A classic 92-year old tugboat that enhanced the South Haven harbor for many years before it sank in the winter ice two years ago is getting a new lease on life and will earn a role as a permanent display at the Michigan Maritime Museum just yards away from its long-time mooring spot along the Black River.
The civic group known as SHOUT for South Haven has teamed up with the Maritime Museum to permanently save the historic vessel, the tugboat Wilhelm Baum.
The 92-year-old, 50-ton vessel was built in Michigan and worked as a commercial tug and later a Coast Guard Auxiliary rescue vessel. It was moored at a museum dock when in 2014 it sank in the winter ice of the Black River. J & B Landing of South Haven raised the vessel on behalf of owner Jim Bradley. The vessel was purchased by Mike Myles of Saugatuck who, with family members, spent over 3000 hours restoring the hull, engine and components to working order. Myles wanted to ensure that this historic vessel and its history were appreciated for generations to come and thought that the Maritime Museum would be a perfect place for that to happen. The Museum was receptive to keeping the Baum in South Haven.
Patti Montgomery Reinert is Executive Director of the Michigan Maritime Museum. She approached SHOUT, a citizen-based not-for-profit organization dedicated to “working to make a great community even better." SHOUT has agreed to donate $35,000 to the Michigan Maritime Museum for acquisition of the vessel.
SHOUT has a long history of providing funding and leadership for projects that benefit the community. It has provided antique street lighting along South and North beaches, placed four-faced clocks at the entrance to the harbor and in the downtown, spearheaded an initiative to place sculpture in a refurbished central business district and provided seed money for the establishment of the popular South Haven Performance Series and new South Haven Speakers Series. SHOUT volunteers also plant the flowers and place the holiday garlands on the Dyckman bridge.
A 501 (c) (3) organization, SHOUT is supported through donations and an annual Cottage Walk fund-raiser which this year will be held on Saturday, June 25.
The Michigan Maritime Museum offers unique educational opportunities highlighting the rich maritime heritage of Michigan and the Great Lakes.
Representatives of the Michigan Maritime Museum and SHOUT will welcome the Wilhelm Baum to the permanent collection on Friday, May 20 with a ceremony at the museum, 260 Dyckman Ave. A time is yet to be announced. SHOUT chairman Robert Copping will present the grant check to museum Executive Director Patti Montgomery Reinert. Everyone is invited to join the celebration.
For more information call 269-637-8078 or visit www. MichiganMaritimeMuseum.org
