An important piece of Alpena’s history is on its way to oblivion, destined for the scrapyard and an unseemly end to a rich and glorious life.

Last month, the S.T. Crapo began her last voyage on the Great Lakes as she left Green Bay for Port Colborne, Ontario. Once a workhorse of the Huron Cement Co. fleet, today she is being cut up and destroyed for scrap metal.

It’s hard not to know someone in Alpena who had a family member connected to the boat, but probably few had as many connections as the Werda family, whose engineering knowledge oversaw mechanical operations of the boat for decades.

“I’m very sad to see the S. T. Crapo going to scrap,” said News Advertising Manager Christie Werda. “I have so many great memories of time spent on that boat.”

Christie’s grandfather, Leonard M. Werda, served as chief engineer on the Crapo for over 25 years. Her father, Leonard D. Werda, worked as a fireman/oiler on the Crapo for many years before leaving and becoming chief engineer at what is today the Decorative Panels International power plant. His brothers, Gary and Steven, served on the Crapo, as well.

Both father and son also served on other Huron boats, too — the E.M. Ford, J.A.W. Iglehart, and Paul H. Townsend, to name a few.

Leonard the son remembers that, at age 17, his chief engineer father sent him to Chicago to get his sailing papers. He was fine with that, as he was ready to earn money to pay off the car he just had purchased. He started on the E.M. Ford, shoveling coal to keep the engines running, and he remembers his father telling the guys around him to give him (the son) until Saginaw Bay to see how he handled the job. If he couldn’t cut it, then he could get off the boat there.

“I never worked so hard with that shovel,” he laughed, recounting the story. “My dad was not going to show me any favoritism.”

Leonard, like his daughter, Christie, is sad to see the end of the Crapo. He said his time on that boat, and the other Huron boats he served on, taught him respect for those in authority and shaped the work ethic he has followed his entire career.

“The Crapo always was the first out and the last in,” he said of the boat, which usually was the first of the Huron fleet to move cement once the ice started to break in the spring and the last to lay up for winter at the end of the year.

As the daughter and granddaughter of those serving on the boat, Christie often was able to be a guest on the Crapo.

“Right after softball season, I would be ready to hit the lakes with my grandpa,” she said. “I couldn’t wait to get on board. I loved seeing all of the different cities. Coming into some of them were bridges that would have to be opened for us to get through. People would get out of their vehicles and talk to us as we went through. I thought that was so amazing.

“I also got to go up to the pilothouse and they let me steer the boat. It was in the middle of the lake, so I couldn’t do any harm.

“When weather was bad and it was rough out, you couldn’t walk on the deck, so there was a tunnel that we could take to get from the back of the boat to the front. I remember one time when my mom and sister went on a trip, we hit a pretty bad storm. We went for dinner and things on the table were moving around. It was like, eat with one hand and catch something with the other. I luckily don’t get seasick, but it wasn’t too enjoyable for my mom and sister.

“I remember going down to the engine room with my grandpa and just being in awe of everything, but it was very loud down there.”

At one point, there was a serious attempt by several local residents to save the Crapo from the scrap heap and bring her home to Alpena, but those efforts unfortunately failed. However, it was not from a lack of intense effort and negotiation.

Like all of us, Christie wishes she could write a different ending to the Crapo’s story. Instead, she will hold onto the memories she has of it, and the generations of her family who were a part of its legacy.

“I’m very sad to see the S.T. Crapo going to scrap,” she said. “I have so many great memories of time spent on that boat. I have more pictures of going under the Mackinaw Bridge than going over it. I feel very fortunate to have been able to spend a good portion of time sailing around the Great Lakes with my grandpa on that boat. I got to experience something that not many could.”

The Crapo may be gone, but, for hundreds of area residents, memories of her will not be forgotten.

Bill Speer recently retired as the publisher and editor of The News. He can be reached at bspeer@thealpenanews.com.

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

An important piece of Alpena’s history is on its way to oblivion, destined for the scrapyard and an unseemly end ...

I was out enjoying the fall weather the other day, walking down by the beach. Peaceful. Then I saw some commotion ...

A place’s history can reveal a lot about a place’s character and that of its people, and that can say a lot ...

“Our duty as a party is not to our party alone, but to the nation, and, indeed, to all mankind.” — John F. ...

Remember that old song? It makes for a good column title. Now, I need a good lede. A preacher friend of mine ...

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

Copyright © The Alpena News | https://www.thealpenanews.com | 130 Park Place, Alpena, MI 49707 | 989-354-3111