Crew of Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw prepares for Christmas Ship journey to Chicago

CHEBOYGAN, Mich. - Members of the Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw load more than 1,300 Christmas trees onto the ship in preparation for its journey to Chicago, Nov. 20, 2012. The Mackinaw is once again serving as the Christmas Ship, reenacting an annual tradition which began in the late 1800s by Captain Herman Schuenemann until he and his crew perished aboard the Rouse Simmons in a storm in November of 1912.
U.S. Coast Guard photo by Seaman Robert Butler