May 15, 2024
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Webinar on Wednesday commemorates Christmas ship, promotes forest health

Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie will host the program, registration required

By Denise M. Baran-Unland

Members of the U.S. Coast Guard carry trees from the USCG Cutter Mackinaw at Navy Pier in Chicago. The USDA Forest Service’s Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie will host a webinar on Wednesday, Dec. 1 2021, to raise awareness of benefits of vegetation management for forest health and sustainability. (Photo provided)

A webinar on Wednesday will commemorate Chicago’s Christmas Ship and raise awareness of the benefits of vegetation management.

Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie will host the webinar from 6 to 6:40 p.m. Wednesday.

Chicago Maritime Museum Curator Dylan Hoffmann will discuss the museum’s programs honoring the Rouse Simmons – i.e. the Christmas Ship – and why the story of the three-masted schooner is still historically significant, according to a news release from Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie.

USDA Forest Service Regional Timber Contracting Officer Justin Burkey will discuss the benefits of “restoration management to forest health and sustainability,” the release said. He will also highlight USDA Forest Service programs that increase forest health.

Musician Lee Murdock will open the webinar by singing his song “The Christmas Ship,” which he released in 1989.

Lee Murdock sings his song “The Christmas Ship” on the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw at Navy Pier. Murdock will perform his popular song on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021, during a USDA Forest Service webinar to raise awareness of benefits of vegetation management for forest health and sustainability. (Photo provided)

Background

The Christmas Ship carried trees for Chicagoans in the early 20th century. Its captain, Herman Schuenemann, reputedly gave trees to Chicagoans in need, the release said.

Schuenemann would dock the ship at the south side of the Clark Street Bridge on the Chicago River, where Schuenemann had established the Northern Michigan Evergreen Nursery in 1910, according to the Christmas Ship website, and people would celebrate its arrival, the release said.

The Rouse Simmons was last seen on Nov. 23, 1912, between Kewaunee and Two Rivers, Wisconsin, the website said. A Milwaukee diver found the Rouse Simmons in 1973 – 12 miles northeast of Two Rivers, the release said.

The U.S. Coast Guard reenacts the journey of the Rouse Simmons each year during the first week of December and coordinates distribution of trees to Chicagoans in need from the Cutter Mackinaw at Navy Pier, the release said. Over 24,000 trees were from Christmas 2000 through Christmas 2018, according to the Christmas Ship website.

To register for the webinar, call 815-423-6370 or email SM.FS.Midewin_RSVP@usda.gov.

For information about the Christmas Ship, visit christmasship.org.