“For the past eight years I have produced a historical bus tour that we run each summer for six weeks,” Marquette Regional History Center Museum Educator Betsy Rutz said in an email. “Because of the pandemic this year, we were unable to put on bus tours with multiple people close together on a bus, but we wanted to bring the community together for a fun and educational opportunity. Something that patrons could take with them while walking or driving through town on their own was appealing, and so we thought of an audio tour.”

The first audio tour will be released today on the history center’s website as a $5 digital download.

It’s a great way to learn about local history and allows listeners to enjoy the content at any time and any place, Rutz said.

“If you ever have questions about the town you live and work in or enjoy visiting, there is nothing like learning a tidbit of history to catch your interest,” Rutz said. “You will be surprised what happened here before us. Let yourself sit back and relax and enjoy some historical storytelling. It is also a wonderful thing to listen to while going about your daily tasks, taking a walk or taking a drive. You will be treated to some truly entertaining stories. All of our characters have a particular charm, they enjoy telling their stories and this will be a fun activity for families and all ages of people.”

Bob Mercure plays the part of Teddy Roosevelt when he appeared in Marquette in 1913. (Photo courtesy of Betsy Rutz)

Like the bus tours of summers past, the audio tour involves re-enactors who perform as historical figures.

“I have recorded 12 local re-enactors performing historical scripts of characters who lived or visited Marquette,” Rutz said. “Some of these characters interact with one another, and some are solo ‘stops’ on our tour.”

Listeners might be surprised to find some famous figures and interesting parallels with the present day in the audio tour.

“Our first audio tour features some highlights from our past bus tours, such as Teddy Roosevelt when he visited Marquette in 1913, and a commercial fisherman down at the lake,” Rutz said. “There will be some favorites, such as John Longyear speaking of moving his 60-room house, and Carrie Watson Rankin at the Dandelion Cottage. This year of 2020 has a particular resonance with the pandemic of 1918, so we are fortunate to be able to use research to bring a local perspective to that time through our tour. You will meet nurses in 1918, 1940 and 1973 all working in Marquette, and a hospital superintendent with many stories.”

Taking an audio tour is not only a way to stay entertained and educated this summer, but it’s also an opportunity to help support the nonprofit Marquette Regional History Center, she said.

“Because we, as a nonprofit organization, have lost revenue from all of our canceled spring and summer programs this year, we are creatively working to produce programs that are still low cost and accessible, yet bring in a bit of revenue for the museum,” Rutz said. “A digital download will be available on our website for $5 and once you purchase that, you can listen to it again and again and pause the audio as you like.”

Overall, Rutz said the plan is to produce more audio tours, with the potential for a second tour to be released in August or September.

“If the community is enjoying them, we could continue to produce these pieces of audio entertainment for quite awhile,” she said.

She also noted the history center is “grateful to our docent volunteers who enthusiastically agreed to take part in this audio tour.”

For more information on the tour or to download it, visit https://www.marquettehistory.org. The Marquette Regional History Center is located at 145 W. Spring St., in Marquette and can be reached at 906-226-3571.