On Friday, Captain Pat Hart of Northeast Michigan Lodge 19 was installed as the Grand Lodge President of the ISMA. The convention was held at the Ramada Inn in Alpena.

“The International Ship Masters’ Association is a voluntary organization of dues-paying licensed professional mariners and others associated with the maritime community of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway,” the ISMA website, shipmaster.org, states. “Founded in 1886 as a benevolent organization, we have adapted our needs along the way to provide educational opportunities and to allow Great Lakes masters a voice in the formation of safety and navigational rules and regulations. Together we are working to help create a safer and more informed waterway system.”

“We bring up issues around the Great Lakes,” Hart said. “We’re primarily focused on safety and navigation problems on the Great Lakes.”

Hart has been a captain for 35 years.

News Photo by Darby Hinkley Laura Mather, of Traverse City, creates beach glass artwork in a class on Friday led by Kendra Gagnier, right, at Art in the Loft in Alpena. The class was held for spouses and girlfriends of those attending the International Ship Masters’ Convention in Alpena.

“We’ve got a little bit of an influence in Washington,” Hart said, adding that the ISMA coordinates efforts with the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “If there are some things happening around the Great Lakes, they come to us and ask for our advice.”

He explained why the convention was held in Alpena this year.

“Whoever is elected to go in as the Grand President becomes the host lodge,” Hart explained. “So, we hosted in Alpena. Next year it’ll be in Duluth, and the year after that it’ll be in Toledo.”

Sometimes, the convention is held in Canada, as the ISMA includes members from all areas surrounding the Great Lakes. There are currently 16 active lodges, Hart said.

Hart said the convention consisted of a business meeting, several speakers, and a variety of social events, including a “Roaring ’20s” themed dance featuring the muscial talents of “Way Out Wayne” Kendziorski of Alpena. The group also participated in a pub crawl downtown, and visited the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center.

News Photo by Darby Hinkley Tayler Johnson, of Rudyard, Mich., creates a beach glass art piece on Friday at Art in the Loft in Alpena.

Speakers at the convention included the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Enbridge (talking about Line 5 and other pipelines), and an investigator from the National Transportation and Safety Board.

Hart noted that the ISMA Grand Lodge awards three $1,500 scholarships annually.

“We provide three scholarships to three different groups of mariners,” Hart said.

Those scholarships include:

≤ Hawsepipe Scholarship Award, open to any unlicensed rating employed in the Great Lakes basin, be they Canadian or American mariners.

Courtesy Photo Past Grand Presidents of the International Ship Masters' Association gather at the convention held in Alpena this past weekend. Captain John Wellington is pictured in the tan suit. He is 93, and has attended 56 consecutive conventions. He is from Sault Ste. Marie.

≤ Marine Officer Cadet Scholarships, with one awarded to a cadet enrolled at the Great Lakes Maritime Academy in Traverse City, and another awarded to a cadet at the Great Lakes International Marine Training Center in Owen Sound, Ontario.

During the convention, a group of wives and girlfriends of those attending the ISMA Convention gathered at Art in the Loft for a beach glass art class led by Kendra Gagnier, owner of KendrArt.

“I try to do something new every year,” Gagnier said. “In the past five years, I’ve come a long way, offering a multitude of different designs. I now offer four different sizes. This past summer, I started offering art classes, making up kits … little beach glass art framed pieces for participants to create and take home with them.”

Gagnier started collecting Great Lakes beach glass in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. She completed 702 pieces of beach glass artwork in 2024.

“That’s the most I’ve ever done in a year,” Gagnier said.

She explained the process and materials she uses to create her art.

“I use genuine beach glass,” Gagnier said. “I don’t cut it or tumble it. The shape that I find it in is the shape that I use.”

She uses her imagination to decide which piece of glass should be used as a bird, dog, part of a lighthouse, or whatever shape she is representing in her art for that piece.

Her artwork is for sale in two Michigan stores: Tip’n the Mitten in Grayling, and Jean’s Gifts and Cards in Rogers City.

“Both those stores are mostly Michigan-made local artist products,” Gagnier said. “I do 14 art shows a year, all over the state, and my best shows are always Alpena.”

She participates in Art on the Bay in July and the Wishing for Christmas craft show in November, held at the APlex.

“The Alpena crowd is excellent in supporting my art,” she said.

For more information, and photos, visit KendrArt on Facebook. Email Gagnier at kendrart2020@gmail.com.