LAKE MICHIGAN - For the 26th holiday season, a U.S. Coast Guard ship is bringing a load of fresh-cut Christmas trees from Northern Michigan to Chicago to spread some holiday cheer.

In making the trip, the cutter Mackinaw is tracing the route of the ill-fated “Christmas Tree Ship” that once was helmed by a man known as “Captain Santa.” That ship, the Rouse Simmons, was weighed down with a heavy load of evergreens when it sank with all aboard in 1912.

Last week, the Mackinaw, a 240-foot icebreaker, left her home port of Cheboygan on Lake Huron and is currently en route to Chicago. The ship and its crew typically do some fall buoy retrieval on the way to the Windy City each year, stretching out the trip to a several-day transit.

“On Nov. 25, CGC MACKINAW (WLBB-30) departed her homeport of

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