The date was September 6th, 1952.
Just two days earlier, Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected to serve as the 34th President of the United States and Wish You Were Here by Eddie Fisher topped the charts.
Also on that day, the S.S. Badger was launched by the Christy Corporation along with its twin the S.S. Spartan.
While it was initially designed to carry railroad cars across Lake Michigan, it now carries passengers, their personal vehicles, semi-trucks, and equipment across the watery stretch of US Highway 10 connecting Manitowoc and Ludington Michigan.
Many residents and local dignitaries were on hand today as the vessel was welcomed back to Manitowoc.
The Manitowoc Lincoln Band was also on hand to celebrate what Visit Manitowoc Director Courtney Hansen calls the unofficial start to summer as 600 people unload onto Manitowoc soil.
“The economic impact that has is huge for our restaurants, our small businesses, our museum, our hotels,” she explained. “There are people that are going to stay here and experience Manitowoc.”
The second Visitor Center for the city is located right at the dock, and even if they have been here before, there are some changes that were made inside the building.
“Last year we did phase one of renovations, repainting and sprucing the place up a little bit,” she noted. “But over the winter we did a complete remodel of the bathrooms. Both of the men’s and women’s are now ADA compliant and we also have brand new flooring.”
Hansen tells us that a phase three is in the works as they are working with the Rahr West Art Museum to get some artwork emblazoned on the exterior of the structure as well.
