SPITTING IMAGE: Model-boat builder Norm Hart
works on a replica of the Flyer ferry boat that cruised Lake
Couer d'Alene in Idaho. On June 5, model-boat builders from
the Great Lakes Nautical Society will have their first show
inside the Seaway Terminal in Port Huron.
By MELISSA WAWZYSKO, Times Herald
STARTING OUT: Model boat builder Norm Hart
shows a wood blank cut in the shape of a Great Lakes freighter
he made inside his Port Huron workshop.
Great Lakes maritime enthusiasts this summer can see the
Edmund Fitzgerald under power, even if the ship is a slightly
smaller replica of the original freighter.
Members of the Great Lakes Modeling Association, and its Port
Huron chapter, the Great Lakes Nautical Society, will show off about
50 replicas of lake ships, many fully operational and some -- such
as the Fitzgerald -- more than 9 feet long.
The boats are part of Port Huron's Be a Tourist in Your Own Town
event June 5. Acheson Ventures, the group providing a spot for the
boats, has more permanent ideas in mind for the boat-building group.
Acheson Ventures spokesman Paul Maxwell said the association soon
will have a location at the new Desmond Landing development site to
show and build the replicas.
"We're looking for different types of activities that would be
favorable to the maritime activity," Maxwell said.
Acheson Ventures is the development company formed by businessman
and philanthropist Jim Acheson.
The boats in June will be on display at the Seaway Terminal, and
organizers are trying to create a temporary pond to operate them.
The permanent site will have water space set aside for national
shows, Maxwell said.
A few Port Huron-area residents, including Norm Hart, 69, will
show their creations in June.
"The guys in the club are really putting an effort forth to ...
make it as acceptable to all model builders as we can," he said.
Any builder can show his or her creations. Hart hopes the show
will boost the Port Huron group's six-person membership.
Building the replicas is hard but rewarding, said Jeff Churill,
the association's Fleet Captain.
"It's quite a challenge to design and put one of those things
together and make it operational," he said.
