March 17, 2001

Lots of fun at Finnegan's wake

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We raided Marquette today and were pleasantly surprised to find the Coast Guard Cutter MACKINAW docked at the pier at Mattson Park in Marquette's Lower Harbor.  The MACKINAW is the only U.S. heavy ice-breaking resource assigned to the Great Lakes.  The MACKINAW was constructed in 1944, by the Toledo Shipbuilding Company.  After 57 years of continuous service, the MACKINAW has become increasingly costly to support and is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2006.

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Whack fol the dah will you dance to your partner
'Round the floor your trotters shake
Bend an ear to the truth I told ya
Lots of fun at Finnegan's wake

- Chorus from the Irish traditional tune, Finnegan's Wake

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