The Beacon - Fall 2022

For more than 40 years, the Door County Maritime Museum has helped celebrate and preserve our community’s rich maritime heritage. We are honored to support their mission and the legacy of our area’s shipbuilders with the construction of the new Lighthouse Tower. 800.992.6538

MISSION STATEMENT:

Mission Statement: The Door County Maritime Museum & Lighthouse Preservation Society, Inc. preserves Great Lakes maritime history, primarily focusing on Door County, Wisconsin, and provides interpretive and educational opportunities for current and future generations. The Museum operates three locations, including the Door County Maritime Museum along the working waterfront in Sturgeon Bay; the iconic Cana Island Lighthouse in Baileys Harbor; and the Death’s Door Maritime Museum in Gills Rock.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Terry Connelly - President

Gary King - First Vice President

John Roen Asher - Second Vice President

Bob DeNoto - Secretary

Alison Walker - Treasurer

Cheryl Arnott

John Baumgartner

Nathan Dineen

Mike Gilson

Charlie Henriksen

Pete Horton

Bob Purves

Julie Sarter

Jim Springer

Mark Weborg

Mike Wickman

Cap Wulf

EMERITUS

William Harder Louis Janda Ellsworth Peterson

Dan Austad

Charlie Voight

MUSEUM STAFF

Kevin Osgood - Executive Director

Sam Perlman - Deputy Director & Development Manager

Brennan Christianson - Gills Rock Site Manager & Collections Coordinator

Megan Dietz - Visitor Services Manager & Volunteer Coordinator

Kay Dragan - Curator & Exhibits Manager

Paige Funkhouser - Community Engagement Manager

Tracy Johnson - Cana Island Assistant Site Manager

Lorraine Laboy-Roman - Office & Memberships Administrator

Lori Minnema - Museum Store Manager

Melissa Scoon - Financial Systems Manager

Andrea Stromeyer – Educational Programs Coordinator

Hal Wilson - Facilities & Cana Island Site Manager

photo by Paul Haan

FROM THE DIRECTOR’S DESK

Dear Friends,

In October, we typically look back at the summer season we are wrapping up. Before doing that, I want to look at the exciting things just ahead for YOUR Door County Maritime Museum.

Our Merry-Time Festival of Trees and the annual Jingle Mixer are right around the corner. The Jim Kress Maritime Lighthouse Tower will soon be complete with all exhibits finished and all expenses paid in full. We have plans to update all our legacy museum galleries in Sturgeon Bay. A revitalization plan for exhibits at Death’s Door is taking shape, and we will be staging the Keeper’s Quarters on Cana Island in time for the 2023 season. Our pursuit for accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums is already underway. All of this while we continue to grow our educational outreach to students on the Door Peninsula and more.

Our staff, volunteers and supporters all have so much to be proud and excited about. There is no way the museum could be where it is without all three of these groups. The triumvirate of staff, volunteers and supporters are the pillars (OK, pilings) our museum stands on. 2022 saw the DCMM staff grow in both numbers as well as experience and professional training. Our volunteers gave more than 6,000 hours of their priceless personal time. Their passion and experience has an incredible positive influence on the museum, our guests and our staff. We couldn’t do it without you.

Looking back, it’s easy to see that DCMM’s future is taking shape. Our education program now has a full-time manager leading our efforts with SeaPerch, Cardboard Regatta, student field trips, Sea Scouts and more. Our goal is for DCMM to not only teach the rich maritime history of Door County, but to expose more young people to science, technology, engineering, arts and math. This endeavor also builds our museum’s future. These students will one day walk in our footsteps, perhaps as volunteers, donors, board members, or employees of our museum. Education is the way we have the most impact on our youth, our community and our organization. It’s also how we ensure the future of DCMM and keeping the story of Door County’s maritime history alive for future generations.

Thank you for being a part of this journey.

Kevin Osgood

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

SAM PERLM AN

THE YEAR 2022 will go down in DCMM history as one of the most successful development years ever. Of course, the highlight of the year was the $1.75 Million Tourism Capital Grant from the Wisconsin Department of Administration, closing out the $9.2 Million Capital Campaign for the Jim Kress Maritime Lighthouse Tower.

