From: "David & Joan Totten" <djtotten@earthlink.net> Subject: The Christmas Tree Ship Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:27:47 -0500 Message-ID: <003301cdb613$e3d826c0$ab887440$@net>
The public is cordially invited to New Berlin Historical Society's annual
meeting program:
Where: New Berlin Public Library 15105 Library Lane, New Berlin, WI 53151
What: The Christmas Tree Ship by author Rochelle Pennington
When: 7 pm, November 13th, 2012
Contact: 262-643-8855 or newberlinhistoricalsociety.org
No admission charge
The true account of the Christmas Tree Ship, considered "the most loved
story of the Great Lakes" over the past century, will be presented at the
annual meeting of the New Berlin Historical Society, Tuesday, November
13th, at the New Berlin Public Library. The meeting begins at 6:30 pm, and
the program at 7:00 pm. The program is free and open to the public.
The presentation by Rochelle Pennington includes original photographs and
focuses on little-known facts-clues washed ashore over the decades following
the ship's mysterious disappearance, ghost ship sightings, and omens
believed to have fixed the fate of the vessel before it set sail on Nov. 22,
1912. Artifacts raised from the sunken ship will be on display, along with
underwater photos of the ship in its current state at the bottom of Lake.
This story has inspired paintings, poems, six different Christmas Tree Ship
songs, television programs, a musical titled "The Christmas Schooner," and a
"new" Christmas Tree Ship sailed by the Great Lakes Coast Guard each holiday
as a living memorial.
"It is a story which exemplifies the best of humanity," said Pennington,
author of two books on the subject. "At its heart we find courage,
generosity, heroism, and the importance of family. The moment I first heard
about the famed vessel, I understood why it had endeared itself to so many
people and was still being shared a hundred years later."
David Totten, President
New Berlin Historical Society
www.newberlinhistoricalsociety.org
262-643-8855