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Legendary Christmas Tree Ship inspires Toledo kindness

Great Lakes Museum creates a new tradition on Maumee River and delivers Christmas trees by boat to those in need in east Toledo.

TOLEDO, Ohio — The air was crisp and cold on Saturday morning, but that didn't stop Santa Claus and the tugboat Josephine from making a magical delivery to the waiting families at the docks at the National Museum.of the Great Lakes in east Toledo.  

It's becoming an annual tradition on the Maumee River as the museum and the Gradel company combine energies to create holiday memories for many families. It's the continuation of an old tradition on the lakes of delivering Christmas trees by boat to the needy families in the cities.

Most notably, the schooner Rouse Simmons was a well known and popular Christmas Tree Ship on Lake Michigan, whose captain delivered thousands of trees to families in Chicago, but tragically the schooner sank on a voyage in 1912.

"After the sinking, the people of Chicago continued to the tradition for years after," Kate Fineske, the Communication Director for the National Museum of the Great Lakes said.

The delivery of fresh Christmas trees to the dock at the museum this year is a tribute to the Rouse Simmons and other Christmas Tree Ships on the Great Lakes. 

"Toledo has its own Christmas Tree Ship now," Fineske said.

The museum partnered with the East Toledo Family Center to find families to receive the trees. The Gradel tugboat Company supplied its tug Josephine to bring the trees in.  

The trees were pre-ordered and many were purchased by third parties to give to the families that needed them.

About 100 people, young and old, gathered under the frigid blue skies to watch the colorful tug, with Santa and his helpers aboard, to hand out the trees. 

Fineske said the museum hopes to keep this cheerful tradition going for many years to come.

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