“Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?”
It’s November 10th again, which means that for the 48th year straight year I have Gordon Lightfoot’s legendary ballad to the Witch of November on repeat. My absolute favorite version of the song (as many of you know probably all too wdell) is this version that Joseph Fulton created way back in 2009. Given YouTube’s ruthlessness on music copyright, I have to assume that Lightfoot blessed this because from the moment Harry Reasoner begins speaking, who wouldn’t?
You can join the 49th annual Great Lakes Memorial Service, a remembrance of the crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald in person at Mariners’ Church in downtown Detroit or on their YouTube livestream at 11am today. On November 11, 1975 they rang their church bell 29 times in honor of all the sailors that lost their lives due to the wreck of the S.S. Edmund FItzgerald. They do it every year, and the beloved service also commemorates all sailors who have lost their lives on the Great Lakes.
Here are a couple of photos I took recently of the beautiful stained glass and the historical marker at Mariners’ Church which is between Hart Plaza and the Renaissance Center on the riverfront in downtown Detroit. Lots more about the Edmund Fitzgerald on Michigan in Pictures!
Michigan in Pictures 
I remember the Edmund Fitzgerald well because a neighbor came running down the alley yelling about it. I asked him “Well…did you notify the Coast Guard” which brought him to a screeching halt when he remembered he hadn’t.
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I was out in the yard leaning into the wind with my coat open … then big metal shingles started flying off the barn – crazy!!!!
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I remember the night this happened. This video is awesome showing the history of the Edmund Fitzgerald which was built right here in Ecorse. I like how it shows the ship, the weather and most of all, all those sailors and officers that lost their lives 49 years ago tonight. I wonder how they will honor this event next year for the 50th anniversary? My former boss (labor attorney) had a client who owned a fleet of vessels (a freighter, a steamship and several tugboats). While the freighter was in Detroit when the cement silos were still down on the riverfront near where Milliken State Park is, we went on board for lunch and to tour it. The freighter hauled cement and did take on passengers during the Summer months before the pandemic.
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