Seaway, Great Lakes ships are now in the cards for 'watchers'

Chris Brock, Watertown Daily Times, N.Y.
·3 min read

May 16—CLAYTON — Ship watchers of the St. Lawrence Seaway now have something else in the cards to buoy their hobby.

The St. Lawrence Seaway Ship Watchers Network, through the newly established Seaway Traders initiative, has launched a trading card set to showcase vessels of the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Seaway Traders, an initiative intended to bring the story of the St. Lawrence Seaway to several platforms within the Seaway Ship Watchers Network, was launched early this year. It's a binational collaboration of SSSN, based out of the Thousand Islands region and Griffintown Media of Montreal.

The St. Lawrence Seaway Ship Watchers Network was founded by Michael J. Folsom. Its Facebook page has nearly 83,000 followers. Griffintown Media is owned by Jim McRae, author of "Seaway Queens."

"We wanted to bring a new and unique item to the hobby, and the concept of doing something never before done was the vision that drove us," Folsom said of the new trading cards. "After quietly throwing the concept to folks, we felt confident it would be a collectible worth developing."

The cards are the standardized size as sports trading cards: 2.5-by-3.5-inches. They made their debut on Saturday at the Welland Canal's Lock 8 in Port Colborne, Ontario. The first 50 ship enthusiasts who joined a 1 p.m. gathering received a limited series print of the first Seaway ship card. It features the Frontenac, a Canada Steamship Lines self-unloader built in 1968 and one of the last remaining forward wheelhouse vessels operating on the Great Lakes.

The Frontenac card is part of the first pack of 10 cards featuring iconic vessels on the Great Lakes-Seaway. Presales began Monday on the SSSN website: theshipwatchers.com.

"In addition, we have a goal with this first pack to hand off cards to the crew of the ships featured, so they can pass down something unique to their kids and grandkids that allows them to show off the vessel they made a career on," Folsom said. "Baseball players have stories and cards, so why not the captain of a Great Lakes ship!"

The first limited edition print of Frontenac was done in partnership with Canada Steamship Lines, owner of the vessel.

The photos on the first limited printed card -1 given away on Saturday at Lock 8 of the Frontenac were taken and provided by longtime ship enthusiasts. "The front photo was taken by Roger LeLievre, author/publisher of the well-known ship guide, "Know Your Ships," and the back photo by Rene Beauchamp of Quebec, who has long had his pulse on the shipping industry," Folsom said.

Folsom said that photographs throughout the remainder of the series will be from company archives and well-known photographers in the hobby of shipwatching. "And we will soon announce a chance for network Facebook group members to submit for a chance to be included on a card."

"Our hope is for the first 10-pack to draw attention and build a need and desire to continue it beyond that, making it a collectors item that can be shared for years to come," Folsom said. "The Seaway Traders concept is built on trading stories, so having these cards today and sharing the story or handing them off to a grandchild will keep the story of these vessels alive."