DCMM was also very fortunate to receive several other grant awards for special projects and programs throughout the year:

• $6,000 from the Woodhaven Foundation for staff professional development;

• $5,000 grant from the Pivot Rock Fund for a mannequin and case for a merchant mariner uniform display;

• $15,000 Ruth St. John and John Dunham West Foundation gift to support the conservation and exhibition phases of our dugout canoe restoration project;

• $1,000 grant award from the Wisconsin Commercial Ports Association in support of “museums, and other cultural institutions throughout Wisconsin that contribute to the understanding, celebration, and protection of Wisconsin’s commercial maritime history and recreational use of our waterways”;

• $1,000 renewal of Maritime Speaker Series sponsorship by the Door County Medical Center.

As we move towards the end of the year, we ask for your support for our annual Anchor Appeal. These general operation funds keep our doors open to the public year-round in Sturgeon Bay, and help our staff operate three seasonal museum properties: the 103-yearold tug John Purves docked on the working waterfront at the Museum in Sturgeon Bay; the iconic Cana Island Lighthouse in Baileys Harbor; and the Death’s Door Maritime Museum in Gills Rock.

For the second year in a row, we have a matching challenge for our year-end Anchor Appeal from DCMM Board member Pete Horton and his wife Jelaine. The Hortons have provided a $25,000 matching gift, which will match every contribution to the Anchor Appeal, to a total of $50,000. Any contribution to the Museum’s general operations before December 31st will count towards the match. You can call the museum office at 920-7435958; mail a donation to 120 North Madison Ave., Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235; or visit www.dcmm.org/donations-membership/ donations/ to make your contribution today.

YOU matter. This is YOUR Door County Maritime Museum.

We thank you for your continuing support.

photo by Cassie Buntin/DCMM

theoriginsof DEATH’S DOOR

BY BRENNAN CHRISTIANSON

Between the Northern tip of the Door Peninsula and the shore of Plum Island lies a body of water known as Porte Des Morts or the Death’s Door passage. Records of this name date back to at least the 1720’s, 1 but its origin remains a mystery. This has not stopped academics and professionally trained historians from searching for the origins or writing a “definitive” story. While the actual origins of the name may never be known, the popularity of Death’s Door was established by late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century historians, who either listed no sources or combined legitimate sources with embellished accounts to promote a fanciful narrative.

The Death’s Door passage connects Lake Michigan to the Bay of Green Bay. Today, the Washington Island Ferry Line crosses it daily, as people and goods travel back and forth to support the Washington Island community. Before the opening of the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal in 1881, Death’s Door was the most trafficked shipping route in the state of Wisconsin, bringing goods from Green Bay and the Fox River valley to Milwaukee and Chicago. In the time of the fur trade, natives and Frenchmen alike traveled through Death’s Door to transport trade goods to Green Bay and furs to New France (Canada).

In Death’s Door: In Pursuit of a Legend , author Conan Bryant Eaton claims that the earliest recorded account of the name “Death’s Door” comes in the year 1728 from a journal entry of the French Jesuit Missionary Emmanuel Crespel. 2 On August 14, he mentions passing through Death’s Door, stating: “as we were doubling Cap la Mort (Death’s Door) [sic], which is about five leagues across, we encountered a gust of wind, which drove ashore several canoes that were unable to double a point in order to obtain shelter; they were broken by the shock; and were obliged to distribute among the other

canoes the men who, by the greatest good fortune in the world, had all escaped from the danger.” 3

Due to his mention of Death’s Door being more a passing acknowledgement, rather than a naming, it implies that the name Death’s Door predates his 1728 journey. The period of time during which the naming of Death’s Door could have taken place – the mid- to late-seventeenth or early-eighteenth century – was a time of great upheaval, mass migration, near constant warfare, and a complete shake up of social and political life.

There were two major tribes who lived around Green Bay before European contact: the Ho-Chunk (also called Puan and Winnebago by those outside of the tribe), and the Menomonee. According to historian Patrick Jung, the Ho-Chunk lived on Green Bay’s eastern shores, while the Menomonee were situated along the western shores, thus giving both tribes dominance over Green Bay and the Fox River valley. These two tribes were in an alliance, although both sides recognized that the Ho-Chunk held the dominant position. 4

One of the first Europeans to enter Green

1 Emmanuel Crespel. De Lingery’s Expedition against the Foxes, 1728, In Report and Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin for The Years of 1883, 1884, and 1885, Volume 10 (Madison, WI, 1888), 47-53.

