SAULT STE. MARIE — On July 20, the Original Soo Locks Boat Tours is celebrating the 90th anniversary of tugboat captain Milo Beechwood Welch making his first trip through the locks with an audience.
Welch was a tugboat captain for the Great Lakes Towing Company who made dozens of trips through the Soo Locks in his career. He was always fascinated by the locks and their history, but he also noticed how popular the locks were and saw how people would come from far and wide just to see them from the visitor center.
Realizing that seeing the locks in action up close was not a common experience, Welch decided to share the view with everyone. He could never afford to quit his job and begin boat tours though.
"He really wanted to take people through the locks," said boat tours manager Sheila Merchand. "It was his dream, and his wife actually made that possible by taking a mortgage out on his home."
Taking a big risk by taking out a mortgage on their home, the couple bought the first boat to go by the name "Bide-A-Wee," a Scottish phrase meaning "stay a while." It became the first passenger vessel to pass through the locks without the purpose of shipping anything from one side to the other.
The first Bide-A-Wee ship was sold only a few years later and replaced by a new ship that took on the same name. Currently, the tour business owns many different ships, one of them being the Bide-A-Wee III.
Welch began taking tours of around 60 people through the locks and showing them a view they couldn't get anywhere else.
The tour covered parts of the river and the twin Saults, making note of the big docks and companies built along the riverside such as Cloverland Electric on the Michigan side and the Algoma Steel Mill on the Ontario side.
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"Going through the locks is always the highlight of the tour because you never know how it's going to go. One day, you can go into lock with a freighter, or you can have a tugboat join you," said Merchand. "Just waving to the people in the viewing platform who are watching the freighters go through is also a fun experience."
The tour became a well known stop on any visit to the Sault, bringing in not just locals but also many tourists.
For a majority of its history, the business was family owned as Welch passed it down to his kids. It was eventually bought in 2022 by a parent company.
Over the years, the tour has also grown and changed in small ways. Some of the landmarks that used to be important are no longer there and new ones have popped up in their place. People can also learn about the history of the tours themselves and see things like the welding marks where the third Bide-A-Wee had to be dismantled so it could pass through Lake Erie to make its way to the Soo.
To celebrate the 90th anniversary, the tour group is holding an event on July 20 at the dock. The event will include food, face painting for kids and a chance to learn more about the history of the locks and the tours.
People will also get a chance to talk to the tour guides and learn more about why they love their jobs at the locks.
"People will get to come here and talk to the crew and learn about our jobs in addition to the locks," said Merchand. "Being a narrator on the boat and getting to talk to all the passengers is my favorite thing to do."
— Contact Brendan Wiesner: BWiesner@Sooeveningnews.com
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