Craig Middlebrook of the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (1995-2022) speaking on the current state of the Seaway system along with its history and future.

Fred Stonehouse, maritime author, with more on his newest book: Gone, The Greatest Shipwreck Mystery on the Great Lakes, about the French minesweepers lost in Lake Superior.

Charlie Brown, president of the Lakehead Transportation Museum Society in Thunder Bay, on what’s new and cool – from the Alexander Henry retired Canadian Coast Guard cutter to two restored Brill trolley buses constructed at the Canadian Car and Foundry in Thunder Bay and more.

Rachel Miller, supervisory civil engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, will give a presentation on “New Lock at the Soo: The Key to the Great Lakes” with the history, current progress, future work and economic impacts of the Poe-size lock being built at Sault Ste. Marie.

Megan Meyer, executive director of the Superior Public Museums, gives an update on the last whaleback above water … our own SS Meteor. 

William L. James is President of the Navy League of the United States Minnesota Council, a 501c3 Non-Profit, who’s mission is supporting the Sea Services of the Navy, Coast Guard, and Merchant Services. He has served as President since 2017 and was recently named Area President for the upper midwest region encompassing North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska. 

He has been a Navy Leaguer since 2011 when he joined to assist with commissioning the USS Minnesota SSN783 the first Virginia Class nuclear submarine of its class named after the state. His team recently led efforts to commission the USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul, LCS21 in Duluth MN on May 21, 2016. Mr. James has degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois and an MBA from the Carlson Business School, University of Minnesota.

Kevin Cullen, deputy director/chief curator of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, speaks on “Bringing Shipwreck Artifacts Back to Life in New Ways.” He’ll explain how the museum plans to conserve, display and interpret thousands of recently acquired artifacts that were salvaged from Great Lakes shipwrecks between the 1960s and 1980s.

Roger LeLievre, publisher of Know Your Ships, returns live and in-person this year, explaining why he is the “luckiest boatnerd alive” and with a history of the popular guide Know Your Ships.

Nick Stenstrup and Scott Bjorklund, working on a project to digitize historic maritime images, show off their favorites with the stories that go with them.