Special

Howling Winds: The Misadventures of Maritime Mascots

In “Howling Winds”, author and historian Ric Mixter shares the most famous mascot stories on fresh and salt water. You will hear about incredible survivals in the 1913 and “Black Friday” 1916 Storms, as well as the dog that helped search for 29 men lost on the Edmund Fitzgerald. Join for fun and entertaining stories of Gold medal rescues, treasure ships and mascot stories from all five Great Lakes in this new GLCC School addition presented by one of Michigan's favorite story tellers.

Ric Mixter is back for our 2025-26 season after spending months going through newspapers and Lifesaving Reports to pull fact from fiction on nine shipwrecks in Lake Superior- including the newly discovered Huronton. You will hear how Capt. Dick Simpell risked his own life running aboard a sinking ship to rescue a bulldog. Cameras revealed the open door used by Simpell as he jumped aboard the Cetus before his stricken vessel sank.  Ric takes you back to 1895 to hear of the sole survivor of the Chicora. The frozen puppy, nicknamed Rough, was found days after the sinking that took 25 lives. The wreck is still missing on Lake Michigan. Details on the newly discovered SR Kirby are also unveiled. Did the captain’s dog Tige really make it ashore? One of the two survivors thought he saw the dog sink with the ship’s skipper.
A new exhibit at Whitefish Point’s shipwreck museum will showcase the loss of the steamer AA Parker.  Ric shares with webinar viewers the backstory on Aaron Parker and how he built a maritime empire in Detroit. The Parker had two dogs that were rescued by lifesavers at Grand Marais. 

Our favorite Great Lakes historian tells tales of shipwrecks in fresh and salt water that involved mascots- many times pets of the Captain or Chief Engineer. Don't miss this one.
 

Coming soon

This webinar is not open for registration yet, but will be soon. In the meantime, please check out our open classes.

Meet The Instructor

Ric Mixter
Returning for the 2025/26 season, Ric is bringing to the GLCC School a series of knowledgeable, energetic and passionate webinars about Great Lakes history. We think you will agree he's mastered how to engage viewers remotely with his enthusiasm and exclusive interviews and video.

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