes Shane Ruboyianes Scott Smith Jill Snyder Sherry Wyman
Randy Bowden, Chair Terri Veen, Chair-Elect Kelly Parker, Treasurer Jim Christensen, Past Chair Debra Canfield George Freeman David Bourgette Dorothy Gamble Jim Gallie Erica Reed Kati Gonzalez Bob Alderink