Dear UASC Members,
Before I get to this month's meeting announcement, let me ask you to please take a moment to fill out a short survey regarding our ( new ) meeting location at . It looks like the Helix building is being sold, and we want your input regarding the best location and conditions for our future meetings. ( The results of the survey will be discussed at next week's meeting. )
The next meeting of UASC will be next Wednesday, 29 August 2012, on the 8th floor of the Helix building at 301 S. Racine at Jackson. As usual, refreshments start at 6:30, business at 7:00, and our guest speaker at 8:00.
Speaker Bio:
Author and shipwreck hunter Ross Richardson has spent the last decade
searching for and documenting shipwrecks off the coast of West Michigan. He
has worked with David Trotter, Clive Cussler's NUMA (National Underwater and
Marine Agency) Team and was on the Board of Directors of the Michigan
Shipwreck Research Associates for nearly a decade. He has also extensively
researched the legend, the history and his predecessors' search efforts to
discover the Westmoreland and has written a book entitled: "The Search for
the Westmoreland, Lake Michigan's Treasure Shipwreck".
Richardson, a Lake Ann, Michigan resident and is a volunteer librarian at
the Almira Township Library, a diver on the Benzie Area Public Safety Dive
Team; a Benzie County Sheriff's Department Special Deputy. His website,
has become one of the most talked about website in
Northern Michigan.
Program description:
The Search for the Westmoreland, Lake Michigan's Treasure Shipwreck,
On December 7, 1854, the Propeller Westmoreland foundered in deep water
near Sleeping Bear Dune, killing seventeen of her crew and passengers.
Seventeen crew and passengers lived, however, and landed in lifeboats on the
shore of Platte Bay. Soon after the passenger steamer's sinking, rumors
began circulating of $10,000 in gold coins in her safe and 280 barrels of
whiskey in her hold. For the next 150 years the Westmoreland was one of the
most sought after shipwrecks in all the Great Lakes, eluding salvagers,
wreck-hunters and divers alike. Join author/shipwreck hunter Ross
Richardson in exploring the legend, history and discovery of Lake Michigan's
treasure shipwreck.
Hope to see you all there,
John