Features

Working on the Badger: Keepers of the Legacy – AB Max Hockanson

October 4, 2025

Part 3 By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief LAKE MICHIGAN — Max Hockanson, 22, has been working on the S.S. Badger since he was 16-years-old. Now in his eighth year at Lake Michigan Carferry, he is an able bodied seaman working in the deck department. His duties even include steering the ship. His career has also expanded beyond working on the Badger…

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Working on the Badger: Keepers of the Legacy, part 2

October 3, 2025

MCP Great Lakes Boat Blog Story by Mark Varenhorst, MCP Contributing Writer Photos by Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief LAKE MICHIGAN — Ludington is a maritime town.  It has been since its early days of lumber.  From the mid-19th century there have been ships that have worked this port village which became a city in 1873.  Those break-bulk ships evolved into the…

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Working on the Badger: Keepers of the Legacy, part 1

October 1, 2025

MCP Great Lakes Boat Blog Photos and story by Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief LAKE MICHIGAN — On Monday, Sept. 29, MCP contributing writer Mark Varenhorst and myself spent the day on the S.S. Badger. Our purpose for the trip was to feature some of the many people who keep the 72-year-old vessel operating. Our day was spent talking to a variety…

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History of the three Amber Township cemeteries

September 28, 2025

This MCP Great Lakes History Blog is presented by Filer Credit Union and the Mason County Historical Society.  By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief AMBER TOWNSHIP — Amber Township maintains two cemeteries, Rickey Cemetery, located on Conrad Road, and Towns Cemetery, located on Johnson Road. Before either of those cemeteries were developed, the township owned a cemetery known as the Evans Cemetery,…

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Muskegon museum ship Coast Guard Cutter McLane to be scrapped

September 28, 2025

Photos by Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief MUSKEGON — Earlier this month, the USS Silversides Submarine Museum announced that its board and staff have made the decision to de-accession the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter McLane, due to the boat’s state of disrepair. Commissioned in 1927, the McLane served with distinction through multiple eras of Coast Guard history. During World War II, the…

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