It was a big day of celebration for Chantry Island and the Marine Heritage Society when the 30,000th passenger visited the Island on the last tour of the day on Wednesday (Aug.13).
From Acton, it was Marilyn Pope’s first visit to the Island and she was unaware that she was about to become a celebrity on her return to the mainland at Southampton Harbour.
Many Marine Heritage Society members lined the peer, waving flags and cheering.
As the Peerless II docked and passengers began to disembark, the announcement was made by Marine Heritage member, Eric Tolton, that a passenger on the boat was number 30,000. When he announced who it was, the passengers applauded and Pope was taken completely by surprise.
Each of the passengers was also given a Town of Saugeen Shores bag filled with ‘souvenir’ items and Pope also received gifts from the Marine Heritage tour base gift shop in addition to a certificate of authenticity for being the 30,000th visitor.
Southampton Councillors Cheryl Grace and John Divinski were on hand to greet the visitor and Mayor Luke Charbonneau also offered his congratulations.
The Marine Heritage Society runs tours from Southampton Harbour to Chantry Island each summer and, because it is a Federally designated wild bird sanctuary, the tour boat is the only way that people are allowed to visit. Reaching number 30,000 is no small feat when one considers that only nine passengers are taken on each tour and the tours are weather dependent on Lake Huron.
For more information on the Chantry Island tour experience, visit: https://chantryisland.com/