2 Conan Bryant Eaton. Death’s Door: the Pursuit of a Legend, 4th edition (Washington Island, Jackson Harbor Press, 1996), 22.

3 Crespel. De Lingery’s Expedition against the Foxes, 1728, 50.

4 Patrick Jung. The Misunderstood Mission of Jean Nicolet: Uncovering the Story of the 1634 Journey. (Madison, Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2018), 26-27.

Bay was Frenchman Jean Nicolet, a translator who was an experienced diplomat, lay missionary, and trader. 5 Nicolet arrived in either 1633 or 1634, and was met by thousands of natives from several Indian nations. His purpose in the area was to secure a peace between the Hurons, who were allies of the French, and the Ho-Chunk. After successfully negotiating the truce, Nicolet left the area and returned to Canada.6

The French would not be back in the area for nearly twenty years. When they returned in the 1650s, the Ho-Chunk had been nearly destroyed. Once a powerful tribe of over 20,000 members and 4,000 to 5,000 warriors, they had been reduced to only 600 in the span of two decades. The Menomonee did not fare better, with one account claiming they had fewer than 200 members.7

After Father Crespel’s 1728 journey, the next written account about the passage comes nearly a century later, in a journal written in 1817 by Willard Keyes about his voyage from Vermont to Wisconsin, published by the Wisconsin Historical Society in 1920. He writes, “August 11th, pass “Point De Mort” (Point of Death) so called from the many Indian Canoes wrecked there in attempting to pass the point which is perpendicular-rocks rising out of the water.” 8

During the same year Samuel A. Storrow, a judge advocate stationed in Wisconsin between 1816 and 1820, wrote a letter to one Major General Jacob Brown where he describes Death’s Door. His mention of the passage is only one sentence long:

“Leaving this beautiful island (Washington Island), we reached, on the 16th, the southerly cape of Green Bay, Port Des Morts, so called from the destruction at this place of a number of the Potawatomi.” 9 These three accounts seem to be reliable yet lack information about the origins of the name Death’s Door. Each mention of Death’s Door is taken as a given, which implies that neither Crespel, Keyes, nor Storrow were responsible for the naming.

The next account comes from Samuel Stambaugh, an Indian agent stationed in Green Bay between 1831 and 1832, who authored the Report on the Quality and Condition of Wisconsin Territory, 1831 . He includes a more detailed account of what may have happened at Death’s Door than any of the previous sources. He wrote of a trade party sent out by a native tribe of the area. The trade party was sent to an unnamed French trading post when they decided to take a small break at the top of the Door Peninsula. While seated on a stone table that projected out above the water, a storm suddenly came in huge force and destroyed their boats. The few men who were left alive soon perished while trying to swim to safety. This area was then known as Death’s Door from then on. 10 Stambaugh’s account adds a lot more detail to the origin of the name, yet he does not give any sources to validate his account.

In 1839, Michigan State Geologist Douglas Houghton passed through the passage on his way to the Upper Peninsula. He states, “Passage Des Morts, or Death’s Door, is reputed to take its name

photo by Paul Haan

6

PEOPLE OF THE WATER

from a war party of Indians, in canoes, having been driven against the bold and lofty cliffs, in a severe storm. All except 3 or 4 are said to have perished.” 11 This is the first time any account relating to Death’s Door involves an expressly stated military conflict. This account does not address which tribes were involved, the time period it took place in, nor if the battle took place at Death’s Door or if the tribes were just passing through.

During the late-nineteenth to early-twentieth century, three historians expanded on the accounts of the Death’s Door story: Charles I. Martin, George R. Fox, and Hjalmar Holand. Despite having academic training, two of them cite no sources to back up their information, while the third connects unrelated sources to create a seemingly fictious narrative. Their often-repeated accounts of the story are some of the most widely known in Wisconsin.

Historian Charles I. Martin was the first to publish an account of the Death’s Door legend, in his 1881 book History of Door County Wisconsin . He claims that the Potawatomi lived on the Potawatomi Islands (the group of islands north of the Door Peninsula) around the late-seventeenth century. They would head south onto the Door Peninsula to hunt game for the tribe. He claimed the Ojibwe (though he refers to them as the Chippewa) invaded the islands while they were gone, taking away much of their plentiful hunting grounds. The Potawatomi responded by sending every able-bodied warrior back to the islands during a night raid. It ended in a catastrophic

7

storm that killed every warrior. They believed an evil spirit was responsible for the storm and named the passage Death’s Door. All the bodies of the warriors were buried on Detroit Island, and their graves were reportedly still there until the mid-19th century.

