It’s incredible how many faces I’m starting to recognize in port now. Crews, vendors, sponsors—all foreign to me a month ago upon joining the Sullivan—are becoming a bit of a colossal extended family.  At each festival stop we’re united again, and though I’m still learning their names, I often know, strangely, which ship they crew on, which vendors belong at what tents, even without an introduction. “Didn’t I see you…? Don’t you work for…?” 

Now staffing a Tall Ships festival for me is akin to going to a family reunion: maybe you won’t know everyone there, or maybe they’re only vaguely familiar, but you know you’re all connected somewhere down the line.

In the case of the Green Village Tent, where I represent Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, that link-line is a passion for preserving the Great Lakes.

During a crowd lull this morning at Green Bay’s Leicht Memorial Park, I was sitting at my booth when from out of nowhere, a tiny rubber football came zinging across my table. I looked up to find Sam Bugg, Public Outreach Manager from Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium, snickering from the other corner. It should be mentioned that Sam is not usually throwing rubber footballs at his cohorts, and spent much of today handling a red rat snake from Shedd and speaking to people about Shedd’s mission: connecting people to the living world to inspire them to make a difference. Bugg sees the animals cared for at Shedd—which includes otters, octopi, corals and rays—as ambassadors of their species. Bringing the public in close contact with these ambassadors creates a bond that motivates the preservation of the entire species.

Sam Bugg of Shedd Aquarium talks snakes at the Green Village in Green Bay.

And then there’s the early bird of our Green Village tent. I’ll give you a hint: you’re already at their website. It doesn’t matter how early I show up at Green Village from the Sullivan, Brent Gibson of Great Lakes United is already smoothing over the edges of a table cover, unpacking boxes, or straightening out pamphlets for the coming festival day. If pressed to sum up Gibson in one word, it would be dedication. When he speaks to people, he looks them in the eye and when they talk, he listens. I rarely see him sit down, even at his own table. And he always makes a point of welcoming each vendor of the Green Village on that first day.  You can meet Brent in the video below of the “Duluth Festival Underway” post.

Jennifer Nalbone of Great Lakes United answers questions on invasive species.

Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, my sponsor for this summer’s tour on the Sullivan, is one of fourteen National Marine Sanctuaries across the United States, but the system’s only freshwater sanctuary. Protected on a federal level, Thunder Bay boasts one of the world’s most pristine collections of shipwrecks, thanks in part to the Inland Seas, whose cold temperatures and decreased salt content have kept the artifacts in striking condition. Thunder Bay is located in Lake Huron off the coast of Alpena, Michigan, about an hour and a half south of the Mackinac Bridge.  Although divers from all over the world come to enjoy Thunder Bay’s wrecks, the sanctuary also offers experiences for non-divers. A free and year-around Maritime Heritage Center as well as scheduled snorkel tours helps the public get the shipwreck experience without the weighty oxygen tank. For more information, check out: www.thunderbay.noaa.gov.

There’s a part of me that’s really dreading going to Chicago after Green Bay, even though it’s a city that I love. I know it will be 2010’s final Tall Ships tour stop. There are countless aspects about this summer I know I’ll miss once the tour is over, and beyond that, there are things I don’t even realize I’ll miss. That’s the way it goes.

I do know my Green Village cohorts are somewhere near the top of that list.