Teachers educated on Port

Participants of the Great Lakes Maritime Transportation Teacher Institute, a program set up through Michigan Tech, are shown here at the Clure Public Marine Terminal participating in their annual summer program designed to expose teachers to the systems, modes and impacts of all types of transportation. The Port Authority’s goal was to show teachers the importance of waterborne commerce and to stimulate interest in the maritime industry.
Farm bureaus call on Port
The National Farm Bureau, a large collective of smaller organizations (state farm bureaus around the country), visited Duluth-Superior in July to learn about Port operations. The bureau was designed to “implement policies that are developed by members and provide programs that will improve the financial well-being and quality of life for farmers and ranchers.” Members come from all 50 states and Puerto Rico.
Great Lakes Marine Hall of Fame inducts Helberg

Retired Duluth Port Director Davis Helberg has been inducted into the Great Lakes Marine Hall of Fame at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.

A plaque with Mr. Helberg’s image and brief biographical information has been placed in the Museum Ship Valley Camp near the Soo Locks. Selections to the hall of fame are made by LeSault Historic Sites and the Soo Locks Visitor Center Association.

Mr. Helberg, who retired from the Duluth Seaway Port Authority in 2003 after 24 years as executive director, has been involved in Great Lakes shipping since 1958. He held office in several maritime organizations and also was a writer for various national and regional publications.

He is the second Duluthian named to the hall of fame since its creation in 1955. Wesley Harkins, marine writer and photographer and former Fraser Shipyards public relations director, was selected in 2004.
Davis Helberg, right, joins Duluthian Wesley Harkins in the Hall.

Eugene J. “Gene” Renko, 89, died June 21 in Superior. A native of Ashtabula, Ohio, Mr. Renko was a Great Lakes seafarer for 43 years before retiring in 1982 as a chief engineer for Cleveland Cliffs. During World War II, he served as an oceangoing merchant mariner. He was a longtime member of the Duluth-Superior Harbor Club.

Capt. Leonard V. Olsen Sr., 89, died June 24 in his native Duluth. He became a Great Lakes deckhand at 17 and rose through the ranks to become a captain for Interlake Steamship Co. He retired in 1980 after 46 years of maritime service. He was a member of the local chapters of the International Ship Masters Association and U.S. Propeller Club and the Duluth-Superior Harbor Club.

Capt. Bill E. Jeffery, 83, the first captain of the 1,000-foot lake vessel Presque Isle, died July 29 in Duluth. Capt. Jeffery, who resided in the Duluth suburb of Carlton, was in command of the Presque Isle for its first 15 years. Earlier in his 47-year maritime career, he was the last captain of the Clifford F. Hood before that vessel was retired by U.S. Steel Corp. He also had been a pilot of oceangoing ships with Upper Great Lakes Pilots, Inc. He was a Duluth native and a member of the Duluth-Superior Harbor Club.