PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

This week’s Dig In starts with a somber toast to the SS Edmund Fitzgerald.

Nov. 10 marks the 50th anniversary of the ship’s sinking beneath the waters of Lake Superior with 29 crewmen during a storm. A freighter, it was the largest ship ever to sink in the Great Lakes. One of the souls lost on that fateful day was Chief Engineer George J. Holl, who hailed from Cabot, Pa.

I also grew up in Butler County, but, until recently, didn’t know about the local connection to the tragedy.

Allentown’s Commonwealth Press is producing commemorative T-shirts with a portion of the proceeds benefitting the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point in Michigan, where the Fitzgerald’s 200-pound bronze bell — recovered during an underwater expedition on July 4, 1995 — is on display.

The folks at Cork Harbour Pub on 43rd Street in Lawrenceville will lead a toast to the “Mighty Fitz” on Monday at 7:10 p.m., the approximate time it sank. Listen to Canadian folksinger Gordon Lightfoot’s song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” (which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1976) while sipping a pint of Edmund Fitzgerald Porter from Cleveland’s Great Lakes Brewing Co.

It’s the least we landlubbers can do to honor a fallen resident of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

Brewing support for Community Kitchen Pittsburgh

On Nov. 8, New France Brewing Co. at Hazelwood Brew House is releasing “From Chef Missy, With Love,” a brown ale inspired by the sweet potato pies baked by Chef-Instructor Missy Terrell at Community Kitchen Pittsburgh, a nonprofit culinary training center in Hazelwood.

During Saturday’s launch party from 5 to 9 p.m., $2 from every pint and $4 from every four-pack sold will be donated to CKP. Following the event, $1 per pint, $2 per four-pack and a portion of wholesale proceeds will go to the organization that gives disenfranchised people culinary arts training while helping them find stable employment in the food service industry.

Beer 101

Love beer and want to learn how to make it? There’s a scholarship for that.

The Pittsburgh Brewery and Diversity Council is accepting applications for the 2026 Bey Scholarship, which provides full tuition for one individual to enroll in Point Park University’s Brewing Science Academy Certificate Program.

The council, which formed in 2020, is made up of a group of industry professionals who want to include, celebrate and elevate underrepresented groups — such as women, people of color and members of the LGBTQIA+ community and those with disabilities — in the city’s craft beer scene. The fund is designed to remove financial barriers and increase diversity in the brewing industry.

Application forms are due by Nov. 30. A winner will be announced in mid-January.