Martin cites no sources in his account, instead claiming that it “has its origin in an Indian tradition, which is probably founded in fact.” 13 The story he tells is likely inaccurate, however, due to the combat between the Potawatomi and the Ojibwe. These two tribes, along with the Ottawa, were in an alliance known as the Council of the Three Fires, which was intact during this time period. 14

The next historian to publish a story about the Death’s Door legend was George R. Fox, in the Wisconsin Archeologist in January 1915. Fox lists several grave sites of natives found on Detroit Island, and claims that these bodies were those of the victims of the Death’s Door legend. Since there was no written account of the legend in any previous publication of the Wisconsin Historical Society, Fox decides to write his version of the legend in full.

Fox’s version is nearly identical to that of Martin’s, except with some minor differences. His version involves the Nocquets (a Native group related to the Menomonee) and the Potawatomi. Unlike Martin’s account, the Potawatomi are the invaders, not the defenders. The Nocquets lived on the Potawatomi Island chain, where they had a large amount of game, fish and birds to hunt. The Potawatomi invaded Washington Island when the

8 Willard Keyes. A Journal of Life in Wisconsin One Hundred Years Ago Kept by Willard Keyes of Newfane, Vermont. The Wisconsin Magazine of History 3, No. 3 (March 1920), 348.

9

11

13

12

14

20, No. 2, American Indians (Fall, 1994), 4.

5 Jung. The Misunderstood Mission of Jean Nicolet, 2.

Jung. The Misunderstood Mission of Jean Nicolet, 140-143.

Jung. The Misunderstood Mission of Jean Nicolet, 162-163.

Samuel A. Storrow. The North-West in 1817: A contemporary Letter. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin vol. 6, ed. Lyman C. Draper (Madison, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1908) 154-187.

10 Samuel Stambaugh. Report on the Quality and condition of Wisconsin Territory, 1831. In Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Vol. 15, ed. Reuben Gold Thwaites (Madison, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1900) 423-424.

Eaton. Death’s Door: the Pursuit of a Legend , 18.

Charles I. Martin. History of Door County, Wisconsin (Sturgeon Bay, Expositor Job Print, 1881), 20-21.

Martin, History of Door County, 19.

Donald L. Fixico, The Alliance of the Three Fires in Trade and War, 1630-1812, Michigan Historical Review, Vol.

Nocquets were gone, and the Nocquets wanted to take it back. They invaded Washington Island, but in their haste, they failed to give an offering to the manido (spirit of the water), and their war party was wiped out in a storm. Fox does not site any sources for his legend, and merely wrote, “so the story goes.” 15

The most well-known account of the Death’s Door legend comes from historian Hjalmar Holand, who wrote about it in his 1917 book, Door County, Wisconsin, The County Beautiful . His account is the longest and most in-depth of the three narratives and is far more embellished and, therefore, more suspect. He starts with the Ho-Chunk (though he refers to them as the Winnebago) whom he claims come from Mexico, invading the Door Peninsula which was inhabited by the Potawatomi.

Holand describes the Potawatomi as “the most affable and generous of Wisconsin tribes.” 16 The Ho-Chunk, however, were described in a terrifying light, as “the only tribe in Wisconsin that used horses, and they were the fiercest of warriors. They were very perfidious (untrustworthy), superstitious and insolent, and not only took the scalps of their enemies but devoured their bodies at their feasts.”

According to Holand, the Potawatomi were willing to

share the land with the Ho-Chunk, but the Ho-Chunk instead chose to chase the Potawatomi onto Washington Island. The Ho-Chunk were not satisfied and would not rest until they wiped the Potawatomi out.

