Annual beacon lighting ceremony at Split Rock Lighthouse honors the Edmund Fitzgerald

Every year on Nov. 10, the beacon at Split Rock Lighthouse is lit to commemorate the sinking of the freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald and pay tribute to all the other vessels lost on the Great Lakes.

The annual ceremony will begin at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow with the reading of the 29 crew members who lost their lives on that fateful day. Afterward, the lighthouse staff will light the beacon and open the tower and grounds for tours.

“It’s just a touching moment,” Hayes Scriven, the Split Rock Lighthouse site manager, said. “It’s a great event in the sense that it brings a lot of people together.”

A welcomed addition to the ceremony this year is the presence of the U.S. Coast Guard based in Duluth. “We’re going to have a large Coast Guard presence here. Which is something we haven’t had for quite a while.” Scriven said. “So it’s nice to have that connection this year.”

Split Rock will be open to the public throughout the day for guided tours with an opportunity to enjoy a special movie showing about Edmund Fitzgerald. Scriven said the ceremony and beacon lighting will be live-streamed on the Split Rock Lighthouse Facebook page and the Minnesota Historical Society’s YouTube channel for individuals unable to attend the ceremony in person. 

“And then this year, we are adding in a few other unique camera angles that hopefully will give it a different feel for everybody,” he said. 

WTIP spoke with Hayes Scriven, the Split Rock Lighthouse site manager, about the upcoming event on Friday, Nov. 10. Audio from the interview is below. 

Kalli Hawkins November 9, 2023