By Jim Bloch
For the second time in a half-century, the city of Marysville has received the same United States flag that was flown over an outpost in Antarctica more than 50 years ago.
In recognition of its 100th birthday, the Dream City Preservation Group presented the city with the flag on March 25 at the regular meeting of the city council.
A former resident who spent 15 months at the South Pole in the early 1970s, Gary Brougham, presented the same flag to Mayor Harry Stark in 1972. The Marysville Historical Museum displayed the flag until it was shuttered in 2000. The museum, located on the south side of Marysville Park, is being transformed into a small hotel.
City council member Dave Barber spearheaded the effort to re-dedicate the flag to the city. Brougham, now a resident of Fort Gratiot, returned to town for the re-presentation.
“Tonight, we welcome home Gary Brougham, who attended Marysville Public Schools and graduated in 1965,” said John Decatur, representing the Dream City Preservation Group, as heard on the recording of the meeting posted on Vimeo. “He then attended Michigan Technological University and earned a degree in geology. While working for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the early 1970s, Gary spent 15 months at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, including two winters.”
Brougham and seven fellow scientists studied the seismology and geophysics of the continent during their stay.
“I want to correct one thing,” said Brougham, who lives in Fort Gratiot. “I spent one winter and two summers there. I wouldn’t have survived two winters.”
How cold was it?
“The warmest it ever got was -10 (degrees Fahrenheit),” said Brougham. “The coldest it ever got – and this was not with a wind chill – was -103.”
In the summertime, it was shockingly bright.
“It was so bright that if you don’t have double-graded sunglasses on, you’ll get snow blind in just a very few minutes,” said Brougham.
He said he learned more about working with people in those few months than he did in the subsequent half-century.
“It was putting aside your self-interest for the common good,” he said. “We knew our survival depended upon each other.”
Brougham said the flag held two meanings for him.
“It’s for my family and the city of Marysville,” he said. “My grandfather emigrated from Canada and moved to Marysville in 1922. Despite the language barrier (audience laughter), he got a job as a watchman at the old Morton Salt plant. At one time, that Morton Salt plant was the largest in the world. That was before Wills. That was before Chrysler. That was before the city of Marysville even became a city. Despite my travels, I’ve always felt that Marysville was my home city. That’s why I presented the flag 50 years ago.”
Two members of the Dream City Preservation Group unveiled the flag, now framed and hanging on the west wall of Joseph Johns Council Chambers. Members of the group have evaluated all of the items in the former historical museum and written a short history of the city,
“My father unfortunately passed away and he was the second person buried in Riverlawn Cemetery,” Brougham said. “The fortunate thing is that he wasn’t the first person buried there. Because if he would’ve been, I wouldn’t be here and you would not have this flag right now.”
Brougham presented Mayor Kathy Hayman with a pictorial remembrance of his stay on the South Pole.
“I’m forever grateful to the historical society for finding the flag and putting it up for presentation to the city,” Brougham said. “Marysville will always be my home no matter where I am.”
Jim Bloch is a freelance writer based in St. Clair, Michigan. Contact him at bloch.jim@gmail.com.
