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2011.07.19Johnston Historic Home Programs Feature Songwriters Askwith and Stanaway

SAULT STE. MARIE, MICHIGAN.  After having been closed for a year due to road construction, the Historic Block on Water Street is again open.  Singer-songwriters Susan Askwith and Dave Stanaway are featured each Tuesday and Thursday from 1:00 to 2:00 pm.  Concerts are at the Johnston Historic Home next to the U.S. Coast Guard Base and run through September 1.  The songwriters are beginning their seventh year of performing original songs about the history of Sault Ste. Marie and the Eastern Upper Peninsula.

Askwith and Stanaway have expanded their subject matter to include more recent historical events.  Several newer songs celebrate the historic significance of the Great Lakes and the waterways in the area.  Newer songs commemorate the building of the Mackinac Bridge, the retirement of the US Coast Guard Cutter Mackinac, and Great Lakes shipwrecks.

Askwith has two songs about ships -  The Elba, a ship from the Arnold Line in St. Ignace, and another about the reported sighting of a ghost ship.

Stanaway’s two songs about shipwrecks include The Sinking of the Daniel J. Morrell which he was inspired to write after meeting Dennis Hale, the sole survivor of the ship that sank in Lake Huron in November 1966.

The discovery in 2007 of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society of the 100 year old wreck in Lake Superior inspired Stanaway to write another shipwreck song, The Cyprus.

The duo has written more than 50 songs that tell the history of the Sault and the Eastern Upper Peninsula, and the Native American culture that was instrumental in the development of the area.

Stanaway and Askwith have recorded a CD, John Johnston, His Life and Times in the Fur Trade Era.  The CD is available at the Johnston Home and at the studio website, www.borderlandrecords.com, as well as at several area businesses.

The Johnston Historic Home is located on Water Street, next to the US Coast Guard in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and is open daily from noon to 5:00 pm.  In addition to the Johnston Home, the Kemp Museum and the Schoolcraft Dependency Office building are open to the public.  Donations by visitors are gratefully accepted. For further information, contact the Chippewa County Historical Society 906-635-7082 or visit the website http://www.cchsmi.com/ .

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