Boblo Boats: A Detroit Ferry Tale 

PBS WESTERN RESERVE (WNEO 45.1 / WEAO 49.1):

Sunday, Oct. 15, at 5 AM 
Wednesday, Oct. 18, at 1 AM

Fusion (WNEO 45.2 / WEAO 49.2):

Saturday, Oct. 14, at 10 PM 

Bois Blanc Island, former site of the Boblo Island Amusement Park, is located at the southern end of the Detroit River before it enters Lake Erie, and is about one-half mile wide and three miles long. 

When Ste. Claire and SS Columbia sounded their whistles, every Detroit kid knew it heralded the coming of summer and the magic of ferrying over to nearby Boblo Island Amusement Park. These two sister steamships — the oldest in America — awaken from a deep slumber to find a devoted team of enthusiasts that has set out to rescue them from their deteriorating state. SS Columbia has been whisked away to New York while Claire’s fate rests in the hands of an unlikely band of heroes: a doctor, a psychic and an amusement park fanatic.

Martha Reeves, the Motown legend with a lilting voice, narrates this revelatory program that is full of heart and hard truths about a challenging restoration, the iconic amusement park’s exciting yet whitewashed history and the intoxicating ways that nostalgia can inspire and blur memories.