The Potawatomi, according to Holand, decided to counterattack during a night raid, but spies sent out to light signal fires for a safe landing were captured. Two were burned at the stake, while a third revealed the plan, and the Ho-Chunk decided to act on this information. As a large storm was brewing, preventing the Potawatomi from retreating, the Ho-Chunk intentionally lit a signal fire in the wrong spot and the Potawatomi were dashed against the rocky shore of the Door Peninsula. The Ho-Chunk sent their own war party to Washington Island to finish off the Potawatomi, but they did not fare any better, and their canoes were destroyed in the storm. The Ho-Chunk took this as a sign to never cross the passage that was then known as the “Door of Death.” 17

The account that the Ho-Chunk were invaders of the indigenous Potawatomi can be easily disregarded. When Jean Nicolet arrived in the early 1630s, the Ho-Chunk were the dominant power in the Green Bay area. The Potawatomi themselves did not even arrive in Door County until the 1650s and 1660s. By that time, the Ho-Chunk had been reduced to a small fraction of their former might, only a few hundred in number. By the time of the two tribes interacting with each other, both tribes were in desperate states and could not inflict great damage on each other.

In his account of the legend, Holand cites four different sources: Jonathan Carver’s Travels through the Indian Parts of North America 1766-1768, the accounts of Samuel A. Storrow and Samuel

15 George R. Fox. Indian Remains on Washington Island, Wisconsin Archeologist 13, No. 4, (January 1915) 169-170.

16 Hjalmar Holand. Door County, Wisconsin: The County Beautiful (Chicago: The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1917), 38.

17 Holand. Door County, Wisconsin: The County Beautiful , 38 - 39.

18 Holand. Door County, Wisconsin: The County Beautiful, 39-40.

19 Patrick Jung. Email to Author, July 6, 2021.

20 Jung. Email to Author, July 6, 2021.

PEOPLE OF THE WATER

Stambaugh, and an account from one Captain Brink of the government engineers. 18 Stambaugh talked about a trading party that was destroyed while resting in Death’s Door, and Storrow mentions that a number of Potawatomi died while crossing the passage, but Brink had quite a different account. It is similar to that of Holand except for a few minor changes. The most telling difference in his account, however, is that he does not mention which tribes were involved, only that a tribe of 300 natives were wiped out in a failed surprise attack.

As Patrick Jung states, “One quote by Brink indicates he not only did not know any Indian languages, but that he also had a superficial and ethnocentric view of their culture; not uncommon traits for the early Anglo-Americans who first came to the western Great Lakes.” 19 Brink was publishing articles in newspapers such as the Milwaukee Sentinel by 1899, so it’s possible that he served as an informant for Holand around this time. According to Jung, “Clearly, what Holand did was synthesize the information

BIBLIOGRAPHY

he had from Carver, Storrow and Stambaugh, and changed some of the facts so they fit into the framework provided by Brink’s account.” 20

So, what actually happened? The short answer is we do not really know. The history of Wisconsin in the seventeenth century cannot be stated definitively. Since there is no surviving written account of why either the natives or the French named the passage Death’s Door, it is safe to say that knowing exactly what happened is going to be extremely difficult — even impossible — to grasp.

In his book, Death’s Door: In Pursuit of a Legend , Conan Bryan Eaton states. “Beyond question the Death’s Door legend refuses to die. Indeed, within recent times it has done better than stay alive. Nurtured by modern minstrels who bathe it in vivid color, it has gained the vigor to change and to grow.” 21 We must learn as a society to accept that there are some things we will never know, despite claims to the contrary, and that is fine. Sometimes, it is just as satisfying to dispel incorrect claims, as it is to prove correct claims.

Notes: special thanks to Dr. Patrick J. Jung for helping with the research.

1. Crespel, Emmanuel. De Lingery’s Expedition against the Foxes, 1728. In Report and Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin for The Years of 1883, 1884, and 1885, Volume 10, 47-53 Madison: Democrat Printing Company, 1888.

2. Eaton, Conan Bryant. Death’s Door: the Pursuit of a Legend 4th edition. Washington Island, Jackson Harbor Press, 4th edition. 1996.

3. Fixico, Donald L. The Alliance of the Three Fires in Trade and War, 1630-1812. Michigan Historical Review, Vol. 20, No. 2, American Indians (Fall, 1994): 1-23.

4. Fox, George R. Indian Remains on Washington Island. Wisconsin Archeologist 13 (January 1915): 157-175.

5. Holand, Hjalmar. History of Door County, Wisconsin: The County Beautiful, Vol. 1. Chicago SJ. Clarke Publishing, 1917.

