On August 5, two sisters of men lost on the Carl D. Bradley stood at Lakeside Park in Rogers City and rang a bell 33 times, once for each crewman who died. Behind them, the restored Coast Guard cutter Sundew sat along the shore. The Sundew is the ship that pulled the Bradley's only two survivors from Lake Michigan in 1958. As WCMU reported, that August visit was the first time the Sundew had ever come into Rogers City since the sinking.
Karen Goddard, executive director of the Presque Isle County Historical Museum, told WCMU it was "a once in a lifetime event, it will probably never happen again." She also pointed ahead to November 18, the date of the town's yearly tradition of honoring the wreck. The calendar has moved since then. This year Rogers City will ring the Bradley bell on Saturday, November 14. The anniversary itself, a Wednesday, will be marked in Alpena.
The November Calendar Runs on Saturdays
The Great Lakes Lore Maritime Museum at 367 N. Third Street organizes the bell ringings, and its events page lists three for this November. Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary's program falls in between them.
| Date | Day | Ship | Lost | Where | Time listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 7 | Saturday | SS Edmund Fitzgerald, 1975 | 29 | Great Lakes Lore event, Rogers City; venue not listed | 1 p.m. |
| November 14 | Saturday | SS Carl D. Bradley, 1958 | 33 | Great Lakes Lore event; venue not yet posted | Not yet posted |
| November 18 | Wednesday | Carl D. Bradley, 68th anniversary | 33 | Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center, Alpena | 6 to 7:30 p.m. |
| November 28 | Saturday | SS Daniel J. Morrell, 1966 | 28 | Great Lakes Lore event, Rogers City; venue not listed | 1 p.m. |
The Saturday habit goes back years. In 2022, The Alpena News described the town's fall ringings as being held "on three successive Saturdays." This year the run breaks after two weeks. The Morrell service lands on November 28, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, so anyone hosting family that weekend has a 1 p.m. memorial in town.
The museum also holds a spring service. This year's Cedarville bell ringing took place May 2. The Cedarville sank after a collision in the Straits of Mackinac in 1965, and the museum's page says 10 men were lost and 25 survived.
Why the Bradley Bell Moves Off Its Own Date
The anniversary stays on November 18, but the ringing goes wherever the calendar puts the nearby Saturday. In 2023, November 18 happened to be a Saturday, and UpNorthLive listed the ceremony for that afternoon at 1 p.m. at the Rogers City Theater. Grand Traverse Maritime Academy cadets and the VFW color guard took part. In 2022 the ringing was on November 19 at the theater, and it doubled as the premiere of an independent film about the sinking.
Last year the anniversary fell on a Tuesday. WCMU reported that between 100 and 150 people came to the bell-ringing ceremony at the maritime museum on the Saturday before. The Fitzgerald works the same way. Its 50th anniversary was Monday, November 10, 2025, and the museum rang for those 29 men two days earlier, on Saturday afternoon.
That makes November 14 this year's date. The museum's listing gives the day but no start time, and the venue has changed between the Rogers City Theater and the museum in recent years. Call the museum before you plan around a 1 p.m. start.
What Happens When the Bell Rings
The format barely changes from one ceremony to the next. As The Alpena News described it, participants toll a bell once for each life lost. Relatives ring for their own family members, some of them traveling in from across the state, and people from the community ring for the rest. The newspaper's photo caption from 2022 identified the bell as a ship's bell retrieved from the wreck of the Carl D. Bradley. Museum director Mike Horn rang it at the Rogers City Theater.
Horn explained to the paper why the town keeps doing it:
"They were ours. They were part of our life."
For the Bradley, those words carry numbers behind them. WCMU's 2025 coverage reported that 23 of the 33 men who died were from Rogers City, and an estimated 53 children in town lost their fathers. The ship carried limestone from the Calcite quarry, and it was heading home to Rogers City for a hull inspection when it broke apart near Beaver Island.
The Fitzgerald and Morrell services reach past the town's own crews. At last year's Fitzgerald ringing, UpNorthLive reported, retired captain Mike Merrick rang for his friend's uncle, the freighter's chief engineer, in a room filled with family and friends. The station also noted that the museum holds these ceremonies because freighters are deeply rooted in Rogers City's history. Merrick, who sailed the Great Lakes for 42 years, told WCMU that freighters didn't change how they handled heavy weather until after the Fitzgerald went down in 1975.
Wednesday the 18th Goes to Alpena
With Rogers City ringing on the 14th, the anniversary itself is held in Alpena. Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary is hosting a free evening program from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 18, at the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center, 500 W. Fletcher St. in downtown Alpena.
Erin Pilarski, the sanctuary's Visitor Experience and Events Coordinator, opens with a short history of the ship and its effect on Rogers City. Her grandfather sailed with Bradley Transportation and narrowly missed being aboard for the final voyage. After her talk, the sanctuary will screen November Requiem, a film about the sinking and the lives it changed.
So if you want to mark both dates this year, it means two drives: Saturday in Rogers City and Wednesday evening on Fletcher Street in Alpena.
Where the Names Stay the Rest of the Year
Once the November ringings are over, the names are still on display around town. The Rogers City Sailors Memorial at Lakeside Park, at North Lake Street and East Michigan Avenue, was dedicated on August 9, 1987. It's built from an anchor and a propeller off Great Lakes freighters, and it lists the men lost on the Bradley and the Cedarville. The marker notes that nine of the 10 men who died on the Cedarville were from Rogers City. According to WCMU, a plaque at the community marina also lists every Bradley crew member.
Two museums carry the story indoors:
- Great Lakes Lore Maritime Museum, 367 N. Third Street, lists hours of Monday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday noon to 3 p.m. The site doesn't say whether those hours change by season, so check before a winter visit. Its collection covers uniforms, personal items, navigational tools and sailors' own stories.
- The Presque Isle County Historical Museum, which includes the Bradley House, lists summer hours of Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. Its Bradley Transportation exhibit has models of the Carl D. Bradley and the John G. Munson.
The August visit also left a door open for the Sundew. Owner Jeff Foster, who bought the retired cutter from the City of Duluth in 2009, told WCMU he had no set plans to come back. He added, "if we ever get into Lake Huron, which I'm sure we probably will at some point, we'll absolutely come back to Rogers City."
For us, much of the Lake Huron shore's character comes from traditions like these November Saturdays, and we're proud to be part of these towns. If you own a home along this shoreline and want to know what it's worth, Coldwell Banker Fairbairn Realty can give you a free home valuation, prepared by people who know Lakeside Park and Third Street by name.
