CHEBOYGAN, Mich. — The U.S. Coast Guard has loaded 1,300 Christmas trees aboard an ice cutter for delivery down Lake Michigan to Chicago.

The Cheboygan Daily Tribune says this year marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of a ship called the Rouse Simmons, known as the original Christmas tree ship. In 2000, the Coast Guard began transporting Christmas trees to Chicago for needy families while tending to buoys and other navigation marks on Lake Michigan.

This year's load will make it to Chicago after Thanksgiving. The 100 trees are from Two Rivers, Wis. The Coast Guard will drop a wreath at the site of the 1912 wreck to remember the Rouse Simmons.