6. Jung, Patrick. The Misunderstood Mission of Jean Nicolet: Uncovering the Story of the 1634 Journey. Madison, Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2018.

7. Jung, Patrick. email to Author, July 6, 2021.

8. Keyes, Willard. A Journal of Life in Wisconsin One Hundred Years Ago Kept by Willard Keyes of Newfane, Vermont. The Wisconsin Magazine of History, Vol. 3, No. 3 (March 1920): 339-363. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4630243?seq=10#metadata_info_tab_contents.

9. Martin, Charles I. History of Door County, Wisconsin. Sturgeon Bay, Wis.: Expositor Print Job, 1881.

10. Stambaugh, Samuel. Report on the Quality and condition of Wisconsin Territory, 1831. In Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Vol. 15, Reuben Gold Thwaites, ed., pp 399-438. Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1900.

11. Storrow, Samuel A. The North-West in 1817: A contemporary Letter. In Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Vol. 6, Lyman C. Draper, ed., pp 154-187. Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1908.

21 Eaton, Death’s Door: the Pursuit of a Legend , 39.

THE BEACON EDUCATION ANDREA STROMEYER

I AM VERY EXCITED and pleased to be the first-ever fulltime Educational Programs Coordinator at the Door County Maritime Museum! The northern move from Houston, Texas provided many firsts for me: not sweating outside during the summer, living in a Coast Guard City, and the opportunity to build a museum education department from the ground up.

I hit the ground running in April booking school field trips to the museum. We welcomed groups from all five Door County public school districts, along with private and parochial schools, which ultimately brought nearly 250 student visitors to DCMM. It was so gratifying to see the youth of our community actively engaged with our shared maritime heritage!

My next task was scheduling speakers for the 2022-23 DCMM Maritime Speaker Series. An array of interesting topics continues this robust tradition, including the state of sturgeon in Sturgeon(less?) Bay, and the surprising history of a ship captain-turnedbrewer. Major thanks to the Door County Medical Center and Bridgeport Resort for their generous support for the series, which runs from October to May. A complete list of speakers and topics, and registration links to the online presentations, can be found at www.dcmm.org/maritime-speaker-series.

I had the pleasure of coordinating the Cardboard Regatta program – which was paused during COVID-19 –for Gibraltar Schools sixth graders. The students designed, built, and –with the support of the Northern Door YMCA – sea-trialed their cardboard creations. The teamwork between students, strategizing to make use of limited materials, the joy of sailing and ultimately the despair of sinking demonstrated the perfect balance of entertaining and educational programming I’m striving to bring to as many schools as possible, both within and outside of Door County.

We welcomed approximately 40 students, ages 4 through 12, from Casco Kidz Zone in August. Creating early childhood programming is a challenge, which resulted in an activity that I’m proud to add to the class catalogue called “Sink or Float Submarines”. This activity is scalable for all ages.

The ten floors of the Jim Kress Maritime Lighthouse Tower afford me the opportunity to develop multifaceted education curricula. My background in marine science lends itself to teaching about aquatic invasive species and other factors impacting waterways surrounding Door County, some of which are highlighted on the third floor of the Tower. My favorite class demonstrates damage caused by invasive species.

I embraced the opportunity to reexamine my ideas of marine and coastal ecology while learning about shipbuilding and maritime history after moving north. My interest in international maritime signal flags was piqued after seeing them around the county. This curiosity turned into educational activities that I’ve affectionately named “Signal Flags: Sign Language of the Seas”. Students will learn the history of the flags, practice signaling skills, and decode messages.

I’m honored to be spearheading accessibility initiatives to create an all-inclusive space at the museum. We are introducing sensory backpacks for neurodivergent guests and those with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Twelve backpacks will be available, and stocked with anxiety-reducing tools and fidgets, including nonverbal communication cards and a complete walkthrough of the museum. Resources will also be available on our website so neurodiverse patrons or their caretakers can plan their visit. Backpacks will be free-of-charge to borrow and are important tools in reducing sensory stimuli that serve as barriers to access for neurodivergent people. Also in the works are accommodations for people with vision and hearing difficulties and impairments.

Teaming up with Jordan Ciesielczyk-Gibson from the Wisconsin Historical Society on an outreach trip to the Boys and Girls Club of Door County was certainly a highlight of the summer. We built mini watersheds and turned students into junior maritime archeologists as they explored and studied mockups of popular Wisconsin shipwrecks.

