Lewiston's Tribute to the Edmund Fitzgerald returns Thursday
Nov. 2—The ship known as the Edmund Fitzgerald may not have sunk in one of our nearby Great Lakes, but its memory lives on thanks to an annual tribute.
Lewiston's Edmund Fitzgerald event will return at 7:10 p.m. Thursday at the Brickyard Brewing Co., commemorating the 47th anniversary of one of the worst Great Lakes maritime disasters. Organized by the Lewiston Council on the Arts, it is the brainchild of local artist and self-professed Edmund Fitzgerald enthusiast Thomas Asklar.
The Edmund Fitzgerald was a freighter ship launched in 1958 that carried iron ore from mines to ports along the Great Lakes. On Nov. 10, 1975, the ship sank during a storm in Lake Superior, resulting in the deaths of the 29 crew members on board.
The tribute was born out of some work Asklar did for his teaching job, where he would teach students about what a tribute is by using the Edmund Fitzgerald as a subject. He would also show them what a ballad was, using Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," as an example.
"I wanted kids to learn a musical tribute," Asklar said. "After that, they created a piece of artwork that is a visual tribute."
Growing up, Asklar would go to an aunt's cottage in Canada where he would see boats going across the Welland Canal. It was in his youth when the Edmund Fitzgerald sank and the Lightfoot song about it was released. He clarified that he is an enthusiast, not an expert.
"I like learning more about things and sharing that with over people," Asklar said.
Asklar also had an impromptu tribute to the boat's sinking with some friends, which involved his brother making a model of the ship, drinking Edmund Fitzgerald-themed beer from Great Lakes Brewery, singing the Gordon Lightfoot song, reading the names of the 29 people who died, and ringing a bell.
This came to be a Lewiston event after Asklar was asked to participate in the discovery series, a monthly event where any artist can show off what they are passionate about. It was something done during the winter months when the village slowed down after Christmas and before things pick up again in the spring. The Council on the Arts wanted him to do his about artwork while he wanted to do something different.
"It's a way to honor the hardworking men and women who made this country what it is," he said.
Asklar described the first year of this like how he taught about the ship in his classes, where people would listen what he had to say, create artwork, and read poetry related to the ship. They would ring the bell for the 29 people who died as well.
"After the first year, I decided it was going to evolve," Asklar said. "Each year I try to update it an include different things."
The event starts at 7:10 because that was the time the final radio communication from the Edmund Fitzgerald was sent out, with Captain Ernest McSorley saying "We're holding our own," before going down. Along with Asklar's presentation about the ship and how it sank, there will be a model of the ship made by "Commodore" Justin Higner, of Higner-Maritime Artworks, and a bagpipe tribute from Jim Rankin.
Musicians Bruce Wojick, Jamie Polka, Dave Thurman and Jeremy Hoyle, lead singer of the Strictly Hip, will perform songs that are nautical themed and from the era the Edmund Fitzgerald sailed the Great Lakes. Brickyard Brewing Co. will also create a special lager for the event called Gitchegumee. A professional artist himself, Asklar will also display a painting he created depicting the ship.
Along with the tribute event on Thursday, the Mighty Fitz 5K race will take place at 2 p.m. on Saturday, starting in front of Brickyard Pub & BBQ with runners going through the village, Artpark, and along the Niagara River waterfront. It will have its own celebration at Brickyard featuring an award ceremony, commemorative t-shirts, and live music by Zak Ward.
