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On Armistice Day, Nov. 11, 1940, the weather in the Great Lakes region started with temperatures in the mid-60s. But, a "weather bomb" was about to strike. By afternoon, a deadly storm, that started on the West Coast, was making its way up Lake Michigan, killing dozens of sailors and sinking five vessels. It was one of the deadliest storms to strike Lake Michigan.

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On November 10, 1975, Vans Stevenson and Todd Reed were reporters for the Ludington Daily News in Ludington, Michigan on the east shore of Lake Michigan. Both young reporters covered the storm that struck Mason County, Michigan that day. Later that day, the storm made its way up Lake Michigan, over the Upper Peninsula and collided with two other storm fronts at White Fish POINT, causing the loss of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald. It was the second worst storm on record at Ludington. In this episode of Great Lakes history log we speak with Stevenson and Reed about their experiences that day.

Vans Stevenson is retired as the vice president of government affairs with the Motion Picture Association. Todd Reed is a nature and landscape photographer. He served over 30 years in the U.S. Guard Reserves retiring as a chief petty officer.

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Thank you for following Great Lakes History Log, a production of Sable Points Media, a non-profit news and information service, in partnership with Media Group 31 and Mason County Press.

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A small and shiny marker sits at the corner of a family plot at Lakeview Cemetery in Ludington, Michigan. There actually is no grave for this person, instead the marker serves as a memorial for a woman who lost her life in what is the most famous shipwreck in history, the sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic.

MY APOLOGIES TO ALL THOSE WHO KEEP TRACK, I INADVERTENTLY SAID "HMS" RATHER THAN "RMS" IN THE BEGINNING OF THIS PODCAST.

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Thank you for following Great Lakes History Log, a production of Sable Points Media, a non-profit news and information service, in partnership with Media Group 31 and Mason County Press.

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A bizarre murder took place along the shores of Crystal Lake near Scottville, Michigan, in 1934. The victim was 62-year-old Bertha Bean, also known as Bertha Comley. The sole suspect was Bean’s commonwealth husband, 68-year-old Charles Comley,.

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On Sept. 9, 1910, the worst disaster to strike the Pere Marquette Railway's carferry fleet occurred. The Pere Marquette 18, the company's flagship while under way between Ludington, Michigan and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was the first carferry sinking to occur in Lake Michigan but wouldn't be the last.

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The Great Depression was especially harsh on the farming community. In Mason County, Michigan, George Casper latched on the communist cause by first running for state representative and then later trying to get farmers to join his political movement. His efforts backfired in 1934 with a riot in the village of Custer.

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In 1879, Capt. Frederick Kendrick was awarded the United States Gold Lifesaving Medal for his heroic act of saving 44 men from the schooner J.H. Rutter off the shore of Ludington, Michigan near what is now the north end of Stearns Park.

This podcast is a presentation of Filer Credit Union and the Mason County Historical Society. It is a production of Sable Points Media in partnership with Mason County Press.

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Thank you for following Great Lakes History Log, a production of Sable Points Media, a non-profit news and information service, in partnership with Media Group 31 and Mason County Press.

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In 1993, 15-year-old Melissa Simmons was found, murdered, in the Pere Marquette River in Mason County, Michigan. Since that time, the unsolved murder has haunted the small town of Scottville and the surrounding area.

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Thank you for following Great Lakes History Log, a production of Sable Points Media, a non-profit news and information service, in partnership with Media Group 31 and Mason County Press.

Please also check out our YouTube channel.