Collaboration and education idea exchange are necessary for DCMM to build education programs. If you have suggestions for Speaker Series topics or presenters, classes you’d like to see offered, or you have education needs that Door County Maritime Museum may meet, please reach out.

The future of education here at the Door County Maritime Museum is as big and bright as the stars at night deep in the heart of Texas. I’m passionate about bringing science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) to this maritime history museum, and creating new classes and programs for and with the community, while advancing accessibility initiatives. Thank you for welcoming this Texan to Sturgeon Bay, and please wish me luck as I endure my first Wisconsin winter.

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT

AL & MARY NOWACHEK

BY MEGAN DIETZ

VOLUNTEERS DO MANY KINDS

OF

WORK for the Door County Maritime Museum properties. Most people know about the docents who lead tours, the tractor drivers who get people across the Cana Island causeway, and the volunteers who help us run events. The volunteers that most people don’t know about are the ones who help maintain and improve the exteriors of the properties. This Volunteer Spotlight is shining on Mary and Al Nowachek, who do all the gardening and landscaping at the Death’s Door Maritime Museum in Gills Rock.

Mary and Al first started volunteering for the Death’s Door Maritime Museum about 3 years ago. The site manager at the time was an acquaintance from church, and when they went to visit the museum Mary especially noticed that the gardens around the building needed some care. As Mary explains, whoever initially laid them out and chose the plants did a wonderful job, the plants just needed a little tending and some needed to be moved to look their best. Mary brought the gardens back to life, then recruited Al to help her with the mulching that all the beds needed. Mary continues to tend the plants and maintain the beds, keeping all these wonderful flowers and other plants thriving. As time passed, Al noticed other areas that needed some attention, like the timbers that mark the parking spaces in the lot. They were out of place and some had gotten partially buried so they were no longer effective markers. Al got them all placed, staked them down so they could not move around, and got the parking lot cleaned up. He edged and cleaned up the stairs between the park next door and the museum, and cleaned up a lot of weeds throughout the property. Every area that has mulch can be credited to the efforts of Al and Mary. In 2022 they noticed there was an old fence near the driveway to the museum that was rotten and in the way of the mowers. So, Al talked to the museum leadership and volunteered to install a new fence. Now, the end of the driveway to the museum is clearly marked and much more inviting. When the previous

volunteer coordinator left, her notes on Mary and Al were that they took care of all the landscaping needs and there was no need to call them, they would come when they got to town. In short, Al and Mary do whatever it takes to make the landscaping and grounds around the Death’s Door Maritime Museum looking their best.

When asked what they like about volunteering for the Door County Maritime Museum, Mary’s first response was “we like Brennan” and that it is fun to support him and share in his positivity. They also explained that the museum is so nice on the inside they want people to be able to see it well kept and inviting on the outside. A perk for them is also that they enjoy chatting with people who stop to see what they are working on. Al and Mary both want more people to know about northern Door County and all that there is to do and see. It is a special place to them, and they would love to see it become special to more people!

Door County Maritime Museum is lucky to get some of Al and Mary’s time, they are busy people! In addition to their volunteer work with the Death’s Door Maritime Museum, they both volunteer with the Liberty Grove Historical Society, their church, and with the Bridges program supporting youth working in Door County on J-1 visas. They also serve as an America Connection family, “adopting” some of the J-1 youth as family members while they are here, taking them to church, inviting them for home cooked meals and family game nights, giving them rides if needed and just generally loving on them. Al and Mary spend their winters skiing in Big Sky Montana, volunteering in Texas for Youth With A Mission, and visiting family in Sweden.

The Door County Maritime Museum can use volunteers for many aspects of museum operations, at all three ports of call! There is room for people with many different talents in the volunteer crew. If you are interested in learning more, call me at 920-743-5958 or email mdietz@dcmm.org.

2022-23 CALENDAR OF EVENTS

JOYOUSLY CELEBRATE

THE HOLIDAYS by enjoying dozens of beautifully decorated trees and decorative displays in the museum, November 12–January 2. Fantastically decorated by local businesses, organizations and residents, each of these extraordinary decorations is adorned with beautiful ornaments and special surprises. Best of all, every display will go home with a lucky winner in our Merry-Time Festival of Trees raffle!

