Meteor gets much needed attention from volunteers

At 9 a.m. Saturday, trucks and trailers will pull into a misty Barker’s Island parking lot.

Immediately this good-humored group will begin to unload trailers and unpack bins of tools. The group will gather from greater Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan for the annual spring work weekend on the SS Meteor.

The 50 volunteers represent a number of groups including the Lake Superior Marine Museum Association, The Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society and the Friends of the Meteor.

As soon as a group picture is taken the crowd will break into teams. The groups will work on getting the main tour track ready for the season. They make the beds, set the tables in the mess halls and paint any areas that need a touch up. Other groups work on major maintenance projects.

This year a welder will take up residence in a 60-foot boom truck to repair some rusty holes on the port side of the ship. Lunch on Saturday will be provided by Grandma’s Restaurants, and served by volunteers from LSMMA. Saturday’s dinner will be served at the Old Firehouse and Police Museum at 6 p.m. Meteor volunteers Jim Sharrow and Roger Pellet will update the group on the efforts to restore the meteor. Their presentation focuses on the plans put together by LHB for the permanent site plan for the ship.

Last year the volunteers donated more than 700 hours. Because of the ongoing hard work put in by these groups, the Meteor is looking better than it has for years, said Sarah Jackson of Superior Public Museums.

Tags: barker's island, news, superior