KAGAWONG—History Day in Kagawong this year will feature a double feature and aptly fits the theme of ‘Tragedy and Triumph on Lake Huron.’ One part will have speaker Richard Thomas talking about his book celebrating the 50th anniversary of the MS Chi-Cheemaun plus stories of other ships that served the Turkey Trail of Manitoulin Island and the North Channel. Part two will see Mike Strobel telling the story of the ill-fated journey of the 24-foot cabin cruiser boat The Rhu that broke up in a squall with loss of four lives (including two children) at the mouth of Mudge Bay.
“History Day in Kagawong will take place on Thursday, August 8,” said Rick Nelson, curator of the Old Mill Heritage Centre. “It will be a double feature and the theme is ‘Tragedy and Triumph on Lake Huron.’
Mr. Nelson explained, “On August 23, 1965, six people (including two children) from Sudbury left Little Current in the Rhu, hoping to cross the North Channel over to Gore Bay on Manitoulin Island. They never made it. They were forced to abandon ship in a squall and over the next several hours four of the six passengers were dead including the two children.”
“Journalist Mike Strobel of the Toronto Sun has researched this story, including interviewing the last survivor of the Rhu. He will present his findings and conclusions during History Day in Kagawong,” said Mr. Nelson.
“It’s a really heartbreaking, gut-wrenching story,” stated Mr. Strobel, from his home on Maple Point last week. “I’m talking about The Rhu, which was a cabin cruiser that hit a reef off my shore in 1965. I can see the reef from the shore, and the bow of the boat is now the pulpit at the St. John’s Anglican’s Church in Kagawong.”
“About 12 years ago, I talked to one of the survivors of the wreck, Jim Huffman, about what happened on those waters,” said Mr. Strobel. The 24-foot cabin cruiser ran aground on the reef and within two days, four people were dead including the two little girls. Jim (Huffman) called me one day when I was still working at the Toronto Sun and said he wanted to talk about it. I had written about the ‘Blessing of the Boats’ ceremony the church in Kagawong holds every year and I had referred to shipwrecks in the area, one being The Rhu. This was about 50 years after the incident and Jim was dying from Parkinson’s disease and was a resident in a long-term care nursing home in Toronto.”
Mr. Huffman watched his family and his best friend Wyn Rhydwen die one by one, shipwrecked and adrift in the North Channel. “Karen Hoffman was 2, and big sister Catherine was four. Jim’s wife Shirley, 31, cried through the night when their girls, so sweet and tiny and blonde, succumbed. Bonnie Rhydwen (Wyn’s wife) survived the ordeal.
“Jim and I sat for about two hours together as he told me the story,” said Mr. Strobel. “It was one of the most incredible stories of heartbreak I’ve heard in all my time in the newspaper business (close to 40 years).”
“It was a beautiful night, and everyone settled in for the night and they felt that a boat would surely come along the next day. The boat slept four and they had put in two new bunks for the young girls, with name signs on them,” said Mr. Strobel.
“But by the morning, the storm had come up and (by later in the day) the storm had battered the roof, the porthole and a windshield and the water had reached the stove in the boat and the girls bunks.”
“The only survivors were Jim (Huffman) and Bonnie, who drifted across the Mudge Bay for 16 hours,” said Mr. Strobel. The current had washed them onto a sandy beach on tiny Gooseberry Island.
“Understandably with the horrible ordeal they had gone through it affected Jim deeply,” said Mr. Strobel. Eventually Mr. Huffman dug himself out of the pain, guilt and heartbreak to become renowned as a guidance teacher and a grief counsellor. “I hope people get the words and the message that it is not just about the numbers of people who have perished in boating accidents, it is about the real human drama and tragedy that all these people went through. It is tragic.”
Richard Thomas, of Owen Sound will tell the history of the Chi-Cheemaun plus the ferry service and ships that covered other parts of the Island and beyond along the Turkey Trail.
“I started writing about history in the area in 1995 as a television news reporter for CKCO in Kitchener,” Mr. Thomas told The Expositor. “In 1999 CKCO stopped covering the Owen Sound area. So, I started my own video production company, and the Owen Sound Transportation Company was one of my first clients. I make the safety videos everyone hears when they are on the ship.”
“While I was doing all of this, I was writing local history as well,” said Mr. Thomas. “Last fall Kerry Adams, who had been the captain on the Chi-Cheemaun for 25 years and is now the operational director, said the ship was coming up on its 50th anniversary and he wondered if I had any ideas. I said, ‘let’s make a book!’”
From there Mr. Thomas wrote ‘The Jewel of Georgian Bay: 50 years of the Chi-Cheemaun.’ “It is the day-to-day history of the company and the Chi-Cheemaun with film footage of the ship, the Norisle and many other ships along with stories on those people who have worked on the Chi-Cheemaun.”
“I love doing this type of stuff,” added Mr. Thomas.
History Day in Kagawong will take place at the Kagawong Park Centre on Thursday, August 8 with a matinee at 3:30 pm and an evening session at 7:30 pm. Admission is free, but donations are appreciated.