Trees and displays will remain at the museum until January 2, so they may be enjoyed by all visitors through the holidays. Create a new holiday tradition for your family and friends by joining in this wonderful festive event.

Museum admission of $15 for adults includes one free Merry-Time Festival of Trees raffle ticket. Additional raffle tickets are $5 each or 6 for $25 and may be purchased at the Museum.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 10AM-2PM: FAMILY DAY & SANTA AT THE MUSEUM

Santa arrives on a U.S. Coast Guard boat at 10am. Kids of all ages are invited to participate in holiday activities and explore the Museum. All kids 17 & younger accompanied by an adult receive FREE admission to Saturday’s event and to the Museum on Sundays during the Festival: November 13, 20, 27, & December 4, 11, 18.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 4PM: LIGHTING OF THE 103-YEAR-OLD TUGBOAT JOHN PURVES

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 6PM: JINGLE MIXER

DCMM’s throwing a party in the NEW Captain’s Quarters event space! Revelers will enjoy food, drinks, auctions, entertainment, and the drawings for tree winners! Tickets are limited, and available to the public November 1; you can secure your tickets early by sponsoring or decorating a tree! Contact Community Engagement Manager Paige Funkhouser (pfunkhouser@dcmm.org) or call the Museum at 920-743-5958 to learn how.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12–JANUARY 2: MERRY-TIME FESTIVAL OF TREES—ON DISPLAY!

The Festival runs daily during Museum hours, 10am-5pm. Visitors to the museum during the Festival’s seven week run purchase raffle tickets—or view the trees after the gala—in hopes of winning one of the beautifully decorated trees, wreaths or displays.

BY PAIGE FUNKHOUSER

The MARITIME SPEAKER SERIES offers an assortment of monthly programs – from historical topics to current issues affecting the Great Lakes and the economy that relies on them. The Door County Medical Center Maritime Speaker Series programs are held the first Thursday of each month, October through May, beginning at 7pm, on the second floor of the Museum in Sturgeon Bay, as well as online. There is no costs to attend; we suggest donation of a non-perishable food item, or if watching online, we ask you to donate to your local food pantry.

• November 3: ABOARD THE GREAT LAKES MARITIME ACADEMY FLEET, presented by Jerry Achenbach, Superintendent of the Great Lakes Maritime Academy.

• December 1: HOPE FOR STURGEON IN THE GREAT LAKES AND STURGEON(LESS?) BAY, presented by Titus Seilheimer, Fisheries Outreach Specialist with Wisconsin SeaGrant.

• January 5: THE BERYLUNE: JOURNEY OF A DOOR COUNTY BOAT, presented by Brennan Christianson, Door County Maritime Museum Collections Coordinator and Gills Rock Site Manager.

• February 2: LOVE AND LIFE ON THE GREAT LAKES WITH MR. AND MRS. CAPTAIN, presented by Peggy O’Connell and Captain Raymond Sheldon, Captain of the Joseph L. Block.

• March 2: STORIES OF MARITIME MAYHEM ON MILWAUKEE’S WATERWAYS, presented by Matthew J. Prigge, Wisconsin Historical Society.

• April 6: CAPTAIN DAN SEAVEY: A PIRATE BEHAVING BADLY ON THE GREAT LAKES, presented by Samantha Engel and Aaron Guylas, historians and creators of Great Lakes Lore Podcast.

• May 4: BETWEEN BOATS AND BREWS: CAPTAIN PABST’S INTERESTING CAREER SWITCH IN WISCONSIN, presented by Dave Fehlauer, President of the Pabst Mansion Volunteer Council.

HOST A HOLIDAY EVENT AT DCMM!

Wow your friends and host a private or company party in the unique rooms of the Maritime Museum! Invite your friends to join you at the top of the new Jim Kress Maritime Lighthouse Tower and impress them with jaw-dropping views. Celebrate with up to 120 of your closest friends and family in the new Captain’s Quarters on the second floor of the Museum, with views overlooking the West Waterfront. Host a corporate event for up to 60 people in the Museum’s Reddin Bridge Room. For information about renting space at DCMM, contact Community Engagement Manager Paige Funkhouser (pfunkhouser@dcmm.org) or call the Museum at 920-743-5958.