The bell will ring 29 times today November 10, 6-8pm (Dossin Great Lakes Museum)............A memorial service is planned near the Mariners Memorial Lighthouse at Belanger Park, off Belanger Park Drive and Marion in River Rouge, Michigan. This memorial service will take place from 6pm-8pm. Several speakers will give memories of the ship, including people who helped construct it and relatives of some of the crewmen. In a rustic old hall in Detroit they prayed, In the Maritime Sailors’ Cathedral. The church bell chimed till it rang twenty-nine times For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald. But you may be surprised to learn that Mariners’ was unique in many respects long before that song was written. Old Mariners’ was: Founded by a woman… Julia Anderson’s will established Mariners’ in 1842 and specified a stone church (built for the ages) with “forever free” pews. It’s now listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Incorporated by an act of the Michigan legislature… Mariners’ is the only church in Michigan honored by this distinction, bestowed by Act 142 of 1848.Mariners’ is different in that it was founded as, and still is, a non-diocesan, self-perpetuating parish especially for sailors, but not exclusively so.A point on the Underground Railway… Mariners’ helped former slaves reach freedom in Canada through a tunnel from its basement to the Detroit River waterfront.During its first century, many retail tenants occupied the bottom floor of Mariners’ so their rent could support the church.The 3000-ton church building was moved to its present location on the opposite side of Hart Plaza to make way for the Detroit civic center.Since 1975, Mariners’ Church has created and maintained new traditions for Great Lakes sailors including annual services for Blessing of the Fleet, Navy League Sunday and the Great Lakes Memorial Service.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 13:24:46 +0000
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