Sophie Stuart is the Sanctuary’s volunteer coordinator and education and outreach specialist.

“We are super thankful for our volunteers, year-round,” Stuart said. “We could not do the size of events and the number of events that we do, without them.”

Viking cruise ships will port in Alpena on 18 days this year, from April 26 to Sept. 18. Two cruise ships are due to stop in Alpena on June 21. Volunteers help with a variety of tasks, such as tours of the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center and Downtown Alpena, and more.

“In fiscal year 2024, we had 103 individuals who volunteered for us,” Stuart said. “They gave 2,570 hours of their time over the course of the year, which was fantastic for us. And that’s the equivalent of one-and-a-quarter full-time employees, so it takes a huge load off of us, to be able to do the jobs we’re assigned to do, when we have volunteers coming in.”

Courtesy Photo Volunteers contribute thousands of hours to Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary programs, including the Haunted Museum held near Halloween in October. Pictured is the large group of volunteers and staff that put on the 2024 Haunted Mansion trick-or-treating event.

She said having volunteers on hand with the groups of third-grade students who come in for the educational programs is very helpful, as well as those who volunteer when the cruise ships are in town.

“Viking is a huge thing for our volunteers, because they are some of the first faces that our Viking visitors see,” Stuart said. “When they show their enthusiasm and knowledge for the Sanctuary, it gets the visitors excited about the Sanctuary. And then, our ROV competitions … We host regionals every year, in May, and our volunteers are a key part of that.”

Volunteers greet and facilitate many of the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) events, as well as judging the competitions, Stuart said.

“Our volunteers love that event, because they’re getting to see all of these kids innovating, and this is a huge honor for us to have that event every year at Thunder Bay,” Stuart said.

Regionals will be held May 17, she said. This June, the Sanctuary will host the MATE ROV World Championship in Alpena. That competition will take place June 17 through 21.

“Both of those are free and open to the public,” Stuart said. “Just like any of our programs.”

Jan Knisely-Simons has been volunteering with Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary for about 10 years and received the Betty Krueger Volunteer of the Year award in December. Knisely-Simons logged 152 service hours at the sanctuary in 2024. She is also a member of the Sanctuary Advisory Council.

“I retired from being a teacher after 50-some years, and then I decided I wasn’t ready to be retired,” said Knisely-Simons, who volunteers primarily with the educational programs for third-grade students. “I had to be around kids, so I still substitute teach, but my main thing is, I come here.”

She helps with the student tours of the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center and the hands-on educational programs, including rides on the glass-bottom boat in May, allowing students to view the shipwrecks in Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

“We bring all the third graders in four times, and they do three times here inside, and then, the final time, in May, we take them out on the glass-bottom boat,” Knisely-Simons said.

She really enjoys working with children, especially helping to educate them about the area.

“Adults are scary,” she said, drawing laughter from the other volunteers seated in the conference room during the interview. “Except for the retired teachers who come through when the Viking cruises come through. They’re very interesting, and they usually are interested in what you have to say, and they have quality questions.”

She said her favorite part about volunteering with the Sanctuary is being around the children, and “hearing their take on how they see things, here in the museum.”

“Every single group asks us if the Oscar T. Flint is the Titanic,” Knisely-Simons said.

Cynthia Kelly is in her third year volunteering at the Sanctuary. She has volunteered with the Viking cruise groups in the spring and summer, the annual Halloween Haunted Museum in October, and the Thunder Bay International Film Festival in January.

“This is a really nice place to volunteer,” Kelly said. “It’s very professional, very much into what the community needs are.”

Marge Morford and her husband, Bill Morford, have been volunteering at the Sanctuary for three years.

“We’ve been doing volunteering, basically with Viking, for the past three years,” Marge Morford said. “We’ve helped out with the film festival, and Halloween trick-or-treating, and that was a lot of fun.”

“Marge and Cindy were the first faces that the kids saw, coming in for Halloween,” Stuart said.

They were dressed up as witches to go along with the spooky theme.

Stuart said 40 to 50 volunteers set up and volunteered for the Haunted Museum event, and they get it ready the day before.

“That’s the largest event for volunteers,” Stuart said. “We have many super dedicated volunteers from the community who bring their time, talents, and energy to decorate this place and turn it into something we couldn’t do on our own, every year.”

Stuart witnessed the Haunted Museum event for the first time this past October.

“I was just blown away by the level of detail and intricacy and the creativity,” Stuart said. “I couldn’t have dreamed up stuff like that, in my wildest dreams.”

She said it takes six hours just to put cobwebs all over the Western Hope, a ship inside the museum, and the volunteers do it happily, including Knisely-Simons.

“We love seeing their creativity come out, and being able to give them a place to show off that creativity, and their talents,” Stuart said. “We have extremely dedicated and professional volunteers, from all walks of the career field. We are just honored to have any of their time, talent, and expertise that we can, here at the Sanctuary.”

Volunteers enjoy working with the staff, and vice versa.

“I like the staff,” Marge Morford said. “They’re really easy to work with. If you have any questions, they’re right there.”

The Morfords have gone on Viking cruises, she said.

“We have an idea of what they’re doing, so that helps us when we’re volunteering,” she said.

Bill Morford said his favorite part about volunteering is “the people from around the world and around the country that we’ve met. They come in with their stories and their experiences. That’s been really fun.”

He said talking to the Viking passengers is interesting for both parties.

“They’re just excited about what they see here, and what they learn,” Bill Morford said.

Knisely-Simons encourages anyone thinking about volunteering to consider joining the dedicated group of people helping make Sanctuary programs a success.

“Come on in,” she said. “Sign up. Especially when the cruise ships come in. If you’re not used to kids, so much, the cruise ships are a lot of fun, because there are people from all over the world that come in on those ships.”

Volunteers give cruise passengers tours of the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center, Downtown Alpena, and various area attractions. Other volunteer opportunities are also available.

“I usually work the information booth,” Knisely-Simons said. “I look for lost people, and lost cameras and phones, and direct people to things they really want to see while they’re here that they don’t want to miss out on.”

The volunteers enjoy their time at the Sanctuary.

“It’s a great place to be,” Knisely-Simons said. “You learn something new every day.”

“It’s a fun place to come,” Bill Morford said. “I think it’s critical to the community.”

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